After Hours

10 geeky conspiracy theories

By · June 29, 2010, 1:57 AM PST

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  • The War of the Worlds

    On October 30, 1938, in what was perhaps the start of the UFO scares and conspiracy theories, Orson Welles' reading of H.G. Wells' book The War of the Worlds sparked mass panic on the U.S. eastern seaboard. This photo is an artist's rendition of what the martian walkers looked like.

    Image credit: Meinert Hansen.

    For more on this topic, read the Geekend post Conspiracy theories for geeks.

  • The Battle of Los Angeles

    Known as The Battle of Los Angeles and as The Great Los Angeles Air Raid, this event was a massive artillery and anti-aircraft barrage late one night in 1942. Initially, it was thought there was an attacking force from Japan, but it was later determined to be a false alarm. Because of this, many UFO theorists have claimed it was actually an extraterrestrial spacecraft. The official record states that the misfiring was a case of "war nerves."

    This is a photo of an 8-inch howitzer artillery gun, the type which may have been used in the barrage.

    Image credit: Narayan Sengupta.

    For more on this topic, read the Geekend post Conspiracy theories for geeks.

  • Roswell

    Perhaps the most famous UFO conspiracy theory, Roswell, New Mexico is the site of what was perhaps the only recovered flying saucer -- if the stories are true. The origin of the controversy is a July 8, 1947 press release from the U.S. Air Force stating that a "flying disk" was recovered near there. Shortly thereafter, the press release was withdrawn, and the U.S. Air Force stated that it was actually a weather balloon. What's more surprising is that this incident was largely forgotten for more than 20 years.

    Image credit: Public domain courtesy of http://top10ufo.com.

    For more on this topic, read the Geekend post Conspiracy theories for geeks.

  • Area 51

    Another famous alleged UFO site in the United States is Area 51 in Nevada. Made even more famous by the 1996 movie, Independence Day, Area 51 is an Air Force Base on the shores of the dried-up Groom Lake in southern Nevada. Many UFO believers think that recovered alien spacecraft (including what was recovered from Roswell) was delivered here for examination and reverse engineering. Another belief is that there is a large, underground facility beneath this base where all of the extraterrestrial activity takes place.

    Image credit: DVD cover photographed by Wally Bahny for TechRepublic.

    For more on this topic, read the Geekend post Conspiracy theories for geeks.

  • Apollo

    The NASA Apollo missions are another major source of conspiracy theories. Many believe that the moon landing was staged; the theories diverge here into either "the moon landings never happened" or "NASA staged them to conceal what really happened." Check out my 2009 post about the MythBusters show about the conspiracy theories surrounding the Apollo 11 moon landing.

    Image credit: NASA.

    For more on this topic, read the Geekend post Conspiracy theories for geeks.

  • HAARP

    High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) is an ionosphereic research program that is jointly funded by the Air Force, the Navy, DARPA, and the University of Alaska. The goal is to create technologies that use the ionosphere to enhance radio transmissions and improve military surveillance. Conspiracy theorists believe that HAARP is creating directed energy weapons, weather-controlling technology, and mind-control technology.

    Image credit: HAARP.

    For more on this topic, read the Geekend post Conspiracy theories for geeks.

  • Contrails

    Contrails, the condensation of wet jet exhaust in a wet atmosphere, are commonly thought to contain chemical or biological agents, especially those that spread out, such as in this photo. These are referred to as chemtrails. Conspiracy theorists think the government, terrorists, and other groups put the chemical or biological agents in the contrails, which are then spread to unsuspecting citizens on the ground.

    Image credit: Uncinus at Contrail Science.

    For more on this topic, read the Geekend post Conspiracy theories for geeks.

  • Philadelphia Experiment

    The Philadelphia Experiment was an alleged attempt in 1943 to turn a U.S. Navy warship optically invisible. Conspiracy theorists also posit that crew members were severely affected by the attempt. The official source states that the attempts were to make the ship invisible to torpedoes using degaussing technology and other methods.

    Image credit: Naval History and Heritage Command.

    For more on this topic, read the Geekend post Conspiracy theories for geeks.

  • Montauk Project

    An extension of the Philadelphia Experiment theory, the Montauk Project is an alleged group of experiments attempted at Camp Hero / Montauk Air Force Station at Montauk, Long Island, NY. Most conspiracy theorists claim that the experiments were in psychological warfare or time travel technologies.

    Image credit: John Hock.

    For more on this topic, read the Geekend post Conspiracy theories for geeks.

  • Peak oil

    Peak Oil is a conspiracy theory that many of us have expressed from time to time. It has to do with the control of oil supplies and alleged shortages. The theory is that the oil industry is aware of vast untapped stores of oil, yet does not use it to maintain an illusion of scarcity to keep profits high.

    While not specifically related to this theory, I chose this image of "Oil Derrick Worship" to also show our reliance on oil.

    Image Credit: Jason Skinner (photographer) and Dan Das Mann and Karen Kusolito (artists).

    For more on this topic, read the Geekend post Conspiracy theories for geeks.

The War of the Worlds

On October 30, 1938, in what was perhaps the start of the UFO scares and conspiracy theories, Orson Welles' reading of H.G. Wells' book The War of the Worlds sparked mass panic on the U.S. eastern seaboard. This photo is an artist's rendition of what the martian walkers looked like.

Image credit: Meinert Hansen.

For more on this topic, read the Geekend post Conspiracy theories for geeks.
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