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Birds Aren't Real is a
satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming o ...
conspiracy theory which posits that birds are actually
drones Drone most commonly refers to: * Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg * Unmanned aerial vehicle * Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft * Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to: ...
operated by the
United States government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...
to spy on American citizens. In 2018, journalist Rachel Roberts described Birds Aren't Real as "a joke that thousands of people are in on."


Background

Peter McIndoe created the satirical conspiracy theory "on a whim" in January 2017. After seeing pro-
Trump Trump most commonly refers to: * Donald Trump (born 1946), 45th president of the United States (2017–2021) * Trump (card games), any playing card given an ad-hoc high rank Trump may also refer to: Businesses and organizations * Donald J. T ...
counter-protestors at the
2017 Women's March The Women's March was a worldwide protest on January 21, 2017, the day after Inauguration of Donald Trump, the inauguration of Donald Trump as US president. It was prompted by Trump's policy positions and rhetoric, which protesters called Misog ...
in
Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the County seat, seat of Shelby County, Tennessee, Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 Uni ...
, McIndoe wrote "Birds Aren't Real" on a poster and improvised a conspiracy theory amongst the counter-protestors as a "spontaneous joke". A video of McIndoe at the march went viral, which started the satirical movement. In 2017, he posted on Facebook: "I made a satirical movement a few months ago, and people on
Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
seem to like it a lot." He later disclaimed the post, saying it was written by a staffer who was fired, and did not admit until 2021 that he did not truly believe the conspiracy. The movement claims that all birds in the United States were exterminated by the
federal government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-govern ...
between 1959 and 1971 and replaced by lookalike
drones Drone most commonly refers to: * Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg * Unmanned aerial vehicle * Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft * Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to: ...
used by the government to spy on citizens; the specifics of these theories are not always consistent, not unlike actual conspiracy theories. They claim that birds sit on
power line An overhead power line is a structure used in electric power transmission and distribution to transmit electrical energy across large distances. It consists of one or more uninsulated electrical cables (commonly multiples of three for three-p ...
s to recharge themselves, that birds defecate on cars as a tracking method, and that U.S. president
John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
was
assassinated Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...
by the government due to his reluctance to kill all the birds.


Supporters

Some supporters have demonstrated with signs stating "Birds Aren't Real" and related slogans. In 2019, a
billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
was erected stating "Birds Aren't Real" in
Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the County seat, seat of Shelby County, Tennessee, Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 Uni ...
. In 2021, some supporters demonstrated in front of
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
's San Francisco headquarters demanding that the company change its bird logo. In 2021,
MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and politic ...
said that the movement had hundreds of thousands of members.


Media appearances

McIndoe has made multiple media appearances and done multiple interviews promoting the Birds Aren't Real movement. In 2021, he stated that he works full-time as a spokesperson for the movement, making money from sales of merchandise. In a 2019 interview with
WREG-TV WREG-TV (channel 3) is a television station in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, affiliated with CBS and owned by Nexstar Media Group. The station's studios are located on Channel 3 Drive near the Mississippi River on the west side of Memphis ...
, McIndoe used bothsidesism to promote Birds Aren't Real, saying that he was offended by a question about whether the movement was satirical, as such a question would not be asked of the opposite opinion (that birds are real). On January 6, 2022, McIndoe threw up during a live TV interview with the
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
-based
WGN9 WGN-TV (channel 9) is an independent television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, it is sister to the company's sole radio property, news/talk/ sports station WGN (720 AM). WGN-TV's studios are lo ...
. ''
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'' called it an "apparent prank" and McIndoe labeled it a "hit job". In January 2022, McIndoe featured in a profile of the movement for ''
Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, or Habit (psychology), habit generally considered immorality, immoral, sinful, crime, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refe ...
'', giving his first media interview while not in character. In May 2022, he was interviewed by ''
60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique st ...
''. He started off the interview in character, but later broke character and described the purpose behind creating the satirical movement: "So it's taking this concept of
misinformation Misinformation is incorrect or misleading information. It differs from disinformation, which is ''deliberately'' deceptive. Rumors are information not attributed to any particular source, and so are unreliable and often unverified, but can turn ou ...
and almost building a little safe space to come together within it and laugh at it, rather than be scared by it. And accept the lunacy of it all and be a bird truther for a moment in time when everything's so crazy." In April 2023 McIndoe held a
TED Talk TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...
about the movement.


See also

*
Bielefeld conspiracy The Bielefeld conspiracy (German: or , ) is a satirical conspiracy theory that claims that the city of Bielefeld, Germany, does not exist,Archived aGhostarchiveand thWayback Machine but is an illusion propagated by various forces. First posted ...
*
Li's field Li's field () is a tongue-in-cheek conspiracy theory in Hong Kong over the existence of a force field that repels tropical cyclones from the city. Background The "Li" in Li's field refers to local business tycoon Li Ka-shing, the implied dev ...


References


External links

*
Interview with Peter McIndoe in ''The Guardian''
{{Conspiracy theories 2017 establishments in the United States 2017 hoaxes Conspiracy theories in the United States Hoaxes in the United States Birds in popular culture American political satire Satirical conspiracy theories Fiction about drones