Marchman team: What’s wrong with you, Makena?
Makena Kelly: I feel like I have this folk story in my head, and maybe it’s true, I’ll have to check that, but of Jimmy Carter, when he took office, he saw some UFO files and cried, and he never said anything again about it.
Marchman team: I think I heard that too.
Makena Kelly: Yes, and I don’t know if it’s real. I was just trying to search for something. And when I think about Trump finding out these things, I don’t know if he would publish them. I wouldn’t be optimistic.
Marchman team: I don’t think they will release anything because he was already president and did not release the material in question. I believe that the secret files, if released, would show that the United States covered up Lee Harvey Oswald and his relations with the Soviet Union because they feared that it would lead to nuclear war if they were released. And that much of the subsequent cover-up was a cover-up of the cover-up. And I believe that the UFO files would show that extraterrestrial biological beings crash-landed in New Mexico in the 1940s and led the US government on a journey of discovery about the nature of the universe, which included extraterrestrials over the course of have created religious figures known throughout human history as a guide to give people instructions on how not to damage their bodies, which are containers for souls that aliens harvest for energy. At least this is the theory that many UFO advocates have been pushing since the 1980s and of course I firmly believe it is true, perhaps Donald Trump will confirm it. Makena and David, thank you so much for being here. When we get back, it’s time for our final conspiracy of the week.
Marchman team: Welcome back to WIRED Politics Lab. This is “Conspiracy of the Week,” the part of the show where our guests bring their favorite conspiracy theories and I’ll be the judge for Leah. This week’s winner can have bragging rights forever, so I hope you both came away with something good. Makena, let’s start with you.
Makena Kelly: Yes, I’m glad you brought up the aliens and the JFK assassination because that will complete the trifecta. One of the conspiracy theories that I think is having its moment, let’s say, this year is chemtrails. These are the trails that planes leave behind when they fly in the sky, apparently spreading all these chemicals and ruining and poisoning us, when in reality it’s just water vapor. It was only at the beginning of the year that conspiracies about chemtrails taking place there arose due to the hurricane in North Carolina. Tennessee lawmakers passed a bill that has something to do with regulating chemtrails, crazy stuff. But this week, oh my god, I lost it when I saw this. There was a seemingly satirical joke online about a Lufthansa pilot who denied spraying chemtrails on his son while piloting a plane. He apparently took a stand and said, “I’m not going to do that.” And the chemtrail community, I guess we can call it the chemtrail community, was really excited about it. And that’s not true, it was a joke. Yes.
