Facing the facts about fictions

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/08/2020 (1909 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

U.S. President Donald Trump isn’t the only one who frequently favours fiction over facts.

In Canada, experts warn baseless COVID-19 conspiracy theories — for example, that the virus is being spread to cover up the effects of 5G wireless technology — are creating “a public health crisis.”

A study published in May at Carleton University indicated 46 per cent of Canadians believed at least one of four unfounded COVID-19 theories: the virus was engineered in a Chinese lab; the bogus 5G claim; drugs such as hydroxychloroquine can cure COVID-19 patients; or rinsing your nose with a saline solution can protect you from infection.

Alison Meek, a history professor at Western University, told The Canadian Press public uncertainty around the scientific process, combined with mounting frustrations with lockdown measures and a struggling economy has created a perfect storm in which conspiracy theories can flourish.

“All of those things are coming together right now to make these conspiracy theories a real public health crisis that’s getting more and more difficult to deal with,” Meek said. “People are dying because of these conspiracy theories and we’ve got to stop them. We’ve got to somehow figure out how to challenge them.”

It’s far from the first time bogus information has trumped facts, as we see from today’s totally true list of Five of the World’s Most Famous Conspiracy Theories:

5) The conspiracy theory: Area 51 and the alien invasion

Fact vs. Fiction: It would be impossible to discuss conspiracy theories without mentioning Area 51, a highly classified United States Air Force facility located at Groom Lake in southern Nevada, about 134 kilometres from Las Vegas. The U.S. government’s official name for Area 51 — the moniker derives from its map designation — is the Nevada Test and Training Range, which is a unit of the Nellis Air Force Base. It was created during the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union as a testing and development facility for aircraft, including the U-2 and SR-71 Blackbird reconnaissance planes. Although official information is sparse, it is believed that the U.S. military continues to use the 2.9 million acres of land to develop cutting-edge aircraft. But try telling that to conspiracy theorists, who famously insist that the remains of crashed UFO spacecrafts (and alien bodies) are stored at Area 51. Every year, fuelled by the intense secrecy surrounding the base, thousands of tourists flock to the area in hopes of catching a glimpse of the mysterious facility and the otherworldly craft they believe are housed there. Arguably the most popular UFO conspiracy is that in 1947 in Roswell, N.M., remains from a flying saucer that supposedly crashed were brought to Area 51 for reverse engineering experiments in order to replicate the extraterrestrial spacecraft. On Sept. 8, 1994, the U.S. Air Force issued a report stating the wreckage recovered in Roswell in July 1947, often referred to as the “Roswell Incident,” consisted of a smashed part of the balloons, sensors and radar reflectors from a classified government project called Project Mogul. “Others claim to have seen UFOs above or near the site, while some say they have been abducted by aliens, and even experimented on, before being returned to Earth,” the BBC reported. Members of the public are kept away by warning signs, electronic surveillance and armed guards and it is also illegal to fly over Area 51. The truth is out there.

4) The conspiracy theory: The 9/11 attacks were an inside job

Fact vs. Fiction: Assuming you were alive, it’s impossible to forget where you were on Sept. 11, 2001. On that fateful day, four passenger planes were hijacked by radical Islamist terrorists — almost 3,000 people were killed as the aircraft were flown into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field. Within hours of the attacks, a wave of far-fetched conspiracy theories swept North America. The most outrageous of these theories proposed by so-called “truthers” was that the attacks were an “inside job,” and that the U.S. government had a secret plan to line the twin towers of the World Trade Center with explosives to destroy the buildings and then blame it on Islamic terrorists. “There is NO WAY the impact of the jet caused such widespread damage 80 stories below,” one “truther” posted online at the time. “It is OBVIOUS and irrefutable that OTHER EXPLOSIVES (… such as concussion bombs) HAD ALREADY BEEN DETONATED in the lower levels of tower one at the same time as the plane crash.” You’d have to be a lunatic to believe that, right? Well, the opinion polls might surprise you. In 2006, a Scripps Howard poll found 10 per cent of Americans felt it was “somewhat likely” the collapse of the towers was secretly aided by explosives. In reality, subsequent investigations made it crystal clear that the towers were weakened by the inferno from the planes and felled by the weight of collapsing floors. Engineers cited “pancaking” for the collapse. “Once each tower began to collapse, the weight of all the floors above the collapsed zone bore down with pulverizing force on the highest intact floor. Unable to absorb the massive energy, that floor would fail, transmitting the forces to the floor below, allowing the collapse to progress downward through the building in a chain reaction,” Popular Mechanics magazine noted. The “truthers” still don’t buy it.

3) The conspiracy theory: The JFK Assassination

Fact vs. Fiction: When U.S. President John F. Kennedy was shot dead on Nov. 22, 1963, this columnist was parked in the front row of his Grade 1 classroom in West Vancouver listening to the horrible news crackle out of a tiny speaker suspended above the blackboard. Considering he was seven years old at the time, he (yes, I’m talking about myself) insists he wasn’t involved. But it’s unlikely conspiracy theorists would buy that excuse. Conspiracy theories have bloomed like wildflowers since the day JFK was felled by two bullets — one in the head, one in the neck — while riding in an open-topped limo through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas. Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for the assassination of the president, and, two days later, Oswald was killed on live television. A presidential commission headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren found that Oswald acted alone, but that didn’t come close to satisfying conspiracy buffs, whose ranks seem to include a large chunk of the population, fanatics who gather at special symposiums to discuss their obsession. A 2003 ABC News poll found that 70 per cent of Americans believe Kennedy’s death was the result of a broader plot. Notes Time magazine: “Was Kennedy killed by CIA agents acting either out of anger over the Bay of Pigs or at the behest of Vice-President Lyndon Johnson? By KGB operatives? Mobsters mad at Kennedy’s brother for initiating the prosecution of organized crime rings? Speculation over one of history’s most famous political assassinations is such a popular parlor game that most people have taken the rumors to heart: just 32 per cent of those polled by ABC believe Oswald carried out the killing on his own.” In a 2018 study published in the journal Helios, Nicholas Nalli, senior research scientist at IMSG, Inc., created a model of the mechanics of the gunshot wound that proved the official record is correct and rejected notions JFK was shot from the “grassy knoll” in front of him. “The Zapruder film shows President Kennedy being shot from behind and not from the infamous grassy knoll, in corroboration of the official autopsy findings,” Nalli said. “That’s the only ‘smoking gun’ in the film.”

2) The conspiracy theory: QAnon (the “Deep State”)

Fact vs. Fiction: The crazier the theory, the more tightly some people will cling to it. How else to explain the proliferation in recent years of QAnon, a wide-ranging, unfounded conspiracy theory that claims Donald Trump is waging a secret war against elite Satan-worshipping pedophiles in government, business and the media? “QAnon believers have speculated that this fight will lead to a day of reckoning where prominent people such as Hillary Clinton will be arrested and executed,” the BBC reported last month. “That’s the basic story, but there are so many offshoots, detours and internal debates that the total list of QAnon claims is enormous — and often contradictory.” It all began in October 2017, when an anonymous user put a series of posts on the message board 4chan. The user signed off as “Q” and claimed to have a level of security approval known as “Q clearance.” It’s ludicrous, but it’s popularity seems to be growing. “Judging by social media, there are hundreds of thousands of people who believe in at least some of the bizarre theories offered up by QAnon,” the BBC notes. “And its popularity hasn’t been diminished by events which would seem to debunk the whole thing.” Its main conspiracy theories claim dozens of politicians and A-list celebrities work in tandem with governments around the globe to engage in child sex abuse, and followers also believe there is a “deep state” effort to subvert Trump. Among the most absurd and patently false claims were that celebrities and VIPS such as Ellen DeGeneres, Oprah Winfrey, the Gateses and the Clintons, among others, were under house arrest for child-sex trafficking. QAnon spread a baseless suggestion in 2016 that a pizza parlour in D.C. was a front for a child sex ring, which led to a violent incident. In 2016, a deluded 28-year-old man opened fire inside the pizzeria claiming he believed he was rescuing child sex slaves. Notes CNN: “There’s no evidence that any of what QAnon claims is factual. Followers make unfounded claims and then amplify them with doctored or out-of-context evidence posted on social media to support the allegations.” It would be laughable if it weren’t so potentially dangerous.

1) The conspiracy theory: The Moon Landings Were Faked

Fact vs. Fiction: On July 20, 1969, the world looked on in awe as Apollo 11 astronauts took their first steps on the moon. It was a historic achievement — or was it? While most of us were thrilled, a few hardcore doubters insist the “giant leap for mankind” was a “giant lie.” Even though this conspiracy theory is easily debunked — for instance, they brought back moon rocks that have been verified by science — it continues to persist. Conspiracy fans allege the U.S. government, desperate to beat the Russians in the space race, faked the lunar landings, with Armstrong and Aldrin acting out their mission on a secret film set, located either in Hollywood or inside Area 51. “Far-fetched as the hoax theory may seem, a 1999 Gallup poll showed that it’s comparatively durable: six per cent of Americans said they thought the lunar landings were fake, and five per cent said they were undecided,” notes time.com. Rick Feinberg, press officer for the American Astronomical Society, told history.com it would have involved deception on a grand scale. “About 400,000 scientists, engineers, technologists, machinists, electricians, worked on the Apollo program,” Fienberg noted. “If in fact the main motivation for believing in the moon hoax is you don’t trust the government, you don’t trust our leaders, you don’t trust authority, how can you feel that 400,000 people would keep their mouths shut for 50 years? It’s just implausible.” Doubters frequently note the U.S. flag Aldrin planted appears to ripple in the wind, when there’s no wind on the moon. In fact, the flag dangled from a special rod and “the Apollo 11 astronauts had trouble extending the rod all the way, and in still pictures, this creates a ripple effect that makes the flag look like it’s waving in the wind,” notes history.com. Also, their footprints on the moon and their landing site have been verified by other nations. In 2002, conspiracy theorist Bart Sibrel badgered Aldrin and called him “a coward, and a liar, and a thief” to his face. Aldrin punched the guy in the nose. Now that was a great landing!

doug.speirs@freepress.mb.ca