The Denver Airport

There have been a ton of theories about the Denver airport, and specifically about what lies beneath. But in case you haven't heard anything about it, here's the low-down:

When the airport was first built, there was quite a bit of confusion as to it's design and existence as a whole. Not only is it enormous (twice the size of Manhattan), but it was also $2 billion over-budget. Along with this, there was confusion as to why it was built, as there is an airport closer to downtown that is just as functional. The strange art pieces don't exactly help its case, either.

While there are many other theories, the most compelling seems to be that this airport was actually built by the Illuminati. Yes, this may seem ridiculous, but hear me out. Many of the plaques and art depict the Masonic square and compass symbol. Not to mention, an entire part of the Wikipedia page is dedicated to conspiracy theories. Coincidence? I think not.

If you've ever been to the Denver Airport, you know that, in order to get to the terminals, you have to take a short train ride. As you're riding, you can see many offshoots of tracks that seem like sharp curves, or have abrupt ends. With how big the airport is, it would be naïve to assume that these tracks lead to nowhere. Well, there are claims that say these offshoots are where the Illuminati have set up their headquarters, AKA their reason for building the airport.

Aside from this, the DIA has launched a new marketing campaign fully dedicated to these theories. Giant posters depicting aliens and lizard-people have covered entire walls of the airport with phrases like "Yes, Den's got some secrets" and "Cool new areas to hang out? Or area 52?" Who knows if this is supposed to be a joke or not, but this airport has definitely got some secrets.

Speaking of the Illuminati...

The Takeover of the Illuminati

Theories of the Illuminati go back for decades, but each theory fails to mention the origin of the Illuminati group. Yes, that means they were real. The Order of the Illuminati dates back to the 1700's when in 1760, Adam Weishaupt initially recruited a group of five members to oppose the Roman Catholic Church because of the church's restriction of scientific and philosophical advancement. Numbers grew over time to include dukes and literary men in Bavaria who all had a common goal of enlightening or "illuminating" people about the fallacy of the church and the advancements the group was making. This society, however, was disbanded by the Catholic Church shortly after Karl Theodor became ruler of Bavaria in 1777 and made secret societies illegal (and punishable by death).

So, then, what's the theory? Well, the theory is that the Illuminati actually survived the ban. Whether it be through splintered groups or a "New Order" Illuminati, the goal of this theorized group has supposedly become the overtaking of the world. That's literally it. Authors and filmmakers like Dan Brown and Robert Anton Wilson have been theorizing and writing about this order for years, trying to explain the new age of this order. Many celebrities, too, have been flagged as "members," including Beyoncé, Kanye West, and Kim Kardashian.

If you look on YouTube and other sites, there have been many creators claiming they have found "evidence" of the new-age Illuminati, but honestly, none of it can truly be certified or falsified. Even so, some of the theories can be pretty convincing! How verifiably can we believe that the society was actually disbanded? Here's to not knowing, I guess!

New Coke

This conspiracy theory is much less dangerous, but just as scandalous. In the 1980's, the rivalry between Coca-Cola and Pepsi was as strong as ever. The two brands were competing daily to gain the following they needed to beat the competition. However, in the mid-1980's, Pepsi seemed to be winning. So, as an attempt to gain publicity and following, in April of 1985, Coca-Cola launched a campaign to replace the original formula of the soft drink to a new formula, called "New Coke."

This re-branding was an absolute fail. The American public was outraged at the new formula, and even became hostile at the company. Within three months of the debut of New Coke, the company reintroduced the original formula, branded as "Coca-Cola Classic."

Now, most people would say that this was a failed last-ditch effort to gain more of the market share. However, the stunt is questionable. Many people have said Coca-Cola knew New Coke was a worse version of the original, and that the reformulation was a publicity stunt to get people to buy Coca-Cola Classic when it was reintroduced. It's said that the company released the new version in the hopes that there would be public outrage, so as to spike sales after it's recall.

Coca-Cola responded to this theory saying, "We're not that dumb, and we're not that smart." But the truth behind the reformulation is still unknown.

The Sinking of the Titanic

Whether you know it from the event or the iconic movie Titanic, the story is extremely well-known throughout the country. But what if I told you the Titanic didn't actually sink? Sounds crazy, right? Well, people have been theorizing about this for years. Here's the story:

It turns out the White Star Line's Titanic had a sister ship, called the Olympic, which launched a year prior (in 1911) to the Titanic. Within months of its launch, the Olympic had two major crashes resulting in major damage to the keel and steel beams of the ship. The White Star Line, creator of the two ships, was already in financial trouble, so repairing the Olympic would be disastrous for the company.

The conspiracy theory says that, in order to avoid this financial disaster, the Titanic and the Olympic were swapped, and the Olympic (posing as the Titanic) would be staged in an accident, causing it to sink. The Titanic would then carry on as the Olympic.

Otherwise known as the biggest insurance scheme of the century.

Really, it would have been incredibly easy to switch the two. The ships were virtually identical, save for a few minor differences, so a switch would only entail changing a few nameplates. Along with this, there were rumors going around the crew that the ships had been swapped, causing workers to quit right before the ship left port.

A weird part of this, though, was the placement of the SS Californian at the time of the collision of the Titanic. Apparently, the large passenger ship was behaving strangely around the time of the voyage of the Titanic. Instead of carrying on with normal activities, the ship steamed into the middle of the Atlantic, with no passengers, and stopped to wait. It had no passengers, only 3000 woolen blankets and jumpers.

All of this begs the question, what really happened on April 15th?

Project MK-Ultra

Many know the name, but the story behind the project is widely mistaken and theorized about. Project MK-Ultra, also called the CIA Mind Control Program, was a program of experiments designed to identify and develop drugs and procedures that could be used against humans in interrogations in order to weaken the individual into submission and, ultimately, confession. This program was undertaken by the CIA and was illegal at some points.

The operation became official in 1953 and ended in 1973, shortly before major reports of chemicals, sensory deprivation, isolation, verbal and sexual abuse, and other forms of torture came to light.

This is where the conspiracy theorists come in. Many say that this project never actually stopped, or that the project created "black-ops," which are people operating under MK-Ultra mind control techniques. Some theorists even go as far as to say that Sirhan Sirhan, the murderer of Robert F. Kennedy, was under MK-Ultra control and had no idea what he was doing.

Another major theory was that Jonestown, the site of the Jim Jones cult in Guyana, was thought to be a test site for MK-Ultra medical experiments.

Who knows what actually happened, but if it's proven that these experiments did happen, whose to say they didn't work?