Entry #026: Rosalie Bertell

That she has updated her Wikipedia page herself in first person (using capslock) is a nice touch, strongly suggesting at least a degree of kookery. And Rosalie Bertell delivers. Now, Bertell has a background in science and cancer research, but at some point she unhinged and drifted off into uncharted territories. She is currently the leading “expert” on the chemtrail conspiracy – the idea that contrails are actually chemicals or biological agents deliberately sprayed at high altitudes for a purpose undisclosed to the general public. Also discussed here. Bertell thinks “chemtrails” are carriers for all kinds of biological and chemical warfare which the government (military) is, for some undisclosed reason, going to drop on ordinary people (apparently the government is at war with Mother Earth, which, according to Bertell, is a living (sentient?) organism). She doesn’t believe the “official story”, that chemtrails are either combating global warming via spraying populated areas with aerosolized metals or aerial pharmacopeia (pollution modification). The fact that the chemtrail phenomenon is a myth makes one wonder who came up with Bertell’s “official story”.

She also explores possible explanations for recent earthquake anomalies (and again the anomalies are not recognized by anyone who knows anything about the issues, which Bertell does not) with the following suggestions: a gamma ray/gravity wave from space? HAARP-induced deep earth tomography (yes, Bertell is into that conspiracy as well)? Or a direct wave weapon, accident or purposeful? She is also very concerned with radiation, electromagnetic and radioactive, and magnetic fields, relying exclusively on anecdotal correlations, hearsay and intuition, and displaying no understanding of the processes or what counts as evidence.

You can listen to her here. A library of some of her kookiest contributions can be found here.

Bertrell is also a 9/11 troofer (and in general seems to accept every and any conspiracy theory that pits the evil government against noble ordinary people).

She is also a human rights and environmental activist and has done a lot of good in that respect, but her positive contributions are at present blurred with her crackpottery – at some point her environmental concerns turned into complete paranoia, conspiracy mongering and general crankiness.

And it appears we no longer have to worry about this loon.

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Diagnosis: Well-intentioned crackpot who has lost the ability to distinguish the scientific method from personal intuition; has a lot of followers, and at present she probably does more harm than good to important causes that she works on.

Entry #019: Nick Begich

Spend enough time trawling through the recesses of crackpot county and you will eventually come across this sort. They are the ur-tinfoil-hatters – the HAARP conspiracy theorists. You know what the real cause of global warming is? And what caused the Yellowstone earthquakes? Or the earthquake in Sichuan, China? Recent volcanic eruptions? You guessed it - HAARP! HAARP is short for the ‘high-frequency active auroral research program’. It is a real program, but the source of what Sharon Weinberger calls ‘the Moby Dick of conspiracy theories’. Not only does the US government apparently use it to disrupt the stability of other countries, shake up terrorists, and cause major power outages, the Gulf War syndrome and the Columbine shootings – they also use it to control the minds of Americans. Proponents trace it back to Tesla. And that should be red flag enough (Tesla-crackpottery is a distinctive subgroup of crackpottery).

Dr. Nick Begich comes from a family of Alaskan politicians (Democrats – Nick Begich sr. was an Alaskan Representative who disappeared mysteriously in the seventies). He is the coauthor of ‘Angels don’t play this HAARP’, and one of the main activists behind the HAARP conspiracy movement. Their website is here. Begich is also featured in several paranormal talks (not for the faint-hearted). This guy is, in short, into whatever lunatic conspiracy theory and quackery you could possibly imagine.

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Diagnosis: Utterly unhinged kook, imbecile madman; the HAARP conspiracy itself is surprisingly widespread but remains a fringe phenomenon (except in certain countries). That Nick Begich is considered an authority tells you all you need to know about it.