Could Birds be Government Spies?
One of the more popular conspiracy theories of the digital age is that “Birds Aren’t Real.” The new conspiracy theory began to rise in popularity in 2021 when people online claimed that birds are government spies. The movement initially began in 2017 right after Trump's inauguration. The creator of this satirical movement, Peter Mclndoe, has made multiple media appearances to grow his movement online. Mclndoe and his friends claim that they wanted to start this movement to mock conspiracy theorists. They got the idea after seeing Trump supporters march on the streets of Memphis, Tennessee. People online began to follow in Mclndoe’s lead not only in person, at his widely publicized marches, but also on social media platforms like Tik Tok, Twitter, and Instagram. Mclndoe, the 23-year-old college dropout, even admitted in 2021 that he views the theory as a joke. So why do some of his followers truly believe that birds are government spies?
If birds do have secret cameras in them we technically would never know… right? The theory behind the movement of “Birds Aren’t Real” originated from how people believe birds are secretly drones that collect intel on American citizens for the government. Mclndoe claims that there was a bird genocide of all the real birds initiated by the CIA many years ago and all the real birds were replaced by the government with drones. Mclndoe and his group even went so far as to say that power lines exist solely so that birds can “charge” on them. Many online claim that pigeons aren't real because of their animatronic-like demeanors. If you have ever seen a group of pigeons, you would maybe agree. Pigeons tend not to react to the presence of humans. Pigeons are also not very fearful of people. They walk around aimlessly, like bots, making many believe they are secretly drones spying on us. Even if the theory of birds being government spies isn’t true, it is hard to deny that pigeons don’t act strange.
I initially began seeing the “The Birds Aren't Real” movement on TikTok and Twitter during 2021 and 2022. As I endlessly scrolled, and read online about the theory, it was hard for me to tell if people genuinely believed the theory or, like McIndoe, used it as a mockery of outlandish conspiracy theorists. Like maybe they think only half of the birds are robots? Or just pigeons are drones? After scrolling through social media, watching interviews with Peter Mclndoe, and reading the New York Times article “Birds Aren’t Real, or Are They? Inside a Gen Z Conspiracy Theory” by Taylor Lorenz I realized there isn't a clear answer.
It seems that, similar to Mclndoe and his friends, most people just follow the theory as a joke. In the New York Times article, Lorenz states, “Except that the creator of Birds Aren’t Real and the movement’s followers are in on a joke: They know that birds are, in fact, real and that their theory is made up.” In the 60 Minutes interview called “The Origins of ‘Birds Aren’t Real,’” McIndoe said, “it's taking this concept of misinformation and almost building a little safe space to come together within it and laugh at it, rather than be scared by it.” Mclndoe wanted the purpose of his theory to be used to combat other potentially more harmful conspiracy theories of our time.
Now, why would people believe that birds could be watching us? It's simple. A lot of American citizens have little trust in our government. Most people acknowledge that the government hides a lot of information from us and could potentially spy on us.
On his YouTube channel, popular conspiracy theorist Shane Dawson explains to his viewers the different ways the government can collect intel on us. Not just with Apple’s Siri but also with features like Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home. Many in society fear that the technology we trust for our personal information is listening and sharing what we are saying. This information could be stored in government databases, but if these technologies are listening or tracking us it is most likely just to curate advertisements to recommend us. It is not a secret our data is being collected already by Google and TikTok because of how specific the advertisements are for us. Even the “For You” page on TikTok is carefully catered to what we like. However, when we download certain apps, like Tik Tok, we all agree to our data being collected by signing the terms of agreement, yet we still get paranoid that the government is potentially spying on us.
The movement of “Birds Aren't Real” is formed on the notion of peoples’ little trust in the government and unfamiliarity with our world. So much is unknown all around us. For example, the Area 51 raid in Nevada is similar to the “Birds Aren't Real” movement. 50 years ago if someone said that aliens are real and live in Area 51 most would think you're crazy. Now, this opinion is much more widely accepted. For example, in the PBS News Four article, “What’s the deal with UFOs? The historical context of recent whistleblower claims,” broadcaster Geoff Bennett says, “for decades, the discussion around UFOs had been sort of characterized by stereotypes of people in tinfoil hats. But, here, you have veteran pilots, former intelligence officials, people who, by all appearances, are credible.” Credible individuals, those who even work for the government, are publicly acknowledging that UFOs and aliens could be real, while 50 years ago, those who claimed aliens were real were characterized as “crazy.” Similarly, people who believe that birds are government spies are also characterized by the media and the public as deranged.
With UFO sightings appearing in the media recently and vague claims from government officials and people near Area 51 sites confirming that aliens exist, society has now begun to accept more of these foreign ideas. We are beginning to learn more about our world every day and realize that the government doesn’t tell us everything. Who knows, maybe mermaids are real and we just don’t know. Only 5% of the ocean is discovered, so who's to say mermaids aren’t in the other 95%? Maybe 20 years from now, people will start to think the idea of birds being government drones is not so insane. The theory is rather outlandish, but it’s not that bizarre for the government to be heavily surveilling us.
Another theory in the media recently, relating to the unknown of the universe, is that we might live in a simulation. Similar to films like Free Guy and The Matrix, people believe we could be living in a reality similar to a game, where a lot is predetermined for us and not actually real. Elon Musk even brought media attention to the widely known simulation theory by claiming that he thinks it could be true. Scientists confirmed that the Big Bang Theory created our world but who created that? If you think about it long enough a lot is unknown to us. Maybe we are like characters in a video game and when we die we wake up from the simulation? It is an interesting theory, and hard to believe, but as we see technology continue to develop, and now move even faster than humans with AI technology, the theory of living in a simulation doesn’t seem as impossible.
A lot of these conspiracy theories are out of the realm of our understanding. Some seem “truer” than others, and others seem completely absurd. The possibilities of conspiracy theories are endless. Mclndoe created a narrative for his movement on something so laughable to most around America. All we had to do was give his theory a platform for his narrative, and the people and the media handled the rest. Some anti-believers made videos on social media mocking the theory, and others questioned our government’s intentions. As for right now, I would like to believe that birds are real and not spies. But the next time you look up, ask yourself, Are birds even real?
