Technology has long been fertile ground for conspiracy theories. Some sound like science fiction, while others are built around real events that were once dismissed as impossible.
From claims that CERN could create a black hole to allegations of secret government surveillance, the digital age has produced an endless stream of stories blending genuine scientific advances with speculation and fear.
Social media has made these narratives even harder to contain. A sensational claim can reach millions of people within hours, often long before anyone checks whether the underlying evidence is credible.
Most technology conspiracy theories collapse under scientific scrutiny. A few, however, contain a genuine historical or technological element that helps explain why they became so convincing.
Here are six of the most notable examples.
1. CERN could open a portal to another dimension
Verdict: False
The Large Hadron Collider at CERN has attracted conspiracy theories almost since its launch in 2008.
One of the most persistent claims suggests that particle collisions could produce microscopic black holes capable of consuming Earth. More extreme versions claim that scientists are attempting to open a portal to another dimension — or even to Hell.
The real purpose of the LHC is considerably less dramatic. Powerful magnetic fields accelerate protons to speeds approaching that of light before smashing them together. Scientists then study the resulting collisions to investigate fundamental particles and the laws governing the Universe.
Physicists have repeatedly explained why the collider cannot create a dangerous black hole. Even hypothetical microscopic black holes, under relevant theoretical scenarios, would not remain stable and would disappear almost immediately through Hawking radiation.
The LHC may recreate extreme conditions found in the early Universe, but there is no evidence that it can tear open a gateway to another world.
2. Most of the internet is now “dead”
Verdict: Partly true
The so-called “dead internet theory” argues that a growing share of online activity is no longer generated by humans. Instead, bots, automated accounts and artificial intelligence systems are allegedly producing and interacting with much of what users see online.
The theory gained traction in the early 2020s, portraying the internet as a place where automated systems increasingly dominate human participation.
The idea that the internet is literally “dead” is clearly exaggerated. But automation is undeniably becoming a much larger part of online activity.
Automated traffic has grown substantially, and the rise of generative AI has added another layer to the problem. Text, images and videos can now be produced on an enormous scale with little or no human involvement.
That has helped create what is often called “AI slop” large quantities of low-quality material generated primarily to attract clicks, engagement or advertising revenue.
The internet is certainly not populated entirely by bots. But the boundary between human-generated and machine-generated content is becoming increasingly difficult to see.
3. Governments can control the weather
Verdict: Partly true
Claims that governments can deliberately create hurricanes, floods or other extreme weather events have resurfaced repeatedly, particularly after major storms in the United States.
There is no evidence that governments possess a technology capable of controlling hurricanes at will. Yet the broader idea that humans have attempted to modify weather conditions is rooted in real history.
The United States investigated weather modification as far back as the 19th century. During the Vietnam War, the U.S. military also conducted Operation Popeye, an effort designed to increase rainfall and make movement more difficult for opposing forces.
Modern weather modification is far more limited. Cloud seeding, for example, involves introducing substances such as silver iodide into suitable clouds in an attempt to enhance precipitation under certain conditions.
Meanwhile, proposals involving solar geoengineering, such as reflecting some incoming sunlight to reduce global warming, have generated a new wave of speculation.
These technologies are real areas of scientific research. What they cannot do is provide governments with the near-total control over weather imagined by conspiracy theories.
4. Smartphones secretly listen to conversations for advertising
Verdict: Partly true
Few technology-related suspicions are more common than the feeling that a smartphone must have been listening after an advertisement appears for something that was just discussed.
Major technology companies have denied systematically using smartphone microphones to secretly record private conversations for advertising purposes, and there is no solid evidence demonstrating that this is a routine practice.
There is, however, a much less mysterious explanation for why advertisements can sometimes feel uncannily accurate.
Online platforms and data companies can collect and combine information about searches, browsing habits, location, purchases, interests and digital interactions. Sophisticated algorithms can use those signals to predict what a person is likely to want or buy.
In other words, an advertisement can appear to be responding to a private conversation even when the microphone never recorded it.
The real privacy issue may therefore be less about hidden microphones and more about just how much can be inferred from the digital footprints people leave behind.
5. The CIA really did investigate mind control
Verdict: True — but not in the way conspiracy theories suggest
Claims about government mind control often sound like science fiction. One notorious case, however, has a documented historical foundation.
In 1953, the CIA approved MKUltra, a secret research program investigating whether human behavior and consciousness could be manipulated.
The program involved numerous research projects conducted through universities and other institutions. Researchers examined substances including psychoactive drugs, as well as hypnosis, electroshock, sensory deprivation and other techniques.
Some experiments were conducted without the participants’ knowledge or informed consent, making MKUltra one of the most disturbing chapters in the history of U.S. intelligence research.
The program was eventually discontinued, and its existence became publicly known in the 1970s following press investigations and congressional inquiries. Many records had already been destroyed, leaving an incomplete picture of its full scope.
MKUltra does not prove that governments can secretly control people’s thoughts through radio waves or hidden technologies today. It does demonstrate, however, that attempts to investigate behavioral and psychological manipulation were once very real government projects.
6. Mass digital surveillance is real
Verdict: True
For years, claims that governments were capable of monitoring vast amounts of digital communication were often dismissed as paranoid speculation.
That changed in 2013, when former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden disclosed a large collection of classified documents concerning the surveillance activities of the U.S. National Security Agency and allied intelligence agencies.
The documents revealed extensive systems for collecting, accessing and analyzing digital communications and metadata. One of the best-known programs was PRISM, while other disclosures highlighted the monitoring of international telecommunications infrastructure.
The revelations triggered a global debate over government surveillance, national security and individual privacy.
Snowden’s disclosures became a powerful reminder that reality can sometimes resemble a conspiracy theory but the crucial difference is evidence.
A remarkable claim is not automatically true simply because it sounds plausible. Equally, something should not be dismissed as impossible merely because it once sounded unbelievable. The dividing line is what can actually be demonstrated.