Top 10 Crazy Conspiracy Theories

This theory submits that horror writer Stephen King, not Mark David Chapman, pulled the trigger on the former Beatle. Citing secret government messages in important American media, conspiracy theorist Steve Lightfoot posits that Lennon’s was a politically motivated murder, orchestrated by Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. Using the rationale “it’s true or he’d sue,” Lightfoot basically only has a case ‘cause King and Chapman look vaguely similar.

The internet’s curiosity about gingers has translated into numerous theories about their origin – and in fact, redheads do differ biologically from their less-fiery-haired counterparts. Apparently they have a different threshold for pain, are more susceptible to certain diseases and – get this – are more likely to hate the dentist. But conspiracy theorists took that one step too far and submitted that their differences meant they weren’t even of this world.

Remember Brit-Brit’s public meltdown? Her head-shaving, umbrella-wielding, no-underwear period sure grabbed headlines. But some people think the pop princess wanted the publicity – but not for the reason you’re thinking: according to this theory, the Bush administration enlisted Ms. Spears to distract the public from any GW oopsies. Is it merely coincidence that Britney and K-Fed broke up the same week the GOP got routed in the 2006 midterm elections?

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#7: Space Nazis

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As if believing the Holocaust didn’t actually happen wasn’t crazy enough, there are other nutty stories attached to Hitler’s Third Reich. The most persistent has the Germans building spacecraft and successfully flying to the moon – where they built a base and met dozens of alien races. So when did this supposedly happen? As early as 1942. And where are all these crafts now? Hidden in Antarctica, naturally.

You can always rely on the calendar, right? German historian Heribert Illig says “nein.” He suggests we’re currently living in the 18th-century and the years between about 600-900AD never happened. “So what,” you ask? Well, that’d mean some historical figures didn’t exist and artefacts from that period are either from another time or forged, signifying a far-reaching and elaborate cover-up. However, most historians agree: this one’s crap.

Before emoticons, the Wingdings font let Microsoft users spice up documents. However, days after its 1992 release, a supposedly anti-Semitic message was discovered: the letters NYC were represented by a skull-and-crossbones, Star of David and thumbs-up. After 9/11, the scandal worsened when rumors swirled that one of the flight’s numbers translated to, well, this. However, neither plane that hit the World Trade Center bore the number Q33NY, so consider this one debunked.

No conspiracy theory list is complete without a mention of JFK’s assassination, and some theorists believe long-time FBI director J. Edgar Hoover was involved. Probably because he was dogged by rumors of his homosexuality for much of his career, one wild premise suggests that Hoover hired an all-gay assassin squad to kill the president, because no one would suspect anyone so flamboyantly dressed of a crime so heinous.

Some of the hippie era’s biggest celebs have American military links – that must mean they were planted to infiltrate the counterculture, right? Icons like Frank Zappa, Jim Morrison, “Papa” John Phillips, Stephen Stills and David Crosby came from families with military history. So conspiracy theorists suggest they were MKULTRA operatives, groomed by the CIA to help control the hippies, or – worse yet – they helped the CIA invent hippies.

Fluoride, barcodes, vaccines: you name it; conspiracy theorists think the government’s trying to control you with it. But this time, they’ve got facts to back their theory up: to prevent drug and booze abuse, the U.S. government poisoned alcohol during Prohibition and inadvertently killed 10,000 in the process. During the ‘70s, they sprayed Mexican pot crops with an illness-inducing herbicide. So maybe this one’s not so unbelievable…?

Conspiracy theorist David Icke says reptilians are the single most important threat facing humanity. What are reptilians? Shape-shifting, blood-guzzling, 5-to-12-foot-tall humanoid reptiles with a secret underground lair, that are out to conquer the world by infiltrating governments. Obviously. And Icke says this one goes way up: according to him the Clintons, Bushes and Queen Elizabeth II are all related to reptiles. How can you tell? Look into their eyes.

Do you agree with our list? What do you think are the wackiest conspiracy theories out there? For more top 10s published every day, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.