Amidst the ups and downs of the last year, COVID-19 has been an unfortunate constant in all of our lives. Every single person has a different take on the severity of COVID-19. From not believing in it all together, to thinking leaving your house would kill you, the range is endless. No matter where you stand on that scale, there are still uncertainties surrounding COVID-19, and this is where the conspiracies come in.

    A well known theory all around is the popular TV show The Simpsons, where they continually “predict the future.” Well readers, the show seems to have done it again. Many episodes include references to a virus or disease. One instance was an episode that aired in 1993 about the Osaka Flu which was a fictional disease that originated in China. In the episode, a man coughed into a box that was then shipped from China to the US, and from there the flu spread. Another episode shows government leaders planning to release a virus to keep people in their homes.

   Another theory that has grown is that COVID-19 was created by the government as a way of population control. This has potential because the virus more seriously impacts the older generations. The main group that die from the virus are those over 65, and people with serious health conditions, so it makes sense for the virus to be a source of population control.

   A theory that is very out of the box is that 5G has caused the virus. Since 5G moves through the air, people believe that they can catch COVID-19 from the radiation it gives off. In the UK people who believe this have set telephone poles on fire to “stop the spread” of the virus. The reason this theory is very unlikely is because countries without 5G cell towers have still had COVID-19 outbreaks, and because 5G travels with the same frequency as everyday radios, which have never had an effect on people’s health in the past.

   Even though the origin of the virus is thought to be someone who ate a bat in China and contracted the virus that then came to the US, it is unlikely because the virus would have died while the bat was cooked. The spread of COVID-19 was clearly due to travel, but people are still skeptical over the real origin of the virus itself.