With the rise of internet groups for conspiracy theorists, it may feel like Americans live in a unique time. But conspiracy theories have been common for decades.
Ticks could spread weaponized bacteria – but B. burgdorferi that causes Lyme isn’t one of them.
Kelvin Ma/Tufts University
Scientists know the bacterium that causes Lyme disease has been out in the wild since long before any biological weapons research could have focused on it. And that’s just for starters.
Conspiracy theorists claim NASA used the Apollo special camera to stage the moon landings in a studio and then slowed down the footage to make it look like there was less gravity.
In episode 2 of The Conversation's new podcast series, we look at how people reacted to the moon landing – and why some still believe it was a hoax.
Chris Froome (in the black jacket) of cycling team Ineos recently had a horrific crash while attempting to blow his nose while riding.
Peter Powell / AAP
Conspiracy theories help sports fans make sense of unexpected events – like when a whole rugby team becomes sick before a world cup final, or the retirement of Michael Jordan from basketball.
One of the more destructive conspiracy theories paints Hungarian-American philanthropist George Soros as the puppet master of a vast left-wing and globalist elite.
(AP Photo Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Media-savvy, far right-wing activists in the U.S., Hungary and Poland spread white nationalist politics using paranoid Soros conspiracy theories. This new global extremism is coming to Canada.
March against racism in London on March 18, 2017.
John Gomez/Shutterstock
Over a quarter of people believe that humans have psychic abilities.
A man holding a Q sign, a reference to a conspiracy theory group, waits to enter a campaign rally with President Trump, Aug. 2, 2018, in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
AP/Matt Rourke
Some people are habitual conspiracy thinkers – there’s a plan behind everything, and it’s usually malevolent. One scientist set out to understand who is likely to ascribe to these theories.
Jeremy Renner as US journalist Gary Webb in the 2014 film Kill The Messenger. The film is an account of Webb’s role in uncovering CIA links to cocaine importation to the US.
Sierra / Affinity,Bluegrass Films,The Combine
Conspiracy theories have always existed but the internet fuels them in new ways.
Funeral services took place for Benjamin Andrew Wheeler, one of the students killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, while a hearse with another shooting victim drives by.
AP Photo/Julio Cortez
Family members of Sandy Hook victims sued media personality Alex Jones over his claims that the killings were a hoax they participated in. Current law makes their lawsuit unnecessarily hard to prove.