An ex-Flat Earther has shared his journey of realization that the Earth is round, following a trip to Antarctica that left no room for doubt.
Jeran Campanella, once a prominent figure promoting the flat Earth theory, famously remarked, “Alright guys, sometimes you are wrong in life,” when faced with the undeniable evidence of the midnight sun at the polar ice cap during December.
Campanella, who operates the YouTube channel ‘Jeranism’, embarked on this eye-opening journey to Antarctica after accepting a $35,000 offer from a ‘glober’—the term Flat Earthers use for those who accept the Earth’s roundness—to challenge his beliefs.
This challenge centered around disproving the flat Earth theory, which posits the impossibility of a 24-hour sun in Antarctica—a phenomenon that is well-documented during the summer months.
Following the trip, the ‘Center for Inquiry’ invited Campanella to discuss his past beliefs and the cognitive dissonance that led him to ignore overwhelming evidence in favor of a spherical Earth.
During the interview, host Rob Palmer inquired if Campanella had observed the Moon while in Antarctica, noting it would appear ‘upside down’ compared to its view from the Northern Hemisphere.
Reflecting on his previous mindset, Campanella admitted: “The Flat Earth excuse that I would have given you if it was three months ago and you asked me how does the Moon flip upside down I would have said well put a circle on your ceiling with an A and a B on it and then walk to the other side of the room and it will flip upside down.
“But that’s not at all what the Moon does, it’s a it’s an actual 3D object that you can see. So the other Flat Earthers and I were talking and we just kind of said well it could be some sort of reflection off of a dome or something.
“I now understand that this was just an attempt to fit the evidence into a preconceived belief,” he added, acknowledging his past errors.
He further explained: “I don’t think I realized how easy that was to do – or at least get it to the point where you could pass it off to the people that watch you – so it’s kind of easy to do.
“No matter what you threw at me I could come up with some [excuse] – and I thought that was actually research, I thought that was actually doing something right.
“Now I realize, ”Oh man that’s one of the most biased, basically confirmation biased positions that you can take’ where you’re just looking for the evidence that meets your belief and then you really disregard anything else – you really just throw it out, it’s almost like you don’t hear it.”
Although Campanella’s views have shifted him away from the Flat Earth community, he has gained respect among those who acknowledge the spherical nature of our planet.