The Holographic Paradigm and CCP [Creative Consciousness Process]: Explication, Ego Death, and Emptiness by Iona Miller

Is There a Unifying Paradigm for the Paranormal? by Steve Mizrach, aka Seeker1

• Leibniz's Theory of a Monadal Universe, Which Has Similarities to the Holographic Paradigm

  • Leibframe -- The Monadology translated by George MacDonald Ross (with commentary linked to each paragraph!)

  • Leibniz's "Monadology" (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy) translated by James Fieser

  • Leibniz by George MacDonald Ross [free electronic version of an out-of-print 120-page book]
    (see especially the chapters "Phenomenalism" (p.88ff.) and "Efficient vs Final Causation" (p.96ff.))

    • Leibniz - Monadology - Glossary (uses the version of "Monadology" translated by Robert Latta)

• Reviews of "The Holographic Universe" by Michael Talbot

  • Review by Sandy Bogus

  • Review by Michael Kisor (includes the entire author's Introduction)

• Science Encounters Zen

BACK TO CONSPIRACIES' HOMEPAGE

Debunking 9/11 Conspiracy Theories Evidence against Controlled Demolition and its most widely held myths.

Journal of Debunking 9/11 Conspiracy Theories - free online publication dedicated to educating the public on the collapse of the three World Trade Center structures on September 11 2001.

9-11 Loose Change Second Edition Viewer Guide debunking of Loose Change and 9/11 conspiracy theories by Mark Roberts.

911 Conspiracy Wars at Google Video - comedic documentary by Abby Scott and Ray Rivero on 9/11 conspiracy theorists who protest at Ground Zero.

911 Myths - articles by UK software developer and freelance writer Mike Williams on a wide range of 9/11 conspiracy theories.

Alternet - When 9/11 Conspiracy Theories Go Bad - critical article on 9/11 conspiracy theories by David Corn.

Anti-Defamation League - Unraveling anti-semitic 9/11 conspiracy theories

Democracy Now! - The New Pearl Harbor - debate between David Ray Griffin and Chip Berlet.

eSkeptic Newsletter - 9/11 Conspiracy Theories - article debunking several 9/11 conspiracy theories by Phil Molé.

Facts about 9/11. Not Fantasy.

Filibuster cartoons - The Truth About 911 - editorial cartoon mocking 9/11 conspiracy theories.

Internet Detectives - Loose Change - point by point debunking of Loose Change.

Left SanePeople

Mike J. Wilson's 9/11 Report - computer animation of Flight 77's crash in the Pentagon.

National Review Online - 9/11 Denial - article on Thierry Meyssan's L'Effroyable Imposture by James S. Robbins, a national security analyst & NRO contributor.

New York Magazine - The Ground Zero Grassy Knoll - critical article on 9/11 conspiracy theories by Mark Jacobson.

Pointless waste of time - Did the U.S. government plan and execute the 9/11 attacks? - satirical article on Loose Change and 9/11 conspiracy theories.

Popular Mechanics - Debunking The 9/11 Myths - examines the evidence and consults the experts to refute the most persistent conspiracy theories of September 11.

Scientific American - 9/11 has generated the mother of all conspiracy theories - article skeptical of 9/11 conspiracy theories by Michael Shermer.

Screw Loose Change blog - blog covering 9/11 conspiracy theories and 9/11 Truth Movement by James B. and Pat.

Screw Loose Change video - counter-video of Loose Change 2nd Edition by Mark Iradian.

Snopes.com - Hunt the Boeing! - debunks the claims of the Hunt the Boeing! website.

The Best Page in the Universe - There is no 9/11 conspiracy you morons. - argument against 9/11 conspiracy theories by popular Internet humorist Maddox.

The Nation - The 9/11 X-Files - critical article on 9/11 conspiracy theories by David Corn. Focuses on Michael Ruppert and Delmart Vreeland.

Time - Setting the Record Straight - debunking of several 9/11 conspiracy theories by Coco Masters.

Why the 9/11 Conspiracy Theories Won't Go Away - critical article about 9/11 conspiracy theories by Lev Grossman

EVIDENCE AND AFTERMATH - A study of the primary source evidence against conspiracy.

U.S. Department of State - How to Identify Misinformation

U.S. Department of State - September 11 Conspiracy Theories - links to refutations of various 9/11 conspiracy theories.

WhatDIDN'Treallyhappen.com - strong focus on refuting Michael Ruppert's timeline.

Project 911 focuses on the facts, not theories of 911

U.S. Gov Web Page

911blogger. 911Blogger.com. Retrieved on 2006-07-30. Latest news and research

American-Freedom.org. Retrieved on 2006-07-30. News, research, information, blog, links, and a vast video library

Totally Fixed and Rigged Magazine. TotallyFixed.blogspot.com. Retrieved on 2006-12-15.

BACK TO CONSPIRACIES' HOMEPAGE

Critiques of 9/1Media Coverage

Videos

The Oil Factor: Behind The war on Terror at Google Video

WTC Tower 7 Collapse at Google Video

911 Videos on Truthhub.com

911 - Steven Jones on 911 Evidence at Google Video: L.A. Conference, Alex Jones, 2006-06-24.

Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime at Google Video

Secret of 9/11 at Google Video

List of Online Videos

9/11 The Myth and the Reality: Dr. David Ray Griffin at Google Video: two speeches given by philosopher and theologist Dr. David Ry Griffin at The Commonwealth Club in San Francisco (4/3/06) and at The Grand Lake Theater in Oakland (3/30/06).

High Resolution (700 MB) 911 Mysteries Video - Downloadable

Interview with Gore Vidal by Alex Jones, Infowars, October 29, 2006 Texas Book Festival at Google Video: Gore Vidal speaks very critically about today's US government, 9/11 official account, US media.

*JFK and 9/11 - Insights Gained From Studying Both at Google Video - In his wide-ranging talk, Peter Dale Scott points out similarities that arise when you look at the assassination of JFK and the all events of 9/11. (COPA meeting in Dallas, Texas, November 18 2006)

911 Mysteries, Documentry at Google Video

Final report of the "National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States" (9-11 Commission), chaired by Thomas H. Kean

Kean Report

Cynthia McKinney's July 2005 Congressional Briefing on 9/11

McKinney Briefing

June 1, 2001, directive from the Joint Chiefs of Staff changing rules on intercepting hijacked planes

Joint Chiefs Directive

Conspiracy theories

Presentations of various conspiracy theories

Mainstream news organizations

Conspiracy Theories. CBC Television. Retrieved onn 2006-07-30.

9/11 conspiracy theorists energized Five years later, purveyors claim academic momentum CNN.com. Retrieved onn 2006-07-30

Gerrick Lewis. 'United 93' raises many questions. The Lantern.

Lev Grossman. Why The 9/11 Conspiracies Won't Go Away. Time magazine. Retrieved on 20066-09-12

9-11 Research: An Attempt to Uncover the Truth About September 11th, 2001 (WTC 7)). Retrieved on 2006-07-30.

9-11 Review: A Resource for Understanding the 9/11/01 Attack. Retrieved on 2006-11-25.

Alex Jones Infowars. Retrieved on 2006-07-30.

9/11 Truth Movement Forum. Retrieved on 2006-07-30

Former Top German Minister Rejects Official Story Of 911 Attacks. www.ratical.org

. Retrieved on 2006-07-30.

The "Patriots and 9/11" Trapp. Retrieved on 2006-12-28.

9/11 an Inside Job by H. Titan, Ph. D..  Retrieved on 2006-07-30.

Information on 9/11 Wargames oilempire.us.  Retrieved on 20066-07-30.

Scholars for 9/11 Truth. v 20066-07-30.

9/11 Mysteries The show went to Hollywood!. v 20066-. Movie on 9/11 questions

The WTC Conspiracyy Telepolis. v 2006--. (German)

Loose Changee. Retrieved on 2006-. Film questioning the official account

The 9/11 Conspiracy: A Skeptic's View by Ernest Partridge. The Crisis Papers, commondreams.org  Retrieved on 2006-07-30. Article sympathetic to LIHOP theories but skeptical of MIHOP theories

Picking Up Where Partridge Leaves Off: Conspiracy theorists Address a 9/11 Skeptic by Victoria Ashley and Jim Hoffmann.  Retrieved on 2006-. Pro MIHOP rebuttle to above article

Physics911.nett. Retrieved on 2006-09-11.

9/11 Conspiracy & Truth Movement News.

Sifting Through Loose Change The 9-11 Research Companion to LOOSE CHANGE 2ND EDITION.

BACK TO CONSPIRACIES' HOMEPAGEE

Flight 93

How Did United Flight 93 Crash?. flight93crash.com. Retrieved on 2006-07-30.

Flight 93 Ordered Shot Down. dcdave.com. Retrieved on 2006-07-30.

Problems With the ASCE Report On The Pentagon Cast Further Doubt on 757 Account. bedoper.com. Retrieved on 2006-07-30.  

Scientific reports by structural engineers regarding the collapse of WTC 7 are still pending .

Bush, George Walker (November 10 2001). Remarks by the President To United Nations General Assembly. White House.

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Federal Building and Fire Safety Investigation of the World Trade Center Disaster: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions. NIST.

The Top September 11 Conspiracy Theories. Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State (28 August, 2006).

Strategy for Winning the War on Terror. White House (September 2006).

Half of New Yorkers Believe US Leaders Had Foreknowledge of Impending 9-11 Attacks and “Consciously Failed” To Act; 66% Call For New Probe of Unanswered Questions by Congress or New York’s Attorney General, New Zogby International Poll Reveals. Zogby (2004).

Third of Americans suspect 9-11 government conspiracy. Scripps News (2006).

Scripps News Polls, Question/VAR 26.

A word about our poll of American thinking toward the 9/11 terrorist attacks (May 24, 2006).

One in 5 Canadians sees 9/11 as U.S. plot: poll. Reuters (September 11, 2006).

Americans Question Bush on 9/11 Intelligence. Angus Reid Global Monitor (October 14, 2006).

Wolf, Jim. "U.S rebuts 9/11 homegrown conspiracy theories", Reuters, September 2, 2006.

[1]

Grossman, Lev. "Why The 9/11 Conspiracies Won't Go Away", Time Magazine, September 3, 2006.

Error on call to Template:cite web: Parameters url and title must be specified.

Meigs, James. "The Conspiracy Industry", Popular Mechanics, October 13, 2006.

"World remembers 9/11 five years on", Al Jazeera.

"http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1550477.cms", Times of India.

"Bin Laden claims responsibility for 9/11", CBC (Canada).

America's Day of Terror", BBC.

Depuis le 11-Septembre, la menace terroriste est devenue permanente", Le Monde.

Sept. 11: One Year Later", Deutsche Welle.

"Bin Laden tape shown days before 9/11 anniversary", ABC.

"Korean's Memories of 9/11 Still Fresh Five Years On", The Chosun Ilbo.

Sales, Nancy Jo. "Click Here For Conspiracy", Vanity Fair July 9, 2006 [2]

Eggen, Dan. "9/11 Panel Suspected Deception by Pentagon", Washington Post, Wednesday, August 2, 2006, page A03.[3]

Sales, Nancy Jo. "Click Here For Conspiracy", Vanity Fair July 9, 2006 [4]

This document is available in its entirety online.[5]

Bush Sought ‘Way’ To Invade Iraq?. CBS News (January 2004).

The document recommending Operation Northwoods can be downloaded from the National Security Archive of the George Washington University at http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/news/20010430/.

Error on call to Template:cite web: Parameters url and title must be specifiedDavid Ruppe. . ABC News url= http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=92662.

Meacher, Michael (2003). This war on terrorism is bogus. The Guardian Unlimited - Comment. Guardian Newspapers Limited. Retrieved on 2006-06-11.

Interview with David Schippers. Alex Jones Infowars.com. Retrieved on 2006-05-02.

Crogan, Jim (2002). Another FBI Agent Blows the Whistle. LA Weekly News. LA Weekly, LP. Retrieved on 2006-06-11.

Grigg, William Norman (2002). Did We Know What Was Coming?. The New American magazine. American Opinion Publishing Incorporated. Retrieved on 2006-06-11.

[6]

[7]

The Associated Press (2005). More remember Atta ID’d as terrorist pre-9/11. MSNBC News - US Security. MSNBC.com. Retrieved on 2006-06-11.

Kirk, Michael; Jim Gilmore (2002). The Man Who Knew. Transcript of Frontline program #2103. WGBH Educational Foundation. Retrieved on 2006-06-11.

Willie Brown got low-key early warning about air travel. Matier and Ross. San Francisco Chronicle (2001). Retrieved on 2006-06-11.

http://www.liberalconspiracy.com/911FAQ.htm

[8]

BACK TO CONSPIRACIES' HOMEPAGE

http://cnnstudentnews.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/09/24/gen.europe.shortselling/

http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/09/23/woil23.xml

http://www.9-11commission.gov/hearings/hearing1/witness_kleinberg.htm

page 51 of the Commission Report, PDF

http://911research.wtc7.net/sept11/stockputs.html

http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/12_06_01_death_profits_pt1.html

Bazant, Zdenek P. and Mathieu Verdure. "Mechanics of Progressive Collapse: Learning from World Trade Center and Building Demolitions" in Journal of Engineering Mechanics ASCE, in press. PDF[9]

^{a b} Answers to Frequently Asked Questions. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Federal Building and Fire Safety Investigation of the World Trade Center Disaster (August 30, 2006).

See Michael Ruppert's, "The Kennedys, Physical Evidence, and 9/11", From the Wilderness, 2003.[10]

Plague Puppy, 9/11 Research

Dr. Steven E. Jones (2006, September). Why Indeed Did the World Trade Center Buildings Completely Collapse. Journal of 9/11 Studies, Vol. 3.

Diesel suspected in 7 WTC collapse. New York Times News Service (November 29, 2001).

Frank Legge (Ph D) (November 2006). 9/11 – Acceleration Close to Free Fall (pdf) 1,Volume 5. Journal of 9/11 Studies. Retrieved on 2006-12-03. “The observed acceleration, 9.06 m/s2, if maintained, would bring the roof to the ground in 6.2 seconds, very close to free fall in a vacuum, 6.0 seconds. There is no sign of the slow start that would be expected if collapse was caused by the gradual softening of the steel.”

FEMA report re WTC7, page 5-23.

Controlled Demolition Team. (2002). Beirut Hilton implosion (mpg). Beirut: Controlled Demolition, Inc.

Larry Silverstein on PBS Documentary (video) (2002, September).

http://usinfo.state.gov/media/Archive/2005/Sep/16-241966.html

Popular Mechanics. Debunking 9/11 Myths: Why Conspiracy Theories Can't Stand up to the Facts

"CIA office near World Trade Center destroyed in attacks", CNN.com

Foreknowledge of WTC 7's Collapse

SCHOLARS: ON ITS FIRST ANNIVERSARY

Testing the Hypothesis that Mini-Nukes Were Used on the WTC Towers

Theories that Nuclear Weapons Destroyed the Twin Towers

Jones, Steven. "My Response to 'An Open Letter'".[11]

DoD News: Secretary Rumsfeld Interview with Parada Magazine. Parade Magazine (republished by Defense Department) (October 12, 2001).

Hunt the Boeing! And test your perceptions!

Our Presentation from the American Scholars Symposium. Louder Then Words. - forward to 43 minute and 06 seconds for Bob Pugh's footage of The Pentagon minutes after the attack

FOIA request. Judicial Watch.

Defense Department Releases Two Videos of Flight 77 Crashing Into Pentagon. Judicial Watch.

CITGO Gas Station Cameras Near Pentagon Evidently Did Not Capture Attack

FBI Releases New Footage of 9/11 Pentagon Attack. KWTX News (December 5, 2006).

Flight77.info's FOIA Release: Doubletree Hotel 9/11. Flight77.info/ YouTube.

Doubletree Hotel security video. debunk911myths.org.

Doubletree Hotel Crystal City-National Airport. Doubletree Hotels.

Killtown's: Did Flight 77 really crash into the Pentagon?.

Loose Change, 2nd Edition. Louder Than Words.

"Conspiracy film rewrites Sept. 11", USA Today, April 29, 2006.

http://www.911research.wtc7.net/essays/pentagon/index.html [Jim Hoffman - The Pentagon Attack: What the Physical Evidence Shows]

Pentagon missile hoax: the "no Boeing" theories discredit 9/11 skepticism and distract from proven evidence of complicity

Evidence That A Boeing 757 Really Did Impact the Pentagon on 9/11

BACK TO CONSPIRACIES' HOMEPAGE

911 Myths - Pentagon

Hunt the Boeing! at the Urban Legends Reference Pages

"Extensive Casualties' in Wake of Pentagon Attack", The Washington Post, September 11, 2001.

Sheridan, Mary Beth. "Loud Boom, Then Flames In Hallways", The Washington Post, September 12, 2001.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0109/11/bn.32.html

Pentagon - Witness accounts

 Analysis of Eyewitness Statements on 9/11 American Airlines Flight 77 Crash into the Pentagon

"New simulation shows 9/11 plane crash with scientific detail", website of Purdue University

Amics21, Flight 175, Too Hot to Handle

La Vanguardia newspaper, Analysis of the Images of 9/11

Pod People hijack the 9/11 truth movement

ERROR: 'A Pod Was Attached to the South Tower Plane'

Analysis of Flight 175 "Pod" and related claims

[12]

[13]

Popular Mechanics, Debunking the 9/11 Myths

911 In Plane Site, Debunking the Debunkers

911 In Plane Site, Debunking the Debunkers

The "flash"

[14]

ERROR: 'The South Tower Impact Involved Missiles and/or Explosives'

Popular Mechanics, Debunking the 9/11 Myths

^{a b} Evidence Indicates Flight 93 Was Shot Down

[15]

Kim, Won-Young and Gerald R. Baum. Seismic Observations during September 11, 2001, Terrorist Attack (pdf). Retrieved on 11 April, 2006.

[16]

[17]

[18]

flight93crash.com

The Crash of Flight 93

Context of '(Before 10:06 a.m.)'

Context of '(Before and After 10:06 a.m.)'

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25]

ERROR: 'Flight 93 Didn't Crash in Shanskville, PA'

[26]

web Archive of story

[27]

[28]

[29]

[30]

^{a b} Moussaoui Trial Exhibit #P200055. U.S.D.C. Eastern District of Virginia.

[31]

United 93 Flight Path Study. NTSB.

Pennsylvania Highest Named Summits. americasroof.com. Retrieved on 2006-10-29.

http://911research.wtc7.net/planes/defense/wargames.html

http://inn.globalfreepress.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=387

Agency planned exercise on Sept. 11 built around a plane crashing into a building. Associated Press.

http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline/main/essayaninterestingday.html

Achenbach, Joel. "On 9/11, a Telling Seven-Minute Silence." Washington Post, Saturday, June 19, 2004, Page C01. [32]

BACK TO CONSPIRACIES' HOMEPAGE

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/12/20011204-17.html

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/01/20020105-3.html

altrow, S. (2004) "Day of Crisis: Detailed Picture of U.S. Actions on Sept. 11 Remains Elusive." Wall Street Journal March 22

"9/11 Cover-up Two-Page Summary" WantToKnow.info

"The Coverup", 911review.com

"9/11 Commission: The official coverup guide", 911truth.org

CNN.com

CBS News

FOX News

Time.com

CNN.com

MSNBC

9/11: Missing Black Boxes in World Trade Center Attacks Found by Firefighters, Analyzed by NTSB, Concealed by FBI. A CounterPunch Special Report - Did the Bush Administration Lie to Congress and the 9/11 Commission?. CounterPunch (2005-12-19). Retrieved on 2006-10-07.

[36]

[37]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_economic_effects_arising_from_the_September_11%2C_2001_attacks

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1559151.stm

[38]

http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,265160-2,00.html

[39]

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=94438

[40]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/09/23/widen23.xml

http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,265160-2,00.html

http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline/2001/ap092001b.html

http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline/2001/coxnews102101.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1559151.stm

http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,265160-2,00.html

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200202/06/eng20020206_90055.shtml

9/11 conspiracy theory, BBC News Online - The Editors

http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO402A.html

http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/911_reichstag.html

http://www.newamericancentury.org/RebuildingAmericasDefenses.pdf

http://www.oilempire.us/911.html

http://911review.com/motive/index.html

http://www.panynj.gov/pr/pressrelease.php3?id=80

BACK TO CONSPIRACIES' HOMEPAGE

www.jewsdidwtc.com "Unraveling Anti-Semitic 9/11 Conspiracy Theories." New York: Anti-Defamation League,  http://www.adl.org/anti_semitism/9-11conspiracytheories.pdf p. 1

Muslim-Jewish-Christian Alliance for 9/11 Truth

"No Planes and No Gas Chambers"

Holocaust Denial Versus 9/11 Truth

http://www.thejewishweek.com/bottom/specialcontent.php3?artid=362

http://www.jcpa.org/phas/phas-13.htm

http://usinfo.state.gov/media/Archive/2005/Jan/14-260933.html

Cashman, Greer Fay. "Five Israeli victims remembered in capital", The Jerusalem Post, The Jerusalem Post, 2002-09-12, p. 3. Retrieved on 2006-10-17.

http://www.ujc.org/content_display.html?ArticleID=15820

Haaretz.com – 5 Israelis detained for `puzzling behavior' after WTC tragedy http://www.fpp.co.uk/online/01/12/WTC_Mysteries3.html

web.archive.org – "The White Van"

Sanders, Doug. "U.S. arrests of Israelis a mystery." The Globe and Mail, Dec. 17., 2001.

http://portal.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/09/16/wcia16.xml

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/9/9/111622.shtml

http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110002217

Gumbel, Andrew. "Scientology vs. Science", Los Angeles CityBeat, Southland Publishing, 2006-01-12. Retrieved on 2006-06-08.

http://www.canadafreepress.com/2005/cover071105.htm

11.September - an innsidde jobb?, Norwegian edition of Le Monde diplomatique, July 2006. See also English translation: Kim Bredesen, Was 9/11 an inside job? and other links

(French) Pour le Monde diplomatique norvégien, le 11 septembre est un complot intérieur US, Voltaire Network * (Spanish) El 11 de septiembre fue un complot interno estadounidense, estima la prensa noruega

(English) Distractions from awful reality - US: the conspiracy that wasn’t, by Alexander Cockburn in Le Monde diplomatique, December 2006 *(French)Scepticisme ou occultisme? Le complot du 11-Septembre n’aura pas lieu, by Alexander Cockburn in Le Monde diplomatique, December 2006 *Template:Ir icon Iranian translation *(Portuguese) PODERES IMAGINÁRIOS - A "conspiração" das Torres Gêmeas

Debunking the Myths of 9/11, by Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair, CounterPunch, November 28, 2006

Grossman, Lev. (2006) Time.com – Why The 9/11 Conspiracies Won't Go Away

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2006/09/08/ftterror08.xml&page=4

Walch, Tad (2006). Controversy dogs Y.'s Jones. Utah news. Deseret News Publishing Company. Retrieved on 2006-09-09.

Shermer, Michael (2005). Fahrenheit 2777. Skeptic. Scientific American, Inc.. Retrieved on 2006-10-13.

 ^{a b} Rothschild, Matthew. "Enough conspiracy theories, already", The Progressive, October 1, 2006.

 Laucius, Joanne. "The coincidental cash value of conspiracy theories: Theorists 'make the unexplainable explainable' and, in the case of works like The Da Vinci Code, make a fair bit of money", Ottawa Citizen, November 26, 2004.

Shermer, Michael (June, 2005). Fahrenheit 2777, 9/11 has generated the mother of all conspiracy theories. Scientific American.

Debunking The 9/11 Myths - Mar. 2005 Cover Story. Popular Mechanics (March, 2005).

Carroll, Robert Todd (March 30, 2006). Mass Media Bunk - 9/11 conspiracies: the war on critical thinking. The Skeptic's Dictionary.

Bollyn, Christopher (March 4, 2005). 9/11 and Chertoff. Associated Free Press.

Sullivan, Will (September 3, 2006). Viewing 9/11 From a Grassy Knoll. Us News.

Debunking The 9/11 Myths blog. Popular Mechanics.

Cziesche, Dominik, Jürgen Dahlkamp, Ulrich Fichtner, Ulrich Jaeger, Gunther Latsch, Gisela Leske, and Max F. Ruppert (September 8, 2003). Panoply of the Absurd. Der Spiegel.

Grossman, Lev. "Why The 9/11 Conspiracies Won't Go Away", Time Magazine, September 3, 2006.

Bilderberg Group—A well-known informal, international, annual meeting of influential people that some critics allege have a sinister purpose. Its name is that of the hotel in the Netherlands where the group first met in 1954.

Council on Foreign Relations—Conspiracy theories surrounding the membership of this foreign policy think tank.

Elders of Zion—A supposed conspiratorial group bent on Jewish global domination, as portrayed by the forged document, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

BACK TO CONSPIRACIES' HOMEPAGE

Freemasons.

New World Order

The Gemstone File—Details a wide ranging conspiracy involving Aristotle Onassis, the CIA, FBI, and the Mafia in addition to John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Ted Kennedy, Richard Nixon, the Washington Post, San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto, Howard Hughes, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Watergate conspirators.

The Illuminati—Thought of as a secret group attempting to control the world.

Korean Air Flight KAL-007.

Priory of Sion—Various different theories.

Reptilian humanoids—According to David Icke, a group of reptilian humanoids called the Babylonian Brotherhood control a secret world government. Icke has accused many prominent politicians and celebrities of being such creatures, including George W. Bush, Queen Elizabeth II, and Kris Kristofferson.

SARS conspiracy theory—Suggests that the SARS virus could be developed artificially.

Trilateral Commission—Theories concerning the motives of this group.

United Nations—Theories regarding the UN and its various Secretaries General.

Vril Society Conspiracy which suggests that a secret form of energy, called Vril is used and controlled by a secret, subteranean society of matriarchal, socialist utopian superior beings.^[1]

Lusitania & Pearl Harbor – According to some theories these incidents were deliberately inflicted in order to draw the United States into WWI and WWII.

AIDS conspiracy theories—Some people believe that the CIA created the AIDS epidemic and deliberately administered it to blacks, and gays through tainted hepatitis vaccinations in the 1970s. Another theory posits that HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, was invented by either white scientists in the World Health Organization (WHO), or by "The Jews", as a way to kill African Americans and destroy the black race. This latter view is heard most often among groups such as the New Black Panther Party and Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam. Still more theorists claim that HIV does not exist, does not cause AIDS, or that persons who test HIV positive can take certain nutritional supplements (or other forms of alternative medicine) and eventually test HIV negative. See AIDS Reconsideration for more information on the topic.

Apollo moon landing hoax accusations-Proponents of this theory claim that all of the Apollo moon landings never happened and were "staged" in a Hollywood movie studio.

Area 51—Various theories surround the activity of this secretive military base, including the theory that it contains hidden alien spacecrafts and/or bodies.

Assassination—Conspiracy theories of varying popularity surround the deaths, disappearances, assassination attempts and attacks on, several prominent figures including:

Barcodes

Some conspiracy theorists have proposed that barcodes are really intended to serve as means of control by a putative world government, or that they are Satanic in intent. Mary Stewart Relfe claims in The New Money System 666 (1982) that barcodes secretly encode the number 666 - the Biblical "Number of the Beast". This theory has been adopted by other fringe figures such as the "oracle" Sollog, who refuses to label any of his books with barcodes on the grounds that "any type of computer numbering systems MANDATED by any government or business is part of the PROPHECY of the BEAST controlling you."

Apocalyptic Conspiracy Theories

Apocalyptic prophecies

Lightbulb conspiracy

The Phoebus cartel set up in 1924 certainly seems to have stopped competition in the light bulb industry for some years, and has been accused of preventing technological advances that would have produced longer-lasting light bulbs. [2] However, the Phoebus cartel also features in Thomas Pynchon's fictional Gravity's Rainbow, which has led some to blur fact and fiction.

Tesla and "free energy"

Nikola Tesla has been the object of several conspiracy theories, with claims relating to revolutionary energy generation and distribution technologies which may or may not have been utilised by 'HAARP', an American military-funded research program. Similarly, there are claims that Wilhelm Reich's 'orgone energy' was suppressed by the establishment.

Suppressed automotive technology

A typical suppressed invention story is that of the incredibly efficient automobile carburetor, whose inventor was supposedly killed or hounded into obscurity by petroleum companies desirous to protect their business from an engine that would make their product obsolete. It has been claimed that the Elsbett diesel engine running on plant oil had to put up against unfair competition practices.

BACK TO CONSPIRACIES' HOMEPAGE

Suppressed technologies

Suppressed inventions take conspiracy theory more into the realm of business, rather than strict politics for instance.

Drug legalization

Activists and spokespersons for legalization of drugs (especially marijuana) have long espoused a theory that government and private industry conspired during the first half of the 20th Century to outlaw hemp, allegedly so that it would no longer provide inexpensive competition to pulp paper and synthetic materials. ^[20]. William Randolph Hearst is often pointed to as one of the businessmen responsible because of his involvement in the printing industry and his eminence in the public eye.^[20]

Medicine and the FDA

Main article: FDA conspiracy theories

The subject of suppressed-invention conspiracy also touches on the realm of medical quackery: proponents of more unlikely forms of alternative medicine are known to allege conspiracy by mainstream doctors to suppress their cures, particularly when faced with charges of medical fraud. Such conspiracies are often said to include government regulators, to the extent that a legal decision may be relevant. The experience of Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw, who advocate the extensive use of supplements and drugs for life extension, contrary to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommendations, may shed some light. They won a court case arguing that the FDA was preventing them from making medical assertions that were, in fact, well-supported.

Some medical conspiracy theorists argue that the medical community could actually cure supposedly "incurable" diseases such as Cancer and AIDS if it really wanted to, but instead prefers to suppress the cures as a way of extorting more funding from the government and donors, as well as the patients themselves. There are generally higher costs associated with long-term treatment than in a one-time cure. This was given some credibility by a report from the World Aids Council which stated that researchers lack the incentive to create an HIV vaccine.

AIDS conspiracy theories; Some even claim AIDS/HIV to be man-made and mandated by the World Health Organisation

Evil aliens

A somewhat different version of this theory maintains that humanity is actually under the control of shape-shifting alien reptiles, who require periodic ingestion of human blood to maintain their human appearance. David Icke has been a devoted proponent of this theory.^[21] Reportedly the Bush family and the Royal Family are actually such creatures, and Diana, Princess of Wales was aware of this, presumably relating to her death. ^[21]David Icke's theory encompasses many other conspiracy theories, is that humanity is actually under the reptillians with evidence ranging from Sumerian tablets describing the "Anunnaki" (which he translates as "those who from heaven to earth came"), to the serpent in the Biblical Garden of Eden, to child abuse, fluoridation. This theory has been the subject of several books.

Related articles: Alien invasion

BACK TO CONSPIRACIES' HOMEPAGE

Extraterrestrials

Main article: UFO conspiracy theory

A sector of conspiracy theory with a particularly detailed mythology is the extraterrestrial phenomenon, which has become the basis for numerous pieces of popular entertainment —the Area 51/Grey Aliens conspiracy, and allegations surrounding the Dulce Base. Simply put, this is the allegation that the United States government conspires with extraterrestrials involved in the abduction and manipulation of citizens. A variant tells that particular technologies — notably the transistor — were given to American industry in exchange for alien dominance. The enforcers of the clandestine association of human leaders and aliens are the Men in Black, who silence those who speak out on UFO sightings. This conspiracy theory has been the basis of numerous books, as well as the popular television show The X-Files and the movies Men in Black and Men in Black II.

The X-Files based the plots of many of its episodes around urban legends and conspiracy theories, and had a framing plot which postulated a set of interlocking conspiracies controlling all recent human history. A possible ET link to the crop circle phenomenon has been speculated upon.

The PEC

A US government organization known as the PEC (Psionic (Psychic) Energy Commission) has been accused by New Agers of implanting children at birth in England and America with computer chips that suppress their innate psychic powers ^{[citation needed]}. It is unlikely that such an organization actually exists.

Trans-dimensional travel

Main article: Montauk Project

There are claims about secret experiments known as the Montauk Project conducted at Camp Hero, Montauk, New York. Allegedly, the project was developing a powerful psychological war weapon. The project is often connected to other alleged government projects such as the Philadelphia experiment and Project rainbow, both which involved the use of the Unified field theory to cloak vessels. Experiments involving teleportation, time travel, contact with extraterrestrials, and mind control are frequently alleged to have been conducted in the camp^[22]. Preston B. Nichols has authored five books on the subject, including Montauk Project: Experiments in time.

Relevant article: Time travel

Masonic conspiracy theories

Conspiracy theory about the Freemasons goes back at least to the late 18th century. The Masons were accused of plotting the American and French Revolutions, the Jack the Ripper killings, the downfall of religion, and of dominating republican politics. In fact, the historian Georges Lefebvre, generally considered an authoritative source on the subject, concedes that the Masons had a role in organizing the revolution in Paris, but says it is unclear how important their role was. Worry about Masonic conspiracy grew to such an extent in the early United States as to spawn a political party, the Anti-Masonic Party. The Bavarian Illuminati, a German secret society often thought to be related to Masonry, also figures into conspiracy theories of that time. Rosicrucianism and the Priory of Sion are popular topics of conspiracists.

All the Catholic Popes in the last three centuries are subjects of conspiracy theories. Some people believe that Freemasonry was condemned by the Church primarily because of its view that all religions are equal; this view was diametrically opposed to the Catholic belief that it is the only true religion. Since a number of Catholics and Protestants now agree with the Masonic principles condemned by the Church, new theories about the Masons have emerged, such as that they are devil worshippers. Others hold that these views about the origins of conspiracy theories about Masons are themselves conspiracy theories.

BACK TO CONSPIRACIES' HOMEPAGE

Secret societies and fraternities

Secret societies and fraternal societies have aroused nervousness from some non-members since at least the time of the ancient Greeks. A secret society is a club or organization whose members do not disclose their membership, and may be sworn to hold it secret. However, the term is also used in conspiracy theory to refer to fraternal organizations such as the Freemasons or the Skull-and-Bones Society who do not conceal membership, but are thought to harbor secret beliefs or political agendas.

College fraternities such as Yale's Skull and Bones society are also popular suspects among conspiracists. Many men form lifelong friendships with their fraternity "brothers" which some believe often carry on into the political and business world. This particular conspiracy theory was presented in the movies "The Skulls" and "The Good Shepherd".

Assassinations

Assassinations are a classic subject of conspiracy theories. The assassination of a prominent figure is a singular event which can dramatically change the course of public affairs. Those drawn to conspiracy theory are led to ask, in the aftermath of an assassination, Who benefited from this death? Though some assassinations are committed by lone individuals, and many others are overt acts by governments (such as that of Leon Trotsky), and other assassinations are committed as the result of a provable conspiracy, there have been several assassinations whose purposes and evidence remain mysterious in the public eye — and suspicious to most people.

Among the most important assassinations to have ever taken place is the assassination of crown prince of Austria Archduke Francis Ferdinand by a Serbian nationalist called Gavrilo Princip, who had been trained and equipped by a covert group within Serbia agitating for Bosnia and Hercegovina's independence from Austria-Hungary. Soon after the attack, Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia which ultimately triggered World War I.

Best-known among assassination conspiracy theories in the United States are those dealing with a rash of seemingly politically motivated deaths in the 1960s, notably those of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and civil rights leaders Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.

They can also relate to the deaths of people important because they were already famous in popular culture such as Charlotte Coleman, John Lennon and Marilyn Monroe.

Investigations and scientific testing and recreations into the circumstances of John F. Kennedy's death have not settled the question of who killed him. That U.S. public opinion considers this still to be an open issue is suggested by three polls in 2003. An ABC News random telephone poll found that just 32% (plus or minus 3%) of Americans believe that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the assassination of John F. Kennedy, while 68% do not believe Oswald acted alone. [3] The "Discovery Channel" poll (sampling method not given) reveals that only 21% believe Oswald acted alone, while 79% do not believe Oswald acted alone. [4] The "History Channel" poll (self-selected responses) details that only 17% of respondents believe that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the assassination of John F. Kennedy, while 83% do not believe Oswald acted alone. [5] It should, however, be noted that opinion polls of this type are often subject to selection and response biases.

Similar theories have arisen around the murder of Beatle John Lennon and the attempted assassination of U.S. President Ronald Reagan. In recent years, theories about the death of former White House legal counsel Vincent Foster, former Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown, and the circumstances surrounding the death of Diana, Princess of Wales have all made headlines.

Diseases and epidemic

There are conspiracy theories based on the notion that AIDS was a man-made disease (i.e. created by scientists in a laboratory). Some of these theories allege that HIV was created by a conspiratorial group or by a secret agency as a tool of genocide. Other theories suggest that the virus escaped into the population at large by accident, or may have been deliberately unleashed as a means of population control or as an experiment in biological and/or psychological warfare. See: AIDS conspiracy theories.

Some who believe that HIV was a government creation see a precedent for it in the Tuskegee syphilis study, in which government-funded researchers deceptively denied treatment to black patients infected with a sexually transmitted disease.

Espionage agencies

Many governments use intelligence agencies to promote national policies in secretive ways — in several cases including the use of sabotage, propaganda, and assassination. Intelligence agencies, such as the CIA, KGB, MI6,BND and Mossad, are a common element of political conspiracy theories precisely because they are known to participate in some activities similar to those described in conspiracy theories.[6]. Indeed, conspiracy theories about espionage agencies go back at least as far as the 1600s, with allegations the English spymaster Robert Cecil was responsible for the Gunpowder plot of 1605.

Modern conspiracy theories of this sort include many various about forms of mind control and different types of electronic implant called "mind control devices".

BACK TO CONSPIRACIES' HOMEPAGE

Surveillance technologies

Particular technologies of surveillance and control arouse concern that has bordered upon, or crossed over into, conspiracy theory. These are technologies being developed by governments which are intended to intrude into the privacy or harm the persons of citizens, particularly dissenters. Conspiracy theories of this sort cast government agencies as pursuing vast technical powers in order to spy on people, control their minds, or otherwise suppress an alienated populace.

The plausibility of establishing such surveillance capabilities, by technical means or by a widespread network of informants, should perhaps be viewed in the context of events in former Eastern bloc countries, particularly the activities of the East German Stasi before the fall of the Berlin Wall. The various services provided by Google have also been considered to invade people's privacy, thus enabling intelligence agencies to monitor their activities.

War

The motivations for nations starting, entering, or ending wars is often suspect. Wars, after all, are by nature destructive of both people and property, and frequently have thoroughly undesirable consequences for the nations who start them. As with assassinations, the question that is often asked by conspiracists when a war breaks out is "who benefits?"

For decades, a common answer has been "munitions suppliers" — as argued by, e.g., Maj. Gen. Smedley Butler in the 1935 jeremiad "War is a Racket". [7] According to this view, there is always a party within the nation which would benefit from going to war, on whatever pretext: the sellers of weapons and other military material. President Dwight Eisenhower referred to this source of potential conflict of interest as the military-industrial complex. President Abraham Lincoln is known to have made a similar observation near the close of the Civil War.

Related is the allegation that certain wars which are claimed by politicians to be in the national interest, or for humanitarian purposes, are in fact motivated by the conquest and control of natural resources for commercial interest. In 1898's Spanish-American War, the explosion of the USS Maine prompted the US annexation of Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam. Opponents of the war, such as Mark Twain and Andrew Carnegie, claimed that it was being fought for imperialist motives.

In recent times, wars in the Middle East such as the Gulf War and the invasion of Iraq have been described as wars for oil. During the 20th century the United States has also often been accused of plotting foreign coups d'état for commercial interest. In many cases, critics have accused the U.S. of engaging in realpolitik in the cynical sense of political action without regard for principle or morals. A war planned for economic gain can be seen as a conspiracy in the conventional sense of a secret plot — particularly when the public is presented with false pretexts for war.

It has been suggested that war is a perfect way of distracting citizens, as an electoral tactic, from difficulties facing the then current administration. This premise is the basis of the film Wag the Dog.

Any of the other frequently-alleged conspiratorial groups described above; secret societies, "The Jews", etc, have also been alleged as the mastermind behind wars. For instance, Adolf Hitler repeatedly claimed in speeches that the "international finance Jews" were responsible for World War I.

Technology and population control

Unusual technical projects such as HAARP and chemtrail theory are in this category.

Conspiracy theories pertaining to the death of Diana, Princess of Wales

Polls continue to suggest that around a quarter of the UK public, and a majority of people in some Arab countries, believe that there was a plot to murder Diana, Princess of Wales. Motivations which have been advanced for such a conspiracy include suggestions that Diana intended to marry Dodi Al-Fayed, that she intended to convert to Islam, that she was pregnant, and that she was to visit the holy land. Organizations which conspiracy theorists suggest are responsible for her death have included French Intelligence, the British Royal Family, the press, the British Intelligence services MI5 or MI6, the CIA, Mossad, the Freemasons, or the IRA. It has been suggested that the intent of some of the co-conspiritors was not to cause death. Alternatively, Diana and Dodi Al-Fayed are believed to be alive and living incognito. As of December 12, 2006, a public inquiry has concluded that the deaths of both the Princess of Wales and Dodi Al-Fayed was simply 'a tragic accident', with evidence corroborating that the chauffeur of their car was intoxicated on alcohol, and possibly recreational drugs. These conclusions have stipulated that there is 'no evidence of a conspiracy'. The case has not been concluded as further investigation has been employed.

BACK TO CONSPIRACIES' HOMEPAGE

Conspiracy theories pertaining to the 9/11 attacks

See also: 9/11 conspiracy theories.

Many conspiracy theories have been presented concerning the September 11, 2001 attacks, many of them claiming that President George W. Bush and/or individuals in his administration knew about the attacks beforehand and purposefully allowed them to occur because the attacks would generate public support for militarization, expansion of the police state, and other intrusive foreign and domestic policies by which they would benefit.

Proponents point to the Project for the New American Century, a conservative think tank that argues for increased American global leadership, whose former members include ex-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Vice President Dick Cheney and several other key Bush administration figures. An 1990 report from the group stated that "some catastrophic and catalyzing event — like a new Pearl Harbor" would be needed to budge public opinion in their favor. David Ray Griffin, in "The New Pearl Harbor", p. 2004, questions this idea as it relates to the Bush 43 government and September 11 (Vancouver Indymedia article), as does film-maker Alex Jones in "911: the Road to Tyranny" (Internet Archive item).

Proponents of this theory also note Bush’s ties to Saudi Arabia, the nation of origin for 15 of the 19 hijackers, the fact that all but one of the videotapes of the attack on the Pentagon have been confiscated, rumors that several dignitaries were told not to fly that day, and Bush’s initial opposition to a commission to investigate the attacks.

On December 1, 2003, Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean told National Public Radio’s Diane Rehm “The most interesting theory that I've heard so far — which is nothing more than a theory, I can't think — it can't be proved — is that [President Bush] was warned ahead of time [about the 9/11 attacks] by the Saudis.” Although he never stated he believed such a theory, Dean was widely criticized for his comments. Critics accuse him, notably, of spreading disinformation and unfounded conspiracy theories for partisan political purposes.

In response to some of the least creditable theories about the attacks Philip D. Zelikow, the executive director of the 9/11 Commission said that "One reason you tend to doubt conspiracy theories when you've worked in government is because you know government is not nearly competent enough to carry off elaborate theories. It's a banal explanation, but imagine how efficient it would need to be." [8]
This response does not, however, acknowledge the theorized global government.

The BBC News website posted two stories, stating that some of the alleged hijackers are still alive. Link here and here Although BBC sources later recanted such claims, some suspect this is due to government cover-up.[9]

Conspiracy theories pertaining to the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami & Pakistan Earthquake

Tsunamis are caused by earthquakes under the sea but some people think the U.S. and Indian militaries deliberately caused the Indian Ocean tsunamis with electromagnetic pulse technology. This conspiracy theory is mostly expressed by popular Arab news services.[10] The natural disaster dominated news agendas around the world for about a fortnight, effectively causing a news blackout of all other stories. Another type of theory bases its claims on oil and gas interests. [11]Others also reason that the technology is at least feasible if not highly probable since research into such technology has been conducted by the military as far back as World War II. According to declassified files, top-secret "tsunami bomb" experiments utilyzing nuclear explosions to trigger "mini-tidal waves" were conducted off the coast of New Zealand in 1944 and 1945. [12] The U.S. Defense Department had even expressed concern about earthquake-inducing technology in warfare well before the 2004 disaster. In 1997 Defense Secretary William S. Cohen stated, "Others are engaging even in an eco-type of terrorism whereby they can alter the climate, set off earthquakes, volcanoes remotely through the use of electromagnetic waves. So there are plenty of ingenious minds out there that are at work finding ways in which they can wreak terror upon other nations. It's real, and that's the reason why we have to intensify our efforts, and that's why this is so important." [13]

The Vril Society, the Luminous Lodge and the Realization of the Great Work

Katrina's Flights of Fancy

The Third Terrorist : The Middle East Connection to the Oklahoma City Bombing (ISBN 0-7852-6103-6)

Cover Up : What the Government Is Still Hiding About the War on Terror (ISBN 0-06-054355-8)

BACK TO CONSPIRACIES' HOMEPAGE

The Hidden Hand: Middle East Fears of Conspiracy

Egyptians Growing Angry Over Suggestions of Copilot Suicide

US probe of EgyptAir crash: media brands Arab doubts as "wild speculation"

Fury in Egypt over Ghana's Israeli flag waver

Ghana apology for Israel flag-waving

http://www.aaainc.org/press/release.php?pressID=142

http://www.eraren.org/index.php?Page=DergiIcerik&IcerikNo=405

http://www.caucaz.com/home_eng/breve_contenu.php?id=143

http://www.aaainc.org/press/release.php?pressID=142

http://rastafaritimes.com/rasnews/viewnews.cgi?newsid1128744000,9191,.shtml

http://www.swagga.com/rastasymbol.htm

Svetlana Boym, "Conspiracy theories and literary ethics: Umberto Eco, Danilo Kis and The Protocols of Zion,": Comparative Literature, Spring 1999.

A list of independent investigations concerning The Protocols of the Elders of Zion:

1905 Stolypin's investigation

1921 Exposure in The Times

1934-1935 The Berne Trial

United States Congress, Senate. Committee on the Judiciary. Protocols of the Elders of Zion: a fabricated "historic" document. A report prepared by the Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws (Washington, U.S. Govt. Printing Office, 1964)

John Spargo, "The Jew and American Ideals". Harper & Brothers Publishers New York 1921 p. 20-40.

UNISPAL United Nations Economic and Social Council, Dissemination of racist and antisemitic hate material on television programs (Retrieved Sept 2005)

 ^{a b} http://www.illuminati-news.com/marijuana-conspiracy.htm

 ^{a b} http://www.metatech.org/david_icke_and_reptilians.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_conspiracy_theories&action=submit

"Sono quattr' anni che parlo di nazismo islamico, di guerra all' Occidente, di culto della morte, di suicidio dell' Europa. Un' Europa che non è più Europa ma Eurabia e che con la sua mollezza, la sua inerzia, la sua cecità, il suo asservimento al nemico si sta scavando la propria tomba." Oriana Fallaci in Corriere della Sera, 15 September 2006. [1]

Schwartz, Stephen (2002). The Two Faces of Islam: The House of Sa'ud from Tradition to Terror. New York: Doubleday.

Articles pertaining to general conspiracy theories

Conspiracy Documentaries Ten conspiracy documentaries

Prison Planet

InfoWars

Propaganda Matrix

Educate Yourself

The Grey Point

The Vril Society

www.area51central.com

www.rense.com

Conspiracy theory discussion community

Articles pertaining to conspiracy theories involving Jews

Conspiracy Theories About Jews and 9/11 Cause Dangerous Mutations in Global Anti-Semitism

Unraveling Anti-Semitic 9/11 Conspiracy Theories - PDF file

Anti-Semitic shuttle conspiracy theories swamp the Internet

Anti-Semitic groups promote Columbia conspiracy theories

The International Jewish Conspiracy Online (humour)

Articles pertaining to Arab and Muslim conspiracy theories

Examples of Arab conspiracy theories

"NIGERIA: Muslim suspicion of polio vaccine lingers on"

"Nigeria's Muslim clerics fear polio vaccine"

Articles pertaining to the Princess Diana conspiracy theories

Diana Conspiracy Theory (BBC News) (dead link)

Report dispells Diana theories' (BBC News)

Was there a conspiracy to kill Diana? (TIME Europe magazine)

Plot to murder Princess Diana (News-Star)

Examples of common conspiracy theories

Main article: List of conspiracy theories

9/11 conspiracy theories, usually relating the September 11, 2001 attacks to US government officials and their plans for expansion of militarism and the police state.

The New World Order, a conspiracy theory in which a powerful and secretive group plans to or does in fact rule the world through a one-world government.

John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories, claiming the direct involvement of the US government in the assassination.

Jewish or Zionist global domination conspiracy theories, perhaps the oldest common type of conspiracy theories, most notable of which is the Elders of Zion anti-Semitic conspiracy theory (which is based on a fabricated document^[4]).

The Apollo Moon-Landing Hoax Theory suggests that some or all elements of the Apollo missions were faked by NASA.

Because conspiracy theories lack readily verifiable evidence, they are not taken seriously by most people. This raises the question of what mechanisms might exist in popular culture that lead to their invention and subsequent uptake. In pursuit of answers to that question, conspiracy theory has become a topic of interest for sociologists, psychologists and experts in folklore since at least the 1960s, when the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy eventually provoked an unprecedented public response directed against the official version of the case as expounded in the Report of the Warren Commission.

A world view that centrally places conspiracy theories in the unfolding of history is sometimes termed conspiracism. The historian Richard Hofstadter addressed the role of paranoia and conspiracism throughout American history in his essay The Paranoid Style in American Politics, published in 1964. The term conspiracism was popularized by academic Frank P. Mintz in the 1980s. Academic work in conspiracy theories and conspiracism presents a range of hypotheses as a basis of studying the genre. Among the leading scholars of conspiracism are: Hofstadter, Karl Popper, Michael Barkun, Robert Alan Goldberg, Daniel Pipes, Mark Fenster, Mintz, Carl Sagan, George Johnson, and Gerald Posner.

According to Mintz, conspiracism denotes: "belief in the primacy of conspiracies in the unfolding of history":^[5]

"Conspiracism serves the needs of diverse political and social groups in America and elsewhere. It identifies elites, blames them for economic and social catastrophes, and assumes that things will be better once popular action can remove them from positions of power. As such, conspiracy theories do not typify a particular epoch or ideology".^[6]

Throughout human history, political and economic leaders genuinely have been the cause of enormous amounts of death and misery, and they sometimes have engaged in conspiracies while at the same time promoting conspiracy theories about their targets. Hitler and Stalin would be merely the most prominent examples; there have been numerous others.^[7] In some cases there have been claims dismissed as conspiracy theories that later proved to have some basis in facts.^[8][9] But the idea that history itself is controlled by large long-standing conspiracies is inaccurate. As historian Bruce Cumings has put it:

"But if conspiracies exist, they rarely move history; they make a difference at the margins from time to time, but with the unforeseen consequences of a logic outside the control of their authors: and this is what is wrong with 'conspiracy theory.' History is moved by the broad forces and large structures of human collectivities."^[10]

The term conspiracism is used in the work of Michael Kelly, Chip Berlet, and Matthew N. Lyons.

According to Berlet and Lyons, "Conspiracism is a particular narrative form of scapegoating that frames demonized enemies as part of a vast insidious plot against the common good, while it valorizes the scapegoater as a hero for sounding the alarm".^[11]

General arguments against conspiracism

Humans naturally respond to events or situations which have had an emotional impact upon them by trying to make sense of those events, typically in spiritual, moral, political, or scientific terms.

Events which seem to resist such interpretation—for example, because they are, in fact, unexplainable—may provoke the inquirer to look harder for a meaning, until one is reached that is capable of offering the inquirer the required emotional satisfaction.

At other times, the unfolding of complex sequences of events such as political phenomena are explainable, but not in simple terms. Conspiracy theories are often preferred by individuals as a way to understand what is happening around them without having to grasp the complexities of history and political interaction.

As sociological historian Holger Herwig found in studying German explanations for the origins of World War I:

Those events that are most important are hardest to understand, because they attract the greatest attention from myth makers and charlatans.

This normal process could be diverted by a number of influences. At the level of the individual, pressing psychological needs may influence the process, and certain of our universal mental tools may impose epistemic 'blind spots'. At the group or sociological level, historic factors may make the process of assigning satisfactory meanings more or less problematic.

Alternatively, conspiracy theories may arise when evidence available in the public record does not correspond with the common or official version of events. In this regard, conspiracy theories may sometimes serve to highlight 'blind spots' in the common or official interpretations of events.(Fenster, 1999)

Psychological origins

According to some psychologists, a person who believes in one conspiracy theory is often a believer in other conspiracy theories and conversely for a person who does not believe in one conspiracy theory there is a lower probability that he, or she, will believe in another one.^[12] This may be attributable to differences in the information upon which parties rely in formulating their conclusions. Thus, a person who believes in a particular conspiracy theory may do so because of awareness of information, such as that a certain political leader was a member of an enigmatic secret society, of which some who disbelieve the conspiracy theory may not be aware. In turn, awareness of such information may be correlated with awareness of other information which increases the likelihood that one will believe in other conspiracy theories. Conversely, the lack of awareness of such information may be correlated with the lack of awareness of other information which decreases the likelihood that one will believe in other conspiracy theories. ^{[citation needed]}

Psychologists believe that the search for meaningfulness features largely in conspiracism and the development of conspiracy theories. That desire alone may be powerful enough to lead to the initial formulation of the idea^{[citation needed]}. Once cognized, confirmation bias and avoidance of cognitive dissonance may reinforce the belief. In a context where a conspiracy theory has become popular within a social group, communal reinforcement may equally play a part.

Some research recently carried out at the University of Kent, UK suggests that people may actually be influenced by conspiracy theories without being aware that their attitudes have changed. After reading popular conspiracy theories about the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, participants in this study correctly estimated how much their peers' attitudes had changed, but significantly underestimated how much their own attitudes had changed to become more in favour of the conspiracy theories. The authors conclude that conspiracy theories may therefore have a 'hidden power' to influence people's beliefs.^[13]

Evolutionary psychology may also play a significant role. Paranoid tendencies are associated with an animal's ability to recognize danger^{[citation needed]}. Higher animals attempt to construct mental models of the thought processes of both rivals and predators in order to read their hidden intentions and to predict their future behavior. Such an ability is extremely valuable in sensing and avoiding danger in an animal community. If this danger-sensing ability should begin making false predictions, or be triggered by benign evidence, or otherwise become pathological, the result is paranoid delusions.

Projection

Some historians have pointed out the element of psychological projection in conspiracism; that is, the attribution to the supposed "conspirators" of undesirable characteristics of the self. Richard Hofstadter, in his essay The Paranoid Style in American Politics, stated that:...it is hard to resist the conclusion that this enemy is on many counts the projection of the self; both the ideal and the unacceptable aspects of the self are attributed to him. The enemy may be the cosmopolitan intellectual, but the paranoid will outdo him in the apparatus of scholarship... the Ku Klux Klan imitated Catholicism to the point of donning priestly vestments, developing an elaborate ritual and an equally elaborate hierarchy. The John Birch Society emulates Communist cells and quasi-secret operation through "front" groups, and preaches a ruthless prosecution of the ideological war along lines very similar to those it finds in the Communist enemy. Spokesmen of the various fundamentalist anti-Communist "crusades" openly express their admiration for the dedication and discipline the Communist cause calls forth.

Hofstadter also noted that "sexual freedom" is a vice frequently attributed to the conspiracist's target group, noting that "very often the fantasies of true believers reveal strong sadomasochistic outlets, vividly expressed, for example, in the delight of anti-Masons with the cruelty of Masonic punishments."^[14]

Epistemic bias?

It is possible that certain basic human epistemic biases are projected onto the material under scrutiny. According to one study humans apply a 'rule of thumb' by which we expect a significant event to have a significant cause.^[15] The study offered subjects four versions of events, in which a foreign president was (a) successfully assassinated, (b) wounded but survived, (c) survived with wounds but died of a heart attack at a later date, and (d) was unharmed. Subjects were significantly more likely to suspect conspiracy in the case of the 'major events'—in which the president died—than in the other cases, despite all other evidence available to them being equal.

Another epistemic 'rule of thumb' that can be misapplied to a mystery involving other humans is cui bono? (who stands to gain?). This sensitivity to the hidden motives of other people might be either an evolved or an encultured feature of human consciousness, but either way it appears to be universal. If the inquirer lacks access to the relevant facts of the case, or if there are structural interests rather than personal motives involved, this method of inquiry will tend to produce a falsely conspiratorial account of an impersonal event^{[citation needed]}. The direct corollary of this epistemic bias in pre-scientific cultures is the tendency to imagine the world in terms of animism. Inanimate objects or substances of significance to humans are fetishised and supposed to harbor benign or malignant spirits.

Clinical psychology

For relatively rare individuals, an obsessive compulsion to believe, prove or re-tell a conspiracy theory may indicate one or more of several well-understood psychological conditions, and other hypothetical ones: paranoia, denial, schizophrenia, mean world syndrome.^[16]

Socio-political origins

Christopher Hitchens represents conspiracy theories as the 'exhaust fumes of democracy', the unavoidable result of a large amount of information circulating among a large number of people. Other social commentators and sociologists argue that conspiracy theories are produced according to variables that may change within a democratic (or other type of) society.

Conspiratorial accounts can be emotionally satisfying when they place events in a readily-understandable, moral context. The subscriber to the theory is able to assign moral responsibility for an emotionally troubling event or situation to a clearly-conceived group of individuals. Crucially, that group does not include the believer. The believer may then feel excused of any moral or political responsibility for remedying whatever institutional or societal flaw might be the actual source of the dissonance.^[17]

Where responsible behavior is prevented by social conditions, or is simply beyond the ability of an individual, the conspiracy theory facilitates the emotional discharge or closure that such emotional challenges (after Erving Goffman) require. Like moral panics, conspiracy theories thus occur more frequently within communities that are experiencing social isolation or political dis-empowerment.

Mark Fenster argues that "just because overarching conspiracy theories are wrong does not mean they are not on to something. Specifically, they ideologically address real structural inequities, and constitute a response to a withering civil society and the concentration of the ownership of the means of production, which together leave the political subject without the ability to be recognized or to signify in the public realm" (1999: 67).

For example, the modern form of anti-Semitism is identified in Britannica 1911 as a conspiracy theory serving the self-understanding of the European aristocracy, whose social power waned with the rise of bourgeois society.^[18]

Disillusionment

In the late 20th century, falling election participation and declines in other key metrics of social engagement were noted by several observers. For a prominent example, see Robert D. Putnam's Bowling Alone thesis. Those who were most influenced by this period, the so-called "Generation X," are characterized by their cynicism towards traditional institutions and authorities, offering a case example of the context of political dis-empowerment detailed above.

In that context, a typical individual will tend to be more isolated from the kinds of peer networks that grant access to broad sources of information, and may instinctively distrust any statement or claim made by certain people, media, and other authority-bearing institutions. For some individuals, the consequence may be a tendency to attribute anything bad that happens to the distrusted authority. For example, some people attribute the September 11, 2001 attacks to a conspiracy involving the U.S. government (or disfavored politicians) instead of or along with Islamic terrorists associated with Al-Qaeda (see 9/11 conspiracy theories.) Such charges may also be colored with political motivation. Similar charges (in some circles) were made that the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration was in some way culpable for the Attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

BACK TO CONSPIRACIES' HOMEPAGE

The "Rationality Theorem"

Another criticism of conspiracy theories is that they rely on a certain worldview which may or may not be correct. Graham Allison, a political scientist, developed this argument in his book, Essence of Decision, and informally named it the "rationality theorem".

Basically, Allison argued:

Many theories - including conspiracy theories - rely on the assumption of rational expectations. Under this assumption, events and decisions are explained by the rational responses of groups and individuals.

However, Allison pointed out that groups and individuals do not always act in a rational manner.

Allison argued that by using rationalistic thinking, individuals automatically take a "black box" approach to problems, meaning that they concentrate on data that was available and the results, but failed to consider other factors, such as bureaucracy, misunderstandings, disagreements, etc.

Finally, Allison argued that rationalistic thinking in general violates the scientific law of falsifiability, as according to the rationality theorem, there exists no event or groups of events that cannot be explained in a rational and purposeful manner.

Although Allison primarily studied the Cuban Missile Crisis, in Essence, he illustrated the rationality theorem by making reference to the Attack on Pearl Harbor, specifically the theory that U.S. decision makers must have purposefully allowed the attack to be pulled off.

Allison argued that, for this specific conspiracy theory to hold, analysts must first make the assumption that officials act in a rational manner, and that these officials had full access to all information that indicated the attack was imminent.

However, by examining additional internal evidence, Allison argued that while, from a black-box perspective, the U.S. had enough evidence of the Pearl Harbor attack, a combination of bureaucracy and misunderstandings was the real reason why the attack succeeded. For example, Allison noted that evidence of the upcoming attack was scattered among different governmental departments, and was not immediately combined to create an entire picture. Likewise, some decision makers misinterpreted the data at hand - on December 7, 1941, the base at Pearl Harbor actually was on alert, but the alert was for possible Japanese sabotage, not an all-out aerial attack.

Media tropes

Media commentators regularly note a tendency in news media and wider culture to understand events through the prism of individual agents, as opposed to more complex structural or institutional accounts.^[19] If this is a true observation, it may be expected that the audience which both demands and consumes this emphasis itself is more receptive to personalized, dramatic accounts of social phenomena.

A second, perhaps related, media trope is the effort to allocate individual responsibility for negative events. The media have a tendency to start to seek culprits if an event occurs that is of such significance that it does not drop off the news agenda within a few days. Of this trend, it has been said that the concept of a pure accident is no longer permitted in a news item [1]. Again, if this is a true observation, it may reflect a real change in how the media consumer perceives negative events.

Controversies

Aside from controversies over the merits of particular conspiracy claims (see catalog below), and the various differing academic opinions (above), the general category of conspiracy theory is itself a matter of some public contestation.

Usage

The term "conspiracy theory" is considered by different observers to be a neutral description for a conspiracy claim, a pejorative term used to dismiss such a claim, and a term that can be positively embraced by proponents of such a claim. The term may be used by some for arguments they might not wholly believe but consider radical and exciting. The most widely accepted sense of the term is that which popular culture and academic usage share, certainly having negative implications for a narrative's probable truth value.

Given this popular understanding of the term, it is conceivable that the term might be used illegitimately and inappropriately, as a means to dismiss what are in fact substantial and well-evidenced accusations. The legitimacy of each such usage will therefore be a matter of some controversy. Disinterested observers will compare an allegation's features with those of the category listed above, in order to determine whether a given usage is legitimate or prejudicial.^{[citation needed]}

Certain proponents of conspiracy claims and their supporters argue that the term is entirely illegitimate, and should be considered just as politically manipulative as the Soviet practice of treating political dissidents as clinically insane. Critics of this view claim that the argument bears little weight and that the claim itself serves to expose the paranoia common with conspiracy theorists. In any case, it's worth noting that the term "conspiracy" itself well predates the term "conspiracy theory," which point illustrates the fact that conspiracy is and long has been a very real human behavior, while the legitimacy of the very recent concept of "conspiracy theory" remains much more open to debate.^{[citation needed]} A similar complication occurs for terms such as UFO, which literally means "unidentified flying object" but connotes alien spacecraft, a concept also associated with some conspiracy theories, and thus posessing a certain social stigma.

The term "conspiracy theory" is itself the object of a type of conspiracy theory, which argues that those using the term are manipulating their audience to disregard the topic under discussion, either in a deliberate attempt to conceal the truth, or as dupes of more deliberate conspirators.^{[citation needed]}

BACK TO CONSPIRACIES' HOMEPAGE

When conspiracy theories are offered as official claims (e.g. originating from a governmental authority, such as an intelligence agency) they are not usually considered as conspiracy theories. For example, certain activities of the House Un-American Activities Committee may be considered to have been an official attempt to promote a conspiracy theory, yet its claims are seldom referred to as such.^{[citation needed]}

Testing the validity of conspiracy theories

Perhaps the most contentious aspect of a conspiracy theory is the problem of settling a particular theory's truth to the satisfaction of both its proponents and its opponents. Particular accusations of conspiracy vary widely in their plausibility, but some common standards for assessing their likely truth value may be applied in each case:

Occam's razor - is the alternative story more, or less, probable than the mainstream story?

Methodology - are the "proofs" offered for the argument well constructed, i.e., using sound methodology? Is there any clear standard to determine what evidence would prove or disprove the theory?

Whistleblowers - how many people—and what kind—have to be loyal conspirators?

Each of these tests can have its downsides as well. For instance, overeager application of "Occam's razor" can lead to acceptance of oversimplified views of history.^{[citation needed]}

Real conspiracies

On some occasions particular conspiracy allegations turn out to be readily verifiable, as in the French government's attempted cover-up following Emile Zola's accusations in the Dreyfus Affair, or in the efforts by the Tsar's secret police to foment anti-Semitism by presenting The Protocols of the Elders of Zion as an authentic text.^[20] Where such success is due to sound investigative methodology, it is clear that it would not exhibit many of the compromising features identified as characteristic of conspiracy theory, and would thus not commonly be considered a 'Conspiracy theory'.^{[citation needed]} In the case of the 1971 revelation of the FBI's COINTELPRO counter-intelligence work against domestic political activists, it is not clear to what extent a 'conspiracy theory' involving government agents was either proposed or dismissed prior to the programme's factual exposure.^{[citation needed]}

Some argue that the reality of such conspiracies should caution against any casual dismissal of conspiracy theory. Many "conspiracy theory" authors and publishers, such as Robert Anton Wilson and Disinfo, use proven conspiracies as evidence of what a secret plot can accomplish. In doing so, they attempt to rebut the assumption that conspiracies don't exist, or that any "conspiracy theory" is necessarily false. A number of true or possibly true conspiracies are cited in making this case; the Mafia, the Business Plot, MKULTRA, various CIA involvements in overseas coups d'état, Operation Northwoods, the 1991 Testimony of Nayirah before the US Congress, the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male, the General Motors streetcar conspiracy and the Pearl Harbor advance-knowledge debate, among others.^{[citation needed]}

The argument is often advanced that the non-existence of any given conspiracy is shown by the lack of leakers or whistle blowers. Given the success of the British government in getting thousands of people to keep the ULTRA secret -- and thereby ensuring that no reliable history of World War II could be published until the 1970s -- it is apparent that this is not necessarily a reliable indicator.^{[citation needed]}

Machiavelli, stated in The Discourses on Livy that conspiracies rarely achieve their objectives.

Popper's use of the term "conspiracy theory"

In his two volume work, The Open Society & Its Enemies, 1938–1943 Popper used the term "conspiracy theory" to criticize the ideologies driving fascism, Nazism and communism. Popper argued that totalitarianism was founded on "conspiracy theories" which drew on imaginary plots driven by paranoid scenarios predicated on tribalism, racism or classism. Popper did not argue against the existence of everyday conspiracies (as incorrectly suggested in much of the later literature). Popper even uses the term "conspiracy" to describe ordinary political activity in the classical Athens of Plato (who was the principal target of his attack in The Open Society & Its Enemies).

In his critique of Marx and the twentieth century totalitarians, Popper wrote, "I do not wish to imply that conspiracies never happen. On the contrary, they are typical social phenomena."[2]

He reiterated his point, "Conspiracies occur, it must be admitted. But the striking fact which, in spite of their occurrence, disproved the conspiracy theory is that few of these conspiracies are ultimately successful. Conspirators rarely consummate their conspiracy." [3]

It may be worth noting that this could itself be considered an extraordinary claim, as any truly successful conspiracy might, by virtue of its success, very possibly never become widely known and accepted as ever having occurred.

BACK TO CONSPIRACIES' HOMEPAGE

Falsifiability

Popper proposed the term, "the conspiracy theory of society" to criticize the methodology of Marx, Hitler and others whom he deemed to be deluded by "historicism" - the reduction of history to an overt and naive distortion via a crude formulaic analysis usually predicated on an agenda replete with unsound presuppositions.^[21]

Karl Popper argued that science is written as a set of falsifiable hypotheses; metaphysical or unscientific theories and claims are those which do not admit any possibility for falsification. Critics of conspiracy theories sometimes argue that many of them are not falsifiable and so cannot be scientific. This accusation is often accurate, and is a necessary consequence of the logical structure of certain kinds of conspiracy theories. These take the form of uncircumscribed existential statements, alleging the existence of some action or object without specifying the place or time at which it can be observed. Failure to observe the phenomenon can then always be the result of looking in the wrong place or looking at the wrong time — that is, having been duped by the conspiracy. This makes impossible any demonstration that the conspiracy does not exist.

However, the use of falsifiability as a criterion to distinguish science from non-science has been criticised by a number of scholars, notably Popper's former students Thomas Kuhn, Paul Feyerabend, and Imre Lakatos, who argue that no theory is falsifiable in Poppers sense, and that as a consequence Popper misrepresents the actual process of scientific discovery.^[22]

Conspiracy theories in fiction

Main article: Conspiracy theories (fictional)

Because of their dramatic potential, conspiracies are a popular theme in thrillers and science fiction. Complex history is recast as a morality play in which bad people cause bad events, and good people identify and defeat them. Fictional conspiracy theories offer neat, intuitive narratives, in which the conspirators' plot fits closely the dramatic needs of the story's plot. As mentioned above, the cui bono? aspect of conspiracy theories resembles one element of mystery stories: the search for a possibly hidden motive.

Conspiracy Theory is a 1997 thriller about a taxi driver (played by Mel Gibson) who publishes a newsletter in which he discusses what he suspects are government conspiracies, and it turns out that one of them is true.

The X-Files was a popular television show during the 1990s and early 2000s, which followed the investigations of two intrepid FBI agents, Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, who were sometimes helped by a group of conspiracy theorists known as The Lone Gunmen. Many of the episodes dealt with a plot for alien invasion overseen by elements of the U.S. government, led by an individual known only as the Cigarette Smoking Man and an even more mysterious international "Syndicate". The famous tag line of the series, "The Truth Is Out There", can be interpreted as reference to the meaning-seeking nature of the genre discussed above.

Umberto Eco's novel Foucault's Pendulum is a broad satire on conspiracism in which the characters attempt to construct an all-embracing conspiracy theory starting with the Templars and including the Bavarian Illuminati, the Rosicrucians, hollow Earth enthusiasts, the Cathars, and even the Jesuits. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown explores a similar theme, without the satire and with religion as its focus: a conspiracy by the Catholic Church has attempted to cover up the "true" story of Jesus.

Notes

Plots, paranoia and blame by Peter Knight, BBC News 7 Dec 2006

Johnson, 1983

Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, p. 243 (8th ed. 1976).

Forging Protocols by Charles Paul Freund. Reason Magazine, February 2000 Mintz, Frank P.. The Liberty Lobby and the American Right: Race, Conspiracy, and Culture. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 4. ISBN 0-313-24393-X. 

Mintz, Frank P.. The Liberty Lobby and the American Right: Race, Conspiracy, and Culture. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 199. ISBN 0-313-24393-X. 

Arendt, Hannah [1953] (1973). The Origins of Totalitarianism. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. 

Berlet, Chip; Lyons, Matthew N. [2000]. Right-Wing Populism in America: Too Close for Comfort. New York: Guilford Press. 

Goertzel (1994). "Belief in Conspiracy Theories". Political Psychology 15: 733-744. Retrieved on August 7, 2006. 

"Who shot the president?," The British Psychological Society, March 18, 2003 (accessed June 7, 2005).

"Top 5 New Diseases: Media Induced Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (MIPTSD)," The New Disease: A Journal of Narrative Pathology 2 (2004), (accessed June 7, 2005).

Vedantam, Shankar. "Born With the Desire to Know the Unknown", The Washington Post, The Washington Post, 2006-06-05, p. A02. Retrieved on 2006-06-07."Conspiracy theories explain disturbing events or social phenomena in terms of the actions of specific, powerful individuals," said sociologist Theodore Sasson at Middlebury College in Vermont. By providing simple explanations of distressing events — the conspiracy theory in the Arab world, for example, that the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks were planned by the Israeli Mossad — they deflect responsibility or keep people from acknowledging that tragic events sometimes happen inexplicably."

"Anti-Semitism," 1911 Online Encyclopedia, (accessed June 7, 2005).

Ivan Emke, "Agents and Structures: Journalists and the Constraints on AIDS Coverage," Canadian Journal of Communication 25, no. 3 (2000), (accessed June 7, 2005).

Jews and Politics in the Twentieth Century: From the Bund to the Rise of the Nazis. Judaica in the Collections of the Hoover Institution Archives. Hoover Institution, Stanford University (2004). Retrieved on 2006-04-28.

Popper, Karl (1966). The Open Society and Its Enemies. Princeton University Press. 

Kuhn, Thomas (1996). The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago University Press, 146-7.  Lakatos, Imre (1970). Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge. Cambridge University Press. 

References

Hofstadter, Richard. 1965. The Paranoid Style in American Politics and Other Essays. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0-674-65461-7

Pipes, Daniel. 1997. Conspiracy: How the Paranoid Style Flourishes and Where It Comes from. New York: The Free Press. ISBN 0-684-87111-4

Further reading

Conspiracism, Political Research Associates

Cziesche, Dominik; Jürgen Dahlkamp, Ulrich Fichtner, Ulrich Jaeger, Gunther Latsch, Gisela Leske, Max F. Ruppert (2003). Panoply of the Absurd. Der Spiegel. Der Spiegel. Retrieved on 2006-06-06.

Parsons, Charlotte (2001). Why we need conspiracy theories. BBC News - Americas. BBC. Retrieved on 2006-06-26.

Meigs, James B. (2006). The Conspiracy Industry. Popular Mechanics. Hearst Communications, Inc.. Retrieved on 2006-10-13.

(2004) in Barry Coward: Conspiracies and Conspiracy Theory in Early Modern Europe: From the Waldensians to the French Revolution. Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 0754635643. 

(2003) in Peter Knight: Conspiracy Theories in American History: An Encyclopedia. ABC-Clio. ISBN 1576078124. 

Conspiracist literature

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion

Balsiger, David W. and Charles E. Sellier, Jr. (1977). The Lincoln Conspiracy. Los Angeles: Schick Sun Classic Books. ISBN 1-56849-531-5

Bryan, Gerald B.; Talita Paolini, Kenneth Paolini [1940] (2000). Psychic Dictatorship in America. Paolini International LLC. ISBN 0-9666213-1-X. 

Cooper, Milton William (1991). Behold a Pale Horse. Light Technology Publications. ISBN 0-929385-22-5. 

Icke, David (2004). And the Truth Shall Set You Free: The 21st Century Edition. Bridge of Love. ISBN 0-9538810-5-9. 

Levenda, Peter (2005). Sinister Forces: Trilogy. Trine Day. ISBN 0-9752906-2-2. 

Marrs, Texe (1996). Project L.U.C.I.D.: The Beast 666 Universal Human Control System. Living Truth Publishers. ISBN 1-884302-02-5. 

McConnachie, James, and Robin Tudge (2005). The Rough Guide to Conspiracy Theories. London: Rough Guides. ISBN 1-84353-445-2

Pelley, William Dudley (1950). Star Guests: Design for Mortality. Noblesville, Indiana: Soulcraft Press. 

Robertson, Pat (1992). The New World Order. W Publishing Group. ISBN 0-8499-3394-3. 

Wilson, Robert Anton (2002). TSOG: The Thing That Ate the Constitution, Tempe, AZ: New Falcon Publications. ISBN 1-56184-169-2

Yallop, David A. (1984). In God's Name: An Investigation into the Murder of Pope John Paul I. New York: Bantam Dell Publishing Group.

York, Byron (2005). The Vast Left Wing Conspiracy: The Untold Story of How Democratic Operatives, Eccentric Billionaires, Liberal Activists, and Assorted Celebrities Tried to Bring Down a President - and Why They'll Try Even Harder Next Time. New York: Crown Forum. ISBN 1-4000-8238-2

Conspiracies, Conspiracy Theories and the Secrets of 9/11, by Mathias Bröckers. Sees conspiracy as a fundamental principle between cooperation and competition. Proposes a new science of "conspirology."

See also

Assassination

Espionage

Kleptocracy

Black helicopters

Yitzhak Rabin assassination conspiracy theories

Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener#Conspiracy theories

Freemasons

Percy Bysshe Shelley#Drowning

Vatican Secret Archives

 Concepts

Apophenia

Cabal

Clustering illusion

Consensus

Cock-up theory

Conspiracy? (the History Channel series on the subject)

Coincidence theory

Conspiracy theories (fictional)

Conspiracy in criminal law

Category:Conspiracy theorists

List of conspiracy theories

Mind Control

Moonbat

Paranoia

Paranoia (magazine)

The Paranoid Style in American Politics

BACK TO CONSPIRACIES' HOMEPAGE

Repeat sources of conspiracy allegations

Art Bell

William Guy Carr

Jack Chick

James Shelby Downard

David Emory

Myron C. Fagan

Louis Farrakhan

Juhan af Grann

David Ray Griffin

G. Edward Griffin

Stanley Hilton

Richard Hoagland

Michael A. Hoffman II

David Icke

Alex Jones

Tim LaHaye

Lyndon LaRouche

Rauni-Leena Luukanen-Kilde

Thierry Meyssan

Robert Parry

Roberto Pinotti

John Birch Society

Webster Tarpley

Michael Tsarion

Liberty Lobby (defunct)

Paranoia (magazine)

The Economics of Conspiracy Theories

On the hunt for a conspiracy theory, CS Monitor article

Centre for Research on Globalization

Top Ten Conspiracy Theories of 2002, from AlterNet.

An Integral Approach to Conspiracy Theory

'Conspiracy Theories' and Clandestine Politics by Jeffrey M. Bale in Lobster Magazine

Conspiracy theory forum of the James Randi Educational Foundation

 Links critical of conspiracism

'The Paranoid Style in American Politics' Richard Hofstadter, Harper's 1964 November

Skeptic's Dictionary on conspiracy theories

The Dynamics of Conspiracism

Amir Butler: Our Credibility Problem is a Conspiracy - A discussion of the spread of conspiracy theories in the Muslim community

10 Characteristics of Conspiracy Theorists (Tips for recognizing conspiracists in electronic discussion flora)

Bible conspiracy theory - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible_conspiracy_theories

Conspiracy theories peculiar to Australia

Port Arthur Massacre - A theory that the massacre was carried out by the government to justify tighter gun control laws.^{[citation needed]}

Harold Holt - Australian Prime Minister who went missing on the 17th of December 1967 while swimming at a Cheviot Beach, south of Melbourne.

Conspiracy theories peculiar to Cameroon

A ubiquitous and persistent rumor in Cameroon has it that the Lake Nyos disaster of 1986 was caused by the US or French (depending on the version) military testing a secret bomb in the lake.

Conspiracy theories peculiar to Canada

Avro Arrow—Cancellation of this system.

Shag Harbor incident—Said to be "Canada's Roswell."

Shirley's Bay—Supposed UFO-monitoring station.

Conspiracy theories peculiar to Denmark

For the assassination of the Danish king Eric Klipping on the 22 November 1286, a number of the nation's most powerful noblemen, led by Marsk Stig Andersen Hvide were outlawed. However rumours persist to this day that they may have been unfairly framed, and the real assassins may have been somebody else entirely.

Conspiracy theories peculiar to Germany

Termination of rocket experiments at Cuxhaven.

Conspiracy theories peculiar to Israel

Yitzhak Rabin assassination conspiracy theories.

Conspiracy theories peculiar to Poland

Warsaw Radio Mast Collapse.

Żydokomuna-A theory stating that Jewish Communists control (or want to control) the Polish government.

Conspiracy theories peculiar to Spain

11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings - A theory that the attacks were not carried out by a local group of Islamist radicals, as the judiciary indictment states, but by a group which in various versions includes the Basque terrorist group ETA, socialist government officials (then in the opposition), police forces, foreign secret services, the Spanish secret service, a powerful media group and members of the judiciary in different combinations. A lighter version accuses the government and police forces of cover up.

Conspiracy theories peculiar to Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh is claimed by some people to be the father of Nong Duc Manh

The body of Ho Chi Minh was in fact cremated and buried on Tan Vien mountain in Ha Tay, the body inside the mausoleum in Hanoi is believed to be a wax statue.

Ngo Dinh Diem was involved in John F. Kennedy assassination.

Conspiracy theories peculiar to the Arab and Muslim worlds

Daniel Pipes has written a book^[5] and many essays on the prevalence of conspiracy theories throughout the Arab and Muslim world. Conspiracy theories extend far beyond those concerning international events or those biased against Jews. They extend even to the results of sporting events.

For some time the Arab press reported that there was a plot by Jews to make Egyptian and Palestinian schoolgirls sexually promiscuous by selling them bubble-gum laced with aphrodisiacs. This story closely resembles the tale of LSD-laced papers or candies which continues to periodically surface in the US. In this case the story is considered to be an urban legend as opposed to a conspiracy theory, because no group is blamed for the "attacks". Like the Palestinian case, there is no evidence that anything like this has ever happened. An example of this conspiracy theory is that written by Mohammad Dalbah:

On several occasions, Palestinians have claimed that the Israeli government has used nerve gas against them, and then suppressed the evidence of such. No independent investigation has ever substantiated such claims.

Some Arabs, mostly Egyptians, believe that Israelis engineered the crash of EgyptAir Flight 990 in 1999, despite strong evidence that the pilot committed suicide.^[6] Others insist that the US is covering up for Boeing, the airplane's manufacturer.^[7]

Many in the Arab world believe that Jewish doctors deliberately give Palestinians AIDS.

The Asian economic crisis of 1997 was popularly attributed to Jewish speculators by Malaysian and Indonesian commentators and some government figures.

Conspiracy theory that the Madrid railway bombings were not perpetrated by Muslims since they took place in the Hijri month of Muharram, one of the four sacred months during which attacks on "infidels" are forbidden by the Qu'ran.

A rumor has recently been spread in Nigeria that the US or other western countries have added either the HIV virus or a sterilizing agent to polio vaccines being distributed by the World Health Organization. The rumor has caused a marked increase in the number of polio cases in the country, due to Muslim clerics urging parents not to have their children vaccinated. It has also caused the Nigerian strain of polio to travel to other nations.

Shortly after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami took place, the Al-Osboa' newsweekly in Egypt alleged that the tsunami could have been caused by an Indian nuclear experiment in which Israeli and American nuclear experts participated. Al-Osboa' further alleged that India, in its heated nuclear race with Pakistan, has acquired lately sophisticated nuclear know-how from the United States and Israel, both of which "showed readiness to cooperate with India in experiments to exterminate humankind," beginning with the heavily populated Muslim regions of southeast Asia, where the bulk of casualties took place. Conspiracy theories are not uncommon after natural disasters, but this one is particularly implausible, since even the estimated 5000 megatons of destructive power in the entire world's combined nuclear arsenal is but a small fraction of the energy required to create the earthquake in question.

Several conspiracy theories were concocted in response to the football player John Pantsil waving the Israeli flag to celebrate a goal. The Egyptian sports analyst Hassan el-Mestekawi asserted that many Ghanaian players go through football training camps set up by an Israeli coach who "discovered the treasure of African talent, and abused the poverty of the continent's children" with the ultimate goal of selling them off to European clubs. He also stated that "The training program for these children starts every morning with a salute to the Israeli flag".^[8] Others hinted at Pantsil being a Mossad agent.^[9]

The Islamist organization Hamas states in their charter that The Protocols of the Elders of Zion accurately describe the Zionist plan to take over Palestine, and that the Freemasons, Lions Club, and the Rotarians are organizations promoting "the interest of Zionism." It accuses those organizations, and the "Zionist invasion" in general, of being "behind the drug trade and alcoholism in all its kinds."  

CONSPIRACIES' HOMEPAGE