By Opal Frazier Johnson (‘28)

1. Flat Earth

The flat Earth conspiracy theory is a fairly popular one among pseudoscientists, and its roots trace back to before 5th century B.C, when the Greek philosopher Aristotle discovered that the Earth was round when he observed lunar eclipses. He realized that the Earth had to be a sphere in order for a circular shadow to be cast on the moon.

During a lunar eclipse, the Earth is positioned directly between the sun and the moon, casting the moon into shadow. These eclipses are also called “Blood Moons” due to making the moon appear a reddish-orange. 

As you can see in the picture above, during a lunar eclipse, the Earth casts a curved shadow on the moon. For this to occur, Aristotle realized that the Earth had to be a sphere. 

Another example of an inaccuracy in the flat Earth idea is the fact that we do not see the same night sky from everywhere on the planet. If the Earth was flat, the constellations would appear the same from both the Northern and Southern hemispheres.

Because the earth is a sphere, the Northern and Southern hemispheres experience completely different constellations, as seen in the images above. 

2. The Moon Landing Was Faked

Humanity first landed on the moon on July 20th, 1969, and more than 400,000 people worked on NASA’s Apollo missions that led up to this incredible feat of science. But, some people still have their doubts about whether or not the moon landing actually happened. 

One of the main arguments that advocates for this conspiracy is that none of the photos taken on the surface of the moon appear to have any stars in them. However, all photos that were taken during the Apollo 11 mission were taken during the moon’s daytime. Just like on earth, during the day, the sun’s light makes the stars in the sky invisible during lunar daytime. 

Another common argument is that the American flag that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin planted on the moon’s surface appears to be “waving” in pictures. How could the flag be waving if there isn’t any wind on the moon? At first glance, this seems like a logical question. But, the flag isn’t waving at all. There is a bar along the top of the flag that holds it up and makes it look like it is waving. During the flight to the moon, the flag was stored folded, and the moon’s gravitational pull is not strong enough to uncrumple it. 

3. Vaccines Cause Autism

This conspiracy theory stems from the fact that the average age that most children are getting a large amount of vaccinations is also the age where most autistic children start to show signs of developmental delay. Around the age of 9-15 months old, most children receive a large amount of vaccines, and that is also the age that they start to speak and interact with the world around them.

This argument stems from the logical fallacy of correlation without causation. In this argument, people say that because children are getting vaccinated and are also showing signs of a developmental delay, then vaccines must be the cause of that delay. However, multiple studies have shown that this is anything but true.

The belief that vaccines can cause autism also stems from a study done by Andrew Jeremy Wakefield in 1998. In this study, Wakefield studied the MMR vaccine, which vaccinates against measles, mumps and rubella. The problem with this study was that it lacked a large sample size of children, and no control group was present to be compared to. It was later revealed that Wakefield was paid to find something wrong with the MMR vaccine, and it is likely that the results of the study were altered in some way.

Most scientific conspiracy theories stem from ignorance, and a lack of critical thinking. These types of conspiracy theories spread quickly, especially in the age of social media. If you see something online that seems outlandish, then it probably is. Before you repost or spread information, make sure that you do your own research.