Mad Mike

Scott Hardie | February 24, 2020
What do you make of "Mad" Mike Hughes dying in a quest to prove that the Earth is flat?

Erik Bates | February 24, 2020
[hidden by request]

Samir Mehta | February 24, 2020
[hidden by request]

Scott Hardie | February 24, 2020
Back in the 2000s, I got very sick of hearing the name Steve Fossett in the news. If you don't remember him, he was this arrogant rich guy who kept setting solo flight records, and the news kept covering him incessantly even though his "achievements" didn't actually accomplish anything for humankind; they were solely done for his own glory. And it was clear that he was eventually going to kill himself while preparing to set another record, as he finally did in 2007. I certainly don't wish death on anyone, but when he died, I remember feeling relief that at least I wouldn't have to keep hearing about him.

Hughes reminds me of Fossett. He didn't get as much press coverage, but he definitely liked the attention and notoriety. Articles about him for the last few years make that clear. The Flat Earthers get a lot of attention -- I firmly believe that some of them have only adopted this contrarian belief for the attention -- and so Hughes attached himself to that movement. It certainly brought him press.

I cannot help but wonder how many people will interpret his death as some kind of cover-up from The People Who Don't Want You To Know The Truth. Footage of the rocket launch and crash is online in the news coverage; I've watched it. There's no point where he's shot down or anything, although sabotage is impossible to tell from the footage. I wouldn't put it past Flat Earthers to believe anything they want, or to interpret events like this with whatever bias they want.

I'm all for sincere Flat Earthers trying to prove their belief, rather than just going around spouting nonsense without proof. But I don't understand why it has to be done with a manned rocket, when a GoPro and a balloon seem much, much cheaper.

Samir Mehta | February 24, 2020
[hidden by request]

Scott Hardie | February 24, 2020
Any of them? There are too many of them for there not to be at least a few sincere ones, it seems to me.

Erik Bates | February 25, 2020
[hidden by request]