Humans first theorized the Earth may be spherical in ancient Greece thousands of years ago, according to the American Physical Society. Since then, scientists have discovered an abundance of evidence to confirm this is the case – including seeing Earth itself from space.
Claims the Earth is flat continue to circulate, though.
Experts say flat Earth claims endure in large part because of the repetition enabled by social media.
"There's what you might think of as a misinformation feedback loop," said Jeffery Blevins, a professor at the University of Cincinnati who specializes in misinformation. "If you have just one false claim from one source that gets repeated by other sources on social media and fringe outlets, suddenly it sounds like it's coming from all these different sources. And if all these sources are saying the same thing, then people – erroneously – think there must be something to it."
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The USA TODAY Fact-Check Team has investigated a wide range of flat Earth-related claims, including those built on misunderstandings about feeling the Earth's rotation or how planes can fly "straight and level" if the Earth isn't flat. We also debunked variations of the related conspiracy theory that space isn't real.
Here's a roundup of our work:
Claim: Earth isn't curved and doesn't rotate
Our rating:...
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