# Weirdest belief/idea you've encountered **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 22, 2021, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485 "2021-12-22T18:09:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/81 "2022-01-04T19:00:38Z")
> [@Drum\_God](#): > > The show said that the first man-made object to enter Earth orbit was this manhole cover. I had heard that manhole cover story from a number of sources, and a quick Googling shows that it’s certainly a persistent tale. Unfortunately, it looks like the story grew out of some back of the envelope math that [deliberately didn’t take the atmosphere into account.](https://gizmodo.com/no-a-nuclear-explosion-did-not-launch-a-manhole-cover-1715340946) > Brownlee wasn’t interested in what happened to the cap, and so pretended that the atmosphere didn’t exist. When the cap wasn’t found, he put it out of his head, figuring it had vaporized in the atmosphere. It was only later, when he both got credit for the world’s first space launch and criticism for not taking the atmosphere into account when he calculated the velocity of the cap, that he realized the legend of the cap that got launched at “six times the escape velocity from earth,” had taken on a life of its own. ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/82 "2022-01-04T19:35:41Z")
Huh. I don’t think I had heard the story before. I had no idea it had a grain of sort-of truth to it. I cannot imagine how something going that fast could survive passing through the atmosphere. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/83 "2022-01-04T19:37:29Z")
I know squat about this area of science, so would it be reasonable to assume that the faster something went through the atmosphere the hotter it would become? ---
**Author:** ![billy-jack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@billy-jack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billy-jack)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/84 "2022-01-04T22:01:37Z")
Manhole covers have so much mass that they probably wouldn’t get all that hot. Even meteors coming in much faster will generally only heat up on the surface. I would be surprised if it made it into space, though. To go into space, everything would probably have to be just about perfect. It could easily have gone in pretty much any direction and could be hundreds of miles away. A certain basalt around here that is fairly common was ejected from a volcano hundreds of miles away some millions of years ago and can be found at distances a fair bit further from the volcano than here. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/85 "2022-01-04T23:50:20Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > The scary thing is that he was a political science major and had aspirations of running for political office. And that man’s name…was Mike Pence. Now you know…the rest of the story. Good… DAY ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/86 "2022-01-04T23:53:49Z")
I used to have a friend that believed reincarnation was a fact, but only a _specific_ highly unique version of reincarnation, that as far as I can tell, only she believed in. But she was absolutely certain she was correct. She would brook no dissent. ---
**Author:** ![Limmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2022, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/87 "2022-01-05T17:38:09Z")
> [@Drum\_God](#): > > Huh. I don’t think I had heard the story before. I had no idea it had a grain of sort-of truth to it. I cannot imagine how something going that fast could survive passing through the atmosphere. There is a bit of info, even on this forum, about the famous “manhole cover maybe blasted into space” [https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atomic-manhole-in-orbit/429809/3](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atomic-manhole-in-orbit/429809/3) (Contains further links to more discussion) [https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across/851674/1639](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across/851674/1639) ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2022, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/88 "2022-01-05T19:59:30Z")
The end of Steven Seagals 1994 movie On Deadly Ground ends with a long speech by Seagal where be unironically claims there is technology out there for you to run your car engine on water for cheap, but the oil cartels have paid off the government so those engines aren’t released. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2022, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/89 "2022-01-05T20:23:20Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Then after eating it they’d say “if you can eat butter comfortably like that it means you will never get cancer.” Challenge accepted! > [@CairoCarol](#): > > I’ve posted this before, but I once was stuck in a car for several hours with a fairly high up official from the State Department who told me, in all apparent seriousness, that he was a direct descendent of Jesus Christ (think the premise from Dan Brown’s Davinci Code - he basically told me the same thing, a few years before the book came out). > > I suppose he could have been pulling my leg, but I don’t think so. It made for a pretty uncomfortable ride, because although I was not a State Department employee myself, his role vis-a-vis mine was such that he could have easily gotten me fired if I’d offended him. Dan Brown is obviously a hack and that extends to his ideas not just his writing style. He in no way made up the premise of _The da Vinci Code._ The claim that the Merovingian Kings descended from Jesus and Mary Magdalene came from _The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail_ which came out 20 years before Brown’s book. You DoS acquaintance probably believed it. The problem is the original book has little or no proof even though its put forth as nonfiction. Also any modern genealogical link to the Merovingian Dynasty appears to be tenuous at best. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2022, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/90 "2022-01-05T20:33:51Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > He in no way made up the premise of _The da Vinci Code._ Yeah, when I realized that the idea preceded Dan Brown, the situation made more sense to me. What originally happened is that I was overwhelmed and preoccupied with 9 million different activities at the time the State Department guy told me the story. I was juggling so much that a few days later I completely forgot about the episode. Then, a few years later a friend was reading the Dan Brown book and he told me enthusiastically about the plot. At that point the crazy monologue in the car came rushing back to me. Initially, I was extremely confused as the event with the State Department guy occurred long before the book came out. Of course, you’re right that the story long predated Dan Brown, and my State Department guy had no doubt acquired his delusion from the same sources Brown used. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2022, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/91 "2022-01-05T21:33:15Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > Being a yarmulke wearer, I’m very familiar with false beliefs about Jews- One of my high school friends said she had a Campus Crusade for Christ kid ask to see her horns. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2022, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/92 "2022-01-06T06:57:11Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > > [@pkbites](#): > > > > Then after eating it they’d say “if you can eat butter comfortably like that it means you will never get cancer.” > > Challenge accepted! I don’t understand your challenge. Do you eat blobs of butter or do you challenge the notion tht doing so means one won’t get cancer. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2022, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/93 "2022-01-06T08:55:04Z")
“Coors Light has so little alcohol in it I drink it to just stay hydrated during the day. That’s why I drink 12 cans a day, if I actually wanted to get drunk I’d be drinking Whiskey.” ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2022, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/94 "2022-01-06T09:14:26Z")
Well, it is like making love on a canoe. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2022, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/95 "2022-01-06T10:16:17Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > My favorite weird Ann Landers letter was the woman who said, “My husband burns the hair out of his nose with a lighted match, and he thinks I’m crazy because I voted for Goldwater.” To be fair, my barber burns the hair off my ears with an open flame. It’s weird and terrifying. But the nose? No. That’s a waxing. A painful, painful waxing. > [@billy-jack](#): > > When NASA was getting ready to launch the Parker Solar Probe, someone expressed the opinion that this was a great mistake because if something went wrong, it could fall into the sun and then anything could happen. If I remember correctly, one concern was that it might put out the sun. Reminds me of the BBT episode where the boys bounce a laser off a reflector on the moon and Zach is worried the laser will “blow up the moon”. Leonard reassures him that the laser is “set to ‘stun’”. I used to have a co-worker who, although extremely capable, was very concrete and compartmentalized in his thinking. So he was an excellent auditor (his main job), but also believed the moon landings were faked and that he had been abducted by aliens in his sleep. I managed to debunk his reasoning for these, but not to actually convince him that they weren’t so nonetheless. And that’s not even getting into the friends and family with the weird beliefs about COVID/Trump/etc. Let’s not get started on that. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2022, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/96 "2022-01-06T12:43:56Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > But the nose? No. That’s a waxing. A painful, painful waxing. 😮 The hair inside the nostrils are connected to the back of your eyeballs. YTF would anyone wax them when a cheap nose hair clipper cuts them down painlessly? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2022, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/97 "2022-01-06T13:53:22Z")
Fun story: the first time my barber did it, he didn’t even ask. He just coated two Qtip-type things with warm black wax and, before I could say anything, stuck them up my nose. At this point it was a little late to object. After a minute, he suddenly grabbed and yanked them both out in one swift movement. Freaking **ow**. But it did tidy up the nosehairs, I must admit. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2022, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/98 "2022-01-06T14:08:20Z")
I don’t know anyone who believes this personally (maybe I should get out more) but I came across this idea online: [Birds Arent Real – Birds Aren’t Real](https://birdsarentreal.com/) The premise is that all birds in the United States were killed in the late 20th century and replaced by surveillance drones. I am not sure whether this is some kind of weird joke / marketing stunt (there does seem to be a lot of stuff for sale on that site) or if they really believe this. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2022, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/99 "2022-01-06T14:56:04Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > I am not sure whether this is some kind of weird joke / marketing stunt (there does seem to be a lot of stuff for sale on that site) or if they really believe this. The former. Its founders have given interviews making this clear. [NY Times article.](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/09/technology/birds-arent-real-gen-z-misinformation.html) [Non-paywalled quotes from Times article.](https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20211211/11500148100/birds-arent-real-kids-are-not-so-susceptible-to-conspiracy-theories-their-parents-other-hand.shtml)[Commentary on the Times article.](https://news.artnet.com/opinion/curiosities-birds-arent-real-google-indie-aesthetics-2048616) ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2022, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/100 "2022-01-06T15:04:54Z")
When I was a kid my neighbor told me that they turn off lights and appliances when there’s lightning nearby. He said to me, “If you are using a lot of electricity in your house, your house is more likely to be struck by lightning.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485.md?page=6)