Questão 23832

(G1 - epcar (Cpcar) 2018)

SOME OF THE INTERNET'S CRAZIEST CONSPIRACY THEORIES

Michael Jackson Is Still Alive

¹The advent of the internet hasn't just ²cooked up new conspiracy theories, it's also accelerated existing ones. If you refuse to believe that it was the Iranians that killed him, perhaps you'll be convinced that MJ is actually still alive. Proof? ³His own daughter Paris Jackson took a photo of him. Seriously. What do you mean you don't see him? ⁴He's right there in the back seat, 5stacked under that pile of clothes wearing his iconic hat. Believe, man. Thriller Vol.2 to drop next year.

The Moon Doesn't Exist

It's no good looking at it, night after night. The moon doesn't exist. It's a hologram, put there by persons unknown. Of course, serial conspiracy theorist David Icke has a theory. There are also countless YouTubers keeping an eye out, one of whom has gone as far as "looking at it regularly for a year".

Jay Z Is A Time-Travelling Vampire

There are vast regions of the internet devoted to explaining why Jay Z is part of the Illuminati. 6Hence when this photo, which was taken in New York in 1939, appeared last year, he was accused of being a time-traveller. And a vampire. This video lists other old-time celebrity ⁷lookalikes, as well as suggesting that ⁸Hollywood stars don't age because they're the immortal bloodsucking undead. Not because they're ⁹stuffed with botox, then?

The Earth Is Hollow

¹⁰Don't give up, readers. We're halfway through this list. We can make it to the end. ¹¹Dig deep. Well, not ¹²too deep. You see, the Earth is ¹³hollow and accessible via portals at the north and south poles. Luckily though, it's quite habitable down there, providing excellent living ¹⁴quarters for the lost Viking colonies of Greenland and the Nazis, while "aliens" are in fact just visitors from the subterranean areas.

Siri Can Predict The Apocalypse

Amazing as it may seem, given that ¹⁵it can't do anything else you actually ask it to do, Siri can predict the apocalypse. When asked "What day is 27th July 2014?", Apple's assistant replied, "The opening of the gate of Hades", ¹⁶aka The End Of The World. That date has now passed without ¹⁷issue. Say what you like about the maligned MS Office paperclip, but at least he didn't ¹⁸scaremonger that the end was near.

¹⁹We All Live In The Matrix And Billionaires Want To Break Us Out Of It

The New Yorker’s Tad Friend claims that many people in Silicon Valley are obsessed with the idea that we're all living in a Matrix-like simulation, and some are taking that obsession a stage ²⁰further: “Two tech billionaires have gone so far as to secretly engage scientists to work on breaking us out of the simulation.” Here's hoping Mark Zuckerberg is 'The One', yeah?

Hitler Is Still Alive

"²¹Hitler is still alive" rumours have circulated since the 1970s, fuelled by the fact that his crony Josef Mengele hid in South America. Stories like this one, however, speculate the 125-year-old Hitler has been responsible for various world disasters, including 9/11 and the 2010 Gulf oil spill, which happened on his birthday. Other theories say he died in 1984 in Brazil, aged 94. Or in Argentina, aged 73.

Adapted from http://www.shortlist.com/entertainment/20-of-the-internets-craziestconspiracy-theories/.

Acesso em: 14 de fev 2017.

Glossary:

2. cook up – to invent a story, a plan, etc.

5. stacked – covered with things

6. hence – the reason, the explanation for

7. lookalikes – similar in appearance

9. stuffed – filled with something

11. dig – to make a hole in the ground

13. hollow – a hole or empty space

14. quarter – a place to live

16. aka – abbreviation for also known as

17. issue – problem

18. scaremonger – a person that creates stories that cause public fear

The expression “further” (reference 20) introduces an idea of