Whether conspiracy theories pique your interest or make your eyes roll, there is no doubt that some of them sound so far-fetched they can’t be true. Incredibly, conspiracists have proven a few of the most unlikely ones to be true, leaving many people to question their beliefs. Here are a few popular conspiracy theories and the truth behind them.
Big Brother is Watching You
Reports state that 82 percent of Americans believe that the government uses its resources to track movement. According to the nonprofit organization EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation), who defend civil liberties in the digital world, there could be an element of truth in this. It appears that government agencies sent 9,076 requests for user data to Apple, 27,850 to Google, and 49,868 requests to Facebook in 2016. This means that the data stored on your devices could end up in a government database.
Your Phone is Listening
This conspiracy goes with the Big Brother theory in that your phone could be collecting information right from your mouth. Although this one is overall debunked as untrue, it appears that your phone could be recording your movements instead. While debunking this conspiracy, researchers found that multiple apps were taking screenshots and recordings without the phone owner’s knowledge. Once collected, this data was sent to third-party domains.
UFOs are Real
To get to the truth of this conspiracy theory, you need to dig a little deeper. UFO stands for unidentified flying objects. Simply basing this theory on the name, most people can agree that there are unidentified flying objects on planet Earth. For example, if you get into the habit of looking into the sky everyday, you will probably find something up there that you can’t identify. The conspiracy behind this theory occurs when UFOs are associated with extraterrestrial beings.
Legitimate Claims
For a long time, people have reported strange sightings of unidentifiable objects in the sky. Although the people who claimed to have witnessed these sightings probably believed they experienced a true encounter, it is hard to believe the reports without proof. It wasn’t until a few years ago when people truly began to believe. In 2017, the New York Times published leaked footage from the military depicting UFOs moving in strange ways. They flew in an erratic manner and performed maneuvers that didn’t seem possible for an aircraft engineered in this world. Incredibly, official U.S. Navy sources confirmed the videos were recorded by Navy pilots and were genuine. Furthermore, in 2019 the U.S government released official footage of the UFOs, which, ultimately, gave es credibility to other UFO sightings.
Dead Baby Snatching
This gruesome theory revolves around Project Sunshine, a series of research studies performed by the U.S government to measure the impact of radioactive fallout on the human body. This project began in 1953 after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is said that the government was snatching the bodies of dead babies to perform radioactive testing.
Stolen Body Parts
Shockingly, this one turns out to be true. The government needed to test on young tissue, so they stole body parts of recently deceased babies and children. Agents worldwide were paid to take the samples without permission, knowledge, or family members.
