Clem thinks the world is flat
So the Earth is flat... At least that is what our buddy Clem above believes... Why is it that we are seeing a resurgence in those who believe the Earth is flat? I mean its not a matter of the FACTS as the facts overwhelmingly, decidedly, and categorically show that it is not so. The question becomes: Do they cling fervently to beliefs that the world is a flat plane because they like controversy and are doing it because they like a “fight” with people? Do they blather on expressing faith in a flat world because they do not understand science and are ‘science-free’ as I always say? Or do they prattle on about this dead topic because peddling pseudoscience makes them money...
Well charged as my beliefs are that the world is actually spherical (no really!?) I have to say that some of these believers likely never matured past childhood. I say that because I cannot fathom how believers in a flat planet could look at scientific principles, principles the entire science world agrees upon, and claim its otherwise. They have interesting architectures for how a flat Earth should work. When I say ‘interesting’ I mean silly and blatantly impossible.
But that is neither here nor there because this article is not about how THEY see the world but how I see the world in a way that could not POSSIBLY allow for a flat earth in any way shape or form in spite of Flat Earthers seizing on Shaq’s joke that the Earth is flat. He later said “I’m joking you idiots”... Funny I didnt see THAT response percolate through the FE (flat earth) community. Oh and for the record, I capitalized “Flat Earthers” in that last sentence only out of the dimmest of respect for them and for the term. Especially those who KNOW that the world is not a flat plane but profess it anyway for the attention.
Also I would never call all FE believers “idiots”. That is an unkind and derogatory term. I would say “ignorant of science” to those who simply don't understand science and to those that do but persist with the ‘belief’ for other reasons, I would use a term slightly more derogatory than “idiots”. Hey I didnt say this article was going to be kind to FE worshipers and it wont be. Clem can tell you I wasn't kind to him... Its OK... He can sue me if he can spell “lawyer”.
So lets begin shall we? I am told that FE’ers have answers for all these blatant negations of the FE theory so lets see them. I am only going to go through a few because typing an article on this topic is a ridiculous effort at best but its a nice day before I do another SkyTour LiveStream so why not?
I have seen a number of architectures for the FE that show that the Sun is like a spotlight circulating around in a specific pattern to create a specific day and night cycle. Calling the Sun a spotlight is how they get away with the fact that a very bright fusing ball of plasma doesnt light up the entire Earth “plane” at one time as if of course would.
How a ball of plasma temperature gas can be directed in only one direction is never told to us. We must believe it. Of course its probably due to the imposso-physics that dictates that a large thousands of mile square plane can exist at all in the Universe and not be ripped asunder or warped by the gravity of the Sun or Moon. But I digress... Lets leave that aside for now and consider the Sun. If the Sun is going to cause our day and night then as it approaches the upcoming daytime part of the Earth “plane” the Sun will gradually grow larger and larger as seen by the occupants on Flatworld. It would grow in size until it reaches a maximum angular size in the sky, circulate over that area of the world and continue on after it recedes into the distance on Flatworld.
But wait... Did you catch what I said there? The Sun that we see does NOT change its angular size from very small to very large and then get smaller again as it ‘sets’ (-- we will deal with that term shortly...). The Sun in fact remains the SAME ANGULAR DIAMETER in the sky from morning when it ‘rises’ (—again... in a moment... ). How can the Sun remain the same diameter if its supposed to APPROACH from a distance, and RECEDE as FE theory suggests as the day starts or ends?
Answer: IT CANT. The Sun’s angular diameter doesnt change because we are on a rotating SPHERE that follows the same laws of physics as nearly every other body in the Universe and the Sun is 1 Astronomical Unit away from us in space (1AU = 93,000,000 miles).
Oh hey that brings up another point... The Sun in the FE world is not at a distance of 1 AU but only a few thousand miles away. Oh oh... What about the planets? What do they orbit? Nevermind planets further out from us as just looking at Mercury and Venus can point out the impossibilities. What FE folks dont understand is that both Mercury and Venus show us PHASES as does the moon. This is because these two planets are closer to the Sun, around which they orbit. Planets closer to the Sun than we are on Earth will show phases. In 1610 Galileo Galilei saw these phases of Venus for the first time which was problematic enough as this showed Earth along with the other planets orbited a much more distant sun. The belief was that the Earth was the center of the Universe in the Ptolemaic system which was popular at the time. It was wrong too.
FE’ers have their own fatally flawed Lunar phase explanations but what about Mercury and Venus? They show phases because they orbit the Sun as Galileo concluded through simple observation. But if the Sun is only a few thousand miles away, then how could Venus be 7521 miles in diameter as we have come to believe? Does Venus nearly hit Earth all year long somewhere out on the “plane”? Or is our diameter of Venus wrong?
Well, we sent a number of probes to Venus and the Russian Venera spacecraft LANDED on Venus and sent back imagery. Did Russia secretly send a tiny mini-lander to the tiny mini-planet that Venus would then have to be in the FE arrangement? But we see Venus in the sky in the morning or evening at different times of the year and it shows clear phases in the simplest of telescopes. Does this mean that Venus is something like 30 miles in diameter and orbits the Sun which is a few thousand miles away? This of course makes absolutely no sense and there is no FE’er who can explain the phases of the planets without completely negating elementary science.
So how can the planets Mercury and Venus show phases if the Sun is close to the Earth in the FE scenario?
Answer: THEY CANT. The planets Venus and Mercury orbit the much more distant Sun as we have seen. In the FE scenario they cannot show phases as they do unless they are FAR smaller than we have seen directly with space probes. The science isnt wrong here. So are we supposed to believe that Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena is also in cahoots with NASA and the Russians apparently ‘keeping the secret’ over the many decades since JPL began sending probes to Mercury and Venus along with the Russians? Wow its getting deep in here. Are we supposed to dispense with science?
Sigh-ents? whuts that?
Ok more fun coming. What about the ‘sunrise’ and ‘sunset’ ...? In an FE arrangement the Sun should “approach” and “recede” from its appointed locations daily no?? Why does it appear to come UP from BELOW the horizon at sunrise and go DOWN from ABOVE the horizon at sunset? These are simple things to understand with a spherical Earth reality. In fact they are elementary. But FE’ers have to manufacture amazingly obscure reasons why this can possibly happen yet not be completely explanatory as to how it may work. So how can the sun appear to rise above and sink below a horizon during the course of a day cycle on a FE?
Answer: IT CANT... The sunrise is of course a consequence of seeing the Sun rising above a horizon as a result of the Earth spinning at a very well known speed (just over a thousand miles per hour).
But wait... there is more...
At sunset wherever we are we notice on the EASTERN horizon that a dark band appears and as the light of the day dims we notice this dark band gets higher in the sky with a tinge of red at the top, gradually fading to black to mix with the night sky. What is it? This dark band you see is actually the Earth’s own SHADOW being projected onto the atmosphere from the sunset on the opposite horizon. The shadow is at a location called the “antisolar point” which is the point directly opposite from the Sun.
Similarly on the WESTERN horizon at sunrise you see the same dark band of Earth shadow. This is not so crazy actually. You can see shadows in the hazy air all the time. You can see contrail shadows on a blue sky too if there are particles of haze in the air. I have seen them. Or are these chemtrails??? Wait that is ANOTHER article...
So in the FE world how can a dark band appear on the atmosphere all over the world on the opposite side of the Sun at the beginning and at the end of each day?
Answer: IT CANT. The earth shadow phenomenon is a unique characteristic of living on a spherical planet.
Lets continue shall we?
As the sun sets (regardless of how you believe that happens) most every night you can see satellites slowly moving through the sky. These satellite passes are predictable and you can download apps like GoSatWatch for an iPhone, SatelliteAR on Android or go to HeavensAbove.com to see the satellite passes for your area. In the FE world there cant be ‘orbits’ because ... well... there is no ball around which to orbit. So how come we can see these satellites nightly? Why can we see the International Space Station as it predictably shows up on time? How can this ‘fakery’ be managed? Good luck getting a coherent explanation from a FE’er. Even the most hardened pretenders of the pseudoscience cant really answer it without trailing off the sentences. I would also like to stress the word INTERNATIONAL in the name “International Space Station”. The ISS was created by a consortium of countries. This means they must ALL be keeping this dastardly secret from us. Japan, France, the USA, Canada, Russia, Germany... They are all in it together if you believe in the FE silliness.
There is another problem though sticking with the issues surrounding satellites on a flat Earth. How is it that satellites predictably FADE from view at a predicted time and location in the sky? Why does a satellite fade at all? If the Sun is only a few thousand miles away then these satellites need to be in view of the Sun in order for us to see them at all... Well wait a second... Why can we sometimes see satellites at 10PM or later at times. I saw and captured an image of a satellite yesterday evening at 11:45PM during my clear night SkyTour LiveStream. How can that happen? If the Sun is a spotlight then how could it ALSO be shining on that one satellite from wherever it is elsewhere over the Earth “plane”?
Answer: IT CANT. The satellite was in a high enough orbit that the Sun was still visible to it at its particular location over a very spherical Earth.
The shapes of the planets are spherical. Nowhere is this more evident than with our Moon... The FE theory HAS to somehow explain the moon as a ball with a curved shadow... They posit these amazing geometries and cant seem to agree. In a number of Lunar “explanations” the Moon is depicted passing directly over many continents on Earth which is not supported by ANY evidence whatsoever as the folks in South America for instance would see the Moon at a DIFFERENT PHASE than the folks looking at the moon in Washington State. They dont. EVERYONE on Earth sees the same lunar phase. How could people see a different Lunar phase dependent on their position on the Earth?
Answer: THEY CANT. And they DONT. The Lunar phase is related to its position in its 239000 mile mean distance orbit around the Earth and its the same for everyone on Earth.
Clem in Bermuda telling everyone the Earth is flat because on the cruise ship it was flat all the way there...
Finally lets talk GPS... Yes the GPS satellites that give us accurate positional information anywhere on Earth. These satellites are in orbits that allow you to see at least 3-4 from anywhere on the planet from any one location. In the FE view however there is NO adequate explanation for the information we get from them. We hear explanations that the GPS satellites are really being held aloft on BALLOONS or are actually on disguised cell towers. I kid you not. My simple question to the FE’ers is this: If there are at least 3-4 GPS satellites visible at any one time to anyone on Earth then why hasnt anyone EVER called in a report of a giant hanging object under a balloon? Further why havent we ever found a downed GPS satellite whose balloon popped? Why hasnt any airliner ever encountered one? Seen one? Reported one? Why havent we ever seen a single large balloon hovering over the planet day or night? Who fills them with helium as we KNOW helium leaks out of even the highest end balloons? As the helium leaks out of the balloons, they gradually sink. How do they get to the ground for refilling without being noticed!?
Answer: THEY ARENT SEEN BECAUSE THEY DONT EXIST. They are in the established orbits around a spherical Earth as stated...
If the landings on other planets and moons were faked up then our space program with NASA has been a lie, the ESA (European Space Agency) operations on the ISS and beyond are all lies, China never put a lander on the Moon sending back imagery, and finally a dozen or more countries would all be lying routinely yet spending billions on space exploration but secretly only putting up GPS balloons. Further all the ancillary industries that support the space program have to be part of the secret. I wont even get into the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and its fantastic imagery showing all of the Apollo landing sites (take THAT moon hoaxers). I guess the whole world is in on the big secret and have all agreed to keep it.... Makes sense doesnt it?
Clem thinks so.
Clem believes the “Urth is Flatt”
I have many more such facts that make FE’ers heads spin. But this is a good place to start. But for now lets ask this question:
What is the endgame?
Why would the world leaders hide a fundamental property of our planet that they KNOW could be easily discovered? A simple calculation shows that over 10,000 ships would be required to patrol the Antarctic “perimeter” that, in FE parlance is a no go zone for anyone trying to get through. You see there is this continent of Antarctica that actually rings the flat world. The leaders of every single nation in the world have to hide the great Antarctic wall at the perimeter of the FE for reasons that cant possibly net them any additional power, energy, food, or prestige... This perimeter by the way is a convenience because if there wasn't a ship blockade and a wall of ice at the end then someone somewhere would have called and said “Hey!! There’s no more Earth over here and my dog fell off!” or some such thing.
However... I promise if you DO go that far south you will indeed get cold and will see ice... No UN sanctioned ships will be there to stop you. Enjoy McMurdo! I encourage ALL FE’ers to head to Antarctica and check it out. Pack a lunch... Its going to be a long trip...
I hope you enjoyed this foray into the mind of Clem and the flat Earth believers minds. If you are looking for REAL science head over to our channel which is the SkyTour LiveStream on YouTube where our deep sky stream happens every clear night. Also if you want to see our partner streamers, P&K SpaceImaging or BillNYSkywatcher click the links at the bottom. We frequent each others’ streams often so join us! If you want to see us all together come to our new site at www.astroimaginglive.com where you can watch all of our streams at one time or pop in and out of our individual streams. Its a fun time! And its real science.
Smarter than Clem
Oh and Flat Earthers are not invited sorry Clem ... Keep looking up!
Links:
Clem can be found at the YouTube channel Juntex