The contemporary Internet-era flat Earth believers are a group of individuals who promote the idea that the Earth is flat, despite overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary.

This idea has been around for centuries, but it has gained significant traction online in recent years, with many followers sharing their beliefs on social media.

Some organizations and individuals in various countries promote this belief, although specific details about these organizations are not readily available.

For example, private groups on social media promote flat Earth theory in the Arab world.

Additionally, historical figures such as Samuel Rowbotham and William Carpenter have supported and preached flat Earth theory in England and the US.

However, it is worth noting that no specific public figures or celebrities who support the flat Earth idea are mentioned in the available sources.

Flat Earth believers use various arguments to prove their point of view, including questioning the curve of the Earth in footage and claiming that the edge of the Earth is visible.

They also point out the lack of "oval" in the Earth and claim that the footage proves their flat Earth claims.

However, these arguments are easily disproven by scientific evidence, and the theory is frequently disproved by scientific principles.

Despite this, flat Earth believers continue to exist and are active online, with some individuals believing that governments and corporations hide the Earth's flat shape.

The reasons for the resurgence of the flat Earth idea in the modern, technologically advanced world are not entirely clear, but some possible factors include human isolation and a lack of consciousness.

Additionally, the spread of negative manifestations such as competition and violence can contribute to the appeal of flat Earth theory.

Some people may also be drawn to the idea of a flat Earth due to a desire for familiarity and comfort with old ideas.

Furthermore, the decline in trust in scientists and institutions, particularly among conservatives, may also play a role in the resurgence of conspiracy theories like flat Earth.

The characteristics of people who are most likely to subscribe to flat Earth beliefs are also not entirely clear, but some research suggests that millennials and Trump supporters are more open to conspiracy theories.

Additionally, conservative preference is found in flat Earth and other conspiracy theories, and the decline in trust in scientists is largely partisan among conservatives.

Younger generations are also less skeptical of conspiracies due to social media, while older generations are more skeptical due to lived experiences.

However, it is worth noting that no specific characteristics of flat Earth believers are mentioned in some of the available sources.

In terms of the online presence of flat Earth believers, social media plays a significant role in spreading conspiracy theories.

Flat Earth believers are active on platforms such as YouTube, where they comment on videos and share their beliefs.

They are also opposed by spherical Earth believers, who try to debunk their theories and provide evidence to support the fact that the Earth is round.

However, despite the overwhelming evidence against it, flat Earth conspiracy theorists continue to exist and are active online.

The search engine results for "flat earth" queries also provide some insight into the online presence of flat Earth believers.

For example, Yandex search engine has the highest proportion of conspiracy-promoting content, while Google search engine has the lowest proportion.

Additionally, "flat earth" queries have high shares of conspiracy-promoting content on all search engines except Google.

However, conspiracy-debunking content is commonly displayed for "flat earth" queries across all search engines.

In conclusion, the contemporary Internet-era flat Earth believers are a group of individuals who promote the idea that the Earth is flat, despite overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary.

While some organizations and individuals promote this belief, specific details about these organizations are not readily available.

Flat Earth believers use various arguments to prove their point of view, but these arguments are easily disproven by scientific evidence.

The reasons for the resurgence of the flat Earth idea are not entirely clear, but possible factors include human isolation, the spread of negative manifestations, and the decline in trust in scientists and institutions.

The characteristics of people who are most likely to subscribe to flat Earth beliefs are also not entirely clear, but some research suggests that millennials and Trump supporters are more open to conspiracy theories.

Overall, the flat Earth movement is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon that requires further research and study.

The contemporary Internet-era flat Earth believers are a group of individuals who promote the idea that the Earth is flat, despite overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary.

Title:

Content: "The Lost Earth Truth 1": The level of the earth seems to be the "gold rush" of our time.
Photo Credit: iStock
What we want you to know is
Through the multi-dimensional advanced high-tech "heterogeneous meta-helmet", scientists learned that the earth is full of four-dimensional entrances, the third dimension of the material plane and the fourth dimension of the etheric plane are originally "twins".
Written by Radu Cinama
Tiping said it was the "gold rush" of this era.
Based on a reference to the House of the Cabal, which hides the door to multidimensional interaction, I found an informative note that I had never seen before, floating among dozens of notes on my desk.
In general, I prefer to work in electronic form or wait for notes or files in digital format, but given my particular interest in the Dimension Portal, I decided to check everything on my desk, including the latest events.
I do not know the reasons and methods, but the information I found was ignored.
After reviewing notes and data summaries, I discovered an event called “Ground Floor – References ”, a“ movement ” that I ’ ve heard has made waves among people, but I never thought it would become a theme for our department.
The illusion of this idea is obvious, especially for those who have good judgment and personal experience of our planet from the perspective of outer space.
I was a bit confused and didn ’ t know if I should read a few pages of summaries about the ground floor.
I went to Lieutenant Nikola and asked him about it.
He told me that the information came from the operations department of another SRI division, an acronym for the Romanian Intelligence Agency, which has the status of a second level notice.
The lieutenant made it clear that the only reason this information reached our department was because it triggered an abnormal "phenomenon" in the world, but in our country, the number of "followers" is relatively small and the proportion is reasonable, and the level seems to be the "gold rush" of our time. It makes you speechless, even in a state of “shock. ”
I can understand that the paranoia and other obscure interests of hundreds of years ago amplify the lack of knowledge, which may occupy the minds of a relatively small number of people, but it is unreasonable to allow it to develop to the level of the international movement of the 21st century.
From a heavenly point of view, I wonder if human stupidity can rise above that level, but I don ’ t quite believe in that prospect.
However, even the most bizarre phenomena must be taken into account, at least taking into account the crowd and their opinions, which is one of the Secret Service's tasks.
I did read the summary, which revealed the main points of the problem very clearly, but did not give any conclusions.
Severe retrogression into the Middle Ages
On the same night, I took advantage of Cesar ’ s free time and shared the ground level problem with him, more as a social case than a research direction.
Cesar laughed loudly, talked about the topic for a while, and then suddenly turned to some very interesting questions.
He told me that three or four years ago, the issue was introduced to him and discussed with other colleagues in the intelligence department because there were signs that the idea was trending toward a consensus.
Out of respect for readers, I don ’ t usually include such a discussion in my series.
It requires only a little wisdom and minimal scientific training to understand, and arguments in support of this theory are tantamount to ignorance and fanaticism.
Beyond this, however, Cesar reveals some psychological cues that seem to be of some importance to general knowledge and social experience.
When discussing topping with Cesar, the first point involves a large number of followers.
“The mechanism for this strange theory of increased follower numbers is related to human isolation, ” says Cesar.
“It ’ s as if the population is divided into two distinct categories, but this separation is actually based on each person ’ s level of consciousness, which is directly related to their vibration frequency. ”
“But, ” I replied,“ I don ’ t know what caused this outbreak, and more and more people are insisting on these ‘ arguments ’ without meaning. ”
It's more like a stupid virus. "
“This major shift in thinking patterns is not at the same wavelength as what is commonly understood in the world today.
In other words, such new ideas have nothing to do with the knowledge of our time.
This is an effective method, because the earth is flat, and the idea is strongly supported by mystical factors, as well as by those who are keen to see things stagnant and not progressing.
This is the best way to control it: take people away from reality, let them dream nonsense, support their fantasies, and encourage them to project.
Therefore, it is controlled by imposing on the masses what they want.
Followers of earth thought, firmly believing in it, will seek to meet others, gather, and even separate themselves from others, because they will see others as fools deceived by lies.
In other words, they will be convinced that they are the ones who “discovered ” the truth. While it is sad to hear the news, unfortunately, the situation is quite real. ”
“Although I have this report under my nose, I can ’ t believe it has reached this point.
I feel like this is an ugly dream, as if some people in the world have voluntarily gone back hundreds of years.
That's how I feel.
Incredibly, people ’ s minds today are still influenced by delusions that defy not only decent intelligence but also scientific reasoning, making everything frenzied.
Look at the results! ”
I showed Cesar ’ s estimated numbers and charts.
"I know.
We've talked to other colleagues, "he said.
“Your surprise is evidenced by the huge difference in conceptualization and vibration frequency that people are beginning to feel.
This is a reality that has become increasingly prominent over time and cannot be ignored.
This is part of the isolation I told you about.
In principle, people interact with those who are evolving and those who prefer to stay in purely physical, crude or involuntary groups.
Those in the first category perfect themselves, recognize the changes that are taking place on Earth, and experience certain emotional states and specific sensations.
That ’ s why it ’ s incredible for some people to think about problems in a medieval way, such as followers of the Earth Theory. ”
Cesar saw the astonishment on my face and hurried to prove what he said again.
“Yes, I ’ m not exaggerating.
This is a return to the Middle Ages, because these people cannot evolve; instead, they return to a more archaic state of consciousness, closer to their true level of consciousness. ”
“Why can ’ t they evolve? ” I asked in surprise.
Of course, I know the answer, but it ’ s always a pleasure to capture Cesar ’ s explanation.
In addition, there is always a new element that can enrich my knowledge.
“Because the current state of things they attract has nothing to do with the higher vibrations of the Earth, this feature is becoming more and more apparent. ”
“For the followers of the Earth Plane, their consolation lies in the frenzy of these primitive ideas, which are maintained as free spirits and ideas are blocked.
The same was true during the Inquisition: a set of foolish and erroneous ideas was raised into law, and any violation of those ideas was enforced. ”
When I think about it all, I hope I ’ m wrong.
“Are we back in the Middle Ages? History has set off a wave of extreme ideas.
Ancient people already knew that the earth was round, but the situation deteriorated in the Middle Ages, when there was a revival of modern science, but was this only to take us back to the Middle Ages now? ” (The author undoubtedly refers to the knowledge shared by Pythagoras and Aristotle, who both asserted that the earth is round, and the argument made by Eratonius in ancient Alexandria.)
Cesar calmly replied, “We don ’ t; but for the part that has degraded, yes. ”
Several factors contributed to this.
Followers of the Earth ’ s theory are indignant at their opinionated views, their refusal to think logically or rationally on the basis of real arguments and evidence, their denial of evidence, and their deceitful defense of their position.
In general, this is a kind of missionary covering up fanaticism.
The psychological factor of the earth level, the mind pulls people's distance
We note that whenever fanaticism prevails, society is confronted with a lack of insight and the limitations of personal freedom.
Cesar gave me an example that better explains how this dilemma can be achieved in the context of a relatively developed civilization.
"This phenomenon is the same as in quantum physics.
If there is enough energy, the electrons can jump into higher orbits.
If there is not enough energy, it can be kept at a slightly higher level and relatively stable; but at some point, the remaining energy will be released in the form of photons, and the electron will return to the orbit where it was originally found, back to where it started.
In quantum physics, this is the basic orbit of electrons.
In other words, electrons with these characteristics will return to the level where they have a safe orbit. ” I interjected, clinging to the subject.
“I know that throughout human history, the idea that the earth is flat has long existed in some religions.
Modern astronomy has developed extensively since then.
Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto have only been discovered for about two hundred years.
In this sense, the ground floor is actually not very old, its memory is still fresh.
Perhaps that is why some humans return to the state they once knew. "
“This is another factor, ” Cesar acknowledged,“ in any case, human society is changing from ‘ possessiveness ’ to ‘ feeling ’, that sense of possession, egoism, competition, and violence tends to be gradually replaced by pure and positive emotions and feelings, which are fundamental to love, altruism, and compassion. ”
I have some doubts.
“It ’ s hard to believe, because almost all of us are seeing the spread of these negative manifestations. ”
“At first glance, it might be so.
Remember, however, that most people on Earth are uneducated, and they ‘ resort ’ to this illusion of competition, money, commerce, and lack of spirituality.
A large number of people who are addicted to this dream, tend to oppose those who are guided only by spiritual values and seek a pure life with a clear meaning, and have achieved a balance at this point.
This is what we call isolation. "
In fact, what Cesar wanted to say is that everyone is invited to participate in the great spiritual transformation of humanity and our planet, with the desire and dignity to demand that his life be the germ of light, spirituality and hope that we can enter a bright future.
This is an excellent ideal, but so far too few people have followed this ideal.
Book Introduction
This excerpt is from The Lost Earth Truth 1: The Hidden History of Holographic Time Travel, published by Daxi Culture.
Written by Radu Cinamar
Translated by: Sandra
• momo online bookstore
• Enter TNL83 at Pubu E-Bookstore checkout to enjoy 83% off sitewide (excluding some items, such as physical, adult and designated items, cannot be combined with other offers)
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Radu Cinamar became famous after revealing an unprecedented and mysterious collaboration between the US and Romanian militaries.
American and Romanian troops have made an expedition under the Romanian Sphinx in the Bucegi Mountains and discovered the greatest archaeological discovery of all time: a mysterious chamber about 50,000 years old, containing a holographic record of human history of the Earth, biological resonance imaging technology, and three mysterious tunnels that lead to secrets deep in the heart of the earth.
Despite the political intrigue, confusion, and restrictions surrounding this great discovery, the expedition leader allowed Radu Sinamar to visit and explore the artifacts.
Since then, Radu ’ s life has been a labyrinthine adventure, filled with strange events, secret connections, and unusual people and things.
This book delves into ancient history in an unprecedented way, through the interaction of advanced technology ’ s “heterogeneous helmets ” with the author ’ s cerebral cortex and intuition, presenting more than 70 stunning images of the scene, the result of which is holographic projection, explaining and illustrating the DNA changes that took place over thousands of years and how humans evolved into what they are today.
Reveals the mystery of how multiple alien civilizations influenced and guided human DNA to evolve to a higher level.
Some of the hot spots in human history, which in the past either remained unknown or were only considered from a mythological point of view, include: Atlantis, Troy, Shambhala, and Huppelburia.
Disrupting the myths of the past, this book provides rich and accurate communications from the actual scene of holographic technology, combining esoteric knowledge and some scientific factors.
Special emphasis is placed on the "intersection" between the physical dimension and the etheric dimension and on the cracks or entrances between the dimensions.
In addition to revealing the ancient history of mankind, this fascinating work also describes a time out to see the origins of humanity and its hope for the future.
Book Features
Time-lapse decoding! The beginning of important human change
Through the multi-dimensional advanced high-tech "heterogeneous meta-helmet", scientists learned that the earth is full of four-dimensional entrances, the third dimension of the material plane and the fourth dimension of the etheric plane are originally "twins".
And you can see the "cosmic record" in the holographic image!
You can also overlook the cross-section of the earth, covering the deep human genetic technology and high-dimensional cosmic civilization, and no book in its amazing history has been exposed so far!
Editor-in-Chief: Weng Shihang
Editor-in-chief: Bohan Pan
Tags:

This idea has been around for centuries, but it has gained significant traction online in recent years, with many followers sharing their beliefs on social media.

Some organizations and individuals in various countries promote this belief, although specific details about these organizations are not readily available.

For example, private groups on social media promote flat Earth theory in the Arab world.

Title:

Content: How did Muslim scholars refute the flat Earth theory a thousand years ago?
The flat earth is currently one of the most famous scientific myths widespread in the Arab world, and has private groups on social media met by supporters from all over, and in recent days has been controversial because of statements by the Egyptian artist Mohamed Sobhy.
There are two histories to this theory, not one; the first is ancient and the second is modern.
A number of Greek philosophers believed that the earth was flat, and the ancient Scandinavian and German peoples also believed that the earth was flat and surrounded by oceans, and the common belief in ancient China was that the earth was square and flat while the sky was spherical.
But it ’ s really surprising to know that early astronomers assumed its sphericity, and they were from almost every culture: Pythagoras, who lived about 2,500 years ago, proposed the sphericity of the Earth based on his observations of the moon during the eclipse.
Pythagorean's observations are still evidence of a refutation of the flat Earth theory: Pythagorean observed that the shadow that the Earth casts on the Moon during the eclipse is always round.
Regardless of the moon-facing part of the planet, eclipses occur everywhere in the world.
The idea of a lunar eclipse is simple: put a big lamp in the middle of your room and turn off the rest of the lights, stand at a distance of one meter from it, now turn around while you reach your hands in front of you with a tennis ball, when you give your back to the lamp and pass the tennis ball in the shadow extended in front of you because of your body, this is the eclipse.
To Eratosthenes
Eratosthenes, born 276 BC, was the first to measure the circumference of the Earth using a simple method involving the angle of the Sun at different locations.
Eratosthenes was astonished to read that the columns in the ancient Egyptian temples of Aswan on the afternoon of June 21 of each year did not leave a shadow under them, and the mystery of the wonder was that the columns in Alexandria left a shadow under them on the afternoon of the same day.
Eratosthenes came to the conclusion that the earth must be convex and not flat, otherwise the columns in Alexandria would appear shadowless, and then after reflection Eratosthenes came to the clever idea that we could measure the length of the shadow in Aswan which is zero, and its length in Alexandria, and then measure the distance between Alexandria and Aswan, and infer the circumference of the earth.
The story goes that he sent a man to measure the distance, so that with some simple geometry he could measure the circumference of the Earth, which he concluded was about 39,348 kilometers.
Eratosthenes' account was transferred to the Arabs from among the sciences they translated.
According to Carlo Nelino in his book "Astronomy: A History of the Arabs in the Middle Ages", the Caliph al-Ma'mun al-Abbasi (who ruled from 813 to 833 AD) asked two teams of astronomers to test these calculations and come up with the most accurate measurement of the Earth's circumference....
The safe astronomer.
The method adopted by the Arabs is to go out into a perfectly flat desert, and then rely on the inclination of the polar star in the sky.
The ancients realized that the position of stars in the sky is affected by your place on Earth, the further you travel south, the lower the polar star in the sky until it disappears completely after the equator, and the more you travel north, the higher the polar star sky until it became above your head in the North Pole, which means that the Earth is round, otherwise the position of stars in the sky changes with your place on it.
The height of the polar star (and all other stars) is measured in degrees, and it is like to put a protractor in front of your eyes, the horizon is at zero, and then look at the protractor from the side to find at what degree the polar star stands, and this is something you can do exactly as the ancients did, and now astronomical software is easily available.
Al-Ma'mun astronomers measured the height of the polar star, then moved north once and south once, until the amount of inclination of the polar star changes by one degree, and then measured the distance north and south, and this measured distance is one degree from the circumference of the Earth's circle, and it can know the rest of the circumference of the Earth, because the Earth is a ball, and like any ball, rotation around it requires 360 degrees.
The first team of Al-Ma ’ mun astronomers went out to the Sinjar desert, a small city in northwestern Iraq today, and the second team to the Palmyra desert in eastern Syria, and carried out the same experiments in both places. In the Sinjar desert, for example, the height of the polar star was about 35 degrees. south of the wedge site until the measurement dropped by a degree.
According to al-Ma ’ mun ’ s astronomers, the scale of one degree was about 56 parsecs and two-thirds parsecs, which Nalino calculated — according to Edward Kennedy of the American University of Beirut in a paper published in the Encyclopedia of the History of Arab Sciences — to be 111.8 kilometers, a value used by later researchers such as al-Biruni and al-Toussi.
Calculating the circumference of the Earth in this experiment, it turned out to be about 410,248 km, which was close to modern measurements (40075 km) in the most accurate way at the time.
Note that the difference between the two measurements is about 1,100 years, and the reason for the difference is not related to the same method but to the ellipse of the Earth, as the distance between the two latitudes increases slightly as we head north.
Abu Rayhan Al-Biruni
The second attempt was by Abu Rayhan al-Biruni, born in September 973 AD, who used the best and easiest formula to calculate the circumference of the Earth in his time.
The Al-Biruni method is based on triangulation, where the sunset is observed from the top of a high mountain overlooking flat ground to the horizon, the astrolabe measures the angle the sun descends relative to the observer on the top of the mountain, where the line connecting the observer on the top of the mountain and the horizon makes the sunset clock touch the planet Earth.
It is known that the tangent of a circle perpendicular to its diameter, and then we have a right-angled triangle at the horizon, and we can measure the radius of the Earth by knowing the height of the mountain, which is mathematically easy.
Currently, the same calculations can be applied by high school students, for example, in all countries of the Arab world, who have a good amount of trigonometry study.
In a study published in the International Journal of Sciences, an Italian team repeated al-Biruni ’ s experiment and concluded that its results for the radius of the Earth are equal to 3,928.77 English miles, which compares favorably, being 2% different, with the average reference radius at the measurement latitude, which is 3,847.80 miles.
Pakistani physicist Mazhar Mahmood Qureshi, in his book An Introduction to Muslim Contributions to Science and Technology, points out that al-Biruni ’ s experience in what is now Nandana Fort in the mountains of northern Pakistan is a typical example of the use of experimental scientific methods.
The most important book of al-Biruni astronomical is "The Law of Masoudi", in which al-Biruni collected all the astronomical problems of his time, and the way of al-Biruni was to present the origins of the matter and the views of the Indian, Greek and Arab astronomers and then weighted between them.
Modern history of flat earth
But at that point, you might ask yourself: if the sphericity of the Earth was obvious to Muslim scholars and their comrades in other parts of the world in ancient times, why did it come back?
In 1849, the English writer Samuel Rowbotham published a pamphlet entitled "Oil Astronomy" (from the Greek letter zeta, not oil), in which he defended the theory of the flat earth, and followed this with another entitled "The Instability of Modern Astronomy and its opposition to the Bible".
In 1883, Rowbotham founded oil societies in England and New York, shipping thousands of copies of his books to talk about flat earth.
Meanwhile, William Carpenter, a printer and native of Greenwich, England, supported Rowbotham and advocated his theory, learning it from John Jasper and preaching to more people than any cleric of his generation in the southern United States. Once.
From here the myth began to branch again in the United States, and then to Europe, and then to the Arab world and the rest of the world, but in this context it was mixed with conspiracy theories concerning secret groups trying to control the world by deluding people that the earth is round.
The proof of the sphericity of the earth is not new, and has a long history in which Muslim scholars have made an influential contribution, but because the “flat earth ” has been transformed from ignorance of the nature of science into a conspiracy theory it has been imported along with other famous theories into our Arab world.
Source: Al Jazeera + Websites

Additionally, historical figures such as Samuel Rowbotham and William Carpenter have supported and preached flat Earth theory in England and the US.

However, it is worth noting that no specific public figures or celebrities who support the flat Earth idea are mentioned in the available sources.

Title:

Content: 9 of TikTok's most controversial and viral conspiracies - including Area 51, One Direction and JonBenét Ramsey

These are the top nine viral conspiracy theories which are being discussed on TikTok right now - including theories about celebrities and mythical creatures
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From secret societies to extraterrestrial enigmas, people like to discuss conspiracy theories. There are many things which do not make sense in this world, and some things which have had people stumped for decades. In some cases, people hope to finally uncover the truth behind some unsolved mysteries, and in others they are convinced something is being hidden.

To find out what the most widely discussed conspiracy theories are in 2024, VegasSlotsOnline has analysed the number of TikTok hashtags for over 45 of the biggest conspiracy theories worldwide, to determine the most popular conspiracies of 2024. The following are the nine top theories which have gone viral on the popular social media platform.

Illuminati

The Illuminati were originally a secret society founded in Bavaria in the 1700s, intending to replace Christianity with a “religion of reason”. The group was said to be shut down by the government after a decade, but some conspiracy theorists believe the society still exists today - and not only that it's operating in secret with a plan to take over the world. Famous figures accused of being part of the Illuminati include US presidents, pop singers and actors.

27 club

Despite sounding like a fun, exclusive society, the 27 Club definitely isn’t one you would want to be in. The name refers to a list of celebrities who have also passed away at age 27, including Jimi Hendrix, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Kurt Cobain, and Amy Winehouse, to name just a few.

Area 51

Area 51 refers to a highly classified United States Air Force facility in Nevada, and it’s very real. The conspiracy theories behind it, however, may not be. The base’s top-secret nature has led to a range of wild theories over the years, with the most popular being that it’s used to carry out research on UFOs and extraterrestrial beings that the US government is keeping under wraps.

JonBenét Ramsey is alive

JonBenét Ramsey, aged 6, was supposedly killed in her family home in 1996. Her killer has never been officially identified, but there are many unusual details about the case, such as a ransom note found in the family’s home, that have sparked a range of popular theories over the years. One particularly outlandish theory is that JonBenét has not died and is actually still alive, despite evidence to the contrary.

'Larries'

‘Larries’ are hardcore One Direction fans who support the idea that Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson, former bandmates of the hugely popular boyband, are in a romantic relationship. Despite the two artists repeatedly denying these claims, many fans are still insistent that the band’s former management encouraged the pair to keep their relationship secret. Styles is dating model and actress Taylor Russell. Tomlinson is said to be growing close to his on/off girlfriend Eleanor Calder again.

Murder of John Lennon

Beatles musician John Lennon was fatally shot in December 1980 at the age of 40 by an enraged fan. Ever since, conspiracy theories suggesting that the CIA were involved in his death have sprung up in various places, including books and documentaries. The CIA and FBI kept eyes on Lennon due to his left-wing activism, and theorists have suggested that his murderer, Mark Chapman, was operating on their behalf.

BigFoot

The legend of BigFoot dates back thousands of years and is now a modern household name. Theorists believe that a dangerous ape-like creature exists in the forests of North America, occasionally revealing itself to hikers and campers. Many have shared supposed encounters in the form of giant footprints and blurry photographs, though there is still no credible evidence to prove the creature’s existence.

Planet X

Planet X, sometimes known as the Nibiru cataclysm, is a doomsday conspiracy theory with roots in the early 20th century. Its believers theorise that an undiscovered large planet in our solar system will, at some point, collide with Earth. This hypothetical planet is not recognised in mainstream astronomy, however, and is generally rejected by the scientific community for lacking substantial evidence.

Flat earth

One of social media’s most prevalent conspiracy theories is that the Earth is flat in shape rather than a sphere. Many ‘flat earthers’ reject scientific evidence, such as gravity and satellite imagery, with some even suggesting that governments and corporations are keeping the earth’s flat shape a secret from the masses. The flat earth theory is frequently disproved as it contradicts solid scientific principles.

Title:

Content:     People Are Sharing Debunked Conspiracy Theories That People Believe Anyway, And I Kind Of Can't Believe Some Of These

    "Not only is the entire conspiracy surrounding it completely implausible, it's also so easily defeated. It's just random garbage with a thousand predictions that haven't come true. Just give it up already. Even most doomsday cults give up after four or five faulty predictions."

    Sometimes you hear someone repeat a conspiracy theory that is obviously total nonsense — and it makes you say to yourself, "People still believe that?"

    Redditor u/Gaza1121 recently asked the people of Reddit, "What conspiracy theory is so easily disproven that you don't understand how it's still going?" At the very least, these answers might help people get a clue about a thing or two:

    1. "Flat earth."

    —u/Vivid_Reading_2159

    "I’ve truly never understood what the big conspiracy is about this — who would benefit from lying about the earth being a globe? I understand most other conspiracies and what the purpose that they would serve, but this one is so moronic it’s just beyond me. Why do they think we would be lied to about gravity?"

    —u/PM_ME_YOUR_SUBURBS

    2. "Elvis faked his death. If he was going to do that, wouldn’t he have chosen a more dignified way to go?"

    —u/jb40018

    3. "Dinosaurs never existed."

    —u/Outrageous_Winner663

    4. "That JFK, Jr. didn’t die and was going to come out of hiding to be Trump’s VP."

    —u/jwt0001

    5. "That the Holocaust was a hoax."

    —u/Left-Star2240

    "Eisenhower demanded they photograph and document it because he knew people would try to deny it happened. 'While I was touring the camp I encountered three men who had been inmates and by one ruse or another had made their escape. I interviewed them through an interpreter. The visual evidence and the verbal testimony of starvation, cruelty, and bestiality were so overpowering as to leave me a bit sick. In one room, where [there] were piled up 20 or 30 naked men, killed by starvation, George Patton would not even enter. He said he would get sick if he did so. I made the visit deliberately, in order to be in position to give first-hand evidence of these things if ever, in the future, there develops a tendency to charge these allegations merely to 'propaganda.'"

    —u/bostonwolf

    6. "The moon landing. The entity with the most at stake for the US successfully landing on the moon was the USSR, who also had the ability to track the spacecraft and refute that it landed. They never said a word."

    —u/314159265358979326

    7. "Vaccines cause autism."

    —u/llcucf80

    8. "That the grieving families of children shot in American schools are 'crisis actors.'"

    —u/InverseRatio

    9. "Today I discovered that there's large groups who believe that 9/11 was CGI and there never really were any planes. Hundreds of people in an Instagram post talking about how fake it looks and it's clearly edited. Then I realized anyone under the age of 22 weren't alive for it — and if they're under 25 and they don't remember it, and any teenagers from outside of the tri-state area might not even know anyone who was there."

    —u/Stonewall30nyr

    10. "Obama birtherism. A lot of other bonkers insane conspiracy theories are more insane in a 'supernatural insanity' sense, but they're also so far out there that you can barely apply common sense to them. What would motivate the lizard people? Who knows? They're lizard people! Whereas, let's see, a not-particularly-well-off woman living in Hawaii is pregnant — and the powers that be are somehow aware that her biracial child is someday in the future going to want to run for president."

    —u/Alex_Werner

    11. "Cancer has been cured and big pharma is sitting on it because it is more profitable not to cure cancer. The first problem with this is that there are multiple types of cancer. So there can't be a one size fits all cancer cure. Second is that a cancer cure would be exceedingly profitable for whatever company created it."

    —u/Thick-Worry5028

    12. "QAnon. I mean, they made a fucking documentary series about it and outed its creators. Not only is the entire conspiracy surrounding it completely implausible, it's also so easily defeated. It's just random garbage with a thousand predictions that haven't come true. Just give it up already. Even most doomsday cults give up after four or five faulty predictions."

    —u/Noobeaterz

    13. "Chemtrails."

    —u/you-are-number-6Q

    "I met someone who was into chemtrails — they thought everything was lithium poisoning and that the colors of the sunset was lithium in the atmosphere. They had a good hot dog stand, though."

    —u/SuspiciousStable9649

    14. "Jet fuel is a hoax and airliners run on compressed air."

    —u/Amberskin

    15. "The earth is five thousand years old."

    —u/cblume

    16. "The 2020 election was stolen."

    —u/prodigy1367

    17. "One I see sometimes as a math major, is that 0.999...does not equal 1 in the Real numbers. There are some math quacks out there who adamantly insist, no matter how you prove it to them otherwise, that 0.999...and 1 aren't just two ways of writing the same number."

    —u/bodyknock

    18. "Charles de Gaulle was King Charles's biological father."

    —u/joecoin2

    19. "The Titanic switch. I still have a hard time understanding how there are people that genuinely believe that shit."

    —u/daviepancakes

    And finally...

    20. "The republican party is fiscally conservative and believes in small government."

    —u/Psychogopher

Flat Earth believers use various arguments to prove their point of view, including questioning the curve of the Earth in footage and claiming that the edge of the Earth is visible.

Title:

Content: Virgin Galactic's history-making space launch has left flat Earth conspiracy theorists losing their minds at the surface of the planet.

Fuming conspiracy theorists believe the recent live stream footage of three civilian astronauts heading into space proves they are correct about their claims.

A few comments on the YouTube livestream saw the nutters break through with their wild theories, foaming at the mouth as they pointed out the lack of "oval" in the Earth.

READ MORE: Virgin Galactic's first civilian spaceflight enters space with Olympian onboard

Their comments were drowned out by furious believers in the spherical nature of the planet, telling others not to "feed the flat earth trolls" as they vied for attention.

One mad comment read "THAT DOESNT LOOK LIKE AN OVAL TO ME," while another equally reasonable individual added: "LOOK AT IT??!!! WHERE IS THE CURVE IN THE EARTH?!!"

Their totally sane comments come as the Richard Branson-owned company set off on a history making flight, taking a former Olympian and a mother-daughter duo to the edges of the atmosphere.

The trio' weightless triumph was not all good news though as a small collection of conspiracy-mad individuals believed it was evidence of a flat Earth.

A third tin foil hat wearer added: "This looks like a flat earth to me."

But cooler heads in the comments prevailed, or tried to, as they hit back at those claiming the earth was flat and tried to reason with those responding to the conspiracy nuts.

One person wrote: "Between the flat-Earthies and the anti-woke twits, this chat is a bit of a fail. Congrats to the crew and the passengers and the people who aren't all bottom hurt by other people doing things."

Another added: "Don't feed the flat earth trolls."

But still the conspiracy-mad members of chat pushed on, with some saying "you can literally see the flat edge of earth" while another, quite plainly, wrote: "IT IS FLAT."

For the latest breaking news stories and incredible tales from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletter by clicking here.

They also point out the lack of "oval" in the Earth and claim that the footage proves their flat Earth claims.

What does Tunisian journalist believe in?

However, these arguments are easily disproven by scientific evidence, and the theory is frequently disproved by scientific principles.

Despite this, flat Earth believers continue to exist and are active online, with some individuals believing that governments and corporations hide the Earth's flat shape.

The reasons for the resurgence of the flat Earth idea in the modern, technologically advanced world are not entirely clear, but some possible factors include human isolation and a lack of consciousness.

Additionally, the spread of negative manifestations such as competition and violence can contribute to the appeal of flat Earth theory.

Some people may also be drawn to the idea of a flat Earth due to a desire for familiarity and comfort with old ideas.

Furthermore, the decline in trust in scientists and institutions, particularly among conservatives, may also play a role in the resurgence of conspiracy theories like flat Earth.

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NH News

Who's most likely to be open to conspiracy theories? UNH research points to millennials and Trump supporters

Who are the groups most likely to believe in conspiracy theories? That’s the question a University of New Hampshire researcher recently set out to solve.

Sociology professor Lawrence Hamilton looked into national survey data gauging public beliefs in several conspiracy theories, including: "NASA astronauts did not really land on the Moon" and "The Earth is flat, not round."

After digging into that data, Hamilton found "acceptance or openness to conspiracy beliefs was significantly higher among certain subgroups, including Millennials and supporters of ex-president Trump."

NHPR’s Rick Ganley talked with Hamilton about his findings — and the role social media plays in spreading conspiracy theories. Below is a transcript of their conversation, lightly edited for clarity.

Read more about Hamilton's research here.

Transcript

Rick Ganley: It's worth noting that some of these conspiracy theories are old. Some are more recent. But all of them seemingly were given a boost by social media. And it's not hard to find false information, obviously, about topics online. Did you find it used to be much harder to hear about or be convinced of something like this?

Lawrence Hamilton: Well, I've never asked these questions before, so I don't have my own data. There are Gallup polls going back to the late 1990s that seem to find much smaller fractions of people thinking that the moon landings were faked, for example. So there's some kind of indirect evidence. I don't know if anybody tracked it very well. The number of people who've heard about these theories [that's] rising are the people who are drawn into them. And I'm sure that YouTube and social media — people describe it as a rabbit hole, where if you start watching one video [alleging the Earth is flat], they'll recommend another one for you. And pretty soon it seems like the whole world is all about flat Earth.

Rick Ganley: Your research looked into the political leanings of people who responded. What did you find there?

Lawrence Hamilton: We did find a political correlation, and that wasn't a foregone conclusion, because I had specifically chosen conspiracy theories that are not known to have a clear political [connection]. I mean, there's been a lot of research going back really to the 1960s on the paranoid style in American politics that has found conspiracy theories are more popular among conservatives across a range of issues. In the 1950s, it was conspiracies by Communist infiltration in the U.S. government. Now, it may be conspiracies directed at politicians — [alleging without evidence that former President Barack] Obama is a Muslim, or [President Joe] Biden stole the 2020 election — and others that are targeted at scientists, like climate change is a hoax, COVID-19 is a hoax or COVID precautions or vaccines are a hoax. And I chose none of those. I chose things like: ‘The moon landings were fake,’ or ‘Earth is flat,’ ‘Vaccines implant microchips.’ So it was interesting to find that even there, there's a conservative preference.

Rick Ganley: A lot of this does come down to faith in science and academics and what so-called experts have to say. Do you see this as evidence of a decline in faith in institutions?

Lawrence Hamilton: Well, I would say there's a decline — and this is something we do have data on — there's a wide decline in trust in scientists, and it's largely partisan. It's not so much happening among people who self-identify as liberal or moderate. But among people who identify as conservative or very conservative, there's definitely a decline in trust in scientists. The COVID pandemic was an interesting case in point, because we were actually tracking this on surveys, and trust in the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] took an enormous nosedive over space about four months, specifically among conservatives. Other groups didn't change. But the conservative trust in the CDC took this huge dive when [former President] Donald Trump's tweeting turned from praising the CDC to attacking it. And with that flip, conservative trust in the CDC flipped as well, and nobody else has changed much.

Rick Ganley: Your research also highlighted a pattern having to do with age. Respondents who classify themselves as millennials, that is those born between 1981 and 1996, were the most likely to agree with some of the conspiracies that you posed. And Gen Zs, I guess, were also more inclined than older respondents. What did you find there?

Lawrence Hamilton: Well, some of that corresponded to previous surveys. There's a section at the end of our report where we say, well, how does this compare with what other people have found? Just as a reality check. And that's been reported by a number of other studies as well. So millennials in particular, and Gen Z to a slightly lesser extent, were much less skeptical about the conspiracies compared with boomers or older generations. And one explanation that's been offered for that, well, two explanations: Regarding the moon landings, of course, older generations lived through those and remember the national pride and excitement and so forth, whereas [for] younger generations, it's something in the history books. So maybe they don't have that sense of having been there when it happened. But the other thing is that you could expect younger generations to be more engaged with social media, which for some people could take them down these rabbit holes again.

Rick Ganley: Does your research have any suggestions on how to stop people from believing in conspiracy theories?

Lawrence Hamilton: That's a real hard one because there's this tendency to get into information silos where all you hear are the voices that reinforce your prejudices. And a thing about conspiracies is that they will give you a reason to reject anything that contradicts them. People have been seeing [the science behind] climate change for a long time, [and] you can't go in with fact sheets. That doesn't persuade anybody. They'll just become convinced that you're part of the hoax, too. There aren't any simple answers. The strongest recommendation is that scientists stay engaged in public communication through every channel they have, and that they try to make their conclusions understandable or accessible to people from a lot of different walks of life who obviously are not reading the peer review journals.

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The characteristics of people who are most likely to subscribe to flat Earth beliefs are also not entirely clear, but some research suggests that millennials and Trump supporters are more open to conspiracy theories.

Additionally, conservative preference is found in flat Earth and other conspiracy theories, and the decline in trust in scientists is largely partisan among conservatives.

Younger generations are also less skeptical of conspiracies due to social media, while older generations are more skeptical due to lived experiences.

However, it is worth noting that no specific characteristics of flat Earth believers are mentioned in some of the available sources.

In terms of the online presence of flat Earth believers, social media plays a significant role in spreading conspiracy theories.

Flat Earth believers are active on platforms such as YouTube, where they comment on videos and share their beliefs.

They are also opposed by spherical Earth believers, who try to debunk their theories and provide evidence to support the fact that the Earth is round.

However, despite the overwhelming evidence against it, flat Earth conspiracy theorists continue to exist and are active online.

The search engine results for "flat earth" queries also provide some insight into the online presence of flat Earth believers.

Title:

Content: A Comparative Algorithm Audit of Conspiracies on the Net: Resultsby@browserology

A Comparative Algorithm Audit of Conspiracies on the Net: Results

Too Long; Didn't Read

A comparative algorithm audit of the distribution of conspiratorial information in search results across five search engines.

This paper is available on arxiv under CC 4.0 license.

Authors:

(1) Aleksandra Urman, She is a corresponding author from Department of Informatics, University of Zurich, Switzerland;

(2) Mykola Makhortykh, Institute of Communication and Media Studies, University of Bern, Switzerland;

(3) Roberto Ulloa, GESIS - Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften, Germany;

(4) Juhi Kulshrestha, Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Konstanz, Germany.

Results

Prevalence of conspiratorial information in web search results

We present the results of our analysis on the prevalence of information with different stances towards conspiracy theories (RQ1) per engine across all locations, collection rounds and queries in Figure 1, and disaggregated per query-engine-location in Figures 2-7 (Figures 2-4 correspond to the observations from March 2021; Figures 5-7 - from May 2021).

Location-based and temporal differences

The shares of content with different stances towards conspiracy theories vary widely across SEs and queries, but less so across different locations and waves. These observations indicate that our findings are not highly dependent on a specific location or time frame - at least when it comes to English-speaking locations and periods of observation that are relatively close to each other.

Engine-based differences

The only search engine that consistently did not return links promoting conspiracy theories is Google (see Figure 1), except for small shares of content promoting conspiracies in relation to the “new world order” query in May for the two US locations (Figure 5 and 6). The share of conspiracy-debunking content on Google was similar to that of other SEs for the most queries. At the same time, Google had the highest share of content that did not mention conspiracy theories at all, thus its users were less likely to be exposed to any conspiracy-related information.

The search engine with the highest proportion of conspiracy-promoting content was Yandex, while the remaining three engines - Bing, Yahoo and DuckDuckGo - were somewhere in-between Google and Yandex, with Yahoo having lower shares of content without mentions of conspiracy theories compared to the others but the highest proportion of conspiracy-debunking content. There were minor variations between the three with Yahoo having slightly lower shares of conspiratorial content. The similarities between Bing, Yahoo and DuckDuckGo are, perhaps, to be expected since Yahoo and DuckDuckGo are partially powered by Bing’s search algorithms and results.

Query-based differences

We observed evident discrepancies in the shares of content with different stances towards conspiracy theories across queries. Results for “9/11” contained the lowest shares of conspiracy-promoting content across all engines except Yahoo where, depending on the location and collection round, the share of conspiratorial content - e.g., that 9/11 was an “inside job” - reached close to 50%. No search engine returned results debunking conspiracy theories related to 9/11 but that arguably can be connected to the data void on this - i.e., there is content promoting either the official version or the conspiratorial one, with the former stating facts, but not debunking the latter.

The queries “george soros” and “new world order” are the other two queries for which relatively high shares of content that does not mention conspiracy theories were returned. For both queries,

we observed comparatively low (<20% for “new world order” and <30% for “george soros”) shares of content promoting conspiracy theories on all engines except Yandex. There is also a difference between the results returned for these two queries. For “george soros”, more results debunking conspiracy theories were returned, with no results that would simply mention the theories. For “new world order”, we observed few debunking results but relatively high proportions of results that simply mentioned the theory - i.e., that there is an emerging secret totalitarian world government - without a clear stance towards it.

Finally, the queries that attracted the highest shares of conspiracy-related content were “illuminati”, “flat earth” and “qanon”. For “qanon” we retrieved mostly content debunking the theory - with the exception of Yandex. Bing, DuckDuckGo and Yahoo contained comparatively low (up to 25%) proportions of conspiracy-promoting content. There was no content without any mentions of the conspiracy theory on either of the engines, which is perhaps to be expected given that “qanon” is a rather unambiguous term. With “illuminati” and “flat earth” the shares of conspiracy-promoting content were high on all SEs (except Google). Yandex, like with other queries, contained the highest shares of conspiracy-promoting links, whereas Bing, DuckDuckGo and Yahoo, depending on the location and the wave, displayed between 25% and 50% of conspiracy-promoting results. While with “flat earth” information debunking the conspiracy - i.e., listing arguments why the Earth is not flat, - was commonly displayed across all SEs, for “illuminati” conspiracy-debunking results were much less prevalent (except for Google).

Some of our expectations outlined in the “Methodology” section were not supported by the analysis. Notably, the search results regarding “illuminati” (a subject surrounded by many conspiracy theories) contained more conspiracy-promoting information than the results for “new world order” (query naming a particular conspiracy theory). Qualitatively, we have established that the non-conspiracy-related results displayed for “new world order” were referring to this concept in the context of international relations (e.g., Slaughter’s (2012) article in Foreign Affairs that was featured in Google’s search results). In the case of “illuminati”, we attribute the high shares of conspiracy-promoting content to the wide spread of the related conspiracy theory and frequent references to it in popular culture (e.g., Dan Brown’s books).

Prioritization of different types of sources in search rankings

In relation to RQ2, we first present the results of the analysis of the shares of sources of different types across all queries-locations-waves (Figure 8), and then disaggregated per engine-query-location-wave combination (Figures 9-11 correspond to March 2021; Figures 12-14 correspond to May 2021). Finally, in Figure 15 we present the share of content with different stances per source type, aggregated across all SEs and queries for each of the two data collection rounds.

Location-based and temporal differences

Similar to the observations on the search results’ stances towards conspiracy theories, we did not find major differences across locations and collection rounds. The only obvious difference relates to the prevalence of scientific sources: their share was higher in the UK than in the two other locations, and it was higher in March 2021 than in May 2021.

Engine-based differences

Our observations regarding the source types partially echo the findings on the content with different stances towards conspiracy theories reported above. Specifically, Google is the only search engine that did not return links to conspiracy-dedicated websites, while Yandex had the highest share of such links (Figure 8). Additionally, Google’s results contained the biggest proportion of links to scientific sources, while those were absent on Yandex. In turn, Yandex was the engine with the highest share of links to social media in the results. Bing, Yahoo and DuckDuckGo contained similar shares of links to sources of different types with some differences for specific queries (e.g., Yahoo had fewer results from the media in response to “9/11” query than the other engines).

Query-based differences

For all queries except “flat earth” the outputs of SEs contained rather high shares of links to media and reference websites (e.g., Wikipedia pages), which is in line with what previous research found for queries related to COVID-19 (Makhortykh et al., 2020) or elections in the US (Kulshrestha et al., 2019; Urman et al., 2021). There were, however, some query-based discrepancies. For instance, for “qanon” the results had the highest shares of links to media, perhaps due to the intense media coverage of QAnon at the time of the data collection . The variations in the distribution of conspiracy websites across engines were similar to what we observe with regard to conspiracy stances: “flat earth”-related results had the highest shares of conspiracy websites, followed by “illuminati” and “qanon”, while for the other three queries conspiracy websites were less prevalent.

Source types vs stances towards conspiracy theories

With regard to the shares of content with different stances towards conspiracy theories across source types (Figure 15), the observations within the two periods are rather similar, once again indicating the robustness of the findings against (short-term) temporal changes. Expectedly, all conspiracy-dedicated websites contained only information promoting conspiracy theories. Additionally, conspiratorial information was often present on social media that aligns with existing research on conspiratorial content spread online (e.g., Bessi et al., 2015; Stano, 2020). Among all other source types, the share of conspiracy-promoting content was the highest among websites in the “other” category. This included, for example, links to the webpages of individual books dedicated to specific conspiracy theories on Amazon webstore. There were very few media and reference sources that promoted conspiracy theories; instead, both source types predominantly either mentioned conspiracy theories or provided information unrelated to conspiracies. Media websites also contained high proportions of conspiracy-debunking content but the highest share of such information came from scientific websites.

The minor share of conspiracy theory-promoting information coming from scientific sources (see March 2021 observations in Figure 13) corresponds to one link to a peer-reviewed article from an academic journal in which the author postulated that International Relations scholars should question the official version regarding the September 11, 2001 attacks and backed this statement with the arguments coming from the “9/11 truth movement”[3]. For ethical reasons, we refrain from citing that particular paper here to not promote the conspiracy further.

[3] “9/11 truth movement” refers to loosely connected individuals and groups that support conspiracy theories questioning the official version of the September 11, 2001 attacks (see more on the movement and related theories in Wood and Douglas, 2013)

For example, Yandex search engine has the highest proportion of conspiracy-promoting content, while Google search engine has the lowest proportion.

Additionally, "flat earth" queries have high shares of conspiracy-promoting content on all search engines except Google.

However, conspiracy-debunking content is commonly displayed for "flat earth" queries across all search engines.

In conclusion, the contemporary Internet-era flat Earth believers are a group of individuals who promote the idea that the Earth is flat, despite overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary.

While some organizations and individuals promote this belief, specific details about these organizations are not readily available.

Flat Earth believers use various arguments to prove their point of view, but these arguments are easily disproven by scientific evidence.

The reasons for the resurgence of the flat Earth idea are not entirely clear, but possible factors include human isolation, the spread of negative manifestations, and the decline in trust in scientists and institutions.

Overall, the flat Earth movement is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon that requires further research and study.