Mark Roberts (left) and interviewer, Dr Mark Henn.
The episode for Friday, 26th September, features an interview with Mark ‘Gravy’ Roberts, taped by Skeptic Zone reporter Kylie Sturgess and conducted by special guest Dr Mark Henn.
Kylie: Mark Roberts, an amateur historian and former New York city tour guide – says he is an ordinary man – but one who took up an extraordinary challenge. In 2006 there was a peak in pseudoscientific and historical revisionism propagated by conspiracy theorists about the tragedy of September 11, 2001 – often known as ‘9/11′.
These popular theories include the claims that the US government committed or deliberately allowed the attacks, that no airliner hit the Pentagon or crashed in a field in Pennsylvania, and most persistently, that the World Trade Center buildings were destroyed by explosives, not by damage and fire.
So in response to these groups, Mark Roberts, also known online by the name ‘Gravy’ on several internet forums, was inspired to challenge the false claims of the ‘9/11 truth movement’. Much of his work can be seen online, at www.wtc7lies.googlepages.com
In this exclusive interview, taped in New York whilst I was travelling to Dragon*Con to present with other members of the Skeptic Zone, Psychology professor and Fullbright scholar Dr Mark Henn talks to Mark Roberts about his experiences. Dr Henn has contributed to many online discussions about the psychology behind, belief and conspiracy theories – and inspired me to film this exclusive for the Skeptic Zone.
‘Mainstream accounts of significant world events are typically accepted as the truth, but alternative accounts for such events often fall under the banner of the popular term conspiracy theories. A conspiracy theory is defined as an attempt to explain the ultimate cause of a significant political or social event as a secret plot by a covert alliance of powerful individuals or organizations, rather than as an overt activity, accident, or natural occurrence. Although some conspiracy theories have ultimately been shown to be true, most conspiracy theories remain as unproven and rather implausible alternative explanations to the mainstream account of events. Nonetheless, conspiracy theories are popular.’
‘Conspiracy Beliefs: A Social Psychological Perspective‘ – upcoming lecture as a part of the APRU’s Invited Speaker Series, by Dr Karen Douglas (University of Kent) on Tuesday, 21 October.
‘Today, the 9/11 conspiracy movement is a shell of what it once was. The website masquerading as an academic journal, Journal of 9/11 Studies, has dropped from a high of six or seven articles published per issue to one….The introduction to the main hub of 9/11 denier activity, 911truth.org, welcomes its visitors with a plea that announces, “we’ve cut to the bare bones, but are still far short of our basic budget needs.” Prominent “truthers” like Mark Dice, Dylan Avery, Jimmy Walter… and Kevin Ryan have dropped into obscurity.’
Michael Shermer, ‘eSkeptic: Wednesday, June 4th, 2008‘
Skeptic Wikipedia – ‘SkepticWiki.org’:
9/11 Coverup
9/11 Glossary
9/11 Conspiracy Theorists
Truth Movement Timeline
WTC7
Useful Reference Books – ‘SkepticReport.com‘:
Pseudoscience and the Paranormal, by T. Hines, p.180, pp.205-8.
The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience, by M. Shermer, p.373.
Conspiratorial thinking in Why People Believe Weird Things, by M. Shermer, p.205
Conspiracy theories: based on knowingness The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience, by M. Shermer, p.750.
A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America, University of California Press, 2003, by Michael Barkun.
‘The Paranoid Style in American Politics‘ in The Paranoid Style in American Politics and Other Essays, Harvard University Press, 1996 by R. Hofstadter.
David Dunbar & Brad Regan (eds) Debunking 9/11 Myths: Why Conspiracy Theories Can’t Stand Up To The Facts – Popular Mechanics (Hearst Books, 2006).
Additional Links:
Newsweek, October 2nd 2008 – author Sharon Begley – “Feeling Powerless? Do I Have a Conspiracy Theory for You“
eSkeptic, June 4th 2008 – author John Ray – “How Skeptics Confronted 9/11 Denialism“.
eSkeptic, September 11th 2006 – author Phil Mole – “9/11 Conspiracy Theories: The 9/11 Truth Movement in Perspective“.
Rolling Stone Magazine, 26th September, 2006 – author Matt Taibbi “The Low Post: The Hopeless Stupidity of 9-11 Conspiracies‘.
The Scripps Survey Research Center at Ohio University, 1st August, 2006 – author Thomas Hargrove – ‘Third of Americans suspect 9-11 government conspiracy’.
Select Research Papers:
‘… then they take Berlin’ – The perceived risk of terrorism (Sjöberg, 2002).
‘The Media and Public Acceptance of Conspiracy Theories: The Case of 9/11′, featuring the research of Stempel, Hargrove and Stempel III (2007).
Ultimate Site for Inquiries and Reference Materials:
www.wtc7lies.googlepages.com
[Video footage of the interview will be made available at a later date and posted on this site.]
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