Flat Earth YouTuber admits mistake after trip to Antarctica

Jeran Campanella, a prominent American YouTuber with 164,000 subscribers known for promoting the flat Earth theory, publicly acknowledged that his beliefs may have been mistaken following a recent expedition to Antarctica. In a live video posted on December 14 on his YouTube channel, Campanella stated: “I thought there wasn’t 24-hour sunlight in Antarctica. In fact, I was almost sure of it. I sincerely believed it. But sometimes, you’re wrong in life,” according to Futura Sciences.

Campanella participated in “The Final Experiment,” an expedition conceived by Will Duffy, a pastor from Colorado, aiming to end the long-standing disputes about the shape of the planet. The expedition included three flat Earth believers and four people who acknowledge the Earth is spherical, as reported by Cursor Info. The group traveled to Antarctica to observe the “midnight sun” phenomenon, which occurs when the sun remains above the horizon 24 hours a day during the summer period in the Southern Hemisphere.

The goal was to witness firsthand a phenomenon that would demonstrate “100% that the planet is spherical” and attempt to refute one of the main scientific claims about the Earth’s shape, according to Cursor Info. Prior to this journey, Campanella ardently defended his belief that the Earth is flat on his YouTube channel “Jeranism,” as noted by Mundo Deportivo and Le Figaro.

Upon observing the “midnight sun,” Campanella’s convictions were shaken. According to “What does that mean? It’s up to you to find out. Don’t listen to my beliefs or my opinion. It shouldn’t matter to you. But you should accept that the Sun does exactly what those guys said. For me, that means the azimuthal equidistant map [the projection of our world on a flat surface] no longer works. But that doesn’t mean I’m right.”

Campanella had spent about $32,000 on this journey, a significant investment in seeking the truth about the planet’s shape, as reported by Futura Sciences. The “midnight sun” phenomenon can only occur if the Earth is round, relying on the tilt and rotation of a spherical planet.

Flat Earthers have often claimed that such a phenomenon does not happen or that it could occur even on a flat Earth. Some supporters continued to assert that the “midnight sun” does not exclude the hypothesis of a flat Earth, according to Cursor Info. The expedition confirmed that even direct evidence is not always able to change beliefs rooted in worldview.

Will Duffy’s plan was to take four flat Earthers and four people who believe the Earth is spherical to Antarctica, as mentioned by Mundo Deportivo. The idea was to see with their own eyes whether or not the “midnight sun” shines on the continent of ice, according to Futura Sciences. Simply landing in Antarctica was considered by some to be enough to demonstrate to flat Earthers that they are completely wrong, reported Mundo Deportivo.

Flat Earthers like to claim that the Antarctic Treaty signed in 1959 exists only to prevent civilians from realizing the deception, noted Futura Sciences. They believe that no person can visit Antarctica because it is protected by the elites, as Mundo Deportivo reported. One of the characteristics of the flat Earth theory is that the Earth is surrounded by a wall of ice, marking the end of the known continents.

Despite the apparent evidence from the expedition, a significant part of flat Earth supporters refused to accept what they saw as a final argument. Another flat Earther announced that he has witnessed “a physical demonstration that could show it works” and is eagerly awaiting “some data from this expedition to clarify if that’s what’s really happening,” as reported by Futura Sciences.

The expedition demonstrated that the Earth is not a giant pizza with twisted physical laws, as Mundo Deportivo put it. Despite the evidence, some supporters of the flat Earth theory continued to assert their beliefs.

This experience emphasizes the importance of firsthand observation in questioning and understanding scientific truths.

The article was written with the assistance of a news analysis system.