“What's more, the JFK assassination, like 9/11 and Pearl Harbor, are not related to space or astronomy and are therefore inappropriate topics on this forum.”

“ Robert TG and his non-space and astronomy CTs have no place here”

Ok, I'm sorry. I’m new here and did not realise that non-space or astronomy conspiracy theories could not be discussed.

Especially since a Moderator (To Seek) in the first post uses a reference to JFK. novaderrick also mentioned JFK in his post. I did do a search and found the JFK topic had been covered already and have not realise that there has been some rule changes that ban non-space topics.

I was not trying to prove the CT correct or incorrect. I was trying to show that there could be a legitimate reason ‘Why people believe in a conspiracy theory’. If I had known of the rule change, I could of used a space-based conspiracy theory for my examples.

Would the ‘Roswell Conspiracy theory’ be OK to use as an example?
If it is I could use that as an example.

Again I would not be trying to prove the CT correct or incorrect but just offering an example of 'WHY people would believe in a CT'.

I agree that MOST conspiracy theories are bunk, as are most of the Against the Mainstream theories. Everyone should be sceptical. Extraordinary claims need extraordinary proof.

What makes a person believe in a conspiracy theory? What makes a person believe in an Against the Mainstream theory? Perhaps they have a lack of understanding and perhaps they don’t know all the facts or maybe they are all a just bunch of nuts.
But sometimes events prove that there was some sort of conspiracy, and sometimes an ‘Against The Mainstream theory’ gets proved and finds acceptance by the mainstream.

The main point I would like to make is that just because a theory is called a ‘conspiracy theory’ or an ‘ATM theory’ doesn’t make it false.

The person who presents the theory must prove the theory with evidence. This can be much harder to do if there is actually a conspiracy to undermine the facts by manufacturing false facts and mocking those who believe in the alternative theory.