The Flat Earth Association not only believes the Earth is flat, but that there is an anti-moon

According to a YouGov poll, about 2% of 8,215 respondents believe we live on a pancake-like planet.

2% may not seem like a big deal, but these people are just the tip of the iceberg. The same poll results also showed that about a third of Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 expressed doubts about the spherical reality of the Earth. Together, these people are called "Flat Earth People" and form a collective community known colloquially as the "Flat Earth Society."

The society often proposes theories to explain everyday phenomena in support of their hypothesis that the Earth is flat, and in 2019 published another theory to explain how lunar eclipses and blood moons appear in the sky in January 2019.

What is a lunar eclipse?

Generally speaking, a solar eclipse is when a space entity like a planet or moon blocks the sun's rays from reaching Earth. Currently, there are two different types of solar eclipses on Earth, namely solar and lunar eclipses. In the case of a solar eclipse, it is the moon that blocks sunlight from entering the Earth's surface, causing complete (or partial) darkness in certain parts of the day.

A lunar eclipse, on the other hand, occurs when the Earth blocks sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. A lunar eclipse happens for the same reason as a solar eclipse, where the three bodies (the sun, the earth and the moon) are aligned in a (somewhat) straight line (see the image below). This structure, also known as syzygy, results in the central body (the Earth in the case of a lunar eclipse) shielding the terminal body (the Moon) from the sun's rays.

Legend: Graphical representation of a lunar eclipse. Similar to a solar eclipse, the Earth casts two shadows on the moon. In the umbra, the central region of Earth's shadow, our planet completely obscures the moon's distance from the sun, resulting in a total lunar eclipse. In the penumbra, the moon is partially obscured and appears only a little dark, so it is called a partial lunar eclipse.

Also, in contrast to solar eclipses, lunar eclipses are safe to observe with the naked eye and can be seen from anywhere at night.

Logically, since there is no direct sunlight hitting the Moon, there is no light to reflect on the Moon's surface; therefore, all observers on Earth should consider the Moon to be completely dark. However, the small amount of light refracted by Earth's atmosphere hits the lunar surface, creating a reddish hue, hence the name "blood moon".

This same phenomenon (Rayleigh scattering) is responsible for many other perceptible phenomena, including the colors we see at sunrise or sunset, and the color of the sky.

Now, let's turn to the flat Earth aspect.

Flat (flat) Earth lunar eclipse

The Flat Earth Society emphasizes that Earth is a real-life Westeros, with seven kingdoms (aka continents) scattered around the North Pole on Pancake Earth. On the edge of this pancake is a giant snow wall guarded by NASA; furthermore, Earth is considered the center of the solar system and remains stationary, while all celestial bodies hover/float on its surface (source ).

Going back to a lunar eclipse, since the sun and moon are thought to be floating on our planet, the Flat Earth Association rejected the alignment of the three celestial bodies as the cause of a lunar eclipse.

Instead, Flat Earthers say that lunar eclipses are caused by a mysterious solar moon that appears between the sun and the moon a few times a year. This mysterious entity is given the name "Shadow Object" or "Anti-Moon". According to them, the orbital plane of the anti-moon is tilted about 5°10' relative to the sun's orbit, so when the three orbits (sun, anti-moon, and moon) align, it causes a solar eclipse. The mysterious shadowy object is also said to be orbiting very close to the sun, and in a region where most celestial bodies are invisible to the naked eye. However, it may somehow find its way between the solar system's host star and our moon as many as three times a year.

Regarding the identity of the mysterious object, the Flat Earth Society claims more research is needed on the subject, but there is a slim possibility that it is a known space entity.

In addition, this theory also explains the red color of the moon caused by the inverse lunar density. The anti-moon is thought to be translucent, which causes some light to leak from the lunar surface and fall. This situation is compared to the way the flashlight passes through the hand when placed directly on the palm.

For those curious, a similar theory explaining lunar eclipses can be found in Samuel Rowbotham's book Zeetic Astromy.

in conclusion

With today's pace of space research and the discovery of space entities, the Flat Earth Society's so-called anti-moon should have been discovered long ago.

Also, it is not Mercury, Venus or Mars that causes the eclipse. They are millions of kilometers from Earth, and none of their orbits cross ours.

The concept of the lunar eclipse hypothesis proposed by the Flat Earth Society, in which the Earth is flat like a pancake, has been debunked many times. In the face of real science, all hypotheses that violate science are false.