A sphere is defined as (1.) a round solid figure, or its surface, with every point on its surface equidistant from its center, and (2.) an area of activity, interest, or expertise; a section of society or an aspect of life distinguished and unified by a particular characteristic. In this case, the first definition is more pertinent. Though the Earth is not perfectly spherical, most would define it as of spherical shape. Against this and all other evidence, The Flat Earth Society exists, “debunking” NASA’s claims, as the provider of “Truth” for the public.

The Earth has been proved, in any plethora of scientific ways, that it is round. A spherical ball. Around 500 B.C., the Greeks, particularly,

based this on the fact that the moon was found to be round, through the observation of its orbital cycle as the terminator runs through it. Less than a hundred years later, the fact was realized again: Anaxagoras found that the Earth was round, because of the shape of the shadow it left on the moon during a lunar eclipse. In approximately 350 B.C., Aristotle determined the Earth was a sphere based on his observations of constellations, the change in stars, and their patterns as one moves farther away from the equator.

The knowledge that the earth is flat is not new information. From 6th century B.C., it has been speculated and proved reiteratively. In a practical affirmation, the Earth was once again proved to be of a spherical shape by Ferdinand Magellan’s expeditions and his eventual circumnavigation.

The idea of a flat earth was aroused in Mesopotamian mythology. Some of the original maps of Earth were based on such ideas and were soon proved to be entirely inaccurate. People who believe that the Earth is flat (‘Flat Earthers’), would say that NASA has been faking the information that the Earth is round. These believers think the government has somehow forged all the evidence of a round earth. Supposedly the government has kept the fact hidden because they do not want to correct the mistake, known for so long, that the Earth is round. The ‘impossible’ projects that NASA works on, are never completed, and the money ‘spent’ is just rerouted into the government.

Another inane theory is that the government is hiding the natural resources hidden around the edges of a flat earth. If it was found out that our rare and needed oil was not so rare, our “notion of scarcity” would be nonexistent.

“What about gravity,” one may ask, “doesn’t that prove that the Earth is not flat, inherently?”. This would be the case if such a thing called universal acceleration didn’t exist. This concept, supposedly applying to our Earth, explains that the idea of gravity on Earth is really our world perpetually moving upwards, therefore forcing everything on Earth downwards. The friction of air resistance causes a gravitational field, which we (the non-Flat Earthers) mistake as the gravity of the Earth. According to BlackBag, a known conspiracy theorist’s website, “gravity does not exist”.

The knowledge that the Earth is flat was presumably a shameful secret, that the government really found out when the American government raced Russia to the moon. Whether the moon landing was fake or not is a conspiracy for another day, but the idea is that the sight seen from the rockets proved the Flat Earth ‘Truth’.

On December 1, 1959, The Antarctic Treaty was signed in by twelve countries, with scientists working in, with, and around Antarctica. The treaty was put into action with force in 1961 and has been adopted and signed by many other countries since. In the common Flat Earthers mind, this fact proves that the government is keeping us away from Antarctica, keeping us away from the knowledge, and proof that the Earth is flat.  

In reality, then reality in which the Earth is round and known to be, and the government is not trying to hide its “shameful secrets” (or, at least this one) the Antarctic Treaty was put into place to place Antarctica as a scientific preserve, while allowing freedoms of legal scientific investigation, and simultaneously banning military activity on the continent. It safeguarded Antarctica against potential ecological harm and acted as the first arms control within the continent.

Recently, The Flat Earth Society commented on a post about the status of Mars, in a spherical state. Many people were flummoxed by this conundrum, as their evidence was that Mars has “been observed to be round”.

This brings another plethora of questions: If Mars has been proved to be round, how, in any way, has Earth not been proved past all extent, as well?

The Flat Mars Society was quick to rebound these comments, and it is clear that the disagreement there is a topic for another day.

The Flat Earth Society is deemed a place “for free thinkers and the intellectual exchange of ideas” (According to The Flat Earth Society).  It is curious to me that as a place of ideas, the group derides every idea of our planet having a spherical form.