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SPACED OUT

Puzzled Flat-Earthers left raging after Nasa astronaut posts photo from the ISS

FLAT-EARTHERS were left shocked, confused and angry after a Nasa astronaut posted a photo of Earth from space.

The impressive but unusual image was posted by seasoned space hero Jessica Meir, who captured our blue planet from the International Space Station.

 This stunning image was taken from the ISS
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This stunning image was taken from the ISSCredit: Jessica Meir / Nasa

US astronaut Meir is currently on board the ISS, and snapped the curvature of Earth through a space station window.

She the image to Twitter to show off her lofty view, but quickly drew the ire of conspiracy theorists.

Many of those replying were Flat-Earthers – people who believe that the Earth is flat, not spherical.

"Imagine lying to billions of people and pretending to be an astronaut. Your life must really suck," wrote one angry Twitter user.

 Jessica Meir is a seasoned US astronaut with extensive training
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Jessica Meir is a seasoned US astronaut with extensive trainingCredit: Twitter

Most of the Flat-Earthers replying accused Meir of capturing the image using a special type of curved lens.

"Why do you guys always use fish eye lenses," moaned one.

Another said: "Yes. That's fish eye lens. Make earth looks like round. Actually, the earth is Flat!"

And one added: "Nice try with the fish eye, but it's flat."

Some were simply in disbelief that you can photograph the entire Earth from near-Earth orbit.

"So from 400km above the earth you can view the whole round earth? Yeah very believable," an angry Twitter user wrote.

Flat Earth – the key facts

Here's what you need to know...

  • The Flat Earth model is an outdated and disproven view that Earth is a flat plane or disk
  • Flat Earth theories were widely believed throughout Ancient Greece, the Bronze Age and Iron Age, and even through to the 17th century in China
  • The idea of a spherical Earth first appeared with Pyhtagoras in the 6th century BC, and Aristotle provided evidence for the theory in 330 BC
  • Earth's spherical shape is now proven and has been widely documented by scientists around the world
  • Internet conspiracy theories have led to a modern resurgence in Flat Earth belief
  • Social media sites like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter have struggled to limit the reach of these disproven theories

Flat Earth theories have been widely discredited for centuries.

But the rise of the internet and social media has allowed conspiracy theories to flourish.

Tech firms are now trying to crack down on the spread of Flat Earth misinformation – but their efforts clearly haven't swayed these paranoid Twitter users.

Barmy flat-earther conspiracist takes a spirit level on plane in bizarre bid to prove his theory

In other news, Flat-Earthers claimed last year's lunar eclipse was fake – and said an "invisible satellite" was to blame.

Loony stargazers believe the world will end after series of four consecutive lunar eclipses.

And YouTube conspiracy theorist Paul Begley predicted there was a small chance the world would end during last year's eclipse.

What do you make of Flat-Earthers? Let us know in the comments!


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