Top 10 American Rumours That Turned Out to Be TRUE

Is our social media for sale? A rumor suggesting this began in December 2015 when journalist Harry Davies reported that Ted Cruz was using Facebook data harvested from a British consulting firm called Cambridge Analytica. Reports in a similar vein followed, and the rumor that American politicians were using stolen Facebook data quickly gathered traction. The truth was uncovered in 2018 when whistleblower Christopher Wylie came forth and revealed that, yep, those reports were bang on the money. Cambridge Analytica had harvested nearly 90 million Facebook profiles and sold them to the political campaigns of Ted Cruz and Donald Trump. With that, social media - and our trust in it - was never the same.

In January of 2011, Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley wrote to the acting director of the ATF, or the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Rumor was that the ATF were allowing assault weapons to cross the Mexico border. An investigation involving ATF whistleblowers confirmed the rumor. It was called Operation Fast and Furious, and it saw the ATF selling guns to purchasers who would then give them to Mexican cartels. The hope was that these guns could be traced to high-ranking members, thereby leading to their arrests. However, the project was an unmitigated disaster. Most of the guns were lost, no cartel bosses were arrested, and the guns were used in violent crimes, including the killing of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

Powerful leaders, politicians, and media executives get together and hatch nefarious plots about world domination. It’s one of the most popular conspiracy theories out there, and it’s true - well, kind of. There’s a place called Bohemian Grove, and it’s where powerful leaders, politicians, and media executives - all male - get together every July for a summer retreat. As far as we know, nefarious plots about world domination do not occur there. In fact, the retreat is designed as a get-away from their high-stress jobs, and business talk is strongly discouraged. Unfortunately, we don’t really know what goes on there. Attendees are sworn to secrecy, membership is highly exclusive, and the press is not allowed in.

[“I did not have sexual relations with that woman.”] It’s one of the most famous lines in American history, and it was a complete load of baloney. Rumors of an affair between then-President Clinton and White House intern Monica Lewinsky had been circulating before the story broke in January 1998. The aforementioned quote was spoken at a press conference soon after. Debate raged for the next couple of months, but the story was put to rest on August 17, when Clinton admitted to the affair in a televised statement. This admission came after the FBI had found traces of Clinton’s DNA on Lewinsky’s dress. Clinton subsequently became the first President in over a century to be impeached.

There’s no getting around it: Prohibition was a mess. Few people supported it, it led to a rise in organized crime, it ruined the economy, and people died from drinking poisoned alcohol. Yep, knowing that bootleggers converted industrial alcohol into moonshine, the government mandated that manufacturers add toxic chemicals to their alcohol. Bootleggers knew their sources had been poisoned, but they continued to make moonshine anyway. This led to a 600% increase in alcohol-related deaths, with some sources claiming that up to 10,000 people lost their lives. “The government poisons your booze” sounds like a wild and baseless conspiracy theory, but in this case, it was at least partly true.

For a long time, Bernie Madoff was a respected financier. He ran Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities and even served as chairman of the Nasdaq stock exchange. But his reputation came under question thanks to persistent rumors that he wasn’t so above-board. Whistleblowers, including an executive named Harry Markopolos, had continuously claimed that Madoff was running a Ponzi scheme. Madoff was even investigated six times by the Securities and Exchange Commission, but they never found anything. It wasn’t until his own sons, Mark and Andrew, came forward that action was finally taken. Madoff was arrested and a Ponzi scheme worth nearly $65 billion was eventually uncovered. Markopolos was vindicated and has fiercely criticized the SEC, even publishing a book called “No One Would Listen.”

The story of Harvey Weinstein may go beyond “rumor” and into “open secret.” Celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow, Courtney Love, and Seth MacFarlane had been referencing Weinstein’s crimes for years, and there was even a joke made about it on “30 Rock.” Journalists also published stories about the allegations, but these reports never gained much traction. It wasn’t until The New York Times and The New Yorker published their groundbreaking stories in 2017 that action was finally taken. Over a hundred women came forth accusing Weinstein of sexual crimes. These allegations had been around for decades, with the earliest reports of sexual assault going back thirty years. The rumor was finally confirmed, and Weinstein was sentenced to nearly forty years in prison.

In 1979, Nicaragua underwent a revolution, leading to a battle between the socialist government and a group of rebels called Contras. This battle lasted throughout the ‘80s, and the Contras were directly funded by the American government. And where exactly did this money come from? If the rumors were to be believed, it was through the secret selling of weapons to Iran, despite that country having an arms embargo. People had been whispering about this possibility for years, and a Lebanese magazine called Ash-Shiraa wrote about the secret business dealings in 1986. It was this report that broke the story open, and President Ronald Reagan admitted to the initiative ten days after its publication.

On August 2, 1964, a destroyer called USS Maddox was besieged by North Vietnamese forces, resulting in a deadly confrontation. A second attack seemingly occurred two days later, which incited President Lyndon B. Johnson to engage in armed conflict against North Vietnam. However, doubts were almost immediately raised regarding the veracity of the second attack. Many critics argued that it never happened and that Johnson had acted on some very bad and inaccurate information. They were correct. Maddox had misinterpreted some radar signals and falsely claimed that they were under attack. They quickly realized that this wasn’t true, but by then it was too late - the National Security Agency heard “under attack,” relayed it to the Johnson administration, and the rest is history.

The Watergate scandal is a perfect example of using stellar investigative techniques to reveal a startling truth. It began on June 17, 1972, when five men were arrested breaking into the Watergate Office Building, which housed the Democratic National Committee. Suspicion immediately fell on Richard Nixon and his re-election campaign. A flawless investigation followed, led largely by journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. Clue by clue, it slowly unraveled a tantalizing conspiracy involving Nixon’s campaign, the Watergate break-in, and the subsequent attempts to cover it up. Everything collapsed on August 5, 1974, when the “Smoking Gun” tape was turned over to investigative bodies. It proved that Nixon attempted to obstruct justice, virtually eliminating his political support and ultimately ending with Nixon becoming the first President to ever resign from office.