20 Reddit Conspiracy Theories That Might Actually Be TRUE

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today were counting down our picks for the most believable conspiracy theories from the depths of Reddit.

#20: The Suspicious Rise of Coding

Over the last decade, the popularity and promotion of coding have shot through the roof. Children as young as five years old study the subject in school in hopes of improving their chances of employment as adults. However, if everyones a coder, is it even a lucrative profession anymore? Thats where the conspiracy comes in. As the supply of coders far exceeds the demand for the same, unemployment rises and salaries dip. An unstilted growth in the workforce means Big Tech gets to engage more labor for less and keep the profits going. Knowing the grip capitalism has on the world, it doesnt seem ludicrous that this might have been the big plan all along.

#19: Banksy Revealed

The elusive street artist who has taken the world by storm with his revolutionary graffiti continues to evade identification to this day. One theory suggests that the co-creator of Gorillaz, illustrator Jamie Hewlett, is Banksy. An investigation into the business side of the artists work by a forensic expert reveals Hewlett as the ultimate owner of several Banksy-related entities. However, what makes things interesting is how Hewletts PR agent, Joanna Brooks reacted. She stated firmly to Metro, the publisher that broke the story, that, quote, Jamie Hewlitt is not the artist Banksy. Now, either Brooks was particularly careless about the typo in her clients name or it was a deliberate misspelling, which fed the rumors further. Well go with the latter.

#18: Frozen Was a Cover-up

This theory dates back to the seventies, when cryonics fanatic Bob Nelson reportedly claimed Walt Disney was looking into cryonics. As is common with urban legends, the story took on a life of its own even when it was revealed that the celebrated animator had been cremated. In fact, the whole reason Walts daughter Diane set up the Walt Disney Family Museum was to end the gross speculation. When that didnt work, Disney released Frozen to drown out the cryonics story once and for all, or thats what netizens believe. Now, when you search for Disney Frozen online, its the studios blockbuster hit that shows up, not a disturbing sci-fi fantasy. Intended or not, the result was ideal.

#17: Aliens in the Ocean

The majority of the earths surface is covered by oceans and they are largely unexplored. The constant discovery of new sea creatures is proof that well never truly know what lies down there. Its not outrageous to think, then, that extraterrestrial life or at least alien technology may be hidden away underwater. Strange phenomena like the Baltic Sea anomaly, which revealed an unusual object in the seabed, offer compelling evidence in favor of this theory, too. Similarly, American Congressman Tim Burchett[a]s claim that a mysterious vessel is navigating the seas at a tremendous speed has raised eyebrows among alien enthusiasts. NASAs rare involvement with deep sea exploration as compared to their prolific space missions only helps conspiracies thrive.

#16: Museums Dont Display the Real Deal

Some Redditors argue that historically significant documents and iconic paintings like the Mona Lisa are not actually displayed in museums, at least not always. Instead, we see copies so the integrity of the originals can be preserved. In a sense, this is true. The United States Declaration of Independence seen in the National Archives in Washington, D.C., is a signed copy. So, it's possible that other such artifacts could be replicas too. It isnt too aggravating when were in the know, perhaps just a bit of a bummer. However, the real question is, are museums hiding the real stuff in an elaborate con, and if so, do the originals even exist anymore? Whether theres merit to such doubts, only time will tell.

#15: Egg Prices Are Rising Due to Greedflation

The ridiculous price hike for poultry products in the United States has been memed seven ways to Sunday. However, there might be something much more sinister behind this inflation. Were told that egg prices are going up because the avian flu is driving down supply. While that is a contributing factor, the Justice Department is looking into whether industry giants might be restricting supply on purpose, according to the New York Times. Back in 2023, some of the largest egg suppliers in the U.S. paid millions of dollars in damages after being found guilty of orchestrating an inflation. So, it wouldnt be surprising if it turns out Big Egg is milking the bird flu crisis to rake in the dough. That's greedflation.

#14: Deep-Sea Fish Sightings Spell Doom

Every time a creature from the depths of the ocean comes up to the surface, it sets off alarm bells. Legend has it that if deep-sea fish like the oarfish, also called the doomsday fish, are spotted near the surface, it means disaster isnt far behind. According to reports, an unusually high number of oarfish were once found beached across Japan, and the devastating 2011 Thoku earthquake and tsunami followed. Not so fun fact: theyve been popping up more and more in recent years. You dont have to be superstitious to acknowledge the gravity of this situation. Such displacement is most likely due to climate change causing disturbances in marine habitats. Needless to say, thats not only harmful to life underwater but also on land.

#13: Too Many Mattress Firms

This is one of those conspiracy theories that have a real-life impact. It started when Reddit users noticed that there were way too many Mattress Firm stores in the U.S. This led to speculation about the companys involvement with money laundering. It certainly did not help that the conglomerate that bought Mattress Firm in 2016, Steinhoff[b] International, was later mired in a fraud scandal. Ultimately, in 2018, 700 Mattress Firms were closed down in one swift blow. The company maintained that they werent cleaning dirty money. However, a lawsuit they filed against former employees claiming they pocketed kickbacks from real estate agents for encouraging expansion confirmed that something was indeed fishy. That case ended in a settlement, but this Reddit theory isnt going anywhere.

#12: The Hawaii False Alarm May Not Have Been a Mistake

On January 13, 2018, Hawaiian citizens fell into panic after a missile alert flashed on their phone screens. Chaos descended on the island state as people feared an attack from North Korea. Some traumatic minutes later, it was revealed that the notification was a false alarm that was sent through because of a Hawaii Emergency Management Agency employees mistake during a drill. However, the man, who had allegedly made such errors before, later claimed he was a hundred percent sure that the emergency was real. Either way, the mishap convinced conspiracy theorists that the false alarms were trial runs meant to study the publics reaction to an actual threat. Japan made a similar blunder a few days later, which further supported the claim.

#11: The Hinge Algorithm Is Terrible on Purpose

Downloading, deleting, and re-downloading Hinge is a rite of passage in the era of online dating. Although love is at our fingertips, its getting harder than ever to forge a real connection. This is because the system is rigged. Several users across the world have spoken out about their negative experiences on Hinge. According to some claims, Hinge may be deliberately hiding its most attractive users from you after luring you in with an initial round of ideal matches. Likewise, your account is probably hidden, too! Dont worry, though! The apps premium subscriptions, which come with profile boosts, will save the day if you cough up a fee. Maybe it's designed to be deleted because its not worth contributing to such an obvious money-making scheme.

#10: Modern Art Auctions Are a Front

Does anybody really get modern art? Like, seriously, who buys a painting when its just pure white? And how are these weird non-paintings selling at auctions for millions of dollars? Well, one popular theory holds that modern art and art auctions are just a front for money-laundering practices. Dirty money is used to pay for paintings, whether theyre really worth anything or not, which allows rich criminals to launder their cash in such a way that the government cant touch it. It would certainly go a long way to explaining how the price of art got so inflated.

#9: WonkaPiercer

There have been some crazy connections made between movies over the years, but one of the most strangely compelling is the idea that the 2013 dystopian movie Snowpiercer is really a sequel to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory! Proponents of the idea cite numerous similarities, including that both feature characters traveling through a fantastical structure who are then progressively whittled down as they progress through it. The idea is that the trains inventor, Wilford, is actually an older version of Charlie Bucket, who modeled his frozen dystopias lifeboat on Wonkas self-sustaining candy factory. It may be pure imagination, but its fascinating nonetheless.

#8: The U.S. Doesn't Offer Free Higher Education Because of the Military

While the US offers free public education up to the end of high school, universities and higher learning costwell, an arm and a leg would be an understatement. Although there have been growing calls for the government to fully fund higher ed, many see it as unlikely for one simple reason the U.S. military. In the U.S., military service is voluntary. However, it also offers subsidized access to higher education along with service, giving lower income families opportunities they wouldnt otherwise be able to afford. The conspiracy theory states that the government would never fully fund higher education, because if everyone had free access to college without the added danger of active service, far fewer would choose the military.

#7: The First Cosmonauts in Space Never Returned Alive

Yuri Gagarin was the first human to go to spaceright? Well, some have posited that prior to Gagarins historic flight, the Soviet Union sent several other cosmonauts to space, where they either died or were captured by foreign powers upon their return to Earth. Given the Soviet Unions secretive nature, its easy to believe this theory, even though there are several big holes in it. For one thing, Soviet space records have been made available to the public, and for another, the U.S.A. was paying a close eye on the U.S.S.R. during the space race and definitely wouldve caught wind of any rocket launches.

#6: Area 51 Is a Decoy

For over half a century, conspiracy theorists around the world have obsessed over Area 51, a Nevada Air Force base often associated with UFOs and extraterrestrial conspiracies. It wasnt even publicly acknowledged until 2013! But one Reddit theory suggests that Area 51 is only a decoy for the real location where the U.S. conducts alien experiments. The theory goes that even if Area 51 has conducted experiments on UFO technology in the past, it makes a lot of sense to keep the publics attention focused anywhere but where the real work is being done currently. Any magician can tell you that misdirection is a powerful tool.

#5: The 10-Year Challenge Was Created for Facial Recognition

Social media is full of memes designed to get people to post photos of themselves, but one in particular has been cited as being more than it appears. The 10 Year Challenge, in which people post pictures of themselves both currently and 10 years prior, has been suggested to have been crafted so as to give facial recognition software a baseline for how peoples faces change over the course of a decade. Although a lot of these photos were already available on social media, specifying the 10-year gap and then placing them side by side would be a lot easier than data-mining millions of people.

#4: The FBI Starts Reddit Conspiracy Threads

One of the most meta-Reddit theories out there posits that government agencies, such as the FBI, are actually the ones who start Reddit conspiracy threads. In this way, the agencies are able to better keep track of what the public knows but cant prove, or else they use these threads to discredit some theories by making those that believe in them seem like theyre unhinged. This kind of thing has the appearance of being believable because of how easy it would be for agencies to use this method for both information gathering and disinformation.

#3: The Roswell Incident Was a Soviet Aircraft

In 1947, an unidentified flying object crashed at a ranch in New Mexico. While the military has subsequently claimed it was a weather balloon, UFO believers have claimed that the object was alien in origin, and that the military is involved in a cover-up. However, what if the conspiracy theorists are right about the cover-up, but wrong about the UFOs origin? One idea suggests that the Roswell incident was actually a Soviet aircraft that was shot or crashed down on U.S. soil (some suggest, conversely, that the Soviets faked a crash to spread panic). The cover-up was to stop people from panicking that Americas Cold War nemesis managed to come close to striking at the heart of the country.

#2: Pockets vs. Purses

The pockets on most clothing marketed towards women suck. Theyre usually too small to hold anything bigger than a toothpick, and whenever there is a piece of clothing with good pockets, its exciting. So why doesnt the fashion industry make bigger or better pockets for womens clothes if the demand is there? One Reddit theory suggests that fashion companies are purposely keeping these pockets useless to sell more purses. After all, you dont see a lot of purses made for men and they seem to be doing just fine, so if people who wear womens clothes didnt need purses anymore, surely purse sales would plummet right?

#1: UFOs Are Flown by Future Humans

As weve seen, plenty of theories abound about aliens and UFOs, but one thats been gaining a lot of traction on Reddit is the idea that the crafts and creatures that some believe exist and originate from elsewhere in the universe actually originate from Earth from the far future. It would certainly explain why the popular images of aliens look so much like we do, and why so few UFOs have been spotted from space: they never had to leave Earths atmosphere. By traveling back in time, perhaps these future humans are trying to investigate their past to solve some future crisis, or stop it from happening altogether.

Whats the most outlandish conspiracy theory youve heard of? Tell us in the comments down below!

[a]https://youtu.be/4bLuZAtNvp0?si=qnUAmnb1OMhwQNl7
[b]https://youtu.be/4qiE4WLfGpc?si=RO7KFtNbfoLdmH3s&t=2