Top 10 Conspiracy Theories of the Century (So Far)
#10: Secret Headquarters at Denver Airport
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The Denver Airport is the largest airport in the United States by a wide margin. To give you an idea of its size, it’s more than 1.5 times larger than Manhattan. If you’re wondering why it’s so big, some might say it's because it’s the base of the secret organization pulling the strings from the shadows, the Illuminati. Others believe that it was built by neo-Nazis or that the airport secretly houses shapeshifting lizards in the tunnels below its busy hub. For its own part, the airport hasn’t done much to repel these theories and even leans into them, going so far as to put up signs that say it’s “remodeling the lizard people’s lair.”
#9: Fake Snow
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We have TikTok to thank for this next theory. Just this year someone had the idea to put a lighter to a snowball, and they were surprised to find that it didn’t melt but burned instead. People began taking to social media and declaring that the snow was fake, manufactured by none other than billionaire Bill Gates in conjunction with the Chinese government to somehow benefit from this. The process is actually just sublimation, which is when a solid skips turning into a liquid and goes straight to a gas, but that’s not nearly as fun.
#8: The FDA Has the Cure for Cancer
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This next theory is logical in at least one premise. It is true that Big Pharma, or the global pharmaceutical industry, has a reputation for hiking up their prices to make a profit. Conspiracy theorists therefore latched onto the idea that it actually has discovered a cure for cancer already but withholds it from the public in order to continue selling overpriced drugs. We’re not going to defend Big Pharma, but we are going to point out that keeping a secret of that caliber is not only supervillain level stuff, but would also be next to impossible to manage.
#7: Chemtrails
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One of the more popular conspiracies on the list, many people believe that the streaks left behind by airplanes are chemicals designed for a variety of functions, including sterilization, mind control, or weather control. Theorists point towards these exhaust trails as visual evidence of this poisoning, but science again explains this phenomenon, which is actually just caused by gases cooling enough to condense into clouds. If a mass conspiracy was at hand, any researchers or universities would be eager to unveil such a massive cover up, but so far no one has blown the whistle.
#6: Vaccines Cause Autism
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This conspiracy has always been popular but experienced a resurgence for obvious reasons since the emergence of COVID-19. Many people believe that vaccines cause a variety of disorders, especially autism. This conspiracy was born by a since retracted 1998 paper that linked the two, but it was afterwards Britain’s General Medical Council determined that lead scientist, Andrew Wakefield, acted unethically towards the children of the study and accepted money from lawyers who were at the time in dispute with vaccine manufacturers. Nevertheless, a mistrust of vaccines has continued to plague the world despite the fact that many are mandatory to attend school in the first place.
#5: Jeffrey Epstein Was Killed
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This might be the most widely believed conspiracy on the list, as only a small percentage of Americans believe Jeffrey Epstein took his own life, but it is nonetheless a theory due to lack of evidence. Convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his prison cell while he was awaiting trial for sex trafficking, and authorities, along with the New York City medical examiner, declared his death was caused by hanging. Due to the many mishaps by the justice system, however, many believe he was silenced by powerful people so he couldn’t talk. It’s a compelling case, but there’s nothing conclusive pointing to foul play.
#4: The Earth Is Flat
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Nowhere near a new theory, it nonetheless has remained popular in the 21st century despite photographic evidence to the contrary. Some prominent celebrities have backed the conspiracy, claiming that the Earth is not a sphere, like the sun and moon are, but rather it is flat and stationary in space. The scientist Eratosthenes actually measured the Earth’s circumference around 240 BC by measuring the angle of shadows on the surface of the Earth. However, even with contemporary science, the belief remains. Other theorists contend that the Earth is not flat but hollow, with an entire civilization living inside our planet.
#3: 5G Causes Diseases
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5G refers to the 5th generation of broadband cellular network technology. This has us asking what’s so sketchy about the number 5? No one had any issues with 4G, but 5G seems to be the harbinger of diseases like the coronavirus according to some. Conspiracy theorists claim that 5G wireless technology in cell phones somehow transmits deadly diseases, such as cancer, to those around them. Part of the belief is somewhat rational, as 5G does emit radiation, albeit a harmless kind. Nonetheless, some have jumped to the conclusion that 5G is the culprit of COVID, going so far as to tear down and vandalize 5G towers.
#2: COVID-19 Was Engineered by the Media
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2020 was not only a breeding ground for the COVID virus, but for conspiracies surrounding the virus itself. Another conspiracy involving population control of sorts, this one says that COVID is a fabrication by the media and global elite as a way to control the population through microchips and mask mandates. These have all been proven wrong many times, but the belief persists nonetheless, partly because of the distrust of government officials. Nonetheless, COVID is a very real virus that everyone should take seriously. There is no evidence that wearing a mask will brainwash you.
#1: QAnon
What started out as a “Pizzagate” scandal on the website 4chan has devolved into a conspiracy involving pizza chains and pedophilia, blood-drinking politicians, and former president Donald Trump as a savior. The theory went that the bloodthirsty pedophilic elite would be outed by Trump and arrested en masse, but every prediction so far has failed to come true. It should go without saying that this is unproven. Still, since Qanon is outrageous, it has a very dedicated following, and has dominated headlines for the past few years, it deserves our number one pick for the top conspiracy theory of the century… so far.
