Man Joins Navy To Prove The Earth Is Flat, Ends Up Disappointed

• A Reddit commenter shared how he knew a flat-earther who joined the Navy.
• The said person eventually learned for himself that the planet actually isn’t flat.
• The guy is now a “successful machinist” who believes the earth is a globe.

It’s always satisfying when we read about flat-earthers determined to prove their beliefs eventually ending up eating their own words.

Case in point, a Reddit thread entitled “Former flat-earthers, what made you realize the earth is, in fact, not flat?” has gotten some good responses over the past several months. For example, someone who goes by the username TrungusMcTungus wrote about a flat-earther who went as far as joining the Navy to see for himself that the planet is indeed flat.

“I have an acquaintance I met in the Navy, who joined specifically so he could see that the earth was flat while at sea,” shared the Redditor. “Every day he would chart the ships location, speed, heading, etc, a few times a day so he could make a map of their path.”

He continued:

“Ultimately he realized that the path the ship was taking would be impossible if the earth was flat, based on the distance they were travelling vs their speed. When he finally got skeptical of the earth being flat, his (Leading Petty Officer) went topside with him and pointed out the curvature by giving him binoculars and explaining that if the earth was flat, he should be able to see the land they were making for. He couldn’t see anything off the horizon. After that, he was convinced.”

The post gained a lot of attention online and eventually, TrungusMcTungus returned to clarify a bit, adding:

“Since this got some traction; he didn’t just take a cruise because he was convinced that if he wasn’t part of the crew, the bridge crew would lie to him since they would be paid off by the government. Also, his LPO tried to show him the curvature of the earth more than once, but until he realized that the ship couldn’t travel the way it was traveling if the earth was flat, he was convinced that the curvature was just an illusion. Dude ended up reenlisting and is still in the Navy, he’s a very successful machinist mate and a really good sailor. He now believes the earth is a globe.”

So yes, that’s the good news for all of us, folks: there’s still hope to convince some flat-Earthers that their beliefs are ridiculous.

In the meanwhile, those who still believe the earth isn’t round but don’t have the time to join the Navy should just watch this 8-minute video by Discovery Channel: