Flat earthers go to Antarctica

A pastor from Colorado, Will Duffy, has taken a small group of flat earthers to Antarctica. Conquering the logistical difficulties and threats of cancellation, the group included three vocal advocates against a global earth who espoused a belief that there was no 24-hour sun on this continent, which is a standard in the idea of a planar earth.

It is summer in the Southern Hemisphere. At the southern pole, on the Antarctic continent, the sun moves around the sky but does not set at this time of year. The visitors travelling with what is called “The Final Experiment” remarked that the weather has been perfect. It’s not unbearably cold, but it is almost unbearably sunny. Several sub-experiments are also being done by participants. They will be there for three days with a film crew.

The Final Experiment project is online and on YouTube where they live-streamed their first day in Antarctica on December 14 at midnight. The live stream, via internet from StarLink satellites, included answering chat questions to confirm it was not pre-recorded as well as showing all the participants speaking. That video is below. Check in at 30:32 to see these three on camera.

Two of the flat earthers, Jeran Campanella and Austin Whitsitt, admitted that their claims that there was no constant sunlight here were wrong. The third, Lisbeth Acosta, didn’t admit anything, but instead praised God’s Creation. The camera person, Jonathan Mariande, is also a flat earth believer who remarked how he WISHED the sun would set so he could sleep better, signaling that he’s dealing with a lot of cognitive dissonance as nature hits them with reality.

Some of their other comments included surprise at the many people there on the uninhabited continent, and the gracious hospitality they have received. There are around 66 scientific bases in Antarctica, of which about 37 are occupied year round. About 4,000 people stay there through the summer months and about 1,000 overwinter each year. So, the flat earth conspiracy (FEC) claims that it’s not a real place you can go to, or that it’s an ice wall at the edge of the flat earth, have zero merit, yet they are continually repeated. It appears at least this group of FEC-ers can’t make those claims anymore. Additional experiments taking photos of sunspots around the world intend to serve to debunk the idea that the sun is a reflection from the “dome” around the flat earth.

In subsequent videos, Will Duffy remarked that some 2,000 people were activity monitoring their flight to the continent. Then, he had to debunk the idea that the live stream was done via green screen. He refuted this three ways. The depth of distrust is considerable. I am confident that this project will not squash it.

While it will be interesting to see if the participating denialists continue their media claims rejecting the scientifically established shape of the earth. As of now, it does seem like they may be chastened but not about to fully give up. There are already signs that they may just adjust their ideas to conform with a new kind of denial and twist the facts into more absurd shapes. I hope that doesn’t happen and that their audiences will be swayed by this real life adventure. But, I doubt it. They gained a following by holding a contrarian view and promoting controversy. It’s unlikely they will give that up. If the YouTube comments on the videos are anything to go by, most people just aren’t absorbing the details and consequences. Many accusing them of lying. The animosity is obvious within this community and against the “globalists”. Other media personalities have expressed interest in going to Antarctica, including Logan Paul. But the trip is difficult and expensive (and I’m SURE they don’t want him there). Those who went via The Final Experiment had their trips fully funded.

See the Spooky Geology post: Anti Globular Convictions for an overview of the explosion of popularity in these seemingly absurd beliefs.

This Final Experiment result might be big news in the Flat Earther community. Or maybe it will fall flat. Unfortunately, some big-mouth science commentators belittled these FECers, called them “stupid”, failing to understand that the core of flat-eartherism is not a lack of education but a distrust of authority and disillusion with society. No education or name calling will easily fix that.

As with many situations, there is not one experiment that likely will satisfy all their doubts. I won’t underestimate the human capacity to imagine alternative and more bizarre scenarios to explain the world.