Stranger Than Fiction: Three Crackpot Scientific Theories and the Awesome Movies they Inspired

Science fiction and science fact sometimes get a little mixed up, and when it does it can make for some great entertainment. Here are three such cases:

Theory: The Moon Landings Were Faked

The Argument: With the clock ticking on President Kennedy’s promise to land men on the Moon by the end of the sixties, a cadre of politicians and NASA scientists decided it would be better to fake a lunar landing than to actually follow through with a real one. A real Moon landing would be expensive and could fail, embarrassing the United States and presenting a propaganda boon to the Soviet Union. NASA collaborated with Hollywood to film a fake Moon landing on a secret sound stage, which was then broadcast around the world.

Who Believes it: According to recent polls, around six percent of everyday Americans, plus a few high (emphasis on “high”) profile adherents like comedian and former Fear Factor host Joe Rogan, who once engaged in a heated debate on the topic with Bad Astronony’s Phil Plait.

Likelihood of Being True: not very likely at all. Without getting into too much detail, science seems to have the upper hand on this.  There’s a ton of evidence that the moon landing did, indeed, take place, including photos of all of the gear that’s still on the surface of the Moon. If you want a point-for-point rebuttal, try this one by University of Arizona planetary scientist Jim Scotti. Anyway, a conspiracy of this magnitude would have involved hundreds of people, one of whom would have likely talked by now. Think about the Watergate Scandal for comparison. That involved the world’s most powerful man and just a handful of co-conspirators, but at the end of the day, all of it came to light. What are the chances that all of the scientists, movie makers, prop guys, bureaucrats and all the rest involved in a fake moon landing could keep their mouths shut for going on 50 years? Not too good.

Movies This Theory Inspired: Capricorn One, for sure. This 1978 thriller depicted a faked landing on Mars, and what happens when the NASA decides that their astronaut collaborators (James Brolin, Sam Waterston and O.J. Simpson (!) are liabilities. Two words: Black Helicopters. Also, be on the look out in March for Apollo 18, a horror film purportedly consisting of found footage from a Moon landing that never officially occurred. The viral marketing fairies  are everywhere promoting the film. Here’s one of the sites: www.apollotruth.org.

Theory: The Earth is Hollow

The Argument: Our planet is composed of a thick outer crust surrounding a hollow space. This realm may contain an interior sun that warms its inhabitants – or not – and may be populated by (A) Various lost tribes (B) Demons (C) Dinosaurs (D) All of the above.

Who Believes It: Lots of people did in the 19th century, including members of the Nazi-era Thule Society (where’s Hellboy when you need him?), Madame Blavatsky’s Theosophy Society, and maybe even John Quincy Adams. Not too many people these days, but they are out there. Many of them believe NASA (again) engages in a cover-up to keep people from learning where the entrances to the interior world are (Spoiler: at the poles – just ask Santa for directions.)

Likelihood of Being True: Well, some very basic physics seem to preclude this possibility, but we’ll cut to the chase: the Russians have drilled pretty damn far into the Earth, and reports from the Weekly World News notwithstanding, they’ve not found a single dinosaur, demon, lost tribesman or inner sun yet.

Movies This Theory Inspired: Journey to the Center of the Earth, obviously, based on the novel of the same name by Jules Verne. There was a recent remake starring Brendan Fraser, but unless you’re an easily distracted 10 year-old you’re better off sticking with the 1959 original starring James Mason and Pat Boone. It has dinosaurs and, uh, Pat Boone. Seriously, though, great film. In the future, look for a movie from Dreamworks based on Jeff Long’s novel The Descent, the story of a group of scientists who discover that the Earth is indeed hollow, and full of beings that may have provided the original inspiration for demons and devils. (No relation to the Neill Marshall film of the same name.)

Theory: The Philadelphia Experiment

The Argument: In 1943 government physicists researching the Unified Field Theory conducted an experiment which caused the USS Eldridge to briefly teleport 200 miles away from a Philadelphia shipyard to Norfolk, Virginia, only to return moments later. There are some versions of the story that say the people on board the Eldridge even traveled back in time a handful of minutes. Anyway, supposedly a government cover-up began after many of the ship’s crew became ill and that it continues to this day.

Who Believes It: Popular awareness of the theory is practically negligible, but there are some conspiracy-minded individuals who still believe it despite some recent discoveries that would seemingly discredit the theory.

Likelihood of Being True: Wow. You know, out of all of these, I’d love for this one to be true. Teleporting warships? “Bending” light? Time travel? Awesome. Unfortunately – at least for the part of me that is still waiting for my personal jet pack – the evidence is pretty flimsy. The main proponent of the Philadelphia experiment, Morris Jessup, was a used car salesman with an astronomy degree and a side-line in researching UFOS, and worse, his source, an anonymous correspondence named “Mr. A,” is suspected to have been one Carlos Allen, a known prankster with a history of mental illness. Even if this stuff was true, don’t you think that the military would have worked out the kinks by now? Where’s my teleporting war ship? And my jet pack?

Movies this Theory Inspired: The Philadelphia Experiment (1984). Two sailors aboard the Eldridge are thrown through some kind of time vortex to the year 1984. Shenanigans ensue. Physics shenanigans. Good movie, though. People keep talking about a remake, but there’s not been anything solid yet.