10 Crazy Conspiracy Theories That Just Happen to Be True

July 30th, 2013

The US Air Force and numerous intelligence agencies have been in communication with reptilian aliens from the planet Nibiru… just kidding. But keep that tin foil firmly fastened, because after this, orbital mind control lasers won’t seem so far fetched. I’ve got 10 (consult your I-Ching) one-time conspiracy theories that are now conspiracy facts. 

1. Mind Control

From the ’50s to the ’70s, the CIA ran a variety of experiments to test whether subliminal messages, electrical impulses, and psychedelic drugs could be used for mind control. The most famous of them is MK-Ultra, a project that tested the mind control applications of LSD, psilocybin, mescaline, and other drugs on prostitutes, prisoners, mental patients, and soldiers, without their knowledge or consent. Numerous sub-projects were also exposed. MK-Search aimed to concoct a truth serum for interrogating detainees. Project Artichoke aimed to induce amnesia using drugs and hypnosis. The Stargate Project studied “remote viewing.” That’s right. They blew tax dollars trying to see through walls with their mind.

2. They Control the Media

The government paid off major media outlets like Time, The Washington Post, The New York Times, CBS and others to publish government propaganda. Dubbed Operation Mockingbird, from 1948 to 1972, over 400 well-known domestic and foreign journalists and over 300 newspapers and magazines were paid to report what the CIA told them to report. At least one movie, the animated “Animal Farm,” by George Orwell, was directly funded by the CIA. They also paid editors to keep anti-government reports out of the press. This was exposed in 1975 by the Church Committee.

3. Secret Nuclear Program

Secret nuclear programs are evil and justify preemptive war… except when the US does them. The Manhattan Project was the code name for the development of the first atomic bomb, and it was conducted completely in secret, even from the American people. From 1942 to 1946, the Manhattan Project employed more than 130,000 people, operated in over 30 sites, and racked up expenses nearing $2 billion ($22 billion adjusted for inflation). This makes it one of the largest conspiracies in history. Entire towns were built, employing people to support the research facilities, all of which were top secret. There was no public discussion. There were no whistleblowers. The American people had no idea for over 25 years.

4. Unethical Medical Experiments

From 1932 to 1972, the US government carried out the Tuskegee Study, a clinical study of syphilis on 400 poor African-American citizens. The government promised free treatment, but, instead, the subjects were given false and dangerous treatments, such as aspirin, while adequate treatment was intentionally withheld so that the progress of the disease could be observed. 128 subjects died from syphilis or related complications, so their autopsies also became relevant to the study. In addition, 40 women contracted syphilis from male subjects who were denied knowledge of their condition, and 19 children were born with congenital disease.

5. Nazi Collaboration

I know, right… Nazis, but hear me out. After the Nazi regime fell in May of 1945, the Allies felt no compunctions about looting the rubble — useful equipment, needed supplies, no problem. But soliciting applications from the newly unemployed seems a little fool hardy. The US government rounded up German scientists, pardoned their war crimes, and offered them jobs. President Truman objected, so the military created the Joint Intelligence Objectives Agency, which was tasked with creating fake background information for unprosecuted, unapologetic Nazi scientists. So, hundreds of Nazis became high-level government employees. For example, Arthur Rudolph, who was responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of inmates, joined the US space program. In total, 700 Nazi scientists found employment within the US government.

6. False Flag Terrorism

Calm down, I’m not talking about 9/11. I’m talking about Operation Northwoods. In the ’60s, US military leaders wanted to drum up public support for a war on Cuba. The Secretary of Defense presented a paper called “Justification for US Military Intervention in Cuba” that was full of a wide range of false flag suggestions. The plot included bombings in US cities, hijacking planes, and numerous other ways to scare the American people by murdering a few of them. The plans were approved by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but rejected by President Kennedy. The plan was never implemented, but the suggestion was kept secret for decades until documents entitled “Operation Northwoods” were declassified in 1997.

7. False Witness

In 1990, a 15-year-old girl named Nayirah testified before Congress that she had seen Iraqi soldiers murder 300 Kuwaiti babies in a hospital. This was used to justify the 1991 Gulf War on humanitarian grounds, though many people disputed the authenticity of her story at the time and were maligned as conspiracy theorists. It turns out that the girl’s testimony was orchestrated by the public relations firm Hill & Knowlton, with some money from the Kuwaiti royal family and some acting lessons provided by the CIA. Nayirah was actually Nayirah al-Sabah, daughter of Saud bin Nasir Al-Sabah, the Kuwaiti ambassador to the US. The events she described never actually occurred.

8. Counter Intelligence

It’s called COINTELPRO (an acronym for Counter Intelligence Program). Between 1956 and 1971, the FBI conducted a series of covert, usually-illegal operations to investigate and disrupt political organizations in the US. According to FBI records, 85% of COINTELPRO resources were spent infiltrating, marginalizing, and subverting groups thought to be disruptive to the existing social and political order, such as communists, feminists, civil rights advocates, and anti-war groups. The program targeted the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the American Indian Movement. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover ordered FBI agents to “expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize” the activities of these movements and their leaders. Agents bugged phones, forged documents, and planted false reports to create a negative public image of rebellious people and leaders. The agency declared Martin Luther King, Jr. an unofficial enemy of the state, specifically in response to his “I Have A Dream” speech. Agents tracked his every move, taped his phone calls, and threatened to blackmail him over an extramarital affair.

9. Drug Smuggling

In August of 1996, the San Jose Mercury News published “Dark Alliance”, a 20,000 word, three-part investigative series exposing the fact that the CIA had bought crack cocaine from Nicaraguan drug smugglers and distributed it in Los Angeles during the ’80s. The profits were used to fund the CIA-supported Nicaraguan Contras.

10. Gulf of Tonkin

In 1964, two American destroyers engaged three North Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin. This resulted in sweeping public support for aggressive military action against North Vietnam. Congress then passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, granting authority to give military assistance to any Southeast Asian country threatened by communist aggression. In 2005, an internal NSA historical study was declassified which concluded that there was no North Vietnamese vessel present during the incident. The report stated, “It is not simply that there is a different story as to what happened; it is that no attack happened that night…” The Gulf of Tonkin incident never happened. The NSA deliberately distorted the intelligence reports that it had passed on to policymakers.

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About the Author: Davi Barker

In grade school Davi refused to recite the pledge of allegiance because he didn't understand what it meant. He was ordered to do as he was told. In college he spent hours scouring through the congressional record trying to understand this strange machine. That's where he discovered Dr. Ron Paul. In 2007 he joined the End The Fed movement and found a political home with the libertarians. The Declaration of Independence claims that the government derives its power “from the consent of the governed." He does not consent.