Explaining Flat Earth Beliefs: A Challenge to Conventional Science
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I decided to take on a personal challenge today. I stumbled upon a blog titled “EXPLAIN THIS FLAT EARTHERS” and stated that no flat earther has ever successfully explained all the concepts presented.
After quickly reviewing the initial claims, I found I could easily address them. However, I have not yet gone through all of them, as there are quite a few to tackle.
Let’s put my knowledge to the test.
If you believe the Earth is flat, I challenge you to clarify all of the following points:
Satellites
These are often dubbed "sateloons." Research shows footage of individuals discovering crashed “satellites” and launching “satellites” with large helium balloons. Notably, NASA is the largest consumer of helium globally.
Satellite Television
This operates through towers and underwater cables.
GPS Systems
These utilize satellites and ground positioning systems that rely on towers.
Satellite Radio
This also functions through towers.
Visible Satellites
On a clear night, anyone can spot satellites away from city lights. They appear and move distinctly differently from airplanes or shooting stars. Just because you see a bright light traversing the night sky doesn't necessarily mean it's a massive metallic object orbiting a spinning globe in the cosmos; it could be many things.
Zero Gravity Footage
NASA produces footage lasting over 25 seconds that claims to depict zero gravity. This duration exceeds the maximum time achieved in NASA's “Vomit Comet.” Issues like visible harnesses and glitches in green screen footage have been increasingly documented, raising questions about authenticity.
The Round Appearance of Planets
Amateurs with quality telescopes can observe that planets, including the moon, display features that appear distorted at their edges. If the moon were a sphere, the shadow cast during a lunar eclipse would show distortion; it does not. Close-up views of the moon reveal minimal distortion, and any slight bending could indicate it behaves like a convex or concave lens, mimicking a sphere.
As for other planets, non-NASA telescope users report that their observations differ significantly from official representations. Videos from devices like the Nikon P1000 show planets resembling luminous bodies rather than terrestrial spheres.
Even if the sun, moon, and planets were proven to be spherical (which they are not), this wouldn’t offer any proof regarding the Earth’s shape—much like proving that pool balls are spherical doesn’t imply that the pool table is a sphere.
A Large Pendulum's Apparent Direction Change
A sizable pendulum appears to shift direction as the Earth rotates beneath it. This phenomenon can be observed in science museums worldwide. However, minor directional changes may simply result from initial swinging inaccuracies and don’t necessarily indicate Earth’s spin. If that were true, the pendulum would consistently rotate counterclockwise in one hemisphere and clockwise in the other at a steady speed—this is not the case.
Satellite Imagery
Claims of curved Earth images often come down to fish-eye lenses or CGI manipulation.
Map Accuracy
Round Earth maps prove effective for navigation by pilots, sailors, and drivers. If the Earth were significantly different from current maps, distances would be vastly inconsistent, but they are not. Pilots are trained under the assumption of a flat, motionless Earth. Many pilots are flat-earthers, and they rely on traditional maps rather than 3D models.
Old maps also have varying distances. For instance, Greenland appears drastically different in size compared to Africa on various maps. Pilots navigate efficiently thanks to coordinates and wind maps, none of which necessitate a globe.
The Gleason flat Earth map, while historically significant, does not need to be entirely accurate for the Earth to be flat. Further, global flight paths show that routes from southern regions are rare and often involve refueling stops in Europe, which makes sense on a Gleason map but not on a globe.
Investigating Distances
I encourage you to explore NASA’s World Wind and Google Earth, both of which provide comprehensive 3D models of a spherical Earth. How could this function correctly if the map were part of a conspiracy?
It’s quite simple: if the Earth is flat, one could easily wrap that flat model around a sphere.
Military Artillery and Curvature
Modern artillery must account for Earth’s curvature when calculating projectile trajectories, as shells can travel beyond the horizon. However, military manuals for rail guns explicitly state to assume a stationary flat Earth. Engineers across various fields affirm that they would be aware if the Earth were not flat.
Radio Waves and the Ionosphere
The notion that radio waves travel further at night due to bouncing off a curved ionosphere is amusing. Does the ionosphere not curve during the day? Historically, various cosmologies have described it as a dome above a flat Earth, a concept that has been widely dismissed in favor of heliocentric theories.
The Sun's Movement
The sun rises and sets simultaneously in different locations on Earth. The sun is smaller than the Earth and orbits around the north pole, illuminating half of the planet at any given time.
Ocean Tides
The relationship between ocean tides and the moon’s orbit lacks definitive proof, yet many accept it as fact without questioning.
The Moon’s Phases
The lit portion of the moon consistently faces the sun. Observing the moon during different phases shows that the sun and moon can only align during certain times, such as during eclipses. This raises questions about how these phenomena can occur if the Earth is flat.
The Moon's Visibility
The concept of a "dark side" of the moon is a misnomer; one side is always illuminated as it orbits the Earth, remaining synchronized with its rotation.
Eclipses and Shadows
The round shadows cast during lunar and solar eclipses are often misinterpreted. There are instances of lunar eclipses occurring while the sun is still visible, challenging the spherical alignment theory.
Viewing Conditions
Not everyone on Earth can view a solar eclipse at once. From space, the shadow cast by the moon appears round, but one must question why only certain areas can observe it.
Accuracy of the Solar System Model
The current model of our solar system accurately predicts celestial movements and phenomena. Still, some argue that this holds true for various ancient models as well.
The Changing Seasons
Seasonal changes are explained by the sun’s path around the equator and its spiraling motion toward and away from the tropics.
Daylight Variability
The difference in daylight hours closer to the poles is due to the sun’s movement.
Differing Night Skies
The night sky varies between hemispheres, with some astronomers claiming that the southern view is superior. Stars are much closer than believed, appearing on a dome-like structure above us.
Compass Mechanics
If the magnetic poles were merely points on a flat surface, one could hypothetically face both simultaneously, which does not occur. The compass needle always points towards the magnetic north, indicating its orientation towards the north pole, regardless of location.
In closing, I answered all these questions with minimal research, and I share this not to boast, but to highlight that globe proponents often assume flat earthers cannot respond to such inquiries.
I also have a few questions for globe believers that I have yet to see answered:
- How can Mercury ever be visible in the night sky when it’s supposed to be closer to the sun than the Earth?
- Why are there numerous images of distant landmasses visible from over 100 miles away when curvature should obscure them?
- How can we only see certain clouds lit by the moon during a full moon if it’s so far away?
- Why do beams of sunlight through clouds converge rather than remain parallel if the sun is 93 million miles away?
While many globe believers resort to the term "refraction" to answer these questions, no one seems to adequately explain how it functions or predict its behavior. If you lean on that term, remember that without a clear explanation, it doesn't resolve the issues at hand.