The Earth is flat. Eisenhower made a deal with aliens. The Democratic party is running a human trafficking ring through pizza parlors.

All these statements seem very far-fetched, but these ideas are researched and believed by groups of people. Conspiracy theories have permeated American society since one of the earliest theories, the one about how an alien UFO crash landed in Roswell, New Mexico. More recently, they have become ingrained in sites like Reddit, 4chan and Wikipedia.

The people who believe in conspiracy theories, especially the more fringe ones, are pretty rare, but there are many people that follow these theories for their comedic appeal. A group of students have been seeking out these theories and researching them for their own enjoyment, including senior Alberto Haro, who describes how he first got into conspiracy theories.

“I found out about this [theory through an] underground rap artist,” Haro said. “He made this rap song about how 9/11 wasn’t real and how the government was covering it up.”

People generally think of the those who  actually believe in conspiracy theories that are the ones actually researching them, but often many people just look at them for humor and an insight into the minds of the people who come up with them, such as sophomore twins Evan and Liam Connor.

Listen to the podcast below to hear thoughts about different conspiracy theories and why students follow them.