From doubting the moon landing to questioning if birds are real or not, we have heard it all. According to Merriam-Webster, a conspiracy theory is “a theory that explains an event or set of circumstances as the result of a secret plot by usually powerful conspirators.” 

These theories have become even more popular lately, especially with the rise of a popular Youtuber, Shane Dawson. Dawson creates videos ranging from 40 minutes to almost an hour and a half, where both him and his friends go around and explore different theories, trying to find answers. 

But are we questioning too much? How much will it take for us to believe an event that happens? These conspiracies often are dividing our country both politically and socially. A little bit of doubt can be good once in a while, but some of these theories are going too far. 

The first theory that we can explore is an extremely popular one: Area 51. A common belief is that the US military is hiding something in this large area, something pertaining to aliens. According to Alex Ward from Vox, Area 51 “is a heavily guarded underground lab where the government keeps and studies captured alien aircraft.”

 On September 20, 2019, a huge Area 51 raid took place. This event flooded social media accounts for weeks prior, but people were unsure if anybody would actually stick to their word and raid the area. Thankfully, nobody actually stormed this desert in Nevada, and the chaos began to die down. 

Next up, we have the crazy theory that birds aren’t real and are actually government-controlled drones. This movement is almost two years old now and claims that the CIA got rid of 12 billion birds and replaced them with robots to watch over citizens. Many people regard this theory as just a joke and don’t actually believe it. But, there are a few very passionate followers who take this theory as fact. 

Lastly, is the belief that the moon landing was fake. What first propelled this theory was “Capricorn One” which portrays a faked moon landing. While the movie aired 40 years ago, the theory is still believed by many. Again, conspirators think that the government was somehow behind this “scandal”.

Basically what we need to remember is to carefully look at something before believing it as fact, but to also let some things just happen because they happen. We need to evaluate whether or not the evidence found by others is genuinely true or whether it has just been made to simply support a theory.