There is no shortage of wild conspiracy theories circulating around the internet, but occasionally, some are actually true. This blog will look at three cases where a long-held belief turned out to be true.
The first case involves The Tuskegee Syphilis Study… it was conducted from 1932 to 1972 by the US Public Health Service (PHS). It involved 600 African American men, 399 of whom had syphilis and 201 who were healthy. The men were told they would receive free health care, but they were not being treated for their syphilis. Instead, researchers monitored them to observe how the disease progressed without treatment, with some even going so far as to infect patients with the virus deliberately. This unethical experiment left many participants dead or permanently disabled due to complications caused by untreated syphilis. Despite formal complaints about the study as far back as 1972, it wasn’t until 1997 that President Clinton publicly apologized on behalf of US government agencies for what had happened.
The second example involves the secret military base known as Area 51. Situated in Nevada, USA, this site has been shrouded in mystery and sparked numerous conspiracy theories since it was first established in 1955. It wasn’t until 2013 that these rumours were finally confirmed when documents released by the CIA acknowledged its existence due to an Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP). This program investigated Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) and other extraterrestrial activity. Although much of what happens at Area 51 remains classified, it is believed that there are still ongoing experiments taking place related to alien technology and life forms, which have yet to be revealed publicly.
The third case involves claims that various governments have conducted mind control experiments on unsuspecting citizens using techniques such as hypnosis or drugs. While many people thought this was just another crazy conspiracy theory, recently declassified documents from Canada reveal extensive experimentation programs undertaken during the 1950s and 1960s to influence behaviour, feelings and thoughts by manipulating brainwaves. These experiments targeted vulnerable populations, including children and pregnant women, with researchers conducting tests involving sleep deprivation, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), sensory deprivation tanks, psychotropic drugs and even lobotomies. However, the effects of these tests were not fully known until recently, which has raised ethical concerns about how such data was collected without consent or knowledge of its consequences.
Whether you believe them or not, some wild conspiracy theories turn out to be true sometimes! The Tuskegee Syphilis Study and Area 51’s hidden UFO research program are examples of conspiracies revealed through public records. In addition, governments conducting mind control experiments are now backed up by declassified documents.