Conspiracy Theories

On Halloween Eve, 1938 Orson Welles' The War of the Wars aired on CBS radio. It detailed an alien invasion so realistic that, according to legend, it caused widespread panic among listeners. People really believed aliens were invading Earth. The mass hysteria is an important part of media history. However, some believe that there was never actually any panic at all. So why do we think that there w...

On April 3, 1996, Theodore “Ted” Kaczynski – better known as the Unabomber – was arrested, ending a 17-year-long bombing spree that left 3 dead and 23 injured. He promised to end his campaign of terror only after outlets published his 35,000-word manifesto; in his view, technology is an uncontrollable and dangerous system that could only be stopped by revolutionary means. But where did his ideolog...

No comedian surprised people like Andy Kaufman. He was always one step ahead of the audience. In fact, he was so good at pulling pranks that when he died in 1984, some of his friends thought it was a joke. But what if it really was? Today, some people still believe that Andy faked his own death. Maybe, just maybe, Andy hasn’t left the building. Help us reach 10k followers on Instagram! @⁠theconspi...

On July 4th, 1975, journalist and Sydney heiress Juanita Nielsen disappeared. Most assumed she was the victim of foul play. After all, for years she’d been fighting a land developer determined to turn her charming, low-income neighborhood into a bunch of high-rises. She was last seen inside a nightclub operated by the developer’s associate, and owned by Sydney crime boss Abe Saffron. The case shou...

The chupacabra is considered the third most widely known cryptid in the world, behind Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster – kind of mind-blowing, considering the fact that this mythical creature’s origins are relatively recent. Reports of el chupacabras began in Puerto Rico in 1995… where one theory holds that the creature is the result of a U.S. military experiment gone horribly wrong. Help us reac...

Chuck Barris created game show classics like The Dating Game and The Gong Show. However, his memoir claims his prolific career was all a cover for his classified missions as a CIA assassin. The agency says his claim is 100% false, but as Barris notes, "Have you ever heard the CIA acknowledge someone was an assassin?" So who should we believe? Help us reach 10k followers on Instagram! @⁠theconspira...

1981, Skidmore, Missouri. Ken McElroy, the “bully of Nodaway County,” is gunned down in the street – in broad daylight, and in front of his wife and an untold number of witnesses. Despite multiple investigations and grand juries, nobody has ever been indicted in the case, thanks to an airtight conspiracy of silence among neighbors. But what’s the real reason they’ve all refused to talk? Help us re...

In the 1960s, a new musical revolution emerged from Laurel Canyon, California. Bands like The Beach Boys, The Doors, and Crosby, Stills & Nash sang hit songs protesting the Vietnam War. However, while these tunes spoke to war protesting "hippies," some believe that they were created by the very people they spoke out against: the US government. Help us reach 10k followers on Instagram! @⁠theconspir...

On October 21st, 1978, 20-year-old pilot Fred Valentich disappeared while flying across the Bass Strait, off the southeastern coast of Australia. Moments before vanishing, Fred described a bizarre encounter over the radio. He claimed an unidentified object seemed to be harassing him – moving at impossibly fast speeds, disappearing and then reappearing, and hovering above his Cessna. His final tran...

On September 20, 1973, tennis star Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs in “The Battle of the Sexes,” notching a victory for feminism, women’s athletes, and societal equality. In America’s collective memory, the iconic sporting event was on the up and up. But what if Riggs, a man nicknamed “The Happy Hustler,” needed money so badly that he threw the match? Was the fix in? Check out the 2013 ESPN...

This July, we’re revisiting five classic topics in our Conspiracy Theories: Rewind series! This week: Every summer, members and guests of the exclusive and elusive Bohemian Club meet in a vast redwood grove in Monte Rio, California. Between the towering trees and the secretive nature of their summer retreat, one thing seems certain: Bohemian Grove is shady, Hundreds of influential and ultra-wealth...

This July, we’re revisiting five classic topics in our Conspiracy Theories: Rewind series! Denver International Airport is said to be holding more than planes and luggage. It’s home to apocalyptic artwork, Freemason imagery, and even a literal murderous 32-foot-tall horse. And beneath all of this is a vast tunnel system that many believe houses an alien race that enslaves human children. Is this r...

This July, we’re revisiting five classic topics in our Conspiracy Theories: Rewind series! Its existence and location were not formally acknowledged by the government in 2013. But “Area 51” – so named for its map designation, as part of the Nevada Test Site – has been shrouded in secrecy since it was established in 1955. From black-budget spy planes, to moon landing conspiracies, to Bob Lazar’s cl...

This July, we’re revisiting five classic topics in our Conspiracy Theories: Rewind series! Marilyn Monroe has been a cultural icon since she dominated Hollywood in the 1950s. Yet, her life was filled with turmoil. She struggled with mental health, drug addiction, and heartache– particularly during her alleged affairs with both JFK and Bobby Kennedy. But what was it that led to her untimely death?...

This July, we’re revisiting five classic topics in our Conspiracy Theories: Rewind series! First up, one of our most-requested stories: The Titanic. The “unsinkable” ship was brought down by a 6-second brush with an iceberg in April 1912. Did somebody know the world’s largest ocean liner would sink that day? Help us reach 10k followers on Instagram! @⁠theconspiracypod⁠ Play Unhinged, an new horror...

When the Allan Memorial Institute opened its doors in 1943, its founders believed it would revolutionize mental health care. Under the direction of Dr. Ewen Cameron, however, the hospital started down a dark path – barbaric treatments, patients begging to go home, and a dark place nobody wanted to enter known as “The Sleep Room.” It would take decades for the world to learn about Cameron’s experim...

Some believe that the government plants references to future global atrocities into popular media– subconsciously conditioning the public to never rise up. Their biggest brainwashing weapon? The Simpsons. The cartoon has been said to predict the future, but these “predictions” may really be clues to a bigger master plan by those that control the world. For more Simpsons lore, check out Stupid TV,...

On May 19, 1984, an ice cream truck driver from Ohio named Michael Larson wins more than $100,000 on the CBS daytime game show Press Your Luck. How he does it is a total mystery. Is he a scammer? Is he supernaturally lucky? Or has he made his own luck? Help us reach 10k followers on Instagram! @⁠theconspiracypod⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1992, UFO researcher Bob Oeschler received a strange package in the mail. It contained documents, purportedly stolen from some top-secret Canadian project, alleging a vast alien cover-up. The envelope contained something else: a VHS tape. The sender – identified only as “Guardian” – claimed to have captured footage of a UFO landing in rural Ontario. Bob found the tape credible and spent years t...

In 1986, two young British defense scientists died under mysterious circumstances, sparking theories of foul play. Not only because both specialized in underwater defense systems; they also worked for the same company, Marconi Electronic Systems. Which was one of several defense contractors working with Ronald Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative, or Star Wars. As journalists sought out connectio...

On June 16th, 2009, a dead body washes ashore on Rosses Point beach, Ireland. The Irish police force learns the deceased’s name is Peter Bergmann. Or is it? Because everything “Peter” did while alive seemed shrouded in secrecy. He gave his hotel a fake name, a fake address, and he even knew how to dodge CCTV cameras around the city. Was Peter just a private, secretive man – or was he a spy? Help u...

In 1988, a covert team operating within the Defense Intelligence Agency sought out the legendary Ark of the Covenant. Only, their search didn’t take them out in the field, Indiana Jones-style. Project Sun Streak sought out the lost relic using Remote Viewing – the reported ability to transmit one’s consciousness elsewhere. According to declassified documents… it seems like they may have located it...

The injustice and hysteria that defined the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 is so shocking, historians have spent centuries looking for an explanation. In reality, it was a perfect storm of tensions that led to the deaths of at least 24 innocent people. But in all of that confusion, who was really pulling the strings? And why didn’t elected leaders step in sooner? Help us reach 10k followers on Instagr...

In the 1950s, Adventures of Superman dominated TV screens thanks to its star George Reeves. However, while the world loved him as Superman, George reportedly felt trapped in the role. According to the Hollywood rumor mill, the resulting depression drove him to die by suicide. But is this what really happened, or an apocryphal tale that covers up the truth – that Superman was murdered? Help us reac...

A man stumbles out of the Colorado wilderness in 1873. After his traveling party ran out of food in the dead of winter, he’s the only survivor. Except he looks surprisingly well-fed. Alfred Packer’s story of what became of his companions changes not once, but twice. In the end, we know that he ate them in order to survive. The question is, did he kill them first? Help us reach 10k followers on Ins...