Also of interest to conspiracy theorists are cloud-seeding technologies. These include a debunked allegation [329] that the British military's Project Cumulus caused the fatal 1952 Lynmouth Flood in Devon, England, [330] and claims concerning a secret project said to have caused the 2010 Pakistan floods. [331] MKUltra Heald, Henrietta (1992). Chronicle of Britain: Incorporating a Chronicle of Ireland. Jacques Legrand. p.605. ISBN 9781872031354. Lord Lucan – The Mystery Unravelled". BBC. 7 March 2005. Archived from the original on 14 February 2017 . Retrieved 21 November 2017. Eco’s fiendishly complex novel presents us with a mind-boggling array of esoteric conspiracies, from the Freemasons and the Bavarian Illuminati to Opus Dei. The novel concerns a spoof conspiracy theory, “the Plan”, created by three publishers who find their invention has gained a mysterious life of its own. Like Dan Brown in The Da Vinci Code, the novel draws on the Rennes-le-Château mythologies about the Ark of the Covenant. But Eco’s treatment is vastly more sophisticated, showing how such conspiracy theories can seduce the sceptical and credulous alike. Sykes, Leslie (17 May 2009). "Angels & Demons Causing Serious Controversy". KFSN-TV/ ABC News. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011 . Retrieved 27 January 2011.

Was Titanic inquiry scuppered by the Freemasons?". The Daily Telegraph. 23 November 2015. Archived from the original on 21 April 2018 . Retrieved 5 April 2018. These questions are the gateway to a vast arena of conspiracy theories that have spawned endless speculation and hundreds of books, articles and films. It didn't help that Lee Harvey Oswald was murdered in the basement of Dallas Police Headquarters while surrounded by police officers only two days after the assassination — and by a guy with ties to the Mob. The whole thing stunk, people figured. Such ideas have always had a particular attraction for me. They exist at a curious intersection between fictional and historical interpretations of events, highlighting how much of what we understand as “history” is a partial narrative, a story based on a selective interpretation of facts. In a way, each conspiracy theory – like a story – attempts to simplify the complexity of an event into a stable, unified narrative, with a clearly traceable agency and explicable motive. As a result, the conspiracy theory tends to assert itself with a stronger sense of truth and falsehood, of right and wrong. The writer of fiction does something a little similar, but with no pretence to revealing the truth. The best novelists, it seems to me, use conspiracy theories to show complexity and explore the doubts, confusions and uncertainties that haunt every official account of “what really happened”. The Birds Aren't Real conspiracy is a movement developed by Peter McIndoe, 23, who started spreading the idea in 2017. Until a December 2021 interview in the New York Times, McIndoe stayed in-character as a true believer, insisting in media interviews and online that birds aren't real, but rather they are surveillance drones made by the U.S. government. Birds Aren't Real has a staff; it has organized real-life protests; it bought real-life billboards; and it emblazoned vans with their claim. The goal, says McIndoe, is to parody the misinformation that Gen Z finds itself stewing in. a b Summers, Anthony (2013). "Six Options for History". Not in Your Lifetime. New York: Open Road. p.238. ISBN 978-1-4804-3548-3. Archived from the original on 1 November 2013.

May, Andrew (14 September 2016). "Conspiracy Theories". Pseudoscience and Science Fiction. Science and Fiction. Springer. pp.155–177. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-42605-1_8. ISBN 978-3-319-42605-1 . Retrieved 11 November 2022.

Pope Renounces Papal Throne". Vatican Information Service, 2 November 2013 Bulletin – English Edition. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014 . Retrieved 15 July 2014. Kennedy family researcher Lisa Pease leads the way in the alternative narrative of the true story behind the RFK assassination. Conspiracy theorists often attend to new military technologies, both real and imagined. Subjects of theories include: the alleged Philadelphia Experiment, a supposed attempt to turn a US Navy warship invisible; [342] [ unreliable source?] 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 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. [343]Conspiratorial thinking about health is widespread. A 2014 research letter published in JAMA Internal Medicine found that 37% of Americans believe that the Food and Drug Administration is suppressing natural cures for cancer because of drug company pressure. This was the most-believed health conspiracy in the study. Twenty percent also said they believed public health officials to be hiding data showing that cell phones cause cancer, and 20% said that doctors vaccinate children with risky immunizations, knowing them to be dangerous. Weigel, David (20 May 2017). "The Seth Rich conspiracy shows how fake news still works". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 20 May 2017 . Retrieved 21 May 2017.

Unlike many conspiracy theories, though, this one had a billionaire promoting it: Mohamed Al-Fayed, the father of Dodi Al-Fayed, who was killed along with Diana. Al-Fayed claims that the accident was in fact an assassination by British intelligence agencies, at the request of the Royal Family. Al-Fayed's claims were examined and dismissed as baseless by a 2006 inquiry; the following year, at Diana's inquest, the coroner stated that "The conspiracy theory advanced by Mohamed Al Fayed has been minutely examined and shown to be without any substance." On April 7, 2008, the coroner's jury concluded that Diana and Al-Fayed were unlawfully killed due to negligence by their drunken chauffeur and pursuing paparazzi, The New York Times reported.

Top Conspiracy Theories

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