Mark Megahan
The debate over whether the world is flat or spherical has been raging all through history. Advances in science along the way haven’t seemed to make much difference. The “flat earthers,” especially the radically vocal ones with social media channels, have been clinging to a theory they claim “proves” their point of view. The only problem, they’ve been whining for years, is that they’re denied access to a way of testing it. Then, Colorado pastor Will Duffy came along and removed that barrier. He arranged to take four “influencers” from each side of the debate on a little field trip to find out.
Shape of the world
In an attempt to settle the question over what shape the world is, round or flat, Will Duffy arranged a trip to Antarctica. Calling the project “The Final Experiment,” Duffy transported four “flat earthers” and four “globe earthers” as close as they could humanly get to the south pole.
He wanted to show them all something which should end the debate once and for all. It did for some of them. The others prefer clinging to their debunked belief anyway.
It’s the flat-earth school of philosophy who came up with the theory that Antarctica holds the key to proving the world is flat. They’re convinced that the polar ice caps form a wall which holds the oceans in. Like the lip of a saucer.
They made it their favorite explanation, claiming “that the Antarctic Treaty of 1959 prevented them from going, specifically in summer, lest they discover the truth.” They’re convinced that no matter what science has to say, the sun will continue to rise and set, even there and even in the summer.
Duffy wanted to show them the truth. That, he reasoned, should shut the flat-earthers up once and for all. It took three years to arrange but Pastor Duffy eventually chartered the expedition and gathered all the supplies.
His all-expense paid field trip worked out to $35,000-per-person, through Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions. Duffy and his eight hand-picked explorers were soon off to the bottom of the world. They arrived in August.
There it is
Jeran Campanella was one of the flat earth believers. He dragged his YouTube channel “Jeranism” equipment all the way to Union Glacier Camp, four-and-a-half hours south from Punta Arenas, Chile. “All right, guys, sometimes you are wrong in life,” he admitted on a midnight livestream.
“I thought that there was no 24-hour sun, in fact I was pretty sure of it.” His video proved the opposite. The world must be round because there’s no other explanation for a sun which refuses to set.
Pastor Duffy chuckled that Jeranism was “one of the most popular flat earth YouTube channels” but, he added, “not for long.” Jeran went on to note, “it’s a fact — the sun does circle you in the south.” That can only happen if the world is round but he leaves the astronomy lesson as an exercise for the class.
“What does that mean? You guys are going to have to figure that out yourself. Don’t listen to my beliefs or my opinion, it shouldn’t matter to you. But at least you should be able to accept that the sun does exactly what these guys said as far as [it] circles the southern continent.”
Campanella knew he could kiss his revenue stream goodbye. “I realize that I’ll be called a shill for just saying that, and you know what, if you’re a shill for being honest, so be it. I honestly believed there was no 24-hour sun, I honestly now believe there is.” Not everyone on his side of the debate was convinced by the evidence of their own eyes.
Austin Whitsitt from Witsit Gets It remains on the fence. He conceded to viewers “we were wrong about the 24-hour sun.” Even so, he was “still open to the earth being flat.” He doesn’t live in the same world as the rest of us anyway. He wouldn’t accept that they actually saw the sun for 24 consecutive hours because he glanced away from time to time. Lisbeth Acosta from FlatEarth Gang continues to maintain that the results don’t “prove” a globe model. To her, “there’s still things that are definitely in question.“
