Many researchers of “alternative history” claim that numerous ancient legends and nursery rhymes resulted from “secret knowledge” hidden in fiction and passed on openly. However, it was only received and understood by a select few.
SEE ALSO: 10 Pop Culture Icons With Cleverly Hidden Insults
These researchers believe that this still happens today. They point to a society such as the Freemasons as a group who would want to maintain exclusive rights to such knowledge.
They also contend that these messages—and even warnings—are present in modern-day fiction such as blockbuster movies and popular TV shows. While some of these claims are extremely interesting, it is surely coincidental at best, right?
10 The Dark Knight Rises Predicts Sandy Hook?
In 2012 came the tragic events of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting when 20 children (aged only six and seven years old) and six staff members were shot dead by 20-year-old Adam Lanza, who committed suicide shortly after the attack. Earlier that day, Lanza had also killed his mother.
According to some, the events were predicted in the film The Dark Knight Rises from the Batman franchise, which had been released six months earlier. At one hour and 58 minutes into the movie, with investigators looking to predict where the next crime will be committed, an area on a map clearly shows “Sandy Hook” as being the destination.
Researchers into this particular conspiracy attest that there is no other mention of this location in any other Batman movie.[1] Further to those claims, in the Batman Begins film, just after the 14-minute mark, a map is visible in the background that appears to match the map used in The Dark Knight Rises. That time, however, the area is called South Hinkley.
Was this location purposely changed? If so, why?
9 The Matrix And Terminator 2 Have Discreet References To 9/11
You can find claims of references to the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers in many films. For example, in the 1999 film The Matrix, Neo’s passport is shown clearly to expire on September 11, 2001. Purely coincidence, right?
Most probably, it is. But of all the dates to pick, you can almost understand why people zeroed in on this after the fact—particularly given the place of The Matrix films within certain aspects of the conspiracy community.
In the second Terminator movie, there is a scene where the young John Connor and his protector are being pursued through Los Angeles. They pass under a bridge with the clear warning sign: Caution 9′-11″. In the film, this is the maximum height of vehicles allowed to pass under the bridge.[2]
Although these are subtle hints—if indeed they are purposeful—other films are seemingly more obvious.
8 Super Mario Bros. Shows The Collapse Of The Twin Towers
For anyone unfortunate enough to have seen the 1993 film Super Mario Bros., you can be forgiven for missing this bizarre warning of impending disaster because it comes near the end of the film. (If you made it that far, then well-done!)
The scene in question shows the two dimensions merging into one. The Twin Towers are visible in the background as this happens. However, during this merging, the towers fall to the ground (albeit temporarily). Adding further fuel to the conspiracy claims is the presence of a plane flying past where the towers should have been standing.[3]
While it is only a hint at future events and one that no one would have picked up on until well after the incidents, it is an interesting dynamic and certainly one that makes you wonder, if only for a brief moment.
7 Back To The Future Predicts 9/11?
If you believe the claims, the first two Back to the Future films refer to the 9/11 attacks more than any other movie. While these theories rely heavily on the assumption of “reverse symbolism” in secret societies, the claims are easy to spot (if indeed misinterpreted) and are pieced together well (if indeed misguided). Even so, they are interesting.
The first film offers up several apparent warnings of the disaster. For example, while Marty is yelling to Doc Brown about “having to warn him about the future,” the hands of the clock are locked on the 9 and 11 positions. Furthermore, it is 9:59 when the lightning bolt strikes the clock tower. According to believers in this conspiracy, this was a warning that the first tower would fall at 9:59. (The South Tower did collapse at that time. But it was in the morning, not at night.)
As if to hammer home the point, when Doc Brown is gunned down by “terrorists,” he meets his fate at the Twin Pines Mall. The time (which is referred to constantly in the film) is 1:16. According to the theories, when this is viewed upside down, it reads 911.[4]
Just in case you are not yet convinced, when Marty returns to the mall at the end of the film, it is now called the Lone Pine Mall. If you subscribe to the theory, this is a reference to the One World Trade Building that is the focal point of the rebuilt World Trade Center in New York after 9/11.
6 Back To The Future Part II Has Further 9/11 Warning
Back To The Future Part II sees the duo of Marty and Doc Brown travel forward in time 30 years. When they chance upon Marty’s future home, a sequence features blinds that show “scenery” instead of the outside world. Some people claim that this is another warning about the upcoming atrocities of September 11.
One of these images is a glorious sunny day that shows the skyline of New York and, more importantly, the Twin Towers. In the film, the screen is faulty and constantly flickers. Again, using the theory of reverse symbols and meanings, conspiracy theorists believe that when this footage is viewed upside down, the Twin Towers appear to be collapsing to the ground.[5]
As if to illustrate that this is how we should view this scene, the future version of Marty McFly is there, upside down in some kind of futuristic medical device due to hurting his back. Like many claims concerning the Back To The Future films, make of that what you will.
5 Trading Places Awash With Masonic Symbolism And Warnings
Some researchers into these conspiracy theories have pointed to the 1983 film Trading Places as being awash with masonic symbolism and coded numbers. These rumors were fanned greatly by producer Aaron Russo’s apparent direct warnings about the Illuminati. Supposedly, he had prior warning of the 9/11 attacks and their purpose (to enter into “endless war”) and had been given this information by a member of the Rockefeller family.
According to Russo, Rockefeller gave Russo this information 11 months before the Twin Towers tragedy.[6] Incidentally, Russo was dead several years later from bladder cancer. However, some people were not prepared to accept such a conclusion, and speculation in conspiracy circles ran rife that he was murdered.
There are some intriguing things to examine in Trading Places, especially in light of Russo’s comments. For example, in the opening credits of the film, there is a shot of a homeless person with newspapers blowing in front of him. One of these newspapers contains the numbers 9 and 11 in the headline.
As the characters Billy Ray Valentine and Louis Winthorpe III (played by Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd, respectively) head to the stock exchange to take on the Duke brothers, they stand before the Twin Towers. Billy Ray and Winthorpe had been dropped off moments earlier by a taxi with several 9s and 1s on it. (The 0s are said to be ignored in such symbolism!)
Perhaps even more intriguing, as the two men head into the Twin Towers, Winthorpe declares to Billy Ray, “Nothing you have ever experienced can prepare you for the unbridled carnage you are about to witness.” Then Winthorpe adds, “In this building, it’s either kill or be killed!”
Of course, he is referring to the world of trading commodities. Or is he?
Perhaps as a further warning, as salespeople wait on the floor for trading to begin—you guessed it—the camera purposely cuts to the clock on the wall, which has its hands on 9 and 11.
4 The Disney Conspiracy
The Disney franchise and the programs it has produced since the early 20th century have been the focus of conspiracy theorists for some time. They claim that sexual imagery is hidden within the apparently innocent cartoon characters and scenery. Also, satanic symbols are hidden in plain sight. For example, according to some, the logo of Walt Disney features three hidden 6s—one each in the “W,” the dot of the “I,” and the top of the “Y.”
There are also several apparent references to the Illuminati. In an episode of DuckTales, a doctor’s office has an eye chart on the wall. When you read the letters on the chart, it clearly says, “ASK ABOUT ILLUMINATI!”[7]
The word “Illuminati” is also spotted in many other Disney productions—for example, on a chalkboard in an episode of The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. One cartoon featuring the dog Pluto sees him holding up a skateboard. On the underside is the all-seeing eye, another symbol commonly associated with masonry and the Illuminati.
There are many other images along the same lines. Although it doesn’t prove a secret communication conspiracy, there does seem to be a weird sense of humor requirement at Disney headquarters at the very least.
3 Eyes Wide Shut Was A Little Too Close To The Truth For Stanley Kubrick’s Own Good?
Directed by Stanley Kubrick, the movie Eyes Wide Shut doesn’t hint at information about secret societies as much as smack you in the face with it. Indeed, given Kubrick’s death (from a heart attack) only six days after the screening of the movie, some people began to wonder if he might have exposed (or confirmed) a world a little too accurately for those who inhabit it.
According to researchers and almost any literature on such secret societies, Kubrick’s depiction—including the various symbols, rituals, and even mind-controlled sex slaves (or scarlet women)—was chillingly accurate. All of this has been written about extensively by conspiracy writers for some time. Even sudden deaths dismissed as “drug overdoses” are actually the result of ritual sacrifice in the film.
What made the movie even more chilling, at least to some, was the leaking of an apparent party from the early 1970s at one of the Rothschilds’ estates.[8] Some of the costumes and imagery in the photographs were beyond disturbing. Even more to the point, they bore an amazing resemblance to the imagery used in the film.
2 Seth MacFarlane’s ‘Warnings’ On Harvey Weinstein And Kevin Spacey
In light of the recent Hollywood sex scandals, many people began to reexamine throwaway lines that were deemed to be in bad taste at the time but are now seen as warnings of actual wrongdoings.
One Hollywood writer who seemed to have “inside knowledge” of these dark secrets and was willing to disclose them under the guise of jokes was Seth MacFarlane. He is known for numerous projects, including Family Guy and the Ted films.
Some of MacFarlane’s jabs about sexual misconduct in Hollywood have been less than subtle. In an episode of Family Guy, baby Stewie runs into the picture and screams, “Help, I’ve escaped from Kevin Spacey’s basement!”
Given the increasing number of accusations, some wondered if there was any truth in those statements. Mainstream news channels played the clip repeatedly for several days after the scandal first broke.
During the 2013 Academy Award presentation for best supporting actress, MacFarlane was even more direct when he quipped, “Congratulations. You five ladies no longer have to pretend you’re attracted to Harvey Weinstein.” Again, the clip was shown repeatedly following the accusations against Weinstein.[9]
1 The Simpsons Predicts The Future Many Times
The Simpsons is a law unto itself in terms of predicting the future and has done so more times that one could shake a crystal ball at. Either that or it is just amazing coincidence. While some of these apparent predictions are a little open-ended (in that they can easily become self-fulfilled), others are genuinely mind-blowing.
Numerous references to 9/11, often clearly seen on magazine covers or posters in the background, have been spotted by eagle-eyed viewers. There have also been mentions of the Ebola crisis and Donald Trump becoming president.
Even more bizarre and obscure things have been predicted.[10] In perhaps the most notable episode, an entire lemon tree was stolen from the Simpsons’ hometown of Springfield. Several years later, this incident happened for real in suburban Houston.