Image via Complex Original
Americans have always had this weird fascination with the occult, the uncanny, and the implausible. And if there's one thing that pop culture has proved throughout the years, it's that any American worth their salt loves a good conspiracy theory. While some theories have managed to gain traction (see: JFK and MLK assassination theories), there are other, more far fetched ideas that only stick in the strangest, most remote corners of the Internets. From a reptilian and human race to government-controlled weather, here are some of the craziest conspiracies Americans actually believe.
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10. The weather is controlled by the government.
Percentage of Americans: 5%
Who believes it: Scott Stevens, award-winning meteorologist
After the development of the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program, AKA HAARP, many conspirators believed that, through the program, the government had the ability to control the weather. Even a quick Google search puts HAARP as a possible culprit for every natural disaster that happened in the '90s, whether it be a hurricane, tornado, earthquakes or flood; you name it; HAARP is allegedly responsible. Award-winning meteorologist Scott Stevens even purported that it was government-controlled weather engineering that caused Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
9. The CIA caused the AIDS epidemic in the '80s.
Percentage of Americans: 14%
Who believes it: Thabo Mbeki, South African President; Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize winner and ecologist
This wasn't (and wouldn't be the first time) the CIA would be allegedly involved in harming American citizens. In the late '70s and early '80s, rumors began circulating that the CIA created the virus AIDS to eliminate homosexuals and African Americans and that in gay friendly cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, a number of clinics were injecting gay men with the fatal virus. Incredibly, the insane conspiracy has stood the test of time, as a number of prominent figures have supported the theory, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai.
8. A shape-shifting, reptilian elite exists among us.
Percentage of Americans: 4%
Who believes it: Author of The Biggest Secret, David Icke
According to this theory, a cold blooded, flesh eating, shape shifting, reptilian/ human elite live among us and take the form of politicians and socialites, including Queen Elizabeth, Henry Kissinger, and Bill and Hillary Clinton. Aside from being associated with secret societies like the Freemasons and the Illuminati, this reptilian race is only out for one goal in mind: to enslave humankind. But what's most unbelievable is just how people subscribe to this theory. For that, we have David Icke to blame, who became the poster man for divulging "America's biggest secret" in his first book, unsurprisingly named The Biggest Secret.
7. Fluoride is added to the water to cause disease.
Percentage of Americans: 9%
Who believes it: N/A
When fluoridation became an official policy by Public Health Service in 1951, it wasn't long until conspiracies started spreading stating that the government was putting fluoride in the drinking water to do more than just prevent tooth decay. While it has been scientifically proven that fluoride, in small amounts, can actually be beneficial to oral health, skeptics believe that the government has been trying to use this fluoridation tactic to protect against overpopulation.
6. America's landing on the moon was faked.
Percentage of Americans: 7%
Who believes it: William L. Bryan, nuclear engineer and author; Clyde Lewis, radio talk show host
It's been nearly half a century since Neil Armstrong took "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." However, one of the longest enduring conspiracies is that Armstrong actually never took that step in the first place, or if he did, it was only somewhere on a film set in Hollywood Hills or Area 51. According to critics, the footage of the astronaut Aldrin placing the American flag on the soil proves that he was not on the moon. Why? The flag's waving, they claim, is impossible because of the moon's vacuumed atmosphere.
5. Celebrities run the world via the Illuminati.
Percentage of Americans: N/A
Who believes it: A small minority of surprisingly rational people
Nowadays it seems that nearly every celebrity is alleged to be a member of the secret society, the Illuminati. Celebrities including Beyoncé, Jay Z, Rhianna, and Kanye West have all been accused of being a part of the occult society and blamed for brain-washing the public with Illuminati-related imagery. While there is this creepy video of LeBron James making Illuminati symbols, the whole conspiracy is too, too ridiculous to believe. Even the Pope has been believed to be a part of the clan, so at this point who knows; you might even be a part of the Illuminati. #trustnoone
4. Obama is the Antichrist.
Percentage of Americans: 13% are "sure" Obama is the Antichrist; another 13% were "not sure" (but not entirely unconvinced, either)
Who believes it: One of every four Americans (and maybe Romney and McCain voters) believe he might be the Antichrist
While celebrities like Jay Z, Beyoncé, and Oprah are cool with the president, not every American is as pleased with the leader of the free world. Some Americans believe that because Obama "changed God's law" (i.e. gay marriage) and got re-elected without any repercussions, he has a stake to the Antichrist throne. While the conspiracy is yet to be will obviously never be proven, that fact that one out of every four Americans believe that Obama is truly the Antichrist is still very disheartening. Do better, America.
3. Paul McCartney is dead.
Percentage of Americans: N/A
Who believes it: Crazy Beatlemaniacs
For the past five decades, we've been shammed by a replacement of Paul McCartney. According to Internet conspiracy, the original member of the ultimate boy band died in 1966, and, consumed by guilt, the three remaining members began to leave clue to the truth in their long discography (most specifically, in Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Abbey Road). On Sgt. Pepper, the newly formed Beatles band features a man named Billy Shear (the name of Paul's alleged replacement) and "A Day in the Life," stores an eerie message played backward: "Paul is dead, miss him, miss him." Also, according to the theory, if you put a mirror in front of the album cover, the words Lonely Hearts on the drum logo appear as "1 ONE X HE DIE 1 ONE 1." By the same logic, the members are meant to reflect the images of a funeral procession on the cover: John as a clergymen dressed in white, George as the gravedigger dressed in jeans, Ringo as the mourner dressed in black, and Paul as the deceased with no shoes on and walking out of step with the others.
2. FEMA's coffins reveal plans for a government-planned genocide.
Percentage of Americans: N/A
Who believes it: Alex Jones, government critic
Out in Georgia, there seems to be a stash of nearly half-million storage cases that look like the size of a coffin. Apparently owned by FEMA, these coffins are being stocked up in storage all over major cities across the country. Fearing another Hurricane Katrina, FEMA claims these coffins are merely being used as measure of caution in the event of a national emergency like a pandemic or natural disaster occurs. Others claim there is more to this move than what meets the eye. Conspirators believe that FEMA is preparing for a national genocide, epidemic, or biological warfare that the American government is planning for its own people.
1. There were no planes involved in the 9/11 attacks.
Percentage of Americans: 41%
Who believes it: Morgan Reynolds, chief economist under Bush adminstration; David Shayler, well-known British journalist
From ridiculous anti-Semitic theories to government insider allegations, there are a plethora of 9/11 conspiracy theories out there that make us ashamed of our fellow Americans. But one of the craziest would have to be the no-planes theory. In this conspiracy, it's argued that no planes were used during the attacks. Makes no sense, right? Well, according to Morgan Reynolds, chief economist during the Bush administration, it does. According to his theory, no planes or hijackers were used during the attacks because it would have been physically impossible for the planes to have penetrated the steel frames of the towers. So if those things that crashed into the towers, weren't planes—what were they? Missiles surrounded by holograms made to look like planes. Oh, of course.