It has been about seven months since I first looked at the Sandy Hook Truth movement, an assortment of individuals who believe they have uncovered evidence of labyrinthine conspiracies behind the Newtown, Connecticut school massacre. These intrepid investigators have had nearly nine months to crack the case wide open and tell us who really did... Continue Reading →
The Iceman Lieth
Was Mafia assassin Richard Kuklinski full of sh**? I've had Richard "Ice Man" Kuklinski's claims on my mind for some time now, and with the FBI recently scouring Detroit for Jimmy Hoffa and a movie starring Michael Shannon as Kuklinski being released in May, this seems as good a time as any to examine what the... Continue Reading →
Will Sandy Hook Conspiranoia Go Mainstream?
As reported last week by Salon, relatively normal people like twentysomething New Yorker Brendan Hunt are now embracing alternative Sandy Hook theories. They're harassing interviewing witnesses, searching for other gunmen, and trying to tie the tragedy to secret societies and/or the military-industrial complex in any way possible. Hunt is by no means a self-proclaimed messiah... Continue Reading →
Wednesday Weirdness Roundup
Off the Hook: Conspiracy theories about the shootings in Connecticut, if they can even be called "theories", are starting to draw attention from mainstream newspapers, websites like Salon and Gawker, and TV reporters. I've talked a little about these theories (here, here, and at Leaving Alex Jonestown), but the Sandy Hook conspiracy meme is far... Continue Reading →
Media Lookalikes: Enough Already
The media lookalikes conspiracy meme started by Ed Chiarini of WellAware1, which I've covered here and here, is getting out of control. I thought it was restricted to the fringiest fringe of conspiranoid kooksters, but the picture below has gone viral in a minor way among conspiracy folks, even ending up on Snopes along with... Continue Reading →
Wednesday Weirdness Roundup: Massacre Conspiracy Theories
One of the most troubling things about wonky conspiracy theories is that they can, and do, have real-world impact. On December 18, the religious conspiracy website Revelation Now.net - which specialized in Hollow Earth theories and Biblical prophecies - posted an article titled "The Next School Massacre Target?". In it, the author embraced the theory... Continue Reading →
Wednesday Weirdness Roundup: More media lookalikes
Sadly, Ed Chiarini's bizarre "media lookalikes" theory appears to be part of a larger trend in conspiranoia. I wouldn't call it a meme, exactly. It's really more of a method. A very weird, stupid and useless method. Or perhaps, as my anonymous commenter helpfully pointed out, it's the Fregoli delusion. It seems that a dedicated... Continue Reading →
Weird/Stupid Conspiracy Theory: Media "Lookalikes"
I'm still working on the Bill Schnoebelen post, so in the meantime take a gander at this site, maintained by Texan Ed Chiarini: wellaware1.com. It is, quite simply, one of the strangest and least convincing conspiracy sites I have ever seen. Mr. Chiarini believes that many of the people we see in the news, including... Continue Reading →
Swallowing The Camel 