Conspiracy theories typically get pretty bad press in the modern world.

This is occasionally a mistake. Whenever a few guys get together to knock over a liquor store, it's technically a kind of conspiracy; “conspiracy theories” are therefore not necessarily without merit in every case, especially when they are reasonable theories in criminal investigations. Real conspiracies do exist.

Yet many such theories are, to be as tactful as possible, complete rubbish. The sheer numbers of conflicting conspiracy theories, for example, surrounding the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and Dr. Martin Luther King are difficult to keep track of, and since none of these theories really agree with each other on substantive points, it's a good bet that at least some of them are wrong.

It gets even worse outside the forensic world. Increasing numbers of people seem to believe that the United States government is conspiring to harbor and conceal space aliens. In a single memorable broadcast week, it was possible to watch documentaries concerning the presence of these secret aliens at an air base in Nevada; in secret tunnels under a volcano in Lassen National Park; at another air base in Ohio; and in secret caves beneath the Antarctic ice. In case that isn’t sufficient, there are claims of a free-range colony of space aliens, without specific government sponsorship, dwelling in caverns beneath Mount Shasta.

No matter how dedicated you are to the concept of Space Aliens, that’s just a few too many Klingons, Reptoids, and........

© Psychology Today