Conspiracy Theories

[sbrylski]

Bigfoot in North America I doubt. A big hairy beast in the Himilayans? Now that I think could be true.

 

Pacific Northwest, including Canada and Alaska, is pretty damn remote. If that's what you are basing this remark on, I don't think its valid - there's not much of a difference in some areas of North America and the Himalayas in terms of human presence.

 

Now, Bigfoot in North Carolina? No.

[Brian the Automator]

John Olerud is a Cylon.

[Katuluu]

Eyewitness accounts are notoriously awful to rely on, whether it is looking for a skunk ape or for a criminal investigation. Human memory is horribly faulty, and if that is what you are pinning your hopes on, you are going to come up disappointed.

[Invader3K]

Just to support that point, I recall seeing a TV show where the crew set up a fake "lake monster head" in a body of water, and had it briefly appear during a day when a lot of people were around. They then interviewed people, and some of the reports that the people gave were incredibly ridiculous, and nothing like what had happened. People tend to maybe catch a glimpse of something, and then extrapolate wildly on it, for whatever reason.

[danzig6767]

Just to support that point, I recall seeing a TV show where the crew set up a fake "lake monster head" in a body of water, and had it briefly appear during a day when a lot of people were around. They then interviewed people, and some of the reports that the people gave were incredibly ridiculous, and nothing like what had happened. People tend to maybe catch a glimpse of something, and then extrapolate wildly on it, for whatever reason.

I watched a documentary once that was anti-death penalty and in it they talked about the problems with eye witness testimony. The assembled a couple of groups of people and did random experiments, then asking the groups of people what they saw. It was amazing how different and often how wrong a lot of the people were in what they thought they saw.

[paul253]

Thats true, but i think the accuracy goes down for events that just kinda happen and within an instant are done. People dont have time to process what happened. I dont know if the eye witness testimony was in response to my comments about UFO's but a most of the eye witness accounts state that the object was just kind of hovering, which is why the descriptions are more or less the same. Some people even have enough time to pull out some sort of camera or recording device. In most of the cases, the people were standing there, looking at it, watching it, and processing what they were seeing. Most of them dont involve a 10 mile wide ship zoom by and within 2 seconds is out of sight. Especially with these military stories. In the original link, the pilot said he actually had a lock on the object before it took off. So although eyewitness testimony is notoriously innacurate, i dont think in all of these cases that that is necessarily the case.

[dadofandrew]

Why would Bigfoots stay in remote areas? They would move just like bears, wolves, and so on, to find stuff to eat. Seems likely we would have found skeletal remains of one by now, they can't live forever.

 

Area 51 is a military base. They employ oodles of Vegas area folks, fly them in every day. It's where they test planes, radar, and other "stuff".

[T B0NE 10]

In regards to those 9/11 conspiracy theories....

I have a friend that believes that crap. How can I prove to him that 9/11 happened as it really did.

 

He's convinced the US government did it, hes watched some video on youtube. He claims that the hole in the pentagon doesn't look like a plane. etc

[The Active 33]

I have heard the same thing about the Pentagon. It made me realize, I never saw a video of a plane hit the Pentagon.

[paul253]

There had to have been hundreds of witnesses to the plane hitting the Pentagon. I'm sure if it was a missile it would have been fairly obvious because missiles are nowhere near the size of an airplane. Beside, if you don't believe it was the airplane they said it was, how do you explain all the people who were on the plane and are now dead?

 

The history channel had a documentary which pretty easily debunked any conspiracy theories about 9-11, but if you want to believe it, you'll believe it.

[dadofandrew]

You know, many people lost family and friends on the plane that hit the Pentagon...what happened to them if the plane did not crash?

 

I realize some people feel that a plane would leave a cartoon like outline in a building specially designed to withstand such attacks...but you know, I can't prove the world is round either, but I'm sure not going to explain to some moron who "just don't get it" either.

[bullox]

Area 51 is a military base. They employ oodles of Vegas area folks, fly them in every day. It's where they test planes, radar, and other "stuff".

This is true. I can't tell you how many technical job listings I see here in Vegas requiring current Top Secret clearance. This of course has to do with Nellis AFB in addition to Area 51.

[Invader3K]

You know, many people lost family and friends on the plane that hit the Pentagon...what happened to them if the plane did not crash?

 

I realize some people feel that a plane would leave a cartoon like outline in a building specially designed to withstand such attacks...but you know, I can't prove the world is round either, but I'm sure not going to explain to some moron who "just don't get it" either.

Well, some people are just convinced the US government is actively lying to us all the time, so they believe some sort of vast conspiracy involving hundreds, if not thousands of people, must be possible.

 

Popular Mechanics ran an article years ago debunking all the 9/11 myths. It's still on their website, I believe.

[dadofandrew]

The Popular Mechanics stuff is very well done, I've linked to it many times. They update it once a year or so, with the latest flavor of the month.

[thebruce44]

In regards to those 9/11 conspiracy theories....
I have a friend that believes that crap. How can I prove to him that 9/11 happened as it really did.

He's convinced the US government did it, hes watched some video on youtube. He claims that the hole in the pentagon doesn't look like a plane. etc

 

I wrote a paper in high school linking FDR to Peal Harbor. I was in no way saying he was responsible for it, but there is a lot of compelling evidence that he knew it was going to happen and did nothing to prevent it besides moving some ships to lessen the damage.

This is true. I can't tell you how many technical job listings I see here in Vegas requiring current Top Secret clearance. This of course has to do with Nellis AFB in addition to Area 51.

 

I believe the majority of the top secret testing is done at Andrews now as opposed to Area 51. My guess was that too many people were watching 51 since it kinda became a "cool" place thanks to movies and legends.

 

In terms of people claiming to have seen UFOs in the area over the years...well that makes a lot of sense because the US has been testing experimental aircraft and missiles there for years. Wouldn't those qualify as UFOs to the average person without top security clearance? If I saw an SR-71 or a B2 fly over me during testing 10 years before they were unveiled to the public, I would claim I saw a UFO too.

[dadofandrew]

Yep, "unidentified" is a part of UFO. If you ever take a look at a map of military bases and a map of UFO sightings, they are very similar.

 

Considering the population masses all over the nation and world, the odds of alien ships avoiding them while continuing to land in remote locations full of uneducated goofballs claiming to be probed and transported, and missing 48 hours of memory seems slim.

[FVBrewerFan]

My initial reaction is to disbelieve (if not mock) just about any conspiracy theory. In the information age, and the huge payouts available for media interviews, book deals,etc., I can't believe anyone could or would keep a conspiracy a secret forever. Especially far more than one or two people would have to be involved in most of them.

 

Speaking of friends with crazy ideas, I have a friend who still believes the moon landing was a conspiracy. "Not technologically possible then" "All hype to keep NASA afloat and relevant" etc.

 

Bigfoot, I wouldn't call that a conspiracy. That would fall under the category of "do you believe" like ghosts, UFOs, life on other planets, etc. Surprised to see so many Bigfoot believers. I don't think it's outrageous, but I find it hard to believe there is still zero "real" evidence. I mean, there can't be jsut one or two around or they wouldn't be able to sustain their existence for this long. So if there are, say, hundreds or thousands there would be evidence by now- at least that's what I think.

[sbrylski]

I find it hard to believe there is still zero "real" evidence.

 

That's not really true though - there has been a fair amount of evidence. There is more physical evidence than most people realize. Physical evidence is found every month in various areas across the country. Distinct tracks that do not match other animal tracks, hairs that match each other but no known wild animals, and large scats that could not be made by any known species, are all "physical evidence." - Wikipedia summary, obviously more detailed info can be found around the net.

 

Also, from BRFO.net:

The presence or absence of "physical remains" is a wholly different matter. "Physical remains" means body parts, or fossils of body parts. Though mammals may leave tracks, scats and hairs behind, they do not leave body parts behind very often. Body parts of mammals are only available when they die. Thus availability of physical remains is initially determined by population size and lifespan. A rare species with a long lifespan will leave very little physical remains, collectively, for humans to find. The probability of humans actually finding and collecting and identifying those remains before they are completely reabsorbed into the biomass complicates the "physical remains as evidence" equation dramatically.

 

There aren't going to be many deaths a year, at a ~2000 population with a lifespan over 50 years. And in some of the most remote places on earth - finding a body is not exactly probable.

 

There's plenty of justifiable skepticism, of course, but I have yet to hear an argument that would rule out the possibility, and have heard some compelling arguments to the plausibility of their existence. There's plenty more interesting things on the BRFO.net site. Even just reading the FAQ. (And then balance that by reading some of the skeptic's articles somewhere.)

[jwill535]

The problem with Bigfoot supporters is that 99% of the people that head up Bigfoot agencies are any thing but credible.

[davego]

http://www.onlineworldofw...es/a/adnan-el-kaisee.html

 

 

I believe in conspiracies against the 'Arab World.'

[nate82]

This is my favorite conspiracy theory.?

 

 

 

Warning watching this video will consume 10 minutes of your life that you will not get back.

[Chio151]

Bigfoot does die, right? Where are the carcasses?

[dadofandrew]

Just one, right Choi? And again, why would a Bigfoot live only where there was no people...they have no reason to be scared of them, as no one has ever shot one, right?

[davego]

Maybe Bigfoot rides his UFO back to the homeplanet shortly before his death to communie with Elvis and Jim Morrison.

[dadofandrew]

Maybe that's what hit the pentagon...they store the bodies at Area 51.