Hey there, grab your tinfoil hat, cue the x-flies soundtrack and settle into Conspiracy Corner; we're glad to have you. Join me as I dig into the world's most famous (or infamous) conspiracy theories.

New here? Here's how we roll. I'll start by giving you the lowdown on the theory itself - its core argument, history, and where the believers are today (and of course, we'll include all the fun facts that you never wanted to know). Then we’ll see if these theories have any valid points (spoiler alert, the answer is usually no) and digest why people believe.

Today's Conspiracy: The Flat Earth

As you may have gathered from the title, today we will be diving into the flat earth conspiracy which, although being completely scientifically disproven, actually has a significant amount of research (including over 100 proofs they have written to prove their point . . . my brain hurts). Their general argument is that the earth is flat because it looks and feels flat. . . yes, that's the entire argument.

Naturally, I had a few questions.

But . . . if it's not a globe, then what is it?

Members of the flat earth community claim that the earth is a stand-alone disk with the arctic circle in the center. Surrounding this floating space disk is Antarctica, which they claim is a 150ft wall of ice preventing people from falling off the earth.

P.S. Don't be fooled, the earth is definitely a globe.

But . . . what about the moon and sun?

According to the flat earthers, the sun and moon move in circles 3,000 miles above the earth and illuminate different parts of the planet in a 24-hour cycle. If you were worried that their explanation didn't include the fact that the moon and sun don't eclipse, have no fear. There is an alleged invisible anti-moon that hangs out and happens to collide with the visible moon occasionally.

But, wait. . . You forgot about gravity.

Time to update your vocabulary; replace this fictional gravity concept that scientists have been proving for years with the all-too-real dark energy. Rather than gravity pulling objects down, the flat earthers believe that the earth is actually moving upwards at 32ft per second resulting in dark energy keeping everything on the ground.

So, who first had this idea?

Well. . . everyone. Until the 6th century, that is.

The Greek philosopher Pythagoras was the one who first cracked the code that the earth is round, and he has since been backed up by an unspeakably large amount of science (namely Google Earth and the entirety of the scientific community).

Since then, a few notable fellows have taken on the flat earth mindset. One of the most prevalent was Samuel Rowbotham who revived the movement in the 191900s00's when he claimed that because our senses pointed to the earth being flat, then that (along with a certain interpretation of scripture) was enough to prove that the earth was definitively flat.

Continuing the flat earth legacy, Samuel Shenton created the International Flat Earth Research Society in 1956 that attracted a lot of attention and supporters; however, the movement petered out when all of the records were destroyed in a fire in 1997 (who started the fire? That's a whole different story).

Have no fear, the movement is alive and kicking as of 2004 thanks to the online forum known as the Flat Earth Society which has an astonishing 500 members in the United States and even more "around the globe."

Fun facts you didn't know you wanted

• Youtuber Logan Paul is a self-proclaimed flat earther but is not allowed in the flat earth society because of disagreements with the group's leadership.

• The flat earthers have their own football league

• Flat earthers believe that all astronauts are actors.

Why do people believe this?

I'm not going to sit here and pretend that I understand the inside of the human brain, but I can see the appeal of believing conspiracy theories such as this one. When faced with facts that we have known our entire lives - the earth is round, the sky is blue, 1+1=2 - and offered a different lens through which to view them, it can cause us to step back and think about our lives. It forces us to consider where the information in our head came from. Who put it there? Is it true?

In cases where we can't see the truth for ourselves, there is a strange attraction to believing the unexpected rather than conforming to whatever we're told. Don't get me wrong, I haven't become a flat earther through writing this, but when I look at myself for long enough in the reflection of my tinfoil hat, I understand the appeal that drives people to spend their entire lives believing fake research.

Thanks for checking out Conspiracy Corner this week, it has been a pleasure distracting you from your accounting textbook.