Column: Conspiracy theories are actually laughable myths
Wednesday, February 27, 2008; 12:00 AM
It's all a conspiracy. The government, big business and the Freemasons are all out to get us. They want to use their influence to control world affairs. Scary, isn't it?

Thankfully, it isn't true. But a growing sub-culture has emerged in recent years, and thanks to the power of the Internet it's easier than ever for these outlandish ideas to spread. Conspiracy theories are no longer relegated to isolated communities of crackpots. Now they're endorsed by world leaders such as Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and actor Charlie Sheen.

As laughable as some of these theories are, there is a sizable portion of the population that believes there's some big secret being kept by the powers that be. Whether it's UFOs, the JFK assassination, the 9/11 truth movement or untold secrets about the life of Jesus Christ, there is always something to rally around. The most popular theories used to be the JFK assassination and UFOs. But since 9/11, an entire movement has spawned, and their mission is the supposed truth about what happened.

The truth, however, is never as grand as we would like it to be. What seems more exciting? That 19 men armed only with box cutters and extreme determination were able to strike at the heart of American pride? Or that a shadowy group of power mongers orchestrated the attacks in an elaborate conspiracy to pursue its agenda? It's only natural to assume that such a big event must have an equally big cause. But more often than not, the claims of the conspiracy theorists don't stand up to the facts.

Most crackpots trying to push their theories rely on crafty arguments and deceptive presentations. As Creationists who try to prove their faulty beliefs, conspiracy theories are riddled with ad hominum attacks, shaky foundations, straw man arguments, over-generalizations and outright falsehoods.

Just look at the best selling 9/11 conspiracy film "Loose Change." While their presentation seems slick and legitimate, it's worth noting that the makers are not experts. The people they find to support their claims may have credentials, but they pick and choose the details and ignore key facts that disprove their claims.

This film, coupled with many other 9/11 conspiracy theorists, caused such a stir that the magazine "Popular Mechanics" devoted an entire issue to debunking every one of their claims. And what did the makers of "Loose Change" do in response? They did what all conspiracy theorists do and ignored it.

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Posted by: Thomas at Jan 19 If you think that there is no one watching you, then you do not belong to a neigborhood watch or condo association. If you think everything is mythical, you are living with your head buried in the sand. What is happening overtly is indcativeof what is happening covertly. Wake-up, my friend. Flag Abuse
Posted by: grarneks at 8/02/08 I agreed with you Flag Abuse
Posted by: medicis at 3/02/08 CB_Brooklyn's tediously repetitious postings about 'No planes' hitting the World Trade Center buildings on 9/11 are more destructive of the 9/11 truth movement's credibility than any possible editorial by Jacob Caporaletti. Spreading of disinformation is a clear sign of complicity and/or agreement with the government's efforts to undermine 9/11 truth as well as the efforts of many other dedicated patriots to reveal the actual workings of the police state. A comment made on the Democratic Underground forum to CB_Brooklyn: "Edited on Tue Jun-05-07 05:11 PM by softwarevotingtrail: cb_brooklyn, I noticed that there are 6,740 returns for the search term "cb_brooklyn" on Google. And virtually all your posts are not merely about 9-11 conspiracy theories - they concern the most outrageous, bizarre, and unlikely 9-11 conspiracy theories imaginable: "energy beams" and "directed energy weapons" taking down the twin towers, accusing William Rodriguez of being part of a "fakery" conspiracy; "fake" video of the planes hitting the towers. You are so busy polluting the well with this garbage that it almost seems like it's a full-time job for you. Perhaps it even IS a full-time job. I hope you are getting paid accordingly." Flag Abuse
Posted by: CB_Brooklyn at 3/02/08 Court Cases in the US District Court, Southern District of New York, with Attorney Jerry Leaphart: ** Dr Judy Wood, suing on behalf of the United States of America and demanding a Trial by Jury, has evidence that Directed Energy Weapons were a causal factor in the destruction of the World Trade Center: http://drjudywood.com/articles/NIST/Qui_Tam_Wood.html Docket No. 1:07-cv-03314-GBD Title: Wood v. Applied Research Associates, Inc. et al Judge: George B. Daniels ** Dr Morgan Reynolds, suing on behalf of the United States of America and demanding a Trial by Jury, has evidence that the Media broadcasted cartoons of an airplane hitting the South Tower: http://nomoregames.net/index.php?page=911&subpage1=federal_case Docket No. 1:07-cv-04612-GEL Title: Dr. Morgan O. Reynolds v. Science Applications International Corp. et al Judge: George B. Daniels Flag Abuse
Posted by: Mike M at 3/01/08 And to someone who referenced all the surveillance cameras at the Pentagon that didn't record the crash, let's do the math. The field of view in the farfield is perhaps 200 feet (most are aimed at closer targets, thus have a smaller FOV). Most cameras were not aimed at the point where the plane impacted, so would have no useful information. A typical surveillance camera takes a snapshot about once per second. The stall speed of the Boeing 757 is about 235 fps. Slower than that and it falls out of the sky. So, a camera with a 200 foot field of view would AT MOST capture one frame with the plane in view, and very likely would not capture a picture of the plane at all. The plane is moving too fast, and would enter and exit the FOV between frame captures. But again, I'm a member of the evil M-I complex, so I'm probably beaming my mind-inhibiting ray at you so you'll be taken in by my obviously faked mathematical formulas. Flag Abuse
Posted by: Mike M at 3/01/08 I love this! I've never had such great entertainment on a Saturday morning. "I read it on this blog, and they even wrote a book about it! And this other group made a video! It MUST be true!! They even call themselves the TRUTHERS!" Folks, if you really think something sinister happened, why don't you try getting an education that will allow YOU to research and analyze the evidence, instead of relying on what someone else wrote or said. You slam people for believing the "evil government lies" and then turn around and believe what the truthers tell you. Tell me, exactly what is the difference? Is your internet search engine more pure than mine? Do you have a magic BS filter installed? "These guys did their own analysis and said the government lied!" just doesn't hold water. Unless you are so deluded as to believe every physics, chemistry and engineering textbook has been corrupted by the government conspirators, I suggest you get an education and do your own analysis. I've seen what explosives do to buildings, and I've seen what happens when a plane hits the ground or other solid structure. But don't take my word for it, go learn about it first hand. Quoting some kook's blog isn't very convincing. Flag Abuse
Posted by: Tim at 3/01/08 There is a big difference between inside job and letting it happen. Loose change believes that there was NO PLANE at the Pentagon or Shanksville. They have the balls to claim that the phone calls were faked and they have said this to the victims families! Now I don't argue that the government might have known something was going to happen on 9/11 or even that they new the exact plan and decided to let it happen, but the crap that loose change spews is just utterly ridiculous. Chris's statement "Science is the bane of those who don't believe in it." applies to everything in that loose change video. Flag Abuse
Posted by: Eugene Martin at 3/01/08 First things first you can not claim that this administration is "honest" can you back that up with any evidence the president himself presented facts he knew to be lies about Iraq 260 times to the press!They knew they had no weapons we had destroyed them all throughout the 90's Before that he claimed no one in this administration or the last could have predicted plane being used as weapons! Now in case you are not familiar there was a report given to him directly on Aug/6/01 telling exactly that! There were numerous other reports made by many other countries to our intelligence agencies that they knew we were to be attacked they were not acted upon! Not to mention able danger the FBI unit who were tracking certain hijackers inside the U.S. which was subsequently dismantled and covered up by people who were then promoted!There is a cover up the only question is to what extent and what exactly are they covering up! SEE 9/11 PRESS FOR TRUTH!By the way someone mentioned 25 military people question the official story the number is much higher than that! Flag Abuse
Posted by: Anonymous at 2/29/08 Popular Mechanics Debunks 12/25 Santa Claus Truthers In March 2005, Popular Mechanics published an article called Debunking The 9/11 Myths, that denigrated all unofficial 9/11 conspiracy theories while exalting the official 9/11 conspiracy fairy tale. Since then, the Popular Mechanics article has been thoroughly exposed as hogwash, and Popular Mechanics has loosed its inferior and wanting investigative experts on another growing community of U.S. citizens who hunger for the truth about a different event: What Really Happened on 12/25? :-) The full article is reprinted below… Debunking 12/25 Myths FROM THE MOMENT the first gifts were spotted beneath millions of U.S. Christmas trees on the morning of December 25, the world has asked one simple and compelling question: How could it happen? Seven months later, not everyone is convinced we know the truth. Go to Google.com, type in the search phrase "Santa Claus conspiracy" and you'll get links to thousands of Web sites. It will baffle and surprise most Americans to discover how many of these sites reject the official consensus that nine reindeer flew Santa Claus and a sleigh onto U.S. rooftops in the early hours of 12/25. Healthy skepticism, it seems, has curdled into paranoia. Wild conspiracy tales are peddled daily on the Internet, talk radio and in other media. Blurry photos, quotes taken out of context and sketchy eyewitness accounts have inspired a slew of elaborate theories: There was no "red-nosed" reindeer, or there were only eight reindeer. Some claim there were no reindeer at all. Some U.S. parents actually had advance knowledge that Santa and the elves were determined to break and enter on 12/25, but these parents let it happen on purpose anyway. The Santa gifts were only one facet of a vast marketing scheme perpetrated by parents with additional help from Toys "R" Us. (Not surprisingly, this theory's proponents fail to address why parents would scheme to rid themselves of their own hard-earned cash. "Follow the money," one PM expert suggested, "and it all goes to the children." Simply put: there is no motive.) Perhaps most outlandish of all, some theorize Santa Claus doesn't even exist. Instead, they say, the immortal magic elf was perpetuated by one or more actors who somehow managed to show up and be photographed at every shopping center in every city in every state almost every single day between Thanksgiving and Christmas! As outlandish as these claims may sound, they are increasingly accepted abroad and among extremists here in the United States. The Santa Claus Truth movement The Santa Claus Truth movement is a very troublesome development in American society. What was once a laudable attempt to encourage the public into critical thinking about Santa Claus has devolved into religious devotion to a Santa Clause conspiracy cult that makes a living peddling nonsense and exploiting ignorance. Perhaps most troubling of all is the fact that most of these "Truth" cults are increasingly targeting America's youth. Of new converts who have, in the past month, rejected the official 12/25 Santa Claus explanation, over 90% were youth under the age of 13. "These are our children, our future," says an anonymous high-thinking war lemming. "They are being targeted, mostly, by children their age who've already succumbed to popular delusions, when critical thinking should make it clear that Santa Claus brought down those presents." Let's take a closer look at some of the most popular 12/25 delusions… Omniscience of Parents Many theories espoused by Santa Truth members purpose parental facilitation or complicity in the 12/25 Santa Claus gift event. These theories, by definition, assume that U.S. parents are competent, all powerful, all seeing entities. But U.S. parents are obviously none of these things. Yet Santa Truth theorists would have us believe a nation full of incompetent parents can be totally competent when it comes to organizing a massive gift event and keeping information about the conspiracy totally sealed shut. A radical analysis of 12/25 that is ignored by leftists and activists in the Santa Truth movement is the fact that the 12/25 gift event itself illustrated how disorganized, incompetent and weak U.S. parents really are. Surely, if these parents could plan and execute a conspiracy on such a massive scale, they would not fail to provide batteries for the very toys they are purported to have secretly purchased in advance! Further analysis reveals a high percentage of gift clothes that did not fit intended recipients — in most cases, close relatives. An anonymous, but high-ranking member in the Vice President's office offered this: That a caring, loving parent could pull off a secret operation of 12/25 magnitude, and yet fail to acquire the correctly-sized camouflage hunting cap for their small loved one…whom they know intimately and share a trailer and bowling ball with…that's categorically preposterous beyond my drunk fool turkey imagination. Summary There is no better explanation for 12/25 than the official Santa Claus story. Don't think for yourself. Don't open your mind to reason. Don't check the facts. If it's broken let your grandkids fix it. Go back to sleep. Flag Abuse
Posted by: Adam Syed at 2/29/08 Yet another mindblowingly ignorant hit piece from someone who has not familiarized himself with the facts. Did this author get a personal coaching from the Popular Mechanics crack staff on how to construct a smear article against the truth movement? Last time I checked, a conspiracy is simply an agreement between two or more people to do something illegal/immoral. But as far as "conspiracy theories" in the pejorative sense of the term, Caporaletti does correctly state the characteristics of such theories: cherry-picking, quoting out-of-context, and ignoring evidence that doesn't support one's preordained conclusion. Unfortunately, it is the OFFICIAL CONSPIRACY THEORY which is guilty of these traits, in spades. Caporaletti is dead wrong about truthers ignoring Popular Mechanics' "rebuttals." We have studied their answers at length, to see if they are real answers or BS ones. As another commenter said, read David Ray Griffin's "Debunking 9/11 Debunking: An Answer to Popular Mechanics and Other Defenders of the Official Conspiracy Theory." Flag Abuse
Posted by: Mike M. at 2/29/08 Wow, this thread proves out the point rather vividly: half the population is dumber than average, by definition. But then, I'm a member of the great military industrial complex, so you shouldn't believe anything I say. It's probably another government conspiracy. Flag Abuse
Posted by: pw at 2/29/08 Twenty-five U.S. Military Officers Challenge Official Account of 9/11 Official Account of 9/11: "Impossible", "A Bunch of Hogwash", "Total B.S.", "Ludicrous", "A Well-Organized Cover-up", "A White-Washed Farce" January 14, 2008 – Twenty-five former U.S. military officers have severely criticized the official account of 9/11 and called for a new investigation. They include former commander of U.S. Army Intelligence, Major General Albert Stubblebine, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Col. Ronald D. Ray, two former staff members of the Director of the National Security Agency; Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski, PhD, and Major John M. Newman, PhD, and many others. They are among the rapidly growing number of military and intelligence service veterans, scientists, engineers, and architects challenging the government's story. The officers' statements appear below, listed alphabetically. http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_alan_mil_080112_twenty_five_u_s__mil.htm Flag Abuse
Posted by: Leif the Skullsplitter at 2/28/08 1) If we shouldn't listen to the makers of "Loose Change" because they're not experts, why should we listen to you? You're not an expert either. 2) Your hit piece preys on the prejudice of uninformed readers and keeps them uninformed by omitting all significant facts. 3) Every day we see evil little plots hatched around us and carried out in secret by small groups of people. Are you so naive that you think this form of human behavior stops at the government's edge? 4) If 9/11 skeptics are the demented crackpots you claim they are, why then do you not publish the evidence they present -- in its entirety -- and let readers decide for themselves how silly their suspicions are? Flag Abuse
Posted by: Ben at 2/28/08 Please read Debunking 9/11 Debunking by David Ray Griffin, which rips apart the Popular Mechanics debacle you seem to think has done your job in protecting your mainstream belief system for you. I hate to use the tired cliché, but it really is time for everyone to wake up from the manufactured paradigm you are so attached to, luckily people are doing so in droves. If anyone has turned the great tragedies of 9/11 into an agenda so successfully, it's the government you seem to think can't keep any secrets from the people (million dead in Iraq because of it, not to mention Afghanistan, this seems much worse in my eyes than trying to stop these people in government from bombing more innocents), and whatever happened to the missing minutes of the Watergate scandal you mentioned, they kept them secret didn't they? I accept that you are proponent of incompetence theory and coincidence theory, but to me many of the conspiracy theories (obviously not all of them) seem closer to the truth from what I have read and what I see daily in the news and in the world around me. Just yesterday for example, there was a big push in the media for the whole country (UK) to be forcibly put onto a DNA database, things like this show me that my current belief system is correct as such things are known to us whacky conspiracy theorists as being an integral part of "the agenda", so when they happen our belief system is affirmed. So I respectfully disagree with your article and encourage you to look, with an open mind at all the many different aspects of the conspiracy theories, and start connecting the dots yourself, enjoy! Flag Abuse
Posted by: Chris at 2/27/08 The weight of a plane has nothing to do with a hole size. I could take 40 million tons of water and fit it into a 2 foot hole. Aside from that the planes diameter was 12 feet and indents for the wings were around the hole. 12 feet does fit in 20 in case you can't add. There is also a video that shows what happens when a jet hits a solid wall, you'd be unhappy to know that it pretty much disintegrates into little pieces. I'll find a link for you if you like. Mourn the victims and stop making crap up. Flag Abuse
Posted by: Ron Soldwish at 2/27/08 You dont need science to understand that a 100 ton plane doest fit into a hole 20 ft wide. When a building collapses within itself you should be left with 100 floors of concrete and steel, not a pile of dust. Do you know who Kevin Ryan is? Work for a company that tested the steel for the NIST report. He was the project head untill he wouldnt agree to the report, and the offical theorie of what happend. How come when the NIST report investaged the steel, the were not given full access? Why did they only look at 200 pices of steel? Why didnt they even test for explosives only to rule them out? Flag Abuse
Posted by: Chris at 2/27/08 Science always was the bane of people who don't believe in it. This applies to loose change, how do you think all these families feel when they go to a 9/11 memorial only to see people using the lost loved ones as a tool to push their agenda?? Conspiracy theories are just that, conspiracy. When science proves it wrong they say the science is wrong, if you say the science is wrong I say you are a fanatic close-minded fool. Flag Abuse
Posted by: Ronald Soldwish at 2/27/08 how about this, how come now Kean and Hamilton are coming out and saying they think The CIA lied to them,(Kean even wrote this in his book). How come there are only 3 videos of the plane hitting the pentagon but there are over 200 cameras known to have filimed the plane hitting the building? How come there was only $8 million spent to investagate 9/11 but over $40 million to investagate Monica Lewinsky??? How come nobody cares that 2,967 people died on 9/11 but since then over 4000 us troops, 1000 1st responders, 100,000 iraqi civilians have died since, more people have died because of 9/11 then on 9/11. My biggest problem is for the famlies who lost someone, how come not 1 person was held responsiable for 9/11, fired, put in jail, publicly humilated??? You mention in this article how it like religion to the 9/11 conspiracy therorists, more like the other way arround, when you challange what happened on that day you challange every person that sheded a tear, or felt pain that day Flag Abuse
Posted by: Rosie O'Donnell is a Moron at 2/27/08 Hey conspiracy theorists. Guess what? Steel structures (like those in the WTC) can melt if subject to intense heat (i.e. several thousand pounds of aviation fuel.) Take a look at the effects of kamikazes against US ships in WW2. Flag Abuse
Posted by: Nick at 2/27/08 Jacob, Popular Mechanics is a tool. Popular Science is a tool. And so it seems you too are just a blind tool of the state. If you can't see that, you are a hopeless sheep. Flag Abuse
Posted by: Chris Hackman at 2/27/08 Have a look at my new conspiracy DVD website. I have a wide variety of DVDs available covering variety of topics. Any feedback would be appreciated... www.conspiracydvds.co.uk Flag Abuse
Posted by: Gabe McVey at 2/27/08 What, no one's going to pimp Alex Jones' new movie Endgame, in which the doyen of the conspiracy movement (i.e. intellectual bowel movement) ties it all together? The Bilderburg Group, JFK, 9/11 it's all run by a cabal of international Communists/Capitalists that have the technology to live FOREVER...but first they have to kill YOU!!!!!! Flag Abuse
Posted by: Don at 2/27/08 Jacob, It is amazing that you would pick three topics that are all fact and not theoretical at all .Unless you mention these topics to the average american citizen who cant find his own country on a map. Its a very sad reality that our once great nation has fallen into such ill repair. once we were the most admired, educated and loved nation in the world . But alas oh how the mighty have fallen. To rebut your claims of myth and theory is not needful , these other people are spot on. and something tells me that you know the truth also . but if you started writing the truth you would not have your present job very long . Right ? What a shame there truthful objective journalism has bowed to the jackbooted tyrannical government . But just as the one you say you deny ( JESUS CHRIST ) foretold two thousand years ago " TRUTH IS FALEN IN THE STRETS " ALSO TO PARAPRASE ANOTHER VERSE < IT IS NESASARY THAT OFENCES COME < BUT WOE UNTO WHOM THEY COME . Jacob , why dont you be the hero and buck the corprate media ? God knows we need people like you. Think about it ??? Flag Abuse
Posted by: Chip at 2/27/08 OK, Tech is a school with a deserved reputation for its strong engineering department. I was a German major at Tech (they exist, albeit in the single digits) so this is way out of my league, but... Would any engineer out there care to offer an assessment of the WTC collapse? Flag Abuse
Posted by: Ric at 2/27/08 So....you are the last person who thinks JFK was shot by a lone gunman. Look into that a bit further and then look into WTC 7. That might help to bring you up to speed. Flag Abuse
Posted by: Truth at 2/27/08 To Hans......Have you ever seen a building being prepared to be imploded on history channel or some other network? The building is gutted, wired, and charged with explosives. The process takes months at least. One would think that the ten of thousands of employees in the World Trade Center towers would have noticed hundreds of people (US gov or terrorists or whatever) working on getting their office ready for demolition. Flag Abuse
Posted by: Hans at 2/27/08 9/11 was not committed by Muslim extremists, it's clear to anyone who looks at the evidence with an open mind. Steel-framed buildings (all 3!) don't spontaneously collapse; the evidence at the Pentagon looks like a missle rather than a plane; our air defence would normally have intercepted the stray planes; there was no airplane wreckage in Pennsylvania. In Sept. 2000, PNAC (comprised of leading neocons in top positions of government) called for aggressive American military action around the world, but said it would be difficult without a catastrophic new Pearl Harbor. On 9/11, W said, the Pearl Harbor of our century happened today. The media have been complicit. Many people don't want to believe such a terrible thing could have been committed by our own government. Wake up folks, there's a long history of false-flag operations. Who stood to gain? W needed a war, defense contractors needed money. To all the people who believe the official account, have you seen videos of the towers exploding? Do you know about the explosions in the basements? Do you think with the fires out or dying, the buildings would suddenly collapse at free-fall speed, leaving molten steel throughout the rubble? Flag Abuse
Posted by: Engrish at 2/27/08 Wow. I don't know which posting was harder to read, the one in all caps or the one that was completely devoid of punctuation. Steve, sir, any point you might have had is completely lost in your, um, style. It appears that you believe not on one or even two conspiracy theories but all of them. Incidentally, I think you might want to do a little more research on the USS Liberty incident. There was a cover-up, all right, but it was to hide the fact that it was a good friend, Israel, that killed 34 US servicemen and wounded over 170. Flag Abuse
Posted by: STEVE at 2/27/08 75 to 80 percent of the american people want the trops home!( gallup ) the democrats were put in to end the war , what happened to all the concern for what the people want ? 85 to 90 percent of the american people think kenndy was killed by other elements of the loving government.why do you think esienhower warned of the milatary industrial complex. e. howard hunts confessed to running the operation called the "big event ". he did this last year on audio and video tape as a death bed confession to his son st. john hunt, this was carried by many radio statins and rolling stone mag .controlled mainstream media is a joke.popular mechanics is known for its "yellow journalism "cand the laws of physics did not suspend themselves on 911 ! i have read all the historicl evidence for the lord jesus christs life as if i needed to .real christianity ( not catholism )made this nation what it WAS . you threw it out in the 60s from the schools , now look at this moralally bankrupt nation the founding fathers said that this form of government could only work with a moral people , bush says the constition is just a GD peice of paper ! the majority of the government only does enough for their constituients only to stay in office .i dont need scientist who contradict the laws of physics by saying something can come from nothing ( thermodynamics ) evolution , to tell me ufos are real , i have seen a few myself .were is all the trillions missing from the pentagon ? oh yea , a real caring government that staged the gulf of tonkien for veitnam and tried to sink its own ship (uss liberty ) just declassified . my friend , your column may be loved by the majority of tv watching ,dumbed down ,will not think for themselves sheeple . but it just makes someone who does check out facts from a critical thinking perspective do that much more to try and wake up a dying nation.thank you sir ! Flag Abuse






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