Posted on 04/22/2016 10:01:36 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Most well-known conspiracies are rooted, even if only distantly, in fact: A blurry video, redacted government memos, a tragic real-life occurrence. But one of our absolute favorite conspiracies is one that is rooted in practically nothing, one that is so delightfully bonkers and out there that the idea of people actually believing in it strains belief. Behold: The lizard people!
The reptilian conspiracy
Lizard people are a common part of multiple folklore traditions and they show up frequently enough in fiction to have become a trope if you’re generous, a cliché if you’re less so. From ancient myths all over the world to various cryptozoological claims to the foundational level of a lot of the more bonkers conspiracies to appearances in books, television, movies and more, lizard people are clearly ingrained in our subconscious as well as the zeitgeist.
But how do you get from a common element in myth and fiction to a major worldwide conspiracy theory? One that claims that all aspects of government, business and religion are guided, if not outright controlled, by secret reptilian overlords masquerading as human beings? It’s a wild leap, and you don’t see anything similar with say, satyrs and fauns. So, how did we get there? The answer is one man: David Icke.
Initially a professional soccer player, Icke later transitioned into a sports broadcaster after arthritis put an early end to his sports career. By the late 1980s, however, Icke had grown increasingly political, becoming heavily involved with the British Green Party while also taking an interest in various New Age philosophies, specifically psychic abilities, culminating in a mystical experience at an ancient pre-Incan burial site.
Resigning from the Green Party, Icke began to position himself as a kind of psychic, predicting various natural disasters and even the end of the world itself in 1997 (none of which have come true). Eventually, however, his wild claims, particularly the one stating that he was the son of the godhead, caught up with him, as he became a figure of public ridicule. Two years after his purported end of the world, however, is when Icke’s story gets really interesting.
That’s because it was 1999 that saw the publication of Icke’s book, The Biggest Secret. It was this book that made the outlandish claim that human beings were created by reptilian aliens known as the Anunnaki. The tome also put forth several other ideas, many of which will seem familiar to anyone who has seen The Matrix movies, but for our purposes, it’s the lizard people claim that is most fascinating.
Icke blew out his theory in such a way as to be not just compatible, but actually helpful for every other conspiracy theory. By claiming that the reptilians were ancient aliens that controlled the planet as part of a New World Order, while hiding behind the world’s most powerful and wealthy families, Icke created a framework that could be used to prop up every conspiracy theory from the JFK assassination to the origins of the atomic bomb to your neighbor’s alleged alien abduction. This malleability has been a massive part of the conspiracy’s resiliency.
Additionally, the lizard people conspiracy also gives conspiracy theorists a way out. As explanations get more and more complex and require more and more mental acrobatics to justify them, eventually, a conspiracy theorist can just shrug and claim that it’s just reptilians all the way down.
Icke also connected his reptoid hypothesis to the aforementioned folklore and myths, as the Anunnaki have their root in the creation story of Babylonian mythology. And the reptilian’s home underground? That plays in nicely to both hollow earth theories as well as indigenous American stories about subterranean lizard people.
But it doesn’t stop there! The lizard people conspiracy is a massive, massive tent, one that welcomes and synthesizes all other conspiracies. Think there’s a secretive Satanic cabal ruling the earth? Well, they’re actually just lizard people practicing black magic. Concerned about the Rothschilds and Rockefellers? Clearly lizard people. Believe in pseudoscience extrapolations of quantum mechanics and string theory? Yup, those other dimensions are where lizard people come from.
Despite all the claims of Icke and his supporters, however, despite the myriad of other conspiracies that the reptoid hypothesis touches upon, builds off of or attempts to confirm, there is absolute no actual evidence to support the existence of reptilian overlords ruling our lives. You might think that this lack of evidence would cause this particular conspiracy theory to die a quick death…but somewhat counterintuitively, it’s this lack of evidence that has allowed the theory to cling to life so effectively.
Without any real evidence, with only “Well, it makes sense if you think about it!” to back it up, those wishing to debunk this particular theory are left with a difficult task. Sure, there’s not any hard evidence to suggest the existence of lizard people, but can you prove that there aren’t any? Bertrand Russell’s teapot analogy addresses this, illustrating that the burden of proof lies with the person making an unfalsifiable claim, not the person trying to disprove it. But, not exactly shockingly, believers in the reptoid hypothesis aren’t entirely up on their mid-20th century British philosophers.
So, with no one able to actually disprove the theory, with no evidence to debunk, with a basis in multiple world religion, folklore and mythic traditions, with a connection to practically any other conspiracy imaginable and with people primed for the theory by countless lizard people across all aspects of pop culture…is it any wonder that Icke’s absolutely, 100% bonkers reptoid hypothesis has proven so durable?
What do you think? Is Icke’s reptoid hypothesis simply a wide-reaching synthesis of every other conspiracy, a clever framework into which to drop whatever an individual wants? Or, despite how bizarre it all seems, is there some truth to alien lizard people pulling the strings of all human endeavors? Tell us down below in the comments!
Looks like he loves his job, at least.
He’s back in Pahrump. He had an internet radio show that started last July to what seemed great success before coming to a crashing end when a stalker may or may not have shot at him as he walked to his studio. The whole episode was too bizarre for words.
I’ve been using a little white vinegar & Listerine in warm water.
Harry Turtledove’s alternative history series about an invasion of alien lizards during World War II was pretty good.
No human looks more reptilian than ValJar.
(Finally got around to it -- I found the last book in the series in a "take one - leave one" rack at a resort a couple of years ago)
For a brief second these old eyes saw “JarJar”.
Been showing the nephew (almost 10) the Star Wars movies (in numerical order as he already knows the Skywalker family tree). Thoughtful homeschooled kid: “The Gungans are funny and silly, and advanced and loyal. Just goes to show first impressions aren’t always right.”
Wheel of Time?
Worldwar series
Book 1, is “In the Balance”
some people are metaphysically challenged. they don’t see the “really big” picture and that is of the spiritual realm.
there is no doubt when you look at historical accounts that angels have been seen and involved in human affairs, by very credible people (e.g., during revolutionary war, WWI and II, and 6 day war). many books published on it—some by billy graham.
i think the same is true for demons. but they seem to appear quite differently and in different forms. its easy to see their influence and it’s interesting that sources like satanism, communism, aliens, new age, pantheism, etc. pretty much promote the same concepts. i really do believe the “myths” are in some part based on actual sightings by humans—they have just been labeled “myths” by academics who don’t accept the metaphysical (same as call christian and jewish events myth). if people say they saw these things, i believe there is some truth. i often wonder if the ancient roman gods (myths) are based in part on the ancient super humans (nephilim) who were the result of demonic/human involvement.
john macarthur, well known theologian, talks about entertainment exec cult in hollywood where people allow themselves to be indwelt by demons. a former member of this cult told him the demon whose dominion is USA indwells a high level UN executive.
bible seems to indicate as we get closer to the end, demonic and angelic activity will become more evident to humans.
“Without any real evidence , with only “It makes sense if you think about it!” to back it up, those wishing to debunk this particular theory are left with a difficult task.”
The same observation could be made about the global warming myth.
Does Global Warming count?
We used to have a very prolific poster here who was way into this lizard thing.
His name is on the tip of my long lizard tongue.
LOL
Works for me. DC stinks like a reptile house in a zoo.
Shift key broken?
We have to consider the possibility that they’re both Anunnaki. It definitely explains global warming too. Because reptiles are cold blooded.
My name is Salamadias, king of kings. Look on me, ye mighty, and despair!
The Geiko lizard. No more proof is needed.
Way back when, in the early days of the internet, when it was all newsgroups (alt.conspiracy anyone) I was on an email mailing list called Conspiracy of the Day. Every day, you’d get a new conspiracy in your inbox. Some of them were truly awesome and far reaching. What I used to to, was read through it, them sit back and close my eyes, and think to myself for just a moment, that it was absolutely and completely true. If I could hold that thought for 5 seconds without laughing out loud, I’d file it away for future consideration.
Some of the ones that surrounded Hillary were hilarious.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.