Welcome Thread - New Members Post Here

Hey I'm Hamish and I stumbled upon this site by accident and find it extremely cool! I'm wanting to get some discussions going about Earthquake Lights as I see in the last few days scientists have a possible cause for why they might occur. Can't get enough of stuff like that
 
Hello - I've been a frequent visitor to these boards of late and love the debunking that goes on here.

I have a close relative who is constantly sending me emails about conspiracy theories, alternative medicine, and all that stuff (yes, pretty much everything). One of my hobbies is to sometimes look into these claims a little deeper and see the lies, distortion of facts, and basic pie-in-the-sky thinking that lies behind them. I love it when these conspiracy theories crumble in the face of a few solid facts.

I rarely share my findings with my relative as he gets very grumpy indeed if I pour cold water on his theories (all the usual accusations come out - that's what they want you to think, you've been indoctrinated, you're one of the sheeple ... you know the score) - and, well, I've got to get on with this person in day-to-day life.

I was actually born into a world of Woo. My parents were members of a cult for many years, only leaving when I was a young teenager - but much of the woo stayed. My mother was heavily into alternative medicine ... when she got cancer she eventually decided to use alternative therapies to treat herself ... it cost her a lot of money and not long after, her life.

My step-father was an even more militant alt-med/woo believer - he got cancer a few years later and I watched him die a torturous and painful death as he eschewed regular treatments (and spent nearly all of his savings on alternative 'treatments').

I became fairly skeptical way before this (I never fully subscribed to the cult we were in, as a child, and was never fully convinced by much of the alt medicine I was brought up around) but it's only in the past 8-10 years or so that I've really got into skepticism in a more systematic way.

All this has left me with a particular interest in the claims of alternative medicine, but I also enjoy looking into conspiracy theories, the anti-vaccination movement, and religious arguments.

Thanks for reading :)
 
Thank you, Mick. I do find that true-believer perspective fascinating. Hey, it could have been me ...

I've made my first post - I hope I haven't trodden on any forum rules, and I hope it's in the right place.
 
Very interesting site. I really enjoy reading it. I am a 22 year vet of the Fire and EMS world and Emergency Management . I am a Weapons of Mass Destruction - Radiological and Nuclear Instructor, A Technical Rescue Specialist, Dive Team Leader and Emergency Manager. I also fancy myself a critical thinker and (wana be) google master who enjoys the challenge of locating information.
 
Hi all from San Diego.

I'm a scientist in the semiconductor field, but used to work in environmental labs. I worked at Basic Lab in Redding, CA when Wigington and Co. were having some tests done there. I was not amused to be associated with them.
 
Welcome CapnPegleg! Interesting about Basic Labs, is there anything you can relate about the various chemtrail tests? Did Basic ever try to explain things to the chemtrail folk, like where they were going wrong? Seems like they frequently were simply looking at the wrong number (reporting limit vs. MCL, etc)
 
Mick,

I can definitely say that the results were explained to them. Repeatedly.

AFAIK, Basic is "reserving the right to refuse service" nowadays.
 
Greeting, just signed up though have been following various threads for a few weeks after being lead here on a search for facts.

Thank you for this site and it's contributions.
 
I'm not exactly new to the forum but I never introduced myself.

I'm a project manager with 15 years experience at the job. I'm interested on how the conspiracies would be planned and executed; How much would they cost; What are the resources (materials, hardware and human) involved; What are the risks, alternate plans and workarounds; etc.

In summary, I like to analyze the scenario and think how would I plan the conspiracy from scratch and find the flaws at the presented theories.

I actually was a 9/11 truther on 2002 and 2003, and started creating the plan to show the poor blinds exactly how "they" executed the whole thing. After months adding all resources, variables and details, I saw it was not only tremendously complex, costly and full of risks, but also dumb if "they" tried to do that way. It would be much easier to have the same result with a simpler plan. From that they on I try to understand the mind of the CTs. Why and how they think each of the theories took place?

For me, it's easier to believe that the man did not land on the moon than to believe in any other CTs. ;-)
 
I guess I failed to post in here earlier this week when I created an account. I got here by googling "debunking something-or-other" about 9/11 the other day and then spent hours reading the entire thread about iron microspheres.

Anyway, I'm a skeptic of the Nth degree and I don't subscribe to any conspiracy theories. I used to, when I was much younger. Cut my teeth on Bill Cooper's "Behold a Pale Horse" back in the 90s. I grew out of it though, especially after I got a degree in history and realized that almost everything in history has a boring, completely mundane explanation. Hardly anything is excitingly conspiratorial and nothing is supernatural.

I'm mostly here for the 9/11 stuff, but I've read quite a bit of threads already in various places. These forums are a really great resource, so I might just stick around :)
 
I guess I failed to post in here earlier this week when I created an account. I got here by googling "debunking something-or-other" about 9/11 the other day and then spent hours reading the entire thread about iron microspheres.

Anyway, I'm a skeptic of the Nth degree and I don't subscribe to any conspiracy theories. I used to, when I was much younger. Cut my teeth on Bill Cooper's "Behold a Pale Horse" back in the 90s. I grew out of it though, especially after I got a degree in history and realized that almost everything in history has a boring, completely mundane explanation. Hardly anything is excitingly conspiratorial and nothing is supernatural.

I'm mostly here for the 9/11 stuff, but I've read quite a bit of threads already in various places. These forums are a really great resource, so I might just stick around :)
Welcome aboard . . . enjoy your participation . . . !!!
 
giday from down under, derwoodii here i've been reading enjoying and borrowing bits for debate and discussion and very happy with what i see so seems a good mob.
Heres a tune for the welcome post the lyrics tend towards them who may need a little help to grasp or understand
 
Hello - I've been a frequent visitor to these boards of late and love the debunking that goes on here.

I have a close relative who is constantly sending me emails about conspiracy theories, alternative medicine, and all that stuff (yes, pretty much everything). One of my hobbies is to sometimes look into these claims a little deeper and see the lies, distortion of facts, and basic pie-in-the-sky thinking that lies behind them. I love it when these conspiracy theories crumble in the face of a few solid facts.

I rarely share my findings with my relative as he gets very grumpy indeed if I pour cold water on his theories (all the usual accusations come out - that's what they want you to think, you've been indoctrinated, you're one of the sheeple ... you know the score) - and, well, I've got to get on with this person in day-to-day life.

I was actually born into a world of Woo. My parents were members of a cult for many years, only leaving when I was a young teenager - but much of the woo stayed. My mother was heavily into alternative medicine ... when she got cancer she eventually decided to use alternative therapies to treat herself ... it cost her a lot of money and not long after, her life.

My step-father was an even more militant alt-med/woo believer - he got cancer a few years later and I watched him die a torturous and painful death as he eschewed regular treatments (and spent nearly all of his savings on alternative 'treatments').

I became fairly skeptical way before this (I never fully subscribed to the cult we were in, as a child, and was never fully convinced by much of the alt medicine I was brought up around) but it's only in the past 8-10 years or so that I've really got into skepticism in a more systematic way.

All this has left me with a particular interest in the claims of alternative medicine, but I also enjoy looking into conspiracy theories, the anti-vaccination movement, and religious arguments.

Thanks for reading :)

nicely put Tybalt this echos much of what i was going to say about myself apart from the family cult stuff but anyhoo thanks you saved me the need so i went with sumthin different
 
giday from down under, derwoodii here i've been reading enjoying and borrowing bits for debate and discussion and very happy with what i see so seems a good mob.
Heres a tune for the welcome post the lyrics tend towards them who may need a little help to grasp or understand

Nice to see another Husker Du fan here. I saw them play live at Maxwell's in Hoboken, N.J. on New Year's Eve, probably about 1984. They played a double bill with The Replacements, and it was an epic show.
 
Hi,
I've already posted on a few threads, but I hope it's OK for me to introduce myself here.
My primary interests (as far as this board would go) are the Boston Marathon bombing (as a lifelong Boston-area resident), the Sandy Hook shootings and birtherism,.
I have friends who are conspiracy theorists. For the most part, I've given up arguing with them. I guess I'm not very good at it (or they're just functioning in an alternate reality).
Generally speaking about debunking, I have a few questions:
1. How important are details? I've never been very good with details and it's usually all the little things that I can't explain that trip me up.
2). I guess this is related to the first question, but is one of the rules of debunking that every single anomaly has to be explained before something can be considered debunked. When arguing with a friend about the Sandy Hook shooting when I'd explain one thing he'd reply with "Well, why were the ambulances so far away?" or "Why did Gene Rosen's story change so many times" or something else. Can I win the argument by simply saying I don't have to explain all of that stuff, none of it matters?
3). Is it OK to say that an article or video presenting evidence of a conspiracy theory is garbage without even reading or watching the whole thing? Do I really need to watch all of Loose Change, for example, to know it's crap? It's not as if I'm likely to find anything in it persuasive.
 
Hi Tobes,

Details are generally what we focus on here. Details are the building blocks of conspiracy theories, and you need to address them to see if they have any foundation.

That does not mean you can't address the grand theory if there is some fundamental flaw in it though.

And you don't have to "Explain" everything, because that's often impossible. In many situations (say the collapse of WTC7) there are always going to be unknowns. What's key is trying to determining what possible explanations are most reasonable, even if you can't prove exactly what happened.
 
Hi everyone.

I'm a long-time lurker here, and finally decided to register. I probably won't post much, but I come here almost everyday.

Congratulations on running the most civil forum I've ever visited, on what is probably one of he toughest subjects to keep a cool head about. I'm impressed by this community, even though I've been using forums for 10 years (mostly digital art forums).

I arrived here upon researching chemtrails.

So, maybe 2 years ago, I came across this interesting speech by Gwinne Dyer on climate change geopolitics and geoengeneering, where he talks about future global-cooling techniques, including high-altitude spraying.



By a crazy coincidence as it always happens, the very next day, on my facebook feed, I saw one of those scary doomsday chemtrail montage pamphlets someone posted, linking to a local chemtrail awareness group, and I was VERY confused. I thought "so, is that stuff really happening? But these people seem mentally ill... but but these videos ARE scary, what is that stuff?". Something smelled very fishy. I started looking up and saw my fair share of stuff I'd never noticed before, like contrail skies turning to hazy gray overcasts, interrupted trails, a couple of halos, and even caught 2 airplanes headed south, one with a trail and one without. It was weird, those people seemed correct, but on the other hand, everytime I opened that page I went WTF??? at stuff like chembusters and nibiru talk. It was fascinating, but also extremely depressing, reading posts that sounded like paranoid delusions, often to the point people said they were physically ill, and who were closed at home digging themselves deeper and deper into a hole (this was not so long after I'd had a manic episode where I went pretty crazy myself for a while, so it really struck a stong chord to read some posts and reactions). But I also couldn't find a good explanation for what they were talking about.

Then eventually I found my way to contrailscience and this place, and it was a big relief, not only to read the debunks, but to be able to keep up-to-date on the fascinating subject of conspiracy theory, but on the "healthy" side of it. I mean I know it's not very nice to label people insane, but the more outlandish and sensational claims were... out there, to say the least (I'm talking Reptilian territory, David Icke stuff was being pasted everywhere).

Finally, I was kind of shocked when a friend of mine turned out to be a big believer in chemtrails. He had this very elaborate theory on the links to Monsanto aluminum-resistant crops and the Rothchilds' de-population plans, all of which I've seen discussed here too.
He's quite intelligent and articulate, and I'm very non-confrontational and get extremely uncomfortable talking to people who are full of certainties, so I couldn't really say much more when he went "I saw it with my own eyes, you have to NOT want to see it in order to miss it, etc." He didn't seem to be doing so great at the time, he' d talked non-stop about this for like an hour, seemed like he just really needed a friendly ear, so I didn't argue and moved on to topics we agreed on, such as the disaster of local politics. That conversation really stuck with me though, and it inspired me to write a short sci-fi story about confirmation bias.

Anyway, that's the story, hi! :)
 
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This thread is for any first time poster to (optionally) post an introductory "hi everyone" post, which will also get you "verified" (meaning you can post without anti-spam restrictions) once it has been approved.

A few words on who you are and how you ended up here would be appreciated. Or just say hi!
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Hi everybody, Im just happy to find a site with common sense and reason.
 
This thread is for any first time poster to (optionally) post an introductory "hi everyone" post, which will also get you "verified" (meaning you can post without anti-spam restrictions) once it has been approved.

A few words on who you are and how you ended up here would be appreciated. Or just say hi!
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Hi all, just found this site, nice to finally find answers.
 
I'm a bit late posting here as I have already been active! Hi! My name is Derrick. I'm 21 years old and I have been active looking at this site for sometime as there is a lot of misinformation that tends to be spread on the net these days. After seeing enough I finally decided to become a member! This site is great because it's filled with people who actually ask questions and don't just assume and call conspiracy every 5 seconds. :) I'm a car geek as well and I love Motorsport. Cheers!
 
My stock answer for just about every conspiracy is that they depend on an excessively large number of people knowing about it, cooperating and never saying a word about it to anyone as long as they live. Human nature being what it is, that's just not possible.
I doubt everyone who would have needed to know or be involved in a 9-11 or Sandy Hook conspiracy, for example, would have willingly gone along with a plot to murder that many people and probably would have blown the whistle on it. And I'm certain that sooner or later, somebody who was involved would have made a deathbed confession, gotten drunk and shot his mouth off at a bar or just had a crisis of conscience and said "I don't care what happens to me, I'm going to tell everyone what really happened."
The fact that hasn't happened a dozen years after 9-11, almost 19 years after Oklahoma City and almost 45 years after the moon landing tells me there's nothing to any of those conspiracy theories.
 
My stock answer for just about every conspiracy is that they depend on an excessively large number of people knowing about it, cooperating and never saying a word about it to anyone as long as they live. Human nature being what it is, that's just not possible.
I doubt everyone who would have needed to know or be involved in a 9-11 or Sandy Hook conspiracy, for example, would have willingly gone along with a plot to murder that many people and probably would have blown the whistle on it. And I'm certain that sooner or later, somebody who was involved would have made a deathbed confession, gotten drunk and shot his mouth off at a bar or just had a crisis of conscience and said "I don't care what happens to me, I'm going to tell everyone what really happened."
The fact that hasn't happened a dozen years after 9-11, almost 19 years after Oklahoma City and almost 45 years after the moon landing tells me there's nothing to any of those conspiracy theories.


Well said bud. I mean obviously malicious things in governments and organizations happen but to blow it up way out of proportion? C'mon now. People do stupid things we don't need to blow something up greater than it usually is and that's often the case haha. Anyways I really like this site so far. Very helpful with some great educated people who question everything and know how to pick apart disinformation that people post up on the interwebs haha. It's been informative and a lot of you guys are really cool and helpful not just on my posts but others I have read and that is really cool. Cheers!
 
Hello, I have frequented these forums a fair bit and thought it only polite to sign up. Much the same as a few people here I'm just generally fed up of people believing everything and anything without a simple fact check. :)
 
This thread is for any first time poster to (optionally) post an introductory "hi everyone" post, which will also get you "verified" (meaning you can post without anti-spam restrictions) once it has been approved.

A few words on who you are and how you ended up here would be appreciated. Or just say hi!
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Hi, everyone I was on facebook [looking at] snow not melting and i was trolling the comments just to hopefully find someone posting they didnt beleive it either and someone had posted this link on there so i clicked on it two hours here i am I'm new to face book
and the internet so i was thinking alot of the stuff on face book was true
 
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Hi! I found this site while looking for responses to the medical quackery and anti-vaccination propaganda that is so prevalent on the internet these days. Exploring the site I found much else of interest as well. I don't often sign up on sites but this one is outstanding. I'm looking forward to more of what I've found here.
 
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Hi. I stumbled upon this site while looking for info about the videos popping up about "burning snow".

I am a 38 year old female from California. I decided to join just so I could let everyone know how much I enjoy reading the articles and comments.
Thank you for sharing information and reasons why.
 
Greetings everyone. I have stumbled on to this page and just spent the last couple of hours completely wasting my time enjoying all the different articles posted here. I love conspiracy theories, they are my favourite sort of crazy. I love the way their narrative can spin the most incredible story on the flimsiest premise. I also find it interesting the fine line they walk between plausible and utter loon. I also enjoy ghost photos and finding the logical explanation for them.
 
I've spent quite a bit of time looking around since finding this site. The breadth of coverage is enriching. The commitment to a factual approach is gratifying. I like the polite tone I find here. Best of all, I appreciate the mental workout I'm getting. I can feel the cobwebs being blown out as my very rusty critical thinking skills creak back into motion after years of sedimentation in faith-based internet-fed gunk. Kindest appreciation to all who have made this site what it is.
 
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Hello! I stumbled upon this site via a Facebook link. I was happy to find civil, productive discussion happening! :)

I'm an artist (graphic design, photography, taxidermy, and working as an artists' model primarily but I work in many other areas of the visual arts) and a mom to an eight year old son. I love learning. I've often said that I would be a professional student if I could. For now, I just read as much as humanly possible about all sorts of things and encourage my son to do the same. We've read lots together and sometimes just sit and Google or look in Wikipedia for whatever happens to be the topic of discussion that day.

Hoping to learn and contribute here!
 
Hi,

I'm what some might refer to as a "Conspiracy Theorist". I prefer the term political and cultural analyst. Regardless, I frequently peruse this website and JREF as a counter point to to the stories I read. I find both sites very useful in sifting the wheat from the chaff and for better understanding my own position. I find the process of discussion i.e peer review, an excellent way of understanding and strengthening my arguments. The process I go through when attempting to analyse and understand political and cultural events is to; 1. Consume the mainstream portrayal of the event from both the left and the right. 2. Examine multiple interpretations from alternative sources, again both left and right. 3. If a "conspiracy theory" emerges, examine it. 4. If it captures my interest refer to JREF or Metabunk to balance the view. Its frequently the case that the conspiracy view is total bunk and this site as well as JREF is a great resource for revealing such nonsense.

I'm frequently frustrated with the alternative movement for its lack of academic rigour. There is a huge credibility deficit that needs to be addressed. However, on the more controversial topics, the ones in which I don't think the "skeptics" have done a satisfactory job of debunking, what is revealed is a remarkable similarity between the "conspiracy theorist" and the "skeptic". I argue with both sides and what I see both are two parties at opposite ends of a belief spectrum; the conspiracy theorist at one end believing everything is the result of a global conscious manipulation "conspiracy theory" and the "skeptic" on the other believing that its is not logically possible and everything is accidental "Incompetence theory". Both sides are encumbered by faith. Both sides are just as dogmatic in their use of models to perceive the world, both suffering from confirmation bias, both using the same mental gymnastics to protect this belief. What has been created is a tribal paradigm similar to the left/right paradigm in politics in which perception is divided, closed and prejudicest.

So, I guess I'm here to better traverse the middle ground between these two belief systems in the search of a more enlightened perspective. I'm looking forward to the debate!



"The totally convinced and the totally stupid have too much in common for the resemblance to be accidental."
Robert Anton Wilson
 
There is a huge credibility deficit that needs to be addressed. However, on the more controversial topics, the ones in which I don't think the "skeptics" have done a satisfactory job of debunking, what is revealed is a remarkable similarity between the "conspiracy theorist" and the "skeptic".

Welcome Diplomatthew, Maybe you you pick a topic, choose some quotes that represent each side, and start a new thread explaining this problem with skeptics. Because I think you will you'll get a lot of disagreement regarding the symmetrical nature of your argument.
 
Hello all. Came about your site the other day from a football message board of all places. There was a thread there about Kristen Meghan's claims of chemtrails and geoengineering. One of the other users there linked to y'alls discussion about her claims here, and I was impressed with you all. I've always been anti-conspiracy myself (mainly after 9/11 with all the "a plane didn't hit the Pentagon" claims, yet since I was only a few miles fromt here at the time, and knew several people at the Pentagon, I knew differently)

Anyways, hope to learn some valuable info to help combat the conspiracies elsewhere.
 
Hi everyone,

I'm one of those "crazy conspiracy theorists" but please don't be too alarmed. What I am most interested in is the truth, so although I tend to been very open minded and willing to consider some very "out there" ideas, I believe I also have a fairly rational, skeptical side. After many years reading and researching everything from aliens to shamanism to secret societies to remote viewing I've come to believe a lot of it is pure bunkum. Some of it I remain agnostic about. I don't strongly "believe" in much of what might be considered "tinfoil" but I do think there are some things which are not easily explained away. They continue to intrigue me.

I look forward to discussing many interesting subjects with the members here.

Warm good wishes to all.
 
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Greetings! HoustonDave here. Amateur skeptic and (to the annoyance of my friends) serial debunker on their Facebook walls (insert shame face). I am now finding that friends are beginning to run some stories past me before putting them up, which is... odd.

Mechanical engineer by education and trainer/technical writer by career.

EDIT: Found the website because one of my FB friends asked me about "burning snowballs". lolwut? *Begins furiously Googling* Oh dear... seriously?
 
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