No, I'm being serious. There is a society in this world that believes in a flat earth. It first started in England then later its headquarters were moved to Lancaster, California. Yes, in America... Anyway.
This theory first emerged with Samuel Rowbotham who, based off his interpretations of certain biblical passages, supported the idea of a flat earth. He then published a 16-page pamphlet, which later he expounded into a 430 page book, explaining his views. According to Rowbotham's system, which he called "Zetetic Astronomy", the earth is a flat disk centered at the North Pole and bounded along its southern edge by a wall of ice (Antarctica), with the sun and moon 3000 miles (4800 km) and the "cosmos" 3100 miles (5000 km) above earth. Rowbotham and his followers gained noticed by having debates with leading scientists of the day. After Rowbotham's death his followers established a magazine but after World War I, the movement saw a slow decline. In the U.S., this idea was first taken up by the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church. They established a theocratic community in Zion, Illinois and for a while the flat earth doctrine was taught in community schools. However once the leader of the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church, Wilbur Glenn Voliva, passed away the movement struggled well into the 1950's. In 1971 Charles K. Johnson became the new president of the Flat Earth Society. For the next three decades, the society grew in size by 3,000 new members. Johnson and his wife passed out fliers, brochures, maps, and other promotional materials to anyone who asked about it. Charles Johnson died in 2001, leaving the fate of the Flat Earth Society uncertain, though a BBC news interview with leading Flat Earth proponents revealed that attempts at re-establishment in different parts of the world are currently under way.
Oh and their explanation for gravity? The Flat Earth Society maintains that the earth is moving upward at a rate of 9.8 m/s^2.
Sunset and sunrise? The planetary bodies above the earth revolve around it, shrinking away until not able to be seen anymore and then reappearing.
How about the infamous sinking ship effect? The sinking ship effect is explained by a series of perspective laws, in which a ship on the horizon intersects with the vanishing point, causing it to appear as if it is sinking.
For more explanations concerning seasons and other such phenomenons, visit Wikipedia (the source of this post) and search "Flat Earth Society."
