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!
34 comments
” 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.
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…
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 ?
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
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.
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?
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?
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.
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!