Conspiracy Theories

A top-secret military program changed the world in August 1945. Today we’re examining the Manhattan Project’s official story: its key figures, its developments, its spies… And breaking open the conspiracy theories it inspired around extraterrestrials, a fluoride cover-up, and a pagan cult. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Three years before the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a group of men including J. R. Oppenheimer and Ernest Lawrence held a secret meeting at Bohemian Grove—the meeting place of an invitation-only boys club made up of the rich and powerful. It’s said that the meeting marked the earliest stages of the Manhattan Project. This week we’re exploring what we know about the exclusive fraternity that parties—and plots—in the privacy of California’s redwood forests. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Before Oppenheimer hits theaters this summer, explore the real-life events that inspired the film. We’ll be back in August with new episodes of Conspiracy Theories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A prehistoric species discovered in England was once hailed as the “missing link” between humans and apes. Until it was exposed as a fake. The only question remaining: Who was in on the scam? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From doctoring scripts and censoring movies, to influencing programming for game shows, just how deep is the partnership between Hollywood and the military? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Are crime dramas just good PR for cops? From Dragnet to Law & Order, American crime shows have been helping craft the public’s perception of police for decades. But how do crime shows compare to the real thing—and how much influence does law enforcement have over how they’re portrayed? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Jurassic Park film franchise brought dinosaurs to life using CGI and special effects. But, with advancing gene engineering technology, could dinosaurs actually be resurrected? If so, should they be? Would they even survive in 21st-century conditions? We may find out sooner than you think. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's been thirty years since the first Jurassic Park film dazzled global audiences. Since then, the movie franchise has reshaped our understanding of dinosaurs. But should it? Though the filmmakers got some things right, some inaccuracies remained for dramatic effect, leaving many questions unanswered. What do we really know about velociraptors? Were they as formidable as they are depicted in the films? And if it was possible, what would a real-life Jurassic Park look like today? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

To celebrate its 30th anniversary, we're digging deeper into a film that preyed on the world's fascination with dinosaurs and changed cinema as we know it: Jurassic Park. Based on the book by Michael Crichton and directed by Steven Spielberg, Jurassic Park tore through the box office to become the highest-grossing film ever upon its release — weaving innovative technology with groundbreaking practical effects to bring an ancient species long extinct... back to life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Because of the government's classified files on UFOs, it's hard to know which US presidents knew about aliens. Some believe President Eisenhower helped mediate intergalactic peace. Others think President Kennedy was assassinated for wanting to share classified UFO research with the Soviets. While many believe that some files are so secure, even the president can't access them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When a flying saucer crashed in Roswell, New Mexico, President Harry Truman tried to downplay the incident to keep the public from panicking. But he wasn't the first US President to deal with a UFO encounter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A small commercial airplane, the Star Dust, disappeared over the Andes Mountains in 1947. Some think the flight was bombed as part of corporate sabotage. Others say extraterrestrials abducted the aircraft. But perhaps the greatest mystery surrounds the plane’s final transmission… a message in Morse code that simply read “STENDEC.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A Boeing 727 took off from Angola and vanished from the skies above Southern Africa in 2003. Many suspected the jet was hijacked by terrorists. Some government agencies think it was "stolen" so the owner could cash in on the insurance money. While others speculate that the mechanic in charge of restoring the plane hijacked it and sold it without the owner's permission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After the shipwreck, many rumors swirled about how the MS Estonia came to sink in the Baltic Sea. Some believe one of the captains, assumed dead, is still alive, trying to avoid accountability. Others think the cruise ferry was used to smuggle military equipment. But perhaps the biggest question surrounding this tragedy: Did the Accident Commission lie about what caused the vessel to sink? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In September of 1994, the MS Estonia was en route from Tallinn, Estonia to Stockholm, Sweden when it hit rough seas and sank, claiming 852 lives. An official investigation blamed the accident on the vessel’s bow visor breaking off. But passengers who survived the tragedy tell a different story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After the body of media mogul Robert Maxwell was pulled from the water, rumors began to swirl about the cause of death. It's entirely possible that it was only an accident. But some believe the crew killed him on his yacht. While others wonder if he may have been the target of Israeli assassins. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He was a controversial media mogul in Britain accused of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from his employees. Then in November 1991, Robert Maxwell mysteriously disappeared from his yacht while vacationing near the Canary Islands. His body was recovered later from the water, but the circumstances surrounding his death left many wondering what really happened that fateful night. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In November 1974, Karen Silkwood died in a one-car crash while driving to meet a New York Times reporter about falsified reports at her nuclear power plant. Due to her tragic death, a lot is still unknown about the events that led up to this moment. Did she intentionally contaminate herself to take down her employer? Was she run off the road by another car? Or was she murdered for uncovering a plutonium smuggling ring? If you’d like to take action on the climate or learn more about the topics covered in “Dark Green: Earth Crimes and Conspiracies,” visit www.spotify.com/darkgreenresources. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Worker safety was paramount to Karen Silkwood. That's why she was proud to be part of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union bargaining committee to renegotiate its contract with the Kerr-McGee nuclear plant. But before the meetings started, her car mysteriously went off the road, killing her. If you’d like to take action on the climate or learn more about the topics covered in “Dark Green: Earth Crimes and Conspiracies,” visit www.spotify.com/darkgreenresources. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A week after he was unwittingly dosed with LSD by MK-Ultra’s mastermind, Sidney Gottlieb, Frank Olson dropped 13 stories from a hotel window. After his suspicious death, two critical questions remained: Was Olson part of Project Span, which poisoned a small town in France? And did he really take his own life? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He was a military scientist for the CIA and worked on clandestine operations including MK-Ultra. As part of his job, Frank Olson witnessed some of the government's most horrific human experiments. But when he began to have second thoughts, he discovered quitting was impossible. He knew too much. And then he was found dead. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

While a massive manhunt was conducted by police, citizen "digilantes" scoured through thousands of photos from the event, proposing their own suspects. Though the real bombers of the Boston Marathon were eventually found, some think law enforcement could have prevented the tragedy with action years earlier. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After two homemade bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon in April 2013, the region was on high alert. Over 2000 police descended on the suburban town of Watertown to search for two suspects in what would become one of the largest manhunts in Massachusetts history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

During World War II, the Nazis had a base in an isolated, wooded area of the Austrian Alps called Lake Toplitz. It is believed that they used the lake as a secret dumping ground because objects that fell to the bottom would not rot. Some people think the lake is filled with Nazi gold. Others believe it contains secret weapons. But it might actually be full of counterfeit British points and information on Swiss bank accounts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On December 8, 1980, 25-year-old Mark David Chapman shot John Lennon outside the Dakota in New York City. Chapman then calmly pulled out a copy of The Catcher in the Rye and began reading. It left Beatles fans and people worldwide to theorize: Was Chapman a deranged super-fan, a young man with mental illness, or a CIA operative carrying out an assassination plot? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

More than half a century ago, the Beatles officially broke up. It upset many fans, who directed their anger, not at the band, but at a band member's wife. And while Yoko Ono bore the brunt of this conspiracy theory, the real reason for the Beatles break up is far more complex. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, the Beatles were launched into worldwide stardom. Then, in late 1966, the band disappeared for months to record Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. With the Fab Four out of the spotlight, fans couldn't help but gossip. One odd rumor was that Paul McCartney had died and been replaced with a doppelganger. Even odder… there were clues to support it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There are numerous tall tales about the Count of Saint Germain, and it isn't easy to separate fact from fiction. Some say he was secretly descended from royalty. Others claim he gained immortality when he found the Philosopher's stone. And then there are those who believe he may be a spiritual leader reincarnated to guide humanity through the ages. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Likely born around 1710, this self-styled alchemist traveled the world and rubbed elbows with society's elite. It's believed he spoke numerous languages and could simultaneously write with both hands. But how much of what we've heard about the Count of Saint Germain is true, and how much is just folklore? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After almost 100 spectators were killed at a football match in Sheffield, England, people were looking for accountability. Some feel the tragedy was caused by a series of mistakes by police. Others believe a secret society tried to cover up gaffes by the police chief. But a third theory suggests the tragedy wasn't caused by a person but by the stadium itself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Saturday, April 15th, 1989, was set to be a highly-anticipated semi-final football match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. It wound up being one of the deadliest tragedies in football history, with 96 spectators losing their lives. And it seemed nobody was going to be held accountable. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When it comes to modern-day marketing methods, brands have a knack for knowing exactly what products you want. Is it because they've collected enough data to target you directly? Or are your electronic devices simply listening to your conversations? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the winter of 1924, the Phoebus Cartel concluded that the best way to sell more light bulbs was to make ones that burned out faster. A century later, we're left to wonder, are our products intentionally made to self-destruct? Or is this "planned obsolescence" a myth because consumers naturally want the best and latest products? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On September 29th, 1913, German inventor and engineer Rudolf Diesel boarded the England-bound S.S. Dresden in Antwerp, Belgium, but was never seen again. Was he murdered on the ship by the German Secret Service for treason? Or did his mounds of personal debt play a role in his disappearance? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Fueled by a desire to change the world, Rudolf Diesel spent his early adulthood refining an idea for an internal combustible engine that used pressurized air to heat fuel. Despite selling his “Diesel Engines” worldwide, he was in tremendous debt, which made his disappearance from a steamship in September 1913 all the more mysterious. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After English farmhand Charles Walton was brutally killed on Valentine's Day, 1945, three distinct theories emerged from three perspectives to explain his death. Was it the work of witchcraft? A human sacrifice ritual? Or something more personal? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1945, residents were left wondering who was responsible for the gruesome murder of 74-year-old farmhand Charles Walton. The small village in Warwickshire County, England, believed heavily in superstitions. When Scotland Yard began its investigation, it too had to wonder if Walton's death was tied to witchcraft. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In January 2015, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots became the center of another cheating scandal. It was alleged that the footballs used in the AFC Championship Game against the Indianapolis Colts had been underinflated. After a thorough, four-month investigation, Ted Wells released a 243-page report on his findings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

They had won three Super Bowls in four seasons. Their hunky quarterback and their no-nonsense coach seemed to have the league all figured out. But some believe the New England Patriots were spying on other teams. Was the NFL aware, and if so, would it do anything to stop it? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Over 100 instances of "Havana Syndrome" have been documented worldwide. Many people have dismissed it as simply Mass Psychogenic Illness. Others believe it's the work of sonic weapons. But there's a real possibility that it's an electromagnetic attack using microwave radiation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A mysterious ailment emerged in 2016 that affected American diplomats stationed in Havana, Cuba. Victims reported vertigo, headaches, vision problems, and hearing loss. Some experts believed Cuba was behind the attacks. But then cases expanded to more than 130 countries across the globe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

She was told to find the future King Charles VII, get him crowned, and liberate France from the English. Or so we've been told. But many think Joan of Arc didn't live the life history tells us. Was she actually part of the French royal family? Did she belong to a witch cult that opposed the Catholic Church? Was she even really burned at the stake? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As a teenager, she had divine visions. She was thrust into the spotlight when she became a military leader and French national icon. But are all the things written about Joan of Arc actually true? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After World War II, the U.S. government hoped to use LSD as a “truth serum” against its enemies. The CIA called it Operation Midnight Climax. But once it was apparent what the drug’s true effects were, it turned into a party for agents — all on the taxpayer’s dime. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A century ago, a secret society conspired to strip the power from Hawaii’s queen, and force the independent kingdom to become a U.S. territory. Today, we’re looking back on how a cabal of businessmen — backed by the U.S. government — toppled a monarchy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Have popes throughout centuries signed off on secret intelligence programs designed to spy on revolutionaries, curb the influence of Modernism, and help the Catholic Church regain international power? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the early 1970s, when he was still an Archbishop, Albino Luciani caught wind of a shady banking scheme involving Italian banker Roberto Calvi and the Vatican. Years later – and just 33 days into his reign as Pope John Paul I – he was found dead. Did stepping into the Vatican’s affairs cost him his life? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The fate of the lost colonists has been debated for hundreds of years. Did they abandon their settlement of their own free will, or did they fall victim to sabotage and murder? Some historians are asking a different question altogether: What if the colony was never “lost” at all? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s a mystery that’s endured for centuries: When the English first began colonizing America, they established a small settlement off the coast of present-day North Carolina. Within three years, it was gone, leaving few clues behind. What really happened to 100+ inhabitants of Roanoke Island? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a dozen major campaigns and thousands of planted bugs and wiretaps, COINTELPRO was finally exposed to the public. But the job of untangling its impact would take decades. Was J. Edgar Hoover’s belief that Communists instigated the civil rights movement true? And how far did the FBI go to sabotage the leaders of the movement? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices