Thursday editorial November 7, 2002

Conspiracies

Some peoples' brains are in overdrive and they see conspiracies all around. That's conspiracies as in "government conspiracies."

Are there really black helicopters flying overhead, spying on and recording the activities of everyday citizens? Does the government really secrete away known information about UFOs and alien life?

The vast majority of the sane world says "no," and an even greater number couldn't care less.

Not far off this path is the belief that dinosaur skeletons have been fabricated and buried so they can be "found" in an effort to undermine the words of the Bible. (Perhaps the black helicopters swarming overhead are there to detect people who might be observing the government burying them.) Never mind that the Bible actually gives God credit for creating the "great sea monsters" and "beasts of the earth." And forget that dinosaur remains were first recognized in 1822 and that they've been found around the world.

Now comes a new conspiracy: NASA's attempt to make the world think man has actually landed on the moon when he hasn't. This one is so prevalent that a poll done three years ago shows that an incredible 11 percent of the population doubts man has ever been there. Obviously, these are people who haven't visited the world-class Cosmosphere here in Kansas or the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. No one can walk out of either without being a believer.

What's most disturbing about this last one is that NASA is planning to spend more than $15,000 to convince people that man really has been on the moon. That's obviously $15,000 down the drain. In the scope of a nationwide marketing campaign, $15,000 isn't enough to even sneeze at.

So how could these people be convinced? Short of shutting down all the satellites in orbit, effectively disrupting worldwide communications and causing global chaos, there probably isn't anything that can be done.

Those who want to think that black helicopters, dinosaurs, UFOs and a man walking on the moon are modern-day government conspiracies are already missing a little in the anchor that holds them.

- Ann K. Charles

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