There are people who believe that a part of reality remains hidden because of conspiracies.

A conspiracy is the unlawful association between people to carry out an action contrary to the norm and usually in a brutal and harmful way to someone. It is a phenomenon that has been around throughout history, such as the assassination of Caesar and other leaders both before and after him. But sometimes some people tend to elaborate exaggerated conspiracy theories as a way of explaining reality. From conspiracy to “conspiranoia,” seeing evidence of a conspiracy everywhere, there are a few steps.

In this article we will see some of the strangest conspiracy theories , as a sample of how far we can go when it comes to deforming reality to try to make sense of what we see and do not understand.

What is a conspiracy theory and why are they called that?

The concept of conspiracy theory refers, in a slightly derogatory way and generally indicating the absence of belief in them, to conspiracy theories that venture to give explanations going far beyond the proven facts . These theories attempt to describe one or several facts that have occurred or could occur from the existence of an alleged conspiracy by one or several secret groups that manipulate events with generally negative purposes for the rest of the population.

Calling them conspiranoic comes from the association of the terms conspiracy and paranoia , indicating that the theories being used are hard to believe, twisted and strange. The choice of the word paranoia is not accidental. Many of the beliefs and theories included within this group have many or all of the characteristics of delusions: they are generally not supported by demonstrable evidence, are not shared by the rest of the population, and tend to be fixed and unchangeable. In fact, those who hold such beliefs often see those who criticize them as belonging to the conspiracy itself. Many of them appear out of fear, out of anomalous sensory experiences or, in a more interested way, out of simple political or economic interest.

If they are considered conspiratorial, it is because they deform reality in ways that are not very credible to the majority of the population. However, in spite of its great extravagance, this does not necessarily imply the suffering of any mental problem , being only a more or less systematized belief.

Although there are quite pejorative stereotypes of people with these kinds of beliefs, the truth is that there is no prototype of a person who creates them. Anyone of any sex, race, age, profession or social position can hold such beliefs. Those who hold them tend to have a certain confirmation bias , seeking and focusing only on those pieces of information that confirm their hypotheses. It is also observed that the probability of believing in one of these theories is modified by the feeling of belonging: someone who forms part of a collective threatened by the supposed conspiracy will be more likely to believe it.

Totally bizarre conspiracy theories

There are many conspiracy theories that have been developed throughout history, of very different types and about very different events. Below we will look at some of the most outlandish ones, as an example of the extent to which human beings are capable of believing their own fictions in order to give order and meaning to what is happening.

1. The illuminati

One of the best known conspiracy theories is that of the Illuminati. This secret group of Bavarian origin, which truly existed during the Enlightenment and was founded in 1776 as a reaction against the elites of the time, gradually disappeared. However, conspiracy theories propose that this society still exists today and that it is the organisation that aims to form a world order .

This would be a group that decides and dominates the different events that occur in the world, having its extension in the Bilderberg club (a club that really exists and that brings together some of the most influential and powerful people in the world).

Thus, a secret group would have survived for centuries and somehow gained the power to decide everything that happens, above any other authority, without the occasion for their true power to be revealed.

2. The Reptilians

Another well-known (though much less credible) conspiracy theory is that which proposes that we are being invaded and gradually dominated by reptilian aliens . These humanoid beings with reptilian features, apparently of great intelligence and coming from the Alpha Draconis system (although other theories would indicate that they have a terrestrial origin), would disguise themselves as human beings and would be in time replacing the political elites and world leaders in order to take power.

It seems that all the dynamics of domination and oppression occurring on the planet are not evident enough in themselves: from this type of conspiracy, it is necessary to add the figure of an alien oligarchy to understand what is going on.

3. Nazis on the Moon

The Nazi regime ended with the end of World War II. In its final moments or after the defeat of Germany, many Nazis tried to flee so as not to be prosecuted or persecuted. Some of them fled to South America, or to other countries where they could assume a new identity. However, there are some conspiracy theories about this.

One of the most striking proposals during the World War the Germans would have created flying saucers based on implosion engines that would have allowed them to travel to the moon . These saucers, called Haunebu, would have even allowed them to establish a lunar base where the remains of the Nazi regime could have taken refuge, all with the approval of the world powers.

4. The HAARP as a weapon

The High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program or HAARP is a project with great potential that aims to study the ionosphere, one of the outermost layers of the atmosphere.

The conspiracy theories, however, propose that it is a program proposed as a geophysical weapon with the capacity to change the climate at a global level, which could cause natural disasters. In fact, some theories propose that some modifications and natural disasters have already been intentionally provoked through this program, such as the earthquake in Haiti.

This would be a weapon that would also be used to invade specific areas where there are economic interests. It is also proposed that it could generate mental alterations in the human brain, thus being able to exercise some control over the minds of its victims.

This kind of conspiracy theory, in fact, is very similar to the old mythologies that explain the climate changes as something that depends on an entity with its own will .

5. Autism in vaccine

Another conspiracy theory indicates that vaccination, especially of measles, rubella and flu, causes or may cause autism in children who undergo it. This is a belief that has been refuted on numerous occasions but that in many cases is still in force, being the reason why some parents do not want to vaccinate their children.

  • You may be interested in: “The 4 Types of Autism and Their Characteristics”

6. Chemtrails

This theory states that the wakes left by aircraft due to condensation are in fact chemicals designed to generate various diseases, sterilize certain populations or make them require the consumption of drugs. Some of the doubts that arise from this are why someone would use such an expensive and imprecise method to spread chemicals.

7. Artificial creation of AIDS

HIV is a virus that has caused many deaths throughout history and there is still no known way to eradicate it, although fortunately the development of medicine has allowed people infected by this virus to live a normal life with a chronic but non-lethal disorder as in the past.

The conspiracy theory in question would refer to its emergence: HIV and AIDS were not known until relatively recently. Initially discovered in apes, it is claimed that their passage to man is due to the performance of artificial modifications of the virus carried out intentionally to introduce it into the population. The objective would be to weaken and exhaust the homosexual population, the African population and the prostitutes, who at the time the virus appeared were badly seen and persecuted by a large part of the population.

8. The 2004 tsunami

During 2004 we saw a giant tsunami wash up on the coasts of much of the world, including Indonesia and Japan. Some say that this tsunami was actually caused either by the HAARP or by atomic explosions in the ocean . Those who believe these theories are supported by the fact that different analyses and studies carried out do not coincide when trying to locate the epicentre of the earthquake that generated the said tsunami.

9. Conspiracies to kill

Some of the most widely believed conspiracy theories deal with conspiracies prepared to kill important historical figures or whose relationships or knowledge could pose a danger to some high office.

An example of this was the assassination of President J.F.Kennedy, which according to different theories could have been ordered by some political rival or by the mafia, although it was also believed that he was eliminated by the FBI or the KGB. The fact that his assassin was in turn killed two days later increased the belief in these theories, which to this day remain valid for many. Another case was Marilyn Monroe , who was found dead according to the official version due to an overdose of barbiturates.

However, it is believed that his death may have been ordered by the government due to his relationship with high political officials such as the aforementioned president. A third case, this time on British soil, was the death of Lady Di, which some theories indicate could have been eliminated by the British secret services due to her separation from Prince Charles and her relationship with Dodi Al Fayed.

10. Area 51 and the Roswell case

Area 51 is one of the most mythical and popular areas precisely because of the conspiracy theories derived from it. In this military base the remains of the well known supposed UFO fallen in Roswell would be found, and different experiments would have been carried out with its occupants. It is also believed that in that area tests with alien materials and technologies are being done.

11. Space Conspiracies: Fake Moon Landing and Unrecognized Cosmonauts

The exploration of outer space was one of the areas in which the United States and the Soviet Union competed strongly during the Cold War . In this sense, there are many theories and claims that things were not as they were told to us, by either side.

Officially, Gagarin was the first human being to travel through space. But there are theories that insinuate that he was simply the first to be recognized as having returned alive, sending the Soviet Union to other cosmonauts who, like Laika, died on their odyssey. Similarly, the United States is also involved in these theories. One of the most popular and believed theories is that man never really reached the moon. For those who hold these theories, the moon landing was a recording prepared by the United States and staged by Stanley Kubrick to make the United States the first to achieve such a feat.

Another point of view

Conspiracy theories are a way of trying to explain a reality that we do not fully understand, or to give it our own interpretation based on our beliefs and experiences during our lives. In this sense we can consider that they try to fulfill a certain function.

It is not that in all cases these are gratuitous beliefs: in many cases the people who believe them have supposed proof of what happened. Moreover, although externally they may seem irrational, the truth is that some of them make sense if they are looked at from the same perspective as those who defend them: it would not be the first murder that is committed in an orchestrated way, there have been numerous real conspiracies throughout history or information has been hidden and manipulated on other occasions. It is also true that many people have believed things that have made them the object of criticism and finally it has been proved that they were right.

It should also be noted that conspiracy theories are sometimes taken to be real conspiracies, such as the assassination of Trotski or the MK Ultra project. Likewise, at the time, phenomena such as the Holocaust were considered inventions of this type of theory.

However, it should be noted that these beliefs are generally resistant to attempts at modification even when evidence to the contrary is presented . While it would not be impossible to modify a test, one could at least consider the possibility of being in error and not assume that the doubters are part of a plot.

It is also necessary to assess whether what is considered evidence is actually causally related to the alleged conspiracy (which in many of these types of theories is not the case). In the same way, it would require a titanic effort to carry out some of these conspiracies, an effort and power that in most cases it would be difficult to have . The interpretation of these theories also tends to give excessive importance to unimportant details, considering them key.

In conclusion, conspiracy theories are mostly based on unproven and unverified premises or directly on some that have been proven to be false. Although a few of them are partly viable, they focus too much on specific aspects of reality as a way of explaining the world and what happens in it, and the persistence and immutability of these beliefs in spite of the fact that there may be evidence to the contrary makes them not very useful for assessing the environment. Furthermore, they tend to make those who do not share them either ignorant or possibly threatening, not valuing other interpretations that could perhaps be closer to the truth.