Conspiracy Theories
By Nick Pope
This article was written for 20th Century Fox, who
commissioned Nick Pope to write a number of such features as part of the PR
campaign for The X-Files: I Want To Believe.
Roswell
In June 1947 America had been gripped by the mystery of what the media dubbed
"flying saucers". Then, on or around 2nd July 1947 something crashed in the New
Mexico desert. It was found by a rancher who notified the nearest military base
at Roswell. Personnel from Roswell recovered the wreckage and a few days later
themselves let it be known, through the media, that they had recovered a "flying
disc". Within 24 hours a statement was put out contradicting this and stating
that the object had been a weather balloon. The story virtually disappeared for
30 years until in the late Seventies, one of the Army officers involved in the
incident, Major Jesse Marcel, began to tell his story to UFO researchers. In
1994 the United States Air Force was forced to launch an investigation into
these events. Their report concluded that the incident had involved the crash of
a high altitude balloon being used in top secret tests to detect evidence of
Soviet nuclear tests. They later concluded that any bodies seen were crash test
dummies being used in high altitude parachute experiments. In a final twist, the
public relations officer at Roswell who first gave the story to the media died
in 2004 and left a signed affidavit saying that the object really had been an
alien spacecraft.
JFK
On 23 November 1963 President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Lee
Harvey Oswald was arrested for the murder but was himself killed by nightclub
owner Jack Ruby before he could be tried. The US government set up an official
inquiry into the incident, known as the Warren Commission. The Warren Commission
reported in 1964 and concluded that Kennedy had indeed been killed by a lone
gunman, acting without assistance from any other party. Conspiracy theorists
dispute this and suggest that others must have played a part. They claim that
the assassination was either a plot by the Soviets, by rogue elements in the US
government itself, or by the mafia - and in particular mob boss Sam Giancana,
with whom JFK shared a mistress. In a bizarre twist, some people have even
suggested that Kennedy was killed because he was about to reveal the truth about
the UFO crash at Roswell. It is further suggested that JFK talked to another of
his mistresses, Marilyn Monroe, about Roswell, and that this led to her being
killed. Marilyn Monroe was found dead, of a suspected drug overdose, in 1962.
Many of the conspiracy theories about JFK's death point to witnesses who recall
seeing a second gunman on the so-called grassy knoll.
The Moon Landings
On 20th July 1969 Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon, in the
successful culmination to the Apollo 11 mission. Since then, many conspiracy
theorists have questioned whether this and subsequent moon landings ever took
place and have suggested that the entire operation was a colossal deception,
with the landings being filmed in a studio. Conspiracy theorists claim that
President Kennedy had committed America to a moon landing by the end of the
decade and suggest that it subsequently became clear that this was too
difficult, dangerous and expensive to achieve. They say that because this had
become a race against the Soviets, who had put the first man into space, it was
decided America must not be seen to fail and that the moon landings would have
to be faked. Conspiracy theorists point to supposed anomalies in some of the
photographs, including the absence of any stars and the fact that the flag
appears to be waving - impossible in zero gravity. Opponents of these theories
point to the fact that the moon rocks brought back have been assessed by
geologists as being different to terrestrial rocks and highlight the fact that
the astronauts left a reflector on the moon that scientists can fire a laser at,
with the beam bouncing back to Earth.
Princess Diana
When Princess Diana was killed in a car crash in 1997 this quickly became one of
the first conspiracies of the internet age, with people claiming she had been
murdered by the Establishment. Many people suggested that she had been killed
because she and her lover, Dodi Al Fayed, had planned to marry. Others suggested
Diana was pregnant and that the Establishment had them killed to prevent a
Muslim attaining a powerful position of influence within the UK. It's known that
they purchased a ring from a Paris jewellers, but it's still disputed as to
whether or not this was an engagement ring. Ex-MI6 officer and whistleblower
Richard Tomlinson claims an assassination plan involving shining a laser at the
driver of the car may have been a factor here. Conspiracy theorists point to the
fact that a white Fiat Uno seen by numerous witnesses has never been traced.
Others say that the police inquiries revealed the truth and say that a
combination of a drunk driver, a high speed chase and people not wearing
seatbelts is the explanation for these events.
9/11
This was the first truly modern conspiracy theory of the internet age and
suggestions that all was not as it seemed appeared online within hours of the
tragic events of that day. Many people instantly doubted that 19 hijackers led
by a terrorist based in a cave in Afghanistan could have launched such
devastating and successful attacks on the most powerful nation on Earth.
Conspiracy theorists suggested that the hijackers had received assistance from
the US government itself, looking for a "New Pearl Harbour" that they believed
would lead to the Patriot Act, Guantanomo Bay and the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan. Many conspiracy theorists point to the collapse of Building 7, the
collapse of which they state was announced by the BBC before the building
actually came down. Conspiracy theories surrounding 9/11 are probably the most
prevalent conspiracy theories on the internet today, but the 9/11 Commission
Report concluded that the attacks were indeed the work of Osama Bin Laden and Al
Qaeda.
Chemtrails
The chemtrail controversy surfaced in the mid-Nineties. It's suggested that some
of the contrails from aircraft aren't normal vapour trails, but involve
chemicals that are being released deliberately for sinister purposes. Some
people have claimed that these chemicals are part of ongoing efforts to control
the weather, while others have suggested that this is part of a campaign to drug
people and control their behaviour. Believers claim that there has been a
massive increase in these trails over the last few decades, but sceptics point
out that there are more flights now than in the past. The United States Air
Force has a section of its website devoted to contrails, which includes a denial
of what they refer to as "the Chemtrail hoax".
North American Union
This is one of the fastest-growing conspiracy theories on the internet. Many
people believe that a secret plan has been hatched to merge of America, Canada
and Mexico into a new superpower. Some people suggest this is a response to the
growing economic power and influence of the European Union. Others claim this
will be the first step in a wider plot to establish a New World Order with one
world government. It's claimed that a new currency, the Amero, will be
developed. Mock-ups of these have been circulated widely on the internet. Like
many conspiracy theories, these claims have their roots in fact, because there
are plans to establish closer economic and social ties between the three
countries.
2012
Many people believed that the prophet Nostradamus predicted that the world would
end in 1999. When we got through this date unscathed, attention turned to 2012,
because this marks the end of the Mayan calendar. A number of different
predictions are being linked to this latest end of the world prophesy. Some
people believe that destruction will be brought by the return of a mysterious
10th planet, dubbed Planet X, or Nibiru. Others believe that the flipping of the
Earth's magnetic field - predicted by scientists and known to have happened many
times before - may have a part to play. Some New Age people believe this will
not be the literal end of the world, but a shift in human consciousness, linked
with the dawning of the Age of Aquarius.
Disappearing Bees
All around the world, bees - particularly honeybees - seem to be disappearing.
Beekeepers noticed it first, but ordinary people are now waking up to the fact
that there are fewer bees around. What's going on? What started out as an
internet conspiracy is now beginning to leak out into the mainstream media, with
scientific phrases such as "Colony Collapse Disorder" being used. Some people
blame a new virus or pesticide, while others suggest that radiation from mobile
phones is interfering with bees' navigation systems. Much of our agriculture is
based on pollination undertaken by bees, so the implications of bee
disappearance is massive, with governments now spending millions of pounds on
research. The bee disappearance mystery has been referenced on shows such as
Doctor Who.