Above Top Secret

Above Top Secret is the internet's beehive for all things conspiracy, UFO, paranormal, and just about anything crank-related. The domain was registered in 1997 by Simon Gray, and he started developing the webshite in 1999.abovetopsecret.com main page, archive snapshot from 25 January 1999. Initially, it was a compilation of various documents and texts concerning shadow government, the New World Order, and related theories, but it primarily focused on extraterrestrial life and alleged attempts by the government to cover up its existence. 
The site became popular following the 9/11 attacks and has undergone several changes in appearance and focus, and mutated into one of the largest and most popular conspiracy theory discussion boards on the internet with over 9.5 million posts of, apparently, "substance".
The site advertises itself as and embraces the beliefs of the alternative conspiracy media, but it is all very stylized and utilizes all sorts of gimmicks to attract viewers, which doesn't seem like a good presentation for "classified" information. One might say this is so it can be accessible to the brainwashed sheeple, so the "truth" can set them free, but is it necessary for it to almost satirize itself?
Unsurprisingly, the site earns a poor rating from rating from Media Bias/Fact Check, which groups the site into its "conspiracy-pseudoscience" category and calls them a "Right Biased Strong Conspiracy website and discussion forum based on the promotion of unproven or debunked claims."Above Top Secret, Media Bias/Fact Check.
==Forum==
The site's main feature is the forum, harvesting 94 subforums (due to the lack of child boards, it appears quite cluttered). Some of them will make you think, "WTF is this doing here?" while others seem to need merging. Of course, the main activity rests in news, conspiracy, politics, current events, and... mystery. New topics are constantly being opened by the site's users, but very few of them are actually theirs, instead being lifted from their friendly neighbors at Infowars, Godlike Productions, or some other webshite, which does lead to some hilarious results at times. Even still, they claim ownership of the articles they hijacked. Ironically, the moderation staff employs a lot of censorship when policing the site, including a tendency to censor rival conspiracy theory websites.
The site initially focused mostly on UFOs and aliens, and today it remains a driving force in the message board. New topics featuring Photoshopped images, fake videos, sci-fi excerpts, and quotes are constantly opened. The claims generally range from "I saw a UFO." to "Jesus was a reptilian alien cyborg from the constellation Draco." Some of it makes a good read, though.
Bans are handed out for breaking the site's "Terms & Conditions", which seem to be randomly and loosely enforced, heavily dependent upon the mood of moderation staff on any given day. Users are not notified why they are banned but suddenly find their account login credentials will no longer function.Terms and conditions. Archived from abovetopsecret.com.
Any and all criticism of the site is considered "carpet pissing" by the forum staff, and posts critical of the forums are removed, with the user generally permanently banned. This type of censorship seems to defy the site's motto of "deny ignorance", as criticisms about staff bias are swept under the carpet and hidden from the wider user base.
==Political leanings==
On political subjects, the site's user base used to swing towards the radical end of whichever side was currently out of power. During the George W. Bush administration, many far-left users inhabited the forums; 9/11 Truthers, people calling Bush a fascist, and various conspiracy theories about the Iraq War, the Patriot Act, and the 2000 election were never more than a couple of clicks away. When Barack Obama was elected, most of the moonbats left and were soon replaced by equally rabid wingnuts, with the site crawling with birthers, religious whackjobs, claims that Obama was a fascist and/or a communist, and claims that the latest mass-murder spree was a false flag operation so that They could take away your guns.
In the latter half of the 2010s, the site's politics began to reflect the increasingly far-right tilt of conspiracy theorist culture. Much of the site was in the tank for Donald Trump during the 2016 election, and by late 2017, Trump supporters had overtaken the forum, having driven off most progressive members. QAnon now takes up a good chunk of the forum's discussion, along with fear-mongering about foreigners, Muslims, leftists, and Kids These Days. The staff/moderation team exhibits and posts with a clear alt-right and conservative bias, leading to a slow purge of Democrats and left-leaning members. One staff member has even (on occasion) used a Confederate battle flagATS Member "about" page in a clear attempt to advertise their political beliefs.
The horseshoe theory, though, guarantees that a lot of the content, especially the less politically-charged stuff (like the aforementioned aliens), tends to show up whether it's leftists or rightists posting.
==Other features==
In a desperate attempt at getting more traffic and money, the site started a weekly news report called Conspiracy Chicks, featuring an all-female staff. As you may guess from the title, it's mostly centered on the fact that good-looking women are reporting it rather than the actual content, which is just your average, trivial conspiracy blabber. Not even Alex Jones has stooped that low.
They also hosted a weekly ATS LIVE streaming broadcast show, which again discussed generally trivial, often kooky, and odd matters. The videos featured all sorts of editing and effects to make them more accessible, as well as spin-off series to further that goal. They also allow user-generated content.
Perhaps the most curious addition to their multimedia vault was a somewhat amusing comic, called "Mr. Mask's Adventures in Conspiracy." The comics are presented as video slideshows with sound effects and voice acting. It is fan-made, but people liked it so much that it made it to the front page.
==TinWiki==
From 2006 until 2008, site members had a wiki devoted to all the things they discussed.Wayback Machine results for tinwiki.org. archive.org. It described itself as:
Among the gems stashed deep inside the internet archives for this incredible wiki are articles describing the so-called "X-22A Anti Gravity Fighter Disc" that Lockheed Martin supposedly developed,X-22A Anti Gravity Fighter Disc. Archived from tinwiki.org, 5 October 2006. some bullshit and JAQing about Area 51,Electrochromatic Panels. Archived from tinwiki.org, 5 October 2006. secret societies,Secret Societies. Archived from tinwiki.org, 5 October 2006. and a big list of cryptids.Cryptid. Archived from tinwiki.org, 5 October 2006.
This site was possibly a satire, as most contributors would be leery of joining such a project and revealing their identity to The Man. Or maybe not. It's hard to tell with true believers.
==See also==
* Jared Loughner – Mass murderer, attempted assassin, and definite crank who posted on ATS but was too loony even for them.
* Hidden Hand – Self-proclaimed Illuminati insider on ATS, whose easy-going pro-Illuminati message has been read and spread widely by conspiritualists.
* R/Conspiracy – If ATS was a subreddit.
==External links==
*Above Top Secret
*Above Top Secret Forums
==Notes==
==References==
Category:9/11 truthers
Category:Alt-lite
Category:Alt-right
Category:Birtherism
Category:Cartoons and comics
Category:Conspiracy theorists
Category:Conspirituality
Category:Crank magnetism
Category:Internet kooks
Category:Islamophobia
Category:QAnon
Category:Racism
Category:Ufology
Category:Webshites
Category:Websites