- Donald Rumsfeld
That's a quote from Donald Rumsfeld, 13th Secretary of Defense prior to the Iraq war. I heard it in a popular TV cartoon (which I won't cite because I probably shouldn't be watching it), and it gave me a thought. Many tin-foil-hat conspiracy theories are based partially (if not mostly or entirely on this idea. So in this blog I'm just going to throw out a couple of weird things I read on the internet (they MUST be true if they're on the internet!). Here's the IBT Top Ten Tinfoil Countdown!
10) Water Fluoridation
Honestly, this one is just stupid. Water Fluoridation is the process of dissolving fluoride gas in tap water to reduce tooth decay. However, it's supposedly part of a plot by the New World Order (see number 1) to take over the world (what?). This one made it on the board for its show of complete ignorance and for making absolutely no sense whatsoever.
9) "Vril"
This theory states that in the universe exists a type of energy not yet discovered by the scientific community. This energy, called Vril, was discovered by Nazi Germany and was used to build flying saucers. However, this technology was stolen and taken to massive underground tunnels. The people who stole the Vril, whose names are not known, used it to build a Socialist Utopian Matriarchal society in their underground caves, with the Vril providing life support and making them food and water. The Subterranean Matriarchs present a very REAL danger to surface dwelling societies, and need to be stopped. (you can help stop them with a donation of $20 to stopthevrilldwellers.org)
8) Barrack Obama Nationality Conspiracy
If you've seen any news articles from 2011, you've probably heard of this one. Sometime in the middle of Barrack Obama's first term, a largely circulating rumor started that, because neither of his parents were natural-born Americans, he also wasn't. This would then make him unqualified to be president. The rumor spread so out of control that the president had to present his birth certificate on national television to stop the rumor. The rumor then, of course, was changed to include that his birth certificate was falsified, but by that time it was pretty much taken care of.
7) Tsunami Bomb
Explosives have been around since black powder was invented in ancient China. Ever since there have been explosives, there have been people experimenting with them (often with disastrous results). It was quickly observed that a bomb's shockwave was transmitted more efficiently through water (or any liquid) than air. This concept led to an idea known as Tsunami bomb. The idea was a very large conventional bomb (such as a MOAB) or a shaped blast detonated under the sea could create a large tidal wave capable of destroying coastal cities. Allegedly, the US and New Zealand conducted weapons tests to create a Tsunami bomb, and that they used it to intentionally cause the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.
6) The FDA
Every year, the American Food and Drug Administration releases a set of dietary guidelines (usually in the form of the food pyramid website) for people to follow. This theory says that the maximum calorie intake (among other things) is altered to cause health problems. Because of the resulting heath problems, people would have to buy dietary supplements and have surgery, bringing money back into the medical industry. The increasing number of obese people in America is also sometimes attributed to this.
5) DTV Transition
Back in the summer of 2009, the United States switched over to digital television from old analog broadcasting. This was done with a couple of reasons in mind, but mainly that it was increasingly difficult (if not impossible) for engineers of broadcasting equipment to add new features (such as closed captions) to broadcasts because of analog's limited bandwidth. They needed to add new features to keep their channel competitive but there simply wasn't enough space to broadcast everything they needed to. Digital was the solution. However, Conspiracy theorists say otherwise. Supposedly those little black boxes you bought to let your analog tv receive digital contain government cameras, recording devices, mind control technology, etc. Another theory was that the government switched so they could control tv by use of fake static to censor things they didn't want said.
4) The Oil Monopoly
Ever since the late 1800's, petroleum has been one of the most profitable industries in the world, and as long as there are rich, powerful people involved, there's going to be a conspiracy theory. Most of them involve some sort of technological suppression (ie. man invents 100% efficient carbuerator, but is killed by oil producers and his design destroyed to prevent the fall of the oil monopoly). However, the most widely known and believed is that oil companies have been suppressing the electric car for a long time (ever since Henry Ford and Thomas Edison in the early 1900's).
3) Apocalypse
Probably the most well known conspiracy theories to people in the 21st century are "Apocalypse", "Armageddon", or "End of the World" conspiracies. Ever since the Bible said there would be and end of the world, people have been trying to describe it and predict it. This lead to the rise of the "Zombie Apocalypse" fiction, as well as movies like 2012, which say that the Mayan Calendar predicts the end of the world on December 12th, 2012. However, it's been one of hundreds of predictions, and I personally don't give it any more merit than the others (since we're still here and all).
2) Assassination of John F. Kennedy
I'd call this one the second most well known conspiracy theory (after 2012 of course). This theory says that the assassination of the 35th president of the United States couldn't have been carried out by one man (who official records say is Lee Harvey Oswald), and that he was actually killed by a second sniper on Elm street. This theory is supported by a number of ballistic reports, film footage, and the fact that the original investigation was not very conclusive. Of these theories, this one is among the few that is widely accepted as fact.
1) The New World Order
This, without a doubt, is the mother of all conspiracy theories. The idea of the New World Order is that one day all humans on this planet will be united under one government and will be treated equally, regardless of race or political opinion. However unlikely this Utopian society seems, supposedly it exists already. The conspiracy theory behind this idea is that there is a group of unknown, secretive power elites who is either attempting to, or has succeeded in, uniting the world under one government (depending on the variation of this theory you read). They secretly control all or many governments, but let them continue to exist to give people the illusion that everything's normal and prevent uprising. This idea has also been associated with the "End of Days", saying that whoever controls the New World Order is the Antichrist. This takes the cake as the number one conspiracy theory because it's got all of the biggest traits of one, it's the cumulative work of nearly 200 years of speculation and research, and, most importantly, I think it should be #1 (after it is my blog)
There you have it, ladies and gentlemen, the top 10 conspiracy theories of the internet (at least that I could find). If you think this list should be modified, comment below.