The “Donut Earth Theory” is the belief that the Earth is a flat circle with a large hole in the center.
While most of us know that the Earth is spherical, the “Donut Earth Theory” posits that our planet is shaped like a torus, with a hole in the middle, similar to a donut. This conspiracy theory is gaining traction within the “Flat Earth community.”
Is the Earth shaped like a donut?
This theory was first introduced on the “Flat Earth Theory” forum by Dr. Rosenpenis in 2008 as a joke. In his post, he wrote: “I utilized professional academic software combined with advanced astrophysics to create the most delicious geographical donut model – our sugar-coated planet on Earth.”
Although Rosenpenis’s post was clearly not meant to be taken seriously, somehow this idea gained popularity. Some individuals have even attempted to rationalize phenomena in a way that is… less than logical, such as explaining that the reason we cannot see the hole in the middle is due to light being bent.
The formation of black holes inspires the Donut Earth Theory.
“I hypothesize that the Earth actually has the shape of a torus (donut). However, light is curved, so we cannot know,” stated Varaug, a member of the Flat Earth forum. It is known that the bending of light by gravity was predicted by the theory of general relativity and was first confirmed during the solar eclipse in 1919.
To explain why no one has ever fallen into the “hole of the Earth,” Varaug asked other forum members to think of the Earth as a “jelly-filled donut,” with the force of gravity keeping us grounded.
Varaug also argued that the phenomenon of day and night still occurs normally, lasting 24 hours when the Earth takes this shape, as the hole creates a 90-degree angle with the Sun.
Proponents of this theory also speculate that the torus was formed by gravity pulling rocks, dust, and space debris together into an orbit without a central focal point, creating a planet shaped like a ring that rotates around the void – also known as the hole.
Flat Earth.
Scientists quickly debunked this theory by explaining that the Sun could not rise or set as it does now if the Earth had a hole in the middle, nor would we experience day and night as we currently do.
Dr. Anders Sandberg from the University of Oxford pointed out that on a donut-shaped Earth, clouds could be three times higher and pushed around by extremely strong winds. Additionally, those living near the “hole” would experience “two seasons,” with summer overlapping winter and vice versa.
