All posts tagged: Conspiracy

The 9/11 Conspiracy Theories

The 9/11 Conspiracy Theories

Published by Sam Flores

Following a public lecture I gave in 2005 at the L.A. Public Library, I was buttonholed by a documentary filmmaker with ambitions of exposing the conspiracy behind 9/11. “You mean the conspiracy by Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda to attack the United States?” I asked rhetorically, knowing what was to come. “That’s what they want you to believe,” he said.  “Who is they?” I queried.  “The government,” he whispered, as if they might be listening at that very moment.  At this point in the conversation I declined to be interviewed, knowing precisely where the dialogue was going next:  the Pentagon was hit by a missile, Air Force jets were ordered to “stand down” and not intercept Flights 11 and 175 that struck the twin towers,  which themselves were razed by demolition explosives timed to go off soon after the impact of the planes,  a mysterious white jet shot down Flight 93 over Pennsylvania, New York Jews were ordered to stay home that day (Zionists and other pro-Israeli factions, of course, were involved),  that 9/11 was …

The long afterlife of QAnon conspiracy theories haunting American politics

The long afterlife of QAnon conspiracy theories haunting American politics

Published by Sam Flores

On Election Day in 2024, as voters cast their ballots, Elon Musk posted a campaign music video supporting Donald Trump’s bid for president. Set to Van Halen’s “Jump,” with a montage of 1980s cultural references and images of Trump in various strongman poses, the video includes a line about “PATRIOTS” in which the “O” turns into a “Q,” a reference to the online conspiracy theory QAnon. Started on the online forum website 4chan in 2017, QAnon spread false, far-right theories on social media about a shadowy cabal of satanic pedophiles among the political elite, which Trump was purportedly fighting alongside a mysterious ally named “Q.” As a scholar of conspiracy theories and extremism, I’ve watched QAnon seep from the margins into mainstream American politics over the past decade. While Q stopped posting in 2022, the movement did not disappear. As we near the 10-year anniversary of QAnon, these theories continue to haunt America’s politics. The afterlife of QAnon Building on the 2016 “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory, which claimed Democrats were trafficking children in the basement of …

“Suspicious”: McConnell hospital discharge revives conspiracy theories

“Suspicious”: McConnell hospital discharge revives conspiracy theories

Published by Sam Flores

Mitch McConnell announced that he was being discharged from the hospital on Thursday, saying that he would “continue his recovery at home.” “On the advice of my doctors, I’ll maintain an intensive regimen of physical therapy from home during the state work period, and I’ll continue to engage with my staff and colleagues on important Senate business,” the Kentucky senator shared in a statement. McConnell was hospitalized in mid-June after being found unconscious in his D.C. home. The lack of information about the senior Republican’s condition, and a dearth of evidence that the 84-year-old was responsive, led commentators in both conservative and progressive spheres to speculate that he was much worse off than was being reported. The statement on Thursday revived those theories, as many wondered why there were no photos of McConnell leaving the rehabilitation center. “It’s strange. No photos of Mitch McConnell leaving the rehab center,” wrote activist Charlotte Clymer on X. “Just a statement and reporters giving a quick salute.” MAGA commentator Eric Spracklen called Mitch’s statement “suspicious” and wondered why TMZ’s …

Why do some people who trust in science also believe in scientific conspiracy theories?

Why do some people who trust in science also believe in scientific conspiracy theories?

Published by Miika Tikkanen

In a world where trust in institutions is mostly in decline, levels of trust in science remain relatively high. Yet at the same time, belief in scientific conspiracy theories, such as hushed-up effects of vaccines or aeroplane “chemtrails”, is also widespread. What explains this apparent contradiction? Our work suggests we need to ask a different question – not how much people trust science, but which sources inform their understanding of what science is and how it works. In our recent study of 843 US residents, we found that people who picture scientific progress as the work of lone geniuses, and who learn about science mainly from podcasts and documentaries, are markedly more drawn to conspiracy theories – whatever their level of education. This fits the bigger picture very well. In a 16-country survey, 70% of respondents believed at least one false or unproven health claim. High trust in science and widespread conspiracy beliefs appear to coexist in the same populations. We fear that trust in science is compatible with believing almost anything, so long as …

A DOJ for Conspiracy Theorists

A DOJ for Conspiracy Theorists

Published by Daniella Wilson

Not so very long ago, the Justice Department stood as a bulwark of facts against Donald Trump’s wildest claims. During his first term, a pattern emerged: Trump would make a bizarre assertion (say, that Barack Obama had illegally wiretapped Trump Tower), a litigant would point to this assertion in court to cast doubt on the Justice Department’s arguments, and DOJ attorneys would be forced to explain to an irritated judge that the president’s statements did not actually reflect the government’s position on the matter. Checking Trump’s comments against what a government lawyer was willing to swear in front of a judge was a handy way of demonstrating how Trump’s version of reality measured up to the truth. In the second term, the Justice Department no longer sets itself at a polite distance from the baseless allegations shared by the president in his late-night Truth Social posts. This week, DOJ announced an “anti-weaponization” fund of dubious legality, intended to pay back victims of “weaponization and lawfare”—an apparent reference to prosecuted January 6 insurrectionists. In language that …

Philadelphia’s founding years were rife with conspiracy fears about ‘godless’ Freemasons and the Illuminati

Philadelphia’s founding years were rife with conspiracy fears about ‘godless’ Freemasons and the Illuminati

Published by Sam Flores

(The Conversation) — How conspiracies spread has changed immensely over the history of the United States, as technology and media have evolved. But the nature of conspiracies has not. I teach communications courses at Villanova University, 12 miles from Philadelphia, on how conspiracy theories are created and disseminated. As the nation approaches its 250th anniversary on July 4, 2026, I have been thinking about the early history of Philadelphia and the controversial people, stories and ideas, including conspiracies, that permeated the city during the second half of the 1700s. Conspiracy theories describe alternative versions of events – such as the collapse of the twin towers of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001 – that contrast with the official, accepted versions of events. Conspiracies, however, involve small groups of people who act in secret for their own gain and against the common good. Examples of conspiracies include the Watergate scandal by President Richard Nixon and members of his administration, or the Tuskegee experiments in which U.S. public health professionals treated unsuspecting African Americans with …

The exact political location where conspiracy theories thrive

The exact political location where conspiracy theories thrive

Published by José Betancourt

People who are most likely to believe in conspiracy theories tend to share a specific blend of political views, pairing a desire for left-wing economic policies with conservative cultural values. A recent analysis published in the journal Political Psychology maps the ideological coordinates of conspiracy thinking across Europe, revealing that it thrives in a very precise corner of the political landscape. The results point out that those who long for economic equality but demand strict cultural conformity are especially prone to believe that secret plots control global events. Conspiracy theories attract a diverse cast of characters, ranging from wellness influencers to alienated workers and political radicals. While psychologists have spent years studying the personality traits that make someone susceptible to such beliefs, less attention has been paid to the actual political demands of these individuals. Florian Buchmayr, a sociologist at the University of Bremen in Germany, wanted to understand what specific policy preferences unite people who see hidden agendas behind major events. Buchmayr and his co-author André Krouwel set out to map the political profiles …

More pupils report conspiracy theories and misinfo in school

More pupils report conspiracy theories and misinfo in school

Published by Miika Tikkanen

And four in five teachers report having had a pupil bring up a conspiracy theory with them And four in five teachers report having had a pupil bring up a conspiracy theory with them More from this theme Recent articles The proportion of children reporting issues with conspiracy theories, misinformation and disinformation in their schools has increased by over a third in a year, research suggests. Polling by Public First for the Commission into Countering Online Conspiracies in Schools also found 81 per cent of teachers reported having had a pupil bring up a conspiracy theory with them. According to the commission’s polling, 27 per cent of young people now report that conspiracy theories, misinformation and disinformation are an issue in their school, up from 20 per cent the year before, a rise of 35 per cent. And the proportion of parents who reported that their children have raised a conspiracy theory with them jumped from 28 per cent in 2024 to 38 per cent in 2025. Generative AI is a “major new driver”, with …

The Weather-Changing Conspiracy Theory That Will Never End

The Weather-Changing Conspiracy Theory That Will Never End

Published by Sam Flores

The guy pouring my beer in Anchorage told me that he knew there was no truth to decades-old rumors about a research facility 200 miles to the northeast. Nobody was up there talking to aliens or controlling people’s minds. “They just do the aurora,” he said, cheerfully, while tearing up pieces of mint. The comment didn’t surprise me. Many people who don’t believe one conspiracy theory about that station—known as the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program, or HAARP—believe another. A common misconception is that it can manufacture northern lights, a natural wonder typically most visible in or near the Arctic Circle. It cannot (and neither can any man-made instrument). Still, late last year, when a geomagnetic storm caused aurora sightings as far south as Texas, Facebook was studded with posts warning that these lights were not “natural” and that they were created by the scientists at HAARP for possibly sinister reasons. I’ve been curious about HAARP for a while because of rumors such as this one. The lab has also been erroneously credited with various …