Viral

A flat-Earther tried to argue with an astronaut on TV and it was hard to watch

A flat-Earther tried to argue with an astronaut on TV and it was hard to watch
Good Morning Britain

The flat Earth conspiracy theory has been getting a lot of traction lately.

Followers of the rather bizarre belief even held an international conference to share ideas and pool their resources.

Despite there being no evidence that would suggest that the Earth is a flat disc floating in the middle of space they will not be deterred.

Even when they argue with actual scientists flat-Earthers remain convinced that they are right. But what happens when they are confronted with someone who has actually been into space and seen the planet in all of its spherical glory?

During a 2017 instalment of Good Morning Britain, one of the internet's most prominent flat-Earthers went toe-to-toe with astronaut Terry Virts. It was difficult to watch.

Mark Sargent, a conspiracy theorist from Seattle appeared on the show via a video link and attempted to argue his case.

Sign up for our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter

He told Piers Morgan, Susanna Reid and Virts the following: "I think the Earth is flat – go to the beach with a high-powered HD camera and look off into the distance. 10, 15 years ago, you could see ships go off into the horizon. Now you can bring them back into frame, all you need to do is crank up the zoom.

"Technology has changed everything. We’re talking about all the world is a stage. We’re basically living on a big sound stage and nobody figured it out until 1956."

Virt's evidence was a bit more conclusive.

To rub more salt into the wound, Virts also produced a copy of his space photography book which clearly shows that the Earth is round.

Sticking to his guns, Mark dismissed the photos and claimed they had been doctored.

Virts later took to Twitter and clearly seemed to have enjoyed debunking this myth.

We doubt this is going to end the conspiracy anytime soon, but it might make a few theorists reconsider any appearances on live television.

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The Conversation (0)