![]() Today, the society claims more than 500 members on its roster. According to Smithsonian Magazine, membership in the Flat Earth Society, founded in 1956, once reached 3,500 people. ![]() No one knows how many flat Earth believers are out there. Opinions differ on exactly how the flat Earth works, with believers concocting elaborate versions of physics and creative interpretations of the solar system to make their theories work. These believers claim that the Earth is a flat disc, and that evidence that it is round - say, pictures taken from space - are an elaborate hoax involving multiple governments. The curvature becomes more readily apparent above 50,000 feet passengers on the now-grounded supersonic Concorde jet were often treated to a view of the curved horizon while flying at 60,000 feet.But a fringe society founded in the 1950s, dedicated to insisting that the Earth is flat, has given rise to a modern ground of flat Earth adherents. According to a 2008 paper in the journal Applied Optics, the Earth's curve becomes subtly visible at an altitude of around 35,000 feet, as long as the observer has at least a 60 degree field of view (which may be difficult from a passenger plane window). If you get lucky enough to get an unobscured view of the horizon and a high enough commercial flight, you might even be able to make out the curvature of the Earth with the naked eye. You won't have to retrace your steps to land where you started. Anyone can circumnavigate the globe nowadays there are even travel firms, like AirTreks, that specialize in multi-stop, round-the-world routes. This one should cost you considerably less than $1 million, though you will have to drop a few thousand dollars.
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