English (Original)
Information overload and distrust towards authority have allowed and promoted the development of conspiracy theories worldwide. These theories, often fascinating and cause for conflict, propose alternative explanations for significant events or phenomena.
Moon landing
On 21 July 1969, the spacecraft Apollo 11 landed on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong became the first person to step onto the Moon, joined by pilot Buzz Aldrin 19 minutes later. The two spent about two hours together taking photographs and collecting over 20 kg of lunar material to be tested back on Earth. However, the argument about whether the Moon landing really happened is up for debate. Some people say it was fake, but there’s lots of evidence that it was real. Nowadays, anyone with a good telescope can see where the Apollo missions landed on the Moon. What’s more, special cameras orbiting the Moon have taken pictures showing tools and devices that astronauts left behind. The doubts about the landings often originate from unusual details noticed in photos or videos that most people are unable to understand. But when you look closely, there are good scientific reasons for all of them.
Chemtrails
Have you ever looked up at the sky and seen long, white lines left behind by aeroplanes? Those lines are called contrails, and they’re made when small drops of water freeze around the hot plane engines. But some people believe these contrails are actually chemtrails – made with chemicals. This is a theory that says the government or a group of wealthy people are secretly spraying harmful chemicals into the air using aeroplanes. They think these chemicals could be for poisoning people, controlling minds, or even changing the weather. The idea of chemtrails started in 1996, partly because of a research paper by the Air Force. The paper talked about using aeroplanes to change the weather for military reasons in the future. However, the Environmental Protection Agency says this doesn’t reflect what the military is doing now.
Flat Earth
The belief that the Earth is flat has become a serious matter in recent years. Back in 2017, US rapper B.o.B, who strongly supports the ‘flat-Earth theory,’ tried to raise money to launch a satellite to prove that the Earth is flat like a disc, not globe-shaped like a ball. Even though he didn’t get much support financially, his efforts highlighted a growing trend of people believing in flat-Earth ideas. Nowadays, there are even annual conferences in the US dedicated to this theory, and YouTube is filled with videos claiming to have proof of a flat Earth. But these ideas are based on the wrong interpretation of basic science. For most people, the evidence that Earth is round is obvious, like pictures from space and the way weather systems move. Yet, despite all this evidence, flat-Earth beliefs are spreading fast, even outside the US.
Global warming
Global warming indicates the phenomenon in which the Earth has become hotter over a long period of time. This has been caused by human activities such as burning fossil fuels like coal and oil, deforestation, and air pollution. These activities produce gases that trap heat from the sun, making the Earth warmer. Even though there’s a lot of proof that global warming is real, some people reject the idea that we might be what is causing it. Instead, they say it’s just natural climate change. They might also say that this is just part of a cycle because the Earth has got warmer and colder before. Others believe that temperature records aren’t accurate or that the ways scientists study the climate are unreliable.