If I observed closely enough I might have spotted a flat earth t-shirt or belt buckle, but everyone looked far more normal than you’d expect at a conference for people who literally believe the earth is flat.īut something felt off.

My fellow conference attendees weren’t what I expected either. If you ignored the large flat earth banner strung up on the wall, you’d be forgiven for thinking you had walked into a business convention. Each seat had a Novotel pen and notepad for notes. Tea and coffee were available, as well as some rather excellent caramel slices. When I hear the phrase ‘flat earthers’ I think of a dimly lit wooden cabin on a secluded mountain, so an invitation to the Auckland Novotel conference centre came as quite a pleasant surprise.

I believe this ball we are on is round, and we are hurtling through space at over 100,000 kilometres an hour, destined to spin through the cosmos until the end of time.ĭespite this, on Saturday I found myself in a room filled with people who earnestly believe the earth is flatter than a pancake, gathered together for the first Flat Earth New Zealand Conference. Oskar Howell went to the inaugural Flat Earth New Zealand Conference in Auckland and found some surprisingly normal people with some very strange beliefs.

Flat earth theory model