5 Absurd Conspiracy Theories That Actually Have a Tiny, Ridiculous Grain of Truth
Conspiracy theories: we love to laugh at them until we realize that sometimes, hidden beneath layers of tinfoil hats and bizarre logic, there’s a tiny, ridiculous grain of truth. Here are five outlandish conspiracy theories that aren’t entirely wrong—just mostly.
1. The Government is Watching You Through Your Devices
The Conspiracy: Big Brother is real, and he’s watching you through your smartphone, laptop, and even your smart fridge. The government has turned your everyday gadgets into high-tech surveillance tools, monitoring your every move.
The Ridiculous Grain of Truth: While your smart fridge isn’t likely reporting your snack habits to the feds, the idea that the government could be monitoring citizens through their devices isn’t entirely fiction. The Edward Snowden revelations in 2013 brought to light the NSA’s PRISM program, which collected data from major tech companies like Google, Facebook, and Apple, often without users’ knowledge .
The extent of surveillance was shocking, with millions of Americans potentially having their communications monitored. While the government isn’t likely watching you binge Netflix, they could, in theory, access your data if they deemed it necessary.
2. The Moon Landing Was Faked
The Conspiracy: NASA never landed on the moon. Instead, they faked the moon landing footage.
The Ridiculous Grain of Truth: The moon landing was real, but there’s a nugget of truth to the idea that some of the footage that was aired on television might not be. In a 2000 interview, Buzz Aldrin noted during a 2000 appearance on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" that news broadcasts covering the moon landing in 1969 used animated simulations (that were properly labeled as such) to give audiences a visual representation of the moon landing since there are no TV news cameras on the moon.
While the actual landing happened, Buzz Aldrin's comment fed the conspiracy flames, with some theorists clinging to the idea that if part of the footage was fake, maybe the whole thing was.
3. The Government Controls the Weather
The Conspiracy: The government has a secret project capable of controlling the weather, causing hurricanes, droughts, and even earthquakes to manipulate global events.
The Ridiculous Grain of Truth: The idea of weather manipulation isn’t entirely unfounded. In fact, the U.S. government has experimented with weather control. During the Vietnam War, Operation Popeye was a cloud-seeding program designed to extend the monsoon season and disrupt enemy supply lines by making roads muddy and impassable.
While the project wasn’t exactly about summoning hurricanes, it demonstrated that the idea of manipulating weather for military purposes isn’t just the stuff of science fiction.
4. 5G Networks Are Spying on You
The Conspiracy: 5G towers aren’t just for faster internet—they’re part of a global surveillance network that can track and monitor every move you make, possibly even frying your brain in the process.
The Ridiculous Grain of Truth: While 5G isn’t frying anyone’s brain, there are legitimate concerns about the technology being used for surveillance. For instance, some have raised concerns about the potential for 5G networks to enable more sophisticated government surveillance, particularly in authoritarian regimes .
Moreover, the U.S. government banned Huawei, a leading 5G equipment provider, over fears that their technology could be used by the Chinese government for espionage. So while 5G isn’t a mind-control device, it’s not entirely outlandish to worry about how it could be misused.
5. The Government Has Alien Technology
The Conspiracy: Area 51 is a top-secret military base where the U.S. government hides captured alien spacecraft and reverse-engineers extraterrestrial technology for military use.
The Ridiculous Grain of Truth: Area 51 is real, and while it’s not home to E.T., it has been the site of top-secret aircraft development. The U-2 spy plane and the stealth fighter were both developed at Area 51 under extreme secrecy, leading to wild speculation about what else might be hidden there .
In 2020, the Pentagon officially released videos of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAPs), and some of these incidents remain unexplained. While this doesn’t mean we’ve got alien spaceships parked in a Nevada hangar, the government’s secrecy has fueled decades of speculation and conspiracy theories.
Conclusion
These conspiracy theories do have that nagging grain of truth that keeps them alive. Whether it’s the government’s tendency to keep secrets, the military’s penchant for experimentation, or the unintended consequences of new technologies, there’s just enough reality mixed in with the absurd to make these theories worth a second glance.
