# Have their been any American Conspiracy Theories That Were True? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 10, 2007, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-their-been-any-american-conspiracy-theories-that-were-true/387374 "2007-01-10T03:56:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eric79](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f08c70/32.png) [@Eric79](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eric79)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-their-been-any-american-conspiracy-theories-that-were-true/387374/1 "2007-01-10T03:56:15Z")
I’ve been reading conspiracy theories about 9/11, the Kennedy Assasination etc Got me to thinking have their ever been any conspiracy theories in America that have later prove to pan out to be true or mostly true. I realize what keeps a theory of conspiracy going is mostly cause it can be proven true, but can’t be proven false either. I guess I was looking for something along the lines of that lady Martha Mitchell. Not her cases exactly but one everyone thought it was too far out to be accurate ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-their-been-any-american-conspiracy-theories-that-were-true/387374/2 "2007-01-10T03:57:56Z")
Watergate comes to mind. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-their-been-any-american-conspiracy-theories-that-were-true/387374/3 "2007-01-10T07:51:34Z")
[QUOTE=Colibri] Watergate comes to mind. [/QUOTE] But while Watergate was a real conspiracy, it was exposed in relatively short order. Within 2 years of the burglary, Nixon resigned. It’s not as if Nixon got away clean, and conspiracy buffs were still huddled together 30 years later speculating on what “really” happened at the Watergate hotel. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-their-been-any-american-conspiracy-theories-that-were-true/387374/4 "2007-01-10T08:05:32Z")
dude, they’re all true ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-their-been-any-american-conspiracy-theories-that-were-true/387374/5 "2007-01-10T08:10:14Z")
There was the whole Black Sox deal… > **[Black Sox Scandal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sox_scandal)** > > The Black Sox Scandal was a Major League Baseball game-fixing scandal in which eight members of the Chicago White Sox were accused of throwing the 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for money from a gambling syndicate led by Arnold Rothstein. As a response, the National Baseball Commission was dissolved and Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis was appointed to be the first Commissioner of Baseball, and given absolute control over the sport to restore its integrity. > Despite acqu... ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-their-been-any-american-conspiracy-theories-that-were-true/387374/6 "2007-01-10T08:52:29Z")
We let you uncover the occasional real but trivial conspiracy every now and again. It keeps you happy and stops you looking too hard for the real ones. ---
**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-their-been-any-american-conspiracy-theories-that-were-true/387374/7 "2007-01-10T08:52:39Z")
There was the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Besides John Wilkes Booth, there were eight other conspirators. They had planned to kill Abraham Lincoln, William H. Seward and Andrew Johnson. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-their-been-any-american-conspiracy-theories-that-were-true/387374/8 "2007-01-10T08:56:20Z")
[QUOTE=Eric79] I realize what keeps a theory of conspiracy going is mostly cause it can be proven true, but can’t be proven false either. [/QUOTE] Actually, I think it’s more often the case that they _can_ be demonstrated to be false, but that the conspiracy nuts _aren’t amenable to reason_. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-their-been-any-american-conspiracy-theories-that-were-true/387374/9 "2007-01-10T09:17:32Z")
One of the things I love about conspiracies is the way: 1/ any evidence in favour of the conspiracy shows that it is true (of course) 2/ lack of evidence for the conspiracy is _just what you’d expect_ because, you know, it’s a _conspiracy_ and you’d hardly expect them to leave evidence lying around, and 3/ evidence against the conspiracy is _just what you’d expect_ because, you know, it’s a _conspiracy_ and “they” would be bound to cover it up, wouldn’t they? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-their-been-any-american-conspiracy-theories-that-were-true/387374/10 "2007-01-10T09:52:01Z")
I enjoy how the conspiracy theory nuts never seem to wonder how it is they’re still alive. If the conspirators are completely black-hearted and malignant and will stop at nothing to protect their conspiracy, why aren’t they killing anyone who talks about it? Certainly they would get away with it. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-their-been-any-american-conspiracy-theories-that-were-true/387374/11 "2007-01-10T11:00:56Z")
The chief defining characteristic of a conspiracy theory is that is can never be proved either way. This is what gives it its longevity, and provides so much scope for cheap paperbacks, shoddy TV shows, journalism that’s a stain on the word ‘journalism’ and websites from the planet wacko. Hence to ask for a conspiracy theory that, in the end, was proved to be ‘true’ is, to some extent, to ask for something to have a characteristic it can never have. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-their-been-any-american-conspiracy-theories-that-were-true/387374/12 "2007-01-10T11:07:55Z")
[QUOTE=ianzin] The chief defining characteristic of a conspiracy theory is that is can never be proved either way. [/QUOTE] I don’t think so. If you’d said _it cannot be proven either way, to the conspiracy nut_, I’d have agreed; the persistence of conspiracy theories is more an attribute of the characters of the people promoting them, rather than any intrinsic property of the ideas themselves. For example, every piece of so-called evidence in the moon landing conspiracy theory can be adequately explained - and often the explanations are really straighforward, but the conspiracy theory isn’t going away, because the people promoting it are not amenable to reason. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-their-been-any-american-conspiracy-theories-that-were-true/387374/13 "2007-01-10T12:41:09Z")
But **Mange** , explaining away every piece of so called evidence for the moon landing conspiracy doesn’t mean it isn’t right. It just means that those pieces of evidence are explained away. Explaining them away just means there’s an absence of evidence, which isn’t evidence of etc… ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-their-been-any-american-conspiracy-theories-that-were-true/387374/14 "2007-01-10T12:53:50Z")
Well, this train has run off the rails in spectacular fashion. Focus, people. How about Area 51? For decades, the government denied that any such facility existed, even though everybody and his brother knew that it was there. Recently they’ve admitted that, yes, the Groom Lake facility exists and is what is popularly known as “Area 51.” Apparently, this where the Air Force’s latest and greatest stuff is tested before they publicly announce its existance. Given that, it’s not hard to imagine how all the nonsense about alien spacecraft arose; there must have been some pretty odd stuff flying around out there over the years. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-their-been-any-american-conspiracy-theories-that-were-true/387374/15 "2007-01-10T12:54:20Z")
I think you’re probably joking, but yes, explaining them _does_ mean it isn’t right. If I say that I have ten startling pieces of evidence and from examining these, I have discovered that the moon is made of cheese, then you systematically debunk every one of my ten pieces of evidence, then I have no reason, other than personal investment in the idea, to persist in saying the moon is made of cheese. And that’s the problem with conspiracy theories (and pseudoscience in general) - it doesn’t begin with the evidence, it begins with the wacky idea, then goes looking for evidence that can be (mis)interpreted as supporting it. ---
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-their-been-any-american-conspiracy-theories-that-were-true/387374/16 "2007-01-10T15:46:27Z")
**Mangetout** , zoom all the way in. [http://moon.google.com/](http://moon.google.com/) ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-their-been-any-american-conspiracy-theories-that-were-true/387374/17 "2007-01-10T16:13:21Z")
Screw Kennedy: What I want to know: WHO murdered President Zachary Taylor! 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-their-been-any-american-conspiracy-theories-that-were-true/387374/18 "2007-01-10T16:36:56Z")
Some of the coSome conspiracy theories involving the CIA are basically true. The CIA got hooked up with the United Fruit Company (now Chiquita Banana of all things.) For decades, especially in the 1950’s, they paired up to control the development of several Central and South American countries including Guatemala. The operations needed to do this included assassinations, drug smuggling, and arms smuggling. Iran Contra was an offshoot of this same type of activity except directed at the Middle East. Bad CIA! Bad Bad! There is a persistent urban legend that the CIA introduced drugs like crack into black neighborhoods. While those details may not be true, the CIA never seemed to have a problem with drug smuggling higher up the supply chain. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-their-been-any-american-conspiracy-theories-that-were-true/387374/19 "2007-01-10T16:58:07Z")
If I told you, I’d have to kill you… ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-their-been-any-american-conspiracy-theories-that-were-true/387374/20 "2007-01-10T17:03:22Z")
[The business plot](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/051118.html)? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-their-been-any-american-conspiracy-theories-that-were-true/387374.md?page=2)