The flat earth adherents, of which there are many on the Web, have proposed a number of so-called ‘proofs’ for their belief in a flat earth. As wacko as the flat earth theory may sound, some of these proofs are not so easy to dismiss. If you combine their proofs with the apparent trickery by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), the question rises to a whole new level.
In an earlier post (Flat Earth vs NASA) I presented a few videos, products of the flat earthers, that looks like true fakery involving the ISS (International Space Station). The implication is that the space station does not even exist! Maybe you can just chalk it up to embellishment by NASA but you have to wonder why. Here is an example from the earlier post:
The flat earth theory is pretty complicated and includes more than just the earth but also the sun, moon and space.
To understand it, we should start with the flat earth map:
This is the Gleason map of 1892, usually referred to by the flat earthers. Although belief in the heliocentric model (globe earth, where the earth circles the sun) began about 500 yrs ago, some belief in the flat earth model persisted
into the 19th and 20th centuries.
The flat earth model posits that the earth is the center of the universe and sun ,moon, and stars circle the earth.
To understand this map, imagine taking an earth globe, opening it at the bottom, pulling it out and spreading it on the table. Bingo. You now have the flat earth map. The North Pole is in the center and the South Pole becomes the outer ring around the entire earth. Furthermore, this ring is an impenetrable wall of ice.
Strangely enough, the South Pole (or is it the ring of ice) is said to be completely off limits to civilian exploration and guarded by the military of several countries.
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Ok, let’s move on.
We all know that we can’t detect a round and spinning earth (1000mph) with our own senses. It is interesting that globe earth was taught for decades while there was no way to prove it. Then along comes NASA in 1958 and we get proof in pictures and films (moon landing). So the flat earthers say that the pictures are fakes. I think its true that a great many of the pictures are actually illustrations (CGI) rather than photographs but people don’t always make that distinction.
I said that some proofs of flat earth are not so easy to dismiss. One is evidence that we can see things at a much greater distance than should be possible on a round earth. A prerequisite to understanding this is the understanding of earth curvature:
So as we look into the distance on a flat surface there must be a curve, and objects at a great distance must eventually disappear over the curve and out of our sight (dropoff).
So the curvature can be calculated with a simple geometric formula (I don’t think this formula has been challenged).
End result is that the dropoff is equivalent to:
(number of miles distant) squared x 8 inches)
This means that on a flat surface, an object 3 miles distant from you will be 72 inches below your line of sight if you can observe from ground level. If the object height is less than 72 inches (6ft) you will not see all or any of it on a curved earth. This dropoff will continue exponentially.
All of this is based on our knowledge of earths circumference, approximately 25,000 miles.
Many of us may remember that in earlier times, the often cited proof for a round earth was how ships going out to sea seemed to drop below the horizon and the last thing seen was the mast. A powerful camera or telescope refutes this proof.
A frozen lake experiment.
Another demonstration of ships disappearing over the horizon and out of sight but can be clearly seen with a powerful camera. Maybe these ships are not far enough away, but without the magnification they are invisible as seen in the vid. So ships never disappear due to curvature but are simply beyond our ability to see them; or so it would seem.
Another example of an object that should not be visible but should be well below the curve.
There are many more examples like this. They may be the strongest argument that the flat earthers present. But they have more.
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Another argument they make concerns the sun. As I said earlier, flat earth theory involves the sun, moon, and space.
So, first, you must understand how they portray the sun’s path around the earth, providing night and day.
In order for this scheme to work, the sun cannot be 93 million miles away as mainstream science tells us. It must be very close to earth and as they say, local. The idea here is that the sun circles flat earth at a relatively low level and when we think it is rising high in the heavens, it is simply passing over us at a low level. Imagine a plane coming towards you from a great distance while flying at 5000 ft. At first, it would appear to be right on the horizon and tiny. As it approached, it would get higher and higher as well as larger, all the while maintaining the same altitude. Finally, it passes over you.
We have all seen a picture like this. If the sun is 93 million miles away, we would expect the light rays to be parallel, not at diverging angles.
Sun-rays
Setting Sun (optical illusion?)
I think the examples of the long distance view and the sun are two that should at least make you wonder. The flat earthers have more observations that might be indirect evidence of a round earth hoax. I didn’t want to overload my post with vids but I can’t resist.
Corollary observations:
Fake pictures?
Cannot leave low earth orbit
I don’t think they are saying that we never went to the moon but rather that today we no longer have the technology to do so. The story is that all the telemetry data from the moon mission was lost. WTF?
Gyroscope
Technical manuals. Puzzling.
One more. Just for laughs.
Certainly, I have just skimmed the surface of the available information on Flat Earth Theory.
In case it never occurred to you, the round earth vs flat earth debate is in large part a religious one. The flat earth proponents believe that God created the known world and the earth and man was at the center. Sun, moon, and all else circled the earth. Man is what creation was all about.
The heliocentric model (round earth) posits that man is an accidental blob of protoplasm on a rock, spinning on its’ axis at 1000 mph while circling the sun at 66,000 mph while the entire solar system rockets into infinite space at an even faster rate. Man is thus insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
If the flat earth scenario were true then the next question would be who is doing this and why. I’m not getting into that.
Interesting read. I have never really looked at the flat earther’s reasoning. I remember Shaq saying he thinks the earth Is flat because it doesn’t ‘go up and down’ when he drives his car. Turns out, they have put some thought into it after all!