LOL. Except that there is no equivalent of the plan Andinia for the Welsh. Maybe because they settled here about 150 years ago.
There’s a conspiracy theory in Russia that Tsar Alexander I didn’t really die in 1825. He died of a sudden disease while visiting a remote part of Russia. The theory is he faked his death and went off the become a monk named Feodor Kuzmich and lived until 1864.
:smack:
I just realized what was the putschist’s mistake. Instead of Tejero, they should have sent a trio of blonde vedettes to Parliament…
Oh, trying to figure who killed him isn’t insane - someone did shoot the man, and Christer Petterson was indeed found innocent in the end.
Some of the theories are pretty unhinged, though. Like the one claiming that Mrs. Palme did it herself, in order to symbolically “kill the patriarchy,” thus paving the way for a feminist take-over of the country. Among the “evidence” presented? A photo of Mrs. Palme and a random female politician smiling to one another. These feminists are, in turn, connected to the Scientologists. Who in turn, belong to a shadowy cabal including - surprise, surprise! - “Jewish lobby groups, homosexuals, Rotary, several churches, noblemen and royal families.”
The case just… Naturally attracts kooks, I guess.
On the grounds of Lund University, a nice old couple would - for decades - stand holding placards naming and shaming Palme’s supposed true killer: Some random guy from the husband’s hometown. They were both very kind - I stopped to talk to them once, trying to figure out what their deal was. Wasn’t long before the gentleman explained to me that the CIA had secretly been running Sweden since some specific date in the mid 1850’s. The 1850’s.
It was sunk. That’s the idea. Possibly torpedoed by a U-boat, because of secret cargo. Radioactive, maybe? Or else it was a secret arms shipment from the former Soviet Union. Maybe osmium and kobolt, to be used by the Americans for their Strategic Defense Initiative. Or maybe it was biological weapons, en route to NATO.
Others believe the ship wasn’t torpedoed by a U-boat, but (accidentally) collided with one - possibly an American one, there to spy on the ex-Soviet states. Some believe that Estonia’s captain was mysteriously murdered - shot to death on the deck of his ship - just moments before it sank.
And, unsurprisingly, there are those who try to connect the Estonia disaster with… the Palme assassination. Here’s one example of that, displaying impeccable logic:
So there’s that.
According to Bill Bryson, Melbourne erected a memorial to Holt: a public swimming pool. Yet more evidence of Australia being one of the coolest nations on the globe.
Well *I’m *convinced. Evidence doesn’t get much clearer than that. Even THEY can’t fake math.
:smack: Morons.
After the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, I remember reading claims from (presumably Indonesian) wingnuts who claimed that the United States was responsible.
Because of course we have a magical earthquake machine, and decided to use it to cause a random disaster instead of… I dunno… drop a 9.4 quake on Iraq or North Korea and shake them back to the stone age.
Well, that was an interesting read! What a bizarre series of events…!
And reading the linked Wikipedia article, I find what must be one of the best wet dreams of any conspiracy theorist worth his or her salt:
"<…> In 2006, in the south of France, the homes of several notorious criminals were searched in order to find a new lead. Among these suspects was the criminal and former Gendarmerie member Madani Bouhouche, who died a few months before the house-search in a chainsaw accident while cutting a tree in his garden<…>"
…
And the accident was a decapitation.
<neo>Whoa…</neo>
The man actually died in a bizarre gardening accident? They probably decided it was one of those things that was best left…unsolved.
Clearly my fat fingers still shake with rage after twenty years…
I’ve been trying to think of an Irish one, but we don’t really do conspiracy theories. There’s a general assumption that our government would make a total bollix of any conspiracy, plus at least three people would tell their cousin down the pub and the country is so small that everyone knows everyone and we’d all find out within the week. I’m pretty OK with this. It would be sort of scary to be American and know that your government is actually capable of getting real shit done.
The only thing I can think of is the near-universal belief that all our political parties are old boys’ networks that exist solely to get their members as much money/power/cushy jobs/eye-boggling retirement packages as possible, but that doesn’t count because it’s basically true (with occasional exceptions).
Some Irish people do borrow conspiracy theories from elsewhere - Jim Corr of The Corrs believes that September 11th was an inside job, for example - but we’re not very good at coming up with our own.
Yes, the Brabant killers case is both fascinating, horrifying and heart-breaking.
Fascinating because of the apparent senselessness of the whole thing. 28 ordinary people shot dead for some cash? People killed although they didn’t represent a threat to the attackers? People shot in the back while fleeing the scene? This looks more terrorist actions than “typical” robber behaviour. It’s also pretty mysterious. The events unfolded in two waves, one in 1982-1983 and a much shorter but deadlier one in 1985. Then it all stopped.
Over the years, the mystery has deepened. Some people have been arrested then released without being charged. Some have “conveniently” died. The same names have surfaced then disappeared then resurfaced years or even decades later. From time to time, some new evidence is found but it contradicts the narrative that had been accepted until then. Some promising leads are discovered but lead to… nothing.
I’ve mentioned some of the most prominent conspiracy theories that have appeared about the case (disgruntled paratroopers and/or far-right activists attempting to destabilize Belgium) but there are others. Targeted murders camouflaged in a bloodbath? Most of the victims were ordinary citizens going about their business but some were not: one was a banker who had been involved in some shady dealings for instance. Some people have also pointed out that the two waves of attacks were separated by 666 days of silence leading them to conclude that they were the works of satanists. The list goes on…
The whole thing is also heart-breaking. There is a story that has haunted ever since I heard it. On November 9th 1985, a family of four was walking towards the supermarket. On the parking lot, they saw a man coming out of the shadows and pointing a gun at them. The 10 year-old daughter screamed: “Don’t shoot! It’s my daddy.” Both of them were shot dead immediately. The attackers then killed the mom and shot at the boy nine (!) times. The killers then shot an additional 5 people at the store. That was their last attack.
“Don’t shoot! It’s my daddy.” Try not to have these words echoing in your head when you go to sleep. Seriously WTF 
?
Jesus…
Yeah, that one - “the killers of Brabant” - is genuinely unsettling. For the life of me, I just can’t wrap my head around it.
Robbers rob, and I guess generally don’t kill unless they feel they have to - but these guys didn’t even rob all that much, and seemingly went out of their way to kill as many as they could. Terrorists terrorise - but pretty much always claim responsibility. Serial killers, spree killers and rampage killers all kill - but I’ve never heard of three such people working together, not like this anyway. It just makes no sense whatsoever. So damn creepy.
Wasn’t the theory at one point that during the last attack, one of “the killers of Brabant” had been fatally wounded by police bullets, and been buried by the other two in a nearby forest? (Though the body was, of course, never found?)
I can think of a few Irish conspiracy theories although US ones are probably more popular due to their seeming world historical importance.
Off the top of my head:
-
Knock Airport being built with CIA money, the runway was supposedly extra long to accommodate US bombers. I believe Christy Moore had a song where he mentions it.
-
Omagh Bombing being allowed happen by parties within the NI/British establishment for some reason, something along the lines of copperfastening peace.
-
Fluoride in the water because mind control or something.
-
Most recent, and stupidest, that brick thrower at water protests was a Garda (police) agent provocateur.
My friends in Belfast have heard loads of them but I can’t think of any right this minute.
I think #3 is borrowed from elsewhere, not homegrown. I’ve heard it more from US sources.
I’d never heard #1, but that’s good stuff.
I have heard stuff about agents provocateurs at the water protests, but I can’t think of any reason why the Gardaí would bother. I think there are definitely undercover guards in among the protesters, but they’re keeping an eye on things and checking out who’s there, not throwing bricks.
Number 3 may have its origins in US but because Republic Of Ireland adds fluoride and this all dovetails with the water protests it has more play here than in most other countries I think. Someone on Twitter once told me the specific chemical factory (in Kilkenny I think) where all the evil fluoride was manufactured. IIRC it was partly a money making racket, getting rid of otherwise useless chemicals and with added benefit of mind control or poisoning us or something :o.
Well, I haven’t really followed the whole thing. My posts were based on recollections from childhood and a few things I’ve read here and there. There have been way too many contradictory developments in the past 30 years for me to keep track. Some do: there are - unsurprisingly - several forums dedicated to the case, most of them in French or Dutch of course. Bring tinfoil, though.
Having said that, what you’ve pointed out is right. It seems that one of the attackers was seriously wounded by a policeman who also happened to be a shooting instructor. The latter is pretty sure that he hit the one that witnesses called The Killer* and I suppose that we can take him at his words. It was also revealed years later that people had seen two men standing next to a car looking at a third man lying on the ground in a forest not far from the last attack. They only came forward in 2003 I think. That may explain why it all stopped after November 1985.
- Even the nicknames that witnesses came up with for the three main attackers are creepy: The Giant, The Killer (23 of the 28 murders are attributed to him) and The Old Man.
A while back I listened to a book on conspiracy theories, which mentioned the case of Hilda Murrell in the UK. She was a rose grower and an anti-nuclear activist. She was murdered in 1984, apparently by two local criminals. However, conspiracy theories developed, including one that says she was murdered to silence her anti-nuclear activism, and another that somehow connects her death to her nephew’s supposed actions in the Falklands War. Do any CTs about her have any traction in the UK these days?
I’m American but Latin America has always had CTs about US involvement in local political upheaval - easily believed because a number of them proved to be true. Most outlandish is HAARP project causing cancer among various socialist leaders. See also HAARP causing earthquakes, floods, pestilence, etc… around the world.
If it was that “good”; why did it get shut down? Or was it shut down?
In Defence of Conspiracy Theories: With Examples from Irish and International History and Politics[Paperback]
Brian Nugent (Author)