The enduring Flat Earth conspiracy theory has found an unlikely new platform – the iconic British reality show Big Brother. In a recent episode of the ITV programme, two housemates, Marcus and Elsa, revealed they are staunch believers that our planet is not a globe, sending shockwaves through the house and viewers at home.
The Bizarre Big Brother Conversation
During a truly strange discussion, housemate Marcus confidently stated, 'I think there is still very good evidence that suggests the world is flat.' When pressed by another contestant for this evidence, he pointed to the horizon, claiming, 'Well if you actually look at the horizon, it’s a straight line.'
Marcus didn't stop there. He went on to assert that all photographs from space are 'obviously' fake and generated by artificial intelligence, and further claimed that the historic moon landings never happened. His fellow believer, Elsa, added her own extraordinary views, stating, 'I don’t think space is real' and proposing that we are all living inside a dome.
A Scientist's Brutal Verdict
In response to these claims, an expert has stepped forward to deliver a definitive, scientific rebuttal. Dr Ian Whittaker, a lecturer in physics at Nottingham Trent University, lamented that the Flat Earth movement is 'growing ever bigger unfortunately'. He then proceeded to dismantle one of the theory's most common pillars.
According to Dr Whittaker, the reason we perceive a straight horizon is simple: our perspective from the ground is too limited. At ground level, we only see a few miles from one side of the horizon to the other, which is insufficient to detect the planet's vast curvature.
'The reason why we don’t see the horizon curve off is simply scale,' Dr Whittaker told the Daily Mail. He offered a powerful analogy: 'As an analogy, you look at a basketball and see the full curvature because you are massive compared to it. Now imagine a microbe on the surface, what would it see? It would just be a vast expanse of flat area because its height compared to the curvature of the ball is tiny.'
Seeing the Curve: From Concorde to the ISS
The scientific reality is that the curvature of the Earth can only be clearly perceived from space. It requires being at a significant altitude to see a large enough portion of the Earth’s circumference. Dr Whittaker explained that a person would need to be an impossible 200 miles (320km) tall to be high enough relative to the Earth's radius to easily see the curve from a wide expanse.
This is why astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS), orbiting 262 miles above Earth, are treated to a stunning, unambiguous view of our planet's round shape. Even the supersonic airliner Concorde, which flew at 60,000 feet (11 miles), offered passengers a glimpse of the curvature.
The understanding of Earth's spherical nature is not new. Greek philosophers like Pythagoras and Aristotle established the Earth was round more than 2,000 years ago, based on observations of stars and constellations. Dr James Garvin, chief scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, noted that the space age, beginning in the late 1950s, finally allowed humanity to see this beautiful truth with their own eyes.
With the rise of space tourism through companies like Blue Origin, the opportunity for everyday people to witness Earth's curvature is becoming more accessible. Perhaps in the future, Flat Earthers like Marcus and Elsa will have the chance to take a trip to space and see the evidence for themselves.
