So why are so many Americans unable to accept this theory? Why is it easier for some of us to believe that Earhart and Noonan were taken prisoner or ended up as castaways? Is it because these theories are more sensational? Or is it because alternative facts have overwhelmed healthy skepticism?
Unfortunately, governments have a habit of lying to their people. Conspiracy theories are nothing new, but what is different in our present age is how they have been legitimized at the highest levels of power. Michael Moore’s 2004 film Fahrenheit 9/11 claimed, among other things, ties between the Bush and bin Laden families. A month after its release, Moore was a guest of honor at the Democratic National Convention and got to sit in the box of former president Jimmy Carter. And our current president has a few 9/11 conspiracy theories of his own. As a candidate, Donald Trump claimed that President Bush had “advance notice” of 9/11 and speculated that Ted Cruz’s father could have been involved in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Trump is also a fan of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who has accused the U.S. government of involvement in 9/11, the Oklahoma City bombing, the Boston Marathon bombing, and the Sandy Hook shooting. In December 2015 Trump granted Jones an interview, during which he described Jones’s reputation as “amazing.”
As long as the American public accepts alternative facts as truth, bizarre and implausible conspiracy theories will flourish — about Amelia Earhart, government figures, or anything else. This means it is likely that we will continue to hear superficial stories about Earhart being an American spy or a castaway instead of looking deep into the Pacific Ocean, where she and her plane are most likely to be found.
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