Flat Earth: Mystery Beyond the Horizon #1

Beyond the Horizon: The Flat Earth Theory

Theories claiming that the Earth is flat attract attention worldwide. What stands out is that this interest is particularly strong in the United States. Since 2017, the International Flat Earth Conference has been held regularly in the U.S. Hundreds of people attend this conference and show interest in talks with titles such as “Fake Space” and “The Globe Lie.” Awareness of this theory is not limited to ordinary citizens; American rapper B.o.B (Bobby Ray Simmons Jr.) is one of the supporters of the “Flat Earth” theory and has been raising funds to obtain satellite images that would supposedly prove the Earth is shaped like a flat disk. B.o.B and his supporters believe that NASA employees are stationed at different corners of the Earth to prevent us humans from “falling off.”
In this file, we will try to explain whether this theory is true, how it emerged, why people believe in it, and how it became so popular.

The Foundation of the Conspiracy Theory

Beliefs that the Earth is flat go back to ancient times. However, the foundation of the modern belief dates back to the 19th century. The roots of the modern Flat Earth belief were shaped in the mid-19th century by the English scientist Samuel Rowbotham and his work Zetetic Astronomy: Earth Not a Globe. Rowbotham argued that the Earth was flat, a stance that directly opposed the scientific understanding of his time. He began spreading this theory through various observations and experiments that he claimed supported a flat Earth. This work laid the groundwork for the modern Flat Earth movement.
In the 20th century, these ideas gained more supporters, and the Flat Earth Society was founded in 1956 in the United States. The society organized many meetings to support the Flat Earth belief and published books such as The Flat Earth Society’s Guide to the Flat Earth and The Flat Earth Conspiracy. With the rise of the internet in the early 2000s, the Flat Earth belief began to attract the attention of more people. Communities interested in the subject grew rapidly on platforms like YouTube and Reddit. Especially during the 2010s, the movement became more visible in popular culture. B.o.B’s statements in 2016 and discussions on social media helped the theory reach a wider audience.

The Flat Earth Claim

The question of whether the Earth is flat or round has been debated in many different cultures throughout history. However, scientific evidence strongly supports that the Earth is round. The effects of gravity, the motion of celestial bodies, images from space, and the way curved surfaces affect the appearance of objects are among the proofs presented that the Earth is spherical.
Those who believe the Earth is flat, on the other hand, claim that the Earth’s surface is stationary, that the horizon is flat, that airplanes fly in straight routes, that the Earth does not rotate, and that powerful authorities are covering up the truth for their own interests. They argue that these are proofs of the Earth being flat.

The Flat Earth theory can be summarized briefly in this way. Throughout this file, we will provide detailed information about the Flat Earth theory. On the next page, we will examine the historical beliefs about the shape of the Earth.

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