Since the beginning of time, people have believed the Earth is flat. But if seeing really is believing, here’s a few steps you can take to see the curve.
By Simon Vaughan
Since the very beginning of time, there have been those who have believed that the Earth is flat. If seeing is believing, throw away your Flat Earth Society membership and take these steps.
Planet Earth from above, where its curvature can reveal itself. (Kyslynskyy-iStock)
A few weeks ago, Grammy-nominated rapper BoB told the Twitterverse that the Earth is flat. His epiphany apparently came during a 2012 flight made at the same time that Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner was leaping from a balloon high in the Stratosphere above New Mexico. The pilot on BoB’s flight told everyone on board to look out the window to see the sun glinting off Baumgartner’s balloon floating five miles away. When BoB saw Baumgartner’s balloon but not the curvature of the Earth, he followed in the footsteps of centuries of sceptics and concluded that the Earth is flat.
Apparently, BoB is not alone. Google Trends have reported a sharp increase in people searching “Is the Earth flat?” over the past few months, and a poll in the British newspaper The Telegraph had 7% taking BoB’s side. BoB had reasoned that no matter where he’d been or how high he’d flown, he’d never seen first-hand evidence that the Earth is round and since seeing is believing, he’d chosen to disbelieve.
If you believe that the Earth is round, or are at least willing to give that theory a chance, where on Earth can you venture to de-bunk BoB?
Obviously space, or very high altitude, is your best bet. Unfortunately however, although space tourism is edging ever closer, it’s still not quite here which means that we can rule out that particular vantage point at least for the time being. Until a decade or so ago, Concorde was the next best thing. I took the above photo from a British Airways Concorde at about 58,000 feet on a “trip to nowhere.”
It was taken with my brother’s old Pentax SLR and a standard 30mm (ish!) lens. Pressing my nose against the aircraft’s window and gazing from side to side, the curve was even more pronounced than the photo suggests, but these days I have to settle for those pictures to assure myself that BoB is mistaken.
Although Concorde no longer flies, there are similar aviation opportunities using retired military fighter aircraft in Moscow. Sadly, they make Concorde look like a bargain which means that most of us must turn to more terrestrial alternatives. But is it possible to view the curvature of the Earth without taking to the sky?
When I was in Chile a short while ago, I met a couple from California who had started their travels on Easter Island. They claimed that while standing on a particularly high point and gazing out at the endless ocean, they could clearly make out the curvature of the Earth with their naked eyes. Many of us have had similar experiences when perched on cliff tops and looking seaward, but is it just our minds playing wishful tricks?
Scientists say that anyone flying at 35,000 feet on a clear day and with at least a 60-degree field of view will be able to discern the curve. However, when it comes to seeing it from ground level, many suggest that while it’s theoretically possible, it’s not guaranteed. If you do want to challenge BoB, there are a few things you need to take into consideration.
- Firstly, you need decent elevation in order to be able to see as much horizon as possible. The higher you get, the more horizon you can see and the greater the chance of discerning a curve.
- Secondly, you need that horizon to be flat: no buildings, mountains or hills to interfere or distract. Coastlines are often best, as a large expanse of water tends to provide the least undulating horizons on our planet.
- Thirdly, you need a good clear day: no smog, fog, smoke, haze or cloud.
Skyscrapers might do the trick, but they’re not always surrounded by flatness and their views are often at least somewhat obscured by pollution, other buildings or, in the case of Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, often heat shimmers and haze.
While mountains are often even higher, most of the world’s highest peaks are in the middle of mountain ranges and therefore when standing on top of Mount Everest, for example, any chance of seeing the curvature is spoiled by the peaks of the surrounding Himalayas.
If you do give it a go and think you can see the curvature but fear it may just be your eyes playing tricks, there is an experiment you can perform. Take two sticks – or tripods, ski poles, ice-axes etc – and place them in front of you. String fishing line or any monofilament between the two using a spirit level to ensure that the line is perfectly straight. Then move back until your vantage point allows the filament to be aligned with the horizon. If they line-up perfectly, you’re not witnessing the curvature of the Earth. However, if there’s any discernable and consistent dip of the horizon away from the string, you are indeed seeing the curvature of the Earth.
One day, I’m going to trek to that Easter Island hill-top to perform the experiment myself, and maybe I’ll take BoB with me!
77 comments
Well, that first photo was definitely not taken from a Concorde. That wing is of a wide bodied jet. A “standard” lens is 50mm, not 30mm, so that first story is clearly fabricated. That we live on a globe is indisputable, though. The science on that has been settled for hundreds of years.
I used to live in Vermont and would go hiking in the Green Mountains all the time. Through my lived experience I took it for granted that anyone could see the curvature of the earth if you climbed a mountain or promontory thats high enough. Then, years later, I read that you can’t discern any curvature unless your like 30,000 or 40,000 feet high. But… I have excellent vision, the air quality in VT is fantastic, and most of the mountains I hiked (like Camel’s Hump, Mount Mansfield, and Jay Peak) were flanked by very long valleys, at least 100 miles long. I know what I used to see on those hikes and those mountains are all under 5,000 feet in elevation. In contrast, I’ve also skied a lot in Colorado and never saw the curvature of the earth. But that’s because places like Vail, Aspen, or Breckenridge are in the middle of the Rocky Mountains. No flat horizon available to discern the horizon.
I used to live in Vermont and would go hiking in the Green Mountains all the time. Through my lived experience I thought everyone could see the curvature of the earth if you climbed a mountain or promontory thats high enough. Then, years later, I read that you can’t discern any curvature unless your like 30,000 or 40,000 feet high. But… I have excellent vision, the air quality in VT is fantastic, and most of the mountains I hiked (like Camel’s Hump, Mount Mansfield, and Jay Peak) were flanked by very long valleys, at least 100 miles long. I know what I used to see on those hikes and those mountains are all under 5,000 feet in elevation. In contrast, I’ve also skied a lot in Colorado and never saw the curvature of the earth. But that’s because places like Vail, Aspen, or Breckenridge are in the middle of the Rocky Mountains. No flat horizon available to discern the horizon.
Lotsa good comments…Seen curvature earth twice ..:on BA flight London Miami pilot took us up to 48,000 feet and pull that 747 finally smooth for awhile and yes could see earth begin rounding and second time way up again on a nonstop Pan American 747 SP from Saudi to New York….I wanna say 48,000 maybe 50000 for short time…that 747 SP was a short version 747, maybe 240 passengers but great flights when Ive been on them….I do believe the earth is round…beyond that just much too complicated..!!
1974, I was on a stretched DC-8, chartered to carry US military personnel and dependents to my new duty station on Guam. There was a lot of storm activity and our flight was given approval to ascend to 44,000 feet. From that altitude, the curvature of the earth was obvious. Not just that but looking up, the sky was turning more indigo than blue. Faintly, we could see stars. It was afternoon but far from sunset. I’ve never forgotten that experience.
You can see the curvature of Earth from the main peaks of the Himalayas Everest K2 Kanchenjunga
yeah sure, at the back of the mountains.
I spent eight years in the US Navy and when we got out to sea away from sight of land the Earth’s curvature became very obvious. We could see so many miles of the horizon that you could clearly see it was a arc not a straight line. Also neither the horizon in front of the ship or behind the ship was at deck level. Depending on where we were and what direction we were going one of them were lower than the deck and the other was higher than the deck. When the horizon in front of the ship was lower get was also closer we could tell that the water was curving down away from us.
If you want to end all arguments on this subject simply go to Raton Pass in Santa Fe County, New Mexico and take a look. And no you can’t see Chicago from the Michigan shoreline on a clear day
Hold on. The author says 2 things that are very incorrect. First he says he took the photo at the top of the article from a Concorde at 58,000 feet. But the plane wing in the photo is absolutely not a Concorde. Also Concordes windows were roughly 2 inches by 3 inches. So the lens he claims he used would be larger in diameter than the window itself. The second falsehood was that he said the curvature is 8” per mile. It is roughly 8” per mile SQUARED! That drastically changes the entire formula and any outcome. Furthermore that formula is only accurate in the 100-1000 mile range. After 1000 miles that formula stops being accurate. So basically the only part of this article that was true was him saying BoB doesn’t believe the earth is a globe.
Well done 👍🏻 I was searching the comments to see who had noticed the plane that he said was “a concord” I noticed that strait away lol. Makes me question his whole article and whether or not I believe anything he said!!
“The Concorde passenger windows are 4”x7” and he didn’t say that was the picture he took.
If you want to question his article, all you need to do is go up some small mountain where there’s a coastal view (or long range of flatland) on a clear day and do the stick and string experiment suggested. Or just uses your eyes: personally, I’ve seen the curvature and photographed it from the top of a Scottish mountain. Another photo from the same camera of a nearby straight edge (a table) which DID come out utterly straight proves the point (the lens did not do any warping, only the distant horizon itself).
or simply go to a coastline where many ships come from around the word.. get a very good telescope, to look at the ships.. you will note that they start disappearing at the horizon…
Yes, he is lying.. look carefully at the text that comes up below the ‘photo’ – its says ‘Kyslynskyy-iStock’ google that , you see where he got the pic!! stoopid!!
It is very annoying that the author says the Concorde flight was a “trip to nowhere” without telling us what that’s referencing. I know what it is. But say it.
Hold on. The author says 2 things that are very incorrect. First he says he took the photo at the top of the article from a Concorde at 58,000 feet. But the plane wing in the photo is absolutely not a Concorde. Also Concordes windows were roughly 2 inches by 3 inches. So the lens he claims he used would be larger in diameter than the window itself. The second falsehood was that he said the curvature is 8” per mile. It is roughly 8” per mile SQUARED! That drastically changes the entire formula and any outcome. Furthermore that formula is only accurate in the 100-1000 mile range. After 1000 miles that formula stops being accurate. So basically the only part of this article that was true was him saying BoB doesn’t believe the earth is a globe.
Yes, this is a great thread. I’m sitting here on the back deck of an ocean liner, looking out over the stern of the ship. When I match the horizon up to the perfectly level railing, the ocean below the line of the horizon is definitely the thickest below the skyline, and then thins out peripherally. There’s no other explanation other than this being the curvature of the Earth. This is my observation and my strong feeling but I will label it as such; many of these commenters are so “authoritative” but wrong. I at least give an allowance for that which I do not know.
The earth is allegedly 7926 miles in diameter.
Concord flies at 60,000 feet which is 12 miles (actually 11.37 miles).
Now bring it all down to inches instead of miles.
Then the earth’s diameter is 7926 inches = 220 yards.
Now imagine a disk in front of you that is 220 yards in diameter,
You are in the middle and just 12 inches above it.
What curve are you going to see?
You would see a significant curve.
@ Scott – You’ve missed the same (and simple) explanation the author missed. Every point on a flat horizon will be the same distance away, and at the same (sea level) elevation. That means every point along the horizon will be the same distance below your observation point. OTOH, not every point along a straight string or railing will be the same distance away, and because they’re straight and don’t have the same curvature as the Earth they’re not a valid reference. The horizon is flat, but because every point along it is at the same distance it forms a circle as seen from above. Unless the string or railing is concentric to the horizon’s circle the flat string/railing shouldn’t be expected to line up with a horizon.
Wtf are you rambling about. Are you trying to say earth is flat? I guess so because nothing you said made sense, doesn’t follow any logical standpoint nor has any scientific value.
Even if your pure messed up affirmation were true (which they ain’t) it wouldn’t even help you prove earth is flat or round.
Whether your critique is valid or not, the earth is still a sphere. This whole comment section is retarded.
Mainstream science tells us we can’t see the curvature until somewhere around 60,000-130,000 feet. Of which, none of us can reach. I’m not saying the earth isn’t curved. I’m saying none of us can see if it is or isn’t. Especially not from sea level!! Bro we can’t see the curve at 35,000 feet in a plane yet you think on the ocean you are able to see the curve…….. you are arguing in favor of a globe yet you are contradicting the entire mainstream sources that have told you it’s curved. Good job. You are better than all of science. Thanks for proving the curvature for the rest of us peasants!
How about 295,000 feet? Title of YT video is 56 miles above earth. Successful Amateur Rocket Launch. Question in my mind would be how far can I see before the curve obscures the line of sight of objects at a distance? at 8:47 their photo shows Mt. Shasta which is 731 miles from Salt Lake, Utah.(rocket launch location) Also shows Pacific Ocean which would be over 900 miles from site. Can someone please make sense of the math for me using the earth curvature calculators out there?(if possible) Thank you!
On holiday in Montego Bay, Jamaica we could clearly see the curvature of the earth at ground level
Mainstream science tells us we can’t see the curvature until somewhere around 60,000-130,000 feet. Of which, none of us can reach. I’m not saying the earth isn’t curved. I’m saying none of us can see if it is or isn’t. Especially not from sea level!! Bro we can’t see the curve at 35,000 feet in a plane yet you think on the ocean you are able to see the curve…….. you are arguing in favor of a globe yet you are contradicting the entire mainstream sources that have told you it’s curved. Good job. You are better than all of science. Thanks for proving the curvature for the rest of us peasants!
What I find interesting is why most have never heard of Prof. Auguste Piccard and the world record he set in 1932. Also how little info about him on the net and YT? Could it be because of how he described the earth?? Another good video to check out on YT is Convex Earth. Engineers, Geo-physicists, Cartographers, etc… They have a very similar description to Piccard. Enjoy!
My parents, my 2 late husbands, and myself, all worked for a major. I have flown all of my life. The highest I’ve ever flown is 43,000 ft., navigating over some huge T-storm cells. Yes, you CAN see the curve. Most aircraft cruise at around 37-39,000 feet, and it is definitely visible. At 43,000, the sky at the horizon is a thin band of light blue, with midnight blue to black, looking up.
I don’t understand why this commenter Allan Green is telling this bold face lie!? It’s only 1142 feet high above the surrounding area and 2, 831 ft above sea level. You can not see the curvature of the earth from that distance, uuh try again.
” I took the above photo from a British Airways Concorde at about 58,000 feet on a “trip to nowhere.”
That’s not a Concord wing in that photo so I doubt it was taken at 58,000 ft.
Yeah, it’s clearly credited to someone else. Where is Simon’s Concorde photo?
You can see the curvature from earth. Out on the Bonneville Salt Flats by Wendover, UT. Interstate I-80 runs East to West on the Salt Flats. You can see the curve at night, in the automobile headlights…
No you can’t. You can’t see it from 35,000 feet in a plane. You definitely can’t see it at ground level. Mainstream science tells us that yet you are arguing against them but for the same main point, that earth is a globe. Beloved Neil degrasse Tyson can explain it for you on his YouTube lol. I personally believe nothing that man says. But he’s the cherished spokesperson for globe theory.
Hmmm. Say the airplane pilot suddenly decides to fly towards the background horizon, the pilot will end up entering outer space, right? Because the earth (the ground and the ocean) “fall down” beyond the curve and all that’s left is empty outer space.
Which is why Globe Earth is a fallacy.
No, not right. The airplane doesn’t possess the acceleration to go into “outer space”. I’ve been flying for 68 years, 30 years professionally and as high as 43,000 ft. There’s curvature.
The flat earthers biggest fear is sphere itself
Are you seeing this so called curvature through a perfectly flat window pane ?
You are assuming that a curved airplane window would distort the curve of the horizon as in the photograph. Where is your evidence for this assumption, O optics expert?
I’m so sick of people thinking the earth is flat I’ve been on at least 22 flights and I can see curvature period if you can’t see it it’s not my problem and you flat earthers predict the next eclipse with flat earth math bet you can’t and won’t do it modern science can predict eclipses 20 years into the future so game set and match partner
Are you seeing this so called curvature through a perfectly flat window pane ?
If it’s flat how come no one fell off yet at least no one I know some how I wish it was flat so I could watch these flat heads walk off how’s that for a vacation
All of mainstream science says we can’t see it from a plane or anything less than 40,000 feet. Most say higher than that as well. You literally are arguing on behalf of a globe while contradicting all of the “experts” who told you it’s a globe. People like you are the biggest problem with the globe theory lol. Y’all blindly argue on behalf of it while having absolutely no idea what you are talking about. I can’t prove the earth is flat. Just like nobody can prove it is round. Hence why it’s a theory. Like gravity. Like evolution.
I saw the curvature first-hand on the mast of a ship. I was in the navy and had to climb up the mast the change the signaling flags. At that height, looking out at the sea, I saw the very obvious curvature of the sea horizon and was absolutely amazed!
Exactly, the matter is that you could see the curve but not from ground level. We live on a pretty big planet and considering that we see 180 degrees on 196.9 million mile surface area planet and the average human takes up at least 6 sq. ft on Earth; is it really possible to see curvature from our perspective from ground level?
Mmm 1 degree curvature is approx 40 miles, in an aeroplane the maximum curvature you would see would be approx 240 miles or 6 degrees, 3 degrees either side. Not really enough to say with absolute clarity through the naked eye that it is curved or not. You’d need to go higher to see that. But somehow you saw it through a mast? I’m not saying the world isn’t round, nothing else makes sense I am saying you won’t see curvature at the top of a mast. You might see it on concorde, but that photo above is not on concorde. Every person on earth knows those wings are not concorde wings. If the person writing this is going to put a picture supposedly from concorde then for the love of god make sure you can verify it is from there. The whole article is nullified from the picture alone, which is a shame as it is a good article.
You telling a lie, unless they mast you climbed was at least 3500 feet. You can not see a curve on any boat in any ocean.
How far away was the horizon when you looked east? How far when you looked south? West and north? In case you don’t know, it’s exactly the same distance. That means that every point on the horizon is the a same distance below your observation point. You were basically the peak of a very low, wide cone, and the perimeter of that cone’s base is flat.
Still no curvature. The fact is that you can see Chicago from Michigan.
Where in Michigan? I have lived in southwestern Michigan my whole live and have never been able to see Chicago across the lake.
No you can’t dumbass, the matter is that Michigan and Chicago are 281 miles apart which is not very far considering you can still see further. If you were on a 100 feet skyscraper, then you would be able to see Chicago but not most likely because of pollution.
The Earth’s curvature is 8″ per mile. 281 miles X 8″ = 2248″ / 12 (in./ft.) = 187.33. You only need an eye level above 184″ to see Chicago from Michigan. But who’d want to?
@ Tristar Are you sure you’re not a closeted flat Earther? You’ve described what would happen on a flat slope, not a curved surface. The equator is about 6000 miles from the poles. At a steady 8″ for each mile the equator would be 48,000 inches or 4000′ below the poles. What actually happens is that the drop for each successive mile is greater precisely because the curvature makes it “steeper”. That last mile to the equator is 90º “steeper” and drops 5280′.
The actual distance from Chicago to the nearest land in Michigan is about 41.6 miles, and it’s 42.6 miles from the Willis (formerly Sears) Tower. The curvature of the Earth over that distance would require you to be 1150′ high in the Willis Tower to see the point where the lake meets the MI shoreline, assuming visibility was clear enough, of course.
The curvature of the Earth is not 8 inches per mile it is 8 inches per mile squared. Which comes out to about 3 inches per mile.
I saw another way that some high school students in the USA did: they made something like a weather balloon with a gopro attached to it, designed to detach when the balloon popped and fall back to Earth with its custom parachute. Then they retrieved it using GPS. You could definitely see the Earth is not flat on a macro level.
Oh they used a GoPro which is has a fish eye lens which curves what you see? Gotcha
Wrong if you get on the concord you’ll see the curve for sure, also next time you want to really see the prayers of the Earth Google how many paces does it take to make the curve of the Earth possible you will get an answer, if that doesn’t work then you’ll have to ask nasty you can get them next rocket to get above 60,000 feet and you will definitely see the curve of the earth unfortunately it’s going to cost a lot of money or,, pay the huge amount of money the William shatner had to pay to get on that special plane that took him so high that he could see the curvature of the Earth so please everybody get real I honestly believe that the half a creatures, loves being as dumb and stupid and ignorant has all those ape creatures are, and sometimes they’re smarter than humans, there is no God you were created by DNA splicing by the Annunaki which originally came from Mars along with the Giants that are called the Nephilim which are mentioned in the Bible if you all people would do your homework you would begin to find out some amazing things that have a lot of Truth attached to it, but being human Cafe creature means that we get bored very quickly so all this yakety yakety yak back and forth among people is a great form of entertainment, to keep from getting bored all the time, yakety yakety yak at all the sports events which many of those sports people would never give you any money whatsoever to help you out in times of trouble, or listening to your favorite songs the composers and the sports stars and the movie stars and the radio stars all get paid tons of money while you reach into your pocket and pay for the entertainment which doesn’t put any money in your pock et this is common Sense talking and it’s so sad to see you all doing this, especially when you vote for all those morons to get into office they don’t give us money either forget the stimulus check I never got most of them anyway, so good luck everybody enjoy your flatter entertainment, and your opposing argument of the earth is round, and still no rich people are going to give you any money certainly not as much money as they have they’ll hog it forward it as much as possible it’s okay for rich billionaires and millionaires to hoard their money but if I hold a bunch of stuff in my yard cars boats motorhomes my personal property the city will come like they have in the past and destroy my stuff and take it because of eyesore fanaticism, but rich people they can hoard as much money as they want and we all are still poor would not much to look forward to except I don’t keep ourselves entertained by listening all to this hoopla enjoy your fantasies because that’s all you’ll ever have until the day you die bye-bye everybody
Windows on concorde perfectly flat are they 🤣🤔
are you saying you can see a tennis ball through a window?
The windows do not need to be perfectly flat–or at all flat. Curved glass (or other transparent lens materiel, i.e., plastic) does not form a lens distorting lines into curves unless the surface of one side of the glass has a different curvature than the other side of the glass. I know this; I was an optician and made every kind of eyeglass lens there was from blanks. You can make a very curved eyeglass lens with no magnification (0 diopters–neither positive, nor negative) at all. Aircraft windows are not made to have a diopter built into them, and it would be a real pain in the ass to do so, causing them to be unnecessarily more expensive.
OK Charles I bet the city made you clean up your yard because there are rules and one being your not allowed to have a junk yard. Sounds like your just jealous and hate everyone at the sametime. Most wealthy people
don’t hog their money, most spend more annually than you’ll make in your lifetime. And why should we expect anyone to give us anything? That’s not how this world works now or has ever worked. People go to concerts, games and other entertainment shows cause they have lives and rather to that than stare at a wall all day. Hust because you spend all your timing doing drugs all day, doesnt mean others are dumb because they rather get out and see things and experience things. So from what you ranted about, you sound like a hypocrite. You complain rich people hog their money and you also say it’s sad to see people having fun, spending their money. So what do you do?? hog whatever money you have a sit at home watching TV?? Yes people go to do things that doesn’t give them anything in return except for a bad or good memory of doing that. So your saying you don’t do anything unless you get paid in return. So you don’t watch any tv?? You didn’t take your So called boat out which doesn’t pay you to have fun or you never took your So called motor home on a road trip, do these things pay you in return…no you pay for the entertainment. Just because someone likes going to go to ball games or concerts doesn’t mean they lack common sense. In fact it’s you that lacks common sense. Some advice…stop hating, it causes stress and stress isn’t good for you!! Get out and live. It’s so hard to watch someone so miserable like you yourself living this way. By the way most sport players came from nothing and most of them give a lot of their money to charities. You just assume too much, probably from watching too many movies. I bet you never help out anyone that has less money than you do. If you ask me what the absolute worst human personality trait is… Im gonna say person whom is hypocritical. Someone that complains about someone but does the same thing. Just because your not smart enough to become rich (and yes most rich people are smart because they have a career that takes a lot of smarts to preform or they invented something that we as humans use or need to live a better life or they invested in something or many other ways to make lots of money that takes someone with common sense and an IQ over 100) the fact that you seem to hate anyone with wealth shows how jealous you are. Why do you care what others do with there time and money. 99% of the time it has no effect on you what so ever. One last thing, punctuation when writing is important and just shows your lack of intelligence and/or your just too lazy to use very common sense punctuations. Tootaloo yakity yak yak hope to never run into you in life. Hopefully you grow up before it’s too late.
No GoPro has a fisheye lens. They have a rectilinear wide-angle lens.
But it doesn’t matter. If the lens has barrel distortion, that means it curves the image slightly up when below the center axis of the lens, curves the image slightly down when above the center axis, and none at all when perfectly centered. So if you see earth curvature in the lower half of the image, it’s real, not lens-induced. If it’s in the upper half of the image, you need to know more about the specific wide-angle lens. And yeah, it’s going to take a wide angle lens, even when high, to see earth curvature. 60 degrees at 35,000ft or so is enough.
It would have helped the argument if you had posted the actual photo from Concorde.
I just don’t understand why is this day and age, People still believe the Earth is flat ?. In 1987 whilst visiting Australia, at that time we were able to scale Ayers Rock, which we did and although I didn’t take note of the direction, from the top of Ayres Rock there is a very clear view of the curvature of the earth.
Because flat earth justifies the existence of god, and makes the earth the center of everything, the ultimate project of god, and the salute of weak people that can’t stand the idea of a earth lost in the middle of nowhere and ultimately without any hope
Pierre,
I use to think the same thing, I use to believe, when I was out on my boat, or on the shore I could see the curve. But I was wrong. The horizon is a perfect flat level circle. So ironically the FE people and the “globalist” as FErs would say are both wrong. You see a curve, but it’s the rim of a disc. Take a dinner plate and hold it perfectly flat at eye level, it makes a straight line, now start to tilt it, the straight becomes an arc, but the plate didn’t change, we are just looking at it from a different angle, the higher up the rounder it gets, but it doesn’t prove a sphere (although you can deduct that) but FErs claim we live on a disc.
To see the curve,to see a yamaka hat you need to get closer to sea level on relatively calm water. What you will see is the water actually curves up to meet the horizon, which is determined by how close your eye is to the surface. Technically if you are right at the surface, you cannot see any horizon.
Pick an object like a boat maybe a mile out. Now from standing, the horizon will be beyond the boat, but as you bring your eye closer to the surface, you can actually move the horizon to Infront of the boat. The water will rise up in front and then though you can’t see, curves back down.
So, according to your plate-angle theory… Take a dinner plate, rotate it and it becomes more round. Then keep going and it becomes thin again. However, take a camera (no matter how fisheyed the lens is), and watch new parts of the earth rotate and it never becomes thin again like a dinner plate as we watch continents disappear and the other side reappear.
@ Tom – Congratulations on being about the only one that actually gets it. If you’re at sea (or on a suitably big and level prairie) and the visibility is good enough every point along the horizon will be the same distance away. Those points viewed from above will form a circle, but each point will be the same distance below your observation level, and should therefore look flat. You might get high enough for the circle to become apparent, but unless you’re high enough to see beyond the horizon those points will all still be at the same elevation and on that flat circle.
It’s because these flat-earth people feel that they are losing ground; that the world is changing around them. So they feel tough, rebellious, independent by saying that everyone else is WRONG and they are RIGHT. That’s it.
I’ve been to Easter Island, back in 2002. Seeing the curvature of the earth was one of the ‘must do’ things and so we went up the highest hill (not very high). Looking out to sea you can clearly see the curvature of the earth. It’s surprisingly cool to see it.
Thats clearly not a Concorde wing. The flight height may be accurate, but that photoshop is lame.
Nowhere is it claimed that the picture was taken from Concorde, in fact it even says it is from iStock.
“I took the above photo from a British Airways Concorde at about 58,000 feet”
Ive never seen a wing like this on concord
I don’t even understand this being a question. I read about the ‘proof of the rising ship’ from centuries ago when I was in elementary school. I would call that visible evidence of curvature.
Why does no one look up, way up as friendly the giant used to say. The Earth is not confined to solid and liquid it is also a gaseous sphere and that gas often stratifies with a uniform layer of high cloud that arcs overhead. It is the bias of our culture that believes we live on Earth, not within Earth. I don’t know the math on how far above the observer a visible layer must be before the curvature is evident but every scientist I have ever heard on the topic says it is not possible to see the curvature from the planet’s ‘surface’. Until someone shows me the math to the contrary I will believe I see the planet curve overhead almost every day.
Hi Mika, you’re absolutely right—except we weren’t lying intentionally! We recently redesigned our website and a bunch of photos from the earlier design didn’t make it through in the transition; that one of the Concorde disappeared somewhere. I’ve dug through the archives to find it and clarified the column. Thanks for pointing it out!