WE all have that one weird friend or family member who spends way too much time on the internet reading up and watching documentaries about conspiracy theories.

They delight in telling us how fire doesn’t melt steel beams, or how the Australian government orchestrated the Port Arthur Massacre to bring in gun control.

As easy as it is to dismiss all their absurd claims, sometimes it’s important to remember that some conspiracy theories — even some of the most ridiculous — have turned out to be true in the past.

Here is a list of conspiracy theories that many found hard to believe until it was revealed they actually did happen.

1. “CIA had top secret mind control program”

It sounds like the stuff of science fiction — a government wilfully experimenting with mind control on its own people.

But that’s exactly what some Americans came to believe, and rightfully so. Conspiracy theories became rampant when the lawyer for the man who assassinated Senator Robert F. Kennedy claimed he had been under the control of the CIA’s MKUltra program.

Americans were then left reeling in 1977 when a Freedom of Information Act request returned 20,000 hidden documents about the top secret MKUltra program, which were then investigated thoroughly by Senate hearings.

The documents revealed a number of shocking facts, like the CIA had enticed a heroin addict into the program by offering them more heroin. It also acknowledged that a least one person lost their life, believed to have been killed to keep the program a secret.

The CIA used hypnosis, electroshock therapy, and LSD on their test subjects as part of the program.

They also set up fake brothels to spike the drinks of customers with psychoactive drugs.

In 1995, then US president Bill Clinton apologised for the thousands of government-sponsored experiments to “understand the effects of radiation exposure on the human body” which had taken place at hospitals, universities and military bases across the country.

“While most of tests were ethical by any standards, some were unethical, not only by today’s standards but by the standards in the time in which they were conducted. They fail both the test of our national values and the test of humanity,” he said in the speech.

However, the true lengths the program went to will never be known as the CIA’s then director Richard Helms ordered all MKUltra files be destroyed after the Watergate scandal in 1973.

Some believe the US Government continues the program under a different name.

2. “North Korea abducted Japanese people”

It had long been part of urban legend that special agents from North Korea were kidnapping Japanese residents from coastal regions. Between 1977 and 1983, hundreds of people went missing but the Japanese government only officially recognised 17 abductions.

North Korea repeatedly denied that it was happening, which turned the abductions into a very popular conspiracy theory.

However in 2002, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il admitted that they had abducted 13 Japanese citizens. Five of the victims were repatriated to Japan.

Tensions now remain high between the two countries, with Japan refusing North Korea access to their ports and trade.

Tokyo swaps sanctions for abductees with Pyongyang In a game of I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine,â Japan will lift some sanctions on North Korea as Pyongyang says it will open a probe into abducted Japanese citizens. The WSJ's Ramy Inocencio speaks with Jeff Kingston, Professor of Asian Studies at Temple University in Tokyo.

3. “America recruited Nazi scientists”

As World War II came to an end and the Cold War started to pick up pace, both America and Russia desperately scoured the aftermath for remnants of Nazi technology and science in hopes of using them in their impending battles.

Then US president Harry Truman agreed in 1946 to bring German scientists to America to help in the Cold War, but excluded people who had been a member or an active supporter of the Nazi party.

The War Department’s Joint Intelligence Objectives Agency (JIOA) was responsible for finding, investigating and reporting on potential German scientists.

But instead the department set about rewriting the scientists’ life stories, removing any references to the Nazi party from their dossiers.

More than 1600 German men and their families were imported to the USA during the program’s run from 1949 to 1990.

After examining 130 reports on the scientists, it was found that each report had been “changed to eliminate the security threat classification”.

Nazi scientist Werner von Braun played an instrumental part in the development of the V-2 rocket that devastated England and France in World War II.

Von Braun was brought to America after the war ended, where he worked as the director of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Centre. He was also the chief architect on the Saturn V launch vehicle, which helped get the Apollo spaceship to the moon.

4. “America lied to expand war”

Reports of two violent confrontations between the US and North Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin led then-US President Lyndon B Johnson to expand the Vietnam War.

The reports told of several North Vietnamaese torpedo ships firing at the USS Maddox on August 2 and 4.

There was speculation that the events had been concocted by the US Government and military to push forward with plans to expand the war.

In 1965, President Johnson admitted that for all he knew “our navy was shooting at whales out there.”

Since then, a number of people have come forward to admit that the August 4 attack was made up and unfounded.

National Security Agency historian Robert J. Henyok told The New York Times in 2005 that the NSA had deliberately distorted intelligence reports regarding the August 4 incident.

5. “Public relations company sold war”

When 15-year-old Nayirah took the stand to testify about witnessing Iraqi soldiers leaving babies to die in Kuwait, she instantly grabbed the heartstrings of Americans who threw their support behind America’s involvement in the Gulf War.

“While I was there I saw the Iraqi soldiers come into the hospital with guns. They took babies out of incubators, took the incubators and left these children to die on the cold floor. It was horrifying,” she said in tears.

Her testimony was used by the president and US senators as evidence for the need to increase America’s presence in the war.

But two years later it was revealed Nayirah was actually a member of the Kuwait royal family, was the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the United States and her testimony had been organised as part of a “free Kuwait” public relations campaign.

She had been coached to give her false testimony by public relations company Hill & Knowlton’s vice-president.

Nayirah’s ambassador father said: “If I wanted to lie, or if we wanted to lie, if we wanted to exaggerate, I wouldn’t use my daughter to do so. I could easily buy other people to do it.”

6. “America plans terrorist attacks for war”

Orchestrating violent terrorist attacks in American cities and blowing up American ships were just two of the ideas suggested by top military leaders in the US in the 60s.

Why? Because they wanted to push the American public to support a war against Cuba.

‘Operation Northwoods’ was presented to President John F. Kennedy’s defence secretary for approval but was ultimately rejected.

The plans were revealed when 1521 pages of secret military records were declassified and made public in 1997.

There were multiple plans to garner support for US military intervention in Cuba, including ways to “provoke” Cuban reactions or to blame Cuba for the potential death of the first American sent to space, John Glenn.

7. “The government poisoned alcohol”

The Prohibition — or the banning of the sale, production and importation of alcohol — was introduced in 1920.

But it did not take Americans long to start bootlegging alcohol, with often disastrous effects. The alcohol was often made in stills which would introduce heavy metals, often leading to illness and blindness.

However, as more and more people started to die, rumours started to circulate that the government was poisoning alcohol in frustration at the number of people who continued to drink.

The only thing was — it was true.

The government introduced formulas that would make alcohol undrinkable. It involved adding kerosene, gasoline, zinc, and other deadly chemicals to the mix.

New York City medical examiner Charles Norris revealed it was happening after he assigned his toxicologist to test confiscated alcohol for poison.

Missouri Senator James Reed became an outspoken adversary against the Prohibition.

At least 10,000 people died by the time the Prohibition in America was finally repealed in 1933.