Flat Earth Theory

What leads people to believe in conspiracies?

● Proportionality Bias- “When something big happens we tend to assume that something
big must have caused it”.
● Illusion of Understanding- a tendency to overestimate our knowledge of how things
work. This could lead flat-Earthers to think that NASA is misrepresenting evidence.

Samuel Shenton (1903 - 1971)

● Founded the Flat Earth Society in 1956.

● Led the Flat Earth Society from its founding in 1956 until his death in 1971.
● When the first photographs of the earth were published in the early years of spaceflight,
Shenton dismissed them as an optical illusion caused by a wide-angle lens which made
the earth seem curved when it was not.
● Later he would dismiss that all of the photos were fakes along with the entire space
program of NASA.

● Celebrity BoB even questioned the curve of the earth.

● Other youtubers had also questioned this theory.

Samuel Birley Rowbotham (1816 - 1884)

● He was the father of the flat earth movement.

● Used experiments and reasoning to perform tests using his unique theory on Scientific
Method called Zeteticism.
● One of the first to use the term Zeteticism in reference to the Flat Earth theory
● Discovered that the common image of the flat earth is basically a flat disk centered at the
North Pole and is bounded along its southern edge by a wall of ice.
● Devised the Bedford Level Experiment to determine whether the surface of water is
convex, reasoning that if the water is not convex then the earth cannot be a sphere.

The Idea of The Earth Being Round

● The farther you go from the equator, the farther the ‘known’ constellations go towards
the horizon, and are replaced by different stars. This would not have happened if the
world was flat.
● If you look out the window on a trans-Atlantic flight, you can, most of the times, see the
 curvature of the earth in the horizon.
● Different time zones can only be explained if the world is round, and rotating around its
own axis.
● During a Lunar Eclipse, the Earth's shadow appears as a round surface on the moon.

Flat Earth Vs. Round Earth

● Time Zones explanation: The times at which sunrise, sunset, the rising and setting of
stars, and eclipses are seen to occur differ at different longitudes.
● In a total eclipse of the moon the sun is always below the horizon. The eclipse is caused
by the shadow of the round earth completely covering the moon. In a partial eclipse the
sun may be partially visible. In this event the earth's shadow on the moon is seen to have
a curved edge.
● The “firmament” in the bible actually is talked about as the dome that is above the land.

Charles K. Johnson (1924 - 2001)

● Charles was the second President of the Flat Earth Society.

● Johnson was an early believer that the moon landing in 1956 was a hoax.
● Used Biblical reasoning for supporting the theory of the Earth being flat.
● He would often cite scriptures for verses that describes the Earth as being flat.

Mythology & Religion

● There are many bible verses that allude to the earth being flat.
● The old testament, new testament, Ancient Greek & Egyptian Mythology, Shinto,
Polynesia, and in Native American culture.
●
● And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel,
and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. -​Isaiah
11:12
● Who has established all the ends of the earth? -​Proverbs 30:4
● Stetcheth out the Heavens as a curtain and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in
-​Zechariah 12:1 Isaiah 11:22
● And after these things I saw four angels standing on four corners of the earth, holding the
four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on
any tree. -​Revelations 7:1 (New Testament)
● And the earth We have spread out (like a carpet); set thereon Mountains firm and
immovable. -​15:19
● Native Americans: ​Several native american mythologies held that the sky was drapped
over the earth like a tent. The stars were holes in this “tent”. Several tribes also share a
world turtle myth.
 ● Ancient Greek: ​In greek mythology Atlas held up the heavenly sphere which hung
above the flat earth.
● Egyptian mythology​​: the Earth was a flat expanse of land expressed as the god Geb. The
goddess Nut stretched over this space encompassing Shu, the air god. In addition there
was an underworld and undersky. Beyond the sky was Nu, creation chaos.
● Shinto​​: holds that "heaven" is over the sea and in the mountains a both horizontal and
vertical cosmology depending on context.
● Polynesia:​​ "By the second, Papa-tu-a-nuku ("Flat, Resembling the Earth"), he was the
parent of Rehua, Tane, Paia, Tu, Rongo, Ru, and a host of other minor deities." -​Oceanic
Mythology​ by Roland B. Dixon

The Maps

● An emergency plane landing occurred when a woman was giving birth on a flight from
Bali going to Los Angeles
● The pilot landed the plane in Alaska, which on a round earth map, goes off course/out of
the way
● Tracking the flight on a flat earth map, shows how the emergency landing is on the way