Browse Conspiracy Theories

Claims that an area of the North Atlantic bounded roughly by Miami, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico experiences an anomalous rate of ship and aircraft disappearances attributable to supernatural forces, extraterrestrials, or unknown natural phenomena. Lloyd's of London (1975) found no anomalous loss rate in the region, and researcher Larry Kusche demonstrated that many celebrated disappearances were misreported, occurred outside the claimed boundaries, or never happened.

The September 19-20, 1961 claim by Betty and Barney Hill (New Hampshire couple) of being abducted by extraterrestrials during a drive from Canada. The first widely-publicized modern alien abduction account; subsequent cultural template for many later reports.

The ancient Library of Alexandria — among history's most famous libraries — has been claimed to have been destroyed variously by Julius Caesar (48 BC), Theophilus of Alexandria (391 AD), Amr ibn al-As during Arab conquest (642 AD), or to have declined gradually. Each attribution carries cultural and political weight.

On March 13, 1997, thousands of Arizonans witnessed lights moving in formation over Phoenix, Nevada, and northern Mexico. Claims include alien craft, experimental aircraft, and (the USAF's partial explanation) military flares dropped during training.

The biblical Ark of the Covenant — a gold-covered wooden chest described in Exodus containing the Ten Commandments — has been claimed to be located variously in Ethiopia (Axum), the Vatican, beneath the Temple Mount, or hidden by the Knights Templar.

The December 26-28, 1980 incidents near RAF Woodbridge (a US-operated base in Suffolk, England) when USAF personnel reported unusual lights and an "illuminated triangular craft" in the adjacent Rendlesham Forest.

Condensation trails (contrails) are the normal ice crystal trails formed behind aircraft at high altitude when hot, humid engine exhaust meets cold air. Distinct from the "chemtrail" conspiracy theory, which claims these trails contain deliberate chemical spraying programs.

The claim that Earth is hollow, with inner surfaces, inhabitants, or openings at the poles. Versions include the 17th-century scientific proposal by Edmond Halley, 19th-century Symmes Hole theory, and 20th-century Nazi/UFO-adjacent versions.

A satirical movement launched in 2017 by Peter McIndoe claiming that all birds in the United States were exterminated by the CIA between 1959-2001 and replaced with surveillance drones. Designed as parody, it was widely shared without the satire being recognized.

The claim that the US Navy conducted an October 1943 experiment at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard that made the destroyer USS Eldridge temporarily invisible and teleported it to Norfolk, Virginia — with horrific effects on crew members.

The phenomenon where large groups of people share a vivid but false memory of historical events, objects, or media — coined by researcher Fiona Broome in 2009 after noticing many people falsely remembered Nelson Mandela dying in prison in the 1980s.

US Air Force veteran and former NGA intelligence officer David Grusch's 2023 whistleblower testimony to Congress alleging a decades-long, classified US crash-retrieval and reverse-engineering program involving "non-human" craft and biologics.

The theory that the Great Pyramids of Giza could not have been built with the tools and techniques available to ancient Egyptians, suggesting involvement of a lost civilization, advanced ancient technology, or extraterrestrial assistance.

The theory that the classified US Air Force facility known as Area 51 in Nevada houses recovered extraterrestrial spacecraft and alien remains, and that the government has been reverse-engineering alien technology for decades.

The theory that an advanced ancient civilization, described by Plato as Atlantis, actually existed and was destroyed by a catastrophe, with its knowledge suppressed or lost to history.

The theory that President John F. Kennedy was not killed by a lone gunman but was the victim of a coordinated conspiracy involving elements of the CIA, Mafia, military-industrial complex, or other powerful groups.