5 Conspiracy Theories Since the Year 2000 with a following

I was reading an article today about a new Gen Z conspiracy theory that Birds do not exist. It made me think about conspiracy theories in the 21st century that have created a large following. Please do not get angry at me for pointing them out. I am not saying that any of them are right or wrong, but I am saying that many people followed them, or even believe them today. Here are my top 5:

1. World Trade Center Building 7

The first conspiracy theory that really started a following happened in 2001 with the fall of the World Trade Center. Although there were many conspiracy theories, including that President Bush let the attackers in so that he could win election in 2004. But the one theory that really amassed a large following was the building 7 conspiracy. Essentially the theory is that the US government blew up World Trade Center building 7 after the two main buildings collapsed to protect secrets inside. The evidence given is that multiple news agencies said the building had collapsed even though it was obviously behind them in the video. BBC stated that the anchor just got it wrong, not early. According to this Popular Mechanics article, the theory was laid to rest by the 9/11 commission, but what conspiracy theorist is going to believe the government???

2. Flat Earth

The flat earth conspiracy theory is the most interesting to me. It is a simple theory that the earth is not round, it is flat. We have pictures from outer space that they do not believe, and even death from someone trying to prove that the earth is flat. CBS reports that “Mad” Mike Hughes went up in a homemade rocket to get as high as possible to prove that the world is flat, and his landing was harder than expected and he hurt his back. When he got better, he decided he needed to do it again. This time his parachute did not deploy, and he fell to his death. It takes a true believer to put your life on the line, but sadly he never got his answer. I think that Bezos should take a few flat earthers in his rocket and let them see if the earth is flat. The question is, do they really want to know the truth?

3. Sandy Hook Shooting

Sandy Hook was one of the biggest tragedies in US history. According to History.com, Adam Lanza broke into the Newtown Sandy Hook Elementary and killed 20 first graders and 6 faculty members. At the time it was the second largest school shooting behind the Virginia Tech shooting, but it was much harder to take due to the age of the kids that were shot. The conspiracy behind it was from conspiracy talk radio host, Alex Jones. The conspiracy is that the Sandy Hook shooting never happened and it was a “false flag” so that the Obama administration could get gun control passed. Who can blame someone for hoping that this is true? Sadly, many people did believe it was true and started to harass the families of the victims. This caused a lawsuit from the families that was filed against Alex Jones, and he lost multiple times.

4. Las Vegas Shooter

The Las Vegas Shooter conspiracy starts with the story that a man named Stephen Paddock shot out the window of the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. He opened fire toward a concert that had 22,000 people and killed 59 people and injured more than 515 before he was stopped by the police according to the Sun. There are many conspiracies behind this because the police were never able to find a motive and no real information came out except that he used a bump stock. The main conspiracies that I have heard are that either there was more than one person in the room, or that he was a former CIA type officer that went crazy. These theories are hard to prove or debunk because very little is known about Stephen Paddock. He did not have a social media presence and the only friend that he seemed to have, was his wife that was from another country. Good luck finding anything out that is true. Las Vegas Police came up blank.

5. Covid 19

The most recent conspiracy theory of them all, the Covid 19 theories. Usually, a good conspiracy theory takes some time to come to light, but all the Covid 19 theories seemed to be there from the beginning. First, one that I personally believe, the virus came out of a Covid research lab in Wuhan China. According to National review, most Americans believe this as well. Some people believe that the Covid Vaccines are the Mark of the Beast. Then there is just the belief that Covid 19 and the vaccines are just there to make the pharmaceutical companies rich, and Covid 19 may not even exist. Then there is the understanding that the Covid 19 vaccine could have a tracker in it or even give you cancer. Over time I think some of the theories will get weeded out but expect conspiracies about covid to be around for a long time.

Do you believe any of the theories on this list? Are there any that I am missing? Feel free to send me a tweet about it @mattmartinradio.

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