Newswise — University of Utah History Professor Bob Goldberg, author of the 2001 "Enemies Within: The Culture of Conspiracy in Modern America," is available for comment and analysis on theories of conspiracy relating to the events of Sept. 11, 2001.
Goldberg, an expert on 20th century U.S. history and the director of the University's Tanner Humanities Center, notes that a variety of theories exist. Some target race, religion and country—the anti-Semitic theory that Jews were co-conspirators; the evangelical theory that claimed Satan's face was seen in the smoke above the World Trade Center; and the theory that 9-11 was a plot by the federal government to stage an event to destroy the American constitution and establish a New World Order. "What's interesting is that you have a merging of the left wing and the right wing in terms of conspiracy theories," Goldberg explains.
"Conspiracy theory is wide-spread and isn't necessarily on the 'fringe,'" notes Goldberg. He points out that, according to research, 80 percent of Americans believe that the John F. Kennedy assassination had assistance; two-thirds of African Americans believe communities are being flooded by drugs and guns from the federal government; one-third of Americans believe AIDS was created in a lab by the federal government; and one-third of Americans believe the U.S. government recovered extra-terrestrials, or alien bodies, in 1947, in Roswell, New Mexico.
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