11/24/19  #1030
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It's time once again. It's time for the Men-In-Black to start hammering on your front door. It's time for secret government operatives to start tapping your phone and email accounts. It's time for those pesky little grey aliens to start abducting you from your bedroom at night. It's time for all of this because your number one weekly newsletter of conspiracies, UFOs, the paranormal and everything strange and bizarre has once again arrived in your email box - and they want to read it to find out what is REALLY going on.



This week Conspiracy Journal brings you such cosmic stories as:

- Scientist Suggests There Could Be Insects on Mars -

- Ghosts Could Be A Sign The Universe Is Simulated -

The Biting Dead -

AND: The Highs and Lows of Flat Earth: Observations of a Dallas Gathering

All these exciting stories and MORE in this week's issue of
CONSPIRACY JOURNAL!

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- LIFE ON THE RED PLANET DEPARTMENT -

Scientist Suggests There Could Be Insects on Mars

Recently, Dr. William Romoser, Emeritus Professor of Medical Entomology at Ohio University released the paper “Does Insect/Arthropod Biodiversity Extend Beyond Earth?,” presented during November 19 conference of the Entomological Society of America, held in St. Louis, Missouri.

Dr.Romoser’s abstract for his paper explains:

“There is ample evidence to answer the question posed by the title in the affirmative. For several years, I have been engaged in study of the NASA-JPL photographs transmitted to Earth from the surface vehicles sent to explore Mars, Curiosity Rover in particular. These photos are available to the public via the internet. In this poster, I present and discuss numerous examples of insect/arthropod-like forms (fossil & living) found in Mars rover photos. Examples include insect-like forms displaying apparent diversity, clearly recognizable insect/arthropod anatomical features, and flight. Evidence of a fossil reptile-like (serpentine) form and reptile-like forms preying on insect-like forms is also presented. Each example is documented. These findings provide a compelling basis for further study and raise many important questions.”

Dr Rosomer brought up photos taken by Nasa's Mars Curiosity rover, which has been taking photographs of the planet since 2012. Nasa makes the pictures available to the public, allowing anyone to examine objects on the Martian surface.

Identifiable life forms

“This is the first professional report of direct evidence of identifiable life forms beyond the confines of Earth,” Romoser explained, offering images that appear to capture fossilized and living, insect-like organisms.

“The presence of higher metazoan organisms on Mars implies the presence of nutrient/energy sources and processes, food chains and webs, and water as elements functioning in a viable, if extreme, ecological setting sufficient to sustain life,” Romoser explained.

“Given evidence for the presence of insect/arthropod-and reptile-like organisms beyond the confines of Earth,” Romoser said, “perhaps ‘astroentomology’ and ‘astroherpetology’ will emerge as important topics within the field of astrobiology.”

Romoser has said that while any given image does not in itself prove anything, “I believe the mosaic of what I have described is compelling.” Furthermore, “I view the research reported here to be replicative and corroborative. It is very clear that much more study of the photos is needed. The information presented here barely scratches the surface.”

The photos that Dr. Romoser presented as examples depicts potential evidence of insect-like forms very similar in structure to those of bees — specifically bumble and carpenter bees here on Earth. The professor’s annotations outline the various body parts of the structure, including a head, a thorax and abdomen, and even the wings of the insect.

“Three-body regions, a single pair of antennae, and six legs are traditionally sufficient to establish identification as ‘insect’ on Earth,” Dr. Romoser said. The scientist used this method of identification as a way to conclude the possibilities of insect life on the Red Planet.

The Ohio University also released a press statement on their website on Dr. Romoser’s presentation (since retracted as per request of Dr. Romoser). The statement noted the gravity of the presentation, should it prove to be verifiable, and also added that the images were in no way manipulated or edited aside from Romoser’s annotations, adding validity to the study.

Dr. Romoser is a specialist in arbovirology and general/medical entomology and has been a professor of entomology at Ohio University for forty-five years. He is the co-founder of the university’s Tropical Disease Institute and co-author of the textbook "The Science of Entomology."

Skeptics have pointed out that there is no proof that any sort of life exists on Mars. The same skeptics quickly rush to judge Dr. Romoser's theories without taking the time, like he has done, to do the research to support their reasoning on why they think he is mistaken.

A biologist from Oregon State University who studies beetles suggested to Space.com that Romoser's perceived insects were likely the result of pareidolia. David Maddison specifically noted that when one focuses on a specific shape as part of their work, such as insects, that subject can sometimes inadvertently "appear" where they do not exist. As such, he concluded that "I do not think there are insects on Mars" and, instead, argued that "it is vastly more parsimonious to presume the blobs are simply rocks."

This answer to Romoser's research was echoed by Nina Lanza, a planetary scientist from Los Alamos National Laboratory who told the website that "you could imagine a lot of different shapes" in the images shared by the entomologist at his presentation. However, she posited that simply looking for oddities in photos from Mars is "not a good way to do this kind of assessment" given the more exhaustive work studying how the physical attributes the Red Planet may or may not allow for that world to harbor life.

Ultimately, she expressed some consternation that Romoser's work, which she sees as faulty, was given considerable attention thanks to his academic standing and that it may wind up confusing the public.

"When we actually find something on Mars and beyond," she lamented, "if we do that, it will be less of an impact due to sensational claims made by proverbial rogue scientists doing their own armchair research."

While Lanza's concern is understandable, we're guessing that if the "powers that be" announce the discovery of life on Mars, people will still be pretty excited to hear it.


- THE WORLD AS AN AVATAR DEPARTMENT -

Ghosts Could Be A Sign The Universe Is Simulated
By Dan Robitzski

Simulation theory, the hypothesis that we’re just avatars in a simulated universe, has a new advocate.

Speaking at a film festival, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, computer scientist Curry Guinn suggested that our world isn’t real. Though Guinn admitted that it was a fairly speculative idea, he went on to argue that reports of ghosts, déjà vu, and weird coincidences could actually be glitches — and evidence that we’re all trapped in some futuristic society’s video game or science experiment.

“All of us experience the world delivered to us in terms of a 3-pound package of fat, protein, and salt water, the brain, wired in a way that creates our sense of reality," Guinn said.

Our senses are the interfaces that feed us input, yet even they have limited access to what’s outside your skull. “Your vision only sees a sliver, a tiny range of the electromagnetic spectrum,” Guinn said. “You are unaware of most of it.”

That’s not a bad thing. “If you had to interact with the world in the full range of what’s going on, you would be frozen. So biology has developed a user interface that ultra simplifies what you are interacting with.”

That interface, your mind, is constantly manufacturing the colors and sounds we experience. “It is constantly updating your model of reality and interacting with it. It is your matrix. You interact without knowing there is anything else out there.”

The problem with biology, Keith said, “is that the basic operating system of your mind was developed for a world that doesn’t exist anymore. A biological system builds things only very slowly. But cultural evolution occurs many magnitudes faster.”

That makes us vulnerable to technology and its algorithms. “How do you hack a mind with eyeballs and ears? Show it something that grabs its attention, something colorful and bright. Give it some social reward. Nothing pays off more than attention from someone else.”

Guinn further speculated that we may be actually living in a computer simulation.

"I’m not the only one who says this.  Elon Musk of Telsa and Space X has said there is a billion to one chance we are not living in a computer simulation.”

Guinn pointed out Elon Musk’s belief in simulation theory to lend more authority to the idea, and he also suggested we could build our own simulations in the future, TechWire reports. And he suspects that video game developers will lead the way.

“It is inevitable that we will create realities indistinguishable from this reality,” Guinn told the crowd.

To figure out whether or not we’re in a simulation, Guinn suggests looking for bugs.

“Glitches in the system. Deja Vu, such as in the Matrix movie when a character sees a cat crossing a doorway repeatedly, may be one glitch,” Guinn said. “Ghosts, ESP, coincidences may be others. The laws of physics in our universe seem peculiarly designed with a set of constants that make carbon-based life possible. Where are the edges?”

One clue may be quantum physics, where some things that seem impossible are true: an object that can be in two places at the same time. The phenomena Einstein called “spooky action at a distance.”

The question to be asked then is why would we or anyone run these simulations?

“We run a ton of them all the time,” Guinn said. “Supercomputers run simulations for weather predictions. We use them to better understand our environment and make changes. We use them to study human activity and ask questions such as how does population grow? What things work best? It is us running these simulations.”

Source: Futurism
https://futurism.com/the-byte/ghosts-sign-living-simulation

- THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT DEPARTMENT -

The Nature of Negative Hauntings

Over the last several years, the viewing public has been inundated with paranormal television programs such as SciFi’s Ghost Hunters, A&E’s Paranormal State and the Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventures.  Investigative teams attempt to prove the existence of the spirit world and its coexistence with the living world. Although the media would seemingly have us believe that every other house on the block is inhabited by ethereal beings, a true haunting is more unique than one might think. Of course it is not the intention of individual programs, most notably Ghost Hunters and TAPS (The Atlantic Paranormal Society), to create fear among the viewing public; but, more importantly, the goal of TAPS and other like-minded groups is to educate viewers on the true nature of ghosts. Sometimes, this message gets lost in the heavily saturated media that bombards us with clever editing.

A popular misconception among the public is the assumption that any and all hauntings are of a negative nature. In reality, very few are actually negative. Human spirits who have lost their way or who have chosen to stay among the living are not often “evil”. Many of these spirits have unfinished business, are seeking someone or something that eluded them in life or they simply do not realize that they are no longer living. A spirit or ghost typically carries the same type of energy that they did in life, whether they continue to be gentle and loving or even angry and gruff. There are also spirits who retain the trauma they experienced during their deaths, often reliving that one moment in time that has landed them in a fog of confusion and despair. These souls are in need of direction, clarity and resolution.

However rare, “evil” spirits and inhuman spirits do exist within the spirit world, and the activity they generate, may be quite disturbing to the living. Certain characteristics and signs are usually present in a negative haunting; these would not normally occur with a human spirit with human emotions, regardless of their state of mind. Although many human spirits may carry a negative vibe of anger, depression or the afore mentioned trauma, most of these spirits are not truly evil by nature, but are often “stuck” with the prevalent emotion that they could not escape in life.

This is not to say that all “evil” or diabolical spirits were never human, as many were; but the evil human spirits who do cause negative disturbances are not locked hopelessly in the trials of human emotion, but rather they have consciously chosen the dark path over the light. In our culture we would refer to these souls as followers of Satan or as souls of the “damned”. These damned souls have lost their humanity and the remembrance of any desire to be good or righteous. In addition, there exists a rare, but all too real, inhuman spirit. These evil or diabolical spirits never lived life among humanity. Humanity was never theirs to be lost. Whether we call them inhuman, diabolical or demonic, the goal in their existence is the same: to destroy the righteous and to incite the fall of humanity, to take our God-given free will and use it as a tool against us. It is within the damned that the truly evil succeed.

Though human spirits do possess the power to make themselves known to the living through apparitions, disembodied voices and the occasional touch, they lack the ability or desire to manipulate and harm the living through great physical force as inhuman and damned spirits do. The truly evil create an oppressive atmosphere for the living and even for the dead.

There are specific occurrences of activity which are indicative of a negative or inhuman haunting, and though rare, can give rise to a kind of hell on earth for the living. The negative/inhuman spirit will often attempt to gain the trust of the living through deception of its true form. For example, a diabolical force may disguise itself through the apparent embodiment of a young child’s spirit. After gaining one’s trust, they begin to lure the unsuspecting person into an attachment whereby the inhuman can manipulate the living. Another tactic the diabolical employ is through imitation of a person’s loved one. They may take on the voice of the living, inciting confusion and disarming the intended victim’s sensibilities. For example, a mother may hear her child calling out for her, only to find that the child is no where near the source of the voice.
 
Poltergeist activity can often be mistaken for demonic activity and vice versa. Poltergeist translates literally from the German as “rumbling spirit” or “noisy ghost”. In recent years, it has become widely accepted that poltergeist activity is actually the result of unconscious telekinesis by a living individual. These telekinetic occurrences are the result of the person’s inability to express their own emotions in a productive way and may include aportation of objects, sleep paralysis and even dark mass projections that appear to be of a spectral nature.
 
Demonic or negative activity can mimic these telekinetic incidents, but most often the inhuman spirit is clearly not a result of the telekinetic mind. This is not to say that the inhuman cannot be invited into the human world by the dabbler in the dark arts or by one who has been spiritually weakened from bouts of major depressive episodes or drug addiction, as quite often is the case. Whether the negative spirit is inhuman or damned, the physical forces they exhibit can be quite frightening to say the least.
 
In my own experience, the signs of the negative were quite obvious not only to me as a medium, but also to my family and friends who witnessed its peculiar and often abrupt actions. For years, I coexisted with a damned soul attached to an antique object that I owned. Many times, it would cause a cannon-like boom that shook our home in direct response to a threat posed against it. These ear-splitting booms are often connected with the negative and are sometimes described as seemingly breaking the sound barrier.  The damned also had inhuman strength and would strangle those whom I love, leaving them gasping for air and imprinting ligature marks around their throats.  These acts as well as the visual confirmation of the damned entity seen by many, occurred in more than one of my homes where the object of attachment was used as furnishing. Caught in an EVP (electronic voice phenomena) the damned imitated the voice of an investigator’s daughter and my own child’s voice as well. During the ensuing investigation, I stated to the entity that it would no longer have a chance to torment my family and that we would be removing it shortly; it replied through an EVP in direct respose to my statement and in a sinister voice yelling, "No!"
 
At one point, after initial interviews with the paranormal investigation group, a force unseen kicked a banister rail out of its vertical position. Immediately after hearing the sound of splintering wood and a great clatter only a few feet from where I was standing, I saw the missing rail broken completely in half and lying on the floor 15 feet away from the stairwell.
 
In fact, as often reported in demonic and oppressive cases, large animal scratches appeared on my body during several nights, materializing with no visible source and they burned as if branded into my skin but disappeared usually within 24 hours. Unlike many protrayals in television and movies, these were not signs of demonic possession, but signs of negative infestation. Just as a parasite attaches to its host, the host does not take on characteristics of or become the parasite.
 
The most crucial piece of advice that I can give to anyone who thinks they may be experiencing a negative haunting is to keep your composure and never, under any circumstances, provoke the entity or challenge it in any way. The more fear and/or agitation that you show, the more energy it gathers to use against you.
 
The point of this article is not to incite fear or to promote the existence of the devil, but rather to educate the public on a subject that is not often discussed. My intention is to offer hope and help  to those who may be experiencing a negative haunting and have no where to turn. We were able to remove the negative entity from our home successfully, with the help of a knowledgeable paranormal group and also by ridding the home of the antique object of attachment. For more information regarding negative hauntings, you may contact me with questions at elizabeth.zocostan@gmail.com.
 
If you live in Virginia and are in need of a paranormal investigation as a result of any type of haunting, visit my good friend Jackie Tomlin, founder of Central Virginia Paranormal Investigations, at www.cvapi.com. On her site, you can also click on "Podcasts" under which the April 9, 2009 radio broadcast, features me as a guest psychic.  You can hear a more detailed account of the negative haunting that I and my family experienced, along with insights from Jackie, an extremely gifted psychic. On CVAPI's website, you will find many links to all areas of the paranormal.

Source: The Examiner
http://www.examiner.com/x-13297-Norfolk-Psychic-Communication-Examiner~y2009m7d6-
The-Nature-of-Negative-Hauntings




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- JUST A LITTLE TASTE DEPARTMENT -

The Biting Dead


You often hear of ghosts that physically hurt the living, they are often physically aggressive they hit, bite and scratch certain individuals for seemingly no reason at all. These behaviors are fairly common from what I have found out from many others over the years in the paranormal community. Television does not play up the fact that these situations are what many people express as what a real haunting is all about. The real fear of ghost is not just seeing one but afraid of what they can and will do to you.

Being attacked by someone alive is bad enough, but when unseen entities physically harm you in some way the mental state it puts you in is very unnerving. It happens for different reasons with different ghosts and under different circumstances at different locations.

The literature suggests that biting may be a normal developmental phase for infants and toddlers, with virtually no long-lasting developmental significance. Once a child turns 3 years old, however, biting may indicate other behavioral problems, especially if the biting incidents are frequent. Because of the developmental nature of most biting, experts stress that biting is not something to blame on the child, parents, or teachers (Greenman & Stonehouse, 1994). Stress communication skills is usually the answer to why this occurs. And when a ghost does this to a living being then it is apparent that that haunted soul is in such a state.

Just because a ghosts bites you or scratches you does not mean that it is the ghost of a small child state many psychics mediums's and ghost channelers. Aggression; "Behavior Problems" do as we are aware of to date carry over beyond the grave. A ghost will hit you strike you and even sexually molest you. Many often think or believe this is because of the fact that it is the strongest desires of the ghosts and the only way some of them know how to communicate. You must consider that a ghosts is in a stunted Emotional Development and Nonverbal Communication might be the only recourse this particular ghost you come across has to openly contact you. Personally I was kicked in the ass by a ghosts while doing something I should not have.

Six Reasons Ghosts Bite

ATTENTION - a Ghosts of any age sometimes bite to get attention. When real ghosts are in situations where they are not receiving enough positive attention and daily interaction, they often find a way to make others sit up and take notice. Being ignored is not fun. Biting is a quick way to become the center of attention - even if it is negative attention.

IMITATION - Many ghosts do love to imitate others. Watching others and trying to let them know they are around they show their presence to a haunted location. Sometimes as we all do ghosts see others bite and decide to try it out themselves to see if they can effect the living.

TERITORY - Some believe that real ghosts are trying so hard to show possession of a location. "Mine" and "Me do it" are words that come to mind. Learning to do things independently, making choices, and needing control over a situation are part of a haunting. Biting is a powerful way to control others. If you think about it , it is a quick way to get what you want.

FRUSTRATION - You have to realize that a ghost as being what it is experience a lot of frustration. Being Dead is a real struggle. D consider this when they can't find away to make people hear their words to express their feelings, they resort to hitting, pushing, or biting.

STRESS - A real ghost's world can be stressful, too. A lack of daily routine, interesting things to do, or interaction with loved ones or just another human being are stressful situations for the dead. When a person transits to the other side they also experience stressful events of what they see family members going through. Biting is one way to express feelings and relieve tension. It is also a way to show persons that you do not like what they are doing.


Paranormal Sexual Biting - may also be considered a living persons fetish and not associated with ghosts openly. The feeling of actual human teeth during oral sex, luv biting or nipping of fingers, toes( also see: Real Foot Fetish Ghosts - Oh My Haunted Feet), chest, shoulders, neck, inner thighs, ankles, knees, ears, Lips, feet or genitals. There have been over the years many stories of haunted individuals having these things occur to them in the course of paranormal activity they witness and personally experience. Many paranormal Investigators have experienced these biting ghosts on themselves but too few or willing to come forward because of fear of ridicule.

Biting, scratching and kicking is considered an age appropriate behavior and reaction for children 2.5 years and younger. This is why so manny believe the ghosts that bite you to be of this age. Conversely children above this age have verbal skills to explain their needs and dislikes and biting is not age appropriate. Biting may be prevented by methods including redirection, changing the environment and responding to biting by talking about appropriate ways to express anger and frustration. School age children, those older than 2.5 years, who habitually bite may require professional help.

Odaxelagnia is the paraphilia involving the sexual attraction to biting or being bitten.

The strange part of this is a lot of ghost Hunters and researchers dismiss it as paranormal poo poo unless it happens to them personally. Few will tell you but sexually orientated ghosts and spirits are more common then reported on haunted web sites.

Where, And When A Real Ghost Bites You Is A story In Itself

I have often gotten reports of people being bitten by a ghosts in hospitals, private homes, hotels, cemeteries and even Funeral homes. You have to consider he location and why a ghost is biting you for attention. It is more then likely they want your attention.

Perverted or sexually orientated bites in genital or what many consider private areas of their bodies such as inner thighs genital, necks and breast seem to happen more frequent then many will tell you. Embarrassing to the fact that a ghost is biting a male or female is usually equal. But more woman will come forward and say that a real ghost has bitten them on the vagina them men saying a ghost bit their penis. Many have explained to me that the fear is that they do not want to find out that the ghost is a male or female. Which is to say they not only feel violated but are afraid of the ghosts sexual orientation.

Many people are so frightened when a ghost bites them that they will not talk about it. Those that have this happen to them repeatedly are usually the ones that come forward and will tell you they just want it to stop.

One particular Ghost Tour in Texas reports that many of the male guest on the tour or often bitten through their clothes while taking the daily ghost tour. Bit marks on their "Ass Cheeks" and genital region or often spoken of. The tour guide usually tells them it is a ghost of a famous prostitute just to calm their nerves. And tells them it seems she likes you. But to this day the ghosts true identity has never come to light. Male? Female, well who really knows.

I have in my life also spoken to many Ghost Hunters that have related ghosts that nip or mouth male paranormal and female genitals while they investigate a locations. These individuals usually only share these experiences with others in the field. to date I have not come across any writing or books on the subject. but the general conceptions is that these ghosts have sexual biting on their mind and nothing else. Probably these ghosts were sexual predators in life and still are in death.

If you have been bitten by a ghosts please contact Gina Lanier through her web site www.ginalanier.com or by Email: mskitowhawk@cox.net

Source: Haunted America Tours
http://www.hauntedamericatours.com/ghosts/BitingGhosts.php



- RESCUE FROM BEYOND DEPARTMENT -

Lost Taiwan Hiker Says ‘Ghosts’ Saved Him

A Taiwanese hiker who went missing for 10 days and was found by indigenous villagers on Wednesday morning claimed that he had been guided by a ghost couple he met in the mountains, Taiwan News reported.

The family of 60-year-old Soong Rui-xiong (???), an employee at Formosa Heavy Industries (????), lost contact with him on Nov. 10 after he left home to hike in the mountains of Pingtung.

Soong was spotted Wednesday by a local villager and immediately escorted to the Chunri Precinct of the Pingtung County Police Department.

According to UDN, Soong used stream water and natural sugar from plants as his energy source since he had only prepared food sufficient for one day.

With tears welling up in his eyes, Soong expressed gratitude for the rescue crew’s nonstop efforts.

He said early on in his hike, he was climbing a rock wall, and lost his glasses, causing him to become disoriented. He managed to find a cave, and stayed there for several days, but realized, if he were to survive, he would have to venture out.

Soong also told reporters that after he left the cavern, he met a mysterious ghost couple, who he believed to be the ancestral spirits of indigenous Taiwanese, accompanied him for two hours and that the trio chatted about everyday life as they walked alongside one another.

Soong claimed that after some time, he turned around and could not see the couple but instead found the path leading to the foot of the mountain.

The Pingtung County Fire Department said the rescue mission lasted for 10 days with help from 111 police officers and firefighters, 284 volunteers, and two helicopters.

Rescue workers consisted of local hunters and volunteers from International Search and Rescue and Formosa Heavy Industries.

Source: Asia Times
https://www.asiatimes.com/2019/11/article/lost-taiwan-hiker-says-ghosts-saved-him/

- JUST TURTLES ALL THE WAY DOWN DEPARTMENT -

The Highs and Lows of Flat Earth: Observations of a Dallas Gathering
By Tim Binnall

They came from as far away as Australia, England, and Sweden, and were the hardest of the hardcore Flat Earth believers. Attending the fourth Flat Earth International Conference last week in a suburb of Dallas, TX, I had the unique opportunity to sit in on the festivities of this much-maligned and often misunderstood community of conspiracy theorists. A selection of pictures from the event can be found here.

While the nature of the Flat Earth may lead one to suspect that the conference (which included workshops and lectures) would be teeming with basement-dwelling and belligerent conspiracists, the people I met at the wildly festive event were far from the stereotype that has been foisted upon the Flat Earthers. Truth be told, there were less outlandish personalities among the 600 or so people in attendance than can be found at nearly any moderately sized UFO convention. In fact, the Flat Earthers I spoke to over the course of roughly four days were almost disappointingly ordinary people who were simply thrilled to be around fellow believers because, as one man told me, "the isolation is almost intolerable at times."

And, to their credit, rather than try and sell me on the Flat Earth theory, they were more than understanding when I made my intentions clear that I was simply there to observe the proceedings and not engage in any debate as to the shape of the planet. For the record, I believe the Earth is round, despite my time in the weeds this past week with those who vehemently do not. Remarkably, from what I could gather from my conversations with dozens of people who attended the event, the vast majority of them had only become believers in the last four years. This is striking when compared to your average paranormal gathering in which the usual level of proverbial service time is at least a decade if not far more.

Another eye-opening aspect of the Flat Earth community was that it seems to be fairly deeply rooted in the writings of the Bible. Countless Flat Earthers referenced it as their primary source for why they believe the planet is a plane covered by a dome existing in a void and not a ball soaring through space. When discussing conspiracies with the people at the conference, the Moon Landing Hoax concept was nearly universally accepted with the idea that NASA's whole purpose was to help thwart the Flat Earth theory in order to ensure that the populace did not learn the true shape of our world as created by God.

When I happened to broach the subject of aliens with the Flat Earthers, I received a rather revelatory response as they consistently and literally laughed in my face over what they said was a wholly preposterous idea. As someone who at the very least entertains the possibility that ETs could be visiting us, it was something I won't soon forget as it was a reminder that we all have ideas that others see as ridiculous. Our disagreements about aliens aside, the Flat Earthers were a gregarious bunch who seemed like the type that would give you the shirt off their back, provided you didn't mind roaming the streets with 'Research Flat Earth' emblazoned across your chest.

However, to that end, my time spent at the event provided a glimpse into what life is like for those who wave the flag of the Flat Earth and it was rather troubling. This began the moment I arrived in Dallas and the Uber driver shuttling me to the hotel asked why I was in town and I haltingly explained that I was there for a Flat Earth convention, realizing that I was now probably the weirdest passenger that she'd ever had. Similar experiences interacting with 'outsiders' over the course of my days among the Flat Earthers indicated that being looked at as crazy by strangers is a recurring phenomenon. This was echoed by a number of people at the event who expressly asked that I not use their names in this article nor take their picture for fear of being 'outed' to their family and work colleagues as a Flat Earther.

That stigma of ridicule and an almost air of danger surrounding the Flat Earth loomed large over the proceedings in a manner far different from any paranormal conference I've ever attended. A police presence is generally not required for a UFO or Bigfoot convention, however this event had a Texas state trooper patrolling the lobby outside of the lecture hall in order to ensure that there was no trouble. I initially thought that perhaps this was merely showmanship, until the officer was needed to mediate a heated dispute between event organizers and a late night television program that crashed the proceedings in order to film a comedy skit.

Similarly, in a testament to the passion that the conspiracy theory inspires on both sides of the admittedly lop-sided debate, a podcast that apparently hates the concept of the Flat Earth actually went to the trouble of spending around $2,000 to hire a plane to pull a 'Research Round Earth' banner above the hotel to troll the event. Ever the master strategists, the Flat Earthers got wind of this plan ahead of time and subsequently hired two planes to fly pro-Flat Earth banners in response. This was another first for me as I'd never seen an air battle break out between other paranormal skeptics and believers.

Beyond that admittedly comical 'showdown,' I also witnessed something a bit more unsettling in the form of needless cruelty directed towards the Flat Earthers when I made the mistake of innocently posting some seemingly innocuous photos from the conference on social media. When the pictures were shared by a pro-Flat Earth account, a barrage of downright vicious responses from complete strangers were directed at my account with lightning speed and continue a week later. The sheer volume and vitriol of the messages were stunning especially in light of the harmless nature of the Flat Earthers and their largely benign belief system.

By the time the conference had come to a close, I'd developed a new respect for the Flat Earthers considering what they're forced to endure due to their advocacy for the odd idea they've come to accept. That said, I was also ready to return to the world of the Round Earth, where you're not constantly wondering if you're being laughed at or having to answer endless questions about how the curious conspiracy theory works. Ultimately, my time among the Flat Earthers left me with a far better understanding of their unorthodox perspective on the world and an appreciation that they welcomed me, a lowly Round Earther, into their community with handshakes and hugs rather than rejection. As a result, I may not have converted to their side, but I'd happily call myself a friend of the Flat Earthers after my days spent 'under the dome' with them.

Source: Coast 2 Coast AM
https://www.coasttocoastam.com/article/the_highs_and_lows_of_flat_earth_observations_of_a_dallas_gathering

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