It's one of the craziest sounding conspiracy theories to come out of the past few years,

but no matter how crazy it is, the data shows that more and more people are embracing it.

We can only be talking about QAnon, the fantasy universe in which a shadowy government

insider broadcasts shattering predictions to the world, using an internet forum best known

for pornography and racist content.

This is the QAnon conspiracy coming up next on Skeptoid.

You're listening to Skeptoid. I'm Brian Dunning from Skeptoid.com. The QAnon Conspiracy

Theory.

Surveys show that about a quarter of Americans are familiar with the QAnon Conspiracy

Theory, and that's a staggering number of people. What began as a few random and

childishly implausible posts on an obscure internet message board, favored by porn enthusiasts,

racists and other fringe extremists, has grown into a very serious political movement in

just a few years. Today we're going to shine our skeptical light into the darkest corners

of the internet to illuminate the QAnon Conspiracy Theory, one of the most fascinating developments

that will grace the pages of sociology textbooks for decades to come.

During the 2016 US presidential campaign in which Donald Trump ultimately defeated Hillary

Clinton, a number of Anons, a term for people posting to the internet anonymously, began

to make false derogatory claims about Clinton in an effort to tilt public opinion in favor

of Trump. These posters included FBI Anon, who insured Trump supporters that Clinton

would be arrested as soon as Trump was elected, and others with names such as CIA Anon,

White House Insider Anon, and High Level Insider Anon. They all claimed to be in positions

of special insight and power, and all generally assured Trump voters that should their candidate

...