Truther – Among the Truthers

UPDATE - Unfortunately the project has been cancelled due to people dropping out :(

 

I am currently at the beginning of a yearlong project to find out more about British conspiracy theorists, a group of people I did not know existed until recently. I discovered that there are groups all over the UK who regularly meet up. I decided that I would attend one of these meetings in Manchester to try and learn more about the movement, what they stand for and what they hope to achieve.

Like all good meetings held in England the venue was a pub. I set off with my camera fully charged, 24GB of memory and a list of questions to ask. Although I arrived at the pub early, I was late for the meeting as I was unaware it was held in a separate room below the main bar. By the time I discovered this and went downstairs the truthers had already arrived and were sat in a circle discussing various conspiracies and theories they believed in. They included theories about chemtrails, the New World Order and something about the number 23 being everywhere. I sat down out the way and politely listened in, knowing that every second I did not introduce myself would reflect badly. Seeing that I was sat out of the way and that no one knew who I was, I was invited to sit in the circle furthest from the exit and to introduce myself. I am not going to lie I was a little scared, so I had a swig of my pint to calm my nerves before I began to speak. Their welcoming smiles soon changed when I told them that I was a YouTuber and had come because I wanted to make a video about them. I showed them my camera and said that I would not record anything without their permission and if they wanted I would leave. The room which up until that point was quite lively fell silent as they all stared at me and then each other not knowing what to do. Feeling the tension I quickly apologised for not introducing myself earlier and began to talk about my experiences with 9/11 truthers in Manhattan. I went on to say that I was surprised by the amount of British people who believed in the 9/11 conspiracy and that up until recently I was unaware of the 7/7 conspiracy. The leader of the group, Tim (pictured below) said that he was worried about the press infiltrating the group and that he was uncomfortable with me being there, but did not want me to leave. He asked around the room if anyone had a problem and to my surprise no one did.

The meeting was one hour in and I was on my third pint when the format changed from one person talking to the group to every one breaking off to discuss their own theories. I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to talk to people, however at the first opportunity most of the truthers moved away from me. At this point I thought I would not get the footage and information I came for and that I was ruining their night by being there. I was giving series thought to downing my pint and leaving when one of the truthers sparked up a conversation with me. Soon after another joined and then another and before I knew it I was having a good time.