# What's the maddest conspiracy theory you've heard? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 5, 2015, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-maddest-conspiracy-theory-youve-heard/721703 "2015-06-05T13:36:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/22080_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2016, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-maddest-conspiracy-theory-youve-heard/721703/81 "2016-06-13T12:22:32Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > In answer to any “government conspiracy” idea: I’ve worked with the government. They couldn’t organize a conspiracy to convince people that botulism will kill you. I spent 37 years in or working for the Navy in a variety of positions, including some that required pretty high security clearances. Part of that time was in the Pentagon. The idea that the “government” or the “military” exist as lock-stepped, single-minded organizations capable of creating and maintaining any sort of conspiracy, well, it does give me the giggles. But then, that’s what you’d expect me to say, right? ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2016, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-maddest-conspiracy-theory-youve-heard/721703/82 "2016-06-13T16:47:55Z")
David Icke played in goal for Coventry City (soccer) and then went on to be a sports reporter for the BBC. He always seemed like a fairly down to earth kind of chap before he started spouting all the lizard nonsense. Still, I’ll bet he’s worth a fair few bob these days… ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2016, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-maddest-conspiracy-theory-youve-heard/721703/83 "2016-06-13T17:31:14Z")
One of the earliest was the one postulated by Emmanuel Velikovsky in his 1950 publication of “Worlds in Collision”. Without blaming anybody in particular, Velikovsky says that during man’s existence on earth, the planets of the Solar System have suddenly changed orbits, leaving them (including Earth) to stop spinning, and reverse their direction of rotation. He was taken seriously by quite a few eminent scientists – maybe about as many as those who reject global warming. > **[Worlds in Collision](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worlds_in_Collision)** > > Worlds in Collision is a book by Immanuel Velikovsky published in 1950. The book postulates that around the 15th century BC, the planet Venus was ejected from Jupiter as a comet or comet-like object and passed near Earth (an actual collision is not mentioned). The object allegedly changed Earth's orbit and axis, causing innumerable catastrophes that are mentioned in early mythologies and religions from around the world. The book has been heavily criticized as a work of pseudoscience and catastrop... ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2016, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-maddest-conspiracy-theory-youve-heard/721703/84 "2016-06-13T18:35:13Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > That the moon landings were faked. Sorry, far too many people were involved in that for it to be successfully pulled off. If “# of people involved” is a relevant metric, then surely chemtrails must win. The Apollo program fakery only lasted about ten years and involved a handful of faked missions. Chemtrails, OTOH, have been going on for decades and involve the entire air transportation industry. Somebody is designing the chemtrail equipment on those aircraft, someone else is maintaining it, someone else is refilling it with chemicals, the storage of which is managed by someone else, and the manufacturing/transport of which involves still other people. ---
**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:** [June 13, 2016, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-maddest-conspiracy-theory-youve-heard/721703/85 "2016-06-13T18:54:30Z")
I just recently saw a new one posted on Facebook by a “friend” (he’s actually a former soldier of mine). President Lincoln was black. Not partially black on one side as some enemies tried to spread while he was alive. No he was of 100% African descent and the hundreds of pictures we have of him are fake and lies. As proof there was an old timey picture of a very distinguished black gentleman who sported a Lincoln style beard. That was supposedly the real Lincoln. ETA: [Here’s](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ljI22fZHcHM/hqdefault.jpg) one picture I found of it. Since the picture labels Lincoln as the 24th president I fear the theory may not be accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-maddest-conspiracy-theory-youve-heard/721703/86 "2016-06-14T02:04:14Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > ETA: [Here’s](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ljI22fZHcHM/hqdefault.jpg) one picture I found of it. **Since the picture labels Lincoln as the 24th president I fear the theory may not be accurate.** Oh, then that was the _other_ President Lincoln. Got it! ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-maddest-conspiracy-theory-youve-heard/721703/87 "2016-06-14T16:05:15Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Beat me to it, so many memories of how I used my then current training in computer graphics and photography to debunk many of his sorry ideas. Good times, good times. > More recently there is the one about the climate scientists faking their data that shows a warming earth. Climate change deniers are resorting now to that desperate distortion because in the past 2 years the records were broken and down the toilet it went their “there has been no warming in x years” talking point, but never mind that, I was going to mention this more recent candidate: > > **Clad King** ’s conspiracy about Egyptologists changing the ancient Egyptian history and time lines, and also them hiding the “fact” that soda water geysers were used to build the pyramids and not ramps. The SDMB almost could not handle ignorance of that magnitude. Wait, you have to get the phrase “stinky-footed yokels” in there somewhere. (Or was it “stinky-footed barbarians”?) And the bit about Ancient Egyptian being a nonarbitrary language whose words corresponded to reality in some way that degenerate modern languages don’t. And that the King o’ Clad could translate even though he couldn’t read it. Ramps are debunked, ya know. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-maddest-conspiracy-theory-youve-heard/721703/88 "2016-06-14T16:20:49Z")
Stinky-footed bumpkins. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-maddest-conspiracy-theory-youve-heard/721703/89 "2016-06-14T17:06:34Z")
Apparently I miss a lot of stuff by avoiding the Great Debates forum. Not nearly enough to make me change my habits, but a lot nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-maddest-conspiracy-theory-youve-heard/721703/90 "2016-06-14T17:07:38Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > It is on the drawing board right now. The Orlando shooting never took place. The injured are all giving false names, to avoid being revealed as gay. So there will always be plenty of doubts about victims. I actually encountered that in person this past Sunday, the very day after the shooting. I was on a plane with a long delay, so we sat on the ground at the airport for about an hour before the flight was finally cancelled altogether. Some guy in the row right behind me was talking on his cell phone to someone, talking about how it was a proven fact that the Sandy Hook shooting had never happened, all those people you saw interviewed turned out to be actors, this had been conclusively demonstrated, and so forth. Now, he wasn’t saying the same thing was true about Orlando, but you just have to wonder… So infuriating. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-maddest-conspiracy-theory-youve-heard/721703/91 "2016-06-14T19:13:26Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Vaccines cause autism Yep. That conspiracy has killed people. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-maddest-conspiracy-theory-youve-heard/721703/92 "2016-06-14T19:23:05Z")
> [@movingfinger](#): > > Obama won’t do anything, and neither will Hilary,who has been wanting to buy that Pulse property for some time to build her boy-harem after she gets elected! Mmm. I’m afraid she’s going to be mighty disappointed in a Pulse boy-harem. > [@MrAtoz](#): > > I actually encountered that in person this past Sunday, the very day after the shooting. I was on a plane with a long delay, so we sat on the ground at the airport for about an hour before the flight was finally cancelled altogether. Some guy in the row right behind me was talking on his cell phone to someone, talking about how it was a proven fact that the Sandy Hook shooting had never happened, all those people you saw interviewed turned out to be actors, this had been conclusively demonstrated, and so forth. Now, he wasn’t saying the same thing was true about Orlando, but you just have to wonder… > > So infuriating. Maybe not the maddest conspiracy theory, but certainly the one that makes _me_ the maddest. Apparently relatives of the victims of Sandy Hook are routinely harassed and threatened by these jerks. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-maddest-conspiracy-theory-youve-heard/721703/93 "2016-06-14T20:45:07Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Far and away, my favorite is [David Icke](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Icke)’s theory that the world is run by a conspiracy of shape-shifting lizards, the membership of which includes Queen Elizabeth, George Bush, and Boxcar Willie (well, obviously). > > Regards, > Shodan That is my favorite, as well. Weird, wacky stuff! ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-maddest-conspiracy-theory-youve-heard/721703/94 "2016-06-14T20:50:51Z")
I like the Sports conspiracy theories: NBA playoffs are fixed, so popular players and/or large markets win. Except when they don’t (San Antonio), but that’s to throw us off the path. Then again, Tim Donaghy did show this CT was not completely out of left field. The NFL Seahawks threw the pass rather than have Lynch run it in. Lynch was unfriendly to the media, so they wanted Wilson instead to get the Super Bowl MVP award. Pete Rose bet against the Reds and had them lose on purpose. This is the unspoken reason MLB and the Hall of Fame will never forgive Rose. Nebraska in the 1990s won three College Football national titles. They did this by using “county scholarships”: some state law allows one student per county to get free tuition. We’d give them to football recruits, so they wouldn’t count against the NCAA limit. As a Husker fan, I’d always retort “Do you seriously think the NCAA wouldn’t catch on to such an obvious ploy? C’mon, my Huskers can be a little more clever.” ---
**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:** [June 14, 2016, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-maddest-conspiracy-theory-youve-heard/721703/95 "2016-06-14T22:56:36Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > ETA: I almost forgot (speaking of the Heliosphere) that [The Solar System Is a Vortex](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jHsq36_NTU). Um…no. Wait a minute… ‘Vortex’ might not be the right word, and there are some things wrong with that video (the sun isn’t leading with the planets trailing as some sort of wake, but… The sun is moving as the galaxy rotates, and the plane of the solar system is about 60 degrees out of plane with the galaxy, so the paths described by the planets of our solar system, through the galaxy, _are_ spirals. ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-maddest-conspiracy-theory-youve-heard/721703/96 "2016-06-14T23:21:14Z")
> [@DinoR](#): > > The stickers on the back of road signs marking the “UN invasion routes.” Apparently the tiny stickers on the back are much better than the giant lettering on front of the signs that everyone else uses to navigate. I recall one from back in the mid/late 80’s that involved the number plates on cars actually being coded to let the police/UN/illuminati know the profession of the person driving it at a glance. I’m not sure how it dealt with the concept of ‘used cars’ but there was an entire book dedicated to the idea in the old Loompanics catalogue. There’s also one about 9/11 that posits the buildings being turned to dust by a directed energy weapon aka [‘Dustification’](http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Judy_Wood#Dustification). Anything involving [HAARP](http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/HAARP) or the LHC are good for a chuckle as well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-maddest-conspiracy-theory-youve-heard/721703.md?page=4)