People left in stitches at moment Flat Earther appears to 'realise he's wrong'
Most of us were taught not to have a laugh at someone's expense, but people can't help but chuckle while watching this Flat Earther appear to come to a moment of clarity.
Footage of Andrew Hales' interview with a bloke who has really bought into the conspiracy theory that the Earth isn't really a sphere is doing the rounds again, as social media users can't get enough of watching him seemingly see the light and forgo his scientifically disproven beliefs.
This man isn't alone by any means, as a host of people remain adamant that the globe is shaped more like a plane or a disc, including former boxer Carl Froch.
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Countless experts have argued the toss with the Flat Earth brigade about this topic, including Professor Brian Cox, who made it clear the theory is a load of rubbish.
"There is absolutely no basis at all for thinking the world is flat," the British boffin said. "Nobody in human history, as far as I know, has thought the world was flat.
"The Greeks measured the radius of the Earth. I cannot conceive of a reason why anybody would think the world is flat."
If you're wondering why he got so worked up while explaining this, it's because we all do something on a regular basis which proves the Earth is demonstrably not flat.
Cox continued: "The very simple fact we've taken pictures of it.
"I'm lost for words, it's probably the most nonsensical suggestion that a thinking human being could possibly make. It is drivel."
Now we've got that out of the way in case any naysayers have made it this far, let's get into Hales' chat with Flat Earth fanatic Ryan Zim, which took place in March 2018.
The 34-year-old explained he was welcoming the US man onto his LAHWF YouTube channel after he had got in touch with him via email saying he was eager to discuss a range of wacky ideas including the moon landing conspiracy, the Antarctic Treaty, and of course, the shape of the Earth.
Zim explained he was firmly of the belief that the Earth is disc-like and detailed his reasoning for this, before the content creator decided to press the Flat Earther further about one aspect of his conspiracy theory.
Hales explained he had found a 'really interesting comment' which posed a lengthy question to Zim, which the guest agreed to answer.
The YouTuber began: "OK... to imply that the Earth is flat, you aren't just saying that NASA are lying, you aren't just saying there is a conspiracy within a single company, you're implying there is a conspiracy involving the world's 71 space agencies - 13 of which have launching capabilities.
"Not only are you saying that all 71 of those agencies are lying about the shape of the Earth, but every single person within them is lying or being fooled by their respective companies.
"Furthermore, every single astrophysicist in the world is, by your implication, a scam artist getting paid to do research through telescopes and instruments that would be useless if the world were flat.
"So, roughly, 75,000 people are lying about what they do for a living," Hales continued. "Not only is it absurd to imply that NASA - a program ran under the United States government - could possibly pull off this sort of conspiracy, but the fact that all 71 space agencies around the world are also taking part in some conspiracy, and every astronomer and astrophysicist and astronaut is also part of the same conspiracy.
"It just seems that so many different people are involved in this major conspiracy."
It's important to note the stats are a bit off for 2024, as there are now 77 space agencies across the globe and 16 have launch capabilities - however, the point still stands, if not even more so.
And by the look on Zim's face, it appeared as though the penny might have finally dropped for him too.
He only managed to fumble out a few words as he struggled to think up a rebuttal for Hales' question, and only furthered his theory when he finally thought of how he could validate his bold claims.
Zim said: "So all the companies or government agencies that launch rockets into space are all part of one organisation. It's the Antarctic, the Antarctic treaty.
"Every single country that launches rockets into space also is a part of the Antarctic treaty."
Asked if all of these nations are lying to the general public, he said: "Yes. I believe the fact that the Earth is flat is confidential at a very high level."
Reddit users have been left in stitches after seeing the footage of what appeared to be Zim's eureka moment.
One commented: "I love this video."
Another added: "This is why you can't take the Flat Earth society seriously."
A third laughed: "Flat Earth theory is still alive just for the memes."
And a fourth wrote: "Worth the watch!"
Topics: Conspiracy Theory, Science
Olivia Burke