Sky High Conspiracies: The Most Popular Theories Explored

With the development of social media platforms like TikTok, these theories have continued to grow in popularity, reaching huge audiences. TikTok’s largely unregulated content environment has fueled the dissemination, allowing for rapid and widespread sharing of speculative ideas around worldly events.

But which conspiracy theories captivate us the most?

We at Airhead, an ATPL question bank, analysed Wikipedia page views and monthly search volumes of the most common flight-related conspiracy theories. We compared data across top UK and EU cities to reveal the most thrilling conspiracies. 

5 of the Biggest Conspiracy Theories Uncovered

Theory 1: Flight MH370

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 vanished on March 8, 2014, while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Despite extensive search efforts, the plane's disappearance remains one of the greatest aviation mysteries of our generation. There are various theories on its whereabouts and fate, including mechanical failure, pilot errors, hijacking, and even deliberate disappearance.

The official wikipedia page for the mystery has gathered 310,354 pageviews in June 2024 alone, with an average monthly search volume across UK and EU cities at 1,560.

Theory 2: Space Shuttle Disasters

In 1986, Space Shuttle Challenger suffered a tragic fate after an explosion on board. Nearly two decades later in 2003, Columbia disintegrated. Both of these incidents claimed the lives of all crew members, and had a significant impact on NASA’s space program in the aftermath, leading to increased safety protocols, and changes in the shuttle’s design. But conspiracy theorists have suggested the events occurred due to sabotage, alien interference, and cover-ups. These events resulted in 284,916 pageviews on Wikipedia in June 2024.

Theory 3: Bermuda Triangle

The Bermuda Triangle comes third with a combined score of 234,339. It’s sometimes known as the Devil’s Triangle, and is a region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean where numerous aircraft and ships are said to have disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Conspiracy theories around the area range from natural magnetic anomalies, to extraterrestrial interventions.

Theory 4: Area 51

Area 51, a classified facility in Nevada USA, has long been the subject of conspiracy. Many of the theories claim the US Air Force zone is a site for UFO research, and the storage of alien technology. The intense secrecy about the area has fueled our fascination and speculation, and has since warranted a 4th place ranking in this research with an average monthly search volume of 34,630.

Theory 5: Amelia Earhart

A pioneering aviator who was attempting to circumnavigate the world, Amelia Earhart disappeared mysteriously in 1937. Without a single sighting or evidence of crashing, her disappearance led to numerous theories including that she may have been captured by Japan, or decided to live in secrecy. Despite many searches and investigations, her fate remains unknown nearly 90 years later; but her legend doesn’t fail to captivate us with a combined score of 156,912.

Regional Fascination with Flight-Related Conspiracies

Chemtrails

Chemtrails have become a hot topic in major European cities like Paris, Madrid, Berlin, and Vienna. With monthly search volumes ranging from 1,800 to 2,900, people are obsessed with the possibility of environmental impacts and transparency of these high-altitude aerosol sprays.

The strong interest in this topic within these key EU cities comes as no surprise, as they have a reputation for their strong environmental initiatives and policies. But the general public are questioning official explanations and continue to seek scientific scrutiny in order to understand how chemtrails could be affecting their local environments and beyond.

Area 51

We found that Area 51’s secrecy, and alleged extraterrestrial connections, intrigue a broad European audience. The fascination with advanced military technologies, governmental secrecy, and theories about otherworldly encounters are captivating imaginations in London (5,700 monthly search volume), Paris (4,700), Madrid (4,700), Berlin (2,200), and Vienna (1,900).

Amelia Earhart

Amelia Earhart’s mysterious disappearance continues to enthral minds across multiple cities. 

Her story resonates deeply in London (6,800 average monthly searches), Paris (2,200), Madrid (2,200), Berlin (1,500), and Vienna (1,500). This is possibly due to their shared admiration for historical explorers and, of course, the enduring allure of unresolved mysteries in aviation history.

Bermuda Triangle

The Bermuda Triangle’s legendary mysteries of disappearances at sea hold significant appeal across Europe, reflecting a broader fascination with maritime history, mythical tales, and the mysteries of the deep. This area captivates imaginations in London (6,200 monthly search volume), Paris (3,500), Madrid (3,200), Berlin (2,100), and Vienna (1,900). People are intrigued by the vast accounts of ships and planes vanishing without a trace in the Triangle, and seek to understand the potential explanations, whether natural or supernatural.

The Most Viewed Conspiracy Theories 

Flight MH370

Last month, a Cardiff University research team suggested the possibility of a six-second signal from the lost aircraft, renewing interest in Flight MH370. They explained that aircraft crashes create acoustic signals detectable over 3,000 km underwater. This finding offers fresh hope in solving the mystery, with a daily average pageview of 10,345 in June.

Space Shuttle Disasters

Interest in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster spiked recently (daily pageview average of 5,691) after a controversy involving War Thunder, a game developer. The company issued an apology three weeks ago after imagery from the Challenger disaster appeared in their artwork, drawing significant public attention and sparking discussions about the tragic event once more.

Bermuda Triangle

The Bermuda Triangle continues to captivate the public's imagination, driven by its insane popularity and the mysterious shipwrecks that often wash up after being assumed lost in the area. This enduring mystery keeps people fascinated and eager to learn more about the unexplained phenomena associated with this infamous region. In the last month, the theory’s Wikipedia page had a daily average pageview of 7,341. 

Summary

Reflecting on our findings, Alex Whittingham, Director at Airhead said ”the ongoing fascination with mysteries like the Bermuda Triangle, Flight MH370, and Area 51 shows how much we love a good mystery. 

“These stories keep us intrigued because they challenge what we think we know.” They believe that social media has significantly influenced the spread and popularity of these theories.

Methodology

Using AI tools, we collated a seed list of 12 popular flight-related conspiracy theories. We conducted keyword research to find the monthly search volume of each theory across 20 UK and EU cities determined by population. Pageview analysis of the last 30 days was conducted to find the total views and daily average views of each theories’ corresponding wikipedia page.