Conspiracy theorists have been lying a bit low of late, perhaps due to life itself becoming more and more unbelievable. Maybe it has something to do with politicians spending the last decade putting the fear of God into us at every turn - martians have had to take a back seat to the financial crisis and the Middle East and gay marriage.

So what better to rouse the distracted masses from their stupor than a celebrity shot in the arm? Enter, stage leftfield, Mr. Billy Corgan.

The ex-Smashing Pumpkin has taken to his spiritually minded website to warn us that the H1N1 virus is man-made, writing...

"...it is possible the virus is not a naturally occurring virus. I have read reports from people who say (as doctors) that there is evidence to suggest this virus was created by man; to call it Swine Flu is then a misnomer, as it really is Swine Flu plus some other stuff stitched together. These doctors said such genetic mutation was impossible in nature."

Corgan explains why he, "...will not be taking the vaccine. I do not trust those who make the vaccines, or the apperatus behind it all to push it on us thru fear. This is not judgment; it is a personal decision based on research, intuition, conversations with my doctor and my ‘family’."

Intuition, eh? Do go on...

"The state of Massachusetts here in America is about to sign into law (if it hasn’t already) for a mandatory vaccination. The state will have the power to come into your home and incarcerate you for being unwilling to comply with a vaccination order. Didn’t you hear? Soon, you won’t even have the choice to live OR die as you wish!"

Corgan's "research" didn't extend to Google where I found this recent denial of mandatory vaccination rumours in Massachusetts, but then that is a government (boo! hiss!) denial so read into that what you will.

However, the bald one can take comfort in the knowledge that another famous musician will possibly have his back on this one. Step forward Jim Corr, the lone gunman male member of Irish folk-pop combo The Corrs, who has spent the last two years warning the world that we're sleepwalking into a New World Order put together by the Illuminati, and that 9/11 was an inside job...





As he points out himself, Corr started his investigations when The Corrs stopped touring in 2007, giving him plenty of time to sit back and smell the conspiracy. So I came to the immediate conclusion that this is what happens when you have too much time on your hands and enough money to never have to work again. Until I scanned this on his Wikipedia page...

"In November 2005 he announced his engagement to former Miss Northern Ireland Gayle Williamson. On May 10th, 2006 Gayle gave birth to the couple's first child, a son named Brandon. Jim and Gayle had planned on getting married, but have separated."

Billy Corgan has had a long and storied history of depression. Could it be that a painful divorce from the mother of his son amidst a grueling touring schedule and the end of his own band left Jim Corr in a similarly vulnerable headspace? Does depression make somebody more prone to paranoia, even conspiracy theories? Or am I being unfair? Or a conspiracy theorist?


The truth is might not be "out there" but "up there".