Which Conspiracy Theory Do You Find Most Believable?

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

The airplanes that crashed into the World Trade Center were real. That doesn't conflict with the controlled demolition theory.

[dead0man]

The latter, of course. The question asked which you found the most believable. The things that bother me with the moon landing are really just that a) it was landed on in 1969, just as time was running out to fulfill Kennedy's pledge, b) no one has done it since the 70s and c) no one else did it besides the Americans. That isn't evidence or anything, but it is at least something.

What bothers me most with conspiracy theories is that there are weak grounds for believing a) that someone would want it, b) that it didn't happen the official way and c) that it could be kept secret. In the case of 9/11 I've never seen a clear explanation of why the US would have wanted to pretend that it was airplanes while using controlled demolition. It seems unnecessary.

On the other hand, there is a clear rationale behind faking the moon landing and the cause would be sufficiently good that you might get people to shut up about it. That sort of puts it within the realm of possibility for me in a different way.

So, it isn't that I don't believe it happened (I do!) but if I have to pick one, that would be it, because it passes my basic litmus test for conspiracy theories.

And the Lincoln ones seem to be very weak attempts at having a conspiracy just for the sake of having it.

But we put stuff on the moon...that YOU can see without too much trouble.  Retroreflectors are the cool ones, but there is lots of junk up there.

[Gustaf]

The latter, of course. The question asked which you found the most believable. The things that bother me with the moon landing are really just that a) it was landed on in 1969, just as time was running out to fulfill Kennedy's pledge, b) no one has done it since the 70s and c) no one else did it besides the Americans. That isn't evidence or anything, but it is at least something.

What bothers me most with conspiracy theories is that there are weak grounds for believing a) that someone would want it, b) that it didn't happen the official way and c) that it could be kept secret. In the case of 9/11 I've never seen a clear explanation of why the US would have wanted to pretend that it was airplanes while using controlled demolition. It seems unnecessary.

On the other hand, there is a clear rationale behind faking the moon landing and the cause would be sufficiently good that you might get people to shut up about it. That sort of puts it within the realm of possibility for me in a different way.

So, it isn't that I don't believe it happened (I do!) but if I have to pick one, that would be it, because it passes my basic litmus test for conspiracy theories.

And the Lincoln ones seem to be very weak attempts at having a conspiracy just for the sake of having it.

But we put stuff on the moon...that YOU can see without too much trouble.  Retroreflectors are the cool ones, but there is lots of junk up there.

I'm not saying it didn't happen...I do think it did. I had to pick one that I found the most believable and that one was it. Granted, I haven't really followed it much. All I know is people like to complain about the flag waving and that that is a non-issue.

[minionofmidas]

There are gaping holes in the official account of MLK. There aren't any gaps in JFK. Or Lincoln, or the moon landing. Or 9/11, at least not genuinely noteworthy ones (at least as far as the execution of the crime itself goes). Don't know enough about wtf really went on at Roswell, but there's no reason not to vote for MLK here.

[Gustaf]

The airplanes that crashed into the World Trade Center were real. That doesn't conflict with the controlled demolition theory.

Yes...but why? Why fly the airplanes into the buildings at all if you're doing controlled demolition anyway? I don't see what the point would be in adding unnecessary risk of getting caught.

[minionofmidas]

Unless you believe it was all a ploy to get Americans to aquiesce to tighter airline security and longer check-ins!

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

The airplanes that crashed into the World Trade Center were real. That doesn't conflict with the controlled demolition theory.

Yes...but why? Why fly the airplanes into the buildings at all if you're doing controlled demolition anyway? I don't see what the point would be in adding unnecessary risk of getting caught.

Because that's what the whole terror attack was about. The idea of commercial airliners that we've all been on being hijacked so easily with box-cutters and then crashed into iconic American steel skyscrapers had a psychological effect on people. It unnerved them.

Plus it also seemed plausible to the average American who wasn't going to delve deeply to ever question what the government said.

If the buildings just started collapsing out of nowhere, it would have looked pretty darn suspicious. Islamic extremists being able to set up a controlled demolition of the twin 110-story towers of the World Trade Center would have stretched believability too far even for the average unthinking American.

[Franzl]

Well Libertas has sure convinced me! What a clever fellow!

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

Well Libertas has sure convinced me! What a clever fellow!

I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything. There are more than enough resources available online for those who are interested in studying these issues.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

To answer the question honestly, I don't believe for a second Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.

[paul718]

Well Libertas has sure convinced me! What a clever fellow!

I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything. There are more than enough resources available online for those who are interested in studying these issues.

I've seen some of those videos.  And they've all been as convincing as those shows in the '90s that studied whether Elvis Presley was still alive.  Perhaps you can link us to one you find particularly conceivable?

Did the 9/11 Commission have anything to say regarding possible government involvement?

[Gustaf]

The airplanes that crashed into the World Trade Center were real. That doesn't conflict with the controlled demolition theory.

Yes...but why? Why fly the airplanes into the buildings at all if you're doing controlled demolition anyway? I don't see what the point would be in adding unnecessary risk of getting caught.

Because that's what the whole terror attack was about. The idea of commercial airliners that we've all been on being hijacked so easily with box-cutters and then crashed into iconic American steel skyscrapers had a psychological effect on people. It unnerved them.

Plus it also seemed plausible to the average American who wasn't going to delve deeply to ever question what the government said.

1. Why was the psychological effect of that worth the risk of synchronizing two different events while hiding one of them? Do you also subscribe to the idea that it was physically impossible for the building to collapse (or collapse in the way they did) from the airplanes?

If the buildings just started collapsing out of nowhere, it would have looked pretty darn suspicious. Islamic extremists being able to set up a controlled demolition of the twin 110-story towers of the World Trade Center would have stretched believability too far even for the average unthinking American.

2. Yeah, it's not as if islamic extremists were ever able to do that. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Trade_Center_bombing)

Seriously, what if one hijacking had failed or just not been able to fly into the building at the exact right time?

[??????????]

..thus saving Rudy from having to go to prison...wait what?

I said Ruby might have planned the JFK assasination together with Oswald (and possibly some other people). After Oswald did the terrible deed, Ruby might have been afraid that Oswald was going to rat out everyone else, and thus Ruby killed Oswald.

Supersoulty used to say that Ruby was just "very patriotic" lol lol. Ruby had cancer, so he had no problem going to jail.

[J. J.]

Well yeah, that part is true.  I assumed they were talking about some other conspiracy involving Lincoln...with maybe aliens and Mark Twain somehow involved.

Well, I think you have define "conspiracy theory" a bit better.

Same with Roswell.  I absolutely believe the Air Force was covering something up.  What they were covering up was Project Mogul, as the Air Force has claimed. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Mogul

[The Mikado]

I find it hard to believe that if you wanted to form a conspiracy to kill the President, you'd let someone like Oswald in.  The man was...not the most reliable person in the world, to say the least.  It's much more likely that he acted on his own.

As JJ already pointed out, there was an actual, verifiable conspiracy to kill Johnson and Seward in the Lincoln case, so, as that conspiracy actually happened, I'll go with that.

[dead0man]

Well yeah, that part is true.  I assumed they were talking about some other conspiracy involving Lincoln...with maybe aliens and Mark Twain somehow involved.

Well, I think you have define "conspiracy theory" a bit better.

Same with Roswell.  I absolutely believe the Air Force was covering something up.  What they were covering up was Project Mogul, as the Air Force has claimed. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Mogul

I don't consider either of these to be "conspiracy theory" because they aint theory.  The Air Force now admits fully what was going on, something they couldn't do at the time.  The other assassinations planned around Lincoln's are verifiable facts, not theory.

(I'm not saying you disagree with me, just clarifying my position)

[Frodo]

The JFK and Lincoln Assassination theories -in that order.

As for the others..... 

[Vepres]

Paraphrasing something I read about a year ago: The same people who believe 9/11 is an inside job are the people who think Bush was too stupid to tie his own shoes and that the government is utterly incompetent, except in what would be the largest and most elaborate conspiracy in modern history.

[J. J.]

Well yeah, that part is true.  I assumed they were talking about some other conspiracy involving Lincoln...with maybe aliens and Mark Twain somehow involved.

Well, I think you have define "conspiracy theory" a bit better.

Same with Roswell.  I absolutely believe the Air Force was covering something up.  What they were covering up was Project Mogul, as the Air Force has claimed. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Mogul

I don't consider either of these to be "conspiracy theory" because they aint theory.  The Air Force now admits fully what was going on, something they couldn't do at the time.  The other assassinations planned around Lincoln's are verifiable facts, not theory.

(I'm not saying you disagree with me, just clarifying my position)

That's why I think you have to explain what theory.

I heard of group of skeptics complaining that more people thought the Air Force covered something up at Roswell than thought a flying saucer crashed near Roswell.

Everybody should believe the Air Force covered something up at Roswell. because the Air Force has said it did. 

[Derek]

Oklahoma City was a retaliation of Waco. McVeigh went too far though to retaliate. Clinton was in over his head and didn't have the political master mind like Reagan or Bush to deal with that kind of threat so he locked people up for warning about the attacks. Then after it happened, he lied and had people secretly killed to prevent testimony. No one did anything wrong and we didn't have these problems before he was in office.

[justW353]

Oklahoma City was a retaliation of Waco. McVeigh went too far though to retaliate. Clinton was in over his head and didn't have the political master mind like Reagan or Bush to deal with that kind of threat so he locked people up for warning about the attacks. Then after it happened, he lied and had people secretly killed to prevent testimony. No one did anything wrong and we didn't have these problems before he was in office.

Once again...

[Хahar 🤔]

Don't feed the troll, man.

[Psychic Octopus]

I'm going to go with MLK, followed by JFK.

[Magic 8-Ball]

Other (Fluoridated water).

'Tis evil, EVIL, I say.

[J. J.]

The only one that I'd give even a slight possibility of being true is that Obama was a CIA agent in the early 1980's.