Everyone has read their fair share of conspiracy theories at some point in their lives. Some are certainly more believable than others, but I never believed them. But when some of these turned out to be true, it was time to make a aluminum foil hat.
Perhaps you too will realize how crazier the facts are than fiction.
1. Church of Scientology infiltrates the federal government
I think many of us can agree that Scientology is a form of insanity.Look at the south park The episode is proof enough of that. But apart from their beliefs, there are also church conspiracies. Participate in Operation Snow White. This is his 1970s criminal conspiracy planned by Scientology to destroy records that negatively presented the church and its founder L. Ron Hubbard.
According to the article, Los Angeles Timesthey obtained and used fake IRS credentials to infiltrate government agencies and even copy documents related to the church.
2. Ernest Hemingway was right about the FBI tracking him.
The famous American writer is known for his many works throughout his life. However, another aspect of his life was a little darker. Nearing the end of his life, hemingway He seemed increasingly paranoid that he was under FBI surveillance. Whenever he ended his earthly life in 1961, stories arose that what was considered delusion may have been one of the factors in his decision. .
Decades later, in the 1980s, a Freedom of Information request by Jeffrey Myers revealed that Hemingway was under federal surveillance for his ties to Cuba.
3. No one knows how the Tlatelolco massacre began
Although the loss of innocent life is a tragic event, this tragedy It could have somehow gotten worse. The 1968 Summer Olympics were held in Mexico. Citing rising tensions and a desire for reform, citizens began protests in the days leading up to the opening of the Games. On October 2, 1968, ten days before the opening ceremony, thousands of students gathered in the Cultural Square to protest again, but this ended in violence.
However, there is still no clear answer as to what started it.
4. President Lyndon B. Johnson chose not to seek a second term because he knew he would die young.
I’m sure there were many factors that led to this happening. President Lyndon B. Johnsonhas decided not to run for a second term. Of course, his popularity waned due to the Vietnam War. However, it turned out that there was something else going on.
In 1967, the president secretly began an actuarial study to determine the time of his death. Men in his family had a history of dying young, and Lyndon B. Johnson wanted to know if the same was true for him. A study was conducted and it was determined that he would die at the age of 64. At the time of analysis, he is 59 years old, so even if he were to run for a second term, he would not be given much time. What’s even stranger is that he actually died at the age of 64.
5. Tax authorities don’t want filing to be easy.
Yes, you can thank me. tax A filing service that makes US tax season less painful! Tax authorities have spent millions of dollars lobbying to make filing your taxes no easier. It makes sense; if taxes were easier, no one would need these services anymore.
But that fact doesn’t make the situation any better for me.
6. JFK’s brain is missing
This sounds like a “frozen Walt Disney head” joke, and honestly, I wish it was. But no, it’s true. After President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, his body was dissected. brain It was kept in the archives. The autopsy is considered the most botched part of the investigation into the president’s death.
But wait, things get even worse! Three years after JFK’s death, my brain disappeared From the National Archives. No one knows where it went to this day.
7. Backfire effect
This is more of an interesting fact than a conspiracy.of backfire effect This occurs when a person continues to believe when presented with contradictory facts and information, and then digs deeper into that belief.
So if you’ve ever been confused as to why someone refuses to change their point of view after being presented with evidence that the opposite is true, this is probably the reason.
8. Native American women were sterilized.
This event really made my blood boil. From the 1960s to his 1970s, it became clear that: native american woman They were forced to undergo sterilization without their consent by the Indian Health Service. Something similar happened to her 25-50% of Native American women between 1970 and her 1976, although perhaps more likely.
The Indian Health Service did this because, as crazy as it may sound, it believed that Native American women did not have the ability to make their own reproductive choices. If my blood used to be boiling, it’s now practically a lake of lava.
9. On 9/11, only one murder was recorded in New York.
This sounds like a trick question, but it’s true. The thousands of people who died as a result of the attacks are not included in New York City’s official crime statistics. That was an outlier. Instead, Henryk Swiak It was the only recorded murder.
He was a Polish immigrant who was shot and killed just before midnight in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. His death remains unsolved, and there is a conspiracy that it was set on this day because law enforcement was busy with the attack.
10. There is a storage room for American cheese.
This sounds incredibly stupid, but it’s 100% true.The United States cave or bunker It’s filled with hundreds of thousands of pounds of cheese. It began in the 1970s when dairy products increased due to a shortage of dairy products.
Government intervention forced farmers to sell their vast surpluses to the U.S. government. By the ’80s, the government boasted half a billion pounds of cheese.
11. EMS receives little or no government funding.
To be honest, this is just weird. In the majority of states in the United States, emergency medical services Not considered essential. As a result, funding from the government is virtually zero. It’s so strange that something so important is not considered necessary.
However, there is also a movement towards classifying EMS as such.
12. Alcoholism during Prohibition
Ban The 1920s saw many ideas and conspiracies, not only from those who refused to give up their favorite couscous juice, but also from laws that sought to regulate it. Alcohol was illegal, but that didn’t mean industrial alcohol. The government began to realize that people were willing to drink this to cure their illnesses, so it was decided to take drastic measures.
Industrial alcohols were now required to contain toxic chemicals. This alcohol would be used to make moonshine and would poison anyone who drank it. And before you ask, yes, people have died on this mission.
13. Sugar industry conspiracy
Those of you for whom “fat-free” was popular in the house as a child can be grateful. sugar industry. In the 1960s, studies pointing to the dangers of fat were funded by the sugar industry in order to disguise and downplay the dangers of sugar.
This has led people to avoid foods that contain fat, regardless of whether they are good for you or not. Of course, please don’t get angry! It’s all about balancing things.
14. Treatment of Henrietta Lacks
an african american woman named henrietta lax This is the origin of the HeLa cell line. Unfortunately, the way these cells were born is highly unethical. Her cancer cells were harvested after her death without her consent, an ethical violation. Her family was not given the opportunity to consent, was not informed of the breakthrough, and continued to suffer financially.
It wasn’t until August 2023 that a settlement was reached between the family and the technology company that used her cells.
15. McDonald’s is to blame for what happened to Stella Liebeck.
Many believe that the 79-year-old woman tried to sue the famous fast food chain because coffee It was a little too hot. However, this could not be further from the truth. Stella Liebeck ordered coffee at McDonald’s, but she accidentally spilled the coffee on her lap, giving her third-degree burns. The result was several days of hospitalization, treatment, and long-term damage, so the woman tried to settle with the chain to cover the costs incurred by the coffee.
She didn’t want to go to court. But McDonald’s only wanted to offer Liebeck a minimal amount for the dangerously hot coffee, and Liebeck went to court. After years of disinformation campaigns waged by lawyers, the reality of the case was distorted and Stella was portrayed as the bad guy.