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I watched all 12 parts of this presentation. I have also read about many other conspiracy theories in the
past. Here are my thoughts on this one.
The Presentation
The speaker, John Moore, did not come off as a crackpot, as I expected. He instead seemed genuine and
sincere and his arguments were logical. Some of the science he described was correct, like how he knew
that the floating ice of the north pole will not affect sea levels when it melts. But his presentation was
unpolished, and he seemed uncomfortable speaking in front of an audience. This was unexpected
because he hosts his own radio show, and I assumed this was not his first speaking gig. The fact that it
was unpolished made it seem more genuine, but it struck me as odd.
The worst thing about the presentation were the two obvious laugh tracks. Not only did they sound like
laugh tracks, but at one point the camera zoomed out and you could see how few people there were in
the audience. One has to wonder why they added laugh tracks to this presentation.
Basis in Fact
Every successful conspiracy theory must be based upon some established fact; a theory won’t survive
and propagate without it. The established fact here is that the ocean levels are rising and that they are
going to continue to rise. This observation has been around for decades. All of the predictions Moore
makes about rising sea levels and what the coastline of the U.S. will look like afterward have been out
there for some time. The only difference between this video and what has already been stated by
scientists is the cause and the timeframe. Moore mentions Al Gore’s movie An Inconvenient Truth. In it,
Gore regurgitates the current scientific predictions of rising sea levels. Gore says it’s caused by global
warming, will take decades if not centuries to reach doomsday levels, and is reversible. Moore also
regurgitates scientific model predictions, but says the cause is the tenth planet, is irreversible, and will
happen in a time frame of years.
Moore spends most of the video describing what will happen once sea levels rise, how he obtained this
secret knowledge, and then how to survive it. He spends very little time explaining how this new planet
will cause it. So really, he’s not saying anything new: we already know that sea levels are rising, we
know bad stuff will happen if they do, and we know we’ll need mad survival skills when it happens—
skills like growing our own food and making guns. If he doesn’t sufficiently explain the cause, who cares
how he got this secret information? (not that he tells us anyway). The video is roughly two hours long,
and he might have spent ten minutes on the tenth planet and how it will cause this catastrophe.
Incorporation of Other Conspiracy Theories
Moore mentions at least three other conspiracy theories in his dissertation. He mentions the Kennedy
assassination very early in the piece. This leads into the conversation Kennedy had with the Pope. He
also mentions the underground base in Denver and the New World Order. This is how conspiracy
theorists seek legitimacy. This can also be observed in the Bible. The writers of biblical texts often
referred to earlier texts in the Bible to make it seem that their text was completing a story or a
prophecy. Texts that did so would have a greater chance of being included in the canon and surviving
over time.
Classified/Secret Sources
Every conspiracy theory has, at its center, some guy who used to work for the military or government
and is privy to top secret information that he can’t describe in detail and can only allude to. John Moore
is this person here. There are things that he tells us to google, like the discovery of the tenth planet and
the relocation of CIA offices. When people do find these things on Google, it gives legitimacy to the
theory. But this isn’t the really important information. This is publicly available information. The crux of
the theory is based upon classified information and interviews with mysterious people: things that we
cannot google and cannot verify.
John Moore’s higher power is God, and he admits he is a born-again Christian. This bit of news came at
the end, right where the conclusions of a dissertation should come. I don’t think it’s an accident that he
waited till the end of the presentation to mention this. I think this is one of the major points of his
presentation.
He quotes from the book of Joshua where it is written that 4 extra hours of day light were given to the
Israelites (who he kept calling the Israelis) during a battle. He then describes that this is corroborated
by Chinese texts, but he doesn’t mention what Chinese text it is. Moore’s entire body of evidence is
pulled from one verse in the book of Joshua.
Moore also states that he’s been performing research on this for 27 years, yet the tenth planet was only
discovered five years ago. Does he suggest that NASA found this planet decades before and kept it
quiet? If that’s true, why would they release the news now? And if no one knew about this planet
before 2005, how could he have been working on this theory for decades?
My biggest criticism of John Moore’s theory is that he contradicts himself, albeit indirectly. We’ve
established that he is a born-again Christian who takes the Bible very literally. He believes in the literal
interpretation of the book of Joshua and the book of Revelation. So how can he suggest that the world
will be destroyed by water when God promised in the book of Genesis that he would never again
destroy the world by water? That’s the problem with fundamentalists: they pick and choose what they
want to believe based upon what suits their needs.
Conclusions
This theory contains enough elements that make it a rather common conspiracy theory. If you created a
checklist of all the things a conspiracy theory should have, this would have them all checked.
The legitimate science that Moore quotes in his presentation is real and scary enough without the tenth
planet business and Bible talk. Sea levels are rising, but I believe they are rising due to the melting of
the glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica. I am concerned about this, but scientific predicts indicate that
it won’t happen on the time scale John Moore talks about.
If there are predicted ill effects by the tenth planet, I would have to read about it in established scientific
journals. I can’t follow claims by people who can’t provide this. Throughout human history, it has been
impossible to suppress scientific discoveries, and some of the most powerful organizations that have
every existed have tried and failed to do so. If there are catastrophic predictions regarding this planet, it
will be known and it will get out there. No government could keep that from getting out because it’s
science, and anyone who can see and hear can do science.
But it is wise to be prepared, just in case. Carmen’s mom lives on five acres in the countryside of Ohio.
There are two dwellings on the property. The land is farmable and is surrounded by soy and corn fields.
The elevation is 1,000 feet above current sea level, so it will be dry. It is surrounded by fresh water lakes
and streams and rivers. The closest city is Dayton which has a population of only 166,000 and is 25 miles
away (and won’t be underwater).
You guys are invited. We’ll provide the land and lodging, Wallace can provide the guns, and we can
strap a plow to Mark since we don’t have any other large mammals.