Evolving Folks Project

On Saturday, July 4th, 2026, America celebrated its 250th anniversary—a milestone for a nation built on freedom, liberty, and justice, even though in 1776 these ideals applied only to land- and slave-owning white men. From the beginning, this country has embodied great contradictions.

Racism, slavery, and internet porn are as American as baseball and apple pie. Yet Americans have achieved great things: landing on the moon, producing great works of literature, establishing the national park systems, and surviving two pandemics in a century. Since WWII, the U.S. may have taken over aspects of Western imperialism from Great Britain, which is not good. The United States has also shaped global culture through film, fashion, and music. The African American experience inspires global resistance movements and culture. For food lovers, America offers everything from tacos to spicy curries to soul food. The U.S. has contributed both harm, like nuclear bombs, and culture, like hip-hop, to the globe. Still, one uniquely American creation I love in this land of democracy and political hypocrisy is conspiracy theories—especially since JFK’s assassination, Americans have been obsessed with them.

Today, I’ll share my three favorite conspiracy theories about the United States, ranging from the silly to the serious. Without further ado, let me start with the first one: UFOs.

UFOs

Aliens are rumored to be housed at Area 51. Many civilians in the American Southwest have reported alien abductions. The 1996 movie Independence Day drew inspiration from these theories and made Will Smith a superstar. For those rooted in online culture, July 4th also marks the fictional day Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum saved humanity from aliens.

Although there are legitimate claims from commercial and military pilots, there are also reports from government officials who report unexplained objects in the night sky. Do I think Earth is the only planet with life? Nope, the universe is too vast to just assume that it’s just us. And if it is only Earth that is the sole planet carrying life, then that’s pretty terrifying. I do believe aliens are real, but I think David Icke’s Reptilian Agenda Conspiracy is total fantasy. Also, I don’t think beings are traveling mind-numbing distances from other galaxies just to abduct a farmer from Kansas. If you grew up in the 90s, you know the culture was all about aliens, from the movie Mars Attacks! From the hit show The X-Files to another Will Smith hit movie, Men in Black. Aliens were everywhere in pop culture.

Vaccines

Because of a flawed study, a 90s Playboy Playmate, and the most prominent talk show of all time, old diseases like measles and polio are resurging in 2026. These infections should be history, but Jenny McCarthy’s appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show in the early 2000s contributed to the comeback of these once-contained diseases. She falsely claimed that vaccines caused autism, despite extensive research disproving any connection, and her claims stem from a widely discredited study.

In 1960, the U.S. population was about 180 million. By 2026, it’s around 350 million. As our population grew, so did autism diagnoses and our understanding of autism. Autism is just another way of being, and many with autism live full, healthy lives. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, some believed vaccines were more dangerous than the virus, with wild claims circulating. I was even called a sheeple by an old college friend for getting vaccinated. Anti-vax beliefs grew as over three million Americans died from coronavirus, and many live with long COVID to this very day. Vaccines are one of the greatest medical breakthroughs of all time, but this conspiracy still puts unvaccinated children at risk for preventable diseases.

The Crack Era

This is one conspiracy theory I believe has a real basis, thanks to tons of evidence. I grew up in Chicago in the 80s and saw the effects of the crack epidemic firsthand. The claim is that the U.S. government introduced drugs into Black communities to fund anti-communist efforts in Central America during the 80s. I am not alone in this belief.

The book “Dark Alliance,” which builds on journalist Gary Webb’s 1996 San Jose Mercury News series, claims that Nicaraguan Contra leaders, with CIA support, trafficked cocaine into the U.S. and contributed to the crack epidemic in Los Angeles. The book also covers how the media reported on Webb’s work.

This is a serious issue because the media destroyed Gary Webb’s career. Before he exposed the Reagan Administration’s alleged role in harming Black communities with illegal drugs, he was a highly respected journalist. Webb died from two gunshot wounds in 2004, and his death was ruled a suicide. This raises questions about how someone could shoot themselves twice in the head.

Our legal system pushes harsher sentences for crack than for cocaine, which once showed social divides: crack was linked to the poor, while cocaine was linked to the wealthy.

Not to mention the story of infamous drug dealer ‘Freeway’ Ricky Ross, and his story of being one of the central figures in the entire conspiracy, as he created a drug empire that started in Los Angeles in the 1980s, thanks to crack.

Ross said he sold drugs not just in Los Angeles but in cities across the country, such as St. Louis, New Orleans, Kansas City, Baltimore, Cleveland, and Seattle, as well as in states like Texas, Oklahoma, Indiana, North Carolina, and South Carolina. He said his biggest profits came from Ohio. He made similar statements in a 1996 PBS interview.

I saw my friends whose parents had an addiction. Families ruined by what we called crackheads, those who stole from their own families, sold themselves sexually, and even committed violence, all to get a fix. There were children born in my community with parents who were addicts. Even my neighbor growing up had a person with an addiction as a father who died way too young. The crack epidemic to me wasn’t some faraway time; it was all around me, growing up. I witnessed gunfights between rival gangs over drug turf. As a boy, my cousin and I were chased out of neighborhoods by gang boys, and I even saw a young man accidentally shoot himself as he fled a rival gang on the block who thought he was trying to sell on their turf. My brother lost several friends to gun violence before he graduated high school in 1999. So this conspiracy hits home hard.

Those are my three favorite conspiracy theories, ranging from silly to serious. Each reveals something about America, from our fascination with the unknown to our struggles with misinformation and real tragedy. Maybe aliens aren’t really here. Vaccines do save lives, no matter what your MAGA-loving uncle says. Rest in peace, Gary Webb, the brave journalist who exposed high-level corruption and paid the ultimate price. The land of the free is also the home of the conspiracy.