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It's the conspiracy theory to dwarf all conspiracy theories. A smorgasbord of every other intrigue under the sun, the Illuminati are the supposed overlords controlling the world's affairs, operating secretly as they seek to establish a New World Order.

But this far-fetched paranoia all started with a playful work of fiction in the 1960s. What does this tell us about our readiness to believe what we read and hear - and what can the Illuminati myth reveal about the fake news and stories we continue to be influenced by today?
If you like this story, you might also like: The strange photographs used to 'prove' conspiracy theories How to avoid falling for lies and fake news Why are people so incredibly gullible?
When most people try to look into the secret society's history, they find themselves in Germany with the Enlightenment-era Order of the Illuminati. It was a Bavarian secret society, founded in 1776, for intellectuals to privately group together and oppose the religious and elitist influence over daily life. It included several well-known progressives at the time but, along with the Freemasons, they found themselves gradually outlawed by conservative and Christian critics and the group faded out of existence.

That is, until the 1960s. The Illuminati that we've come to hear about today is hardly influenced by the Bavarians at all, as I learned from author and broadcaster David Bramwell, a man who has dedicated himself to documenting the origins of the myth. Instead, an era of counter-culture mania, LSD and interest in Eastern philosophy is largely responsible for the group's (totally unsubstantiated) modern incarnation. It all began somewhere amid the Summer of Love and the hippie phenomenon, when a small, printed text emerged: Principia Discordia.

The book was, in a nutshell, a parody text for a parody faith - Discordianism - conjured up by enthusiastic anarchists and thinkers to bid its readers to worship Eris, goddess of chaos. The Discordian movement was ultimately a collective that wished to cause civil disobedience, practical jokes and hoaxes.

The text itself never amounted to anything more than a counter-culture curiosity, but one of the tenets of the faith - that such miscreant activities could bring about social change and force individuals to question the parameters of reality - was immortalised by one writer, Robert Anton Wilson.

According to Bramwell, Wilson and one of the authors of the Principia Discordia, Kerry Thornley, "decided that the world was becoming too authoritarian, too tight, too closed, too controlled". They wanted to bring chaos back into society to shake things up, and "the way to do that was to spread disinformation. To disseminate misinformation through all portals - through counter culture, through the mainstream media, through whatever means. And they decided they would do that initially by telling stories about the Illuminati."

At the time, Wilson worked for the men's magazine Playboy. He and Thornley started sending in fake letters from readers talking about this secret, elite organisation called the Illuminati. Then they would send in more letters - to contradict the letters they had just written.

"So, the concept behind this was that if you give enough contrary points of view on a story, in theory - idealistically - the population at large start looking at these things and think, 'hang on a minute'," says Bramwell. "They ask themselves, 'Can I trust how the information is presented to me?' It's an idealistic means of getting people to wake up to the suggested realities that they inhabit - which of course didn't happen quite in the way they were hoping."

The chaos of the Illuminati myth did indeed travel far and wide - Wilson and another Playboy writer wrote The Illuminatus! Trilogy which attributed the 'cover-ups' of our times - such as who shot John F Kennedy - to the Illuminati. The books became such a surprise cult success that they were made into a stage play in Liverpool, launching the careers of British actors Bill Nighy and Jim Broadbent.

British electronic band The KLF also called themselves The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, named after the band of Discordians that infiltrate the Illuminati in Wilson's trilogy as they were inspired by the religion's anarchic ideology. Then, an Illuminati role-playing card game appeared in 1975 which imprinted its mystical world of secret societies onto a whole generation.

Today, it's one of the world's most widely punted conspiracy theories; even celebrities like Jay-Z and Beyoncé have taken on the symbolism of the group themselves, raising their hands into the Illuminati triangle at concerts. It's hardly instigated the mind-blowing epiphany - the realisation that it's all fake - which the proponents of Discordianism had originally intended.

The 60s culture of mini-publishers and zines seems terrifically distant now from today's globalised, hyper-connected internet, and it has undeniably been the internet's propensity to share and propagate Illuminati rumours on websites like 4chan and Reddit that has brought the idea the fame it has today.

But we live in a world that is full of conspiracy theories and, more importantly, conspiracy theory believers; in 2015, political scientists discovered that about half of the general public in the USA endorse at least one conspiracy theory. These include anything from the Illuminati to the Obama 'birther' conspiracy, or the widely held belief that 9/11 was an inside job carried out by US intelligence services.

"There's no one profile of a conspiracy theorist," says Viren Swami, professor of social psychology at Anglia Ruskin University. "There are different perspectives of why people believe in these theories, and they're not necessarily mutually exclusive - so the simplest form of explanation is that people who believe in conspiracy theories are suffering from some sort of psychopathology."

Another conclusion researchers have drawn to is that these theories could provide rational ways of understanding events that are confusing or threatening to self esteem. "They give you a very simple explanation," adds Swami, who published research in 2016 that found believers in conspiracy theories are more likely to be suffering from stressful experiences than non-believers. Other psychologists also discovered last year that people with higher levels of education are less likely to believe in conspiracy theories.

The picture that this paints of modern America is a dark one, especially for Swami who has seen a change in who normally promotes conspiracy material. "Particularly in South Asia, conspiracy theories have been a mechanism for the government to control the people. In the West, it's typically been the opposite; they've been the subject of people who lack agency, who lack power, and it's their lacking of power that gives rise to conspiracy theories to challenge the government. Like with 9/11. If people lack power, conspiracy theories can sow the seeds of social protest and allow people to ask questions.

"The big change now is that politicians, particularly Donald Trump, are starting to use conspiracies to mobilise support."

The 45th President of the United States was a notorious "birther", regularly speaking to the media about how President Obama wasn't really born in Hawaii. He also accused various US states of voter fraud after the 2016 election and his campaign team were responsible for propagating now debunked fabricated stories such as Pizzagate and the Bowling Green Massacre.

I asked Swami if he thought that this shift in conspiracy theory usage could affect politics long term. "People could become disengaged with mainstream politics if they believe in conspiracy theories," said Swami. "They're much more likely to engage with fringe politics. They're also much more likely to engage with racist, xenophobic and extremist views."

The idea of an untouchable, secretive elite must resonate with people that feel left behind and powerless; Trump said he wanted to represent these people, especially the once-powerful industrial landscape of America's Rust Belt. Yet instead of feeling better represented in the halls of power by a non-politician like themselves - and theoretically being less likely to feel powerless and vulnerable to conspiracies - it seems like some in America are more likely to believe in stories like the Illuminati more than ever before.

"If Wilson was alive today, he'd be part delighted, part shocked", says David Bramwell. "As far as they thought in the 60s, culture was a little too tight. At present, it feels like things are loose. They're unravelling.

"Perhaps more stability will come as people fight against 'fake news' and propaganda. We're starting to understand how social media is feeding us ideas we want to believe. Echo chambers."

Between internet forums, nods in popular culture and humankind's generally uninhibited capacity for imagination, today's truth-finders and fact checkers might debunk the Illuminati myth for good.

If you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called "If You Only Read 6 Things This Week". A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Earth, Culture, Capital, and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday.

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The accidental invention of the Illuminati conspiracy

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It's the conspiracy theory to dwarf all conspiracy theories. A smorgasbord of every other intrigue under the sun, the Illuminati are the supposed overlords controlling the world's affairs, operating secretly as they seek to establish a New World Order. But this far-fetched paranoia all started with a playful work of fiction in the 1960s.

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Does the Illuminati control the world? Maybe it’s not such a mad idea | Julian Baggini

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Questioning the hidden power of elites – even the Illuminati – is really quite sane, says the philosopher Julian Baggini

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Sinister sculptures and secret bunkers. Swastika-shaped runways and murals that point to a New World Order takeover or alien invasion.

And what about those gargoyles hanging out by the baggage claim?

Conspiracy theories about Denver International Airport have soared for more than two decades, owing to the airport's mix of bold public art, unusual architecture, infamous construction problems and an internet-fueled cycle of self-feeding paranoia.

They predate even the airport's 1995 debut, but Jesse Ventura helped popularize them with a 2012 episode of his TV show "Conspiracy Theory," and dozens of media outlets from ABC News to the Science Channel continue to report them on an annual basis.

Not that the airport discourages the speculation.

"We have a CEO (Kim Day) who really embraces the conspiracy ideas," said Heath Montgomery, senior public information officer for DIA. "We decided a few years ago that rather than fight all of this and try and convince everybody there's nothing really going on, let's have some fun with it."

2016 marks a turning point in the airport's marketing savvy. For the first time, DIA is featuring a modest, museum-style exhibition of the most notable (and, admittedly, least controversial) theories in honor of October as "Conspiracy Month." Events have included a "conspiracy-themed costume party" and free "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" screening - chosen because the coordinates for the alien landing in the 1977 film supposedly point to DIA's location (in reality it's an empty field 51 miles northwest of the airport).

Most of the theories are so laughable and easily disproved that DIA is happy to weaponize them as marketing tools. That, in turn, translates to an estimated "hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars" in free publicity, Montgomery said.

"Those aren't even pictures of our airport," he said as a Buzzfeed video played on a TV screen behind him in the conspiracy exhibit, which runs through Oct. 31 in the main terminal. "People see it out of context and then it continues the dialogue. YouTube is a big propagator of this. There's been so much misinformation out there that people just regurgitate and spout it without thinking or addressing the reality behind it."

To get to the heart of their continuing popularity, a Denver Post team was granted behind-the-scenes (and underground) access to examine the theories, facts and history of the country's sixth-busiest airport, which expects to see a record 58 million travelers by the end of 2016.

Secret societies

The theory: The Freemasons, a centuries-old secret society, has controlled the airport ever since it opened, with ties to the New World Order, a group of global elites who wield power over international affairs.

The history: A dedication plaque at the airport's south entrance (near the Westin Hotel and RTD University of Colorado A-Line) dated March 19, 1994, contains a time capsule and bears the symbol of the Freemasons, as well as a reference to the New World Airport Commission. "Strange markings" have also been noted around the airport, supposedly indicating secret or alien languages.

The facts: While the Freemasons are a legitimate fraternal (and historically cloistered) organization with civic ties to the airport's dedication, there is no evidence to suggest they have a hand in ongoing planning or decision-making at the civilian facility. Anti-Masonic conspiracies that date back more than a century were clearly dusted off and updated in advance of 2012's "apocalypse fever." The time capsule, to be opened in 2094, contains coins, a signed opening-day ball from Coors Field, Mayor Wellington Webb's sneakers and a few Black Hawk casino tokens, among other items. The New World Airport Commission was named by Charles Ansbacher - an arts advocate who died in 2010. The name is a reference to Dvorák's New World Symphony, according to a 2007 Westword article, and the Commission was created only to orchestrate DIA's opening festivities. The "strange markings" are Navajo-language characters and references to other airport artists.

Artistic clues to the apocalypse

The theory: The airport's 40-piece public art collection, most notably its colorful, 28-foot-wide murals by artist Leo Tanguma, its "Notre Denver" gargoyle sculptures near the east and west-side baggage claim areas, and the Mustang sculpture (a.k.a. big blue horse, or "Bluecifer") near Peña Boulevard, are clues to a sinister influence at the airport, alternately credited as Illuminati, Freemasons, New World Order or Nazis.

The history: Like most DIA conspiracy theories, this one roughly parallels the rise of the internet at the time of the airport's opening and has been given fuel over the years by radio hosts like George Noory, TV conspiracy-backer Ventura and many others. They point to Nazi or fascist imagery in Tanguma's murals (on Level 5 of the Jeppesen Terminal), the ominous and seemingly random nature of the gargoyles, and the fact that a portion of the 32-foot, 9,000-pound Mustang sculpture (which features glowing red eyes, interpreted as reference to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse) fell on and killed its creator Luis Jiménez.

The facts: The meaning of Tanguma's murals is frequently divorced from the context of their creation, which tells a hopeful story of peace and environmental stewardship following times of war and pollution. Conspiracy theorists focus only on the grim imagery but not the rainbow-laden resolution (read from right-to-left in the mural "Children of the World Dream of Peace"). The red eyes in the Mustang sculpture are an homage to the artist's father, who worked with neon signs. "Hindsight's 20/20, because it really could have been any color of neon," said Heather Kaufman, director of arts and public events for DIA. And the gargoyles? They have historically been used as decorative yet functional downspouts, and in general, as longtime symbols of protection to ward off evil spirits. In DIA's case, they're playfully popping out of open suitcases on pillars.

Underground bunkers - and aliens

The theory: Hidden beneath the airport's underground baggage-transport tunnels is a secret bunker (or series of bunkers) designed to house billionaires and global political elite in the event of an apocalypse. Lizard people (a.k.a. "Reptoids") and/or evidence of aliens are also thought to be lurking down there.

The history: Contractors who originally worked on the airport, which went over budget and opened 16 months behind schedule, reportedly saw evidence of bunker entrances and unexplained tunnels. A multi-million dollar automated baggage system failed to work as designed, fueling doubts about the intent and scale of the construction. An "alien" drawing has appeared on the walls, and blurry footage of "lizard people" has appeared on conspiracy websites.

The facts: Roughly 1,000 people work daily in the various levels underneath the airport, ferrying luggage among ticket counters, planes and baggage claim areas in a pair of 7,000-foot long tunnels that run alongside the airport's underground trains - which were not immediately ready to use upon the airport's opening. As seen during a tour of the tunnels provided to The Denver Post, all plumbing and electrical infrastructure appears to end at the underground area's lowest level; hiding anything else under it would be an engineering feat on par with the "Chunnel" that connects England to France. Furthermore, "Over the years, little personal touches have been made," Montgomery said of the tunnels, pointing to the hand-drawn alien image (as well as decidedly non-alien-themed "graffiti" like smiley faces) as he drove an electric golf cart under the B concourse. The automated baggage system was actually used in various capacities, mostly by United Airlines, up until 2010. "There's a certain mystique to anything you can't see," Montgomery said of the 470,000 square feet of underground space. "The fact of the matter is, it would take me three days to show you everything down here." Finally, airport workers have been known to don lizard masks as pranks while the media are on tours - including one caught on camera by Fox 31 KDVR-Denver in a video that has since been circulated (often uncredited) as evidence of their existence.

Nazi runways, remote locations

The theory: DIA's location, approximately 25 miles from downtown Denver, swastika-shaped runway configuration and various, barely concealed symbols of Nazism or fascism hint at any number of sinister plots, theorists say. Also, a tunnel is said to connect DIA to NORAD, nearly 100 miles to the south near Colorado Springs.

The history: Nazi conspiracy theories have been among the most popular online for the last two decades, and despite its recent, tongue-in-cheek embrace of most conspiracies, DIA officials have shied from directly addressing them - which some see as a sign of their validity. "We do have some subject matter that we wanted to either just avoid or tread very lightly with," said DIA's Kaufman, in response to a question about what made the cut for October's exhibit in the main terminal. "Some things are worth debunking. Others aren't."

The facts: A close look at aerial photography of the supposedly swastika-shaped runaways reveals a lumpy, misshapen and largely interpretive swastika, at best. The rotating, fan-shaped design allows for optimal take-off into and against the wind from different directions, depending on weather and traffic patterns. Additionally, a 90-mile long tunnel from DIA's remote location to NORAD seems highly unlikely and cost-prohibitive, given that the world's longest underground rail tunnel - the newly opened, Swiss Alps-traversing Gotthard Base Tunnel - is less than half that length (35.4 miles) and took more than a decade to excavate and construct.

Conclusion

For people with vested interests in sowing doubt about institutions and organizations, the real fear might just be discovering there's a mundane explanation for all these theories. Conspiracies create drama and excitement, allowing theorists to more clearly define (and usually reinforce) their existing beliefs. They feel alive, adrenalized and righteous.

But a more complex, gray-area explanation of things may be the biggest unacknowledged threat to those with a stake in defining themselves against systems they don't (or don't want to) fully understand.

Theorists, for example, have never successfully addressed this notion: If the airport and its backers have spent decades and billions of dollars hiding secret, global plots and infrastructure, why jeopardize that work by putting so many obvious clues in plain sight?

"No matter what you do, you lose," Mongtomery said. "You show people the tunnels and explain the symbols, you lose. You clam up and deny it, you lose. So that's why we've started to have fun with these, because people are going to believe what they believe, regardless of hard evidence."

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The definitive guide to Denver International Airport's biggest conspiracy theories

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Sinister sculptures and secret bunkers. Swastika-shaped runways and murals that point to a New World Order takeover or alien invasion. And what about those gargoyles hanging out by the baggage claim? Conspiracy theories about Denver International Airport have soared for more than two decades, owing to the airport's mix of bold public art, unusual architecture, infamous construction problems and an internet-fueled cycle of self-feeding paranoia.

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many members of the Illuminati were high leveled Freemasons

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A symbol often associated with the Illuminati is the “all seeing eye,” which is also found on American money, but pyramids are actually more directly a Freemason symbol.

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The basic structure of the Illuminati revolves around fighting against superstition, irrational over-exertion of power by government and religious organizations, and general prejudice. They also believed strongly in gender equality.

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Don Feathers (2014-11-21)
Spend enough time on the Interwebz and inevitably you will come into contact with the conspiracy theorist under-verse of foaming pseudo-intellectuals all vying for your time and consciousness. While you have to be a certain special kind of idiot to believe we live in the world where the most powerful people operate with our best interests in mind, wading too far in the deep end of the conspiracy pool will inevitably leave you with the impression that there is no point in resisting the current invasion of 4th dimensional space lizards besides molesting other "Sheeple" with snappy comments on alternative internet threads. Because yeah, that's real productive.

The truth, as far as this lowly Chicken can surmise, is that we live in a world of chaos. There is no overall conspiracy. Well, that's not necessarily true. Actually there are several overlapping conspiracies, and they are constantly getting in each others' way. While the current trend of troubling news stories may fascinate and confound the generally clueless public, when one compares the general trends to civilizations that have failed in the past it becomes a little bit easier to understand what forces are at work here.

Now if you are a believer in some overall conspiracy in which none of us are actually in control of our own lives and destinies, then the first question you should ask is what would be the ultimate goal that our overlords yearn to fulfill? Got it?

OK the second question is how is that going so far? I'm just asking because whoever planned the chain of events leading up to our present situation is either really crazy or extremely stupid. Chances are whatever conspiracy plans people can dream up will always remain just 'plans' because who the hell wants to take responsibility for the way things are at any given moment?

Sure, I get the concept of depopulation but who is going to cook the food, mend the fences, solder the electronics, and talk all the lucky lonely survivors out of suicide? The whole idea of modern industrial civilization is based on a variety of decentralized inputs, which means pretty much every machine that makes us who we pretend to be has parts that come from very specialized factories all over the world using some sort of reliable and affordable transportation. Without billions of people around our ability to even maintain our current machinery is severely compromised. That means if everything goes according to the depopulation plan, the Illuminati are setting themselves up for a step back to the middle ages for a heaping helping of farming, Feudalism, and smallpox. I'm not exactly sure what kind of ultra-rich demographic is going to sign up for such a thing. Maybe the ones with beards?

Which brings me to the next point. Even if Apple manages to create a popular new brainwash implant chip that turns hipsters into mindless slaves, how is the current trend of destabilizing larger and larger chunks of the population going to help? Plebs all over the world are growing increasingly desperate and angry. Wars are breaking out all over the place. Huge amounts of resources are being wasted trying to sedate the masses and cover up our problems. This sounds more like a recipe for corporate fat cats getting hunted down for their protein content rather than ushering in some shining new world order. Entropy is a one-way street, and transitioning globalization into some sort of master plan is looking less likely with every passing hour.

Now you could say the idea is to crash the whole system and replace it with something else, but these Illuminati folks are not the kind who succeed at rebuilding anything. Their expertise is in manipulating the levers of preexisting power, not building power from scratch. The latter requires a special skill set which is quite different than that of your typical maniacal Nancy-boy who's main concern is acquiring digital wealth and becoming increasingly divorced from objective reality. The people who do have these kind of civilization start-up skills are more likely to resemble Conan the Barbarian rather than Lord Humpingsworth and his LIBOR-fixing race horse owners.

I'm sure you are frothing at the bit to point out the fact that it's the eyeball/pyramid party who controls the mechanisms of mass surveillance and the greatest military the world has ever seen, but you'd be making the same mistake as they do in believing that it's the person who gives the orders that has the power. The history books are written with smeared remains of despots who learned the hard way that it's the guy who actually has their hand on the weapon that ultimately has the power.

And now, finally, something you should be afraid of. Not the grand schemes of reptilian space-fascists, but Officer Friendly and Sergeant major Mental Disorder. When they decide that listening to the eccentric whims Prime Minister Fruitcake has outlived it's usefulness, suddenly a whole warrior class of rifle-jocks groomed for their ability to enjoy ruthless brutality in the name of maintaining order at "any cost" is unleashed on the burning streets to make up their own rules. Maybe some of the fallen royalty will see what's about to happen and catch that last helicopter to their private island and die at a ripe old age, but that's not much of a world domination strategy in my book.

The picture I've painted here is a bleak one, but there's a reason for that. Hopefully we can rescue some of the far-out conspiracy folk from their Illuminati dreamland and convince them to make better use of their time while the grid is still sizzling and the streets aren't filled with bodies. Trusting in the delusional plans of wealthy fools is a dangerous escape fantasy. The world is exciting enough as it is.

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Don Feathers (2014-11-21)Spend enough time on the Interwebz and inevitably you will come into contact with the conspiracy theorist under-verse of foaming pseudo-intellectuals all vying for your time and consciousness.

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ou shouldn't have Googled that, you're on a list now. And I really hope you didn't read anything that came up. Knowing anything at all about the Illuminati is very risky - first because they will suspect you are on to them and track you down ruthlessly, and second because you could accidentally end up mentioning some of these facts in conversation, meaning you will never be taken seriously ever again.

So it is at great personal risk and solely to protect you, the reader, that I will try to complete this article leaving you entirely "knowledge neutral". Here is everything you need:

What is the Illuminati?

It is a powerful and savagely guarded organisation that secretly controls the entire modern world, probably while wearing cloaks. It has done this mainly through infiltrating the media and brainwashing everybody. It could be doing it right now.

Alternately, it is one of the world's most persistent conspiracy theories. Persistent because, unlike the piffling conspiracy theories on the 1969 moon landings, John F Kennedy's assassination, and 9/11, which limit themselves with regard to space and time, Illuminati enthusiasts believe that something is up with everything ever, which as it turns out is very hard to disprove.

When was it founded?

Could the Queen really be an ancient lizard? Photograph: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

The Illuminati has existed since the dawn of time. Its insignia can be seen on the pyramids, its influence was evident around the life of Christ, and their top bananas - such as for example the Queen - are in fact ancient lizards dating from an era before man existed (a belief that often comes with some rather unpleasant antisemitic underpinnings). Alternately, it was founded in Bavaria on 1 May 1776, by a man called Adam Weishaupt, who couldn't afford the Freemason admission fee. His society - The Order of the Illuminati - grew from five members to thousands in just a few years, but then, after Karl Theodor became ruler of Bavaria, secret societies were made punishable by death, and there the order ended.

What is it trying to do?

It wants nothing less than to establish a new world order - over which an authoritarian gang of elites would rule, and under which nation states would be banished. Alternately, it is part of a fight against fake news, which began in the 1960s. A journalist for Playboy magazine called Robert Anton Wilson, along with a writer called Kerry Thornley, who had written a jokey text on the Illuminati, decided that the world was becoming too authoritarian, and one way to shake that up would be to get people to start questioning what they read.

They started sending in fake letters from readers talking about a secret organisation called the Illuminati. They would then send in more letters, contradicting these claims. They hoped that these contrary points of view would get people to view the news a little more sceptically. Instead everyone just got very excited about the Illuminati, and the myth spread worldwide.

Who is in the Illuminati?

The Eye of Providence on the US $1 bill has interpreted as being associated with Freemasonry and the Illuminati. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo

Katy Perry, Beyoncé, Jay Z, Madonna, Kim Kardashian, Lady Gaga, Rihanna. Yes, the music industry in fact controls the planet, via, we must assume, the rise of free music-streaming services, which are rapidly causing their own demise. It's a very clever cover-up.

Alternately, none of these people are in the Illuminati, because, rather than sending hooded figures to deal with pesky internet writers who put it about, they deliberately encourage the rumours. Madonna, for example, released a single titled Illuminati, claiming in an interview with Rolling Stone that she knew who the "real Illuminati" were. Beyoncé puts references in her lyrics (In Formation: "Y'all haters corny with that Illuminati mess"), Katy Perry once admitted she believed in aliens. Or maybe they're double bluffing.

How many people believe in the Illuminati?

According to a 2013 poll of US voters by Public Policy Polling (a Democrat-leaning polling firm), 28%. Something to ponder.

Martha Gill is a columnist at the New Statesman, where she writes about politics, culture and neuroscience

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What is the Illuminati? You asked Google - here's the answer | Martha Gill

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ou shouldn't have Googled that, you're on a list now. And I really hope you didn't read anything that came up. Knowing anything at all about the Illuminati is very risky - first because they will suspect you are on to them and track you down ruthlessly, and second because you could accidentally end up mentioning some of these facts in conversation, meaning you will never be taken seriously ever again.

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CONSPIRACY THEORIES & SUBLIMINAL MESSAGES

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ARE WE A SIMULATION? - CONSPIRACY THEORY

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POP CULTURE CONSPIRACY THEORIES with NIKKIE TUTORIALS

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TAYLOR SWIFT THEORIES & CELEBRITY SECRETS

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CONSPIRACY THEORIES & INTERVIEW WITH LIL MIQUELA

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KYLIE JENNER CONSPIRACY THEORIES & LIL MIQUELA UPDATE

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A terrifying voicemail in military code sent to random Twitter users' phones has sent the internet into meltdown as users speculate over its links to MH370, alien life and an impending Doomsday date.

It appears to have started with Ty, an ordinary Twitter user with no apparent prior interest in any of those topics or the conspiracy theories that inevitably accompany any discussion of them.

On March 13, Ty posted a recording of a creepy voicemail message he received on his mobile phone and asked for help translating it.

Since then it has received more than seven million views and hatched a dozen conspiracy theories, earning Ty more than 40,000 extra followers and forcing him to temporarily deactivate his account (he was getting death threats and homophobic taunts) and change his handle.

The bizarre voicemail features a robotic voice droning out an automated message entirely in NATO phonetic alphabet. Deciphered, it reads:

"S Danger SOS it is dire for you to evacuate be caution they are not human 042933964230 SOS Danger SOS."

Other users set to work on the number sequence. They appeared to be a set of coordinates which, when plugged into Google Maps, led to one location in Africa and another near Malaysia.

The latter, many users noted, was "very close" to where Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 vanished from radar, leading to speculation the voicemail was a recording of the doomed plane's encounter with an alien craft.

"Are you saying that Malaysia Flight 370 encountered something non-human???" asked user Gio de Loera in a post retweeted more than 6000 times.

User Tyelashe responded: "It's a police code. It says 'Danger SOS it is dire for you to evacuate. Be cautious they are not human SOS danger SOS".

Ty also posted unsettling direct messages he had been receiving on his Twitter account, one in Indonesian, another in Malay, a couple in morse code and one which appeared to be five groupings of numbers: "20.8.5.25 1.18.5 20.1.11.9.14.7 15.22.5.18 41818".

The Indonesian message, when run through Google translate, turned out to be a warning:

"End the post you just shared about the recording in your phone."

Several users decided the numerical sequences and the Morse code and got this: "They are taking over", and some cryptic lines about the late scientist Stephen Hawking which read: "The message received is well related to Stephen Hawking's death, you are not ready to face them."

The numerical sequences allude to April 18 as some kind of day of reckoning, rapture, or the day when "they" were "taking over".

Disturbingly, a few nights before he started receiving the messages, Ty posted about an odd event in which an unknown man drove by his home and took photographs at 3am using a flash.

He now believes that the man with the camera is linked to the voicemail and the direct messages he received.

Since his post went viral, turning Twitter into a hotbed of paranormal activity and analysis, other equally unsettled users have come forward to say that they too have received the creepy voicemail message.

Twitter user Basspeare received the same automated voicemail as Ty - except his recording features a lengthy message about aliens before the voice launches into the NATO phonetic alphabet.

This is what it says:

"This is not a test, this is not a joke. Over the past several years we have been wanting to send an automated voice message to people who understand and are not afraid. One message at a time will make many know the truth. The truth that other biological beings have been walking the supreme creation that sustains life. Earth.

"A planet created just like our own with technological advancements, you as a human race have kept yourselves strong and living. But as chaos comes to your planet we must show ourselves to prove that there are different ways to keep peace. Many do not agree with what we say, so they may hunt us down.

"Your accomplishments are as follows: You have created religions on a biased unrealistic god, have created a government that is corrupt and will fall soon, your weaponry is only advanced from our technology which you have scavenged from our own. The liquid lands you call your oceans contain many secrets, including some (unintelligible) sunk down into the abyss.

"We will make ourselves known to the best of our utmost capabilities. Clear your air space for safe consequences."

However, there are indications that the messages are part of an alternate reality, a complex puzzle similar to Cicada 3301, which ran for years before it was reportedly cracked in 2014.

A Twitter account called 914, run by someone with the handle @LunarrRabbits, has a pinned tweet dated March 17 which suggests that might be the case.

It reads: "This Event is no where related to catastrophic events, 18 april is definitely safe, all other accounts are impersonating, reason to hold this event is to help people solve an upcoming global cicada event, reason to hold this event is to aware people with knowledge (sic)."
This story originally appeared in news.com.au.

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Creepy military voicemail warning of impending Doomsday sends internet into meltdown

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A terrifying voicemail in military code sent to random Twitter users' phones has sent the internet into meltdown as users speculate over its links to MH370, alien life and an impending Doomsday date. It appears to have started with Ty, an ordinary Twitter user with no apparent prior interest in any of those topics or the conspiracy theories that inevitably accompany any discussion of them.

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0:00 / 28:34•Watch full video

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New Podcast Episode: iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/shane-and-friends/id658136421?mt=2 SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/shaneandfriends/episode-132-niki-gabi-hoodie#t=0:01 NEW (VIDEO) PODCAST with NIKI & GABI AND HOODIE ALLEN! http://www.fullscreen.com or on the APP STORE: Fullscreen - You're In by Fullscreen, Inc. https://appsto.re/us/22Tt2.i Click here to watch my new short film, THE LOTTERY! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msZPZ50Jq9c CLICK HERE to get my NEW BOOK "It Gets Worse"!

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IlluminatiOfficial.org - The Illuminati's Official Website

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I learned that the Illuminati is there for you, and welcomes you to the bright side.
The Illuminati has a lot of wisdom and it's good for you, because
it lets you see things in another perspective.

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I learned that the Illuminati is there for you, and welcomes you to the bright side. The Illuminati has a lot of wisdom and it's good for you, because it lets you see things in another perspective.

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A man in South Carolina has been scammed out of $250 by fake recruiters claiming to be from the Illuminati.

According a local police report, the victim was contacted about joining the secret organisation, but was told he had to pay an upfront membership fee.

He also sent a second cheque for $2,000 to them, but managed to cancel it before his account was charged.

It is not the first time scammers have used the Illuminati name to extort money from victims. The secrecy surrounding the group has made the offer of membership an alluring prospect for curious internet users.

Indeed, the web is awash with theories about the Illuminati, a mysterious group that conspiracy theorists believe is seeking a "New World Order" that would impose a totalitarian world government. Among the alleged members of the secret society are not just politicians and religious leaders, but actors and pop stars.

Echoing the anti-communist witch-hunts and black-listings of 1950s Hollywood, one of the core beliefs of Illuminati watchers is that the entire entertainment industry has been infiltrated and that Illuminati members are using the media to brainwash the masses.

So who are the Illuminati and who has the group apparently recruited from Tinseltown?

Who are the Illuminati?

The original Illuminati group was founded in Bavaria in the 18th century by Adam Weishaupt, an anti-clerical professor who wanted to limit the interference of the Church in public life. He based his secret society on the Freemasons, with a hierarchy and mysterious rituals, and named it the Order of Illuminati to reflect the enlightened ideals of its educated members.

Chris Hodapp, the co-author of Conspiracy Theories and Secret Societies for Dummies, says a defining feature of early Illuminati members is that they did not trust anyone over 30, because they were too set in their ways.

In terms of their legacy, historians tend to think the original Illuminati was only "mildly successful - at best - in becoming influential", says Vox. The order did boast some influential members, with the most famous of these alleged to have been the German thinker Johann Goethe.

The Illuminati was stamped out by a government crackdown on secret societies in the late 1780s, but rumours that it continued to survive as an underground organisation have persisted into the modern day.

How did the modern-day myth develop?

In a recent interview with the BBC, David Bramwell, "a man who has dedicated himself to documenting the origins of the myth", claims the modern-day Illuminati legend was influenced not by Weishaupt but rather by LSD, the 1960s counter-culture, and specifically a text called Principia Discordia.

The book extolled an alternative belief system - Discordianism - which preached a form of anarchism and gave birth to the Discordian movement which ultimately wished to cause civil disobedience through practical jokes and hoaxes.

One of the main proponents of this new ideology was a writer called Robert Anton Wilson who wanted to bring chaos back into society by "disseminating misinformation through all portals - through counter culture, through the mainstream media," claims Bramwell.

He did this by sending fake letters to the men's magazine Playboy, where he worked, attributing cover-ups and conspiracy theories, such as the JFK assassination, to a secret elite organisation called the Illuminati.

Wilson went on to turn these theories into a book, The Illuminatus Trilogy, which became a surprise cult success and were even made into a stage play in Liverpool, launching the careers of British actors Bill Nighy and Jim Broadbent.

What is the New World Order?

Despite its relative popularity success, the idea of a powerful modern Illuminati conspiring to rule the world remained a niche belief upheld by a handful of cranks until the 1990s. The spread of the internet changed all that, giving conspiracy theorists a global platform to expound their beliefs and present their evidence to a massive audience.

Theories about how the New World Order operates run from the faintly credible - in light of the Davos summit, a cabal of politicians and business leaders getting together to decide global policies doesn't seem impossible - to the outright bizarre.

Earlier this year, Canada's respected former defence minister, Paul Hellyer, came out and claimed not only that the Illuminati is real, but that it does indeed control the world.

Speaking on the Lazarus Effect podcast, Hellyer said he believed the world's elite has suppressed technology brought to Earth by aliens, which could reverse the effects of climate change and end our reliance on fossil fuels.

When asked why, he said many members of the Illuminati have stakes in oil and were therefore heavily invested in how well the industry did.

The Daily Mail said Hellyer's claim to the validity of the Illuminati myth "makes him the highest ranking government official worldwide to do so".

At the other end of the believability spectrum is former TV presenter David Icke's claim that the world's leaders are actually super-intelligent lizards in human guise who control our reality from the Moon. Those who remember Icke from his days on Grandstand may be surprised to know his theories about our reptilian overlords - who have included the Rothschilds, Bob Hope and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother - have amassed a faithful following on the internet.

Conspiracy theorists obsessively analyse public events for "evidence" of Illuminati influence. The symbols most associated with the Illuminati include triangles, pentagrams, goats, the all-seeing eye - such as the one that appears on US bank notes - and the number 666.

This has led to claims some of the American Founding Fathers were members, with Thomas Jefferson baselessly accused in the aftermath of the War of Independence.

Another commonly cited Illuminati symbol, which appears on US currency, is the so-called Eye of Providence, which is said to represent the omniscience of God watching over humanity.

According to a 2013 survey by Public Policy Polling, 28% of US voters believe that a secretive power elite with a globalist agenda is conspiring to eventually rule the world through an authoritarian global government. It found that 34% of Republicans and 35% of independents believe in the New World Order threat compared to just 15% of Democrats.

Who is supposedly a member?

As well as being king and queen of the charts, Beyonce and Jay Z are frequently depicted as lords of the New World Order. Beyonce's immense fame and popularity have long made her a favourite target for conspiracy theorists. Illuminati "experts" seized upon her half-time performance at the 2013 Super Bowl as an example of her "devil-worshipping" choreography, even accusing her on-stage alter ego Sasha Fierce of being a "demonic entity".

Her recent performance at this year's Coachella music festival sent conspiracy theorist tongues wagging again.

According to A.V. Club internet truth-seekers have decoded the real meaning behind Beyonce's set: "displaying and wearing symbols that help people remember she's out to help establish the New World Order".

Among the clues that have been seized upon by eagle-eyed fans are Beyonce making a circle over her eye, her decision to wear a costume sporting Egyptian symbolism and her ring which has been said to carry satanic imagery- all of which apparently reference the Illuminati.

Further encouraging the rumours is the widespread use of supposed Illuminati imagery in music videos. Many Freemason and Illuminati symbols, like devil horns and the all-seeing eye, have simply become popular in mainstream culture. But it's also true that some musicians seem to enjoy deliberately playing with symbols connected to secret societies.

For instance, Rihanna frequently incorporates Illuminati images into her music videos, and even joked about the theories in the video for S&M, which featured a fake newspaper with a headline declaring her "Princess of the Illuminati".

Jay Z has also been accused of hiding secret symbols such as goat imagery and devil horns in his music videos. Most damningly, the logo for his own music label, Roc-A-Fella Records, is a pyramid - one of the most well-known Illuminati logos.

Earlier this year, in an interview with CNN, Republican House candidate Bill Fawell, stood by a blog post from 2013 in which he claimed Jay-Z "has a long history of serving up the godless Illuminati" and that both he and Beyonce expressed their support for the Illuminati in their videos, and that singer Taylor Swift had as well.

In the same blog post Fawell also said Madonna's 2012 Super Bowl half-time show appearance had contained satanic imagery and was influenced by the Illuminati. The party later withdrew its support for his campaign.

Rob Brotherton, a professor at Barnard College and author of Suspicious Minds: Why We Believe in Conspiracy Theories, explains that real-life government conspiracies targeting black people in America, such as FBI infiltration of the Civil Rights movement in the 1950s and 60s, planted the seeds for Illuminati theory's popularity today.

Speaking to Complex, he said: "Hip-hop served as this [soapbox] for people to talk about issues that were relevant to them, things like discrimination, poverty, the criminal justice system, which are often seemingly slanted against African-Americans".

"It's a short leap to go from noticing some kind of injustice to thinking about whether there's something behind it. Hip-hop was just a good candidate to revive this myth," he says.

What is the significance of the black left eye?

Another theory currently doing the rounds suggests celebrities seen sporting black left eyes are actually part of the secretive group.

Elizabeth Hurley, Boy George and Robert Downey Jnr are among the A-listers who have been photographed with eye bruising recently, while former US President George W. Bush, along with the Pope, Prince Philip and Prince Andrew, have all also been photographed with black eyes in recent years.

According to the Daily Mail, some conspiracy theories believe the black left eye "is part of a cult or Illuminati high-level initiation ritual during which the pledger is said to be forced to 'eat pain' in a quest to become more powerful".

Author and internet radio show host Sherry Shriner, who believes politicians and entertainers have sold their souls to Satan, has spoken of the link between these black eyes and so-called "soul scalping".

"You cannot be on TV now, without signing on the dotted line. The bizarre recurrence of facial bruises on Illuminati politicians and entertainers has resulted in speculation that their souls have been replaced in a satanic ritual called "soul scalping", she said.

The bruised left eye has also been referred to as the "Illuminati shiner", a mark given to those who have scaled their way to the top of the elite pyramid.

Since medieval times, the black eye has been associated with the "devil's mark" while others have noted the link to ancient Egyptian religious imagery, most notably that of the Sun god Horus, whose black left eye represented the moon.

Another, more prosaic explanation, is that the black eye is a result of cosmetic surgery favoured by A-list celebrities.

Does the Illuminati control the music industry?

As a symbol of the sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll counterculture of the 1960s, The Beatles were loathed by many conservatives. When John Lennon claimed the band were "bigger than Jesus" in 1966, US evangelicals responded by destroying their records in mass burnings.

However, were the band deliberately planted in order to undermine western society? That's the premise of the Aquarian Conspiracy, which was started in the 1990s by former MI6 agent John Coleman.

A MI6 insider might ordinarily seem like a reliable source for a juicy scoop about shadowy organisations, but the Aquarian Conspiracy strains the credulousness of even the most ardent conspiracy theorist.

Coleman claimed the Beatles' overwhelming transatlantic success was engineered by the Tavistock Institute for Human Relations, a London-based social research group - or, as theorists would have it, a nefarious organisation dedicated to eroding the bedrock of US society.

To that end, argues the former special agent, the institute's Illuminati connections used the Fab Four to further its plan to promote "rock music and drugs" with the aim of "undermining and eventually destroying the family unit", The Sun reports.

Internet theorists say they picked up signs of so-called Aquarian Conspiracy after poring over song lyrics and album covers to find hidden messages and supposed Illuminati signs.

Earlier this year, Paul McCartney set tongues wagging again, after posting a mystical-looking drawing on his twitter account.

Depicting what looks like a triangular shape surrounded by an orb of spherical emissions, several fans were quick to point out the drawing's close resemblance to The Eye of Providence; a frequent symbol associated the Illuminati.

What do celebrities have to say about the theories?

Katy Perry told Rolling Stone that the theory was the preserve of "weird people on the internet" but admitted she was flattered to be named among the supposed members: "I guess you've kind of made it when they think you're in the Illuminati!" But she was tolerant of people who wanted to believe in the theory because: "I believe in aliens".

Madonna, on the other hand, might just be a believer - all the more interesting given that she has frequently been accused of being a member herself. Speaking to Rolling Stone, she hinted that she had secret knowledge of the group. The claim is not so shocking given that she released a single titled 'Illuminati'. She said: "People often accuse me of being a member of the Illuminati, but the thing is, I know who the real Illuminati are."

Beyonce thrilled her fans by unexpectedly releasing a new single, Formation, last month - but conspiracy theorists were excited for another reason. The very first line of the track acknowledged the rumours: "Y'all haters corny with that Illuminati mess," she says, understandably unimpressed that she apparently owes her success to a devil-worshipping secret sect.

When Prince died suddenly of an accidental overdose in April, a small but vocal corner of the internet accused the Illuminati of killing the singer-songwriter, who was famous for fiercely protecting his copyrights and artistic freedom from industry interference.

"The Illuminati talk won't stop coming and what doesn't help is that Prince himself seems to have been genuinely convinced that the organisation existed," reports one gossip website.

In 2009, the singer appeared on TV to warn of powerful mystery figures controlling the world through "chemtrails" - chemicals pumped into the air via jet planes to manipulate human behaviour.

What is QAnon?

The Illuminati is also a favourite subject of the widely publicised pro-Donald Trump QAnon conspiracy theory.

QAnon has sought to tie in a host of outlandish conspiracies about subjects ranging from the sinking of the Titanic to a secret CIA propaganda programme in the 1950s and the foundation of the US Federal Reserve central bank, into an overarching story with the Illuminati at its centre.

QAnon may have only surfaced nine months ago, "but its obsession with the Rothschilds, the Illuminati, the CIA's supposed Operation Mockingbird, JP Morgan and the Titanic revives decades, even centuries, of moth-eaten paranoia", says the Washington Post.

The open source nature of QAnon, where an anonymous poster called Q shares something for thousands of other people to interpret as they see fit, "means other conspiracy theories fit neatly within QAnon - like ones about false flag shootings, Jewish bankers controlling the world, or the Illuminati", says Vox.

QAnon's readiness to buy into the Illuminati legend is hardly surprising, however, writes James McConnachie and Robin Tudge, authors of The Rough Guide to Conspiracy Theories.

"Perhaps because of the complete lack of any evidence for who the Illuminati actually are, they have simply become whatever conspiracists want them to be", they say.

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The Illuminati: who are they and what do they control?

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A man in South Carolina has been scammed out of $250 by fake recruiters claiming to be from the Illuminati. According a local police report, the victim was contacted about joining the secret organisation, but was told he had to pay an upfront membership fee.

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The 18th-century German thinker Adam Weishaupt would have been stunned if he had known his ideas would one day fuel global conspiracy theories, and inspire best-selling novels and blockbuster films.

Until he was 36, the vast majority of his compatriots would have been equally stunned to discover that this outwardly respectable professor was a dangerous enemy of the state, whose secret society, the Illuminati, was seen to threaten the very fabric of society.

Born in 1748 in Ingolstadt, a city in the Electorate of Bavaria (now part of modern-day Germany), Weishaupt was a descendant of Jewish converts to Christianity. Orphaned at a young age, his scholarly uncle took care of his education, and enrolled him in a Jesuit school. After completing his studies, Weishaupt became a professor of natural and canon law at the University of Ingolstadt, married, and started a family. On the surface, it was a conventional enough career-until 1784 when the Bavarian state learned of his incendiary ideas.

A closer look at his upbringing, however, reveals that Weishaupt always had a restless mind. As a boy he was an avid reader, consuming books by the latest French Enlightenment philosophers in his uncle's library. Bavaria at that time was deeply conservative and Catholic. Weishaupt was not the only one who believed that the monarchy and the church were repressing freedom of thought.

Convinced that religious ideas were no longer an adequate belief system to govern modern societies, he decided to find another form of "illumination," a set of ideas and practices that could be applied to radically change the way European states were run.

Freemasonry was steadily expanding throughout Europe in this period, offering attractive alternatives to freethinkers. Weishaupt initially thought of joining a lodge. Disillusioned with many of the Freemasons' ideas, however, he became absorbed in books dealing with such esoteric themes as the Mysteries of the Seven Sages of Memphis and the Kabbala, and decided to found a new secret society of his own.

Society of Secrets

Weishaupt was not, he said, against religion itself, but rather the way in which it was practiced and imposed. His thinking, he wrote, offered freedom "from all religious prejudices; cultivates the social virtues; and animates them by a great, a feasible, and speedy prospect of universal happiness." To achieve this, it was necessary to create "a state of liberty and moral equality, freed from the obstacles which subordination, rank, and riches, continually throw in our way."

On the night of May 1, 1776, the first Illuminati met to found the order in a forest near Ingolstadt. Bathed in torchlight, there were five men. There they established the rules that were to govern the order. All future candidates for admission required the members' consent, a strong reputation with well-established familial and social connections, and wealth.

In the beginning, the order's membership had three levels: novices, minervals, and illuminated minervals. "Minerval" referred to the Roman goddess of wisdom, Minerva, reflecting the order's aim to spread true knowledge, or illumination, about how society, and the state, might be reshaped.

Over the following years, Weishaupt's secret order grew considerably in size and diversity, possibly numbering 600 members by 1782. They included important people in Bavarian public life, such as Baron Adolph von Knigge. Although, at first, the Illuminati were limited to Weishaupt's students, the membership expanded to included noblemen, politicians, doctors, lawyers, and jurists, as well as intellectuals and some leading writers, including Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. By the end of 1784, the Illuminati had 2,000 to 3,000 members.

Baron von Knigge played a very considerable role in the society's organization and expansion. As a former Freemason, he was in favor of adopting rites similar to theirs. Members of the Illuminati were given a symbolic "secret" name taken from classical antiquity: Weishaupt was Spartacus, for example, and Knigge was Philo. The membership levels also became a more complex hierarchy. There were a total of 13 degrees of initiation, divided into three classes. The first culminated in the degree of illuminatus minor, the second illuminatus dirigens, and the third, that of king.

An Inside Job

Pressures both internal and external, however, would soon put an end to the order's expansion into the upper echelons of Bavarian power. Weishaupt and Knigge increasingly fought over the aims and procedures of the order, a conflict that, in the end, forced Knigge to leave the society. At the same time, another ex-member, Joseph Utzschneider, wrote a letter to the Grand Duchess of Bavaria, supposedly lifting the lid on this most secret of societies.

The revelations were a mix of truth and lies. According to Utzschneider, the Illuminati believed that suicide was legitimate, that its enemies should be poisoned, and that religion was an absurdity. He also suggested that the Illuminati were conspiring against Bavaria on behalf of Austria. Having been warned by his wife, the Duke-Elector of Bavaria issued an edict in June 1784 banning the creation of any kind of society not previously authorized by law.

The Illuminati initially thought that this general prohibition would not directly affect them. But just under a year later, in March 1785, the Bavarian sovereign passed a second edict, which expressly banned the order. In the course of carrying out arrests of members, Bavarian police found highly compromising documents, including a defense of suicide and atheism, a plan to create a female branch of the order, invisible ink recipes, and medical instructions for carrying out abortions. The evidence was used as the basis for accusing the order of conspiring against religion and the state. In August 1787, the duke-elector issued a third edict in which he confirmed that the order was prohibited, and imposed the death penalty for membership.

Weishaupt lost his post at the University of Ingolstadt and was banished. He lived the rest of his life in Gotha in Saxony where he taught philosophy at the University of Göttingen. The Bavarian state considered the Illuminati dismantled.

Their legacy, however, has endured and fuels many conspiracy theories. Weishaupt was accused-falsely-of helping to plot the French Revolution. The Illuminati have been fingered in recent events, such as the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Weishaupt's ideas have also influenced the realms of popular fiction, such as Dan Brown's Angels & Demons and Foucault's Pendulum by Italian novelist Umberto Eco. Although his group was disbanded, Weishaupt's lasting contribution may be the idea that secret societies linger behind the scenes, pulling the levers of power.

Editor's note: This article originally presented Mayer Amschel Rothschild as a funder and member of the Bavarian Illuminati. Upon further research, we have found no historical evidence to back up that claim and have corrected the text.

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The 18th-century German thinker Adam Weishaupt would have been stunned if he had known his ideas would one day fuel global conspiracy theories, and inspire best-selling novels and blockbuster films. Until he was 36, the vast majority of his compatriots would have been equally stunned to discover that this outwardly respectable professor was a dangerous enemy of the state, whose secret society, the Illuminati, was seen to threaten the very fabric of society.

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il-lu-mi-na-ti
-people claiming to possess special enlightenment or knowledge of something.
-a Bavarian secret society founded in 1776, organized like the Freemasons

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1 ) who and what are the Illuminati and what is their motive?

2 ) is the Illuminati really bad?

3 ) is this investigation fake