1. Hitler Never Died in the Bunker
Adolf Hitler was said to have committed suicide in April 1945, but some people think he faked his death and fled to Argentina, or another South American country. The basis for this theory is that Hitler was said to have a double because he feared assassination, and that it was this body double that died in the bunker. There’s no evidence to support this theory, but when did proof ever stop a conspiracy from taking root?
2. Barack Obama Is a Muslim Sleeper Agent
When President Obama was first running for president in 2008, opponents attacked him as being a foreigner who was actually born in Kenya. The theory is that Obama fabricated his Hawaiian birth certificate, and that he was inculcated with Muslim ideology by his Kenyan father. Furthermore, conspiracy theorists believe Obama is really a Muslim sleeper agent who infiltrated the highest office in the U.S. to promote an Islamic agenda.
3. Iraq War Was About the U.S. Getting Control of Oil Fields
As conspiracy theories go, this one is pretty much being proven by revelations regarding the dishonesty of the Bush administration when it justified the Iraq War by claiming that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. It’s clear now that these weapons never existed in Iraq and that the occupation was all about controlling oil production and making defense contractors rich. WMDs were just a pretext to scare the American people into agreeing to the invasion.
4. Moon Landing Was Fake
Many conspiracy theorists believe that the first Apollo moon landing was fake. They think that NASA filmed the astronauts in a controlled, special-effects environment and that no human ever stepped on the moon. Even though bountiful evidence exists that astronauts have been on the moon, conspiracy believers are convinced that the moon landing was a fake, Hollywood-made event.
NASA – Apollo 15
5. The Vatican Supported the Nazi Party
Recently-unearthed documents support the notion that the Vatican may have laundered some money from German ‘investors,’ some of whom were members of the Nazi party. That has led some conspiracy theorists to believe that Adolf Hitler was tacitly supported by the Vatican, and that many Nazi war criminals may have used Vatican bank accounts when they fled to South America. There’s enough smoke here to imagine a fire, but no smoking gun has been found.
6. James Earl Ray Didn’t Kill MLK
Conventional theory assigns blame to James Earl Ray as the assassin of Martin Luther King J.R., but many, including members of King’s own family, do not believe this is true. Ray’s attorney claimed that his client only confessed due to fear of the death penalty. A civil case did not find Ray guilty but, instead, put the blame on a government conspiracy to eliminate the civil rights leader. This is one theory that will probably never be resolved.
7. LBJ Conspired To Assassinate JFK
When President Kennedy was killed in 1963, many pointed to the Mafia and other enemies as likely culprits, with Lee Harvey Oswald a mere patsy. However, there’s a conspiracy theory that President Lyndon Johnson allied himself with the Mob and the CIA to greenlight JFK’s assassination to pave the way for him to become a more accommodating president to these organizations. Despite the lack of any paper trail, this is one of the more prominent JFK assassination theories.
8. The Vatican Library is Filled With Secret History Books
Any visitor can go to the Vatican Library, but conspiracy theories abound that there is a hidden section of the place that contains arcane books that would shatter known truths. Apparently, the Vatican has housed secret history books since the time after the legendary city of Alexandria burned. Knowing the information in these books is too explosive for public consumption, the Vatican has kept these books under lock and key. This theory sounds like the makings of an interesting conspiracy thriller film.
9. 9/11 Was an Inside Job
Although 9/11 has widely been proven as a plot by Islamic fundamentalists, many believe that the Twin Towers were actually destroyed by the government. The theory is that the Bush administration wanted to begin a war against countries such as Afghanistan that were fomenting Islamic terrorist ideology, and what better way to convince the public than to perpetuate the largest domestic terror act in U.S. history? This theory persists, though it has been widely dismissed by actual evidence.
10. Jesus Was Married to Mary Magdalene
The “Da Vinci” Code film and book did little to quell the theory that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, and that they had children that survive to this day. Da Vinci Code believers are convinced that Jesus’ modern-day bloodline exists in France, and that the religious leaders in Jesus’ time marginalized Magdalene’s importance, because she was a woman. Conspiracy theorists are sure that leaders of the early Christian church could not allow people to believe in a woman as holy, and thus Magdalene’s role in Jesus’ life was removed from all extant texts.
11. Bigfoot
The Bigfoot myth is as enduring as Area 51. Numerous conspiracies claim that Bigfoot is either an alien being that came to Earth, or an early version of man. People who believe in Bigfoot say that the government knows about these creatures, and may even be experimenting with them, but is intentionally keeping the information away from the public. However, every photo that people have taken of Bigfoot has proven false.
12. The Illuminati
Few secret organizations are more conspired about than the so-called Illuminati. This is a top-secret membership organization made up of powerful people who pull the strings on world events. There was an actual Illuminati in 1776 in Bavaria, which was a secret society, which gave rise to the modern-era rumors. Over the years, names such as Bill Clinton, Jay Z, Beyoncé , Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Paris Hilton, and Barack Obama have been linked with the organization.
13. The U.S. Government Made AIDS
As viruses go, AIDS was one of the most devastating killers in history, and it scared many people straight from the mid 1980s to the early 2000s. And although scientists have traced the origin of AIDS to Africa, some people believe that the U.S. government created AIDS as a biological weapon. They claim that experiments with gay men who had contracted Hepatitis B, resulted in the development of AIDS.
14. Oklahoma City Bombing Was Another Inside Job
Before 9/11 galvanized the nation, the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 was the largest domestic act of terrorism in U.S. history. Although Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were convicted of the crime, many American patriot groups believe that the U.S. government initiated a false flag operation, designed to create opposition against domestic militia groups. Nice theory if you’re on the side of those who believe that the government is the enemy but, without evidence, it’s just a crazy conspiracy.
15. Crop Circles
Some people think crop circles are alien forms of communication. Most rational human beings agree that crop circles are most likely made by humans, but movies such as “Signs” perpetuate the idea that these intricate designs are complex alien language. By virtue of the fact that people can interpret crop circles in any way they want, this is a conspiracy theory that persists and will remain popular until an alien craft actually lands on earth and explains just what is going on.
16. The CIA Has Alliances With Major Drug Cartels
There’s a prevailing theory that the CIA has formed alliances with drug cartels in Mexico and South America to further its goals. One of the reasons that people believe this is that the Iran/Contra scandal blew the lid off the CIA’s illegal dealings. In more recent times, the CIA has admitted that it grants immunity to certain cartels if they provide intelligence on bigger, more dangerous cartels that threaten national security. This revelation has given more fuel to conspiracy theorists who believe the CIA has been profiting from cartels for years.
17. The Royal Family Arranged Princess Diana’s Death
Although most people recognize and accept that Princess Diana died in a tragic car accident, a minority believe that the Royal Family ordered her death. The reason is that Diana’s impending marriage to Dodi Fayed, who was a Muslim, would have reflected badly on the monarchy, even though Diana was no longer part of the family. You can pretty much take any accident and turn it into something nefarious, and when you’re talking about Diana, so many theories about her activities are out there that it’s difficult to remember just what is the truth regarding her life.
18. Big Pharma Suppresses Cures for Illnesses
Pharmaceutical companies have never been known as altruistic, so it’s no surprise that many people think that they conspire to block research into cures for things such as cancer, in order to keep making money on existing drugs that treat illnesses, but don’t cure them. Big Pharma is also thought to make up new ailments such as Attention Deficit Disorder, so that it can make new drugs for more profit. Big Pharma is also accused by some of manufacturing drugs that are intentionally addictive.
19. Area 51
Area 51 in the Nevada desert was long thought to be a secret military base for alien experiments. Although every purported image of an alien experiment at Area 51 was debunked as a hoax, conspiracy theorists still believe that the government ran alien research there for years and has moved this research to another location. It’s difficult to believe that any government could maintain the type of secrecy required to keep alien research out of the public eye, but the location of Area 51 in the remote desert adds credibility to the theories.
20. Roswell Alien Crash
Roswell, New Mexico is said to be the site of a 1947 alien craft that crashed. The Roswell conspiracy revolves around the belief that the aliens in the UFO were taken to Area 51 for an autopsy, and that scientists tried to use the technology found in the craft to assess alien capabilities. Over the years, there have been ‘found footage’ videos of the alien autopsy from Roswell, and images of the dead aliens, all of which were proven to be doctored or outright fakes.
ERIC DRAPER/ASSOCIATED PRESS
