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It is obvious that we live in a world controlled by some powerful people, but we can never know what their true intentions are. Thankfully, there are countless conspiracy theorists all around, questioning the reality we live in and making us think. Even when their theories are wrong, we benefit from this type of lateral thinking that opens up new perspectives and reveals some hidden truths. Here are some of the best conspiracy theories in the history of the world, along with some rather silly ones that simply should be true.
To Be or not to Be Shakespeare?
We’ll start things off with an interesting literary conspiracy because nothing beats a good book, right? Shakespeare is considered one of the greatest writers in the history of English literature and his works have influenced countless artists throughout the centuries. However, some bold conspiracy theories claim that Shakespeare never actually existed. Instead, they believe that Shakespeare’s plays were written by a couple of anonymous writers who used this name to break through in the literary circles. Considering how we really know very little about Shakespeare himself, this theory could be true and would explain the richness of Shakespeare’s characters. On the other hand, some suggest that the plays were actually written by already renowned writers of the period, like Sir Francis Bacon, whose plays are widely considered quite similar to Shakespeare’s. Another famous poet who could have filled Shakespeare’s shoes was certainly Christopher Marlowe, the man behind the first dramatization of Faustus. The truth is that we’ll probably never know.
Behind Pearl Harbor
We all know the heroic story of Pearl Harbor and its numerous movie adaptations but, while the actual events aren’t suspicious, the history behind them is. The official story states that the Japanese forces attacked the US army base out of the blue in order to prevent them from interfering in Europe with their powerful fleet. However, the attack had quite an opposite effect as it made the USA join the war and ultimately help defeat the Axis powers. That being said, according to some sources, the attack wasn’t as unexpected as people believe. In fact, there is a popular opinion that president Roosevelt actually knew about the impending attack and intentionally let it happen so that the USA could enter the war. Though the theory was never proven (and probably never will be), it makes quite a lot of sense considering everything that followed the attack.
JFK’s Grassy Knoll
The vicious murder of John F. Kennedy in 1963 is a source for one of the oldest and most durable conspiracy theories ever. Namely, when JFK was shot during a promotional ride in Dallas, TX, the government quickly found the culprit – Lee Harvey Oswald, who denied it all the way. Curiously enough, Oswald himself was shot dead just two days later by Jack Ruby, a local bar owner who, again, died a couple of years later of lung cancer. Besides the problem of disappearing suspects and witnesses, what bothered a lot of ballistic experts at the time was the fact that the wounds seem to indicate there was another shooter there that day, hiding behind the now-famous grassy knoll. There are whole websites on the internet focused solely on the task of finding the other (or the real) killers using various methods and approaches. They go from credible to utterly ridiculous.
Paul McCartney Lookalike
Now, one of the first conspiracy theories regarding celebrities that absolutely swept the world was the infamous theory regarding the death of Paul McCartney. The rumor has it that the real Paul McCartney actually died in 1966, but the rest of the band, along with their manager and some other people decided to cover it up in order to avoid mass hysteria and keep earning those stupid amounts of cash. So, they simply hired an actor to pretend to be Paul and continue his career. The sparks that triggered this conspiracy were subtle hints in Beatles’ songs, album covers, and various other materials. For example, in their famous hit Strawberry Fields Forever, some believe that John Lennon says: “I buried Paul,” although he denied it publicly. Another example is the iconic Abbey Road album cover where all band members are crossing the street, while only Paul is barefoot, hinting at his death. There are even detailed face comparisons online, so you can decide for yourself what you think is true.
Fake Moon Landing
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Of course, one of the biggest conspiracies ever is certainly the 1969 Moon landing and the allegations that it was all staged. To fully understand this conspiracy and its implications, you need to first understand how it all came to be. Basically, at the time, the Cold War was at its highest point and both America and Russia were trying their best to come up as technologically superior. The Moon was an obvious goal. The problem for the USA was that Russia was already ahead so they had to act fast. That is why a lot of people believe that the USA actually decided to fake the landing on the Moon and gather all the glory without anyone knowing. However, some eagle-eyed conspiracy theorists noticed certain problems with the footage and the conspiracy was born. According to some sources, the legendary Kubrick was hired to do the job, which doesn’t seem that unreasonable considering how his 2001: A Space Odyssey was truly a sci-fi masterpiece. Although some of the biggest issues in the footage were easily rebutted by leading experts, some still firmly believe it was a hoax.
