11 Interesting Conspiracy Theories That You Might Want To Know About

A conspiracy theory is an explanatory hypothesis that accuses two or more persons, a group, or an organization of having caused or covered up, through secret planning and deliberate action, an event or situation which is typically taken to be illegal or harmful.

There are so many events that took place in history that we think we know about, but the fact is that there are a lot of stories behind it that we know nothing about. Of course, some theories are just that- theories. But there are some popular conspiracy theories that are not only interesting to read, but will also make you think… what really happened?

1. Princess Diana

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Since 1997 it has been claimed that there was an orchestrated criminal conspiracy to end the life of Diana, Princess of Wales. Official investigations have found that she died in a manner consistent with media reports following the fatal car crash in a Paris road tunnel on 31 August 1997. A French investigation which reported in early September 1999, concluded that the Princess of Wales died as the result of an accident and a jury after hearing evidence in the 2007-8 British inquest found in favour of an “unlawful killing” by driver Henri Paul and the paparazzi pursuing the car. The French investigator, Judge Hervé Stephan, had concluded that the paparazzi were some distance from the couple’s Mercedes when it crashed and were not responsible.

Prominent in disputing the two official version of events have been the British Daily Express newspaper and Mohamed Al-Fayed, whose son Dodi Fayed was her boyfriend at the time and also died with her. A special Metropolitan Police inquiry team was established in 2004, Operation Paget, headed by the then Commissioner John Stevens to investigate the conspiracy theories which led to the inquest. This investigation looked into 175 “conspiracy claims” which had been made by Al-Fayed.

Al-Fayed has persistently suggested what were found to be conspiracy theories at the inquest; he has repeatedly claimed that his son Dodi Fayed and the Princess of Wales were murdered.

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2. Gandhiji could’ve stopped Bhagat Singh’s execution

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Bhagat Singh is considered one the most influential revolutionaries of the  Indian Independence Movement. He was charged with attempt-to-murder and sentenced to execution. Many conspiracy theorists believe that Mahatma Gandhi could have used his influence to stop Bhagat Singh from being executed. But Bhagat Singh’s violent methods opposed Gandhiji’s belief in non-violence, and hence he chose not intervene. On the other hand, Gandhi’s own party workers, followers and some writers clarify with pathetic earnestness that Gandhi failed not because of his lack of interest in the well-being of Bhagat Singh, but because of the circumstances which lay beyond his control.

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3. The Holocaust

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Despite overwhelming evidence of the genocide of Jews in the Holocaust during World War II, there are are “Holocaust deniers” who claim it never happened. Holocaust denial includes any of the following claims: that Nazi Germany’s Final Solution policy aimed only at deporting Jews from the Reich, and included no policy to exterminate Jews; that Nazi authorities did not use extermination camps and gas chambers to mass murder Jews; and that the actual number of Jews killed was significantly lower than the historically accepted figure of 5 to 6 million. Deniers have also repeatedly attacked the authenticity of the famous Diary of Anne Frank, which tells of the young Jewish author’s experiences as she and her family hid from Nazi persecution in Holland.

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4. The AIDS virus

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AIDS was first clinically observed in 1981 in the United States; The initial cases were a cluster of injection drug users and gay men with no known cause of impaired immunity. Since its discovery, rumours have persisted that the deadly virus was created by the CIA to wipe out homosexuals and African Americans. This theory was supported by South African President(1999-2008) Thabo Mbeki, who claimed that the virus was manufactured by the U.S government in military labs. vernment of manufacturing the disease in military labs. When she won the Nobel Peace Prize, Kenyan ecologist Wangari Maathai used the international spotlight to support that theory as well.

Several inquiries and investigations have been carried out as a result and each of these theories consequently determined to be based on unfounded and/or false information. HIV has been shown to have evolved from or is closely related to the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) in West Central Africa sometime in the early 20th century.

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5. William Shakespeare

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Around 230 years after Shakespeare’s death, doubts began to be expressed about the authorship of the works attributed to him. Shakespeare’s biography, particularly his humble origins and obscure life, seemed incompatible with his poetic eminence and his reputation for genius, arousing suspicion that Shakespeare might not have written the works attributed to him.

While more than 80 historical figures have been nominated at one time or another as the true author of the Shakespearean canon, only a few of these claimants have attracted significant attention. In addition to sole candidates, various “group” theories have also achieved a notable level of interest. The Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship holds that Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, wrote the plays and poems traditionally attributed to William Shakespeare.

Mark Twain said: “So far as anybody actually knows and can prove, Shakespeare of Stratford-on-Avon never wrote a play in his life.” In 1848, the American Joseph C Hart wrote a book putting forward the argument that the plays were written by several different authors.

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6. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami

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Some conspiracy theorists claim that it was not the tsunami in the Indian Ocean that caused mass destruction in 2004, but an Indian nuclear experiment in which Israeli and American nuclear experts participated.

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7. Nasa faked the moon landings

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The Moon landing conspiracy theories claim that some or all elements of the Apollo program and the associated Moon landings were hoaxes staged by NASA with the aid of other organizations. Doubters say that the U.S. government, desperate to beat the Russians in the space race, faked the lunar landings, with Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin acting out their mission on a secret film set. According to them, the movement of the flag that Aldrin planted on the moon shows the presence of the wind- which is impossible in a vacuum. NASA says Aldrin was twisting the flagpole to get the moon soil, which caused the flag to move. Astronauts have also brought back hundreds of independently verified moon rocks.

Other “evidence” that believers of this conspiracy theory pointed out is:

  • There are no stars in any of the photos
  • The angle and color of shadows are inconsistent. This suggests that artificial lights were used.
  • The quality of the photographs is implausibly high etc

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8. The assassination of John F Kennedy

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The 35th President of the United States was shot on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas at 12.30pm . He was fatally wounded by gunshots while riding with his wife – Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy – in a motorcade. The ten-month investigation of the Warren Commission of 1963 to 1964, the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) of 1976 to 1979, and other government investigations concluded that the President had been assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald – who was himself shot dead by Jack Ruby while in police custody.

But doubts about the official explanation and the conclusion that Oswald was the lone gunman firing from the Texas Book Depository overlooking Dealey Plaza where Kennedy was hit surfaced soon after the commission report. Footage of the motorcade taken by Abraham Zapruder on 8mm film supported the growing belief that at least four shots were fired – not the three that the Warren Commission claimed. The moments of impact recorded on the film also suggested that at least one of the shots came from a completely different direction to those supposedly fired by Oswald – evidence backed up by testimony of several eye witnesses. Many believed that several shots were fired by gunmen hiding behind a picket fence on a grassy knoll overlooking the plaza.

The assassination is still the subject of widespread speculation and has spawned numerous conspiracy theories, though none of these has been proven. In 1979, the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) found both the original FBI investigation and the Warren Commission Report to be seriously flawed. The HSCA also concluded that there were at least four shots fired and that it was probable that a conspiracy existed. However, later studies, including one by the National Academy of Sciences, have called into question the accuracy of the evidence used by the HSCA to support its finding of four shots.

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9. Death of Subhas Chandra Bose

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Subhas  Chandra Bose was a prominent Indian freedom fighter, who attempted to  liberate India from British rule. Bose was alleged to have died in a  plane crash in Taiwan on 1945 while en route to Tokyo. He was badly  burned and died in a local hospital hours later. His body was later cremated in a Buddhist Temple in  Taiwan. This version of events is supported by testimonies of Captain,  Yoshida Taneyoshi, and a British spy. Absence of his body in the temple  has led to rise in many theories concerning his possible survival.  Various committees have been set up by government of India over the  years to investigate in this matter. This conspiracy theory has become a  popular topic of discussion in various newsrooms and book titles. It is  alleged by Dr. Purabi Roy, a Russian scholar in his book, “The Search  for Netaji: New Findings” that Bose was captured by USSR during Second  World War as Axis powers viewed him as a war criminal due to his close  relationship with Japan and he later died in Siberia under soviet  captivity. Another version of the theory goes by that an Indian monk  named Bhagwanji or Gumnami Baba, who lived in Faizabad, Ayodhya had a  very close resemblance to Subhas Chandra Bose and that he was Netaji  living incognito to hide his real identity. Bhagwanji died on September  16, 1985.

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10. Lal Bahadur Shastri was poisoned

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Lal  Bahadur Shastri was a prominent Indian freedom fighter and the second  Prime Minister of India. He died of a heart attack in a dacha in Tashkent, hours after he signed a peace agreement with Pakistan- which raised a lot of questions in the minds of Indian citizens.  His health was fit as per his personal physician, Dr. R. N. Chugh, and he had no sign of heart trouble before. Shastri’s sudden death has led to persistent conspiracy theories that he was poisoned. 

It was alleged that no post-mortem was done on Shastri, but the Indian government in 2009, claimed it did have a report of a medical investigation conducted by Shastri’s personal physician, Dr. R. N. Chugh, and some Russian doctors.  It was maintained that Shastri had died of cardiac arrest but his family insisted he was poisoned. A query was later posed by Anuj Dhar, author of CIA’s Eye on South Asia, under the Right to Information Act to declassify a document supposedly related to Shastri’s death, but the Prime Minister’s Office refused to oblige, reportedly citing that this could lead to harming of foreign relations, cause disruption in the country and cause breach of parliamentary privileges.

Later, Gregory Douglas, a journalist who interviewed former CIA operative, Robert Crowley, over a period of 4 years, recorded their telephonic conversations and published its transcribe in a book titled, “Conversations with the Crow”. In the book, Crowley claimed that CIA was responsible for eliminating Dr. Homi Bhabha, Indian nuclear scientist whose plane crashed into Alps, when he was going to attend a conference in Vienna and Lal Bahadur Shastri, who died at Tashkent summit in 1966. Crowley said that USA was wary of India’s rigid stand on nuclear policy and then PM Lal Bahadur Shastri, who wanted to go ahead with Nuclear tests. He also said that agency was more worried about collective domination of Indo-Russian over the region, for which a strong deterrent was required.

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11. The Illuminati conspiracy theory

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Many modern conspiracy theories propose that world events are being controlled and manipulated by a secret society calling itself the Illuminati. Conspiracy theorists have claimed that many notable people were or are members of the Illuminati. The Illuminati conspiracy theory claims a super-secret society has penetrated governments, finance, science, business, and the entertainment industry with one goal in mind: world domination. Over the years, the Illuminati have become a popular topic for movies, novels, websites, and even video games.

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“Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.” – John Lennon

What do you choose to believe?

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