Isn't it a mystery that those who knew Shakespeare the playwright did not mention him in Stratford-upon-Avon. He was famous in his lifetime. He owned the second largest house in Stratford. This negative evidence has led to questions of his identity and who the playwright might have actually been. Of the people he knew well, none have made entries in their diaries and letters connecting William Shakespeare the playwright with William Shakespeare of Stratford.
We have some mysteries in our own lifetime:
Who shot JFK and RFK?
The mystery of Marilyn Monroe's death.
Was Natalie Wood's death an accident or murder?
What happened to Amelia Earhart?
Where is Jimmy Hoffa?
The Black Dahlia's death
Kenneth Arnold's Flying Saucers and UFOs
And in our lifetime, we have film footage that we are able to look at. There are witnesses at the scene who have been interviewed. Sophisticated forensic techniques and investigations have been carried out.
It is not surprising that it is during the 20th century that conspiracy theories have become pervasive - the Moon Landing, the 9/11 conspiracies, Princess Diana's "murder", Roswell crash and "cover-up", The Satanic Panic, and so on.
Here's the ultimate conspiracy story: "The Birds Aren't Real": a movement developed by Peter McIndoe, 23, who started it in 2017. Until a December 2021 interview in the New York Times, McIndoe stayed in-character as a true believer, insisting in media interviews and online that birds aren't real, but rather they are surveillance drones made by the U.S. government. Birds Aren't Real has a staff; it has organized real-life protests; it bought real-life billboards; and it emblazoned vans with their claim. The goal, says McIndoe, is to parody the misinformation that Gen Z finds itself stewing in.
"Birds Aren't Real is not a shallow satire of conspiracies from the outside. It is from the deep inside," he told The New York Times. "A lot of people in our generation feel the lunacy in all this, and Birds Aren't Real has been a way for people to process that.
The experiment revealed that conspiracies sometimes grow by credulity: Local media sometimes reported on Birds Aren't Real as if it was something young people really believed rather than an elaborate joke. Birds Aren't Real organizers hope the joke will become a force for good by exposing all the ways misinformation thrives.
"Yes, we have been intentionally spreading misinformation for the past four years, but it's with a purpose," McIndoe said. "It's about holding up a mirror to America in the internet age."
It is officially summer - it happened at 5:14 this morning. Let's celebrate with flowers.
