Beyond "Behind the Curve"

 I've found this text floating around Facebook for a while.

In 2018, a documentary team, including some flat earthers, spent $20,000 on an experiment to test the Earth's curvature. They used a laser, mirrors, and Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana to measure the curvature. The team shone a laser beam across the lake, using mirrors to reflect it back to its source, measuring any deviations from a straight line.

To their surprise, the experiment revealed that the Earth is indeed curved, confirming centuries of scientific research. The data showed the laser beam deviated from a straight line due to the Earth's curvature. The outcome was a significant embarrassment for the flat earther community and was widely ridiculed online.

The team's leader, Mark Sargent, initially tried to downplay the results but eventually acknowledged that the experiment had proven the Earth is round. This experiment serves as a reminder that the scientific method is a powerful tool for understanding the world and that empirical evidence can sometimes contradict our preconceived notions.

A slightly different version:

In 2018, a group called the "Behind the Curve" documentary team, which included some flat earthers, spent around $20,000 on an experiment to test the curvature of the Earth. They used a laser, mirrors, and a lake to measure the Earth's curvature.

The Experiment

The team set up the experiment on Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana, using a laser to shine a beam across the lake. They then used mirrors to reflect the beam back to its source, measuring any deviations from a straight line.

The Unexpected Result

To their surprise, the experiment revealed that the Earth is indeed curved, confirming the findings of centuries of scientific research. The team's data showed that the laser beam deviated from a straight line due to the Earth's curvature.

The Reaction

The experiment's outcome was a significant embarrassment for the flat earther community, and it was widely ridiculed online. The team's leader, Mark Sargent, initially tried to downplay the results, but eventually acknowledged that the experiment had proven the Earth is round.

The Lesson

This experiment serves as a reminder that the scientific method is a powerful tool for understanding the world, and that empirical evidence can sometimes contradict our preconceived notions. 

It sort of sounds like an AI watched Behind the Curve and tried to summarize it, or maybe a distracted human. Well the film was released in 2018,. Did the documentary team include flat-earthers or did it only follow them around?

The $20,000 was for Bob Knodel's laser gyroscope (Thanks Bob) which was in the film.

The experiment by Jeran at a lake (was it named, or did Lake Pontchartrain slip into this because of the photo of the pylons?) test used a flashlight, not a laser, although they may have originally wanted to use a laser.

I don't recall Mark Sargent being part of either experiment or commenting on them, I think he appeared earlier in the film and the lake experiment was during the closing credits, but it has been a while since I saw the film. I do recall Bob ("a 15 degree per hour drift" and "kinda a problem") and Jeran ("interesting") reacting to their own experiments.

But what is accurate is that Bob (again, Thanks Bob) found evidence of rotation, and Jeran of curvature.