Wild Reddit Conspiracy Theories
- Ash
- 16 minutes ago
- 10 min read
Quick Disclaimer: Topics discussed in this post may be distressing to some readers. Reader discretion advised. Also, a few things have been censored.
Hi friends! For this blog post, I thought we could take a look at some of Reddit's Wild Conspiracy Theories! I've done the deep dive, so you don't have to. Enjoy!!
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Wild Reddit Conspiracy Theories
From the subreddit /r/conspiracytheories
Online Surveillance through Video Games Reddit user batbrazilian says, "What If These Violent Gaming Posts Are Meant to Monitor People?" "I believe there’s an online surveillance experiment happening through social media gaming content.
Random gaming pages constantly post simulated mass sh*otings using games like Half-Life, Garry's Mod, and other similar games — showing protagonists deliberately k*lling groups of people in chaotic and disturbing scenarios. These posts are usually pushed more heavily on Facebook because Facebook offers emotional reactions beyond a simple thumbs up, especially the heart reaction.
The purpose seems to be behavioral filtering.
People who repeatedly like or heart this type of fictional mass violence may quietly get placed into some kind of “yellow flag” category for observation and behavioral monitoring. Not necessarily direct punishment, but an alert system designed to identify certain psychological patterns and potentially risky individuals online.
Modern algorithms already analyze engagement, emotional reactions, and behavioral trends at massive scale. Governments and federal agencies also monitor online extremism and potential threats. Combining those two systems would make this kind of passive surveillance experiment completely possible.
I think these posts are less about entertainment and more about data collection, psychological profiling, and identifying users who consistently respond positively to violent content."
My Thoughts: I think this one is plausible, as I'm pretty sure governments (and maybe even CIA/FBI) do use watchlists, and it's probably easier to do online surveillance to find extremist groups than IRL. I've personally never seen this sort of stuff on my Facebook or other social media, but I don't really go looking for it. I also want to say that there is a plethora of research highlighting that video games do not correlate with violence. Most of the research shows that video games are good for development. I've talked about that before, so I don't really think video games are going to pop out every single t*rrorist organisation in the world. But hey, I could be wrong.
This was posted by Reddit user Kooky-Key-8891, and I believe they are referring to how they believe the events surrounding Trump are staged.
One of the top comments on this post says, "Everything is WWE-style kayfabe with him. If there is one thing that I will give him, it is that he learned a long time ago that some people will believe anything if you sell it to them the right way. It’s the most important lesson that he learned from Vince McMahon. Literally everything surrounding him and his administration is like a professional wrestling skit. The secretary of defense talks like he’s getting ready for a cage match against Papa Shango."
My Thoughts: Something we learned in sociology was that often governments like to do what they call "distractions", so we know that the E*stein Files got released (mostly redacted), but stuff like this and releasing "alien FBI files" are often used to distract people from digging deeper into what's actually going on. Once we're distracted, the government swoops in and does something we might not want to happen. I don't think I'm explaining this theory very well. I also think the attempt at a$$assinating Trump was a way for him to get back into power (as he wasn't president then, only running). It's scary how extremist right-wing the world has become. I think what we can learn from this one is just to be aware of distractions and not to get too caught up in them.
The user has since deleted this post, so I don't know who the OP was. The top comment on this post is that if Ghislaine Maxwell can be placed in Portugal at the time of Madeleine's disappearance, then this is likely.
If you are unfamiliar with the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, I recommend reading the Wikipedia page "here". It is one of the biggest unsolved mysteries globally.
My Thoughts: Firstly, Ghislaine Maxwell is absolutely disgusting for what she did to children, and it's so gross that she's in more of a minimum prison now, yucky, yucky, yucky! Unfortunately, there is no proof that Maxwell was in Portugal at the time of Madeleine's a*duction and the sketch kinda looks like her. I also feel like she would be the kind of monster who would brag about this if it were her?
From Reddit user S3Dzzy.
My Thoughts: The first thing I did was reverse image search this on Google. You can easily do this with Google Lens now! Stupid AI. Anyway, it took me to a few articles saying that this map is misleading and not an accurate representation of caves or where people have actually gone missing - it's more just two maps of caves (I think). However, I am going to be a bit biased here because I have a phobia of caves and say that maybe it's possible SOME missing persons have gotten lost in caves or potentially eaten by an animal, and that's why they haven't been found - or maybe there's a serial k*ller out there who just happens to know all the best spots to bury remains. I do know that there are a lot of areas and caves that still haven't been explored, so I am kinda interested to see what things cave explorers find over time. I also read somewhere that maybe there are human civilisations living in caves that we have yet to discover - and even communities that are products of incest hiding out (literally real-life X-Files). Do not ever watch the episode Home of the X-Files, it's so disgusting and awful.
From the subreddit /r/LowStakesConspiracies
Lint rollers are designed to leave a coating of adhesive on your clothes so more things stick to them therefore increasing lint roller use (from Reddit user Rawshark96)
My Thoughts: Wouldn't surprise me - we already know that smartphone companies make phones slow down after 2 years of use, so this wouldn't be that shocking. It's not that wild, but I thought it was interesting to put in here.
Elf on the shelf was created by the government to make the younger generations desensitized to being constantly watched (from Reddit user Spacebutterfly)
Pic of Elf on the Shelf! From Google - Copyright goes to OP as per trademark.
My Thoughts: Firstly, I find this TOY incredibly creepy, and that's probably because of all the alleged "paranormal" videos that come out about Elf on the Shelf, and just look at his eyes?? SO CREEPY. Anyway, the theory is kinda saying that the elf toy is a hidden camera in plain sight and that kids get so used to seeing this thing watching them that when they grow up in a world of constant surveillance, it's kinda like "whatever, used to this". I feel like it works whether the toy actually has any hidden devices in it or if it's just the toy, because he really does look like he's watching you. Maybe this is a real-life example of Foucault's panopticon?
Nevertheless, everything to do with Elf on the Shelf is so creepy.
The term "bougie" was created purely to disguise the fact that people couldn't spell "bourgeois". (from Reddit user Hookton)
Hookton goes on to say, "I'm not necessarily hating on it; language evolves, and we are (of course) in the middle of a vowel shortage. I reckon the next shift will be "bouro" for "beauraucratic bureaucratic" because who's got the time and vowels to spell that out every time."
My Thoughts: I like this, it's a fun theory!! But I don't really know if it is true. I have always had to spell both bourgeoisie and bourgeois for sociology, so I am probably not the target market for this, and I find it interesting that bougie isn't really a written word, more a spoken one. I am not sure if people in lower SES areas are the ones using the word bougie. I've never used it in my life (I guess Luke and I would be middle class even though we don't own a house?)
From the subreddit /r/HighStrangeness
A CIA officer watched a psychic disturb a lab instrument no one had ever moved. He then correctly named a classified Soviet facility from coordinates alone. Then he died. The FBI told the CIA he'd been briefing a private group after every session without anyone. Declassified primary source (from Reddit user frankreddit5). The article is "here". It is said to be part of the Stargate Programme that the CIA did to find out what sort of psychic stuff (see my article on ESP) actually existed and whether they could use it to their advantage (I don't know how much of it is legit, but I am a sceptic).
My Thoughts: Is it possible that the CIA/FBI focused on ESP "remote viewing" to distract from actual spies placed in areas they aren't meant to be? Like a double agent vibe. And maybe the psychic was one of those double agents? Or maybe he just guessed and got things right? Dunno whether the psychic actually moved an item though - I don't really believe in telekinesis. BUT I do think that the CIA and FBI definitely don't give the public all the information, so there's definitely conspiracy theories in there - and just look up MKUltra if you're unaware of it.
From the subreddit /r/theories
DISCLAIMER: This theory is very gross.
Dubai Chocolate is a cover-up for Dubai's known human porta-potties (from Reddit user TieDifficult4444)
"A theory that I’ve had for a long time: Dubai is known for having models and influencers fly out there get d*fecated on for money, trips, bags, and dinners. It’s been a big “secret in the media” for years now. Dubai chocolate (the candy) was recently created and while hearing so many people say it’s not that good it’s everywhere, strawberries, cakes, peanuts, notebook themes even. I feel like it’s a case of Dubai creating this thing to cover up the search results of Dubai chocolate and the horrors that may entail granted Dubai is very strict with there indecency laws and would probably do anything to cover that up. It’s similar to the theory that Disney created frozen the movie to cover up the search results that would come up when you search Walt Disney frozen."
My Thoughts: First things first, the Walt Disney frozen conspiracy theory has been debunked, and his head wasn't frozen. Disney has been in some hot water, but I just can't get on the bandwagon about that one. Anyway, back to the Dubai Chocolate conspiracy theory, because it may actually be true. I've done some digging and found a few articles discussing s*x rings in Dubai, where women go there and get paid to do the disgusting stuff. You can read one "here". It's very confronting. I actually think this is a conspiracy theory that is real, and that's so f*cked up to say. I've had some Dubai Chocolate, and I do not like the texture, but I think pistachio and chocolate are a good flavour combination. I just don't like the texture of knafeh.
Ironically (maybe ironically isn't the best word here), I've found an article that talks about how Dubai Chocolate has been linked to outbreaks of Salmonella in Canada. The article looked like a sorta Daily Mail/Buzzfeed type, so I had to fact-check it, of course, and there is a Public Health Notice from the government confirming this is true (it's been going on from around March 2025 to now, June 2026). Also, for some reason, people who have been affected are disproportionately female (70%). What a wild rabbit hole I just went down. It's so gross.
From the subreddit /r/AskReddit
Reddit User sublimefan123 asked, "What's the scariest conspiracy theory you believe is 100% true?"
Here are some of the responses:
Reddit user m0le said, "No-one is secretly in charge from the shadows, the politicians we have are actually the leaders of the world and are genuinely what people voted for.
There are few things scarier than that."
A now deleted comment said, "In the early 1980s, Coca-Cola deliberately removed "Coke Classic" (made with cane sugar) from production and introduced "New Coke" (a.k.a. "Coke II") as a ruse, knowing full well that people would complain that it "wasn't the same as before," so they staged an apology commercial from Coke's CEO saying "we're sorry; we hear you" (when has a CEO ever said that??? LOL), and re-introduced "Coke Classic" with corn syrup instead of cane sugar, knowing that by the time it was re-released, the market's inventory of the original "Coke Classic" had largely been distributed and consumed, so very few people (if any) could actually compare them side-by-side to see if they tasted the same.
BTW, the tariffs on cane sugar were increased ginormously just before they did this, which was a way to encourage domestic corn production.
TL;DR - Coke pulled a switch-a-roo by changing sweeteners and lied saying that it was the exact same as before." I don't think this is a conspiracy; I think this is a real thing that happened. Maybe Jon Hamm knows. LOL. Whenever I think about cola soft drinks, I always end up thinking about the Coke vs Pepsi blind taste test because I think it's funny that everyone actually prefers Pepsi but Coke wins with advertising.
Reddit user venom121212 says, "Octopi are alien and you can't convince me otherwise. Mofos came from a meteor or something. Their brain development rate compared to all other species is off the charts."
My Thoughts: I think these ones are all plausible.
From the subreddit /r/TooAfraidToAsk
Some of the responses are quite scary!
User feeling_raudi says, "The "unsubscribe" button on spam emails is used to find active email accounts, which can then be sold to other advertisers for more money."
User Dodgy_Bob_McMayDay says, "The dead internet theory feels at least somewhat believable, with it getting ever harder to tell the difference between human and bot." I have a blog post about the dead internet theory, you can read "here".
User IamNotFreakingOut says, "That the secret services post online once in a while to check if their most cherished and hidden secrets are exposed to the public or not."
My Thoughts: I am scared LOL. I really like the Secret Service one, it seems kinda fun and really plausible - I think it's similar to the FBI posting on Reddit or surveilling Reddit. Very interesting.
Thank you for reading! Did you enjoy these conspiracy theories? Let me know in the comments.
Stay safe,
Ash xoxo
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