Conspiracy Theories in the Digital Age

[ALien]

Jim Marrs: Was 9/11 an inside job? Did a giant UFO fly over Stephenville, Texas, in early 2008? Are high-flying planes dumping chemicals on us? Did a high-level conspiracy kill JFK? Did a flying saucer crash near Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947? Will the year 2012 spell doom for us all? “I don’t believe that!” seems to be the most common response to some of these questions – among the most mysterious and controversial issues of our day. But, “I don’t believe that!” is not a valid argument.

Only facts can counter other facts and in today’s “Information Age,” there is information enough for anyone, if he or she will take the time to seek it out.

During the past century a subculture of like-minded people have become concerned that major contemporary and historical events were not caused by "what we've been told" through the mainstream media or our history books. Generally described as “conspiracy theorists,” these people are passionately concerned about their country and are driven by a strong sense of ethics and justice. In many cases, they are also armed with facts, either underreported or unreported by the corporate mass media.

Conspiracy theories are explanations based on speculation. When facts are available, speculation ends. Conspiracy theories become conspiracy facts.

With the advent of the Internet, the ranks of conspiracy-minded people have swelled remarkably. The Internet is brimming with hundreds of variations on thousands of conspiracy theories. Some are superlative examples of research, others push the speculative envelope, and many more are dubious flights of fancy. But no matter the accuracy or veracity of these millions of thoughts, the sheer volume bears witness to the tremendous number of people with provocative questions in search of answers.

One may be the most highly-intelligent person in the world, but if operating from erroneous or incomplete information, no one can come to a truthful and correct conclusion on any issue. One must know all one can about a wide variety of topics. And none are more fascinating then the subjects being tossed about on the Internet.

Here are just a few examples:

• Apologists for the 1964 Warren Commission, handpicked by President Lyndon Johnson to investigate the Kennedy assassination, argue that a single bullet traversed Kennedy’s neck and went on to wound Texas Governor John Connally. This scenario is the foundation for the argument that only three shots were fired, all by the accused assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald. Yet, Kennedy’s autopsy report supported by eyewitness testimony and the bullet hole in his shirt and jacket clearly prove that he was shot in the back (third thoracic vertebrae) not through the neck.

• Witnesses in Stephenville, with nothing to gain and everything to lose, reported in early 2008 that a giant – some said a mile-wide – craft flew over their town at below air speed and that it was chased by military jets. The US Air Force initially stated that it had no jets in the area. But after a few weeks of continuing reports, the Air Force reversed itself and stated that 10 F-16s were on a training mission over Stephenville on the night in question. Asked for details of the mission by reporters, an Air Force officer said they had none as they were not in contact with the jets; an explanation greeted with great incredulity.

• The mainstream media is rife with reports that the world’s supply of oil is peaking and that a future with higher prices for gasoline is inevitable. Yet, arguing against this position is a wealth of information showing untapped and unreported oil reserves both in the United States and in other countries. There is even the possibility that some oil wells, once thought depleted, are refilling.

• What crashed near Roswell, New Mexico, continues to bring a swirl of controversy with two broad sides being taken – one believing that nothing more than a balloon test was involved while the other believing that a crashed UFO and even alien bodies were recovered. Both sides concede that government authorities secreted away whatever came to earth. So this issue today comes down to whom one chooses to believe – government pronouncements that have changed four times over the years or more than 600 individuals on the public record who claim to know about a crash disk and non-human bodies.

It is subjects such as these that remain on the outskirts of public consciousness, never fully addressed in public, yet never fully forgotten. But in this Digital Age, there is no excuse for ignorance. Everyone now has access to a full range of information on these and many other issues.

Some deal with mysteries, which may involve science of which we are not yet aware. In the primitive past, such things would have been called magic.

Today, they are more likely to be called extraterrestrial.

Some are concerned with conspiracy, a term formerly disparaged by the corporate mass media. However, since the attacks of September 11, 2001, obviously were the result of someone’s conspiracy, the term has been somewhat rehabilitated.

Thoughtful persons rightfully question why such issues are not more fully debated in the mass media. Who would have a vested interest in preventing the public from learning who killed JFK? Who truly was behind the 9/11 attacks and the truth behind the ubiquitous UFOs? Could it possibly be the owners of the six giant multinational media corporations that control virtually everything we see, hear and read?

Subjects like the ones above and many more unconventional topics, including: Is the Supply of Oil Peaking? Is the Federal Reserve a Scam? Are Chemtrails for Real? What Flew Over Phoenix? and, What Will Happen in 2012? are addressed in my new book, Above Top Secret.

In Above Top Secret, such controversial issues are tackled by asking the fundamental questions once taught to beginning journalism students — Who, What, When, Where and Why. Armed with basic facts and hopefully, a dash of deductive reasoning, readers are invited to take on the world of mystery and conspiracy, normally eschewed by the mass media.

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[kidflash2008]

One of the reasons that conspiracy theorists (CT) get so much flak is that they see a conspiracy in everything, even after it has been explained. I have seen and read a number of excellent reports on the causes of the two towers falling on 9/11. They answered most if not all the questions asked by the CTs, and the reports get branded dis information pieces. Even science gets ridiculed by some CTs, if it does not fit into their theories.
It is interesting a "911 Truth" video was secretly re-edited after it was proven the windows blowing out of the towers were caused by the pressure of the buildings as they collapsed, not by explosions.
Witness testimony gets turned around and even made up to support the theories. There is no discipline in the people who write the theories, just repeat what is heard as the gospel truth. Fact checking should work on both sides.
I do think some members of government knew about or helped in the tragedy that happened on 9/11, but I think the argument that the US government blew up their own buildings is a little far out.