25 Popular Conspiracy Theories That Are So Stupid They’re Actually Funny

The moon peaking out behind clouds
Unsplash / Andre Hugo

Found on Ask Reddit

1. Australia doesn’t exist

That Australia doesn’t exist. It is a massive cover-up for Britain killing hundreds of thousands of prisoners at sea and just saying they sent them to Australia.

It gets even more ridiculous in the continuation of the cover-up. Apparently all airplane pilots and boat captains are in on it and whenever anyone “visits” Australia it is actually a cleared out section of land in South America that has thousands of actors paid to be “Australian”.

— the_purple_flowerpot

2. Stephen King killed John Lennon

That Stephen King murdered John Lennon.

— KyWebb45

3. Plateaus are part of trees

The one where plateaus are are actually the petrified/fossilized stumps of monstrous trees hundreds of feet wide some ancient advanced civilization cut down.

— Shoboni

4. The moon doesn’t exist

There was a guy that thought the moon was fake. Not just the landings, the actual moon.

— estile606

5. That Stephen Hawking was a computer

That Stephen Hawking’s computer was actually the first ascendant machine, taking control of his body and becoming Stephen Hawking. What we all thought was Hawking was really just his hyper-intelligent sentient computer doing all the functions for him.

— IBM_Pingmaster

6. There weren’t just four Beatles members

The Beatles were a rotation of different, similar looking, people.

— ya_boi_daelon

7. The US invaded Iraq for a Mesopotamian star gate

The US invaded Iraq to get ahold of an ancient Mesopotamian star gate . I doubt very many people believe this, but still.

— TychoBrahe2

8. The Vincent Van Gogh was Jack the Ripper

I will always find the theory that Vincent Van Gogh was Jack the Ripper quite funny. Just… the sheer amount of work and thought the guy has put into this.

— PeterLemonjellow

9. Eric Clapton was a serial killer

My favorite isn’t widely known, I’m pretty sure just this one crazy homeless dude in my city believes this but here it goes. Eric Clapton is mediocre at best and we all know about him pushing that kid out of the window so he could write a number one hit but this theory digs deeper and claims that every great front man that has died of an young since the 1960s was actually murdered by none other than Eric fucking Clapton. Jimmy Hendrix, John Lennon, Jim Morrison, Freddy Mercury, Kurt Cobain, the list goes on. Clapton felt threatened by their talent so he snuffed them out.

— captain_crowfood

10. Yetis are actually aliens

Bigfoots/Sasquatches/Yetis are actually dimension-hopping agents of the Grey aliens. How can this be proven? We haven’t caught one yet because they escape to other dimensions.

*Seen on Ancient Aliens

— littleoctagon

11. JFK wasn’t actually shot

JFK’s head just did that.

— CloudyDaze09

12. Katy Perry is JonBenét Ramsey

Katy Perry is actually JonBenét Ramsey, the child beauty queen who was murdered in 1996.

— I_AM_KING_HALLER

13. Tommy Wiseau is DB Cooper in disguise

Tommy Wiseau is DB Cooper.

— Wazzup44

14. North Korea is using Pokémon Go to spy on the U.S.

My brother-in-law had one a few years ago that Pokemon Go was really a tool N. Korea was using to spy on the US. I can’t remember all of the details, but kids were supposedly taking pictures of top-secret locations. Oh dear.

— IFudgedTheMath

15. That Avril Lavigne was replaced by a clone

The ones that say famous musicians like Paul McCartney and Avril Lavingne were killed and replaced by a double.

-eDgAR-

16. Mattress Firm is actually a money laundering sceme

That Mattress Firm stores are popping up everywhere cause they’re a part of a money laundering scheme. I mean… it’s pretty interesting to think about. We have at least 4 or 5 in my area alone, why do we need that many Mattress Firm stores when the average person only buys a bed every 7 to 10 years?

— dbot_121

17. The the Olson twins are just one person.

That the Olson twins are just one person moving back et forth réally fast.

— Arsiamon

18. Reptilians control the government

That reptilians control the government. Basically, their evidence is “My tv glitched out, it must be their disguises faltering!”

— Ethanarcade44

19. Tupac is still alive

There are people out there that seriously believe Tupac is still alive. That his death was all a ruse. No, he’s dead. So is Biggie. So is Elvis.

— madism

20. Hitler is still alive and living on the moon

That Hitler is or was still alive and is now living on the Moon.

— AngelofArt

21. Japan invented Finland

The Finland Conspiracy that says Japan invented Finland for more fishing rights.

— My_Ex_Got_Fat

22. We were teleported to a parallel universe

“this movie i watched 20 years ago and never really paid attention is actually sightly different than how i remember it, so i obviously must’ve been teleported to a parallel universe where it is this way and not the way i remember. you know, because my memory is flawless and the CERN scientists are evil”

-mandela effect believer

— WinterGlitchh

23. Most famous people are transgender

The “transvestigation”. Where people believe a lot of prominent people are actually transgender. Why? Who the fuck knows.

— obsessedcrf

24. Vaccines cause autism

That vaccines cause autism. It was bullshit made up by an ex porn star who wanted someone to blame for her kid’s disability. It is so ridiculously stupid, plus, autistic people are just fine. Sure, they may need some extra help, but in my experience they are happy, insightful and a good laugh. They can teach you a thing or two too when they get stuck into a topic.

— Yngvar_Stormblade

25. Dinosaurs never existed

That dinosaurs never existed and that the government went around burying fake bones to perpetuate the myth that they did.

I didn’t think people could be that stupid but I am proven wrong every damn day of my life.

— chambertlo Thought Catalog Logo Mark

Callie is a writer, editor, and publisher at Thought Catalog. Her debut book, ‘The Words We Left Behind,’ was released in January 2024.

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