We all have different belief systems. Each of us have a unique way of believing in and processing information, even within a particular family, sect or community. 
I remember years ago when I was still going to the Mormon church and listening to all of the different interpretations and beliefs among members and neighbors. Sometimes in a Sunday school class, the lesson would often be diverted by someone raising their hand to share their particular wild theory. I would sit there and wonder “where the hell did they come up with that?”
Of course there were also the families who took the rules and guidelines of the Church and Bible to the extreme and followed their own odd ideas (although religious ideas are wacky enough in their own right)……the relatives who did not allow their little girls, no matter how young, to wear shorts or sleaveless shirts (in the burning heat of Arizona)…….the family who had taken the Mormon food and drink restriction to the extreme and would only eat or drink food and water brought from home (this family also had a mother who practiced, without medical training, her own brand of “witch doctoring”)…….the families who secretly still practiced polygamy…….the neighbors who believed Proctor & Gamble were a satanic organization and was adding secret codes and messages everywhere for their followers…….and last but certainly not least…….the man down the street who believed the government was “remote viewing” (we’ll talk more about remote viewing later) him and everyone else.
When it comes to conspiracy theories, some people have dived so far outside the realm of reality that you have to wonder how they even started down those paths in the first place.
The first time I can remember hearing about a conspiracy theory was back in 1969 when I was in high school. Sometime in the fall of that year the “Paul McCartney is dead” theory started. The proponents of the theory claimed that Paul had been killed in a car accident in 1966 and replaced by a lookalike just before recording Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The “clues” were supposedly given on album covers, strange lyrics and playing the records backwards called backmasking. (I was never able to get the backmasking to work although I tried.)
I think the rumour started when a D.J. named Russ Gibb received a call from a listener who said that Paul had died and that John Lennon had added “clues” on various albums to be discovered. (probably someone from the company promoting the Beatles albums) The rumour died down the following year when Paul started showing up for interviews but there were some back then and who still maintain to this day that this was a massive cover up and it has been the lookalike all along who played with the Beatles after the Revolver album.
I remember back then the excitement we all felt as we talked about the cover up. Each day someone at school had more “evidence” that Paul was really dead…..like the song “Come Together” which of course the chorus said“come together, right now, over me” and we just KNEW it was about his funeral…..or the song Revolution which supposedly when backmasked the words “number nine, number nine, number nine” were said over and over. We did not know what this meant but we just KNEW it meant something.
It was so exciting to feel part of something “bigger.” It gave us something to talk about beside boys and school. I am sure also, that the promoters of the Beatles laughed all the way to the bank because we also spent a lot of money buying albums and posters so we could “prove” the truth. But, we were kids and it was easy to get caught up it in all.
But how do adults, who should know better, get caught up in the fantastic and idiotic theories of conspiracy? I think part of it is because they want that special feeling of being part of something big and knowing something that everyone else is not aware of. I also think that some people are so bored with their mundain lives they enjoy the mystery of believing in a conspiracy, the excitement of looking for evidence, and belonging to a group or organization. I feel also that some people who believe in the absurd are mentally unstable from the mildly unbalanced to the complete nutjob. Last but not least, some people promote these throries for financial gain. They write books, sell survival supplies, speak at lectures and pocket lots of cash.
Do I think the goivernment keeps things from the average citizen? Of course. Do I feel they should be more transparent about some things or events? Sure. Do I feel they should tell everyone about everything they are doing? Of course not. Have their been plots and schemes to take control of governments? I am sure there have been. And last but not least, have historical events been altered at times and written in a way to shine a more favorable light on events or individuals? Of course. History has always been written by the winners and like any event, the truth is in the vantage point you view it.
I personally believe different groups, religions, and political organization have their own agendas which often actually cover up things we often need to know, like the Catholic Church covering up and hiding the fact that many priests were molesting young boys. But I like to think most of us, myself included, are sane enough to have an active “bullshit meter” and know when a theory is just “crap.” I also feel that some people like to blame their bad luck or poor lot in life on something other than their own idiotic mistakes, choices, and decisions. Why take personal responsibility for your circumstances when you can blame it on a conspiracy?
So lets take a look at some of the more popular and even insane conspiracies out there. Then after you look at them, think about the everyday people you know and come in contact with and remember, some of them actually believe this stuff. In Part 2 we’ll take a look at some of the current conspiracies running amok today:
