Ashton Forbes, a healthcare IT consultant turned UFO/UAP proponent, gained attention for promoting videos claiming Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared due to alien interference, despite evidence debunking the footage. Later, Forbes fell victim to a $3,000 scam involving fake evidence supporting his beliefs, but continued to assert a conspiracy against him.

  • stoy@lemmy.zip
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    11 months ago

    I think it is funny, cospiracy nuts allways claim to have and open mind, but they tend to be increadibly close minded when talking about facts.

    • DigitalTraveler42@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Back on r/conspiracy it was always interesting how many of them were also okay with Nazis and sources like The Daily Stormer, it was no surprise when that sub basically became the second r/the_donald.

      • novibe@lemmy.ml
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        11 months ago

        I honestly feel that was some sort of psyop…. That sub changed so quick to being basically an altright cesspool. Many “conspiracy” or related subs did that around the same time in fact. This seems like… a conspiracy.

        • DigitalTraveler42@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          I mean if you believe the Ruzzian election interference angle, because that view on the 2016 election has shown evidence of being so much more than just Ruzzia participating, you would absolutely see that it was basically a psyop, they flooded Reddit, and the rest of social media, with conspiracies, disinformation, and propaganda, and we’ve been all fucked up ever since, now I and many Americans have family we can’t even talk to because they’ve lost their fucking minds and want Donald Trump to become America’s dictator.

          It was definitely a conspiracy, and a psyop, yet all of the conspiracy theorists in their blind biases will hold their ears and close their eyes and blame Killery Clinton and the Jews for it.

    • fsxylo@sh.itjust.works
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      11 months ago

      Conspiracy nuts are verifiably one of the easiest groups to manipulate. You convince them you are one of them and you can make them do/believe anything you want. Just say it with a straight face and they’ll make it a core belief they’ll die for.

    • sploosh@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      It’s because the UAP scene is otherwise full of people who are willing to believe in almost anything with minimal, flimsy evidence.

        • Tarkcanis@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          They don’t though, they grab on to things that terrify them… wait, are conspiracy theorists just psycological self masochists?

          • paraphrand@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            Well, there may be that. But to the point about comfort. A lot of the UAP community is focused on the metaphysical these days. The whole thing is considered a phenomenon and not just flying space ships. So they leave room for a wide range of reasons for it all apart from aliens from distant galaxies.

            So it’s basically an answer/ key to understanding existence and the afterlife for them.

            But yeah. Then there are the people who think it’s some secret collusion plot with 8 races of aliens and ruling earth or something.

            The variety of personalities actually lead to strife too.

            I find the scene interesting because there are laws being passed about UAPs. And I can’t help but be curious about the scene now that I’ve observed so much of it.

            • Bobmighty@lemmy.world
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              11 months ago

              You hit the nail on having an explanation, but it also needs to be an exciting, movie script like explanation. Something where the bit players have outsized roles and are somehow special. The gonzo shit some of these fuckwits come up with astounds me that anyone believes it!

    • Pratai@lemmy.ca
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      11 months ago

      It makes sense though, doesn’t it? A community of people that refute reality in favor of what they want to believe, gets taken by people willing to use that against them?

      Play stupid games…

  • 8000gnat@reddthat.com
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    11 months ago

    God I wish Rebecca Watson (and all the other good YouTubers for that matter) would just dual release her content as audio podcasts.