15 Creepy Conspiracy Theories
Dark forest theory According to this theory, the reason we haven't found evidence of extraterrestrial life yet isn't because aliens don't exist—it's because they're hiding. The idea is that staying hidden is the safest way for every alien civilization (including ours) to stay safe, because once you make your existence known, you make yourself a target to other, more advanced species. This one feels a little cynical to us, but hey, we're not scientists. Meet the wikiHow Experts Israel Vieira Pereira is a PhD Student in Text & Discourse at Unisul University.
Dead internet theory According to this theory, since 2016, the internet has consisted primarily of algorithmically-generated content and bots designed to farm engagement. It's believed this could be an intentional effort to control society by keeping people distracted and minimizing organic human activity, as well as to keep generating engagement, since more clicks = more advertising dollars. Some people also theorize the government uses bots to manipulate public perception. While we don't know for sure that dead internet theory is real, we do know bots are created by various players with specific political agendas around the world to spread misinformation or create dissent. If you're reading this…maybe take a break. Go outside for a bit. Smell a flower. Call a friend.
Bitcoin's AI inventor Bitcoin's creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, is something of a mystery—so much so, that we don't even know if that's his real name…or if he's even just one person, or a whole group of people. Theories as to the creator's real identity (or identities) abound, but one popular conspiracy theory holds that Nakamoto is actually an artificial intelligence sent to us from the future in order to redesign the global economy. Why do people think this? A few reasons: Bitcoin's code is very simple, but some people believe it's a little too elegant and flawless to have been made by humans—especially all the way back in 2009, when bitcoin was first created. Nakamoto has kept his identity a secret. Some people theorize the AI was programmed to "disappear" after developing the code in order to avoid being influenced by external forces. However, some people chalk up these facts to the theory that Nakamoto is really just a consortium of (non-AI) people, potentially from various countries around the world.
Aliens being time-traveling humans In alien encounter narratives, the extraterrestrials are often described as being humanoid, albeit with slightly different features (like a big brain or elongated limbs). Some people theorize that many aliens involved in encounter stories are really just humans who have evolved and are visiting us from the future via time travel. Now, we don't have any evidence that this is true…but who's to say.
NASA faking the moon landing Humans first landed on the moon on July 20, 1969, when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took their first steps out of Apollo 11 and onto the moon's surface. But there are some people who are skeptical that this ever actually happened, and believe the whole production was faked by NASA in order to beat the USSR in the Space Race, boost NASA funding, or divert attention from the Vietnam War. This theory has been thoroughly debunked. You can even see the Apollo landing sites yourself with a powerful amateur telescope.
Chemtrails According to this debunked theory, the government has spread chemicals via condensation trails left by jets. What do the chemicals do? All sorts of reasons, allegedly: weather modification, psychological manipulation, solar radiation management, human population control, biological warfare management, etc. Proponents of this theory believe the chemtrails may cause respiratory issues in anyone who breathes the chemicals in. However, a 2016 Carnegie Institution for Science paper debunked this theory, stating that there is no reliable evidence to support the claim.
MK Ultra This one's not actually a theory—it really happened. But it was top-secret at the time, and even now, there isn't too much public information available, leading many people to create theories about MK Ultra. MK Ultra refers to a series of secret and illegal experiments the CIA performed on unwitting American subjects between 1953 and 1973, many of these experiments involving drug administration and hypnosis. The goal was to learn more about how drugs and hypnosis affect the human brain and to use this research in espionage and related practices. When we know for a fact that the U.S. government was capable of doing something like MK Ultra, it kind of makes the "NASA lied about the moon landing" theories more understandable…
The crash of Korean Air Lines Flight 007 When Korean Air Lines Flight 007 accidentally strayed into Soviet territory on September 1, 1983, en route to New York, it was shot down by Soviet fighter jets. However, some people theorize the plane deliberately strayed into Soviet airspace to test the USSR's defenses. Others suspect the plane was a U.S. spy plane, and that this is why the Soviets shot it down.
JFK's assassination Theories abound about the death of President John F. Kennedy. Officially, he was shot and killed by Lee Harvey Oswald in a Dallas motorcade in 1963, but some speculate there was a second gunman, and that Oswald wasn't acting on his own. Others believe the CIA, the Mafia, Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro, sitting Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, the KGB, or some combination of these players was involved in his assassination, and that the United States government wanted to cover up the conspiracy. To add fuel to the flames, Oswald was murdered in a Dallas Police Quarters basement mere days after the event, by a guy with ties to the mob…
The Denver Airport theory If you've never been to the Denver Airport, trust us, it's a wild, wild place. But conspiracy theorists speculate that the airport is the headquarters for secret societies like the Illuminati or the New World Order, and that delays in construction—as well as the fact construction went more than $2 billion over budget—were due to the creation of underground tunnels leading to survival bunkers for society's elites and homes for lizard people. (There are tunnels, but they're for transporting luggage.) Sounds crazy, right? Believe it or not, the theories don't stop there! They've all been thoroughly debunked, though—check out our article on the subject if you'd like the full story.
The Uncanny Valley theory You might know about the Uncanny Valley—the phenomenon where highly realistic-looking humanoid objects, like robots, make us feel extremely uneasy and creeped out? Well, some people have theorized that the existence of the Uncanny Valley phenomenon is evidence that at some point far back in our evolutionary history, there was something that looked like us, but that wasn't us—and that that thing was a major threat to our well-being. What was the thing? We can only imagine (but we'd really rather not).
Quantum immortality theory According to this theory, first posted in the late 1980s by physicist and cosmologist Max Tegmark, a person's consciousness might not end with their death, but continue on in an alternate reality, in which the person lives. The theory is rooted in the Many World Interpretation of quantum mechanics put forth by physicist Hugh Everett in 1957, which essentially says that every quantum event results in the creation of multiple parallel universes, with each universe following a different outcome to the event.
The Mandela Effect Do you know about the Mandela Effect—the phenomenon wherein large groups of people believe the same wrong thing? Well, one theory has it that the Mandela Effect is evidence that parallel universes exist, and that in one universe, the Fruit of the Loom logo involves a cornucopia (to cite a common Mandela Effect example), and in another universe, it doesn't. However, many people speculate that the Mandela Effect is really a matter of memory being fluid and fallible.
Simulation hypothesis Some people have theorized that reality as we know it is really a carefully programmed computer simulation, à la The Matrix. According to this theory, the laws that govern our reality are just algorithms programmed by an extremely advanced computational system. Spooky!
The Bermuda Triangle Since the mid-1900s, the Bermuda Triangle has been the focus of an urban legend relating to the mysterious disappearances of many planes, ships, and people. This one is technically not an unsolved mystery, as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration stresses that the Triangle's mysterious properties are pretty much entirely due to weather and atmosphere. But it was such a mystery for so long that it belongs on our list—and anyway, for some people, "the environment" isn't a convincing enough explanation for the Bermuda Triangle's seemingly paranormal properties. So here are some of the alternative theories: The Bermuda Triangle is the site of a time-space warp that causes anyone or anything that passes into it to vanish to a parallel universe. There's leftover technology from the lost city of Atlantis in the Triangle, and that's responsible for the mysterious disappearances of anyone who crosses into the Triangle. UFOs are abducting people, ships, and planes that pass into the Triangle.
A Word of Caution about Conspiracy Theories
Conspiracy theories can be fun and interesting, but also dangerous. Conspiracy theories can be super compelling and even thrilling to explore, and part of what makes them so easy to believe is the reality that, when it comes down to it, there are people out there whom we can't fully trust or who don't have our best interests at heart. But when taken too far, or when used to target a specific group of people, conspiracy theories can be very dangerous. Employing critical thinking and empathy can help us avoid falling into the trap of conspiracy theories and misinformation. But in the age of the internet—and especially with the spread of AI—it's getting harder to identify misinformation when it pops up. So how do you know if you can trust what you're hearing or reading? "The easiest way is to search for the author of the news," advises Israel Vieira Pereira, a PhD student in Text and Discourse at Unisul University. "Usually, when it comes to fake news,” continues Pereira, “it is very hard to identify the primary source of the info or its authors.” "If that's the case, avoid sharing the information," concludes Pereira. "Also, make sure to go beyond the headlines. Fake news headlines are mostly bombastic or accusative, but the content per se might be purely based on speculation."
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