The internet is flooded with conspiracy theories and we don’t really know why. Maybe it’s the anonymity, the excitement of reaching people from around the world, or just the fact that no other respectable publication would print their theories. Whatever reason it may be, the internet conspiracy theories are here to stay and they only get juicier and more interesting by every year.

While most of these theories are too far-fetched to be true, a few of them have so much convincing evidence backing them up that it’s difficult not to believe them. So, we have scorched through the ends of the world wide web to bring to find the top 15 internet conspiracy theories that have the most backing to be true.

Now, the existence of lizard people may seem too bizarre to be true but when the shape shifting aliens finally start revealing their reptile skin, don’t say we didn’t warn you. Other conspiracies on our list are a lot more believable like FDR knowing about Pearl Harbor in advance and still not doing anything about it and Kennedy’s assassination being an inside job by the CIA.

Here are the 15 ghastly internet conspiracy theories that might be true.

15. The cure for cancer has already been invented

Now this is a rather far-fetched theory but given the profits that are in for people, it could be true. Conspiracy theorists believe that the cure for cancer has already been invented but the big pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers don’t want to release it to the public because of the continued profits they gain from chemotherapies and hospitalizations. Not to mention, cancer can redevelop leading to even more hospital costs.

But the fact that blows our mind is the amount of people who have known about this and had to be silenced. Not to mention, there are thousands of people dying of cancer, wouldn’t the pharmaceutical executives help their families with the cure at least? Or are they helping and we just don’t know about it?

14. Russia lost astronauts in the space

As many of you may already know, there was a close space race during the Cold War between the Allies and Russia. Each side wanted to get ahead of the other and none of them wanted to reveal their failures.

While Yuri Gagarin was the first man to go into the outer space and come back alive, a Czech agent has information that proves that not all cosmonauts were that lucky. According to the theory, before Gagarin, Russia faced a lot of unsuccessful attempts of sending cosmonauts into the space. Since the Soviet Union didn’t want to acknowledge the failures, they chose to not publicize any deaths and left the cosmonauts to die in space.

13. 9/11 was an inside job

There were so many confusing aspects about the 9/11 attack that it is only natural for internet conspiracies to crop up. But many of those theories have such relevant claims that its difficult to debunk them. For starters, it’s conspirators believe that the Bush administration knew about the attack but didn’t do anything because they wanted to invade Iraq.

The more popular theory claims that the fuel from the two planes was not enough to melt the steel beams of the two buildings and bring them crashing to the ground. For a building to actually collapse like the Twin Towers did, someone would have to get inside the building and make structural changes to the foundation.

12. Richard Nixon was a traitor

Richard Nixon was one of the most unpopular US presidents of all times, with his corruption coming to light through the Watergate scandal. But internet conspiracy theorists believe that Nixon was corrupt before he even took office.

In the dying days of President Lyndon B Johnson, everyone wanted to be over with the Vietnam War. There were even peace talks before the election but right on the eve of the election, the Vietnamese refused to negotiate. While many believed this was just a coincidence which led to Nixon winning the election, Johnson was more than sure that Nixon was involved and he chose to put his country in jeopardy for advancing his political career.

11. Time travel exists

With sci-fi shows like Doctor Who and Outlander, there have been many claims that time travel does exist and there have been many photos circulating the internet to prove it. One of the most famous pictures is from 1948 of a man dressed in early 2000’s clothes. Then there is the video of a woman holding a phone in a 1028 Charlie Chaplin video.

And then of course there was a time traveler called John Titor who claimed he was traveling from 2036 to 1975 but stopped in 2000 for personal reasons. As a small internet cult started growing around him, he suddenly disappeared and hasn’t been seen since. 

10. JFK Assassination Was Planned By American Officials

Lincoln might have been the first US president to get assassinated but it is John F Kennedy’s assassination which is still a mystery to many. That is probably because it was caught on tape and the murder was done in plain sight by Lee Harvey Oswald.

While official report said Oswald acted alone, conspiracy theorists believe the CIA or the KGB might have been involved. The most believable conspiracy has to be the one which states that Kennedy did not want to go into the Vietnam War. In fact, many historians believe that if Kennedy were alive, the US troops would have never fought in Vietnam. Many right wingers and government officials didn’t want this kind of leadership and eliminated Kennedy instead.

9. FDR knew about Pearl Harbour

Pearl Harbour is one event in history which truly changed the world as we know it. Conspiracy theorists claims that there is too much evidence which claims that US President FDR knew about the Pearl Harbour attack in advance. But he didn’t do anything because he needed a reason to back the British in WWII.

Without America creating the Allied army, the British wouldn’t have been able to win the war and there would only be the Russians going against the Hitler. If they won, they would have led Soviet capturing and riots under Stalin’s leadership throughout Europe. Not to mention, there would have been no atomic bomb and no Operation Paperclip which brought over 1600 German scientists and researchers to the US which led to many technological advancements.

8. There are aliens and the government knows about it

There have been several UFO sightings in the last few decades. Historians also found inscriptions in the Egyptian tombs showing the arrival of alien species. And yet, the governments all around the world have completely denied it. But theorists believe there are aliens and they might be living among us. There are many speculations regarding what the US government does in Area 51 and why it’s so secretive. Many believe it is the place where they research aliens and their technology.

A former Canadian defence minister also went on record to say that the government knows about 80 different alien species, many of whom look just like the humans.

7. The Moon landing was fake

A favourite among conspiracy theorists, the moon landing will probably always be a controversial soft spot for people. With national pride at stake and Soviet Union so close to beating the US, it truly felt like a victory for the country when the astronauts unfurled the American flag on the moon.

The biggest smoking gun was of course the American flag only which was moving in the moon landing video. That couldn’t be possible since there is no wind on the moon and the flag would only wave if it were in an environment like the Earth. Some theorists even go on to say that the Moon landing was filmed at Area 51 as satellite pictures of the facility show ground similar to Moon’s craters.

6. Government sprays chemicals to control people

If you have seen planes in the sky, then you might have also noticed a trail that they leave behind. These are contrails which are generated from the jet fuel being at low temperatures at night altitudes. Well, according to a conspiracy theory, the trails that airplanes leave behind are actually “chemtrails.” They contain a special chemical which the government routinely sprays over towns to control the people. According to theorists, it’s not normal when trails dissipate and become part of the clouds.

There is another theory to this – the government is actually spraying chemicals to fight against global warming but cannot say it publicly because these chemicals cause harmful diseases like Alzheimer’s and cancer.

5. Lizard people exist and they might be running the world

Well it may like a plot of a sci-fi movie to you but you would be surprised to know that over 12 million people in the US believe that lizard people exist and are running the world. Claimed by a British conspiracy theorist, David Icke, there are reptilian elites who aren’t just shape shifting aliens but they have also been able to infiltrate some of the top offices of the world.

He also believes that these lizard people have founded their own secret organizations and may also be part of the Illuminati. They are controlling and running the world while the real humans suffer everyday.

According to Icke, the reptilian breeds came to Earth from Orion and Sirius and started inbreeding with humans and slowly taking over the Earth.

4. A former Prime Minister of the UK was a spy

Harold Wilson was elected as the Prime Minister of the UK two times. But some theorists believe that he was an undercover agent of the KGB, even though no one is sure what he was really tasked to do.

It might seem like a far-fetched claim but when a Soviet officer claimed the PM of being a Russian spy, the MI5 opened an investigation against Wilson. And that’s not all, the military was all prepared to throw out Wilson from the office with the support of the Royal Family. The plans never came to fruition because Wilson himself resigned from the position citing mysterious “health issues.”

3. Vaccines have infected millions

For years now we have seen people strongly siding with or opposing vaccines. There is no doubt that vaccines have helped us eradicate terrible diseases like polio but could they be infecting us with even more life threatening diseases? Many conspiracy theorists believe so.

They believe the CDC knows all about the cancer causing vaccines but they obviously don’t want to accept their fault and that is why they are quickly covering up the entire paper trail. In a document on the CDC website it was finally proved that some of the polio vaccines were tainted with the SV40 virus which is found in monkeys. The document was soon taken down as it went viral and the CDC called it fake.

2. CIA was involved in drug trafficking

In the mid-90s, a reporter Gary Webb wrote a three part series in a newspaper claiming that the CIA was involved in drug trafficking. He claimed that CIA had connections with Nicaraguan drug dealers. They were helping drug dealers get away and getting African Americans addicted to drugs.

Again a rather far-fetched claim but what happened next proves that CIA was willing to go to any lengths to silence Webb. First he was bad-mouthed by every media outlet possible. All they talked about was how crazy Webb was. Apparently things got so bad that Webb committed suicide under “mysterious” circumstances.

1. Illuminati Controlling The World

For several years now, the internet has provided several conspiracy theories about Illuminati, a secret group which cropped up in the 18th century and has still managed to stay relevant and secretive. According to the theories, the main goal of the Illuminati is to create a New World Order, one where there are no country boundaries or people’s individual identities. Instead, there will be a total authoritarian control.

It is believed that the Rockefeller family is one of the founding members of the Illuminati and that Henry Kissinger was in collusion with David Rockefeller during his tenure as the Secretary of State in the Nixon administration, which makes this theory even more mind-boggling. Over the years, celebrities like Beyonce and Jay Z have also been thought of as being part of the Illuminati group.