Conspiracy Theories That Haunt My Brain at 2AM

ashey9111
6 hours ago
16 min read

Hi friends! Welcome back to another blog post from yours truly - Ash! I have been going down a bit of a conspiracy theory rabbit hole lately and so here's a blog about some conspiracy theories that haunt my brain at 2AM!

There aren't a lot of conspiracy theories that I really believe because I like to be a bit skeptical, but there are some that I can definitely see "oh yeah, that's totally true," like Princess Diana, for example. I also want to note that with things like conspiracy theories, we have to recognise how much confirmation bias plays a role, i.e., if you search for information that aligns with your belief, you're most likely going to find it. And, I think it's also SUPER interesting that we have had conspiracy theories that turned out to be true, like Watergate and some things surrounding MK Ultra *shudder.

Additionally, I want to say that there are conspiracy theories that are borderline NOT true, so we have to be careful when we're dealing with people's lives - like Pizzagate wasn't true, but people went to the extreme, faking emails with the Clintons and whatnot.

YouTube video coming soon too! Please enjoy!!

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Conspiracy Theories That Haunt My Brain at 2AM

Let's start with the definition of a Conspiracy Theory from Wiki! "A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable."

So why do we believe in conspiracy theories? Well, I think I've touched on it before in some of my blogs, but there are many reasons. According to the APA (2023), humans are more susceptible to believing in conspiracy theories due to personality traits and motivations such as relying on their intuition, a sense of antagonism, feeling superior to others, and perceived threats in their own environments. A lot of people turn to conspiracy theories in times of uncertainty (e.g., Covid-19), distress, and impairment. The APA (2023) also suggests that those more likely to believe in conspiracy theories have higher amounts of paranoia, are more likely to be insecure and withdrawn, and are egocentric.

Van Prooijen (2022) highlights that even though conspiracy theories have "objectively" negative effects on people in society, many of us still find them appealing. Such theories can be rewarding by providing a sense of meaning and purpose (like religion does for some people), and in turn, this meaning and purpose can lead to feelings of excitement, legitimacy, and importance. This demonstrates that conspiracy theories may be a form of instant gratification. Conspiracy theories also allow people to become "DIY" detectives. The problem with the DIY detectives is that they've already come to their own conclusion about something.

Now, let's get to the list of conspiracy theories that haunt my brain at 2AM!

Most of these conspiracy theories have come from the special place known as the internet, but some are from TikTok, and some are from books I've read or things I've heard in passing.

Denver Airport Conspiracy Theory: This one could probably be it's own blog post because there's so much omg. The Denver International Airport (DIA) is an airport located in Denver, Colorado, USA. It is the largest airport in the Western Hemisphere and the 2nd largest in the world (33,531 acres). After the completion of the airport in 1995, many conspiracy theories about it started to emerge. There were so many conspiracy theories that the airport ended up embracing them itself (clever marketing IMO). In 2016, the airport even opened an exhibition for some of the conspiracy theories, and in 2019, an animatronic gargoyle was installed that would say things like "Welcome to Illuminati headquarters," BUT many people took offense to this, and the gargoyle was replaced with a more muted version. So what about the conspiracy theories?
1. Tunnels - DIA had many delays in opening. I believe it was pushed from 1993 all the way to 1995, and this led to the belief that there were underground tunnels being built under the airport. The tunnels are real, BUT there are conspiracies about what they are actually for. The tunnel "lore" is that they lead to underground survival bunkers for the elite, are homes for aliens, are military bases, are homes for lizard people, or lead to the North American Aerospace Defense Command. The tunnels are for moving luggage around check-in counters, baggage areas, and terminals. Some staff have even pranked people by wearing lizard masks. There has been graffiti that has appeared on the tunnel walls, such as aliens, but there is normal graffiti too. 2. New World Order/Secret Societies - The airport is in an isolated location (I mean, aren't all airports?), so many people believe that the airport is going to be used by the New World Order (NWO) as a prison or c*ncentration camp. There is a time capsule at the airport with an engraved plaque that has the Freemason symbol and says "New World Airport Commission," - a group that never existed. However, this plaque prompted many to believe that the airport is/was controlled by the Freemasons and linked to the New World Order conspiracy. The New World Order conspiracy is when people think that a group of elites are plotting to take over the world. There is no evidence or correlation that the DIA and the Freemasons are connected. 3. Art - There is a lot of art scattered around the DIA, and many people believe that there are hidden meanings inside each art piece (or that they represent hidden messages). The specific ones are murals from artist Leo Tanguma. According to a Denver blog, this is what they actually represent: "The pieces purportedly express the artist's hopeful desire for the people of the world to live in peace with one another and in harmony with nature, but others have been more focused on the anti-themes of w*r, d*ath, pollution and environmental destruction, even claiming that the artworks contain clues and messages about the apocalypse and the inevitable rise of a totalitarian world government." You can see images of the murals "here". As the murals were removed during construction, many believed that there was a cover-up going on. This conspiracy theory had many implications for Tanguma and their family, with many people accusing them of being S*tanists and threatening them to destroy their art. 4. Alien Language - People have said there are markings in the airport that may represent either an alien language or some sort of secret language. However, these markings are actually Navajo language characters and identifiers for airport artists. A language spoken in North America is used to show a commitment to the culture and indigenous people by the DIA. 5. Blue Mustang Eyes - The airport has a giant blue horse statue with blazing red eyes, and many have called these eyes "d*monic". In 2006, the artist Luis Jiménez was working on the statue when part of the statue fell onto him. It severed an artery, and he passed away. Many people made up the story that the horse came alive and k*lled him. The blazing red eyes were a tribute to the artist's dad, who owned a neon light store in Mexico. 6. Flat Earth - In 2023, a viral TikTok theory alleged that a 30-year-old art installation wasn't 30 years old at all, it was new, AND that this art installation proved the flat earth theory. The problem with this is that the art piece wasn't new, and when you fly into Denver, you can literally see the curvature of the earth.

Double-stuffed Oreos: There is a conspiracy theory that Oreos made double-stuffed Oreos so that they could lower the amount of "cream" they put into regular Oreos. Then, they slowly reduced the amount, and now Double-Stuffed Oreos have exactly the same amount as normal Oreos did originally, and normal Oreos have even less. Cream is in quotation marks because Oreos are vegan. I think this conspiracy theory actually holds some weight since doing more research on it, a teacher, Dan Anderson, and his students investigated how much stuffing was in the Oreos. Results showed that the stuffing isn't actually double, it's only around 1.9% more than a normal Oreo. Oreo responded with "While I'm not familiar with what was done in the classroom setting, I can confirm for you that our recipe for the Oreo Double Stuf Cookie has double the "Stuf,' or creme filling, when compared with our base, or original Oreo cookie." I can't say for sure who is right, I think you'd have to do a lot of different sample studies and then work out the average to really prove it.
Snapchat facial recognition: There is a conspiracy theory that the popular social media app Snapchat is actually building a super detailed facial recognition database. In 2015, Snapchat launched a feature called "lenses," where users could put filters and other silly things like cartoons over their faces when taking snaps of themselves. Because of this, I believe there were lawsuits against Snapchat. However, Snapchat has allegedly said that they use "object" recognition rather than "facial" recognition. Google and Facebook have come under controversy for the same thing. Whatever happened with the lawsuit is unclear, but it was dismissed in favour of arbitration - an informal process rather than going to court. But where did this conspiracy theory actually come from? There are some example Tweets from Twitter as far back as 2015 that most likely started the rumours. One from TEENWOLF says, "you guys are all swooning over the snapchat filters... And the FBI is getting the most extensive facial recognition library ever," and in 2016, hip hop artist B.o.B tweeted "when you realize all the snapchat filters are building a facial recognition database". I think we can easily debunk this one - facial recognition has been around for a while, it's not a brand new technology (it was invented in the 1960s). And who we are is collected ALL the time - public surveillance systems, information into databases online, our Facebook info is available if we go missing. Silicon Valley nerds probably aren't going to be too worried about Snapchat building something that they don't really need. Keep snapping, you're safe. Additionally, "this source" claims that Snapchat isn't sharing its data with any other third party and has no correlation with the FBI.

Netflix Memes for Marketing Purposes (or, the Bird Box Effect): Okay, this is totally a conspiracy theory I can get behind LOL! And, it's most likely true. Back when the Netflix movie, Bird Box, was released in 2018, it had awful reviews (it still does, it's a horror movie), BUT Netflix did something clever with their marketing. Before the film was released, they gave a bunch of "famous" Twitch streamers a Bird Box challenge - where they had to play video games blindfolded. And weeks before the movie came out, many influencers started referencing the film unprompted. And so, many memes started appearing, and viewers were left with a bit of "FOMO". Why does this marketing work? Well, a positive symbiotic relationship between a meme and movie/TV Show relies on just two things: 1) general access and 2) positive reception of the show/movie (Bereznak, 2019). I don't think it's just Bird Box that Netflix does this for - think about TV Shows like Wednesday, Stranger Things, etc., - we see a meme, we wanna watch the show so we can understand the meme - in turn, leading to a higher viewer count. I cannot debunk this conspiracy theory because I think it's just marketing.
Conspiracy Theories surrounding the d*ath of Princess Diana: Okay, there are A LOT of different conspiracy theories surrounding Princess Diana's d*ath. There was SOOO much going on and lots of people speculated lots of different things. There are way too many to go into detail, so I'll try and summarise as best I can here. Even though it might be the case that something more sinister was going on, according to the inquest into Princess Diana's death, none of the conspiracy theories were found to be true. 1. According to the person Princess Diana was dating (Dodi), she was pregnant. However, there was no sign she was pregnant in the post-mortem examination. No signs in her blood work, and her friends suggested that her menstrual cycle was normal. Theories emerged that the royals would not be able to accept an "Egyptian Muslim" would be stepfather of the future King of England. So gross, so racist, so bigoted. I believe this rumour was fuelled by Dodi's family.
2. Princess Diana believed that she was going to be the target of an attack. In a letter written to Princess Diana's butler, Paul Burrell, she said, "I am sitting here at my desk today in October, longing for someone to hug me and encourage me to hold my head high. This particular phase in my life is the most dangerous [...] is planning 'an accident' in my car, brake failure and serious head injury in order to make the path clear for Charles to marry." It is believed that this letter was written when Princess Diana had legitimate concerns for her safety, she had problems with her car, and her bodyguard died under mysterious circumstances. Reports found that there was no evidence she was going to be k*lled on purpose by the royals.
3. The Paparazzi caused the crash intentionally - The Independent UK says, "This theory has three specific forms. The first alleges that the group of paparazzi chased and pushed Diana’s Mercedes so that it could make the crash happen. The second argues that members of the paparazzi encouraged an environment where a crash could happen. The third suggests that the paparazzi accidentally created a situation that the conspirators exploited to kill the people in the car."
4. Driver Henri Paul (Head of Security at The Ritz) caused the crash intentionally. This one confuses me a bit because some reports say Paul was drunk and others don't, and some say that the evidence was tampered with. I also read somewhere that he was given a dr*g that he wouldn't normally take. It's alleged that Paul was paid off by the secret services of either France or the UK to cause the crash. There are a few more, but I think I'll leave it at that for now, for Princess Diana, otherwise we're just going to go down a giant rabbit hole we'll never come out of.

Area 51 and Area S4: So I'm sure we're ALL familiar with Area 51 and what it's for, but if we're not, basically, Area 51 is a secret military installation in Nevada. Details of what goes on there are not made public, but the Wikipedia page claims that Area 51 is an open training range. I think it's owned by the CIA? Due to the secrecy, Area 51 has become synonymous with conspiracy theories, with suggestions that it holds alien spacecraft and conducts scary experiments. I also believe the area is used for testing aircraft. Anyway, in 1989, conspiracy theorist Bob Lazar claimed that he was part of a reverse engineering of ET technology and "worked" at Area 51. Bob Lazar has provided no evidence of aliens. Let me get to Area S-4, allegedly - there is another top secret area which is part of Area 51 where the real top secret alien stuff actually goes on (one that you can't see on Google Maps). I'm unable to find ANY evidence of this online, and I think it's easy to debunk this by saying that Bob Lazar is most likely a con man. I think there is an S-4 area, but I don't think it's for alien stuff; it's most likely a storage area. I also think that because there are no real answers to what's really going on with testing there, people are easily swayed by conspiracy theories.
The CIA "Cheat Code": As we probably know by now, I like to follow Occam's Razor in most situations, and this conspiracy is just a bit silly IMO. So I first saw this in "this" TikTok video where user yolkfather explains that the CIA released a cheat code from the Monroe Institute of Applied Sciences. In the document, there is a "code" that you can use to reduce pain. I've got the document open right now, and this is what it says "To Reduce Pain Signals - Look with your closed eyes at that part of your body which is the source of pain signals. As you look, repeat in your mind the number 55515. When you do these 2 things, the pain signals will slowly reduce until they are no longer important." You can read the document "here" or just Google it, and it will be one of the first results. So the document was released in like 2003, and The Monroe Institute is a place that studies human consciousness, and things like astral projection, meditation, hypnosis, biofeedback, and so on. So, I think we can safely debunk this one - the pain signal is like a form of mediation, and I would say it's more placebo effect - if you think it works, then it'll work. I think there are a lot of problems with claiming that it's a "cheat code" and that we're living in a simulation. Although the simulation theory is something I'm interested in learning more about.
Project Blue Beam: This conspiracy theory was put forward by Serge Monast (1945 - 1996). Project Blue Beam is allegedly a conspiracy theory that "posits a plot to facilitate a totalitarian world government by destroying Abrahamic religions and replacing them with a New Age belief system using futuristic NASA technology and involving a faked alien invasion or fake extraterrestrial encounter meant to deceive nations into uniting under a new world government." Many believed that the alien invasion was going to begin in 1995 or 1996. When Monast passed, the turn of the millennium was then proposed. There would be a few stages for this conspiracy: 1) Earthquakes would be triggered to unearth hidden artifacts, which would "prove" religions false. 2) Holographic projections would show the return of divine figures, specific for each region, and then there would be a "unifying" God that would speak to everyone. 3) The technology used would be able to control human thoughts to create the illusion of direct communication with gods/deities, then simulation and alien invasion, which would be used to justify authoritarian control. WHAT THE F*CK?
In December 2024, an article by Newsweek reported that numerous individuals in New Jersey and New York were observing drones in the sky, which was unusual for them. The FBI stated that they were unaware of the drones' origin, which intensified rumours regarding the conspiracy theory known as Project Blue Beam. Many right-wing Trump supporters discuss this theory on their podcasts, suggesting that the drones are part of Project Blue Beam, believing that "the" alien invasion has begun.

So, can we debunk this one? Yes, the drones were most likely from the US government, as most sightings were near military bases, and the drones people were seeing had the lights required by the US aircraft law, according to a professor of mechanical engineering. So we probably shouldn't be too concerned with Project Blue Beam.

Disney's "Frozen" Conspiracy: I'm pretty sure Disney and Disney World, and Disneyland have been subjected to a lot of conspiracy theories over the years, but this one has been popping up all over TikTok lately. So the theory goes that the movie "Frozen" was called Frozen to distract from something more sinister. Furthermore, there is speculation that Walt Disney's body was cryogenically frozen and this is so that one day they could bring him back to life when the technology became available. There is no evidence that Walt Disney is actually frozen. So what does this have to do with the movie Frozen? So in 2019, a new dark conspiracy theory emerged about Walt Disney's body being frozen and that the movie "Frozen" was meant to be a distraction. Why do people think this? Well, when you Google "Disney Frozen," you just get the movie and nothing about Walt Disney's allegedly frozen body. Apparently, if you Google the word frozen, the movie shows up more than anything else. I confirm that when I googled "frozen," the search results were all about the 2013 film. It wasn't until page 4 that other information about other things came up. Now, I'm not a super super expert on how Google works, but I do know a thing or two, and I would say that the success of the movie is most likely the reason for this - it was so popular, it's a great movie, and has great music. So, in conclusion, we have no evidence that Walt Disney was ever frozen, and we don't have any evidence that the film was a distraction from said frozenness. Sidenote: I wish Walt Disney was exactly how Tom Hanks portrayed him and not necessarily a bit of a d*ck.
Bob Ross Conspiracy Theory: All you have to do to debunk this one is literally put it into Google. Anyway, Bob Ross (1942 - 1995) was an American painter who was known for his painting tutorials that had a very calming vibe about them. He hosted "The Joy of Painting," which he didn't actually get paid for, but his revenue from art sales and products helped keep him afloat. Circling the likes of TikTok and YouTube, I've seen many people talk about the conspiracy theory that Bob Ross was actually a serial k*ller and that he put clues as to where he put his victims in his paintings. I've also heard alternatives to this theory that because he was involved in the military before his art career, he saw a lot of things happen to good people, and that he painted images of where he saw those things happen (although I can't find a source for this alt theory). I think we can easily put this one to bed because when you Google it, it comes up with a Reddit thread from 10 years ago on the subreddit Writing Prompts, which is literally as follows (see screenshot below):

Further research shows that this originated on the subreddit Shower Thoughts SO LITERALLY SOMEONE ON THE INTERNET MADE IT UP. COME ON GUYS!

The Mandela Effect being a "test" to see how much the government/authorities can change history: Okay, first things first, there's no denying that the Mandela effect IS real. It's clearly a thing where people remember stuff wrong - i.e., false memories. However, I've seen a few TikToks (totally reliable source, I know /s) where they are saying the Mandela Effect is a test to see how much they can change history. I am just going to debunk this and say that the Mandela Effect is not a conspiracy; they are not doing these things on purpose, it's a false collective memory. Sometimes the brain makes up stuff to help with gaps in memory, and sometimes it is the exact same as what someone else's brain does. This is known as "honesty lying" - the person has no intention of lying, it just kinda happens. And there's the possibility of collective false memories - I think this has more to do with consciousness than people changing history to mess with us or test us. A couple of studies (cited below) have demonstrated that the Mandela Effect is in fact evidence for collective false memories. However, it doesn't mean we can't have fun exploring them. I wrote a post about Mandela Effects VERY early on in my blogging career, you can check it out "here".
We are all "dead": According to "this TikTok", the user is discussing how there's been studies done to show that when we die, we see our lives flashing before us - this was thought to have been only for about 8 minutes or so, but it's speculated that it could happen for hours at a time. So the conspiracy theory is that when you die, you re-live ALL your memories in what feels like real time (like a dream), and it's possible that all of us right now are already dead and we're just reliving our lives while on our d*athbeds. Pretty morbid. I think this one would do well with philosophical debates. I can't seem to find the origins of this one, so if anyone knows, please let me know so I can find a more legit source.