Conspiracies and Hoaxes

[Candy]

Until 2 years ago, I have never heard of 99.44% of the conspiracies and/or hoaxes you people talk about. I'm 38 now. I only began hearing about this stuff after finding the BABB.

I was researching for a paper on my theory of Planet X (the Kuiper Belt), and I used Phil's main page as a reference for the Asteroid Belt. For my scifi paper, I called the Asteroid Belt, Planet V.

I didn't realize there was some huge discussion about something people really called Planet X (mythical), etc.

I just thought I would tell everyone this, so you understand that there are only a handful of people (out of 6.5 billion) that actually debate this stuff. :wink:

[Bob B.]

I always knew there were conspiracy theories, but I always laughed them off as a joke thinking very few people actually took any of it seriously. I had no idea of the breadth and depth of the conspircist phenomenon. My first real exposure to it was the dreadful Fox program about the moon hoax in 2001. The level of ignorance I've since seen does not surprise me, but I was initially astounded by the amount of cynicism people display. I now firmly believe there are people (in far greater numbers than I ever imagined) who'll believe anything no matter how ludicrous.

[Candy]

If this is a conspiracy, my mother quotes from the Bible all the time. In fact, the day I got banned from the BABB, she was visiting (on her 4th day out of 7) me, just before graduation. She continually kept reading passages from the Bible, to me.

I thought I was going to go nuts, oh wait, I did. :)

[Lance]

I don't think I've ever had conversations in the real world about conspiracy theories in any meaning full way. I've been a party to the occasional "Who Really Killed Kennedy" conversation as well as the "Some Nuts Think we Didn't Really go to the Moon" kinds of topics, but no one ever took a HB stand to argue against.

I think the internet concentrates them and makes them appear more prevalent than they are in actual society. Or maybe I just don't hang around the "real world" places that they do. Either way, I am quite happy I don't have to deal with these morons in real life.

Of course, the past two days in the Chicago have had gray skies but not necessarily cloudy. And all I can think of is "damn chemtrails"...

[twinstead]

I'd always known vaguely about the JFK debate, but it was that dreadful Fox moon hoax program that started it all for me.

What's funny is the more I learn about conspiracies, the more I find how similar they are. It has been quite interesting for me to watch the "London bombing conspiracy" unfold on GLP; it's a true glimpse into the mechanics of how something goes from Internet rumor to conspiracy theory at breakneck speed these days.

[Bill EE]

I had always heard of the JFK stuff (one on my first memories is the furneral on TV) and, of course, the movies in the early seventies (when I was a teenager) about UFO and Monsters (Peter Graves did the narration). My mother-in-law is a big woo-woo (she thinks the Apollo landings were fake enough though her husband was an engineer of GD-A on Apollo 8). What threw me for a loop was when a friend of mine pulled a prank on me. He sent me a link to a GLP (IDW) thread about radiation killing the astronauts before they could get to the moon. He knew I had satellite experience and suggested I could give them some real numbers. Even Dr. P got my case (just a little) because I was too nice at the beginning. This just amazes me - I am still trying to figure it out.

[Bob B.]

I don't think I've ever had conversations in the real world about conspiracy theories in any meaning full way.

Fortunately, neither have I. It may be as you say; the Internet tends to concentrate them. On the other hand, those I converse with on a daily basis are usually intelligent well-educated people, thus they are not representative of the population at large. I’m therefore dealing with two extremes: the circle I move in at home and work versus Internet backwaters like GLP.

I'd always known vaguely about the JFK debate, but it was that dreadful Fox moon hoax program that started it all for me.

The JFK assassination and UFO cover-ups are probably the two conspiracy theories I heard the most about before the Fox program. I had heard about the moon hoax theory, but what I never realized prior to the Fox program, is that people actually try to build an evidentiary case in support of it. I always thought it was just a handful of kooks who were simply in denial.

What's funny is the more I learn about conspiracies, the more I find how similar they are.

Yes, conspiracism certainly seems to follow a set pattern. It’s almost as if the conspiracy theorists are issued a handbook.

[Lance]

Yes, conspiracism certainly seems to follow a set pattern. It’s almost as if the conspiracy theorists are issued a handbook.

I suspect it may be more like similar symptoms to a common illness.

[umop ap!sdn]

Yes, conspiracism certainly seems to follow a set pattern. It?s almost as if the conspiracy theorists are issued a handbook.

That's because they're all in on it together, trying to distract us with lies so we don't see what's really going on.

I'm joking, of course. :D

[Lance]

That's because they're all in on it together, trying to distract us with lies so we don't see what's really going on.

You mean it's all one big conspiracy?

[twinstead]

That's because they're all in on it together, trying to distract us with lies so we don't see what's really going on.

You mean it's all one big conspiracy?

Ah, GUCT, the Grand Unified Conspiracy Theory.

[umop ap!sdn]

Later to be superceded by CTOE, the Conspiracy Theory Of Everything.

[Bob B.]

The conspiracy I have the most experience with by far is the moon hoax thing. Every time I get into a debate with these woo-woos, I can almost prepare my responses about five in advance of the current discussion because I know exactly what’s coming next. Not only all the usual flawed arguments (which are cribbed from hoax Web sites), but also the evasion, redirection, denial, and eventual emotional breakdown. It’s sometimes rather humorous.

What threw me for a loop was when a friend of mine pulled a prank on me. He sent me a link to a GLP (IDW) thread…

Thank your friend for us. If not for him we’d probably not have your company today.

[twinstead]

I don't think I've ever had conversations in the real world about conspiracy theories in any meaning full way.

I have a couple times and it is a nightmare. Message boards are one thing, but as we all know a person trying to debunk a conspiracy theory like the moon hoax or 911 is at a distinct disadvantage sometimes, even though facts and reason are on his side, because it can take a while to seriously refute something that HB's only need to declare in one sentence. (at least for me it is; I'm no Phil or Jay )

This disadvantage is exacerbated for me in person because by the time I am only half through one explanation, they are already on the next bogus piece of evidence.

[gillianren]

my daughter's father actually honestly believed the Illuminati were a secret government controlling everything. (if he could see me now . . . .) don't know if he still does--I haven't had a real conversation with him since before she was born, and she's 7--but I didn't discuss it with him much even then because I had a really hard time not laughing at him.

the one I've come across most often is Kennedy. one of my friends says there's flaws in the evidence, but when I tried to explain how his assumptions were wrong, he said, "well, it's more than forty years ago, so I guess we'll never know the truth." yeeaugh!

his friend Kim apparently believes in moon hoax. she also sincerely believes that only a few hundred thousand Jews were killed in the Holocaust. she probably believes a lot more woo, too, but I can't talk to her for any length of time without wanting to kill her, so I guess I'll never know. (thank Gods she moved to Georgia; that's far enough away, I guess.)

I'd never heard of Planet X until I read Phil's book, but I did know about a lot of the other UFO conspiracy people, including perjurer and Wrinkle in Time devotee Bob Lazar. however, since getting on boards on these subjects within the last year, I do know a lot more conspiracy theories than I did before. stupid internet.

[Disinfo Agent]

I had never thought about it until i came online , i done the first thing people do when they come online and hunt out ghosts and ufos.
I believed most of it (i didnt realise any moron could put a webpage up- i thought it had to be news or business) then over the years watched the things i believed were true get pulled apart.

i then became a skeptic , upset michael thorne (billy meiers usa "correspondent") by debunking meiers irrefutable evidence in 5 mins of looking at it. (i debunked it , thorne refuses to accept it - usual shit)

realised there is no point arguing with them so now i just troll and so.. here i am now .. :)

[twinstead]

I had never thought about it until i came online , i done the first thing people do when they come online and hunt out ghosts and ufos.
I believed most of it (i didnt realise any moron could put a webpage up- i thought it had to be news or business) then over the years watched the things i believed were true get pulled apart.

i then became a skeptic , upset michael thorne (billy meiers usa "correspondent") by debunking meiers irrefutable evidence in 5 mins of looking at it. (i debunked it , thorne refuses to accept it - usual shit)

realised there is no point arguing with them so now i just troll and so.. here i am now .. :)

Dude, that avatar is almost impossible to look away from. What kind of evil witchcraft voodoo do you possess?

[Disinfo Agent]

im keep your mind occupied while planet x wobbles passed

[twinstead]

im keep your mind occupied while planet x wobbles passed

LOL perhaps not your new one as much

[Cl1mh4224rd]

... the mechanics of how something goes from Internet rumor to conspiracy theory at breakneck speed these days.

Without the much needed neck-breaking, unfortunately...

[vonmazur]

I have heard all except the ones related to recent events, in Texas before 1957. They had these little radio stations that carried paid programming, and I listened to them as a kid in Fort Worth....The main ones were related to the Rockefellers and various intra-solar bankers plots to rule the world......Sorry but as Al Haig told me in Vietnam in 1967, "Son, If every redneck in every trailer park has heard of it, it isn't a secret plot...."

I was Al's pilot for a while when he was incharge of removing rubber trees near Cuchi and the area to the Northwest....We had many discussions about this and that.....he told me about the Bohemian Grove and all the other supposed plots, I have trouble accepting that some people believe this without considering all the angles......Apparently any group that meets anywhere, with famous or powerful people, will be, ipso facto, a secret plot to rule the world, or what ever the nuts are hot for this week...

As for JFK, I was stationed at Fort Hood in 1968-69, and I was assigned to the aviation support for the operation "Leibstandarte LBJ" as we called it. There is more to this than has been published, but not what the nuts think, it is totally different than current theories on JFK, RFK, and MLK...I will not go into this as it is not worth the trouble of" wrangling with pigs about the quality of oranges".....

Maybe some day, but not this week......

Dale in Ala