A good conspiracy theory has just enough grains of truth in it, and is just this side of impossible enough that maybe, just maybe it might be plausible.
It should also probably not be something easily disprovable (looking at you, flat earth.)
One Reddit user asked:
What conspiracy theory do you actually believe is true?
... and honestly, a lot of this makes sense. Hmmm.
Manufactured Conspiracies
Always Sunny Fx GIFGiphyConspiracies are being actively manufactured and promoted as a way to hide actual bad stuff.
These days it is hard to actually hide something - a single leak and everything is all over the internet next day. However, if you make sure that internet is full of conspiracy theories, it is easy to dismiss any leak as 'more nutjob stuff'.
If MK-Ultra leaked today, would anybody except for most hardcore conspiracy theorists believe it?
- ping500
An English King In Italy
I believe Edward II escaped and went to Italy. He was not laid to rest at his very public funeral.
His son, Edward III, had reason to believe his father was alive and there is some truth to the Fieschi letter. Mostly, I think Edward III's relations with the Pope convinced me.
I also think the circumstances of the funeral arrangements were pretty suspicious. The variety of deaths Edward II was rumored to die don't exactly convince me he died at Berkeley Castle.
Oh and there's a part of Italy with an oral tradition that they once had an English king for some years.
Nutritional Nonsense
People are taught wrong information about nutrition on purpose.
Definitely true. I read a rage inducing book (Unsavory Truth by Marion Nestle) that talked about this. There are companies in the food industry that basically go out and shop around for "scientists" to link their product to good health, and one of the examples was how the strawberry industry was shopping around for studies linking strawberries to positive health effects. A few days after reading that, I saw an article linking strawberries to good digestive health.
Also, I once saw an article about how ER doctors who snacked on nuts were healthier than those who didn't. At the very bottom of the article, buried in a wall of text was "this study was funded by the nut growers of America"
Ugh.
The Coup And The Crackdown
The 2016 Turkish coup d'etat attempt to overthrow Erdogan was planned by ... Erdogan.
It was such a badly organized coup that failed so easily while Erdogan's support was on peak. No way someone else planned this coup with the goal to succeed. The coup made it possible for Erdogan to crack down on any opposition as well as unpleasant journalists or just anyone who was in his way.
Three Times Is Enemy Action
I could believe that Epstein would kill himself. I could believe that the guards had been online not doing their job of checking on him. I could believe that the cameras in a very important prisoners cell went out of service.
There is no possible way all these things happened on their own at the exact same time.
M16 had a saying Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action.
Your Lawn
I believe that the societal norm of the "American lawn" was propagated to keep us from growing food on our property and keep us consuming.
This is kinda true. The idea of a lawn filled with grass and other non-edible plants was perpetuated by social elites (in the United States and elsewhere) to show others that they were so rich they didn't need to grow their own food. Essentially, they could afford to waste space.
Leave Britney Alone
sad britney spears GIFGiphyBritney Spears is being controlled by the people around her... I don't usually believe in such crazy theories, but there's just something about this one that makes me believe it. She looks and acts like a prisoner, and she's said and done a lot of questionable things. I know it's a crazy one, and I really hope it's not true, but that woman looks so broken...
- Lissmeis
I'm pretty sure it is. I follow some at least somewhat credible "free Britney" Instagram pages, and they post a lot of news articles, history of the conservatorship, and even the court transcripts. The transcripts I've seen, state that Britney wants to stay in the conservatorship but she wants out of her dad's control and possibly that other chick (Lou I think?), too.
It's even been insinuated in court documents that she doesn't control her social media, either. It would definitely explain all the BIZARRE posts she makes.
I truly can't understand it. As of late, her conservatorship has received media attention, and her fans and even some celebrities have proclaimed "Free Britney".
While I know a judge has to remain as unbiased as possible when making these ruling, the "court of public opinion" will still have an effect. Yet it hasn't on the judge(s) she's gotten.
Now, I don't know all the cold hard facts like the courts do. But on a high level - why does a 37 year old woman need to be controlled at every aspect of her life? It makes zero sense to me.
To me the conspiracy was always that she was actually mentally fine and capable (and always was - where the very public breakdowns prior were bad but not based in mental issues beyond remedy) and didn't need a conservator but was basically being held in one against her will for the money.
It makes no sense to me that the girl is apparently too f*cked up to make even the most minor life choices, but somehow well enough to perform in a successful Vegas show.
Like, if she's mentally incapable, how is she mentally fit to have a high profile career in such a high pressure environment? And how is her Father, who is collecting all the money, not being scrutinized for it?
A Never-Ending Cycle Of Hotdog Eating
Hotdog companies and hotdog bun companies agreed to sell non matching amounts of their products. When you finish all of your hotdogs you will still have buns left over so you will go buy hotdogs for those buns. Thus perpetuating a never-ending cycle of hotdog eating.
Who says they aren't both owned by the same mega corporation?
- rhoov
I won't fall to capitalism! I eat my hotdogs cut up with a fork, like a true adult-baby
The Same Forces
I read a lot of comments months back written by people wondering when Ghislaine was going to "get Epstein'd". Given the nature of her involvement with Epstein and mutual acquaintances and the nature of her actions and decisions, certainly she's as despicable a criminal as Epstein: why is Ghislaine Maxwell still alive?
Ghislaine Maxwell's father, Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch, otherwise known as Robert Maxwell, was a Czech-borne Jewish freedom fighter - he was a Jewish man who fought Nazis and in all likelihood helped secure the existence of the Israeli state early on. That's a pretty big part of understanding his later political, commercial, and (alleged) intelligence connections.
He later turned into a publishing magnate and paper media/publishing powerhouse who was a possible triple-turnaround Mossad-MI6-KGB faux-spy stooge. He defrauded his own corporate empire (resulting in its collapse after his death), and was possibly assassinated before his body was dumped over the side of his yacht, the Lady Ghislaine, while it was berthed in the Canary Islands.
I bet that the same forces that got to Ghislaine's dad are the ones either protecting her, or who have lost interest in her.
Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
@bfgilme/Bluesky
@agent672/Bluesky 
@everyonel9vesmikey/Bluesky
@_oRyca_/X
@jointheunionus/Threads
@MarkRuffalo/X
@joannefirth/Bluesky
@F_Don8/X