Attendees could meet other Flat Earthers for the first time, to discuss theories about what shape the Earth really is, and how and why they feel the truth has been covered up for so long. Heather’s voice lifts with excitement as he describes the atmosphere at the Flat Earth Convention. Because I’m not a scientist, I’ve also got to bear in mind that what I come up with may be flawed.” “I’m not a disbeliever of everything I’ve ever been given, but I try to look at it with an open mind. “There’s a massive question mark about it not being a globe, and we’re assuming the alternative is it must be flat – but how do we know it isn’t concave, or convex, or hollow? I can’t tell you what it is, but I believe I know what it isn’t. However, in his case, the term Flat Earther is not entirely accurate. Heather, who goes by the name Gary John on social media, is a central figure in the UK’s Flat Earth community. So what is it that draws people to these theories, despite untold evidence to the contrary, and what does it reveal about society at large? Do people really believe the Earth is flat? Presenters Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby were unimpressed with his theories © Shutterstock –Ĭonspiracy theories are nothing new, but the rise of Flat Earthers in particular seems to have caught people’s imagination and stoked up their disbelief. Gary Heather (second left) appeared on ITV’s This Morning.
The Flat Earth Society’s Twitter feed currently boasts over 88,000 followers. Heather co-organised the UK’s first-ever Flat Earth Convention in April 2018, which saw some 260 Flat Earthers descend on a hotel in Birmingham for three days.
Over the last three years, Heather has become a passionate Flat Earther, taking part in experiments to collect evidence calling into question the curvature of the Earth, and campaigning at Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park. And then all of a sudden you have another brand of coffee, and at that moment you drink it, you instantly realise there are other flavours out there you didn’t know existed.” He describes the moment as a kind of awakening: “You’re having a cup of coffee, and you always have the same brand, and in your mind you think that brand is how coffee tastes.
He watched all two hours, five minutes and 43 seconds of the film – and he wished it was longer. But one evening in August 2015, he was browsing YouTube at his home in Hampshire and found a video called Flat Earth Clues. Flat Earthers and their role in the rise of conspiracy theoriesįor more than 50 years, Gary Heather believed, unquestioningly, that the Earth is a globe.
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