Below is a list of the ten most popular conspiracies theories still in circulation. And let’s be honest: who doesn’t love a good conspiracy theory?
1. Moon Landings Fake
‘If you believe... they put a man on the moon. A man on the moon...’ - R.E.M
Long before REM’s classic ‘Man on Moon’, many theories claim the moon landings were nothing more than elaborate lies perpetuated by the US government. One small step for *a man? Surely Neil Armstrong would have prepared his little speech well in advance, so why the grammatical mistake? And all those pictures of the landing? Staged in a studio cry the conspiracy theorists.
2. Kennedy Assassination
President John F. Kennedy was indeed shot twice in Downtown Dallas while buzzing around in his convoy. And although Lee Harvey Oswald was convicted of assassinating him, and said to be the only criminal involved in the shooting, a whopping 70 percent of the American public believe otherwise. Was there another shooter? Or did the CIA seek retribution for the mess of the Bay of Pigs invasion? The questions still exist and may never be answered.
3. Princess Diana’s death
The majority of the conspiracy theories surrounding Princess Di’s death have never gained momentum, but one popular theory has carried enough credibility in the conspiracist community:
Princess Diana was carrying the child of Dodi Al-Fayed, who was in the car with her at the time, and the British Intelligence (acting on behalf of the Royal Family) arranged the accident to cover up the pregnancy. Shocking!
'She won't go quietly...'
4. Roswell
Fact: an unidentified object crashed near Roswell, New Mexico in 1947. But what was the object? Many who saw it claim it was a UFO, proving extraterrestrial life. Roswell along with Area 51, which the US government refused to admit was real until ten years ago have all inspired the cornerstone of contemporary culture’s fascination with aliens existence.
5. Global Warming
Maybe you’ve seen Al Gore’s surprisingly recent dalliance into documentaries, ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, or maybe you’ve just seen ‘A Day After Tomorrow’, but there are some things that are undeniable: the average temperature across the world’s climate systems has increased over the last few years. But the mystery surrounding this ‘global warming’ is much more controversial. Is it cyclical? Does the world just warm up gradually and then cool down at some point? Or is it the production of greenhouse gases and depletion of the ozone layer? Even today, it seems like a contentious issue, and scientists will not stop fighting or pointing blame. Maybe the thermometers were rigged, or maybe everyone should stop yelling and start saving the polar bears, clearly the biggest victims of these whole debate: who’s going to save the polar bears?
6. Shakespeare
‘To be or not to be, that is the question’- but no, actually. That is the question. Was Shakespeare really Shakespeare as we know him, or did someone else write his plays and poems, and he just took off with all the laurels. According to many conspiracy theorists, a lot of ‘Shakespeare’s’ work contains biographical information tied to that of Christopher Marlowe, who popularised the use of blank verse in Elizabethan drama, or Francis Bacon. Thou dost protest too much, perhaps... but the authorship behind Shakespeare’s works remains even today as one of the most popular conspiracy theories in circulation.
7. The Reptilian Elite
Former BBC Sports writer David Icke argued that anyone in a position of power is, in fact, believe it or not, a blood thirsty, flesh-eating, shapeshifting alien reptiles set upon enslaving the human population. Included in his list of extra-terrestrial humanoids are Queen Elizabeth II, Bill (and Hillary!) Clinton, Henry Kissinger and Bob Hope. He’s since published a few books on the topic, resulting in many, reasonably, calling him the paranoid of the decade.
8. The CIA and AIDS
Rumours regarding the origin of AIDS have always existed since it’s first reported appearance at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 1981. According to the conspiracy theorists, HIV/AIDS was invented to eliminate the homosexuals and African Americans. Though many scientists pay no attention to this theory, they do believe it shifted from monkeys to humans during the 1930s. So that theory may actually have some credence.
9. Tupac
“I heard a rumour I died, murdered in cold blood dramatised
Pictures of me in my final stage you know Mama cried
But that was fiction, some coward got the story twisted
Like I no longer existed, mysteriously missing”
-‘Ain't Hard 2 Find’ from the 1996 album All Eyes on Me.
Tupac's unsolved murder was and is still a conspiracy theorists wet dream. Makaveli: Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory was released just two months after the rapper’s death referencing the Italian philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli who wrote about faking one’s own death in the book Art Of War. The fact that he has now released more tracks in his death than when he was alive doesn't really help his case either.
Tupac's autopsy...?
10. September 11th
There are wide range of theories for the 9/11 attacks, most of which built on the premise that the US government intentionally turned a blind eye to the many organisations behind the attacks. In fact, there is even a group dedicated to this theory: the 9/11 Truth Group, which insists it would have taken more than just jet fuel to take the towers down. And why had the US military failed to apprehend the planes before they crashed into the WTC. Some even claim they heard controlled explosions before the planes even made impact. Documentaries like 'Zeigist' and 'Loose Change' are also dedicated to convincing the world that it was all a set up in an attempt to distract Americans, while instilling patriotism.
