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Aliens, Vaccines, Michael Jackson still alive, lizard people ruling the planet, and COVID-19 as a government instigated virus. The list goes on and on. These things, these ideas, are what we call conspiracy theories, and you might be surprised by how many people believe in at least one. Here’s one example of one of the more popular theories, aliens.
“It was probably, oh, 10:00 at night. I’m driving, and all of a sudden I see a light. It was just a quick glance, I barely saw it out of the corner of my eye. Then I looked ahead, and I saw a blue, dome looking thing all lit up,” said Darld Swapp, NS student. “I looked away for one second, and then it was gone.”
In a recent NS times survey, 37 percent of people, like Swapp, stated that they believed in one conspiracy theory. While no one in the survey indicated that they believe that the earth is flat, around 5 percent believed that the moon landing was faked. But the most prevalent theory of all, was that the COVID-19 vaccine is a hoax, at about 30 percent.
“I wouldn’t trust it, I don’t have it, and I don’t plan on getting it,” said Owen Spencer, junior at NS. “I think because the government and the media tell you to get it, people just get it and don’t think for themselves.”
And while this is the most prevalent conspiracy theory at NS thus far, probably the biggest conspiracy theory in America is the theory that the government is hiding alien spacecraft and other things in the famous military Area 51. But some people at NS believe it as well.
“I do believe in aliens,” said Jason Sanchez, senior at NS. “I think there is some evidence, and like the people that don’t believe in COVID, I do believe the government is hiding some stuff.”
It might not just be the government hiding things like aliens, though. The great Michael Jackson, could still be alive after all.
“On YouTube, I literally watch, and he’s sketchy, he was getting charged for sexual misconduct,” said Swapp. “Anyways, right when that happened, he ‘died’. And what I think what happened is, cause I watched a video on YouTube, he jumped out of the ambulance and hid. Just, ran away. I still believe he’s alive to this day.”
But while all of these theories are interesting, what makes these theories so compelling that so many people believe them?
In their article ‘Why do people latch on to conspiracy theories’ The National Geographic said, “Experts say that the majority of people do not easily fall for falsehoods. But when misinformation offers simple, casual explanations for otherwise random events, “it helps restore a sense of agency and control for many people,” says Sander vander Linden, a social psychologist at the University of Cambridge.”
But while some people definitely believe them for those reasons, some may not. In fact, some people just think it’s interesting to learn about why people think that way, and to think about it themselves.
“I do think they’re really cool,” said Sanchez. “They all have some evidence that they could be true, but you never actually know. I think they start from a random idea. Like I bet aliens started from someone saying, maybe that’s not a shooting star, maybe that’s a person. Just like a random thought fueled by experiences.”
Like the experience you may have on a lonely road at 10:00 at night, when you see a random blue dome. Or, maybe, it wasn’t a blue dome at all. Maybe it was a UFO.
