Build a conspiracy theory from scratch.
The best way to learn to spot a conspiracy theory is to make one yourself.
Pick a real news story. On the next step you'll choose who's behind it and why. Then walk through the four moves real conspiracists use, with a debunk on every step.
- Hunt anomalies — turn coincidence into evidence of a secret plot.
- Fabricate connections — draw lines between unrelated dots until they look meaningful.
- Dismiss counter-evidence — if a fact disagrees, make the fact part of the cover-up.
- Discredit the critics — dismiss people who point out flaws in your theory.
Pick the event.
Choose whichever real-feeling headline your imagination will run wildest with. Don't overthink it.
US campus unearths 142-year-old observatory
Workers installing hammock poles on Michigan State University's campus in August 2023 unexpectedly unearthed the buried stone foundation of an old observatory. Built in 1881 and demolished in the 1920s, the small structure had been covered over for decades. Archaeologists and university staff identified the masonry as part of that 19th-century building, making it a notable historical find on a modern college lawn.
Email from Russia
Garry Kasparov, the Russian-born former world chess champion, has publicly endorsed Anatoly Fomenko’s “New Chronology,” a radical revision of world history. Fomenko’s thesis argues that much of what we call ancient history is misdated or duplicated and that the actual historical timeline is far shorter than commonly believed. Kasparov says he finds the questions it raises important and plans to spend more time promoting these ideas as he moves away from professional chess.
China Urges UK Return Artifacts
China’s state-run Global Times published an editorial urging the British Museum to return Chinese artifacts just ahead of a visit by UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly. The piece accused the museum of holding items acquired through improper channels and called some pieces “stolen.” The British Museum’s collection includes more than 23,000 Chinese objects, and the editorial named examples such as the painting The Admonitions of the Instructress to the Court Ladies and Liao tri-coloured luohan statues.
Wealthy Nations Urged to Contribute
A new international nature fund set up under the Global Environment Facility aims to help developing countries meet the biodiversity targets agreed at the COP15 summit in Montreal. The fund’s creation was one of the most-contentious issues at those talks, prompting walkouts and repeated negotiations between wealthy and poorer nations. So far, only Canada and the United Kingdom have pledged money, leaving roughly $40 million still needed to capitalise the fund ahead of COP16 next year.