It's hard to separate what's real and fake in a world littered with conspiracy theories. The internet is supposed to make our job easier, but with so much information circulating around, it's difficult to sift through and discover what's true and what's false. Take for example the JFK assassination conspiracies that are still circulating to this day.
It's common knowledge now that cigarettes cause cancer, but that wasn't the popular opinion back in the day. Cigarette companies tried to cover-up the health dangers of smoking, until they admitted defeat in the late '90s.
Here are some more conspiracy theories that actually turned out to be true.
8. Operation Mockingbird (fake news).
Not too long ago, President Donald Trump claimed he invented "fake news," but the CIA beat him on that one. It began in the 1950s and the sole purpose of this project was to manipulate the news media for propaganda purposes. It got so bad that the CIA director of the time, George H. W. Bush announced, "[the] CIA will not enter into any paid or contractual relationship with any full-time or part-time news correspondent accredited by any U.S. news service, newspaper, periodical, radio or television network or station."
7. The "Gaydar."
Canadians are well known for their delicious bacon, maple syrup, and being super-duper nice. Well, the latter was probably said some time after the "fruit machine," which they believed could detect and identify gay men, was made. The goal was to identify and get rid of gay men in the Canadian government, and they did this by measuring how much someone's pupils dilated after being forced to look at same-sex erotic images. It resulted in more than 400 people getting fired and almost 9,000 being suspected of being gay.
6. "Project Sunshine" (the U.S. military stole babies to use for experimentation).
This sounds like something created by the X-Files or Netflix's Stranger Things. People believed that there was a secret government lab that collected DNA samples to breed super humans or something along those lines. In fact, some of you would argue that what they were actually doing was worse. During the 1950s, the U.S. government took tissue samples from recently deceased infants to see how hazardous nuclear testing would be on human health. And all without consent!
5. Operation Northwoods ("Put the blame on Cuba").
Top officials of the U.S. military allowed acts of terrorism on American soil in order to brainwash citizens into supporting a war against Cuba. Operation Northwoods called for people killing innocent American civilians in the streets, sinking refugee boats fleeing to Cuba, and framing people for bombings they did not commit. At the time, President John F. Kennedy rejected the plan. This conspiracy may still sound like it hasn't been proven yet, but it actually has, there are documents proving that the U.S. military devised this plan.
4. The death of Adolf Hitler.
The last thing the world needed to hear was that one of the most notorious leaders to ever walk the face of this planet had escaped overseas. There seemed to be insurmountable evidence suggesting that he moved to Argentina and had two kids before he died almost two decades later. They even found a skull thought to be Hitler's, but less than a decade ago it was revealed to be the skull of a young woman. So, rest assured, you were right that he died in 1945.
3. International elite gatherings.
Perhaps the most-feared thing in the world is the concept of a handful of people deciding the fate of the world. That's all good if the meeting and what's been said is made public, but clandestine operations don't fly in countries that value democracy. That being said, secret meetings attended by powerful members in society did happen, and it was known as the Bilderberg meetings. The guest list was not a secret, which was comprised of monarchs, high-ranking politicians, senior military officials, and even high-profile journalists; however, the discussions that took place were never revealed to the public.
2. The Gulf of Tonkin Incident.
In order to start a war, you have to make sure it makes sense to your people. Looking back today, the Vietnam war didn't seem to have much point to it, and that's because the incident used by President Lyndon B. Johnson to engage in war actually never happened.
1. MKUltra (mind control).
One of our greatest fears is not being able to make our own decisions. But nowadays with thousands of advertisements thrown at us from left to right, it's hard to actually be able to think for yourself without being influenced by some external force. We always had an inkling that this conspiracy theory is true, and in some form it is. The CIA and the U.S. Army Chemical Corps created a project called MKUltra in the 1950s, which was designed to experiment on human subjects. They developed drugs and tortured individuals to force confessions through mind control.
What conspiracy theories do you believe in that you think are true? Share this story and let us know what you think in the comments!