Louisiana is no stranger to conspiracies. From government explosions to assassinations, we run the entire gamut of theories. Here are 7 of the most popular in the state.
1) The Shooting of Huey P. Long
While there were numerous witnesses to the assassination of Huey P. Long, there is still heated controversy about which bullet actually killed the former governor and senator of Louisiana. Some question whether Dr. Carl Weiss worked alone or as part of a conspiracy, and many criticize the investigation itself, which never identified a clear motive for the supposed assassin.
2) New Orleans & The JFK Conspiracy
Three years after JFK was assassinated, New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison launched an investigation into Lee Harvey Oswald, determined to shed light on the rumors that he did not act alone. Oswald had spent the previous years in New Orleans and a number of inconsistencies keep the conspiracy theorists investigating his time in Louisiana.
3) Bayou Corne Sinkhole
Around the same time as the Camp Minden Explosion, the Bayou Corne sinkhole began to develop, reaching the record size of 37 acres. The ongoing environmental disaster has been a ripe area of growth for conspiracy theories, connecting the sinkhole to everything from the Gulf of Mexico to the New Madrid fault line 150 miles north.
4) Failure of Lower 9th Ward Levees
When Katrina struck New Orleans in 2005, many who rode out the storm in the Lower 9th ward heard huge blasts—explosion sounds—throughout the night and early morning. When the levees failed, rumors began flying that the levees had been intentionally destroyed in order to protect the uptown areas of New Orleans.
5) Camp Minden Explosion
On October 15th, 2012, an explosion at the Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant, also known as Camp Minden, was one of the largest of over 12 explosions that have occurred at this site since it was founded in 1939. A huge variety of conspiracy theories have cropped up around these explosions, suggesting that they were caused by everything from meteors to secret weapons testing.
6) The BP Oil Spill
After the oil spill of 2009, rumors began to circulate that BP and Halliburton purposefully created the accident to profit from the clean up and encourage depopulation of coastal Louisiana so that oil companies can fully control the resources there. Jesse Ventura investigated this conspiracy on his show Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura.
7) Dr. Mary’s Monkey
Now one of the most popular conspiracy theory books in Louisiana, Dr. Mary’s Monkey details an obscure story of a secret laboratory in New Orleans where monkeys were being experimented upon, the 1963 unsolved murder of Dr. Mary Sherman, and the testing of various biological weapons and cancer-causing agents. Weaving in the JFK conspiracy makes this for a hotly debated story in Louisiana!
Have you heard these theories before? What do you think? Have you read Dr. Mary’s Monkey? Let us know the facts in the comments below!
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