We've all heard our fair share of conspiracy theories, from thoughts about the White House to aliens and beyond.
But some conspiracy theories have become truly strange and nuanced, and it's hard to stop listening to the person explaining their beliefs, because as weird as some of these theories sound, they could almost by some stretch of the imagination make sense.
Intrigued, Redditor Accomplished-Leg-991 asked:
"What's the weirdest or craziest theory you have heard of?"
Seems Plausible.
"Traffic barrels are left up for so long because the Department of Transportation bought too many and has no place to store them."
- dailysunshineKO
The Grass Is Always Greener
"The truck driver that delivered my flooring gave me this gem: The push for green lawns in the US is by Big Pharma."
"The cliff notes version is that to get green grass, you need pesticides, pesticides cause cancer, and cancer is good business for drug companies. It was like a 20-minute long rant to get to that conclusion and it was an adventure."
- StillBald
"I need to drink with him for one night. That cannot possibly be the only banger he's got."
- karenalphas
The Ice Wall
"Recently TikTok kept giving bizarre suggestions where people trying to prove Ice Wall in Antarctica that Earth is bigger and something is hiding behind ice wall in Antarctica… What the h**l."
- XenophanesJunior
"It's a weird subset of flat earthers, who believe in an 'infinite plane' that lies beyond the ice wall (guarded by NASA, of all people), and the reason? The infinite plane has endless amounts of gold mines and gems they can mine for infinite money."
- bag2d
Tinkering with the Algorithm
"That Walt Disney was cryogenically frozen, and they made the movie 'Frozen' so that when people googled 'Walt Disney Frozen,' the movie would come up first."
- LizardPossum
"They updated this theory, but now it is with Taylor Swift. It basically says that she went to that Kansas City Chiefs vs NY Jets game so that when people search 'Taylor Swift Jets,' it will only show news about the game, and not about her going everywhere with her private jets."
- abirll
"It's so wild now these rely on people being completely unable to go to page two of a Google search."
- LizardPossum
The All-Important Celebrity Weddings
"I had a coworker that fully believes the government controls the weather so celebrities can have nice weddings."
- pinballgizard
"Out of all the reasons to control the weather, celebrity weddings are a top priority for the government."
- Suspicious-Craft4980
The Truth of Social Security Numbers
"Your social security number indicates which bank you were sold to at birth."
- compuwiza1
"Ah, sovereign citizens..."
- CaptainMikul
Dinosaur Bones, Huh?
"Dinosaur bones were placed on earth by Satan to trick people into 'abandoning' God."
- River_7890
"There's a big American Church whose members believe that dinosaur bones exist because God made the Earth with leftovers from a previous planet."
"Mental gymnastics to justify their belief that the Earth is only 10'000 years old and C14 dates dinosaur bones as being millions of years old..."
- mrsrosieparker
"I'm absolutely not shocked. The person who told me jumps through so many mental hoops to try to disprove science. She thinks that the government is secretly working for Satan to convert people, too."
"Oh and of course Disney. She's crazy overall. Not just with religious stuff. I could tell so many stories of her crossing lines and saying off-the-wall things. I try to not associate with her as much as possible."
- River_7890
The Worst Kind of Waiting Room
"The USS Philadelphia Experiment and the US army soldier who claimed he was in an interdimensional waiting room as a greeter for eternity until he was suddenly transported back onto the ship."
"People claimed it was a cloaking device gone wrong and left men's bodies trapped within the steel of the boat upon reentry."
"I never looked into it but read about it in a book that had a statement like, 'Nothing in this book is true but it's exactly the way things are,' or something similar. Always thought it was the wildest conspiracy theory ever when I was a stoned teenager reading it."
- Hereforthecake
Phantom Time Conspiracy Theory
"There’s a whole podcast with hundreds of episodes dedicated to this subject. Worth a listen. One of the wildest ones is that Charlemagne’s grandson moved the calendar forward ~300 years and thus the Dark Ages never happened."
- seandowling73
Gives the Shortcut a Whole New Meaning
"Met a dude at the gym who believed that the CIA had built tunnels throughout the Earth's core, connecting all the major cities. Was some kind of global takeover scheme."
- Latham74
Infathomly Large Trees
"Mountains are all the stumps of ancient fossilized enormous trees."
"I'm absolutely obsessed with this theory. It's connected to flat earth, but flat earth isn't a requirement for this theory nor do most flat earthers believe it."
- inkstainedgoblin
Under Control
"We're all infected by parasites that feed on our stress hormones released by negative emotions like guilt, sadness, anger, fear, and so on. They control our minds and, thereby, us to an extent. The only way to combat them is by being aware and questioning if your thoughts and actions are truly your own thoughts and actions."
- 42clickslater
Enough Said
"The one about JFK Jr. coming back to help Trump win the 2020 election is still tops in my book."
- pinkyknee
Big Pharma Chickens
"That owning chickens is the gateway drug to believing conspiracy theories."
- sarcasawm
"As someone who has owned chickens, the only thing they're a gateway drug to is getting more farm animals."
- CelticArche
"That’s what Big Goat wants you to believe."
- MissRockNerd
"Big Farm-A."
- cannedcream
As wild as some of these conspiracy theories were, there's no denying that they're fascinating, some for the simple fact that they're almost plausible.
They at least get you thinking in a new way, and perhaps that isn't such a bad thing every now and then.
@LeeMerrittesq/X
@bob_moss/X
@jelanijones/Bluesky
@Aurkayne/X
@sadcommunistdog; @froglok/Bluesky