I have a lifelong friend who is obsessed, not with the globe so much, but with proving that I can only be an ignorant, arrogant, know it all for suggesting an alternate view of our cosmological paradigm. He cannot accept that a high school buddy that twisted in the courtyard could somehow defy all of NASA's highy trained rocket scientists.
Three years ago, I revealed to "John" the two words that prove the physics of water and disproves the theory of gravity. The sea is not level and curved simultaneously; its one OR the other. Since then he has popped up 3 or 4 times on social media, eventually learning how the law of density explains 'gravity' and the law of perspective explains the sun and the moon's appearances above -- these two maxums help plane theorists trust what we all see and feel, flat and stationery! Each new revelation eventually ends in a shouting match unfortunately, and it is always my fault for being so ignorant that his head hurts from the mental linguistics of him trying to prove the ball Earth model.
A few weeks ago, after sharing the Montana big sky photo (below), John told me that he had called a millionaire friend of his with a Gulfstream that can fly higher than my commercial flight (37,000 ft) and prove the horizon is absolutely curved. Cause .. cause .. "I can see it." He then went on to suggest a bet for everything I have, and that his friend would cover him, and added that his buddy "Bruce" was not someone to play with -- he would "break my legs" when I didnt pay. I said he should put his bet on paper, determine the process and identify a jury (pro photographer perhaps ?) and I would absolutely risk all I could afford.
But he didn't.
Here's the pic, over the big sky of Montana, at 0630 Hrs.
After a few days I pushed John to simply direct his friend to follow the steps in The Bible Bet, which only requires that his friend confirm the meaning of two words with a trained professional of his choice. A simple phone call corroborates the evidence. Just 5 minutes. No travel, no pictures, no nasa bloopers to watch, no logistics at all, no expense (allows him to bet more lol), and no more arguments!
But his buddy never hit the send button, and either has he.
John called me a few days afterward however, and after reminding me I was crazy for the 1200th time, stated that we "know" the Earth is a ball cause .. cause ... the constellations we see in the north are not visible in the south. I called him out, told him he was wrong, asked him if he wanted to bet this theory, and suggested that we fly to Syndney and use his fancy $2600 telescope and the stargazer APP on is smart phone to corroborate what we see? Again, I told him to put his terms on paper. He hung up convinced. Unfortunately this offer didnt materialize either.
I reminded him about The Bible Bet. So simple. Still nothing ..
A few days later, John texted me a picture of a sunset, adding that his neighbor was in Costa Rica at this very moment (approximately 4:30 pm). I didn't get it at first, and thought for a second he was trying to prove me right, as the picture was loaded with flat facts, see below. I replied that I could see 1. a flat horizon. 2. a reflection off the water that can only appear on a flat surface. 3. a sun that is "moving" and 4. a sun that is much smaller, as evidenced by the hot spot reflecting off the water. He replied that those observations are all off the table now .. cause .. cause .. the sun had just set in Costa Rica at exactly the same time as it fell in is his backyard, in Edmonton, and that he and his neighbor had both just witnessed it personally (and I'm a asshole). I immediately said he was wrong and asked him if he wished to bet? No reply.
After a few hours I shared some truth with him, from a World Time and Date website (timeanddate.com), which reveals the exact times of the sunrise / sunset in San Jose and Edmonton, and everywhere else on Earth. The site data also details the total hours of light in each area, the moon phases, and many other terrible truths about the cosmology revealed in the Bible, and as always, hidden in PLANE view. I added that he was absolutely right to assume (cause the globe model suggests a Sun that is 400 times larger than Earth) that two points on the same/similar longitude would share similar sunsets and sunrises, and in fact, that every point on Earth should experience the same amount of light, as the leading edge of the spinning ball would be engulfed in light almost instantly (as it 'spins' into it), and similarily go dark almost instantly (as it spins away).
Well .. it turns out that these two points on Earth with similar coordinates (one hour time difference), San Jose and Edmonton, on December 13th 2018 experience a significantly different amount of light .. just over FOUR HOURS difference, see below.
I am still absolutely ignorant, stupid, and full of shit, and my wife should leave me, but I have a sense he's coming around.
