A new documentary called “Behind The Curve” has
recently been released on Netflix, looking into the people of the Flat
Earth movement and how they end up believing such an outlandish idea.
The film has received
positive reviews, with critics commenting on how it focuses on the human side
of the movement, rather than dismissing them. Many viewers have enjoyed a
particular clip from the documentary, where a flat-Earther proves that the
Earth is not flat live on camera. In the immortal words of Meryl Streep: “These are the moments that
make life worth living”.
In the clip, a flat-Earther
named Jeran from a group known as Globebusters set up a simple experiment
to prove that the Earth is flat. He used two boards, both with a hole at
a height of 5.18 meters (17 feet) above water level, a camera, and another
person by the name of Henrique holding a torch at the same height and aligned
with the holes.
If the Earth was flat, no
matter how far Henrique was, the light would come through the holes. But
on a spherical Earth, there’s the curvature to consider. Given Henrique’s
distance from the holes, he would have to position the light above his head
(7 meters/23 feet above the water level) for it to be seen.
When the experiment
began, the light didn’t appear on camera. A perplexed Jeran radioed Henrique to
confirm the height of the light at 5.18 meters (17 feet) above sea level.
On a flat Earth, he should be seeing the light. He then asked Henrique to lift
the light above his head. Lo and behold, the light shined through.