Conspiracy Theories

Ever since “flying saucer” entered the lexicon, the U.S. government’s public stance on UFO sightings was to doubt and debunk. But all that changed in 2017, with an explosive report on UFO intelligence. And again in June 2021, when the government acknowledged — for the first time in history — that some UFOs are truly inexplicable… and maybe even threatening.

A new wave of extraterrestrial discourse began in June 2021 after the release of the U.S. government’s UFO report. But was the report just a smokescreen? Today we investigate secretive programs, bizarre encounters, and suspicious dealings propping up conspiracy theories that the government still knows more than it’s letting on.

In 1818, a member of a hunting party in the American West spotted a glimmer on a hillside — gold. Two hundred years later, treasure hunters are still trying to locate the dug-up riches.

Finding Beale’s treasure would be the thrill — and payout — of a lifetime. Without the key to the ciphers, it doesn’t seem likely. But there could be other reasons the riches are never recovered…

A secret intelligence project led by the FBI used illegal methods to spy on organizations and people from the mid-1950s to the early 1970s. It claimed to be acting in the name of U.S. security — but was it really?

After a dozen major campaigns and thousands of planted bugs and wiretaps, COINTELPRO was finally exposed to the public. But the job of untangling its impact would take decades. Was J. Edgar Hoover’s belief that Communists instigated the civil rights movement true? And how far did the FBI go to sabotage the leaders of the movement?

In 1854, as tensions between the American North and South were brewing, a physician named George Bickley called his closest friends to a secret meeting. His agenda: form a fraternity that would aid Southern states and protect the institution of slavery. Their first plot: invade Mexico.

After the Civil War, multiple caches of Confederate gold were discovered around the country. Were they buried by the Knights of the Golden Circle? Was the pro-slavery organization behind multiple assassination attempts on Abraham Lincoln’s life? And did Lincoln’s eventual assassin, John Wilkes Booth, take orders from the KGC?

The Love Canal was supposed to be a suburban idyll. Instead, it became a dumping ground for chemical waste. After the land changed hands in the 1950s — from the Hooker Electrochemical Company to the Niagara Falls Board of Education — a school and 900 homes were built atop the toxic landfill. Decades later, residents are still battling adverse health outcomes and government negligence. This is the first episode in our four-part series, “They Knew,” covering four times corporations and government officials knew their actions could cause harm, and forged ahead anyway.

An emergency plan to cut costs in Flint, Michigan resulted in a contaminated water supply for the city’s residents. The water looked, tasted, and smelled foul – because it was tainted with toxic chemicals, harmful bacteria and lead from old pipes. But government officials repeatedly dismissed the community’s concerns. So today, we’re tracing what officials knew about the burgeoning crisis, and when — and how they’re paying for their negligence now. This is the second episode in our four-part series, “They Knew,” covering four times corporations and government officials knew their actions could cause harm, and forged ahead anyway.

In March 2011, the worst nuclear meltdown since Chernobyl took place in northern Japan. The incident was triggered by a natural disaster, but it was decisions made by the facility’s operators that led to such catastrophic damage.

In November 2018, equipment from the largest utility provider in America sparked a fire that killed 86 people and destroyed thousands of homes. The devastation was unprecedented, but the Camp Fire is far from the only disaster caused by Pacific Gas & Electric. Are their political donations protecting them from stricter regulation?

The fate of the ten tribes of Israel has been a mystery for thousands of years. Some legends say they are trapped in a mythical land. One mysterious traveler in the 9th century CE claimed differently. All we know for sure is that the members of the ten tribes suffered invasion and exile before seemingly disappearing from history.

In the 1800s, a movement spread across Great Britain that convinced thousands of Englishmen they were part of an ancient Jewish tribe. It was based on a legend about an evangelizer, Joseph of Arimathea. Another ancient legend — this time about Prince Menelik and the stolen Ark of the Covenant — places the lost tribes in Ethiopia. More recently, claims by the Lemba people of South Africa spurred one researcher, known as the British Indiana Jones, even deeper into the mystery.

A man was found dead on a beach in Australia in 1948 with his clothing tags cut out and 18 teeth missing. Who was he? How did he die? A cryptic note in his pocket has kept the mystery alive for over 70 years.

Untraceable poisons. Soviet espionage. Modern codebreaking. Any, none, or all of these things may have something to do with why nobody can identify the Somerton Man.

CERN’s Large Hadron Collider is helping scientists make breakthrough discoveries about the nature of our universe. But some researchers think the machine has the power to destroy our world... or open a portal to another.

Cats become creatures of warfare, pigeons are given a mission, insects are turned into spy bugs... Throughout history all manner of animals have been trained up as wartime allies and agents. But have governments gone too far?

Long before the days of expiration dates and ingredient labels, the drug and food industries were an unregulated Wild West plagued by false advertising, fake cure-alls, and manufacturers that would do anything to cut costs. The public health scandals weren’t far behind.

In 1999, an FDA food investigator found traces of mercury in America’s favorite sweetener. But when she presented her findings, she was told to stop her research. The incident rang alarm bells — was the FDA covering up threats to public health? More recently, the agency’s sources of funding and their role in the Opioid Crisis have drawn suspicion and criticism.

In 2010, Randy and Evi Quaid alleged they’d been targeted by a shadowy cabal bent on ruining their reputations. The same group, they claimed, may have been responsible for the downfalls and deaths of stars like Heath Ledger and Michael Jackson.

Ever since his death in 1973, Bruce Lee’s fans have wondered how the 32-year-old martial artist could’ve died so suddenly. Some believe his death was supernatural – the result of a family curse. Others look to an operation the actor underwent shortly before his demise.

After a deadly residential fire in London broke out on the 4th floor of a concrete highrise, 71 people died. Survivors and loved ones were left asking: How did the fire spread so quickly — when it never should have spread beyond the 4th floor at all?

In 2019, a report from a public inquiry identified the main cause of the devastating Grenfell Tower fire. But it left one question unanswered: Who was ultimately to blame? Some have suggested charging the landlords with corporate manslaughter. Others point the finger at shady contractors. And still others are looking at a larger pattern — that stems from the British government.

How did an ordinary couple from New York become Communist spies during the height of the Cold War? And how much of the case against them... was actually true?

After the Rosenbergs’ death sentence is announced, protests erupt around the world. Famous figures, including Einstein and the Pope, weigh in. But Julius and Ethel’s conviction would never be overturned. They would die by electric chair in 1953. The questions and controversies around their trial — one of the most sensational in history — would remain: Why was the death penalty ever on the table for a conspiracy charge? And how did Ethel’s fate come to rest on her own brother’s false testimony?

In March 1990 two men pretending to be police officers stole 13 pieces of art worth over $200 million from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Then they vanished.

The FBI’s investigation led them to some of Boston’s most notorious criminals, but for ten years, promising leads continued to fizzle out. Was the mafia ever really involved? Or was the heist of the century actually an inside job? In 2000, a world-famous art detective entered the scene. Could he finally achieve what the FBI could not?

In the 1960s a counterculture revolution was upending traditional norms of life, and the Grateful Dead were providing the soundtrack... and the drugs. LSD was having a revolution of its own, and the Dead were rubbing elbows with its biggest proponents. They headlined Ken Kesey’s acid tests and put acid guru Owsley Stanley to work as their audio engineer. Of course, this put them right in the crosshairs of the FBI. But while the feds had a file on the band, did they also have a deal together? Some say the disastrous Altamont Music Festival has all the markings of sabotage...

The Nitrous Mafia have been a fixture at Grateful Dead shows and other jam band concerts since the ‘90s. They deal nitrous oxide to fans who want a taste of euphoria, but critics claim the cutthroat racket is taking shows’ atmospheres from mellow... to menacing.

After winning the 94th Kentucky Derby, the champion racehorse failed his drug test. It was unprecedented news that stunned the racing world and led to the Derby’s first-ever disqualification. But for owner Peter Fuller, the drug scandal didn’t add up. Was his horse, Dancer’s Image, sabotaged?

A legendary colt became the pride of Ireland after dominating the 1981 Epsom Derby. Two years later, he was taken from his stable, ransomed for millions… and never seen again. The theories around his disappearance tie together revenge, a Libyan dictator, and the IRA.

J. Edgar Hoover was eager and ruthless. The young intelligence officer believed wholeheartedly in the communist conspiracy, and he’d do anything to protect his country. Raids, deportations, mass arrests. He targeted everyone from Russian anarchists to American labor unions in his frenzy to curb the communist threat. No matter what the law said. This is the first episode in our six-part crossover special from Conspiracy Theories and Dictators.

By the 1930s, Hoover was America's top cop. He went after bank robbers and bandits in his War on Crime, never losing sight of his real nemesis: communism. Every maneuver went toward Hoover’s carefully crafted narrative of the FBI. As their prestige grew, so did their power. But while Hoover had FDR’s ear, he also faced the ire of embittered political rivals. This is episode two of our six-part crossover special from Conspiracy Theories and Dictators.

A new president in the White House meant a new opportunity for a power play. Unfortunately for Hoover, Truman already thought the Bureau was becoming a secret police force. So he checked their power, and created a separate foreign intelligence agency — what will become the CIA. Meanwhile, Hoover was still bent on rooting out communist infiltrators and Soviet spies. Soon enough, he began handing intel over to Congressional committees like HUAC... and to his new friend and ally: a rising senator named Joseph McCarthy. This is the third episode in our six-part crossover special from Conspiracy Theories and Dictators.

In the 1960s, the Director’s adversaries included the Kennedy brothers and leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, which he believed to be part of a larger communist conspiracy. He would do everything in his power to undermine them all. When JFK was assassinated — two weeks after Lee Harvey Oswald emerged onto the FBI’s radar — Hoover strangled the investigation to protect the Bureau’s reputation. This is episode four in our six-part crossover special from Conspiracy Theories and Dictators.

While antiwar and Civil Rights movements charged forward, Hoover unleashed the FBI upon his enemies and adversaries. By the end of the 1960s, he was proclaiming that America’s greatest domestic threat was the Black Panther Party — and he was determined to smear, discredit, even destroy anyone even remotely associated with them. This is the fifth episode of our six-part series from Conspiracy Theories and Dictators.

The death of the Director in 1972 put an end to a reign that spanned 48 years, and left America to live in his outsized shadow. What happened to Hoover’s secret files? How is the modern FBI still shaped by his legacy? And what have we discovered about the true nature of his surveillance projects? This is the final episode in our six-part series from Conspiracy Theories and Dictators.

In the summer of 1951, a French town became ground zero for a mysterious illness that caused hallucinations, convulsions, and in some cases, death. For decades, the most popular explanation was ergot poisoning via contaminated bread. Another theory emerged in 2009: the CIA’s mind-control experiments had gone international.

In 1669, the French government imprisoned a man whose identity they went to great lengths to keep hidden. The conditions of his lifelong incarceration — hide his face, keep him quiet — inspired rumors that he was the secret twin brother of King Louis XIV, or an unlucky valet who knew dangerous information.

When mafiosos rose to power in 20th century America, they were untouchable criminals with an unbreakable code. Their origins in Sicily left them with a taste for extreme loyalty, secrecy, and violence. And even before notorious gangster “Lucky” Luciano remade them into an organized criminal empire, they were raking in millions.

When the Navy needed to catch Nazi spies during WWII, they turned to an unlikely source of help: the mafia. How deep did their alliance go? And where else did the rumored entanglements between the mafia and the U.S. government allegedly take them?

In 1964 an attack by North Vietnamese forces on U.S. naval destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin helped catalyze a war that would claim millions of lives. There was just one problem: the attack never happened.

When historians began dissecting the intelligence that spurred U.S. destroyers to retaliate in the Gulf of Tonkin, they came up short. In fact, there seemed to be first hand accounts that proved the opposite: there weren’t any enemy ships that night. So why did the Navy ever believe there were? And did President Johnson know the truth?

Days before Christmas 1988, scorched metal rained from the sky over the Scottish town of Lockerbie. Its source: Pan Am flight 103, headed from London to New York. The explosion killed 270 people and was declared a terrorist attack by investigators. The only question: Who was responsible?

After the explosion of Flight 103, investigators followed a trail of clues to two suspects, both Libyan men believed to be carrying out orders from Muammar Gaddafi. But some theorists suspect Libya wasn’t behind the bombing at all.

Across centuries, inventors have theorized machines that could produce endless power at little cost. The technology would be revolutionary, if it existed. What if it already does?

Is free energy already available to us? Some believe the technology exists today. If so, who is suppressing it and how far will they go to keep it under wraps?

When the U.S. needed a place to study rare animal diseases during the Cold War, it established a research center on an island off the New England coast. Then the disasters began to strike.

A Nazi scientist. An unleashed disease. A legendary monster. Can they all be traced back to Plum Island?

In 1947 the U.S. military seized an unidentified object that had crashed in the New Mexico desert. Ever since, the area has been a hotspot for conspiracy theories and supernatural speculation. Join us for a four-part crossover with Unexplained Mysteries as we celebrate the 75th anniversary of one of the biggest UFO events in history, and investigate just how much of the story is still under wraps.

Less than a week after the Roswell wreck, the U.S. Department of War issued a statement claiming the debris came from a weather balloon. And for decades, that was the official story. But what if it was a lie? Today, we’re examining how the government silenced eyewitnesses, spread misinformation, and squashed stories of alien encounters. This is the second episode in our four-part crossover series with Unexplained Mysteries, celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Roswell UFO crash.

By the late 1940s the U.S. government knew it had a problem on its hands. “Flying saucers” posed a threat to other aircraft, and possibly even the planet. So they created programs to study UFOs in secret, and stored the evidence in the highly classified Hangar 18. What do we know about their discoveries? And what exactly did they find in the Roswell wreckage? This is the third episode of our 75th Roswell anniversary special.

For so long, the government’s stance when it came to UFOs was to deny and debunk. But when declassified and new information started hitting the mainstream — thanks to the work of engineers, private investors, and even musician Tom DeLonge — a new era began. One that chipped away at the taboo surrounding ufology… and has paved a way for incredible new research. This is the last episode of our four-part special with Unexplained Mysteries, celebrating the 75th anniversary of the infamous Roswell crash.

In 1975, a Senate panel known as the Church Committee began investigating CIA abuses, including its alleged assassinations. Their probe came after decades of CIA-backed violence and spying, both abroad and in America. How did they go unchecked for so many years? And what did the public do once they found out?

The Church Committee found that the CIA had in fact tried to assassinate foreign leaders – but never succeeded. But given what we know about the agency’s violent operations in places like Guatemala and Afghanistan, how likely is that conclusion? And what did President Ford’s ban on assassinations do — if anything — to curb CIA abuses?

Ever since his flight in 1961, Yuri Gagarin has been considered the first person to go to space. What if he wasn’t?

There are a few different theories about how our moon was formed. One of them proposes it didn’t form naturally — it was designed. And what’s more, it may even be harboring alien life inside. NASA’s Apollo space program might’ve uncovered the evidence.

A brilliant playwright fell out of favor with Queen Elizabeth I. Then he was murdered. Officially, his killer acted in self-defense. But for centuries, scholars have wondered if there was more to the story.

Was Marlowe’s death truly a tragic accident? Unsatisfied with that explanation, some believe his death was ordered by a scorned wife seeking revenge. Others think his connections with a secret society sealed his fate. And most mysteriously of all, there’s the theory that Marlowe faked his death, and for the rest of his life wrote under a pen name: William Shakespeare.

A trove of gold is rumored to be hidden in Arizona’s Superstition Mountains. Legend has it, a German immigrant named Jacob Waltz found the cache in the late 1800s and later revealed its location in a deathbed confession. But no one’s been able to find it since... and for good reason.

Who will strike it rich next? The gold mine that made Jacob Waltz a wealthy man has apparently never been found again. But maybe there are still those who know exactly where the gold came from, who’s protecting it, and what it’ll cost to discover it again...

It was commissioned in 1960 to monitor Soviet submarines. Fast, agile, and heavily armed — the USS Scorpion was a nuclear sub built to be stealthy, but not to actually vanish. In May of 1968, it did.

By October of 1968, the search for the USS Scorpion was over. Discovered at the bottom of the Atlantic, theories as to how it sank began to emerge. Was it the result of a Soviet standoff? A machinery malfunction? Or something far more alien?

As a child, Philip Taylor Kramer looked to the stars to map his future. After a quick detour as a rock star, Kramer graduated with a degree in aerospace engineering and worked on a top secret project for the DoD. The sky seemed to be the limit. Then he disappeared. When his body was found four years later, authorities suspected suicide. Other theories suggest he knew too much... and had become a target.

Twenty-five years ago, the British monarchy was forever changed upon the death of the “People’s Princess.” Today, we’re revisiting her story, looking back on a moment that impacted not only the royal family, but the world. We jump back to the 1980s, when Diana Spencer is ushered into a fairy tale. But from the beginning, it eats away at her — until she’s left simultaneously isolated and dangerously exposed.

As the world mourns, speculation runs wild. How could this have happened? Who was to blame? British paparazzi, who hounded the vehicle into its passengers’ final moments, are an easy target. But rumors arise that lay the fault at the feet of the royal family — a possibility that Diana herself had predicted.

From a royal to a humanitarian to a victim, Princess Diana significantly impacted the world during her short time here. Her recent portrayals in TV and film prove that although her passing happened twenty-five years ago, her story still lives on.

In the early 1940s, journalist Stetson Kennedy tried to undermine the KKK’s recruiting power by exposing their darkest secrets — through a children’s radio show.

Over 16 episodes, listeners tuned in to hear Superman and his allies battle against the Clan of the Fiery Cross — a thinly veiled reference to the KKK. To strike a blow against the real Klan, producers of the show incorporated intel provided by a man on the inside: Stetson Kennedy. Today, we examine whether their plan worked to hamstring the hate group’s recruitment efforts... and investigate the claim that Kennedy’s accounts were all based on a lie.

Famed novelist. Accomplished outdoorsman. Intrepid spy? Today we examine the evidence suggesting one of the greatest writers of the 20th century was also involved in espionage — whether as a Soviet asset, or a double agent for the U.S., it all depends on who you ask.

For 11 days in December 1926, a famed writer — the “Queen of Crime” herself — vanished. Agatha Christie was used to concocting fictional mysteries. Now, she was at the center of one in real life. But was this a stress-induced reprieve from unending responsibilities? Or a masterfully coordinated jab at her cheating husband?

Decades ago, a top-secret group of scientists, military officials and researchers reported on extraterrestrial activity to the president. When a documentary filmmaker caught wind of the operation, he followed a trail of breadcrumbs that led him to a trove of government secrets.

When the papers referring to MJ-12 were released to the public, the news was a bombshell. But scrutiny wasn’t far behind. Accusations of forgery and fraud began to surface, and eventually, all that was left to examine was motive. Why would someone go to extraordinary lengths to reveal a secret cabal that potentially never even existed?

Forty years ago, cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules led to the deaths of seven people all around the Chicago area. America was gripped by paranoia and fear. Why was this happening? Who would be next? Police grasped for suspects who might be the so-called “Mad Poisoner.” This is a crossover special with Serial Killers.

If Roger Arnold wasn’t behind the murders, who was? Police turn their focus to a new suspect: a disgruntled accountant named James Lewis. But the more police dig into Lewis’s life, the more questions they have. The road to truth is paved with extortion, false identities, and revenge. This is a crossover special with Serial Killers.

By 2011, the FBI was ready to reexamine the evidence. A theory emerged: What if the Mad Poisoner was actually the Unabomber? Ted Kaczynski had proven he was a revenge-seeking terrorist, and he had connections to Chicago. Perhaps he traded homemade bombs for poisoned pills. Or maybe the deadly concoctions came straight from the Johnson & Johnson facility itself. In the absence of clear answers, only theories remain… and rumors that someone is still out there, replacing Halloween treats with fatal tricks. This is a crossover special with Serial Killers.

From an early age, Brian Jones showed a creative edge and an interest in self-destruction. His rebellious spirit derailed him out of school and into the world of music. In 1962, he would help form the Rolling Stones. By 1969, Jones was out of the band, and soon after, dead. Officially, it was ruled an accidental drowning. But tensions with the law, with his band, and in his business dealings prompted theorists to suggest otherwise.

When Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon set out for Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, they hoped to uncover secret tombs, lost in the sand. In 1922, their expedition succeeded — making history with a life-changing discovery. Then the untimely deaths began, and a rumor spread of a dark curse, unleashed by the trespassers.

In the years following the unveiling of King Tut’s burial chamber, tragedy seemed to follow those involved with the excavation. Many believe these injuries and deaths were merely a series of cryptic coincidences, while others claim they proved the Pharaoh's Curse was real — and powerful enough to sink the Titanic.

For decades across America’s heartland, cattle ranchers have found healthy livestock dead, with their body parts removed, sexual organs missing, and blood drained. When the FBI investigated, they could not offer a plausible explanation.

In the 1960s and ‘70s, farmers across America were waking up to find that their cows had been slaughtered. Because the cattle were found missing eyes, ears, tongues, and sex organs, some thought it was part of a satanic ritual. Others believed that the animals were test subjects for an alien race. But the truth may have been on the farms all along.