Conspiracy Theories

Meteor crashes with no remains, metallic objects over small villages, and jellyfish creatures hovering above city centers... These were just a few UFO sightings within the Soviet Union in the last century. Did the USSR cover up the truth about its extraterrestrial visitors? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

CIA agent Kermit Roosevelt led a covert operation to overthrow Iran's Prime Minister in 1953. But Operation Ajax didn’t go according to plan. Theories about it continue to this day, ranging from whether Roosevelt went rogue and hatched his own plan, to what Iranian politics would look like today without foreign intervention. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After Iran nationalized its oil fields, a seminal coup erupted in 1953. It appeared to be a spontaneous revolution — but many began to wonder if it had in fact been engineered by international intelligence agencies in order to reclaim the oil industry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

New Coke was one of the biggest commercial flops in American history, and a massive success for Coca-Cola. Executives collected huge bonuses while original Coke sales spiked. Which leads some to wonder: Was New Coke's failure the plan all along? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1886, an Atlanta-area pharmacist created an American institution: Coca-Cola. Seven years later, their rival, Pepsi, debuted. Since then, the soda giants have battled for market dominance. How far would they go to come out on top? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

19th century author Mary Shelley is known for penning the classic horror novel, Frankenstein. But many contest her authorship. Were Mary and other female authors victims of a sexist industry? Or was there more going on behind the scenes? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye has been held as a seminal book of required reading in America. But after multiple acts of violence were linked back to it, people wondered if the text could incite people to do malicious things… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On April 3rd, 1996, the weather in Croatia wasn't great — but it wasn't bad enough to explain why experienced Air Force pilots crashed into a mountain. Many suspect that Ron Brown's flight was sabotaged by a terrorist organization, the Croatian government, or maybe even by the Clintons themselves. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1996, during a trade mission to Croatia, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown and 34 other passengers died in a plane crash — one that seemed too bizarre to chalk up to an accident. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Many experts believe the world will run out of oil in the next 30 years, and some people think the looming scarcity inspired unconscionable acts — like the Iraq War in 2003. But there might be massive reserves under our feet that oil companies don't want you to know about. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1859, a prospector invented modern drilling technology and kicked off an oil rush in the United States. Countless corporations made themselves rich through mass extraction — but according to one geologist and physicist, the world is on track to run out of fuel by 2050. When that happens, society as we know it may collapse. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Was Danny Casolaro murdered for getting too close to The Octopus? What had his investigations uncovered? And were his sources framed and defamed for helping him?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the early ‘90s, investigative journalist Danny Casolaro claimed he’d stumbled upon a clandestine organization made up of top government officials. Just as he was preparing to publish an exposé, he was found dead in his hotel room. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What took the NFL so long to admit the threat of traumatic brain injuries? Some suggest the dangers are widely overblown. Others claim the NFL took a page from Big Tobacco’s disinformation playbook. And still others insist the League ignored the issue because of systemic racism.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Could one of America's favorite pastimes be a silent killer? For decades, the National Football League overlooked the effects of repeat concussions in their athletes — and some players continue to pay the cost in the form of depression, violent behavior, even suicide. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Theories multiplied in online and radio discourse about the true perpetrators of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Was it the oil companies themselves, North Korea, or even radical environmentalist groups? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded and then sank, kickstarting one of the largest oil spills in history. The companies who ran the rig became targets of lawsuits and heavy government regulation — but was the world looking at the wrong culprits? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Fans believed it was no coincidence that Brittany and her husband Simon died six months apart from the same complications. Some suspected toxic mold in the home. Others found a suspicious connection to the DHS. And her estranged father began casting doubt on her mother, claiming foul play.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Her breakout role in 1995’s “Clueless” made her America’s sweetheart. But was Brittany Murphy also a murder victim? The 32-year-old died under mysterious circumstances in 2009, and when her widower died of the exact cause just months later, Murphy’s mobster father cried “murder.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For decades, the C.I.A. funded Operation Gladio and hid it from the public. They may have also used their weapons and agents in an attempt to assassinate Pope John Paul II, and kill former Italian Prime Minister, Aldo Moro. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

During the Cold War, a secret military operation hid hundreds of weapons caches throughout Europe. They trained resistance fighters and prepared for a Communist invasion, and may have also orchestrated a series of devastating terrorist attacks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Secret files, vanished reports, called-in favors… How far did corporations, lobbyists, and possibly even high-ranking U.S. politicians go to protect the billion dollar asbestos industry?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Once called a “magical mineral,” asbestos was used in everything from curtains to cigarette filters in the 20th century. But as its health hazards became alarmingly apparent, America’s asbestos giants buried the truth of their deadly product. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

During the Cold War, the U.S. government funded radiation experiments on unwitting civilians — including a group of boys at Fernald. Who else was subjected to lab-rat treatment by the government? And can we be sure their covert experiments have stopped?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Originally billed as an education center for people with intellectual disabilities, the Fernald School exploited thousands of kids for free labor. The institution was rife with abuse even before it became a testing ground for radiation experiments in the 1940s and ‘50s. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices