Is The Earth Flat and Not Spherical? Here's What Flat Earth Societies Believe And Deny Earth's Sphericity

The concept of Earth being flat has been there for quite some time now. According to the theories, the Earth is flat as walking on the planet looks and feels flat. They believe satellite photos of Earth as a sphere to be fabrications of the 'round Earth conspiracy', planned by NASA and other government and space agencies. There are various Facebook pages, groups and communities of like-minded people who believe that the Earth is flat. They support their theory by creating videos and explanations about various elements on the planet, thus trying to prove their theory right. Why Are There Fireworks Every Night Across US? Here Are Major Conspiracy Theories Behind Frequent Fireworks Activity and How You Can Sleep Through It?

A number of ancient cultures also believed that the Earth was flat simply because there wasn't any proof of the planet being spherical. However, many continue in the stories while science proves the truth. The idea of a spherical Earth even appeared in ancient Greek philosophy with Pythagoras trying to retain the flat Earth model.  Even in the early 4th century, BC Plato wrote about a spherical Earth, and by about 330 BC his former student Aristotle also provided evidence for the spherical shape of the Earth. Knowledge of the spherical Earth gradually spread beyond the Hellenistic world, however, some continue to believe that Earth is a flat surface and not spherical. Cool Earth Facts For World Earth Day 2020: Interesting Details About Our Planet to Share on This International Mother Earth Day.

Earth's Curve Can be Seen From a Plane?

According to the leading flat-earther theory, Earth is a disc with the Arctic Circle in the centre and Antarctica is a 150-foot-tall wall of ice, around the rim. The theorists believe that NASA employees guard this ice wall to prevent people from climbing over and falling off the disc. Known flat-earther conspiracy theorist Nathan Thompson says that approached a man he said was a NASA employee in a Starbucks in mid-May 2017. In a YouTube video of the exchange, Thompson, founder of the Official Flat Earth and Globe Discussion page said that he had proofs of Earth being flat and that NASA is "lying."

They believe that the Earth's day and night cycle is explained by the position of the sun and moon are spheres measuring 51 kilometres which move in circles for 4,828 km above the plane of the Earth. And stars are believed to move in a plane 3,100 miles up. So, these celestial spheres are said to illuminate different portions of the planet in a 24-hour cycle. They also say that there is an invisible "antimoon" that obscures the moon during lunar eclipses.

Also, Earth's gravity is just an illusion and objects do not go downward; instead, the disc of Earth accelerates upward at 32 feet per second squared and is driven up by a mysterious force called dark energy. Also, what lies underneath the disc of Earth is composed of "rocks."

They believe that the motive for world governments' is not revealing the true shape of the Earth has not been ascertained, but flat-earthers believe it is probably financial. One of their websites explains, "In a nutshell, it would logically cost much less to fake a space program than to actually have one, so those in on the Conspiracy profit from the funding NASA and other space agencies receive from the government."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 09, 2020 03:15 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).