For most people, conspiracy theories are a fun way to stir up some conversation at a dinner party or among a small group of friends. For others, learning about conspiracy theories are a way of life. Most theories are conjured up from distrust in the government, and others are formed from inexplicable happenings. These are the most popular conspiracy theories from the U.S. that you might not know about!
Mind-Control Facility in Alaska
The High-Frequency Active Auroral Research Program helps scientists study the farthest distance of the atmosphere. The facility that the program takes place in resides in the deep Alaskan wilderness on a whopping 33 acres of land. It has over 180 antennas, which looks alarming...
Some people have claimed that the antennas are an experimental weapon that attempts to control people's minds. Crazed theorists have even claimed that the antennas caused the Columbia space shuttle to destruct in 2003. After years of speculation, the facility held an open house to anyone interested in viewing the goings-on of the program. Nothing to see here! Allegedly.
The Denver Airport
The Denver Airport might be the weirdest public space in the United States. For starters, building the airport went $2 billion over budget. Obviously, this led people to believe that they were "allocating" resources for something else... Possibly an underground bunker? But wait, it gets weirder!
The art installations around the airport are the biggest cause of concern for most citizens. At the entrance of the airport, there is a 32-foot-tall "demon horse" sculpture that actually killed the artist when its head fell off and crushed him. There are murals all over, depicting Nazi officers in gas masks, children running out of burning buildings, and even the devil jumping out of a suitcase. Folks tend to believe that some sort of devil-worshipping happens somewhere on the grounds.
The Chamber Behind Mount Rushmore
Mount Rushmore, carved into The Six Grandfathers sacred Native American mountain in South Dakota, has more than its fair share of controversy and conspiracy. It's not total common knowledge that there is a secret chamber hidden behind Abraham Lincoln's head. The intentions for this chamber have changed drastically over time...
Sculptor Gutzon Borglum created an 18-foot door behind Lincoln's head that leads to a room that is 74-feet long and 35-feet high. The intention was to place America's most prized possessions in the room and name it the Hall of Records. Now, it lays sealed shut to the public. What are they hiding in there? Aliens? Hidden treasures? Nothing?
Area 51
Who could forget the "Storm Area 51" event? This is one of the most sought after conspiracies in America and it's all about aliens, UFOs, and the American government.
Area 51 is a military base in the middle of Nevada. It has acres and acres of protected land that surrounds the base so that no one can get near it. People theorize that the government is holding alien technology and even alien lifeforms at the base. The government never even acknowledged it until 2019.
The Mattress Firm Conspiracy
Have you ever noticed that there is an abundance of Mattress Firms? Sometimes, they're even across the street from one another! This made people believe that the corporate entity was in some sort of underground ring of crime...
"Mattress Firm is some sort of giant money-laundering scheme," one Reddit user wrote on a viral 2018 Reddit thread. "I remember seeing four mattress firms all on each corner of an intersection once, and there is no way there is such a demand for mattresses."
To Kill a Mockingbird
Some people feel like they have reason to believe that crime author Truman Capote actually wrote Harper Lee's infamous To Kill a Mockingbird. The two actually grew up together in Alabama and were close childhood friends. Coincidentally, both went on to be famous authors.
So, why do people think that Capote wrote TKAM? Apparently, they believe it's because Lee only wrote two books in her entire career while Capote went on to write a bunch. Lee's sister, Alice C. Lee, claimed that Capote made up that rumor because he was jealous of her sister's work.
MLK's Assassination
It's common knowledge that famous civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated at a hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. He stepped out onto his balcony late at night and was shot by James Earl Ray. Ray was convicted of the murder and pleaded guilty. But, many people, include King's children, believe that there's more to the story.
A wide scope of people believes that Ray did not work alone, or did it at all. Many believe that the KKK or the FBI were heavily involved with the assassination plot and that Ray was just a cog in the machine. The US Justice Department investigated the case three separate times. The first case suggested a wider conspiracy, while the last two put the theory to rest.
Roswell, New Mexico
The Roswell conspiracy and the Area 51 conspiracy usually go hand-in-hand. On July 4th, 1947, Mac Brazel went out to his field in Roswell, New Mexico to tend to his sheep. He ended up finding a "crash site" of some sort of UFO and called the local sheriff, who ended up calling the Roswell Army Air Force.
Apparently, the parts were quickly scooped up and taken away to be investigated. Theorists believe that the parts were taken to Area 51. Locals and news media were in an uproar about the parts as the government never gave a formal answer as to what it was.
The Kennedy Assassination
US citizens tend to distrust their government, especially when it comes to national catastrophes such as the assassination of a beloved president. On November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy was killed in a motorcade. Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for the killing and then murdered on live television.
Of course, people had their suspicions. It was bizarre to see the man who murdered a US president get killed in such a public setting. Some people have said that the Mafia, the CIA, Cuba, or even the Soviet Union hired Oswald to kill JFK and then killed him to keep him quiet.
Bigfoot
Bigfoot has been (allegedly) sighted all over the US. From Alaska to Florida, nearly every state as a documented Bigfoot sighting. For some reason, Washington state seems to have the highest amount of sightings.
In 1958, Ray Wallace claimed to have made a cast of Bigfoot prints. After he died in 2002, his children revealed that it was all a prank. Still, people have witnesses Bigfoot in the decades since. Washington State has over 2,000 alleged sightings of the bipedal beast.
Flora, Mississippi UFO Sighting
On February 10, 1977, multiple police officers called in to report a bizarre occurrence in the Mississippi skies. Several cops claimed to see an object hovering in the sky, unlike anything they've never seen before. The officers followed the UFOs until they disappeared among the treeline.
"It was approximately 15 to 18 feet off the ground, blue in color, kind of metallic blue, portholes around the center of it, shaped like an old spinning top kids used to use," one of the officers said. It's still unclear what they saw, but extraterrestrial believers think that something like that, seen by sworn officers, is definitely peculiar.
Loch Ness Monster in... Montana?
Obviously, the Loch Ness Monster can't be in Flathead Lake, Montana because it's in Scotland! But, there have been reported sightings of a similar beast in the American state.
In 1889, Captain James C. Kerr and 100 of his passengers aboard a steamboat reported seeing a 40-foot-long monster in Flathead Lake. One witness claimed that the being resembled the infamous Loch Ness monster because of its "steel black eyes" and fins. Since then, there have been 108 reports of a monster in Flathead Lake.
Johnny Gosch
On September 5, 1982, 12-year-old Johnny Gosch was abducted while on his morning newspaper run. There were absolutely no witnesses and no leads. Gosch seemingly disappeared out of thin air.
Some skeptics believe that he was abducted into a child trafficking ring that was operating in Nebraska. His mother, Noreen, later received pictures of a man who was tied up in a basement. Although the man in the photo could not be confirmed, she believed that the theory must have been true. In 1997, Noreen claimed that her then adult son visited her with his abductor. She said that he told her he was "all right" which then ignited even more conspiracies that he was still alive. Police could not corroborate Noreen's story.
The Active Volcano Under Yellowstone
It's public knowledge that there is an active volcano under Yellowstone in Wyoming. Conspiracists have reason to believe that the government knows when the eruption will happen. The volcano is 44 miles wide and could easily wipe out the entire US.
Using scientific data, conspiracists think that the government knows when and how it will erupt. They claim that the government will not release the information to the public and instead tell the rich upper class to protect them. There's no proof to this claim, but still, conspiracists persist.
The Georgia Guidestones
The Georgia Guidestones were built in Elberton, Georgia in 1980. There are 10 guidelines written on the stones in eight different languages. It seems to be the "rules" for humans. Nobody knows who built the monument or why. The person who bought it did so under an alias.
Some people believe that the inscriptions are foretelling the downfall of the world and how to rebuild society when it happens. Others believe that it was a monument erected by Satanists or the New World Order to promote their anti-God "agenda."
The Kentucky Derby
In May of 1968, Peter Fuller and his horse, Danger's Image, won the Kentucky Derby. They were given the $5,000 prize and the title of champions. Three days later, the two were stripped of their title due to traces of phenylbutazone found in the horse's blood. Fuller himself was shocked by the find and denied the results.
The Kentucky Derby
Fuller took the claims to court. The situation rocked the community which led to speculation on what actually happened. Fuller was a supporter of Martin Luther King Jr. and even donated money to his family. There are suspicions that an anti-civil rights group sabotaged the horse. Another theory is that the FBI plotted against Fuller because J. Edgar Hoover disliked King and Fuller.
Chemtrails
Chemtrails are exhaust trails left behind in the sky by airplanes. The conspiracy theory is that the chemtrails are actually chemicals left by the government to poison communities. The theory was stemmed from Idaho citizens who claimed that the chemtrails caused over 2,000 geese to fall from the sky and die.
Chemtrails
The geese situation most likely transpired from an infectious bout of cholera. Citizens in Idaho claim that the streaks in the sky are absolutely poisonous and disrupt their quality of life. The government has denied these claims and said that the contrails are left behind planes because of how the engines work.
John Dillinger
In the 1930s, John Dillinger became a nationally known name when he became public enemy number 1 for the armed robberies of over 10 banks. He stole upwards of $300,000. He escaped jail by tricking guards using a fake gun carved out of wood and then became unrecognizable after getting facial reconstruction surgery.
John Dillinger
He was killed in an alleyway in 1934 after the FBI put out a $100,000 bounty on his head. The conspiracy claims that it was not actually Dillinger since the body had brown eyes while Dillinger had "famous" stormy grey eyes. In 1963, the Indianapolis Star received a letter from someone claiming to be Dillinger, which led many people to believe that he had survived. It's not really clear what the truth is.
Louisiana Sinkhole
In 2012, a 34-acre sinkhole opened up in Bayou Corne, Louisana. It swallowed 100-foot trees and drained the water from nearby swamps. So, what caused it to randomly open up? Was it a natural occurrence, or something more sinister?
Louisana Sinkhole
The conspiracy theory states that the sinkhole is connected to the entire Gulf of Mexico and that it will eventually swallow up the entire region. That means that everything between Texas and Flordia will be sucked into the earth. Scientists who have studied the sinkhole have dispelled the claims, but that won't stop conspiracy theorists!
Enoch Lincoln
Enoch Lincoln was a well-known name in New England for his poetry and advocacy for Black and women's rights in the early 1820s. He was elected as Maine's sixth governor and chose the site of Maine's capital. He had a lot of influence in the region, so when he died in 1829, he was placed in a crypt for easy public visitation.
Enoch Lincoln
In 1991, 162 years after his death, his crypt was inspected. There were no remains. The body of Lincoln was nowhere to be found. Of course, people began to talk. Some believe that he never actually died and decided to live in secrecy. Others think that white supremacists had a hand in his death and faked the truth. Others say that state workers might have cleaned the tomb and just "forgot" to put the body back. His body has never been found.
Wytheville, Virginia UFO Sightings
In October of 1987, Wythe County Sheriff Wayne Pike made a report claiming that he and his deputies witnessed "strange lights" in the sky. Naturally, people were put into a panic over what the lights could be. By 1988, there were over 3,000 reports of UFOs in the area.
Wytheville, Virginia UFO Sightings
"All of a sudden, everybody started seeing things," a reporter in the area claimed. He also said that he saw something strange in the sky one night, but couldn't tell what it was. Were people just tricking themselves into seeing these UFOs and causing mass hysteria, or was something going on in Wytheville?
Jimmy Hoffa
Jimmy Hoffa was a compassionate labor leader who advocated for worker's rights. He eventually made his way to President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Behind the scenes, he was making deals with a local mob and was arrested. After he was released from jail, he completely disappeared.
Jimmy Hoffa
His body was never found. Some think that he was the victim of a mob hit. Others think that the Teamsters murdered him due to the betrayal of him going to jail. He was finally declared dead seven years after he disappeared. One conspiracy says that he's buried underneath Giants Stadium in New Jersey.
Humming from the Sky
Cities across Minnesota have reported bizarre "humming" sounds coming from the sky. In 2011, locals in Alexandria, Minnesota, caught the sounds on camera. In 2018, another humming sound was recorded in Minneapolis.
Humming from the Sky
Some people have tried to say that airplanes are the cause of humming. That theory has not been proven. Others think that it's something extraterrestrial or secret government training. The government has not commented on what the sound was.
2011 Joplin Tornado
On May 22, 2011, Joplin, Missouri, was hit by a horrible tornado that killed 161 people and completely leveled the town. The tornado reached speeds upwards of 200 mph. Conspiracy theorists think that the crazy strength of the tornado was not a natural disaster.
2011 Joplin Tornado
The most popular theory is that the tornado was created by a US military facility. In fact, they believe that the High-Frequency Active Auroral Research Program facility is to blame. The facility studies the upper atmosphere of the earth. Experts say that it's false.
Mystery Hill
Mystery Hill is located in Salem, New Hampshire. It's a 4,000-year-old archeological wonder. No one knows how, why, or by who it was built. There are walls, chambers, drains, and basins all made out of stone inside. Naturally, there are a lot of theories surrounding the formation.
Mystery Hill
Some theories state that the formation was built by Native Americans. Others state that it was built by colonial settlers. William Goodwin purchased the land that the formations were on and came up with the theory that it was built by Vikings or Irish monks before Christopher Columbus entered America.
Ong's Hat in the Pine Barrens
Ong's Hat in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey dates back to the 17th century. The population of the town dwindled in the 20th century and remains a ghost town to this day. In the 1980s, a pamphlet was published claiming that Ong's Hat was home to a group of people who dabbled in interdimensional travel. The theory only grew with the introduction of the internet.
Ong's Hat in the Pine Barrens
The pamphlet claimed that the group started with Princeton University scientists who moved to the abandoned down and made "The Egg," which allowed people to travel in between universes. The machine teleported an entire group to escape police investigation. Some people claim to have been a part of this group, but there's no concrete evidence that it ever existed.
Brown Mountain Lights
On September 24, 1913, witnesses in the Charlotte Observer noticed balls of light floating through the valley of Brown Mountain and then disappearing. The lights were a conspiracy until 2016 when a group of scientists captured the mysterious lights on camera.
Brown Mountain Lights
"It was something out there. It came on and went back off virtually instantly four times over several minutes," one of the scientists said. "We've eliminated all the things that are likely man-made natural sources, so we're left with no real explanation other than it's whatever the lights might actually be."
The Safeguard Complex
The Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex in North Dakota was built in the 1970s to detect incoming missiles on a $500 million budget. The facility itself is shaped like a pyramid with a flat top, like the one on the back of the dollar bill. It was only open and in operation for one day.
The Safeguard Complex
It opened on October 1, 1975, and closed on October 2, 1975. Of course, this led to conspiracy theories. Some say the building is actually used by the Illuminati, the biggest "secret society" in existence.
Extraterrestrial Signal
On August 15, 1977, astronomer Jerry Ehman recorded a radio signal using the Big Ear telescope at Ohio State University. The sound that he heard was so loud that he quite literally wrote down, "Wow!" on the printout. The sound lasted for 72 seconds.
Extraterrestrial Signal
The Wow! Signal, as it was named, was never heard again, which makes people think that it was extraterrestrial. Others theorize that it was a comet that the telescope was picking up, or maybe a glitch in the telescope. There's never been a concrete answer for this sound.
The Freemasons Yearly Meeting
The Freemason group called Robert Burns Masonic Lodge holds a yearly meeting at the Malheur Cave in Oregan. The 3,000-foot cave was once used by Native Americans. Of course, this event on its own leads to many conspiracy theories.
The Freemasons Yearly Meeting
Some conspirators claim that the cave is actually a door to tell. Others think it connects to an underground tunnel system that connects all Mason-used locations. Of course, there's also the group who believe that the tunnel holds satanic worship services and sacrifices in the cave.
Centralia, Pennsylvania
In 1962, the town of Centralia lit a landfill on fire in hopes of getting rid of some trash. The fire spread to the underground coal mines that were responsible for the town's economy. The fires made the town so unsafe that the state forced evictions to keep them safe. Right now, seven people remain in the town that used to house hundreds.
Centralia, Pennsylvania
Since people distrust the government, this situation only led to more conspiracy theories. Some think that the government started the fire to collect billions of dollars worth of coal and keep the money for themselves. Nothing like that has ever come to light, though, and the fire still rages on to this day.
Salty Brine Beach Blast
No, not beach blast as in "party" but as in a huge force that pushed people off of their chairs and severely injured one person. Witnesses claimed to have heard rumbling in the ground before the blast. According to one witness, it was like the sand "erupted."
Salty Brine Beach Blast
"There was a massive bang and I seen the actual rocks shift and move," one witness told WPRI. "And I started screaming, 'Get up, get up!' The same time I'm screaming, the sand erupted, threw my sister from there, like a live canon, face-down, unconscious 10 feet away."
Salty Brine Beach Blast
Of course, this caught the attention of conspiracy theorists. Some theorized that explosives were hidden underneath the sand. According to the Providence Journal, hydrogen from the corrosion of copper cable likely caused the Salty Brine blast.