The Book of Conspiracy Theories and Mysteries

In there were 58 confirmed cases of the illness in Minnesota — the largest outbreak the state had seen in 30 years. Similarly, in , a large outbreak occurred in California, which was thought to originate from a seven-year-old boy, who had not been vaccinated. Less than a decade earlier, measles had been largely eliminated in the US. The gradual resurgence can, researchers say , be directly attributed to people who were not vaccinated. Before measles vaccinations were introduced in , the illness could be deadly.

1. PUPPETRY.
2. The enduring appeal of conspiracy theories!
3. Combination Pack: Brotherly Bond and Indecent Intent.
4. Talk That Teaches: Teaching Practices That Work.
5. Traslucide Follie (Italian Edition).
6. 8 Conspiracy Books That Will Make You Question EVERYTHING!

In the s, there were several million cases, thousands of hospitalisations and deaths per year. Meanwhile in Australia, a report concluded that 23 deaths from a host of diseases could have been prevented by vaccination between and Those that do not vaccinate often choose not to.

• Shaman King, Vol. 11: Blood and Pompadours: v. 11?
• Spirits Speak of Conspiracies and Mysteries - $ : Schiffer Publishing!
• The Greatest Case of Identify Theft Ever?

It is but one of many conspiracy theories that flies in the face of scientific evidence — a quick internet search throws up hundreds. Similarly, climate change deniers are convinced that the Earth is not warming, and some say that scientists are tweaking evidence to make it appear so. Those that believe in one conspiracy, are in turn more susceptible to believing others. While some conspiracy theories are relatively harmless — the argument that Nasa faked the Moon landing, or bizarrely, that Beatle Sir Paul McCartney died long ago with a doppelganger taking his place ever since — others have damaging ripple-effects.

With new insights, researchers are getting closer to understanding more of the factors involved. This will, they hope, help mitigate some of the very real dangers and societal divides that conspiracy theories encourage. View image of Anti-vaxxers believe that vaccinations can be harmful Credit: There is nothing new about conspiracy theories.

As early as the 3rd Century, a once-lost Gospel of Philip purported that Jesus and Mary Magdalen were married, a myth which has been perpetuated in popular fiction, such as The Da Vinci Code. More recently, some even deny that the Holocaust happened. Despite the harrowing evidence, they maintain that the Nazis did not kill six million Jews during World War Two. The question psychologists like Karen Douglas, a professor at the University of Kent, ask themselves is why do such beliefs persist? There is no simple answer. Elvis Presley and Tupac Shakur have both been subjects of such debate.

That we are wary of groups or people we do not understand makes sense from an evolutionary perspective. But when Douglas probed a little deeper, she started to uncover a smorgasbord of explanations for why some people are more drawn to conspiracies than others.

Top 10 imaginary drugs in fiction

For one, they seem to have an intrinsic and almost narcissistic need for uniqueness, one study showed. As the scholar and author Michael Billig put it in Other studies reveal that conspiracy theories help people make sense of the world when they feel out of control , are anxious or feel powerless if their needs are threatened. People can find it difficult to accept that we live in a world where random acts of violence, such as mass-murder, can take place.

Take the Las Vegas shooting , the deadliest mass-shooting in US history in which 58 people were killed. The fact-checking website Snopes has a longer list of falsehoods it has debunked. Upbringing may also play a role in world beliefs. Individuals who grew up insecurely attached to their parents — where they experienced a negative relationship with one or both of them, also seem to be more likely to support conspiracy theories.



View image of Some people believe that Elvis Presley faked his own death Credit: The current evidence at least, suggests it does not help with anxiety. It might even make people feel less in control. Various groups both real such as the Vatican and fake such as the Priory of Sion are said to suppress relevant information concerning, for example, the dating of the Turin Shroud.

Much of this line of conspiracy theory has been stimulated by a debunked book titled The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail , which claimed that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were lovers and that their offspring and descendants were secretly hidden in Europe following the death of Jesus, from whom the then-living French draughtsman Pierre Plantard claimed descent.

Top 10 conspiracy theories in fiction

The perpetrators of this conspiracy are alleged to be non-Muslims and " false Muslims ", allegedly in collusion with political actors in the Western world. The "War against Islam" theory is often used in order to refer to modern social problems and changes, but the Crusades are often seen as its starting point.

Since the September 11 Attacks , many anti-Islamic conspiracy theories have emerged, concerning a variety of topics. Love Jihad , also called Romeo Jihad, refers to a conspiracy theory concerning Muslim males who are said to target non-Muslim girls for conversion to Islam by feigning love.



• List of conspiracy theories?
• Accessibility links.
• Dealing with Donkeys;
• All Life is Problem Solving.
• Keep Me Posted!.

In the United States, black genocide conspiracy theory [] [] holds the view that African Americans are the victims of genocide instituted by white Americans. Lynchings and racial discrimination were formally described as genocide by the Civil Rights Congress in Malcolm X also talked about "black genocide" in the early s.

Spirits Speak of Conspiracies and Mysteries

White genocide conspiracy theory is a white nationalist notion that immigration , integration , low fertility rates and abortion are being promoted in predominantly white countries in order to turn white people into a minority or cause their extinction. Some Rastafari maintain the view that a white racist patriarchy "Babylon" controls the world in order to oppress black people. Among the foremost concerns of conspiracy theorists are questions of alien life; for example, allegations of government cover-ups of the supposed Roswell UFO incident or activity at Area Many reports of dead cattle found with absent body parts and seemingly drained of blood have emerged worldwide since at least the s.

This phenomenon has spawned theories variously concerning aliens and secret government or military experiments. Many conspiracy theories have drawn inspiration from the writings of ancient astronaut proponent Zecharia Sitchin , [] who declared that the Anunnaki from Sumerian mythology were actually a race of extraterrestrial beings who came to Earth around , years ago in order to mine gold.

In the modern era, political conspiracy theories are often spread using fake news on social media. A study of fake news published by the Shorenstein Center found that "misinformation is currently predominantly a pathology of the right ". Political conspiracy theories may take generalized and wide-ranging forms concerning wars and international bodies, but may also be seen at a localized level, such as the conspiracy theory pertaining to the th Battalion, a British regiment stationed in Kitchener, Ontario during World War I , which is believed by some in Kitchener to still be present and controlling local politics.

Conspiracy theories concerning the Illuminati , a short-lived 18th-century Enlightenment society, appear to have originated in the late 19th century, when some conservatives in Europe came to believe that the group had been responsible for the French Revolution of — False flag operations are covert operations designed to appear as if they are being carried out by other entities. Some allegations of false flag operations have been verified or have been subjects of legitimate historical dispute such as the Reichstag arson attack. Other allegations of similar operations have attached to the bombing of Pearl Harbor , the Oklahoma City bombing , the Madrid train bombings , [] and the Gulf of Tonkin incident.

The multiple attacks made on the US by terrorists using hijacked aircraft on 11 September have proved especially attractive to conspiracy theorists. Theories may include reference to missile or hologram technology. A fatal mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, prompted numerous conspiracy theories , among which is the claim that it was a manufactured event with the aim of promoting gun control.

Rush Limbaugh also stated that the event happened because the Mayan Calendar phenomenon made shooter Adam Lanza do it. A discredited theory, parts of which have been advanced by Christopher Ruddy among others, asserts that former US President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary Clinton have assassinated fifty or more of their associates. The unsolved murder of DNC staff member Seth Rich has prompted conspiracy theorists to claim that his killing was instigated by Hillary Clinton following alleged collaboration with WikiLeaks during the United States presidential campaign. Elements of this story have been promoted by figures including Alex Jones , Newt Gingrich , and Sean Hannity as an alternative theory to Russian interference in the election.

Pizzagate is a debunked conspiracy theory that emerged during the United States presidential election , connecting a pizza restaurant and members of the Democratic Party with a non-existent child-sex ring. It has been comprehensively discredited by numerous bodies including the District of Columbia Police Department , Snopes. Former US President Obama has been the subject of numerous conspiracy theories. His presidency was the subject of a film, The Obama Deception , by Alex Jones , which alleged that Obama's administration was a puppet government for a wealthy elite.

Another theory which came to prominence in known as "birtherism" denies the legitimacy of Obama's presidency by claiming that he was not born in the US. A pair of fatal attacks on US government facilities in Benghazi , Libya , by Islamist terrorists in has spawned numerous conspiracy theories, including allegations that Obama's administration arranged the attack for political reasons, and Senator Rand Paul's repeated assertion that the government's response to the incident was designed to distract from a secret CIA operation.

The United States' Federal Emergency Management Agency is the subject of many theories, including the allegation that the organization has been engaged in the building of concentration camps on US soil, in advance of the imposition of martial law and genocide. Members of South Africa's African National Congress party have long propagated conspiracy theories, frequently concerning the CIA and alleged white supremacists. The intellectual group known as the Frankfurt School which emerged in the s has increasingly been the subject of conspiracy theories which have alleged the promotion of communism in capitalist societies.

The term 'Cultural Marxism' has been notably employed by conservative American movements such as the Tea Party , [] [] and by Norwegian mass-murderer Anders Breivik. Occasionally used as a neutral term to denote a nation's bureaucracy, [] the conspiratorial notion of a "deep state" is a concept originating principally in Middle Eastern and North African politics with some basis in truth, and has been known in the US since the s.

It has since come to prominence under the Trump presidency. The Sutherland Springs church shooting has also been the subject of multiple conspiracy theories. The shooter has been linked to multiple conspiracies, such as identifying him as a Democrat , Hillary Clinton supporter, Bernie Sanders supporter, " alt-left " supporter, Antifa member, or radical Muslim ; [] [] or claiming that he carried an Antifa flag and told churchgoers: Scientists have found evidence that HIV was transferred from monkeys to humans in the s.

Evidence exists, however, that the KGB deliberately disseminated a notion in the s that it was invented by the CIA. Water fluoridation is the controlled addition of fluoride to a public water supply to reduce tooth decay. A popular conspiracy theory states that the pharmaceutical industry has mounted a cover-up of a causal link between vaccines and autism. The theory took hold with the publication in of a fraudulent paper by discredited former doctor Andrew Wakefield. President Donald Trump , [] [] and has led to increased rates of infection and death from diseases such as measles in many countries, including the US, Italy, Germany, Romania and the UK.

Vaccine conspiracy theories have been widespread in Nigeria since at least , as well as in Pakistan. Such theories may feature claims that vaccines are part of a secret anti-Islam plot, and have been linked to fatal mass shootings and bombings at vaccine clinics in both countries.

Top 10 conspiracy theories in fiction | Books | The Guardian

Global warming conspiracy theorists typically allege that the science behind global warming has been invented or distorted for ideological or financial reasons. Numerous theories pertain to real or alleged weather-controlling projects. Theories include the debunked assertion that HAARP , a radio-technology research program funded by the US government, is a secret weather-controlling system.

Also of interest to conspiracy theorists are cloud-seeding technologies. These include a debunked allegation [] that the British military's Project Cumulus caused the fatal Lynmouth Flood in Devon, England, [] and claims concerning a secret project said to have caused the Pakistan floods. Genuine American research in the s and s into chemical interrogation and mind-control techniques has prompted many subsequent conspiracy theories, especially following CIA Director Richard Helm's order to destroy all files related to the project.

These theories include the allegation that the mass fatality at Jonestown in was connected to an MKUltra experiment. Radio frequency identification chips RFID , such as are implanted into pets as a means of tracking, have drawn the interest of conspiracy theorists who posit that this technology is secretly in widespread use on humans. Former Whitby town councilor Simon Parkes has promoted this theory, which may be related to conspiracy theories concerning vaccination, electronic banking and the Antichrist.

Flat Earth theory first emerged in 19th-century England, despite the Earth's spherical nature having been known since at least the time of Pythagoras. It has in recent years been promoted by American software consultant Mark Sargent through the use of YouTube videos. The conspiracy often implicates NASA. Other claims may include such allegations as that GPS devices are rigged to make aircraft pilots wrongly believe they are flying around a globe.

Numerous theories pertain to the alleged suppression of certain technologies and energies. Such theories may focus on the Vril Society Conspiracy , allegations of the suppression of the electric car by fossil-fuel companies as detailed in the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? Conspiracy theorists often attend to new military technologies, both real and imagined. Subjects of theories include: Navy warship invisible; [] the alleged Montauk Project , a supposed government program to learn about mind control and time travel; and the so-called Tsunami bomb which is alleged to have caused the Indian Ocean tsunami.

Other theories include Peter Vogel's debunked claim that an accidental explosion of conventional munitions at Port Chicago was in fact a nuclear detonation, [] and a theory promoted by the Venezuelan state-run TV station ViVe that the Haiti earthquake was caused by a secret US "earthquake weapon". Some theories claim that the dates of historical events have been deliberately distorted. These include the phantom time hypothesis of German conspiracy theorist Heribert Illig, who in published an allegation that years had been added to the calendar by establishment figures such as Pope Sylvester II in order to position themselves at the millennium.

7 Creepy Conspiracy Theories About The Denver Airport

A comparable theory, known as the New Chronology , is most closely associated with Russian theorist Anatoly Fomenko. Fomenko holds that history is many centuries shorter than is widely believed and that numerous historical documents have been fabricated, and legitimate documents destroyed, for political ends. Adherents of such ideas have included chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov. Scientific space programs are of particular interest to conspiracy theorists. The most prolific theories allege that the US moon landings were staged by NASA in a film studio , with some alleging the involvement of director Stanley Kubrick.

A more recent theory, emergent following the activities of hacker Gary McKinnon , [] suggests that a secret program of manned space fleets known as Solar Warden exists, supposedly acting under the United Nations. Conspiracy theorists have long posited a plot by organizations such as NASA to conceal the existence of a large planet in the Solar System known as Nibiru or Planet X, which allegedly, will one day pass close enough to the Earth to destroy it. Predictions for the date of destruction have included , and The theory began to develop following the publication of The 12th Planet , by discredited Russian-American author Zecharia Sitchin , was given its full form by Nancy Lieder , and has since been promoted by American conspiracy theorist and End Times theorist David Meade.

Boxing has featured in conspiracy theories, such as the claims that the second Ali - Liston fight [] and the first Bradley - Pacquiao fight were fixed. The notorious theft and disappearance of the Irish-bred racehorse Shergar in has prompted many conspiracy theorists to speculate about involvement by the Mafia , the IRA and Colonel Gaddafi. Theorists claim that a lottery envelope was chilled so that it could be identified by touch.

Rival driver Cale Yarborough's premature retirement to the pit road has prompted conspiracy theorists to allege that organizers fixed the race in order to receive good publicity for the event. Here was the world's most famous sportsman, about to take part in the most important match of his career, when he suddenly, inexplicably, fell ill. Was it stress, epilepsy, or had he been drugged? The Brazil coach insisted he had the final say, but much speculation focused on sportswear company Nike , Brazil's multimillion-dollar sponsor—whom many Brazilians thought had too much control—putting pressure on the striker to play against medical advice.

The New England Patriots have also been involved in numerous conspiracy theories. Smith stated the Jaguars were not robbed, but that they had no one to blame but themselves for the loss. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. For a list of genuine conspiracies, see List of political conspiracies. Poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal. Anti-Armenianism and Denial of the Armenian Genocide. Political accusations against the Baha'i Faith. Vatican conspiracy theories , Jesuit conspiracy theories , and Controversies about Opus Dei.

A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America. University of California Press. The Los Angeles Times. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 3 August The Assassination of President John F. Conspiracy Theories in American History: Not in Your Lifetime. Archived from the original on 1 November John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies, p. Retrieved 7 April Patton was assassinated to silence his criticism of allied war leaders, claims new book". Nigerian president denies dying and being replaced by clone". Retrieved 4 December The Last Days of Hitler: Annenberg Public Policy Center.

Retrieved 23 May At this point in the investigation, it is believed that Seth Rich was the victim of an attempted robbery. The assertions put forward by Mr. The police believe his death was the result of a botched robbery, not a political assassination. Retrieved 21 May The New York Times. Archived from the original on 29 May Archived from the original on 24 August Retrieved 15 June Archived from the original on 28 January Retrieved 27 January What Trump's 'elevator screamers' tweet tells us".

Retrieved 10 January Retrieved 7 February We have captured an Israeli 'spy eagle' in Lebanon". Anthropology and the Racial Politics of Culture. The Communication of Hate. Extreme Speech and Democracy. Retrieved 21 June Archived from the original on 11 June Retrieved 6 October Official web-site of President of Azerbaijan cached on archive. Archived from the original on 26 May Retrieved 17 June The Armenian Great deception series, v.

Black garden Armenia and Azerbaijan through peace and war. New York University Press. Death Plus 10 years. In Brookshaw, Dominic P. The Baha'is of Iran: Incorporating a Chronicle of Ireland. Mein, Andrew; Camp, Claudia V. Can a 'History of Israel' Be Written? Continuum International Publishing Group. This Is the Sun?: Zeitgeist and Religion Volume I: Retrieved 1 June Religion and the Racist Right. The Last Acceptable Prejudice. Urban Religion and the Second Great Awakening. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press.

The Northern Know Nothings and the politics of the s Kennedy's Presidential Campaign. Retrieved 6 May Retrieved 28 June Global warming a myth? Lizard people controlling the world? Conspiracy theory research reveals bizarre beliefs prevalent in US". Retrieved 17 July Retrieved 18 April Archived from the original on 23 March