Space conspiracies EXPOSED

Armed with hard science, Alastair Gunn takes apart 10 of the most popular and persistent space conspiracy theories

- Alastair Gunn

Humans love conspiracy theories. From the JFK assassination, the Illuminati and the 'deep state', to vaccine distrust and 'chemtrails', the modern world is awash with beliefs in collusion and hoaxes. How and why these baseless claims arise, and what maintains them, are complex questions. But one thing's for sure: contrarian narratives are not going away. Here are 10 widely held falsehoods concerning space and our place within it, which we examine rationally. It's safe to say they don't stand up to scrutiny...

1. Planet Earth is flat

Let's start with perhaps the strangest conspiracy theory of all: that Earth is flat. The basic premise is that ancient cultures were right – Earth is a circular disc that is perfectly stationary while the sky rotates above it. Furthermore, the idea that Earth is a sphere is a villainous lie spread across millennia by an evil, secret establishment.

There are many reasons (or excuses) flat Earthers give for this belief: Earth looks flat; we don't feel Earth moving; NASA has faked images of the spherical Earth; gravity doesn't exist; ships don't sink below the horizon; the tides are caused by Earth moving up and down; explorers who have discovered the edge of the world have been silenced; the Moon generates its own light; artificial satellites don't exist... and so on. All of these can be easily disproved or logically discounted.

Exposed!

Disproving the flat-Earth hypothesis is surprisingly easy - so easy that the Greek philosopher Eratosthenes did it in 240 BC. You can actually perform a similar proof yourself. All you need are two synchronised clocks, two sextants (or other devices for measuring angles in the sky), a car and a friend.