The Four Most Enduring Conspiracy Theories

Published October 23, 2011
Updated February 12, 2024

From September 11th to government weather control, we explore the most prominent and popular conspiracy theories of our history.

Popular Conspiracy Theories: H.A.A.R.P

Conspiracy Theories HAARP Research Photograph

The US government’s High-Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (H.A.A.R.P) is a joint scientific research project of the Air Force and Navy based in Alaska. The purpose of H.A.A.R.P is to study “the properties and behavior of the ionosphere, with particular emphasis on being able to understand and use it to enhance communications and surveillance systems for both civilian and defense purposes”.

But that’s not what theorists believe about the true nature of the program.

Enduring Conspiracy Theories HAARP Research Center

To them, H.A.A.R.P is a program used by the government to create weapons for weather and mind control. These theorists believe that the program is so powerful that the government uses it to orchestrate earthquakes – the ones in Japan and Haiti being the most recent examples – and even floods, drought, hurricanes and thunderstorms.

H.A.A.R.P Cloud Picture

While this might seem far-fetched to some, the believers point to H.A.A.R.P’s potency to substantiate their theories. The program, apparently, has the power to heat up the ionosphere it studies, which leads to disruptions in the atmospheric currents, Earth’s magnetic poles and weather patterns.

People have been using the H.A.A.R.P conspiracy to explain bizarre weather conditions and natural disasters since the 1980s.

The Illuminati and the New World Order

Illumaniti Conspiracy Theory

The conspiracy theory about the secret society, Illuminati, as the main drivers of creating a New World Order has been in existence since the late 1700s. Though the illustrious history of the Illuminati is hard to capture in a few short paragraphs, here is the general summary:

This far-reaching and extremely popular theory posits that the world is run by a small group of international elites, who are puppeteers pulling the strings of governments, media organizations and industries. The Illuminati is comprised of super-rich industrialists who use the banks to dominate nations. They are also responsible for every major war and political and financial world event for one goal – the New World Order.

The New World Order was a term coined by statesmen such as Woodrow Wilson and Winston Churchill, in reference to a new period of history after World War 2. The term encompassed an opportunity to implement a global governance to benefit global citizens, and saw the establishment of organizations including the UN and the World Bank.

In the eye of theorists, the New World Order is the eventual rule of a single, totalitarian world government, which will replace all sovereign nation-states.

Political and financial events – wars, natural disasters, poverty, inflation, depression – both historical and current, are all seen as steps toward this eventual world domination. Accordingly, the Illuminati meet every year to discuss secret global agendas that work towards this totalitarian regime.

Popular Conspiracy Theories: Population Control

Conspiracy Theories Population Control

Population control is an umbrella term encompassing the various ways that the world’s government attempts to limit the amount of humans on Earth. This control is used to prevent the population from exceeding the world’s capacity and to ensure social stability.

Conspiracy theorists have many reasons for supporting this idea. Firstly, they believe that weapons like H.A.A.R.P are used to create natural disasters and wars are encouraged to depopulate a country. Secondly, the theory is supported by the belief that diseases were created in a lab and unleashed on citizens.

For example, many believe that the World Health Organization, the CIA or KGB, genetically engineered the HIV virus in 1974. Lastly, many people also believe that vaccinations for illnesses such as cancer exist, but that pharmaceutical companies and governments won’t release them – both to depopulate the world and because cancer research is a burgeoning, commercialized industry.

Many of these claims have no real basis in fact, but they haven’t successfully been disproved, thus remain a source of speculation and ongoing conspiracy theories.

September 11th

September 11th Pentagon Photograph

Despite a decade since their conception and many mainstream attacks against their validity, the September 11 conspiracy theories still remain popular. Though there are many varying theories about the attacks, the most extreme claims that the US government deliberately allowed the attacks to happen.

The theory posits that the Bush government was already aware of the impending attacks, but chose to turn a blind eye, using the attacks as a pretext for their Middle East invasion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsRm8M-qOjQ

There are several compelling pieces of evidence to corroborate this theory, endorsed by the collective group, the 9/11 Truth Movement. Firstly, theorists believe that the US Air Force deliberately stood down or sent away on the day of the attack, preventing any intervention.

Secondly, there has been substantive research that proves the WTC collapse was controlled demolition. This means that the impact of the planes alone wouldn’t have brought down the entire tower, and bombs had already been placed throughout the buildings prior to the attacks.

This theory gained popularity with video footage showing puffs of smoke in different levels of the towers, independent of the plane collision, architectural analysis, which confirms the planes would not have melted enough of the infrastructure to cause the collapse, and witnesses claiming to have heard explosions before the attack themselves.

September 11th Conspiracy Theories

Lastly, the other two crashes – Pentagon and Flight 93 – were apparently staged. Theorists cite evidence that the plane collision marks on the Pentagon didn’t correspond with the size of the plane that supposedly hit the building.

Additionally, the area of the Pentagon that was hit was under renovation at the time, which some find suspicious. As for Flight 93, conspiracy theories about the plane being deliberately shot down, the passengers being kidnapped and murdered, and a large cover-up, circulate.

author
All That's Interesting
author
A New York-based publisher established in 2010, All That's Interesting brings together subject-level experts in history, true crime, and science to share stories that illuminate our world.
editor
All That's Interesting
editor
A New York-based publisher established in 2010, All That's Interesting brings together subject-level experts in history, true crime, and science to share stories that illuminate our world.