What was the experience of the flat-earther who spent thousands of dollars to prove his theory?

Bob Knodel didn’t believe in science . The 62-year-old American gained notoriety in the press when has become an incessant belief that everything scientists have told us about our planet This is a lie, and he was quickly crowned as one of the most important leaders of the flat earth movement.

His fame and confidence in him were so great that He spent $20,000 (about 19 million Chilean pesos) on an experiment that would prove his controversial theory that the Earth is flat.

Despite hundreds of years of research and scientific evidence, Knodel was convinced until the day he died that the planet was not shaped like a sphere. Even though his expensive experiment did not go as planned.

This is what happened with Bob Knodel’s experiment, with which he intended to demonstrate that the Earth is flat.

The flat earth movement in the United States is growing every day. Millions of followers are convinced that the spherical shape with which we imagine the planet – and as space agencies and even governments have shown – is not really that.

The flat earth theory states that Planet Earth is a flat surface centered on the north pole.

Next up is Bob Knodel, one of the leaders of the self-proclaimed Flat Earth group truth hunters— decided to spend thousands of dollars on an experiment that would prove science wrong and the world really is flat, thus settling a debate that scientists are already tired of refuting.

During the recording of the documentary Beyond the Curvewhere he had space to talk about his theory, Knodel decided to take the opportunity to prove his theory with cameras recording everything he did.

The experiment consisted of the following.

It was supposed to project a laser over 8 kilometers. If the Earth were flat, light would travel in straight lines, since there would be no curvature to change its path. If the light lost its line, it meant that the Earth was spherical.

In the documentary, Knodel is absolutely convinced that he is right, which is why he launched his controversial experiment in front of the show’s producers and the rest of the world. “If the light passes through without deflecting, we are right,” he said quietly, before beginning the test.

On the recording set, There was a camera responsible for recording the passage of light through two obstacles with aligned holes, positioned at different distances. . On the other end of the line was Knodel’s assistant, who held up a flashlight, providing the laser that would pass through the holes without interruption.

SOturned on the laser. Knodel was stunned and sighed in disappointment. “Interesting,” he muttered.

His experiment did not work and the failure was documented second by second. The laser did not stay in a straight line, as the flat-earther expected, but deviated along the way.

Instead of proving that the Earth is flat, The flat-Earther attempt demonstrated that the planet is shaped like a sphere, just as science and numerous studies have been demonstrating for decades.

The team of truth hunterswho were also present at the scene, remained silent, according to media reports. ABC . Several of them began to question their beliefs, others claimed that there was a technical error and also tried to justify that something “external” had altered the results of the experiment.

Some time later, Knodel, who also had his own YouTube channel, Globebusters with Jeran Campanella, another earthling, spoke with his community about the experience: “What we found was that when we turned on the gyroscope, we realized that we were detecting a deviation. A deviation of 15 degrees per hour. Obviously, that surprised us.” he admitted.

Knodel assured that The failed experiment was “some kind of a problem”: “We were obviously not willing to accept it, so we started looking for ways to disprove that it was actually recording the motion of the Earth.”

Knodel and Campanella constantly expressed on this channel not only that the Earth is flat, but that NASA falsifies its activities and space missions.

But Comments on the documentary and Bob Knodel’s failed (and very expensive) experiment were quick to come: on social media, experts in physics, astronomy, geosciences, among others, came out to point out the error of the flat Earth group.

And it was paradoxical: A flat-earther spent thousands of dollars to prove the Earth is round.

It should be noted that Evidence that the planet is shaped like a sphere consists of images from space agencies, satellite recordings and even astronomical phenomena, such as eclipses.

“He probably hasn’t changed his mind yet.” This is what we read in a comment on the networks. The user was right: the Truth Hunters They are still looking for ways to explain their theory and do not accept that their own leader – who died in 2023 – accidentally undid their belief.

To this day, and after Knodel’s death, the chain Globebusters YouTube continues to allow and upload content that seeks to support its flat Earth theory and continues to question governments, space agencies and scientists.

In their speeches, they referred to the experience and continue to justify it by external errors. Also They hope that at some point science will have a loophole that will prove them right.