Conspiracy Theories That Came True

TL;DR Summary: The article explores conspiracy theories that were once dismissed but later proven true. It examines how powerful institutions often suppress the truth, leading to public mistrust and the rise of conspiracy theories. Key examples include:

COVID-19 Lab Leak Theory: Initially dismissed but later considered plausible by global agencies, revealing suppression of early discussions about its possibility.
Iraq War and WMDs: The U.S. invaded Iraq based on false intelligence about weapons of mass destruction, resulting in prolonged conflict and global mistrust.
Atrazine and Hormonal Disruption in Frogs: Research confirmed that the herbicide atrazine causes hormonal disruptions in frogs, despite industry resistance.
Edward Snowden and Mass Surveillance: Leaks exposed the NSA’s widespread surveillance on American citizens, confirming fears of unchecked government monitoring.
Pegasus Spyware: Military-grade spyware was used illegally to surveil journalists and activists, as revealed by Project Pegasus.

Historical Conspiracies (Pre-2000):

Tuskegee Syphilis Study: The U.S. government conducted unethical medical experiments on African American men.
COINTELPRO: The FBI surveilled and disrupted activist movements.
Watergate: Nixon’s administration orchestrated a political scandal involving illegal surveillance.
Big Tobacco: Companies hid evidence of smoking’s dangers.
MK-Ultra: The CIA conducted secret mind-control experiments.
Gulf of Tonkin Incident: False reports were used to escalate the Vietnam War.

These cases show how the powerful manipulate narratives and suppress dissent, fueling mistrust. While skepticism is healthy, it should be paired with reason and evidence, as today’s “conspiracy theory” might be tomorrow’s undeniable truth.

Conspiracy theories used to be the stuff of unsourced whispers in poorly lit basements, but in today’s internet age, they’ve become part of everyday life. Most of them are utterly absurd and laughable, and a few of those are mentioned at the end of this article. Conspiracy theories have a peculiar way of slicing us apart. They offer copious material for eye rolls and jokes about tinfoil hats. But occasionally, the people who create these wild and crazy theories have turned out to be right. While not every theory holds water,, history has shown us quite a few times that some crazy ideas are anything but.

Consider the sheer effort required to bury the truth and convince the majority of people that it’s a crackpot conspiracy theory. It is not something simple to accomplish and requires extreme power to control a story. When really powerful institutions like our government, big corporations, and our mainstream media lords have a narrative to control, they don’t just nudge the story; they bulldoze alternative perspectives, ridiculing dissenters and ensuring their version becomes the only one most people hear.

Several completely ridiculous theories have crossed over from fringe paranoia to find themselves rooted in undeniable reality. Let’s take a look at some of the crazy examples when conspiracy theories proved to be true.

COVID-19 Lab Leak Theory

From Fringe to Front Page: 2020-Present

In late 2019, when COVID-19 first appeared, the official story was that it came from a wet market in Wuhan, China. Anyone who suggested it had leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology was rapidly and vigorously dubbed a conspiracy theorist. Warnings were slapped on posts by social media platforms, and the mainstream media waved the nonsense flag.

Now, in 2023, several governments worldwide, including the U.S. have put the lab leak theory in the plausible column. Dr. Fauci, testifying before the Judiciary Committee, conceded that they always knew the claims were plausible but justified their efforts as a way to protect people from confusion. Of course this news was also suppressed by the mainstream media to keep as much of the public uninformed.

Dr. Anthony Fauci’s Emails (2021)
Emails acquired via the Freedom of Information Act revealed that initial conversations among scientists were taking the lab leak idea very seriously, even while the public was being told to dismiss it. FactCheck.org
World Health Organization’s Evolving Position (2021)
Initially dismissive, the World Health Organization eventually called for further investigation into the lab leak theory and criticized China for withholding data. Sky News
U.S. Department of Energy and FBI Assessments (2023)
In early 2023, the Department of Energy and the FBI assessed that a lab leak was most likely the origin of COVID-19, though they had different levels of confidence in that judgment. PolitiFact
Gain-of-Function Research at Wuhan Institute of Virology (2018)
Information discovered in documents indicates that Wuhan Institute of Virology researchers planned to insert furin cleavage sites into their bat coronaviruses, so that they would have similar features to SARS-CoV-2. PolitiFact

The Iraq War and Weapons of Mass Destruction

A War Built on Lies: 2003

In 2003, the U.S. attacked Iraq and asserted that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and that he was financing Al-Qaeda. In both direct and indirect ways, the Bush administration communicated a relentless case for war. Those who asked uncomfortable questions or offered alternative points of view were dismissed as unpatriotic.

No WMDs were found. The war’s premise was based solidly on, at best, faulty intelligence and at worst, outright lies. What was left in the aftermath was not a detente or peace but a prolonged conflict that not only destabilized countries in the Middle East but also cost countless trillions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of lives.

And we did it with our allies and by our rules of war, all for a mountaintop view of global dominance, with a billion-dollar price tag and a neighborhood worth half a trillion a year.

And we did it with our allies and by our rules of war, all for a mountaintop view of global dominance, with a billion-dollar price tag and a neighborhood worth half a trillion a year. All in an effort to secure a region that’s far from the calm, stable environment it was meant to become.

U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee Report (2004)
A report that included members from both political parties concluded that intelligence gathered before the war concerning weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) was both exaggerated and erroneous, and that Iraq posed no immediate danger. Wikipedia
Downing Street Memo (2005)
Minutes that have come to light from a British government meeting in 2002 show conversations in which the U.S. was described as having already decided on war and was fixing intelligence to justify it. PBS
CIA’s Iraq Survey Group Final Report (2004)
The Iraq Survey Group discovered that the WMD programs in Iraq had been dismantled long before the invasion. Intelligence Resource Program
Senate Report on Al-Qaeda Ties (2006)
A U.S. Senate report refuted allegations of significant ties between the regime of Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaeda. Senate Intelligence Committee

Atrazine and Hormonal Disruption in Frogs

Transgender Frogs: 2002-Present

In the early 2000s, biologist Tyrone Hayes undertook some pathbreaking research on atrazine, a widely applied herbicide. His science, first class in both its execution and its audacity, uncovered effects of the chemical that can only be termed astounding. He found, for instance, that it can and does completely feminize male frogs. And how does it do that? Well, it throws their endocrine systems into complete disarray. This is not a case, then, of the frogs just going through a sort of ritualistic hormonal puberty and hitting a consistently female stage of development.

The agricultural industry clashed with Hayes when the finding inflamed controversy. They vigorously contested his allegations. But the science was secure. Several laboratories using a variety of experimental protocols replicated the work. They did better by using improved systems, emerging with a mandate to silence atrazine. The European Union then evaporated atrazine from use by any agency in any country within the jurisdiction of the European Union. Despite this, the chemical was still widely used in the United States.

The narrative of “transgender frogs”, coined by InfoWars’ Alex Jones, became a talking point in conspiracy theory circles, helping make both the herbicide atrazine and the research around it the subjects of mockery and suspicion. This case serves as a reminder that sometimes what looks like an absurd conspiracy theory is actually science the public hasn’t embraced yet.

Feminization of Male Frogs: Research has shown that male frogs can be altered by exposure to atrazine. The disruption occurs because atrazine induces the production of aromatase, an enzyme that converts testosterone to estrogen and skews the natural hormonal balance. BiologyInsights
Reproductive Impairments: Research has shown that atrazine exposure leads to significant disruptions in frogs’ breeding cycles and success rates. Male frogs exposed to atrazine can experience altered mating calls, making them less effective in attracting mates, which can have cascading effects on population dynamics. BiologyInsights
Species Variability in Sensitivity: Comparative studies have highlighted that different amphibian species exhibit varying levels of susceptibility to atrazine-induced endocrine disruption. Factors such as habitat, genetic makeup, and life history traits contribute to this variability, underscoring the complexity of assessing ecological risks associated with atrazine exposure BiologyInsights

Edward Snowden and Mass Surveillance

Big Brother Is Real: 2013

Most people dismissed the notion that the U.S. government was keeping tabs on nearly all digital communications, right up until 2013. That’s when Edward Snowden, a contractor with the NSA, revealed the stunning truth. The National Security Agency was running a surveillance program that gathered staggering amounts of data on phone calls, emails, and internet activity, not just on the foreign targets it was supposed to be watching but also on a huge number of American citizens.

The targets of this astonishingly broad and deep surveillance were not just imagined. They were real people whose ridiculously expansive digital footprints were being tapped and stored without warrants, without probable cause, and largely without any meaningful oversight. Snowden’s revelations confirmed that the government had been lying to the American people while it insisted the spying programs were only going after bad guys.

The Guardian’s Snowden Revelations
The first outlets to publish Snowden’s leaks included The Guardian. It divulged programs like PRISM, which allowed the National Security Agency to access information from the big tech firms, including data from Google, Apple, and Facebook.Read the coverage
Snowden’s Interview with Glenn Greenwald
Snowden’s initial interview, conducted by journalist Glenn Greenwald, outlined his motivations and warned about the dangers of unchecked mass surveillance.Watch the interview
Snowden’s Memoir: Permanent Record
Snowden’s 2019 memoir provides a firsthand account of his decision to leak classified documents and his insights into government surveillance programs. Learn more about the book

Pegasus Spyware Scandal

Your Phone Is Watching You: 2021

In 2020, you could have found it hard to believe that top-secret military-grade spyware was being used by world governments to keep an eye on good-for-democracy folks like journalists and political activists. But in 2021, we learned how wrong we were to doubt.

The investigative watchdog group Project Pegasus is a consortium of several groups. Including Amnesty International, that work in the area of human rights showed us that very powerful, very dangerous spyware was being sold to world governments that were using it, quite illegally, to hack the phones of a whole lot of people who were, in their eyes, not bad guys, but who in our eyes was doing us a whole lot of good, including several thousand other suspected targets.

Amnesty International’s Forensic Methodology Report (2021)
Amnesty International’s Security Lab has carried out deep forensic work and shows that a great many devices belonging to human rights defenders and journalists have been infected with Pegasus spyware..Amnesty International
The Pegasus Project by Forbidden Stories (2021)
A global inquiry led by Forbidden Stories found that everywhere, governments were illegally spying on people with the NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware. Amnesty International
MIT Technology Review Analysis (2021)
An analysis discussing the implications of the Pegasus spyware leaks and the broader impact on cybersecurity and privacy. MIT Technology Review

What do these Conspiracy Theories Teach Us?

One reason for concern is the saying truth is stranger than fiction might need an upgrade to truth is stranger, scarier, and often more systemic than fiction. Each of these cases shows us a troubling pattern: the powerful just don’t want to tell the truth. And when they do finally fess up, it’s more often than not after they’ve been forced to, and even then, they do so kicking and screaming almost all the way to the finish line.

It’s not only the lies or omissions that infuriate and annoy; it’s the arrogance behind them. Public trust is eroded by the suspicion that powerful figures don’t think we’re capable of handling the truth. Conspiracy theories flourish in the spaces made by this hubris.

The real conspiracy is not just about the lies we are told but about the expectation that we will accept them without question. Next time you hear something called a conspiracy theory, don’t roll your eyes too quickly. The history of the United States shows that today’s crackpot idea is often tomorrow’s undeniable reality.

CONSPIRACY THEORIES PRIOR 2000

The Tuskegee Syphilis Study

Claim: The U.S. government was not engaging in unethical medical experimentation on African American men but was providing free medical treatment as part of the Tuskegee Study.

Dismissal: At first, the public considered these accusations to be unfounded and outrageous; what kind of government would willfully damage its own people, especially while pretending to be helpful?

Proven True: In 1972, whistleblowers exposed the fact that, from 1932 to 1972, the U.S. Public Health Service had studied the advancement of untreated syphilis in African American men in Alabama, all without the men’s knowledge or consent. Even when penicillin became the standard treatment, the men who were in this study were denied access. This all led to national outrage and (hopefully) improvements in medical ethics.

COINTELPRO (FBI Surveillance of Activists)

Claim: Activists asserted that the FBI was watching and trying to undermine civil rights leaders, anti-war groups, and other political movements to disrupt their efforts.

Dismissal: FBI misconduct were dismissed by many as wild and unsubstantiated. They argued that no federal law enforcement agency would dare carry out the sort of clandestine, unlawful behavior one might associate with a totalitarian regime.

Proven True: In 1971, a cadre of activists burst into an FBI office in Pennsylvania and liberated documents that laid bare the workings of COINTELPRO. Active from 1956 to 1971, the program involved infiltration, surveillance, and all manner of heats that the appropriation of the taxpayers’ dollars could buy against such putative domestic enemies as the Black Panthers, the anti-Vietnam War movement, and Martin Luther King Jr. The COINTELPRO exposure electrified the populace and led to congressional investigations.

Watergate Scandal

Claim: A few detractors posited that the Nixon White House was using the tools of government to keep an eye on its adversaries and was up to no good in using those adversaries’ secrets, if it had any, in order to maintain Nixon’s hold on the presidency.

Dismissal: The first reports of a break-in at the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters painted the picture of an organization that had been ransacked on the orders of a common crook, not a common criminal. Indeed, the DNC was seen as such an easy target, with an office just off the hall where an earlier scandal was said to have Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Ford, as in, “Ford was never the most popular U.S. president, but imagine how much more unpopular he would have been if Watergate had never been uncovered?”

Proven True: Investigative journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncovered evidence that the burglary was part of a larger operation organized by Nixon’s team. They also implicated Nixon himself when they reported on the evidence of his obstruction of justice that was actually on the cover-up end of the plan. Woodward and Bernstein’s work confirmed the basic truth that just about everyone already suspected: Nixon had a hand in the operation and a hand in cheating.

Big Tobacco’s Lies About Smoking

Claim: Critics alleged that tobacco companies knew their products were addictive and harmful but conspired to hide this information from the public.

Dismissal: Tobacco executives consistently denied the accusations, even testifying under oath in 1994 that they did not believe nicotine was addictive. Many believed these denials.

Proven True: In the late 1990s, internal documents were released during lawsuits against the tobacco industry. These documents revealed that companies had known for decades about the health risks of smoking and had actively suppressed research while marketing their products as safe. The revelations led to massive legal settlements and stricter regulations.

Project MK-Ultra

Claim: Stories began circulating that the CIA was conducting secret mind-control experiments on U.S. citizens, involving drugs like LSD and psychological manipulation.

Dismissal: Most dismissed these claims as the stuff of spy novels and conspiracy fiction, too absurd to be real.

Proven True: In the 1970s, declassified documents revealed the existence of MK-Ultra, a CIA program that ran from 1953 to 1973. The program involved administering LSD, sensory deprivation, and other experimental techniques on unsuspecting subjects, including prisoners and hospital patients. The goal was to explore mind control for use in espionage and interrogation. Public outrage followed, and the program was officially ended.

The Gulf of Tonkin Incident

Claim: Anti-war activists alleged that the U.S. government fabricated or exaggerated the Gulf of Tonkin attacks to justify escalating the Vietnam War.

Dismissal: At the time, the government’s account of North Vietnamese attacks on U.S. ships was widely accepted, and critics were labeled as unpatriotic conspiracy theorists.

Proven True: Declassified NSA documents later revealed that one of the two reported attacks in August 1964 never occurred. The Johnson administration used the false report to pass the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, granting broad military powers in Vietnam. The incident became a symbol of government manipulation leading to war.

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Jourdan Rombough

I’m Jourdan, and Vussio is one of my many websites. This site is a place for put together topics i find interesting, along with my thoughts and perspective on random topics outside of my expertise of SEO.