What’s your favorite conspiracy theory and/or crackpot notion? I don’t (necessarily) mean which one you subscribe to. Rather, which ones do you find the most amusing, entertaining, dangerous, etc.
Personally, I’m a sucker for JFK assassination theories. I find it hard to resist those programs on the subject that show up on TV from time to time (although Mrs. Consigliori has promised that I will be “sleeping with the fishes” if I try to watch The Men Who Killed Kennedy on the History Channel ever again).
So, what will it be? JFK? RFK? Faked Moon Landing? Area 51? Face on Mars? What keeps your paranoia in healthy working order?
Oh definitely it’s got to be the massive consipiracy by our government to ‘cull’ the population via spraying our rural landscapes with poisons that sicken and kill us within hours.
Witness the carnage here, complete with photos of ‘chemtrails’ which are cleverly disguised as the contrails that every plane emits.
My favorite part of this particular conspiracy (and probably all of them) is that there’s simply no reason for it. WHY WOULD THE GOVERNMENT WANT TO KILL IT’S OWN POPULATION? TO WHAT END? WHAT ARE THE REASONS FOR THE CULLING?
I’ve yet to find an answer.
And the message board on this page is ideal. Ask a simple question like “Why do I never see these ‘chemtrails’ over Chicago, a hugely populated city?” and get this answer:
Everyone here knows you can make the top of my head blow off by repeating the “Lupe Velez drowned in her toilet” canard . . .
But I also have a real fondness for goofy Marilyn Monroe death theories. I’ve heard 'em all: her analyst killed her; her housekeeper killed her; the Kennedys, the Mafia, the FBI, you name it. The fact that she’d been addicted to pills for ten years, and had OD’d about two weeks earlier, doesn’t seem to matter. Thanks to a somewhat careless autopsy and confiscation of her phone records, people seem to think the entire U.S. government was bent on wiping out Marilyn Monroe—Castro they couldn’t kill, but Marilyn? No problem.
“The Shot From The Bushy Knoll” - theory states that George Bush (the elder, not the current yabob in the White House) was involved in the assassination attempt by John Hinckley Jr. on Ronald Reagan. Did Bush try to become president years before the 1988 election? You decide!
I’m not shittin’ ya, there are theories out there about this. Poke around.
Actually, the only conspiracy theory I like is the one I do subscribe to, against my better judgment and my general suspicion of inferences made from the personalities of historic figures.
Richard III did not kill the princes in the Tower, dammit. Henry VII did. Because I said so.
A number of years ago (he said, dating himself), Omni Magazine ran a contest for the best crackpot scientific theories that we might wish were true.
I still remember two of the honorable mention theories:
The entire North American continent will one day sink beneath the ocean due to the accumulated weight of back issues of National Geographic magazines.
The Creationists are right. God really DID create the universe in just 7 days. But, He went to so much trouble planting all those fake fossils that you had better believe in evolution if you know what’s good for you!
My favorite conspiracy theory is something I happened upon whilst researching something entirely different. It has to do with FEMA and those highly reflective stickers on the back of various road signs.
I’d noticed the stickers before but really hadn’t given it much though. Apparently, some believe, the stickers have coded messages that will guide UN or National Guard troops and helicopters to designated sites. In Utah, I’ve read, if you follow certain color stickers, you’ll be lead to a missile site!
I’m trying to find out as much info as I can about this. I LOVE this kind of stuff. I’m not about to join some crackpot militia, but I’ve got to find out if this theory is grounded in truth.
I like the conspiracies that say the US is being overtaken by the UN, who are going to wreck havoc on our “national sovereignty”…well, let’s see…considering the current state of our government, I wouldn’t mind seeing this come true!
I also like the theory of Jack Chick’s that the Catholic church created communism and fascism to take over the world. It’s so full of holes, but some idiots believe it. What the hell?
Wyoming doesn’t exist. No, I’m serious. It doesn’t.
Think about it. Have you ever:
Been to Wyoming?
Met anyone from Wyoming?
Hi, Opal!
The only information you have about “Wyoming” comes from textbooks, which are carefully controlled by the US government. If you answer yes to number 2, I tell you that anyone who says that they are from Wyoming is in fact a government agent working to perpetuate the illusion, including any Dopers who will say they live in “Wyoming”. If you say that you have been to “Wyoming”, you have been hypnotized by the government to beleive that. The government has set up sophisticated false environments around the borders of “Wyoming” to convince those who live nearby. What is actually there is an extremely large hole in the earth.
Another one I like, and this one isn’t mine, is that the Romans didn’t actually build much. It was all one massive campaign to give the illusion that a great civilization lived there.
Example: “Okay, you take your men and arrange some rectangular stones over there in some square patterns, and you three go write a book about this. . . this . . . this library. That’s what it’ll be, a library. Let’s get to work, people!”
I’m partial to Jack The Ripper (though this was solved by one of the SDMB posters here) and The Man in the Iron Mask, whom I still believe to be the twin brother of Louis XIV.
You’ve been had. If you read their FAQ page, you’ll see that they claim that the following places do not exist: [ul]
[1] Idaho
[2] North Dakota
[3] Australia
[4] England
[/ul] I don’t think they’re serious.
After revisiting the thread that Arnold W. linked to, I’d have to say that Jack Dean Tyler gets my vote for the topic of this thread. I hate to say it, but I miss the guy…prolly 'cause I’m circumcised, and he was the only person who really understood…
Example of headchecked’s observation: the formation of the Beatles was a Communist plot designed to brainwash teens, luring them into Communism and overthrowing democracy. Think this was a John Birch Society belief.
No, really! There are all those clues in the songs and album covers.
Anyway, when this was a “live” story, I couldn’t get enough. And it has to be a conspiracy because the other 3 Beatles, and the folks at the recording companies had to be in on it.
Actually, one which I just recently ran across is quite…intriguing, to say the least. Anyone heard of the Mystery of Ong’s Hat? Some supposed commune of scientists, hallucinators, and mystics who figured out how to dimensionally shift into parallel worlds. Of course, the government snuffed them out…all but the ones who managed to escape. [cue scary music] There’s a website about the whole thing at Incunabula.