Narratives based on conspiratorial and paranoid thinking have become increasingly prominent throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. From the prosaic to the outlandish, conspiracy theories involve aliens and Nazis, underground bases and mind control technology. They range from sinister tales of malevolent reptilian beings infiltrating our government to fears of the New World Order rounding up patriotic Americans and putting them into internment camps. These stories and their underlying concerns have a long history in the U.S. and have often been bolstered by revelations of real conspiracies and cover-ups by private and public entities. This book examines conspiracy theories and the narratives constructed by those who believe and propagate them, providing a unique view of U.S. history and highlighting fears both founded and unfounded.
Author(s): Aaron John Gulyas
Publisher: McFarland
Year: 2016
Language: English
Pages: 240
City: Jefferson
Tags: cultural studies, fringe theories, marginal thought, paranoid thinking
Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction: The Nature of Conspiracy
1 Secret Societies
Enlightenment Roots
Secret Societies and Religious Paranoia in American History
Edith Starr Miller’s Occult Theocrasy
David Icke: Invasion of the Lizard People
2 New World Orders
William Cooper
3 They Came from Outer Space
A Brief History of Flying Saucers
“The Silence Group”: UFO Cover-Ups in the 1950s and 1960s
The Men in Black
The 1980s and 1990s
Flying Saucers and the New World Order
4 Mind Control
Cases and Connections: Mind Control Adventures of the Rich and Famous
Cathy O’Brien, Brice Taylor, and “Project Monarch”
The Proliferation of Mind Control Narratives
Remote Viewing: Secret Knowledge of the Elite’s Psychic Spies
5 Mad Science and Forbidden Knowledge
Climate Change, Mortality and the New World Order
Cases and Connections: The Georgia Guidestones
The Hollow Earth
Underground Bases
6 The Hidden World of the Nazis
Adolf Hitler’s Postwar Career
Project Paperclip: Welcoming the Nazis?
Nazi Secret Weapons
Nazis in Antarctica
Peter Levenda and the Occult Roots of Nazism
Conclusion
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
List of Terms
