Carter Troutt
Nicholas Bush
English Comp 1020
March 23, 2020
Annotated Bibliography
Griffin, Andrew. “Princess Diana conspiracy theories: Eight reasons people believe the crash in Paris wasn’t all it seems.” Independent UK. November 19, 2020 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/princess-diana-death-conspiracy-theories-b1746545.html
This article explores several ideas about different conspiracy theories surrounding Princess Diana’s death. Apparently, there were over 175 different theories about what happened that night. This article highlights the eight more prominent ones. One theory I found to be most convincing was the theory that Dodi Fayed — an Egyptian Muslim — had impregnated Diana, which was unpalatable to the British state. Mr. Fayed stated that the royal family “couldn’t accept that an Egyptian Muslim could eventually be the stepfather of the future King of England.” The article goes on to talk about another main reason behind the conspiracies, being the letter she wrote and disclosed to her one- time butler, Paul Burrell. In the letter she clearly wrote about being unsure of her safety and also touched on the fact that she believed she was going to be killed, and got the prediction of her death almost to the “t.”
The information presented states some claims that are absolutely believable. I think that’s important in the evaluation of our research sources. If you can’t find sources that are somewhat credible, how will they be of value to you in future papers or assignments? This article provides plenty of evidence to help support the conspiracy theories behind the death of Princess Diana. The fact that she was pushing back against the establishment, the fact that she was dating a Muslim after her divorce with Prince Charles, and her involvement in the 90’s anti-landmine regime, amongst other things she was doing at the time to upset people of importance and power, I believe was a lot of what contributed to her death, or “murder.”
Plait, Phil. “Fox TV and the Apollo Moon Hoax.” Bad Astronomy. Feb 13, 2001 http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/tv/foxapollo.html#disclaimer
The article written by Plait on the Apollo Moon Landing and whether it was considered a hoax or not is rather interesting because he actually basically debunks a lot of the theories surrounding the Moon Hoax and how it absolutely was a real thing and also how many of the theories that are given about the moon landing as a hoax are simply scientifically flat out wrong, which I find hilarious and true as well. He listed things like the question of where all the stars were in the pictures taken on the moon? Which is explained by sound, scientific reasons based on atmospheric qualities and lack of light. He also talked about how hoaxers ask where was the blast crater of the ship that landed, and where is all the lunar dust that would have been everywhere from the rocket’s blasters and so forth? Again, Plait explains all of why this happened the way it did with scientific explanations and reasoning.
The information gathered about the Apollo Moon landing and whether or not it could possibly be a hoax from this article provided much more information that I expected. Phil Plait definitely did quite a bit of research and scientific reasoning in order to discover and present the research he listed. The extensiveness of the evidence he provides to debunk the idea that the moon landing was a hoax was far excessive of what might one require to prove a theory wrong, and in my opinion makes it that much better of an article, and argument.
Turner, Patricia A. I Heard It Through the Grapevine: Rumor in African American Culture. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press; 1993.
The CIA and AIDS have been a conspiracy theory believed my many for decades. Turner writes in her book how she believes the virus was made in laboratories here in the US, primarily for biological warfare against foreign enemies, and then when the government needed to test it, tested it on Africans, and was not able to prevent the spread of the disease to Europeans and Americans. The book talks about how she interviewed several “informants” that were involved in those times of the AIDS epidemic, and each one had the same inkling and suspicions, that the US government was trying to wipe out blacks; part of the same reason the US government, or Memphis police department, killed Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
I find this source to be very interesting because Turner writes about quite a few different scenarios and theories that cover conspiracies about the government and the white man vs. blacks in America. I have always been an advocate of equal rights, as I married a black woman and have a black daughter, I will always, and always have been against and hurt by the mistreatment and social injustices that people of minority have to deal with in “white” America. It is sad and disgusting and Turner touches on these points in her book, to which I completely agree.
Corbis/Brooks, Kraft. Separating Fact from Fiction, Conspiracy Theories. TIME MAGAZINE. 2019
Kraft writes about 10 different famous conspiracy theories throughout America, and one of the ones focused on is the topic of The CIA and AIDS. What this article is writing about is how rumors started back in 1981 about the CIA and the AIDS epidemic in America and how and what started those rumors and the eventual conspiracy theory surrounding this topic. However, most members of the scientific community believe that the virus originated from monkeys and made its way to humans sometime during the 1930’s.
I feel like this topic, amongst several others that are controversial, are absolutely centered around and originated from the American government and its scandalous tactics for control. Talking about this one in particular, some insist that the government deliberately injected gay men with the virus during 1978 hepatitis-B experiments in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Still others point to Richard Nixon, who combined the U.S. Army’s biowarfare department with the National Cancer Institute in 1971. Therefore, I am inclined to believe it is true, and that goes along with the COVID-19 Virus.
Miller, Michael E. JFK assassination conspiracy theories: The grassy knoll, Umbrella Man, LBJ, and Ted Cruz’s dad. The Washington Post. October 27, 2017
Arguably one of the most famous controversial tragedies to occur in our nations history, the assassination of John F. Kennedy has been an event that certainly gained vast and swift attention, therefore also attracting several different conspiracy theories attached to the event. TIME magazine even wrote an article that published the statistics of a poll taken about the event, “A 2003 ABC News poll found that 70% of Americans believe Kennedy’s death was the result of a broader plot…”
Miller’s article in The Washington Post mentions some of multiple conspiracy theories revolved around the American tragedy, including theories such as “the grassy knoll,” “Umbrella Man,” and recent President Trump’s accusation of the theory revolving around Lee Harvey Oswalds connection and affiliation with Ted Cruz’s dad, Rafael Cruz. Other theories are explained throughout the article, and even mentions how former President Trump back in 2017 released 2,800 secret assassination files from the final batch held by the National Archives. This article presents the information very clearly and unbiased, making this source one of the best I have found about such a famous conspiracy theory.
