I posted most of this a while back, but am reposting it as a new thred, with some additions, because no “flat-earther” was ever able to explain ALL of these. The most I got was a few bullshit answers about how planetary gravity bends light. I would like to add that I do believe most of the “flat-earthers” here are just trying to get a rise out of us, but hey, I find "disproving" them is just as fun.
If you think the earth is flat, I challenge you to explain
ALL of the following:
*Satellites*Satellite TV*GPS systems, which use satellites.
*Satellite radio.*The fact that anybody can see satellites, when away from the city lights on a clear night. (Satellites look and move VERY different from airplanes or “shooting stars”)
*Zero G footage (in space), made by NASA, lasting longer than 25 seconds (the maximum time zero G can be sustained by NASA’s
“Vomit Comet”).
*They round appearance of all the planets, which can bee seen by any amateur with a decent telescope. And by “round,” I do not merely mean that they look like circular discs. I mean that features, such as the craters of the moon, are distorted looking near the “edge” as the curve away from view.
*A very large pendulum will appear to change direction, as the earth rotates under it. (This can be seen in science museums all over the world.)
*Satellite imagery, showing a curved earth.
*The fact that maps of the round earth hold true for those piloting / navigating / driving: airplanes, ships, and land vehicles. If the earth is in any way different, from the way it is currently mapped, (such as the idea that it looks like the UN flag), then distances would differ greatly than they do on the map of the round earth, which they don’t. The maps that are built off of a round earth accurately depict the distance, and directions of any two points on earth.
*On the subject of distances on maps, I would encourage you try one of these programs:
NASA’s
World Wind and Google’s
Google Earth. Both are programs that have the entire spherical earth, mapped, and photographed in 3D. Google Earth even has a measuring tool. How could this work properly if the map was being distorted as part of a conspiracy?
*The sheer number of people who work for NASA, the military, airlines, weather services, satellite design and manufacturing, companies that design navigational systems and the companies that support those organizations.
*The fact that modern warships can fire artillery shells so far, they must account for the curvature of the earth when calculating its trajectory. That is, the shell goes over the horizon. This is also true of missiles.
*Radio’s having a farther range at night, as the radio waves bounce off of the earth’s
curved ionosphere: AM radio stations must cut their transmitting power in the evening, to prevent one station from bleeding over to the next. Ham radio operators can take advantage of this effect, and transmit and receive signals to and from other continents.
*The sun is always setting and rising at the same time somewhere on earth. *Ocean tides and their relation ship to the moon’s orbit around earth. (This is also evidence of gravity.)
*Why the lit half** of the moon is always the one facing the sun. Look at the moon during
sunset and see for yourself. During a full moon, the sun will be on the opposite side of the sky from the moon. This is why
lunar eclipses only occur during a full moon: that is when the earth is between the sun and moon. The reverse is true of a new moon: the sun is always behind the moon, (so the part we can’t see is the lit half**), and this is the only time a
solar eclipses can occur: because the moon is between the earth and sun. When only half of the visible moon** is lit, it is the half facing the sun. How is any of this possible if the earth is flat?
**
There is no true dark side of the moon. Half the moon is always lit, and which half changes as it orbits around the earth, which it does at the same speed it rotates, so the same side of the moon is always facing us. The moon budges on this side, due to earth’s gravity.*The earth’s round shadow on the moon during a lunar eclipse, and the moon’s round shadow on earth during a solar eclipse.
*Only some parts of the earth can see a solar eclipse, when they do occur. (From space, it looks like
a round shadow (the moon’s) being cast onto the earth surface.) *The fact that our model of the solar system (including how the earth orbits the sun), so accurately predicts where the moon, planets, and stars will appear in the sky on any given day,(It also predicts lunar and solar eclipses.) while no such model exists for a flat earth universe.
*The seasons, and why they are opposite on the different sides of the equator. (January is Australia’s Summer, but North America's Winter.)
*Why the numbers of hours of daylight are longer or shorter (depending on the time of year) the closer one is to the earth’s poles.
*The Northern and Southern hemispheres have different views of the night sky. Ask any astronomer, and they’ll tell you that the southern hemisphere’s view is better.
*The relative locations of the North Pole, South Pole, and the equator. (All three can’t even exist simultaneously in a flat earth model.)
*Compasses: if the magnetic North and South poles were two points on a flat surface, it would be possible to pass one of them, and be facing both poles at the same time. This means one pole would be closer to you than the other and that
you,
the north pole, and
the south pole,
could form a straight line. Just can’t happen, as shown by compass needles, because magnetic North and South are never in the same direction.
*Any of the round earth arguments
here. Many of which you can try for yourself.
Could it be a conspiracy?I personally know someone who designs antennas for satellites, and they (satellites) are WAY too expensive to be wasted on a conspiracy. Think of all the people who would have to be in on a conspiracy like this, and all the money it would take to keep it going:
Astronomers
Astronauts, Cosmonauts, everybody else who has been in outer space, and
everybody working in the organizations and
private companies that support them.
The engineers, designers, and manufacturers of satellites, and the engineers, designers, and manufacturers of the rockets that put them up there.
Anyone who has ever been to the north and/or south pole
Pilots
Anyone involved in weather forecasting (Think how many local weather services there are)
Employees of satellite radio companies.
Employees of satellite TV companies.
Employees of companies that make GPS and other navigational systems.
In short, everyone in America uses, or observes technology that use satellites.
The companies that are involved in such things are a part of our economy, and lord only knows how many people are employees of companies that work with such things, yet no one has come forward claiming to be part of a cover up concerning the shape of the earth. Also, this conspiracy would have to include every country on earth. We can’t even have peacefully relations with each other; much less agree to a conspiracy. What would be the point?