I've been thinking for a while that I should write about some things I learned while working in a classified government program and this seems as good a place as any to start. Bottom line up front, THE CONSPIRACY IS REAL, BUT FLAT EARTH IS THE CONSPIRACY.

By way of background, I'm a recently retired intelligence officer and 5 years ago I was working in a classified special access program that dealt with information operations. While doing research on my assigned project (overseas related), I was given access to an offline computer system that was used to house digitized files of old projects. It had all the files for a number of projects dating from the 1970s through about 2005. That's when the office transitioned to a different system that required each person to be manually toggled into access for each project within the program. These files pre-dated that though, so I had full access to everything on the system.

Our program was all related to information operations (so I don't know anything about Area 51 Most projects were pretty boring, (though I was occasionally surprised by the full back story on some notable episodes during the 1980s). But my purpose was to look at the methodologies these projects used in order to replicate them where applicable for my overseas assignment - not to focus on the details. However, there was one project I read more deeply into because it was using similar techniques to what I had planned. It's original codename was HOPSCOTCH (contrary to popular belief, most codenames are meaningless and randomly generated, so take no meaning from that). It's also been changed at least once since then that I'm aware of. I have no idea what it's called today - or even if it's been terminated.

HOPSCOTCH was a long term research effort that began in 2001 (immediately following the large influx of money after the 9/11 attacks). Its purpose was to examine various experimental information delivery methods for a domestic audience. In other words, what are the best mechanisms to use to make information spread? It wasn't designed to push any specific ideas - just to assess how best to push OTHER approved messages. As a result, they intentionally chose largely benign ideas to pass. In setting it up, the project managers created a spectrum of 10 different false messages from easiest to hardest in terms of believability and then used a consistent range of methods to push the information to see what worked at each point along the spectrum. They also did a few truthful controls. They generally chose ideas that had a limited following (at that time) so that they could accurately measure the results over time and be assured that the project was responsible.

Flat Earth was originally experimental message #10 (most difficult to pass). They later moved it #8 when the team assigned to it realized that they could construct a reasonably sound theoretical construct using some of the ideas that already existed. There are a lot of details I don't remember (it was just another information project to me at the time), but I know one of the methodologies they used was to co-opt various influencers and message boards. There were several names, but the one I distinctly remember was Daniel Shenton and the Flat Earth Society. They sometimes co-opted people's support unwittingly, but Shenton seems to have been fully witting from what I could gather. I don't know what they did in his particular case, but the field agents usually used a "carrot followed by stick" approach with the influencers (money followed by threats if they refused to participate). I don't know what the current state is, but I know that FES was under government direction through at least 2011. Unfortunately, my knowledge is dated at this point.

I only directly read about efforts up to 2005, but I later worked with a member of the HOPSCOTCH team who gave me some additional verbal history. The project continued to run for several years but was getting fewer and fewer resources. They were about to terminate it in 2011 when it got a new influx of money and attention from a DOD organization seeking a new role after Iraq drawdown. By this time, some of the messages had gone nowhere and others were getting various levels of attention. But Flat Earth was the star of the show even in 2011 compared to where it had started, so they made a new push to see how far they could take it.

Specifically, they created a "partnership" with Google and a few others to tweak search results (in exchange for helping to push back against regulating the companies). Google in particular was an enthusiastic supporter and actually provided a full time liaison to the team. The Google liaison was the one who really pushed YouTube as the most effective vector for passing both true and false information. They did this, not by creating content, but by promoting certain content and channels through search results and similar video links. Things that might otherwise have died in obscurity were being elevated in the search results and getting a wider following than they would have naturally. It turned out to be a brilliant way to control the message without doing anything heavy handed that could be linked back to the government (like co-opting influencers). The material grew organically and was hand selected for special attention through obscure search algorithms. When I left, there was talk of building an entire organization around message control through search manipulation (I have no idea if they ever created the organization or not - if they did, it would probably be something pretty innocuous sounding in the Crystal City area of Arlington). For us, this was a sideshow, but it had the hallmarks of eventually getting center stage.

Back when I read and heard all of this between 2012-2014, Flat Earth and some of the other ideas were just an interesting curiosity, so it didn't seem like all that juicy a secret that they were part of an experimental government information program. With the explosive popularity of Flat Earth in the past few years though, the actual genesis of the resurgence seems more sinister. Honestly, it seemed like a harmless experiment, but the way it's broken free of all controls and taken on a life of its own has been a bit unnerving. This isn't the kind of thing any of us got into the government to do.

I realize that this isn't something Flat Earthers will necessarily want to believe, but that doesn't make it any less true. I'm obviously taking extreme care to remain anonymous but I'll happily answer any questions I can. Just understand that I'm still a patriot and won't reveal information that I think could be unreasonably damaging. I just don't want to see good people getting harmed by what was supposed to be a harmless experiment. My hope is that others with knowledge of HOPSCOTCH will also eventually come forward.

I'll be posting on some other sites as well.