First things first: the earth is round. The Ancient Greeks said so. Explorer Ferdinand Magellan proved it centuries ago. Finish and klaar, right?

Enter the foul-crying conspiracy theorists known as flat-earthers, who in this day and age insist that science has got it all wrong: the earth is not spherical at all – it’s flat.

According to The Telegraph, more than 200 believers gathered over the long weekend at Britain’s first ever Flat Earth Convention held at Jury’s Inn Hotel in Birmingham. Delegates from all walks of life mingled together, laughed at NASA videos and jeered loudly at clips of speeches made by world leaders, and bought merchandise that included “Flat Power” t-shirts, flat maps and novelty spirit levels.

If that wasn’t enough, they attended discussions held over three days, where guest speakers presented (*finger quotes*) scientific proof that the planet’s flatter than a steamrolled crêpe.

David Marsh, a manager at the NHS Supply Chain head office, reckons that his year-long research has disproved the accepted laws of planetary motion. He simply tracks the movement of the moon using a free mobile app and a Nikon camera.

… wow.

Gary John, one of the convention’s co-organisers, said that the event had been driven by increasing interest in the outdated flat earth theory:

People are waking up, We’re seeing an explosion of interest in flat earth theories and increasing mistrust of governments.

It’s just amazing to connect with people and do the experiments and prove to yourself again that the earth is flat. We’re not saying we have all the answers, but everyone here is united by the knowledge that the earth is not a globe.

They’re not the only ones who sincerely believe in this “knowledge”. Countless Facebook groups and YouTube accounts are dedicated to promoting the flat earth theory. They also believe in conspiracy theories like the moon landings and other NASA footage were faked.

Flat-earthers are fast becoming prominent and are gathering huge followings online. Iru Landucci, an Argentinian flat-earther who attended the convention, has more than 40 000 followers on YouTube alone.

Heck, even rapper B.o.B is a believer – he began a crowdfunding campaign in order to raise over R12 million with the aim of launching satellites into space to obtain proof (the campaign’s raised R87 361 so far).

*Sigh* You do you, flat-earthers. You do you.

[source:telegraph]