If Earth is a sphere, how is it possible for flat-Earthers to show us “images of flat Earth” taken from high-altitude balloons? These are the modus operandi of unscrupulous flat-Earthers to obtain such images in an attempt to deceive us.
- Obtain footage from a high-altitude balloon that was recorded using a fisheye lens. There will be scenes showing a convex horizon, a flat horizon, and a concave horizon.
- Cherry-pick a scene where the horizon looks flat. Ignore the rest, and pretend there is no scene showing a convex or concave horizon.
- Add emotionally loaded remarks. Make baseless accusations toward others, like NASA, when in fact, they are doing the lying.
- Circulate the meme. Anyone in the audience who is emotional, ignorant, and prejudiced enough will be vulnerable to the deception.
- Start congratulating themselves if someone becomes a victim.
If successful, these new victims would help you circulate the memes and not bother to search for the original footage to confirm the facts.
Even if someone pointed out the original video to them, it could backfire. The victims will be too ashamed and will not admit their mistakes readily. They will invent “explanations” on the spot to justify their part in circulating the false information; or switch to a different topic, pretending they never saw the original video.
To the person first to circulate the image, it is impossible not to notice the scenes where the horizon appears concave and convex. Therefore, it cannot be an honest mistake, and there is no explanation other than it was a deliberate attempt on deception.
The original video used in the illustration