Ryan:

Interest and even obsession with conspiracy theories goes back to the beginning of time. The modern conspiracy fad seems to have begun its life around the Roswell incident concerning alleged UFOs in 1947, but it was the Kennedy assassination in 1963 the truly fueled the intensity of the movement.

There are several reasons why conspiracy theories are popular: fear and paranoia are certainly two motivators, but I think the primary reason is that people want an explanation to something that they cannot understand, to make order out of random chaos. It is a search for meaning. As one writer explains:

...to think that complications and upheavals in human affairs, at least, are created by human beings rather than factors beyond human control. Belief in such a cabal is a device for reassuring oneself that certain occurrences are not random, but ordered by a human intelligence. This renders such occurrences comprehensible and potentially controllable. If a cabal can be implicated in a sequence of events, there is always the hope, however tenuous, of being able to break the cabal's power – or joining it and exercising some of that power oneself. Finally, belief in the power of such a cabal is an implicit assertion of human dignity – an often unconscious but necessary affirmation that man is not totally helpless, but is responsible, at least in some measure, for his own destiny.

...

Humans naturally respond to events or situations which have had an emotional impact upon them by trying to make sense of those events, typically in spiritual, moral, political, or scientific terms. Events which seem to resist such interpretation—for example, because they are, in fact, unexplainable—may provoke the inquirer to look harder for a meaning, until one is reached that is capable of offering the inquirer the required emotional satisfaction.” This makes sense. Something as significant has 9/11 or a presidential assassination happens and people will dig deep to find an answer that satisfies them emotionally.

Often a cognitive dissonance occurs about an event, such as the assassination of President Kennedy. One hears the official explanation that Oswald was alone, but that explanation does not satisfy the person as he thinks that such a heinous act must have been the work of many people. This "dissonance" (opposing explanations) must be satisfied in the person's mind. Thus, the conspiracy theory is born.

The same process goes into the conspiracy theories about the 9/11 attacks. People cannot understand how this could have happened without an "inside" source facilitating it. This dissonance brings to birth a conspiracy that the U.S. government was behind it.

The other major cause of conspiracy theories is based upon an event that cannot be explained. Humans seek order and explanation to all things. When an event occurs where no explanation for it can be found, this is the fertile ground for a conspiracy theory.

Bigfoot stories may fall into this category. There has been some alleged physical evidence and photographs, but nothing conclusive. The sightings of Bigfoot cannot be explained. When authorities say there is nothing out there, a conspiracy theory is born.

There is a bias against the government (civil or Church). When the government keeps secrets, our imaginations go wild. This is likely what happened at Roswell. It appears that the goverment lied about what crashed out in the desert. It was not a weather balloon. In fact the first reports from the military did not mention a weather balloon. It was the cover story later that gave a balloon as an explanation. It is possible that the craft that crashed was an experimental aircraft. Area 51 is the sight of testing of many experimental aircraft.

Regardless of what the craft was, the conflicting reports from the government, and mystery surrounding the incident, makes for a very rich and fertile ground for the growth of a conspiracy theory -- the government is hiding something.

Actually, the government may be hiding something and hiding it appropriately. Secret experimental aircraft need to be kept secret. This is a no-brainer.

In the Church, misguided people have developed all sorts of conspiracy theories about the Third Secret of Fatima. They claim the Pope did not release the real Third Secret. First of all, how would they know, it is a secret? The cognitive dissonance comes from their belief that the Third Secret contained all these apocalyptic prophesies about the end of the world. This is what they have been taught for years from the speculations of many priests and commentators who did not know what they were talking about. When the Third Secret was released and it was not as apocalyptic as they expected, out comes the conspiracy theories.

The common denominator in all this is that there is a dissonance between "official" explanations and the explanation that people believe to be possible or more likely in the logic of their own minds. Whenever that dissonance occurs some people will resolve it with a conspiracy theory.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary