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Synopsis

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  1. No “fish” “eye” “lens” THERE!!! AND, Best OF ALL………. NOT EVEN, prayed AND told, NASA “alleged” CGI PROPAGANDA!!!
  2. The Bible says the Earth is a GLOBE: Isaiah 40:22 Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition 22 It is he that sitteth upon the globe of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as locusts: he that stretcheth out the heavens as nothing, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in. The Bible also says the sun rises AND sets: Psalm 112:3 Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition 3 From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same, the name of the Lord is worthy of praise. Ecclesiastes 1:5 Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition 5 The sun riseth, and goeth down, and returneth to his place: and there rising again, Isaiah 59:19 Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition 19 And they from the west, shall fear the name of the Lord: and they from the rising of the sun, his glory: when he shall come as a violent stream, which the spirit of the Lord driveth on: So, WHERE, pray tell, is THEE “flat” Earth video of THEE sun “appearing” as a DOT in THEE “sky” above THEE Earth, growing to a MAXIMUM “size”, then “shrinking” to a “dot” BEFORE “disappearing” in THEE “sky” “above”???!!! Simple observations REPEATEDLY CONFIRMS the sun RISING AND SETTING the WHOLE TIME BEING THE SAME SIZE. And YET, prayed AND told, “flat” Earth “advocates” DENY THEE sun AND moon RISING AND SETTING. Image courtesy Pixabay via Pexels.com Online cults part 5: "Flat-Earthers" Isaac Johnson I equip churches to reach digital natives Published May 31, 2023 This week we continue our series on the online cult-like communities and groups that you will find making their way into churches. If you want to catch up on some of the previous you can find the whole series here. This week we’ll be looking at the flat-earth online community and its surprising growth and permeation into churches. During my undergrad years, I spent most of that time studying aerospace engineering before eventually changing majors. Aside from having some of the craziest electives on my transcripts, it gave me an appreciation for the complexities of things like orbital mechanics. That means that even in seminary, while I knew that scripture tended to reference a flat-earth cosmology, I never took serious the notion that the earth is flat. I was a bit shocked to discover that friends and even fellow seminary students were, in fact, devoted flat-earthers! Are there actually people who believe the earth is flat? Yep, various studies have shown that at least 10% of the population believes that the earth is flat and that up to 30% are not certain that it is a sphere. Generationally, Millennials and Gen-Z are far more likely than Boomers and Gen-X to disagree or show uncertainty that the earth is a sphere, so it’s getting worse, not better. Usually, they follow a more or less ancient concept of cosmology: a flat disk, covered by a hard dome that is the sky, and celestial bodies move across the surface of the dome. Most believe that the center of the disk is the North Pole and that Antartica is actually a wall of ice that surrounds the dome. Basically, flat-earth proponents believe the whole world is kind of like a massive version of The Truman Show. How do they still believe the earth is flat despite modern science? Flat-earth theories are at their roots conspiracy theories aimed at science and modernism. The modern variations began in England in the 1830’s and gained a small following throughout the 1900’s; however, with the advent of the internet, the flat-earth community exploded. There are a few reasons why flat-earthers will reject a spherical earth model: They believe a sacred text teaches the world is flat (the majority are religious). 📜 They believe that NASA and other space agencies lie to keep the populace misinformed. 🚀🧑 🚀 They are unwilling to believe anything they themselves can’t observe. 🔎 Like other conspiracy theories, they believe they have “truth” and are special. 🥳 Fun fact: one of the biggest tenants of flat-earth is that the horizon is flat ergo the earth is flat. As you can see though, a disk viewed with even just a bit of height will actually appear to curve… rather substantially in fact! 🤷 How flat-earth intersects with Christianity and why it’s dangerous One area where flat-earthers are right, is that the Bible utilizes a flat-earth cosmology. This is totally consistent with ancient Near Eastern conception of the cosmos, which is a phenomenological way (describing the universe from the human observer’s point of view). From a theologians point of view, it speaks to God’s desire to establish relationship with humanity over as far outweighing the need for a scientific worldview. So, in short, the Bible pretty much tends to utilize a flat earth cosmology that looks something like this: Unfortunately, due to strict fundamentalist literalist approaches to scripture, many people discount the ability of God to communicate polemically, hyperbolically, or even to reference pop-culture in his communication with humanity. When those people are confronted with the fact that Bible references a flat-earth cosmology their reaction is binary: either 1.) the Bible is entirely false because the world is a sphere or 2.) the world is actually flat. So there’s a lot of Christians out there that decided the world is flat and subscribe entirely to a flat-earth conspiracy theory. Doesn’t matter that the Patristics in their typical allegorical fashion dealt with the question of how to approach the creation narratives and how they considered them communicative of God’s character and uniqueness more than scientific, for the flat-earther “the Bible says flat means the world is flat!” People are often shocked that the flat-earth conspiracy theories are dominated by religious adherents, mostly Christians, but here’s a quick taste of what you can expect from the typical flat-earth online community: And here’s another: … and another… If the memes and YouTube videos weren’t enough already, Ally Hills did a hilarious dive into flat-earth music and her reaction was shock that it was a largely religious community. You can see her YouTube video and hear some examples of flat-earth music making reference to the Bible here: https://youtu.be/UE14zS8zsMU So, as you can see, it’s pretty pervasive and problematic among Christians, is affecting how they read and interpret scripture, and it needs to be addressed. How to counter flat-earth conspiracies in your church Last week I got to participate in a fire-extinguisher demonstration. It was pretty cool, there were actual flames and the extinguisher they gave me was massive… anyhow, the thing that you are always told about putting out a fire is to “aim for the base of the fire!” Countering flat-earth is not about proving the earth is spherical… people will make all kinds of mental contortions to reject even the soundest evidence of a spherical earth… the goal of the church is to address the theology of divine communication. We need to remove the perspective that God could only have communicated using 21st century scientific perspectives… particularly to his pre-scientific audience. I have a six-year-old, I don’t try to explain singularities to her because I understand she isn’t ready to comprehend that and I’m more interested in having a relationship with her. Moreover, I reference fictitious materials she’s familiar with to communicate things with her, be it something from an episode of Bluey or a song from Frozen. If I can do it in my communication, God can do it in his. Now, the other root cause of this is the same as pretty much all conspiracies: contrarianism. Disagreeing because it makes one feel special or feel like they have the “true” knowledge is an increasingly big problem for churches today. It leads people to embrace fringe groups online with outlandish ideas. This is where a focus on community in the church can help, people need to identify with their church community so that they don’t feel the need for an external community to validate them. Too often, churches are not safe places where community flourishes and that’s something we need to constantly evaluate. Finally, as with most of these fringe communities that have a cult-like hold over people, the church needs to be willing to welcome people in with open arms. If a flat-earther comes out and decides “maybe the earth really is a sphere and it’s not a satanic illuminati orchestrated NASA coverup” they will lose their online community and sense of connection. It’s always easier to step away when the consequences are not loneliness and isolation. Closing thoughts I’ve taken some flak in the past for saying Atheists and fundamentalist-literalists are basically operating from the same premise… they absolutely are. They both view scripture from a modernist scientific literalist worldview that we wouldn’t actually apply to other forms of communication. As such, they both perceive a dichotomy between scripture and science. Atheists decide to follow science and reject scripture, while fundamentalist-literalists choose scripture and reject science. In order to move forward, we actually need to help people to see that the dichotomy doesn’t actually exist and that it’s okay to back down from these extreme positions and find acceptance within the church. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/online-cults-part-5-flat-earthers-isaac-johnson Hey, the article says “flat” Earth “proponents” WANT to be “special”. AREN’T, pray tell, “flat” Earth “proponents” SPECIAL???!!! ”flat” Earth. Stupid. Stupid. STUPID. WITHOUT, prayed AND told, ANY DOUBT!!! ”flat” Earth “proponents” can NOT even OBSERVE the sun AND moon rising AND setting. WHY, pray tell, are “flat” Earth PLAIN observations “obstructed”???!!! COULD, pray tell, THEE “flat” Earth “proponent” “posture” BE “circular” IN “practice”???!!! Yep. ”flat” Earth “proponents” DEMONSTRATE THEIR OWN ”personal” “hole” “in” “one”!!! ”flat” Earth.
  3. Do Government Documents Admit That the Earth Is Flat? In my 2019 book, "link omitted", I evaluated many of the claims that flat-earthers make. With so many flat-earth claims and with more of them arising since publication of my book, I didn’t cover all the flat-earth claims out there. That is why I continue to update my study of the flat-earth movement with new web articles and blog posts. Some people may think it is a waste of time to discuss the flat-earth movement. However, theflat-earth movement presents a danger to the church. Self-professed biblical flat-earthers apply a flawed hermeneutic to Scripture. Their hyper literal approach to poetic and prophetic books wrings unfounded meanings from those passages. Flat-earthers must create in their minds a vast satanic conspiracy about the earth’s shape to support belief that the earth is flat. This often results in a caustic attitude that damages couples, families, and churches. Many flat-earthers end up leaving their churches and not assembling with fellow believers as we are commanded to do. Therefore, it is important that I continue researching theflat-earth movement and report on new developments in that movement. One of the flat-earther arguments that I have not examined before is claims that there are many government documents admitting the earth is flat. I thank Michael Toon for compiling a "link omitted" (hereafter, I will simply refer to this as “the list”). Here I will examine most of the documents on that list. If these documents truly admit that the earth is flat (and that is a big if), then those admissions could be evidence that the earth indeed is flat and not a globe. After all, wouldn’t government agencies, particularly scientific agencies, be in possession of knowledge of the earth’s true shape? On the other hand, if those government agencies were part of the cabal that promulgates the lie that the earth is a globe, why would those same government agencies admit that the earth is flat? Flat-earthers incessantly insist that governments lie, so why do flat-earthers change course and accept the word of a government agency that consistently lies? This is particularly true of NASA, the source of the first government document that I will discuss. Rigid Aircraft Rigid with Constant Mass Probably the most common government document that flat-earthers cite as admitting the earth is flat is a report titled “link omitted” produced by three researchers at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California. Sure enough, one does not have to read very far (the first sentence of the text) in this report to see that this paper derived a linear model for an aircraft “flying over a flat, nonrotating earth.” For most flat-earthers, that is all they need to see. They reason, “Why would NASA go to the trouble to derive a model of aircraft flying over a flat, nonrotating earth, if the earth is spherical and rotating?” This is typical of the way flat-earthers make their arguments—they focus on one or two words and ignore the context and the other words around the few words they focus on. Here is the first sentence in this report: Flat-earthers focus on the description of the earth as being flat and nonrotating and ignore the description of the aircraft as being rigid and having constant mass. Aircraft are not rigid. When seated over the wing of an airliner, I often watch the wingtip rise a few feet as we take off. Materials flex when forces are applied to them. In the case of the wings of aircraft, the lift generated is applied to the wings, and the wings flex upward in response to lift. The control surfaces of aircraft also move, departing from the assumption that aircraft are rigid. Hence, aircraft are not rigid. Nor do aircraft have constant mass. As the flight proceeds, stored fuel is consumed, reducing the mass of the aircraft considerably. So, why would three researchers derive the equations that govern the flight of aircraft when all four of their starting assumptions are false? When solving problems in physics and engineering, it is important to identify and state all the assumptions one must make in solving the problems. Many of these assumptions are simplifying assumptions. That is, they are assumptions that are not necessarily true but are of little consequence. For instance, in my teaching of physics, I showed students how to solve mechanics problems. We usually ignored the effects of friction and wind resistance. If the speeds of objects under consideration were low and the surfaces were relatively smooth, then wind resistance and friction did not greatly affect the outcome. Inclusion of the more realistic situation, such as friction and wind resistance, would have made the problems far more difficult to solve. In many cases, the effects of other factors, such as wind resistance and friction, could be added as corrective factors to the solution. We also often assumed that objects we studied in mechanics were point objects, even though they weren’t. We needed to consider the physical extent of objects only when considering rotational aspects of their motion. Even then, we could add rotational motion as a correction to the initial solution treating objects as point masses. Knowing that simplifying assumptions are often made in problem solving in physics and engineering, let us examine the four assumptions in the NASA report. While aircraft flex some while in flight, the amount of flex is relatively small, and the flexure does not seriously affect the flight of the plane. Hence, flexure can be ignored. A change in the mass of an aircraft causes a change in weight and hence the amount of lift required. While fuel consumption is significant over a long period of time, moment by moment, the amount of mass lost due to fuel consumption is so small that it does not affect flight. If one wished to account for mass loss over a long flight, one need only solve the equations of flight over sections of the flight with a slightly modified mass in each section. Flat-earthers misunderstand what is meant by “flat earth” in this document. It is not a denial that the earth is spherical. In these sorts of studies, the simplifying assumption of a flat earth can have two possible meanings. One meaning of the flat-earth assumption is to ignore local topography, overlooking hills and valleys, as if all positions on the ground have the same elevation. In some of the documents I examine here, that is the intended meaning. However, in this paper, theflat-earth approximation probably refers to the second meaning. The second meaning of the flat-earth approximation is to consider limited range in horizontal distance. In geometry, we say that locally a sphere appears flat. That is, if the horizontal distance is considerably less than the curvature of the sphere, then the surface of a sphere can be modeled in the plane tangent to the sphere at the location under consideration with little loss of accuracy. In this paper, aircraft are modeled in flight moment by moment. Hence there is no need to consider the earth to be spherical. Just as one could model the loss of mass by fuel consumption as a series of small increments, the spherical earth can be modeled by considering a series of small increments of flight. As for a nonrotating earth, this means that the Coriolis effect has little impact on flight. Indeed, this is true. The Coriolis effect is very feeble—the Coriolis effect becomes significant only over great distances on the earth, and then only if there is no controlled flight. Pilots or autopilots continually tweak the controls of aircraft, swamping the tiny Coriolis effect. Again, the model of flight in this paper is for moment by moment, not long flights in their entirety. Consequently, this NASA document does not contain an admission that the earth is flat and nonrotating. The paper that preceded this one describes the FORTRAN program that they used. This paper is titled “link omitted.” Page 15 lists the simplifying assumptions, including, This adds the simplifying assumption of no wind, something that obviously is not true. Just as topography and a rotating earth can be added to the more general solution, so can wind. An "link omitted" of this program with similar language was published in 1988. There are many more papers about flight from NASA facilities that use virtually the same language as the above paper when elucidating their simplifying assumptions, including a flat, nonrotating earth. The meaning in each case is the same. They do not constitute admissions that the earth is flat and nonrotating. One example is the 1991 report “link omitted.” Page 11 lists the simplifying assumptions: The control surfaces of aircraft must move, and there is flex in the wings, so aircraft are not strictly rigid. A stationary atmosphere means that there is no wind. The earth being flat refers to the earth having not topography (hills and valleys). The nonrotating earth means that the Coriolis effect was ignored. None of these assumptions are strictly true, but considering them would not have significantly changed the results. An even more detailed list of simplifying assumptions is found on page 6 of a 1978 NASA report with the title “link omitted.” They are: The earth is flat and non-rotating. The acceleration of gravity, g, is constant (9.8 m/sec2). Air density is constant (1.23 kg/m3). The airframe is a rigid body. The aircraft is constrained to motion in the vertical plane. The aircraft has a symmetry plane (the x-z plane). The mass of the aircraft is constant. Initial flight conditions are for steady-state flight. As before, none of these simplifying assumptions are strictly true, but their effects of these factors are minimal and, hence, can be ignored for simplicity. Here is "link omitted" on the flight of aircraft that mentions “a flat nonrotating earth.” This one is titled “General Equations of Motion for a Damaged Asymmetric Aircraft” and was presented at a 2007 conference by two researchers from NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia. The purpose of this paper was to develop a model of flight of an aircraft that is damaged and loses mass so that its center of mass is shifted. Obviously, since the aircraft loses mass, the assumption of constant mass as in the previous paper is not made. However, the other assumptions, rigid aircraft and a flat nonrotating earth were made. These assumptions have the same meanings as in the earlier paper, so this document hardly is an unguarded admission that the earth is flat and does not rotate. Another NASA paper that flat-earthers sometimes mention is “link omitted,” authored by Timothy R. Connors of NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center in California in 1997. The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the feasibility of modifying the engines of the SR-71 for use in carrying scientific payloads aboard. Page 8 of this report listed four assumptions made to simplify the modeling of this project. While the earth being flat is not mentioned (at the altitude the SR-71 flew, the earth’s topography did not matter), a nonrotating earth was mentioned. However, the other three assumptions were that the SR-71 was a point mass, no turbulence, and no side forces. With a length of more than 100 feet and a wingspan of more than 50 feet, the SR-71 hardly was a point mass. Furthermore, there is no place in the atmosphere with no turbulence. The assumption of zero side forces probably refers to crosswinds, which isn’t true either. The assumption of a nonrotating earth probably has the same reasoning as in the previous studies—the Coriolis effect is so small as to be ignored. A 2002 NASA report considered the “link omitted.” Sure enough, on page 11 the phrase “flat, nonrotating earth” appears. Here is that phrase in context: Once again, no aircraft, including the SR-71, is rigid. The statement, “The time rate of change of mass and inertia is assumed negligible,” is phrased in such a way as to indicate that the authors know constant mass and inertia are not strictly true, but that loss of mass and inertia are not significant enough to include. The terminology that the aircraft is “basically symmetric about the vertical-centerline plane” is a tacit admission that the aircraft is not strictly symmetrical but is symmetrical enough to justify the assumption of symmetry. The report admits that the authors used “small angle approximations” [emphasis added]. Anyone who has used the small angle approximation knows that it is just that, an approximation, but that if the angle is small, the small angle approximation does not deviate significantly from using the sine or tangent of the angle (but it sure makes the math much simpler). With all this, we are supposed to believe that this report contains some damning admission that the earth is flat and nonrotating? A similar report, this time sponsored by the Federal Aviation Administration, is the 2015 report, “link omitted.” Again, the term “flat, non-rotating Earth” is found in the first sentence under the subheading “2.1 Reference Frames.” However, this term has the same meaning as in the previous papers. The first sentence of the report stated that the paper derived equations of motion “for a point-mass aircraft.” Indeed, that term even appears in the title of the paper. Aircraft obviously are not point masses, so why does this paper treat aircraft as if they are? For the purposes of this paper, aircraft can be treated as point masses, much as the earth can be treated as being flat and nonrotating, even though the earth is rotating and has topography so that it is not flat. A 1988 NASA report was titled “link omitted.” Once again, the phrase “flat, nonrotating Earth” appears on pages 4–5: Note, once again, the simplifying assumption that the aircraft is rigid. As in all such papers, the assumption of a “flat, nonrotating Earth” is a simplifying assumption, not an admission that the earth is flat and stationary. Here is a 2006 paper titled “link omitted” authored by a staff member at NASA’s Ames Research Center. Notice the many assumptions that are not strictly true: The aircraft is a point mass. The aircraft’s climb is only in a vertical plane (no deviation to the left or right). The aircraft has constant mass. The engine thrust vector and the aircraft velocity vector are in the same direction. There is no lateral wind component. The justification for ignoring these complicating factors is based upon the realization that they are very small compared to the overall effect under consideration. Furthermore, the effects of the complicating factors could be added to the solution later. In similar manner, this paper does not say that the earth is globally flat and not rotating. Rather, the paper indicates that the effects of topography and the Coriolis effect are not significant in this study. Here is a 1972 document from NASA’s Langley Research Center titled “link omitted.” One of the simplifying assumptions, once again, is “a flat, nonrotating earth.” Within the paper, this is recognized as a limitation of the applicability of the work, for four times in the paper it states, “The method is limited, however, to application where a flat, nonrotating earth may be assumed.” Hence, rather than being an admission that the earth is flat and nonrotating, it is implied that the earth is not flat and is rotating. Articles about flight simulations made the list as well. An engineering dissertation titled “link omitted” made the list too. A search for the word “flat” yields this result (page 10): Notice that the word here is “flattened,” not “flat.” This statement could not be clearer—this source explicitly states that the earth is spherical, not flat. The word “flat” appears only four times in this dissertation, on pages 11 and 14. Here is the context of all four of those appearances (page 11): Again, this could not be clearer—this is not an admission the earth is flat, but rather it stipulates the conditions in which the spherical earth could be treated as flat. How did flat-earthers come to think this was otherwise? They must have searched for the word “flat” but did not read what the text actually said. By the way, as a doctoral dissertation, this hardly is a government document. The academic journal article “link omitted” also made the list. A search revealed that this article does not contain the word “flat.” Perhaps what triggered inclusion of this article on the list is its use of the word “level” (flat-earthers typically think that flat and level mean the same thing). The word level is found on the third page, where the assumptions of the flight simulation are listed: Flight area is the space above ground level where the rotation of earth and the curvy motion of mass center of earth are neglected. Aircraft is an ideal rigid body and influence from aircraft body elastic deformation and rotating parts are not considered. As with modeling real aircraft, this model for flight simulation assumes the aircraft is a rigid body. More importantly, the paper explicitly acknowledges that the earth is spherical and rotates, but for the purpose of the model, those factors are ignored. Once again, a paper that allegedly supports the notion of a flat, stationary earth under minimal scrutiny says exactly the opposite. Another flight simulation paper is “link omitted” by a NASA Ames researcher. As is typical of such studies, the simplifying assumptions are stated. On page 10, As I’ve stated many times, there are no rigid aircraft. The relevant simplifying statement is also on page 10: The wording “considered here” makes it clear that a flat, nonrotating earth is a simplifying assumption. Another flight simulation source listed is a 1995 paper “link omitted.” Note the context of the three times that the word “flat” appears in this document. The first is on page 2: Clearly, this simulation operates in two modes, one in which the earth is treated as flat and the other in which the earth is treated as its true shape, an oblate spheroid. Why the two modes? As I’ve discussed many times already, some applications can use the much simpler flat-earth approximation, but this simpler approach is not warranted in some applications. As page 8 explains: Because of its much greater range, the space shuttle could not be simulated in the flat-earth mode. Another example is the undated NASA Technical Memorandum titled “link omitted.” On page 17, the simplifying assumptions are given: Again, none of these simplifying assumptions are true, but the effects of the factors ignored are negligible compared to the factors that are considered. Speaking of helicopters, a 1979 NASA paper was titled “link omitted.” Here are the simplifying assumptions from page 33: None of the other assumptions are strictly true, but we are supposed to believe that the assumption of a flat earth is strictly true? And in context, what does the term “flat earth” mean? On page 44, in the section discussing the simulation software, this is said about two airports used in the simulation: It is obvious that the meaning of “flat earth” refers to the terrain around the airport, not the overall shape of the earth. Lest anyone think that this is a simulated airport, it is a real airport that was entered into the simulation. Rockets Too Another NASA document that flat-earthers mention is a 1961 report titled “link omitted,” where the term “a flat nonrotating earth” appears in the simplifying assumptions on page 7. There are three key terms in the title of this paper: wind, launching, and guided. The paper made it very clear that it was concerned with winds in and below the jet stream, limiting the scope of this study to altitudes of less than eight miles. The scope of this study does not include placing payloads into orbit or even great range or height within the atmosphere. That is what launch refers to. Rockets that go very far generally are guided. If one wished to consider these other possibilities, then they could be added to the conclusions of this study. With great range or height, one would have to consider the earth’s spherical shape and the earth’s rotation. Another example used by flat-earthers is a 1971 paper supported by NASA titled “link omitted.” This study was of a general nature, with an example of the principles derived beginning on page 12 of the report. The statement of the problem began: Notice again that these are idealizing assumptions. The rocket is not a point mass. Nor is the gravitational field constant. Nor is the thrust and mass-loss rate of a real rocket constant. Nor does a body move through the air with constant drag. But are we supposed to believe that, unlike the other assumptions, the earth truly is flat and nonrotating? Of course not. All five assumptions are made to greatly simplify the calculations. Once the problem is solved, one is free to modify the solution by explicitly including these more complicated situations. A 1993 report from NASA’s Langley Research Center titled “link omitted” is about the launch of payloads into low-earth orbit using a two stage rocket. Its inclusion on the list probably was triggered by a search for “flat earth” that resulted in three instances (page 14, and twice on page 25) as simplifications for part of the modeling. The fact that the report is about launching satellites into orbit probably escaped the flat-earther who found this document. If he had bothered to read the document (or just did a little more searching), he would have found six mentions of the earth being spherical (pages iii, 1, 3, 14, 16, and 146). Admittedly, each instance also included “nonrotating” which obviously was a simplifying assumption. Clearly, this is not a document that admits the earth is flat. Atmospheric Investigations A 1965 NASA paper prepared by Georgia Tech scientists was titled “link omitted,” which was a study of previous work on upper atmospheric winds. In describing the previous work, this paper said (page 10), Again, flat-earthers always read the “flat, nonrotating earth” part while ignoring the other assumptions. The possible temperature profiles can be generally met in the real world, but none of them are strictly true. Nor is gravity constant, and density and pressure only approximately vary exponentially with altitude. Similarly, while the earth can be considered flat locally, the earth is not flat globally. Furthermore, the earth’s rotation can be ignored in many applications, even though the earth is rotating. Indeed, the next paragraph summed this up nicely: In other words, when considering small effects, the simplifying assumptions do not work because the magnitude of their influences is comparable to the magnitude of the effects under consideration, but when one considers large effects, the magnitude of the complicating factors are small enough that those complicating factors can be ignored. A 2000 Army Research Laboratory report titled “link omitted” made the list. What probably flagged this document was the use of the word “flat” four times (two of those are in the list of key words at the beginning). Here is the first occurrence in the document itself (page 31): Notice that this says, “flat terrain,” not that the earth is flat. Also notice that the model is limited to small spatial domains. That means localized areas. The surface of a large sphere is flat locally. That is why on the next page this sentence appears: Once again, the mere use of the word “flat” was construed to be an endorsement of the notion the earth is flat. A paper delivered at the 2007 39th Annual Precise Time and Time Interval (PTTI) Systems and Applications Meeting titled “link omitted” made the list, probably because of the single use of the word “flat” (page 216): Notice that the assumption of a flat earth is a rough approach. Furthermore, in another rough approach, the researchers considered a straight line through the spherical shell of the troposphere. Rather than this paper being an admission of the earth being flat, it is an admission that the earth is spherical. Electromagnetic/Radiation Investigations A 2001 Army Research Laboratory report is titled “link omitted.” Flat-earthers obviously saw “flat earth” in the title of this paper but didn’t read much, if any, of the article. The article investigated the propagation of high-power microwaves over the earth. Microwaves are sent and received by line of sight. Since microwaves are electromagnetic phenomena, electromagnetic waves interact with the surface of the earth. The purpose of this paper was to investigate that. A search of this document reveals that the word “flat” appears 14 times. The occurrence of that word that is most revealing of its meaning in this document is in the introduction (page 1): The use of the words “assumed” and “idealized” indicates that this sentence states the simplifying assumptions. Flat-earthers skip over the word “idealized” and see “flat earth.” The parenthetical insertion of constant permittivity and conductivity are part of the clarification of the idealized condition considered. But notice that the next word is “ground.” The term “earth ground” appears several times in this paper. That is a strange way to express the earth (meant in the sense of the realm where we live) being flat rather than a sphere, if that was the intent. The meaning of earth here is to refer to the soil. Since microwave communications are line of sight, they are of limited range on the earth, so assuming that the earth is flat rather than a globe would be a justified simplifying assumption. But that is not the meaning here—the meaning is to ignore hills, trees, and other obstructions. If those factors were figured in, then one would need detailed information about the local topography, which would prohibit solving the problem considered in the general case. A 2000 Army Research Laboratory report titled “link omitted” made the list. This interesting research project studied the effect of foliage in attenuating radio frequencies, with the hope of developing technology for detecting enemy presence in forests. They conducted measurements in both woods and cleared land at various frequencies and the heights of the transmitter and receiver. The first mention of “flat earth” is on page 2: Notice that “flat earth” is modified with “ideal,” indicating that this is an idealized, rather than actual, situation. Furthermore, the next sentence reads, It is difficult to ignore the fact that these experiments were carried out over 410 meters. Using the eight inches per mile squared approximation that flat-earthers are so fond of using, I find that over 410 meters there is a half-inch drop. Diffraction of radio waves exceeds this, so assuming the earth is flat is a very reasonable simplifying assumption. The maximum distance of any test run in this study was 4,700 meters, a little less than three miles. The amount of curvature over this distance is negligible. Acoustic Investigations Another Army Research Laboratory paper is a 2003 report titled “link omitted.” The Army is interested in this subject to develop methods of finding and identifying potential targets that can be detected by the sound they produce. I suppose that flat-earthers found this document by searching for the term “flat earth,” for the word “flat” appears three times in this document. The first appearance is on page 9: Sure enough, there is that term “flat earth.” Once again, flat-earthers lifted these two words out, not seeing the context. Notice that flat earth is one of the properties of the model of acoustic propagation considered. Also notice that the model does not include turbulence. Even on a very calm night, there is some turbulence. However, the effect of turbulence was judged to be so small as to not warrant inclusion in the model, which would have greatly increased the complexity of the model. But what does flat earth mean in this document? The second appearance of that word is on page 12, in the section that discussed comparison of measurements to the model predictions: Hence, flat earth in this paper refers to flat terrain, not the earth in its entirety being flat rather than spherical. The third and final time that the word flat is found is on page 14: Again, this indicates the meaning of flat earth in this paper is to refer to lack of topography. Another Army Research Laboratory paper is the 2009 report titled “link omitted.” The purpose of this paper was to evaluate methods for tracking helicopters by the sound they emit. The term “flat earth” appears four times in this document, the first being on page 9: As before, notice that this is in the context of a model, and all models have simplifying assumptions. The model treated the bouncing of sound off the earth. Since a bounce is very localized, and a spherical earth is locally flat, the meaning of flat in this context refers to flat topography, not the entire earth being flat rather than a sphere. But let’s assume for a moment that the flat-earthers are right, that this paper intends a flat earth in the sense that flat-earthers take it. What did this paper conclude? Here is the second mention of flat earth from page 22: This appears on page 23: And this appears on page 27: The conclusion is very clear—the model did not work well, meaning that the model was disproved. Therefore, if this document refers to the earth being flat rather than spherical, then this paper proved that the earth is not flat. Artillery Studies A 2010 Army Research Laboratory report titled “link omitted” considered artillery rounds with liquid payloads. The only mention of flat earth in this paper is on page 1: As in every example, assumption of flat earth is within a model. This model is for artillery rounds, which have relatively short range. On a local scale, the spherical earth is flat. However, the intended meaning offlat earth here is to ignore local topography, such as hills and valleys. A follow-up paper titled “link omitted” by the same author was published the same month. The same simplifying assumption of flat topology appears on page 1. The 1999 Marine Corps manual "link omitted" also made the list. The only time the word “flat” appears is on page 10-17, where it reads, This obviously doesn’t refer to the earth’s shape, so it is doubtful that this is what triggered the inclusion on the list. What likely brought the attention of flat-earthers is the statement of the standard conditions of using field artillery (page 4 of the pdf linked above), which includes “no rotation of the earth.” However, the standard conditions include specified air temperature and air density, no wind, and the gun, target, and the meteorological datum plane being in the same altitude. Realistically, none of those conditions are ever met. Furthermore, the rotation of the earth is explicitly mentioned 10 times in the manual as corrections to the standard conditions (pages 3-15, 3-18 [twice], 5-11, 7-19 [twice], 11-50, Glossary 3, Glossary 4, and Glossary 9). In fact, the two mentions of earth’s rotation on page 7-19 describe the use of Table H on the next page to make corrections to range for the earth’s rotation and Table I on the following page for correcting the azimuth for the Coriolis effect. Hence, this government document that supposedly supports a stationary, flat earth does no such thing. A manual related to the above is the Marine Corps’ "link omitted" It is not clear why this source made the list, for the term “flat earth” appears nowhere in it, nor is there any mention of the earth’s rotation. The term “flat terrain” appears twice (page 5-16 and page 8-1), as does the term “flat areas” (both on page F-2). Even flat-earthers likely would recognize that these could not be construed to mean the earth is not spherical. The flat-earther who decided this was a government document that admitted the earth is flat merely searched for the word “flat” without examining the context. A similar Army artillery manual "link omitted" made the list too, though that document mentions “flat earth” nowhere. Regarding the earth’s rotation, the language of the Army manual is identical to the Marine Corps manual in that it lists the same standard conditions even in the same format (page 11-1). It even contains the same information for correcting for the earth’s rotation. The Army manual includes the same Table H (page 7-20) and Table I (page 7-21) as the Marine Corps manual does. The Army manual goes into more detail, explaining the need for correction for the Coriolis effect on pages 7-18 and 7-19. Again, rather that this source supporting a flat, stationary earth, this source supports a spherical, rotating earth. A related manual "link omitted" made the list, though it doesn’t use the term “flat earth” or mention the earth’s rotation. However, this manual twice endorses the spherical earth when it defined the range of an artillery round (pages 2-23 and 2-28): So, rather than supporting the notion the earth is flat and stationary, this source reflects the conventional cosmology. The firing tables for the above artillery manuals were produced and reported in the Aberdeen Proving Grounds 1967 publication “link omitted.” Since this publication does not mention flat earth, it is a mystery why it is included in the list. This publication went into detail of how the tables were generated, including the correction for the Coriolis effect. The tables H and I of the above manuals are found on pages 101–102 in this publication. Telemetry and Target Acquisition Studies A 2017 report sponsored by several government agencies titled “link omitted” was included in the list. Sure enough, “flat-earth” appears three times in this document. Let’s look at the first occurrence on page F-2: Notice that this document explicitly refers to the earth being spherical, suggesting that assuming that the simplifying assumption of a flat earth can be used as an approximation for some situations, but not for others. The text continues on the next page: Again, it could not be clearer that this document assumes the earth is spherical, not flat. The other two occurrences of “flat-earth” in this report support this conclusion. A 2002 Army Research Laboratory report titled “link omitted” was included in the list. The word “flat” appears twice. The second occurrence refers to a panel on a device being flat. Here is the other occurrence from page 1: The text is clear that assuming the earth is flat is merely a simplifying approximation on a spherical earth. Again, this document does not state that the earth is flat. A 2010 Army Research Laboratory report titled “link omitted” also made the list. This study investigated a method of accurately determining the position and motion of a projectile. The single use of the term “flat earth” occurs on page 3: Notice that this work employs a flat earth assumption in one set of coordinates. What does this mean? It doesn’t mean that the earth is flat. Rather, it is describing a set of coordinates with respect to a point on the earth’s surface. From that reference point, one can define altitude and azimuth, as illustrated in Figure 1. Altitude and azimuth are expressed with respect to the horizon plane, which is tangent to the surface of the spherical earth at the location of the reference point. It is this tangent plane that is meant by the flat earth assumption. In the figure, the altitude angle is θ, and the azimuth angle is ψ. This is the standard way to describe the position of an object above the surface of the earth. Hence, this is not an admission that the earth is flat. + Figure 1. Earth- and body-fixed coordinate systems and the Euler angle rotations. (Figure by Xu Ma and Gonzalo R. Arce. “Beacon Position and Attitude Navigation Aided by a Magnetometer,” Army Research Laboratory [June 2010]: 3.) A 1955 Air Force study titled “link omitted" made the list. The lone mention of flat earth is on page 1: Is this an admission that the earth is flat? Hardly. Here is a portion of the abstract (page iii): How far is “a few miles”? Statements elsewhere make it clear that the distances considered were much less than 100 miles. Under that restriction, the difference between a spherical earth and flat earth are minimal, but the mathematics is much simpler with the flat-earth approximation. There were other simplifying assumptions made, such as constant humidity and temperature, no particles of fog or smoke. These are idealized conditions that are never met in reality but come close enough to produce good results. A 2003 Army Research Laboratory document titled “link omitted" was included in the list. The assumption of theflat-earth simplification was tacitly made on page 4 when the wave equation (equation 2.8) was transformed from Cartesian coordinates to cylindrical coordinates with azimuthal symmetry (equation 2.9). This choice of coordinates makes sense only with plane-parallel symmetry (flat earth, flat atmosphere) centered on the source or the receiver. Figure 2 in the publication shows the plane-parallel symmetry. The sample case of Appendix A in the document had computations of up to 20 km, a distance over which deviation of the spherical earth from a flat earth are minimal. The abstract on the final page stated, What were the restrictions? The simplifying assumptions of a flat earth and an atmosphere with no turbulence. Why would treating the earth as flat be a restriction if the earth truly were flat? A 2001 Army Research Laboratory report titled "link omitted" What probably triggered the inclusion of this paper in the list was the one occurrence of the word flat in the introduction (page 1): It clearly states that the assumption of a flat earth is an approximation. An approximation to what? A spherical earth, because the earth appears flat locally, and over relatively short distances (a few miles), there is little difference between assuming the earth is spherical or flat. What distance is involved in this report? The FLIR referred to in the title is the Forward Looking Infrared imaging system used for target acquisition developed for the RAH-66 Comanche helicopter, an aircraft that never went into production (two prototypes were built). The maximum range of the armaments on the Comanche was 11 kilometers, less than seven miles. Firmament Among the articles that flat-earthers claim are government admissions that the earth is flat, there is one odd one that uses the word “firmament.” Flat-earthers generally think the firmament mentioned nine times in Genesis 1 refers to a dome over the flat earth. Hence, if a government agency admits that there is a firmament (dome), then that is tantamount to admitting the earth is flat, at least in the estimation of flat-earthers. The document in question is an abstract from a Soviet scientific journal. The CIA regularly translated abstracts and articles from Soviet scientific journals, and the abstract in question was one authored by P. N. Boyko and V. M. Kazachevskiy in 1961. The translation was released in 2000. The translated title of the article was “Photographic Observations of the Spectral Intensity of the Firmament.” You can see the translated abstract on pages 21–22 here. This is a provocative title, and flat-earthers seized upon it, interpreting it as an admission by the Soviet government that there is a hard dome over a flat earth. What is odd about this? This is not an easy abstract to find. One must wonder how flat-earthers ever found it. If you bothered to find the abstract via the link I provided, scroll to pages 17–18. There is an abstract from the previous issue of the same journal by the same authors with a similar title: “Observations of Sky Spectral Brightness by the Photographic Method.” Why does one abstract have the word “firmament,” while the other abstract has the word “sky”? Notice that the translator of the earlier abstract was V. Golikov, while the later abstract was translated by G. Livshits. I suspect that the same Russian word was used in the titles of the two abstracts, but that one translator chose to put it into English as “sky,” while the other chose the word “firmament.” Most English dictionaries recognize “sky” as the meaning of “firmament,” although calling the sky the firmament is a bit archaic. There were several other related papers authored by Boyko and to a lesser extent Kazachevskiy. They all discussed atmospheric transparency and scattering, which directly relate to the two papers in question. This example hardly amounts to an admission that there is a dome over a flat earth. Furthermore, this abstract is from a scientific journal rather than a government agency, though one might argue that under communist governments there is not much difference. Conclusion I have examined more than 40 government documents claimed by some flat-earthers to be admissions that the earth is flat. In none of them did I find any such admission. Rather, even when the term “flat earth” was found in these documents, careful examination with understanding of how physics and engineering methodology lays out simplifying (and technically false) assumptions revealed that the mere use of the term “flat earth” does not constitute a belief that the earth is indeed flat. In many instances, it appears that flat-earthers simply searched for the words “flat” or “flat earth” and hastily concluded that the documents involved endorsed the notion the earth is flat. In some cases, the sources cited as evidence of flat earth had statements that flatly contradicted that conclusion. Therefore, none of the claimed documents indicate the earth is flat. https://answersingenesis.org/astronomy/flat-earth/do-government-documents-admit-earth-flat/ "link omitted" can be found in the link to the article.
  4. https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p07h3yc0/flat-earth-how-did-youtube-help-spread-a-conspiracy-theory-
  5. @steveh12 Maybe explain your disdain with the appropriate posts above? I, for one, am puzzled by your response. Perhaps you selected the wrong vote on your cell phone? I can do that while the voting allows for changing the vote to the appropriate vote. (hint)
  6. https://www.theepochtimes.com/epochtv/7-key-facts-about-covid-19-vaccines-5608035?utm_source=News&src_src=News&utm_campaign=breaking-03-16-2024-2&src_cmp=breaking-03-16-2024-2&utm_medium=email&est=AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAdeg5ehYYxOHA46cDv2xVRbd1xiDxVN02FjuCBkvAUrqqEns%3D
  7. Flat Earth The flat earth is a constructed religion. Constructed religions are amongst the least known "arts", but very abused by it's powers. Like many religions constructed in the late 20th century The flat Earth cult was a constructed religion that was constructed by a group of people interested in the idea with the rise of the internet the idea spread quickly. Like many cult and antiscience formed throughout the years, it relies and the small-minded belief that since one can't trust the government then they can trust any random source claiming to be against the government. Ironically, the very source of the belief could be the government itself. According to a research paper published by the Zwich Derkwiz and Durch Zurich of the University of Dürwelt, The flat earth idea could have being perpetuated by CIA mind control reports, this included numerous references to declassified CIA documents and direct quotes from member of the programs. Since then attempts had being made to interview members of the CIA program. Flat Earth is a cult Flat Earth The most retarded theorist group to ever exist, becoming a Flat Earther poses a high risk to your IQ, and has a possible side effect of giving you Cardiac Arrest, And/Or Removing your brain entirely. some flat Earthers believe in an ice wall (Antarctica ) surrounding the earth, with outside lands that the rest of the world is hiding. Flat Earthers have two synapses in their brain and nothing more By ALL appearances, especially personal observations, “flat” Earth is ONE OF THEE, prayed AND told, GREATEST “IGNORANCE” “bombs” of ALL!!! HOW, pray tell, can “flat” Earth IGNORANCE TYRANNY “benefit” ANYONE???!!! ANYONE, pray tell, claim the sun AND moon do NOT rise AND set???!!! ANYONE, pray tell, claim the sun AND moon circle ABOVE the “plane” of THEE “flat” Earth???!!! ”flat” Earth “advocates” do!!! ”flat” Earth. DOES, pray tell, THEE sun AND moon appear as “dots” in the sky, grow to a maximum size, then shrink to dots THEN disappear in THEE “sky” above as “flat” Earth “theorists” “suggest”???!!! In ALL ACTUAL REALITY: Isaiah 40:22 Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition 22 It is he that sitteth upon the globe of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as locusts: he that stretcheth out the heavens as nothing, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in. Version Information The Douay–Rheims Bible is a translation of the Bible from the Latin Vulgate into English made by members of the Catholic seminary English College, Douai, France. It is the foundation on which nearly all English Catholic versions are still based. It was translated principally by Gregory Martin, an Oxford-trained scholar, working in the circle of English Catholic exiles on the Continent, under the sponsorship of William (later Cardinal) Allen. The New Testament appeared at Rheims in 1582; the Old Testament at Douai in 1609. The translation, although competent, exhibited a taste for Latinisms that was not uncommon in English writing of the time but seemed excessive in the eyes of later generations. The New Testament influenced the Authorized Version. Between 1749 and 1752, English bishop Richard Challoner substantially revised the translation with an aim to improve readability and comprehensibility. It was first published in America in 1790 by Mathew Carey of Philadelphia. Several American editions followed in the 19th and early 20th centuries; prominent among them the Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition Version.
  8. Can't we ALL agree NOW that "flat" Earth has NO basis in ACTUAL REALITY???!!! NOTING "flat" Earth has verifiable NEGATIVE COGNITIVE CONSEQUENCES!!! Personal observations are a key asset and what "flat" Earth has presented has ALWAYS been completely WRONG!!! "flat" Earth. Cult. Psychological and Programmed Manipulation. AND........................... "flat" Earth is INCREASINGLY Militant. NO Basis. Just Harassment. For now. Daddie, a "flat" Earther just told me to believe in "flat" Earth OR they will beat me up. https://video-hou1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t42.9040-2/89224336_133723901351031_2036598836641660928_n.mp4?_nc_cat=103&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=55d0d3&efg=eyJ2ZW5jb2RlX3RhZyI6InN2ZV9zZCJ9&_nc_ohc=XE5LZAUtWwoAX-EGKQq&_nc_rml=0&_nc_ht=video-hou1-1.xx&oh=00_AfCH47C_sQ6AO55QI5Q1eKIjNfg_ufIgOKEuPjJIfgNBsw&oe=65F17B99 Nope. Not going to happen.
  9. Flat Earth noun The act of not liking the reality of something so deliberately denying it's existence for personal gain. Anne didn't like her homework so she flat earthed it. As a result she flunked her test. https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Flat Earth
  10. Flat Earth A baseless "theory" conspiracy supported by a bunch of people who mindlessly follow it like a nonsensical cult. It has no evidence to back it up whatsoever, and any evidence that the flat earthers bring up can quickly be rebutted by a reasonably smart and logic-minded person, like me. Guy: The earth is flat, globetards! Flat Earth is right! Me: It's not. Can you explain why we have two hemispheres and they have different stars? https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Flat Earth
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