List of conspiracy theories

This is a list of alleged conspiracy theories. For a discussion of conspiracy theories in general, see conspiracy theory.

Global conspiracy theories

• The Bilderberg Group. This is a well-known informal, international, annual meeting of influential people that some believe to have a sinister purpose. Its name is that of the hotel in the Netherlands where the group first met in 1954.
• Secret motives of the Trilateral Commission
• Secret motives of the United Nations and its various Secretaries General
• Multinational Corporations
• The Gemstone File, which details a wide ranging conspiracy involving Aristotle Onassis, the CIA, FBI, and the Mafia in addition to JFK, LBJ, Ted Kennedy, Richard Nixon, the Washington Post, Mayor Joe Alioto, Howard Hughes, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Watergate conspirators.
• The Government Warehouse

Conspiracy theories peculiar to the United States of America

• 9/11 domestic conspiracy theory
• Many African-Americans in the US believe that HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, was invented by either white American scientists, or by "The Jews", as a way to destroy the black race. This conspiracy theory is most common among lower-income blacks in poor neighborhoods, and among putative left-wing black college students. These racist and anti-Semitic attacks have been propagated for years first by Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam, and by the New Black Panther Party, as well by a number of extremist professors in various smaller colleges. (see also Steve Cokely).
• There is also a theory that the Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise is owned by the Ku Klux Klan, and the chicken is laced with a drug that makes only black men impotent. Ironically, the franchise is owned by an African-American.
• Apollo moon landing hoax accusations
• Area 51 containing alien spacecraft and/or bodies
• Assassination, particularly those of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy , Martin Luther King Jr.
• Black helicopters
• Elvis sightings
• General Motors Streetcar Conspiracy
• Theories relating to the fluoridation of drinking water, generally in an attempt to poison the populace.
• Men in Black, aka Majestic 12
• the New Coke fiasco
• the Philadelphia Experiment
• The President of the United States and his family (a running theory that all US presidents are evil or the antichrist)
• Project HAARP
• TACMAR
• Trilateral Commission
• Korean Air Flight KAL-007
• There is a theory that the US Government secretly paid off the 2002 Beltway sniper and framed innocent people in order to hide that fact
• "Vast right-wing conspiracy" theory

Conspiracy theories peculiar to Canada

• The Avro Arrow Cancellation
• Conspiracy to remove George Radwanski, Privacy Commissioner of Canada, from office in order to silence him about attacks on civil liberties by the Canadian government

Conspiracy theories peculiar to the Arab and Muslim world

The Arab press and government have been promoting many Zionist conspiracy theories regarding the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks. It is now considered a well accepted fact in much of the Arab and Muslim that "the Jews" or the "The Zionists" were behind the 9/11 terrorist attack, and that no Muslims, nor Al Qaeda, were involved.

• Conspiracy Theories About Jews and 9/11 Cause Dangerous Mutations in Global Anti-Semitism

• Unraveling Anti-Semitic 9/11 Conspiracy Theories - PDF file

• Based on a traditional Islamic belief, a theory in the Arab world posits that Jews never lived in the land of Israel, and that all archaeological proof to the contrary is part of an international western anti-Arab conspiracy. In this view, no archaeological evidence exists that shows the presence of a Jews in the land of Israel; the Bible's claims are deliberate fictions, and the ancient Jews actually came from Yemen, on the Arabian peninsula. See the entry on Bible conspiracy theories for more details.

• Some believe that there was a plot to murder Princess Diana of the United Kingdom, because she was dating, and possibly pregnant with the child of an Arab (Mohammed Al Fayed).

Plot to murder Princess Diana

• For some time the Arab press was reporting that that there was a plot by Jews to make Egyptian and Palestinian schoolgirls sexually promiscuous by selling them bubble-gum laced with aphrodisiacs. An example of this conspiracy theory is that written by Mohammad Dalbah:

"Palestinian authorities uncovered Israeli efforts to spread a special kind of gum that contains sexual hormone between Palestinians. The authorities requested laboratory tests on the gum which were conducted in Cairo. Those tests showed that the gum contains progesterone which is responsible for sexual arousal and also prevents pregnancies. Palestinian authorities confiscated 200 tonnes of gum in the city of al-Khalil alone. The Washington Post claimed in report that it asked a chemistry professor in the hebrew university to examine the gum. His tests were negative, however the paper also reported that the majority of Palestinians believe the conspiracy. It quoted one Palestinian saying that it was possible to send a space ship to Mars then it is possible to manufacture a 'sexual gum' it is after all a war. In other new, some Jewish and non-ethical Palestinians merchants sold expired flour in the west back and Gaza strip last spring. They also sold large quantities of baby milk when it was actually soya bean derivatives that were expired."

Another example of believer in the anti-Arab bubblegum conspiracy

This story is particularly interesting, as it closely resembles a story of LSD-laced papers or candies which continues to periodically surface in the US. In this case the story is considered to be an urban rumor as opposed to a conspiracy theory, because no group is blamed for the "attacks". Like the Palestinian case, there is no evidence that anything like this has ever happened.

• On several occasions, Palestinians have claimed that the Israeli government has used nerve gas against them, and then suppressed the evidence of such. No independent investigation has ever substantiated such claims.
• Some Arabs, mostly Egyptians, believe that Israelis engineered the crash of EgyptAir Flight 990 in 1999, despite strong evidence that the pilot committed suicide. Others insist that the US is covering up for Boeing, the airplane's manufacturer: [1], [2]
• Theory that US President Bill Clinton's relationship with Monica Lewinsky was part of a Zionist plot to get rid of Bill Clinton.
• Many in the Arab world believe that Jewish doctors deliberately give Palestinians AIDS. January 1995, Al-Ahram: Examples of Arab conspiracy theories
• Conspiracy theories in Arab discourse, from "Arab News": [3]
• Anti-Semitic shuttle conspiracy theories swamp the Internet
• Anti-Semitic groups promote Columbia conspiracy theories

Daniel Pipes has written an essay on the prevalence of conspiracy theories throughout the Arab and Muslim world. Conspiracy theories extend far beyond those biased against Jews. They extend even to the creation of conspiracy theories about the results of sporting events.