What were some wacky conspiracy theories that actually turned out to be true?
The FBI sent a letter to Martin Luther King Jr. Threatening to expose him in the hopes that he would commit suicide!
In 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. received an anonymous letter purportedly from another African American threatening to expose his infidelities and accusing him of being a fraud. The letter suggested that he commit suicide or he would be exposed in 34 days.
Despite its half-baked prose, self-conscious amateurism and other attempts at misdirection, King was certain the letter had come from the FBI and its infamous director, J. Edgar Hoover.
To some, King seemed paranoid.
Ten years after he received the letter and four years after MLKs death, the Senate’s Church Committee on intelligence overreach confirmed King’s suspicion. The FBI had not only sent the letter, but were involved in a grand scheme to destroy MLK.
The FBI had bugged his home, office and even hotel rooms. They found out that he was having multiple extramarital affairs. The FBI leaked this information to the press and were astonished when it went nowhere. The FBI sent tapes of his sexual escapades to his wife. She turned them over to King.
King maintained until his death that the FBI were trying to ruin his life. It turns out that his belief was more than just a conspiracy theory and their intent far worse than anything he imagined.
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