Proof of a Globe?

For those who haven’t seen it, Clif High posted this to his X account.

End FLAT EARTHER CONSTIPATION!

Arrange a calculation party for your kids this Summer and post the results! Make it a tiktok "aid flat earther colon function" (they will shit themselves) challenge. Fun! Educational! Make those kids prove that they can think even though their purple haired teacher has tried to lobotomize them! ****** To calculate the Earth's circumference using the sun and sticks, two groups of kids can replicate a method similar to the one used by the ancient Greek astronomer Eratosthenes. This activity is educational and fun, demonstrating how simple tools and observations can provide insights into significant scientific concepts. Here's how to do it: Materials Needed: Two sticks of known height (e.g., meter sticks) Two rulers or measuring tapes Paper and pencil for recording observations A sunny day Steps: Coordinate Time and Date: Both groups should choose a day with clear skies. The best time to conduct this experiment is during the local solar noon (when the sun is at its highest point in the sky). Solar noon time can vary slightly between different locations.

Location Setup: Each group sets up their stick vertically in a flat, level area. The stick should be as straight and upright as possible. Measure Shadow Length:At precisely local solar noon, each group measures the length of the shadow cast by their stick. It’s crucial to measure from the base of the stick directly to the tip of the shadow. Record the shadow length and the exact time of the measurement. Calculate Shadow Angle: Using the stick height and the shadow length, each group can calculate the angle of the sun above the horizon using trigonometry. The tangent of the angle (θ) is the opposite side (shadow length) over the adjacent side (height of the stick). Thus, θ = arctan(shadow length / stick height). Communicate Angles: After the measurements, both groups should share their results. They need the angle of the sun from each location. Calculate Earth’s Circumference: The difference in angles measured by the two groups gives the angular distance between the two locations in degrees, assuming the measurements are taken at the same time. The actual distance between the two locations (in kilometers or miles) must be known. This can be checked using a map with a scale, a GPS device, or an online mapping service. Since 360 degrees is the full circle of Earth, use the proportion to find the Earth's circumference: (Full circle in degrees / Angular difference) = (Earth's circumference / Distance between locations). Rearrange to find the Earth's circumference: Earth's circumference = 360 * (Distance between locations / Angular difference). Example Calculation: If the angular difference is 7 degrees, and the real-world distance between the two locations is 777 kilometers: Earth's circumference = 360 * (777 km / 7) ≈ 40,000 km. This activity not only helps kids learn about the size of Earth but also encourages precision in measurement and introduces them to basic trigonometry and the concept of angular measurement. Make sure each step is followed carefully to ensure accurate results!

Link to Clif's pinned Tweet

Clif here seems rational, suggesting that kids perform a trigonometry calculation to come up with the Earth’s circumference. A great exercise in problem solving. It is a repeat of Eratosthenes’s experiment used to come up with Earth’s circumference. Clif makes this into a shot at the Flat Earth community. Strike one for the glober’s. Kids can now prove the circumference of the Earth to be ~ 25,000 miles. Kids that perform the math successfully can be proud of themselves. Or can they?

Any smart kid that analyses this procedure will notice an issue with this exercise. It starts with an assumption that a circle is 360 degrees. But wait, how do we know the Earth is a circle or in fact a globe? Armed with the information derived from this experiment, kids should take that as a basis for calculating the curvature for a globe of 25,000 miles in circumference. Then they can set out to make observations to prove the result of the experiment. Clif makes no mention of this step that would prove the answer to Eratosthenes’s experiment to indeed be correct. Clif stops short of suggesting this “proof” be attempted.

The curvature measurement for a globe of 25,000 miles is 8” per mile squared. There are curvature calculators available on line to provide results for various inputs.

Flat Earther’s have performed experiments similar to this one regarding oil platform observations from known distances. What they prove from these observations is that the Earth is not a globe of 25,000 miles in circumference.

Oil Platform Observations

If we assume:

• the earth is a convex sphere of radius 6371 kilometres

• light travels in straight lines

Now we can calculate curvature using the curvature calculator linked here.

Earth Curvature Calculator

The authorities of NASA and institutions of higher learning all continue to insist that the Earth is a globe. But what proofs can they show for this authoritative assertion? NASA has beautiful pictures of Earth, but on analysis we find those pictures to be images created using CGI. Astronomy is taught in colleges and universities, but what proof is given? I took astronomy at university and do not recall any proofs for the globe put forward.

Experiments performed in the 1800s attempted to prove whether the Earth is a globe or not. These experiments focused on proving curvature, but in fact proved the opposite. Below is a link to a book that covered the experiments.

Zetetic Astronomy, Earth Not a Globe by Samuel Birley Rowbotham

I do want to say that I have a great deal of respect for Clif High’s intellect. He has access to far more data than I am able to retrieve and analyse. And Clif is rational and logical in his methodology of making forecasts which are based on changing human emotions and humans’ word choices from social media content. That is all good.

Where I differ from Clif is on the topic of the shape of the Earth. All of the observations I make personally prove to me that the Earth is Flat. Not literally of course as there are mountains and valleys, but metaphorically speaking. There is no evidence that I can find for a globe Earth. My eyes can detect no curvature while fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. My zoom lens camera can bring back boats into view after they disappear bottoms up off the horizon. Zoom lenses change perspective. Furthermore my senses can detect no motion, even when I am quietly meditating.

If the Earth was spinning at 1,000 mph at the equator, does “gravity” somehow hold the atmosphere such that there is no wind on the surface on perfectly calm mornings? Wouldn’t we experience some slippage between the Earth’s surface and the atmosphere causing wind if we were indeed spinning that fast? If we believe we are on a spinning globe we have to set aside what our senses tell us and accept what the authorities tell us. Is this what glober’s pass off as critical thinking? Think what the authorities tell us to think? Is it rational to deny our senses?

If we trust what our senses tell us, we can make this simple observation. Often times early mornings are the calmest time of day. Photographers like early mornings for landscape photography because of the magical light of sunrise. Photographs of mountain lakes display remarkably beautiful reflections when the lake’s surface is perfectly still. These photographs have no distortion in the mountain reflections. Our vision is keen enough to determine whether lake reflections are distorted or not. If the reflections were distorted, it would give evidence that the Earth is curved. But if the images showed distortion, photographers would not choose to publish these images.

Mountain lake reflections