The 2024 Solar Eclipse that occurred on April 8th caused a huge commotion worldwide. Just like most things that happen in the world, whether they are by mother nature or man made everyone is always going to have different opinions. Some people take those opinions to the next level and have some of the craziest conspiracy theories they like to share with others. Tik Tok was a huge app where a lot of these conspiracy theories were being shared, reposted, and replied to by others who felt the same or strongly disagreed.
A lot of these conspiracy theories consisted of a familiar pattern of the eclipse being the beginning of the end of times. Some people took this from a religious point of view while others saw this scientifically. Some people said that with all the bad things happening in the world this was one of the events that is leading to the Rapture (the transporting of believers to heaven at the Second Coming of Christ). This of course spread a lot of worry throughout people who were not worried and started preparing. This was combated with people going more into depth about how the end of times will truly feel and how this is not something we have to worry about. The more scientific route of this was people talking about the things NASA would be trying to do during this eclipse. Many videos were made about NASA turning on a high powered 4 million dollar machine that would be used to try and recreate the Big Bang. They suggested that NASA would use this machine that could possibly open a black hole. Smaller theories like being shortages of food, the power going out, and places shutting down, were also very popular. These specific theories were the most popular and caused a huge shift in a lot of people’s perspectives. A lot of people began to prepare for the worst by buying more food, water, and preparing for no power.
Interviewing this time around was definitely a fun one. I got to interview my own dad, Braulio Padilla, who has always been so involved in what is happening in the world. He never fails to let let us known about the weird things that are “happening” in the world. I asked him simple questions about conspiracy theories theories.
I asked him: what do you think about conspiracy theories and the people who take them very seriously?
In which he replied, “I think it’s cool to see how everyone has different points of views and depending on that we see a lot more people who deep dive into conspiracy theories a lot more. I myself have always liked questioning things and just learning the deeper meaning and significance to a lot of regular things that people are usually blinded by. Because of this I enjoy listening to others’ conspiracy theories to be able to put pieces together and learn more.”
I next asked him about what he specifically thought about all the conspiracies around the eclipse and if he took them any seriously.
“My whole instagram feed has been filled with people’s takes on the eclipse and their ideas as to what could or could not happen. I like to make my own judgment once I’ve gained more knowledge and looked into it more. I kept seeing people about the religious aspect of it and it really got me thinking. And while I did agree with a lot of things people were saying I truly felt like this was just going to be some regular eclipse. I feel like a lot of people are truly “waking up” as they say now but I think some people go too far exclaiming that the ecli[se was going to be the start of the end of times or even an apocalyptic scenario.”
I think social media has such a huge impact and influence on the minds of others and truly guides the way people think. While they are fun to think about and deep dive into the rabbit hole of theories, conspiracy theories are not something that should be taken too seriously. A lot of people like to over exaggerate or just over complicate things because they’re anxious or worried. So if you ever catch yourself being paranoid or anxious of a theory you saw someone talk about on a Tik Tok just remember they are theories for a reason!