Conspiracy Theories That Turned Out True
30 guides found.
Conspiracy Theories That Turned Out True: 30 VW emissions cheating dismissed as environmentalist conspiracy until EPA testing confirmed
THE ONE FACT THEY WON’T FORGET Volkswagen installed software in 11 million diesel cars worldwide that could detect when the vehicle was undergoing emissions testing—and temporarily…
Conspiracy Theories That Turned Out True: 29 FIFA corruption dismissed for decades until FBI investigation confirmed systematic bribery
FIFA’s $150 Million Bribe Ledger—And the Day the FBI Walked Into Its Zurich Headquarters In May 2015, Swiss police arrested seven FIFA executives in a Zurich luxury hotel at dawn. …
Conspiracy Theories That Turned Out True: 28 Catholic Church abuse cover-up dismissed as anti-Catholic conspiracy until Boston Globe investigatio
THE ONE FACT THEY WON’T FORGET In 1985, the Archbishop of New Orleans, Philip Hannan, received a confidential memo from a priest detailing the sexual abuse of a minor by another cl…
Conspiracy Theories That Turned Out True: 27 Watergate itself Nixons involvement dismissed as partisan conspiracy until tapes confirmed
THE ONE FACT THEY WON'T FORGET On June 23, 1972—six days after the Watergate break-in—President Richard Nixon ordered his chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman, to have the CIA block the F…
Conspiracy Theories That Turned Out True: 26 Echelon global surveillance network run by Five Eyes dismissed until European Parliament confirmed i
ECHELON: THE GLOBAL SURVEILLANCE NETWORK THAT WAS DISMISSED AS PARANOIA—UNTIL EUROPE CONFIRMED IT In 1999, the European Parliament commissioned an investigation into a global signa…
Conspiracy Theories That Turned Out True: 25 Operation Gladio CIA-funded stay-behind networks in Europe linked to terrorism dismissed until Itali
THE ONE FACT THEY WON'T FORGET In 1990, Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti confirmed to parliament that a secret NATO-backed network called Gladio had operated in Italy since …
Conspiracy Theories That Turned Out True: 24 BCCI bank laundering money for CIA and drug cartels simultaneously dismissed until Kerry Committee c
THE ONE FACT THEY WON'T FORGET In 1991, the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) was found to have laundered money for both the CIA and Colombian drug cartels simultane…
Conspiracy Theories That Turned Out True: 23 Pentagon Papers government knew war was unwinnable dismissed as anti-war conspiracy until Ellsberg l
THE ONE FACT THEY WON’T FORGET In March 1965, three months before the first major U.S. combat troops landed in Vietnam, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara received a classified memo…
Conspiracy Theories That Turned Out True: 22 Chevron funding climate denial while knowing about warming dismissed until internal documents emerge
THE ONE FACT THEY WON’T FORGET In 1981, a Chevron scientist warned executives in an internal memo that burning fossil fuels would cause “significant temperature increases” by 2030,…
Conspiracy Theories That Turned Out True: 21 Facebook conducting emotional manipulation experiments dismissed until 2014 internal study was publi
THE ONE FACT THEY WON’T FORGET In January 2012, Facebook’s Data Science team deliberately altered the emotional content of nearly 700,000 users’ News Feeds—without their knowledge …
Conspiracy Theories That Turned Out True: 20 Walmart systematically destroying local retail dismissed as anti-business conspiracy until economic
THE ONE FACT THEY WON’T FORGET Between 1985 and 2004, Walmart’s expansion into U.S. counties directly caused the closure of 10,000 to 15,000 local retail businesses, according to a…
Conspiracy Theories That Turned Out True: 19 Pharmaceutical companies funding biased research dismissed until systematic reviews found pattern
THE ONE FACT THEY WON'T FORGET Between 1999 and 2004, pharmaceutical companies ghostwrote at least 55% of the clinical trial reports published in major medical journals for antidep…
Conspiracy Theories That Turned Out True: 18 Sugar industry funding fat research dismissed until UCSF researchers found internal documents in 201
THE ONE FACT THEY WON’T FORGET In 1967, the Sugar Research Foundation (SRF)—now the Sugar Association—paid three Harvard scientists $6,500 (about $60,000 today) to publish a review…
Conspiracy Theories That Turned Out True: 17 Lead industry knowing about brain damage dismissed until internal documents released in 1990s
THE LEAD INDUSTRY KNEW—AND KEPT SELLING THE ONE FACT THEY WON’T FORGET In 1961, a senior scientist at Ethyl Corporation—a joint venture of General Motors and Standard Oil—wrote an …
Conspiracy Theories That Turned Out True: 16 Asbestos industry knowing about cancer dismissed until internal Johns Manville documents emerged in
THE ONE FACT THEY WON’T FORGET In 1949, a Johns Manville medical director wrote an internal memo stating that asbestos dust caused lung cancer and asbestosis, and that the company’…
Conspiracy Theories That Turned Out True: 15 CHAOS program CIA compiled files on American citizens dismissed until Church Committee confirmed
THE ONE FACT THEY WON’T FORGET Between 1967 and 1973, the CIA compiled files on at least 7,200 American citizens and 100 domestic organizations—including anti-war groups, civil rig…
Conspiracy Theories That Turned Out True: 14 Guatemala 1954 CIA overthrew elected government dismissed until declassified documents confirmed
THE ONE FACT THEY WON’T FORGET On June 18, 1954, the CIA broadcast a fabricated radio bulletin announcing the fall of Guatemala’s elected government—three days before it actually f…
Conspiracy Theories That Turned Out True: 13 Operation Ajax CIA orchestrating Iranian coup dismissed until CIA confirmed in 2013
THE ONE FACT THEY WON’T FORGET In August 1953, the CIA’s Tehran station chief, Kermit Roosevelt Jr., personally handed $100,000 in cash—equivalent to nearly $1.2 million today—to I…
Conspiracy Theories That Turned Out True: 12 FBI surveilling MLK dismissed until documents released showing Hoover called him most dangerous Negr
THE ONE FACT THEY WON’T FORGET On October 10, 1963, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover sent a memo to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy authorizing the installation of wiretaps on the h…
Conspiracy Theories That Turned Out True: 11 Exxon knowing about climate change dismissed until Columbia Journalism School investigation in 2015
THE ONE FACT THEY WON’T FORGET In 1977, an Exxon scientist named James Black told the company’s management committee that burning fossil fuels would warm the planet by 2–3°C, with …