The Flat Earth Theory

The shape of the earth is brought into question in recent times, mainly by internet conspiracy theorists. The first such thing I came across is the Hollow Earth Theory. Few days later I saw some of my fb friends posting about the flat earth. Even though the Flat Earth (FE) theory makes more sense than Hollow Earth and other speculations, it is still not good enough to convince me. Let me explain.

1. Chicago skyline seen from Michigan

The Chicago skyline was photographed from the shore of lake Michigan by a photographer named Joshua Nowicki . This is one of the most popular 'proofs' celebrated by the FE theorists. It was reported to be a mirage, but flat earthers didn't settle for that explanation.

Mirages happen basically due to refraction. Light refracts away from the normal when going from a denser medium to a lighter medium. When land is heated up, the air close to the land also gets heated up. A gradual temperature gradient and a density gradient are established in the atmosphere where the lower layers of the atmosphere are less dense. So the light coming from distant objects curve to produce an inferior mirage. This is the most common type of mirage. Inferior mirages produce inverted images.

Similarly, when the lower layers of the atmosphere is colder than the higher (usually close to water bodies), a superior mirage is formed. Superior mirages also produce an inverted image but in this case the image appears above the object. Fata Morgana is another type of mirage but it distorts the shape of the original object with overlapping erect and inverted images. The shape of the original object seems to be constantly changing rendering it unrecognizable. With respect to forming erect images, fata morgana comes the closest to Joshua's photograph.

Plus, there a many other kinds of mirages, so this is not something that should have created such a big hype.

Joshua Nowicki wasn't the only one seeing the chicago skyline from Lake Michigan. This image below, was captured by another photographer.







As you can see, the skyline appears inverted. This one is a superior mirage. You cannot always see the Chicago skyline from Lake Michigan, but it is good to keep an eye on the horizon because you might not expect what you see.

Weird mirages can be observed time and again at the horizon. Even double suns have been recorded in various parts of the world. Take a look at this mirage, but don't get lost in youtube ok.. Keep reading.

2. Bedford Level Experiment.

The Bedford River, located in England, flows in an uninterrupted straight line of 6 miles. Poles were planted on the river keeping a large distance in between them and are observed through a telescope to see if they align (they don't). This experiment was considered the best available proof that the earth is a sphere until we obtained satellite images from space.

Someone named Samuel Birley Rowbotham conducted the experiment a little differently. He used a telescope with its lens eight inches above water level. He watched a boat with a five foot mast row slowly away from him. He reported that he could see the vessel for the full 6 miles. Rowbotham repeated this experiment several times over the years but nobody gave him any attention.

In 1870, John Hampden, a supporter of Rowbotham, offered a wager that he could show the earth was flat using this experiment. Reknown scientist Alfred Russel Wallace accepted the wager. Since the air close to the water surface is rich in water molecules it has an established temperature gradient. So to avoid the errors caused by atmospheric refraction, Wallace set the telescope 13 feet above water level. Hampden refused to accept the demonstration but the referees declared Wallace the winner. Hampden later spread rumors that Wallace had cheated and sued for his money. After several court cases, Hampden ended up in jail for threatening to kill Wallace, and charges of defamation. The same court also ruled the wager invalid because Hampden retracted the bet and required that Wallace return the money to Hampden.

This story was long forgotten since the advent of satellite images. But modern day FE theorists don't believe that satellites are real and they say all satellite images and videos are faked.

3. Perspective

The further something is, the smaller it appears. Just like the Bedford River narrows into almost a single point at the horizon. Now, how do they explain ships sinking beyond the horizon? Believe it or not, this is their explanation.

Ships on the horizon get smaller as they get further away they do not go over the horizon. You can zoom in with a camera or binoculars and still see them.

They made it sound like no one has ever done that before. Now watch this.

According to FE theory :

The earth is a flat circular disc (some say it is an infinite plane). In the FE model of the earth, the sun hovers above the earth in circles. The sun is just small enough and close enough to light exactly half of the world. Seasons are caused by slight changes in the sun's path throughout the year. The stars are just spots of light that hovers over the earth in a similar manner. The stars are also very close to the earth and all the celestial objects are confined to a small height.

This is the orion constellation

According to perspective, this is what should happen to the appearance of the constellation as it nears the horizon.

But this is the reality. Seems like perspective has no effect on star constellations.

Image via Flickr user Janne.

Perspective doesn't apply to the stars, the sun and the moon. This is how we know that these celestial objects are located very far away and that the earth is a sphere. They look the same size at all times regardless of their position in the sky.

Let's look at something really close. Clouds.

Clouds appear smaller and closer to each other at the horizon

And that reminds me of the next 'proof' of FE. They conclude that the sun and the clouds are not far apart, using this picture.

A very popular image among FE believers. This seems to suggest that the sun is at close proximity, just above the clouds. This in fact occurs due to perspective. The rays seem to converge even though in reality, they are parallel.

In the FE model, the sun hovers approximately 3000 miles above the earth. Actually the sun drops below the level of the clouds at the horizon during sunset/sunrise and the underside of the clouds reflect sunlight. Until now, I've never heard a valid explanation for this phenomenon from a single flat earther.

Everyone in the Flat Earth Society ignored this but someone tried to make sense of it like this:

"The sun comes to the same level as the clouds when it approaches the horizon. That is why you can see the clouds reflecting sunlight".

In the FE model, such reflections are not even possible because the sun is always above the clouds no matter how far it goes. And we know that perspective has no effect on the sun (and other celestial objects). According to FE, as I can imagine, it can only be some dim / vague light which penetrates through the clouds. There will be no sharp contrast like what you see in the picture above. Google "sunset" and you will see many similar images.

The bottom line is, you don't need NASA's photographs or videos from the ISS to disprove FE theory.