© iStock

Fake Ukraine war - In 2023 there has been a spike in US right-wing social media accounts making increasingly popular yet baseless claims that the entire war in Ukraine is a hoax—one perpetrated by Western media and governments, of course. These accounts, many of whom were previously banned on Twitter but allowed to return thanks to Elon Musk, claim there is a "lack of war footage" and "no detailed updates" from the frontlines, though BBC and other broadcasters have much-documented evidence, not to mention the social media videos from within the war zones which were confirmed by journalists. 

© Getty Images

Fake Ukraine war -

It gets weirder. Conspiracists are claiming that a high-rise apartment building in Kyiv was not actually hit by a missile because photos of its repair and partial reconstruction have gone viral. There's also a video in which it looks like a corpse in a body bag is moving, used as "proof" that actors are being hired to play dead bodies, however this video was also used to discredit the COVID-19 pandemic. And then there's Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's alleged body double who is actually easily identifiable as Maksym Donets, Zelenskyy's personal bodyguard. It all just goes to show that sometimes it doesn't matter if the facts are all there, people will believe what they want to. 

© Getty Images

Lizard people run the government - According to Public Policy Polling, there are roughly 12 million Americans who believe that our public officials are really shape-shifting alien creatures.

© iStock

Chocolate milk comes from brown cows - Roughly 10% of Americans think chocolate milk comes from brown cows, according to the Washington Post.

© iStock

Confusion over American independence - When asked what country the US gained independence from, 76% responded Great Britain, 2% said France, 3% mentioned countries such as Russia, China, and Mexico, and 19% are unsure.

© iStock

Humans will control the weather - According to a study done by the Pew Research Center, one-fifth of Americans believe technology will allow us to change the weather within a few decades.

© iStock

The sun revolves around the Earth - In a Gallup poll, one-fifth of Americans responded they believe the sun revolves around the Earth.

© iStock

Oil spills are caused by environmentalists - When asked this question in a national poll, 9% of Americans responded "yes," while 22% responded, "not sure."

© Shutterstock

Everyone is being watched - According to the New York Times, there is a community of roughly 10,000 individuals that believe they are constantly being watched by multiple people.

© iStock

Witchcraft is real -

A Gallup poll revealed that 21% of Americans believe in witchcraft.

© Getty Images 

Playing the lottery is a legitimate business plan - A survey done by the Sun Sentinel newspaper showed that 20% of people in America believe that scratch tickets are a legitimate path to wealth.

© iStock

The government hides information on UFOs - According to ABC News, 36% of Americans believe that UFOs exist and four-fifths of respondents said they believe that the US government conceals information about UFOs from the public.

© iStock

The Earth is the center of the universe (literally) - A national survey revealed that roughly 18% of people in the US believe planet Earth lies in the center of the universe.

© iStock

HTML is an STI - In a hilarious survey conducted by the Huffington Post, 11% of participants thought that HTML was a sexually transmitted infection.

© iStock

Devil possessions - In a Gallop poll, 42% of Americans admittedly believe that "people on this Earth are sometimes possessed by the devil."

© iStock

Obama is the Antichrist - According to The Guardian, one-in-four Americans think that former President Barack Obama might be the Antichrist, with 13% responding "yes" and another 13% responding "not sure."

© Shutterstock

Saddam Hussein is responsible for 9-11 - According to a national poll, 28% of Americans think Saddam Hussein was involved in the attack on September 11, 2001, and 22% were unsure.

© iStock

Humans and dinosaurs co-existed - According to CNET, 41% of survey respondents believe that humans were not only alive when dinosaurs were still alive, but that they peacefully lived together.

© iStock

Global warming is a hoax - In a survey conducted by Public Policy Polling, 37% responded that they believed global warming is not real and another 12% said they weren't sure.

© iStock

Aliens have visited Earth -

According to a survey, roughly 47% of Americans believe that aliens have walked among us.

© Shutterstock

The Earth is flat - According to Forbes, nearly one-third of millennials are "flat-earthers."

© iStock

Ghosts are real - According to a Gallup poll, 32% of Americans believe ghosts are real.

© Shutterstock

Vaccines cause autism - According to Public Policy Polling, 20% of Americans believe there is a link between modern vaccines and childhood autism, and 22% were unsure.

© iStock

TV ads have mind-controlling technology - In a poll, 15% said they believe television commercials use mind control and another 15% were not sure.

© Shutterstock

Big Pharma keeps cancer cures from the public - According to Business Insider, 37% of Americans believe pharmaceutical companies are preventing the public from creating alternative treatments and cures for cancer, while 31% were unsure.

© iStock

GMO's were made to kill people - 12% of Americans agreed to the statement, "The global dissemination of genetically modified foods by Monsanto is part of a secret program, called Agenda 21, launched by the Rockefeller and Ford foundations to shrink the world populations." 46% were undecided.

© iStock

Fluoride is added to our water for evil reasons - In a survey, 12% agree and 41% were undecided if fluoride is added to our water supply "for chemical companies to dump the dangerous byproducts of phosphate mines into the environment."

© iStock

JFK was killed by the government -

In response to the question, "Do you believe that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in killing President Kennedy, or was there some larger conspiracy at work?" 51% say there was a larger conspiracy at work and 24% were unsure.

© Getty Images 

The government gave African-Americans AIDS - In response to the statement, "The CIA deliberately infected large numbers of African-Americans with HIV under the guise of a hepatitis inoculation program," 12% agreed and 37% were unsure.

© iStock

Health officials lie about cancer-causing tech -

Apparently 20% of Americans agreed and 40% were unsure about the statement, "Health officials know that cell phones cause cancer but are doing nothing to stop it because large corporations won't let them."

See also: Historical figures called crazy, who were right all along

© iStock