unilad homepage
unilad homepage
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • World News
    • Crime
    • Health
    • Money
    • Sport
    • Travel
  • Music
  • Technology
  • Film and TV
    • News
    • DC Comics
    • Disney
    • Marvel
    • Netflix
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Archive
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
Flat-Earther’s attempt to sail to the edge of the world ended in disaster after just days
Home>News>Travel
Published 12:44 18 Oct 2023 GMT+1

Flat-Earther’s attempt to sail to the edge of the world ended in disaster after just days

A pair of flat-Earthers were under the impression that Lampedusa was the end of the Earth.

Niamh Shackleton

Niamh Shackleton

google discoverFollow us on Google Discover
Featured Image Credit: martinwimmer/Getty / vuk8691/Getty

Topics: News, World News, Science, Travel

Niamh Shackleton
Niamh Shackleton

Niamh Shackleton is an experienced journalist for UNILAD, specialising in topics including mental health and showbiz, as well as anything Henry Cavill and cat related. She has previously worked for OK! Magazine, Caters and Kennedy.

X

@niamhshackleton

Advert

Advert

Advert

A couple set out to find the edge of the Earth only to be left disappointed (unsurprisingly).

The pair from Venice, Italy, decided to undergo their voyage during the pandemic, so that alone was a problem in itself.

But, away from ignoring Italy's strict quarantine rules, the unnamed couple sold their car and purchased a boat in a bid to travel to the edge of the Earth - which they believed to be Lampedusa - despite Flat-Earth theories having been debunked on several occasions.

Advert

Lampedusa is one of the Italian Pelagie Islands and is located in the middle of the Mediterranean ocean.

Salvatore Zichichi, a doctor from the maritime health office, went on to find the situation amusing as the Flat-Earth-believing pair used a compass to try and locate the island; something in itself that proves the Earth is in fact round due to the direction the compass points being based on our planet's magnetic field lines.

Zichichi told La Repubblica back in 2020: "The funny thing is that they oriented themselves with the compass, an instrument that works on the basis of terrestrial magnetism, a principle that they, as Flat-Earthers, should reject."

Lampedusa is Italy's southernmost island.
Alessio Bellsia/Getty

Evidently their compass reading skills needed working on as the pair found themselves in Ustica instead.

Upon arriving on the island, they were made to quarantine in Palermo as precaution.

But their first failed efforts didn't stop them from trying again and they attempted to escape quarantine.

They only lasted three hours on the run, however, after Harbor Master's Office went on to retrieve them.

Anyone else getting flashbacks of when you used to 'run away from home' as a kid to be dragged back shortly after?

They gave up eventually and went on to return home by ferry.

While some believe flat-Earthers can't possibly believe the that Earth is genuinely flat, Asheley Landrum, a psychologist from Texas Tech University, chatted to people at a flat-Earth convention in Denver and said they were 'sincere'.

Some people genuinely believe the Earth is flat.
martinwimmer/Getty

"If they were [trolling], they are very good actors,” she said, as per Physics World.

"We talked to more than 90 members of the Flat-Earth community and they’re all very sincere in their beliefs."

Flat-Earthers' misguided beliefs aren't down to a lack of education though, but down to not being able to trust institutions and authorities.

Landrum explained: "It’s not really an education thing - it really is about distrusting authorities and institutions.

"[It] seems to be based on both a conspiracy mentality and a deeply held belief that looks a lot like religiosity but isn’t necessarily specifically tied to a religion."

Choose your content:

11 mins ago
21 mins ago
an hour ago
  • Joe Raedle/Getty Images
    11 mins ago

    New poll reveals how many people are proud to be American as country celebrates its 250th anniversary

    Findings come as the US prepares to mark its 250th anniversary

    News
  • x/USMNT Only
    21 mins ago

    Canada coach slammed for 'cringeworthy' comment after team suffer brutal World Cup defeat

    Jesse Marsch has been met with mixed reactions to his thoughts on the World Cup Morocco loss

    News
  • Robert Prange/Getty Images
    an hour ago

    Wimbledon food and drink prices revealed as signature dish called out

    Ticket holders may want to take out a bank loan...

    News
  • Getty Stock
    an hour ago

    Rules volunteers must follow to shoot eight death row inmates in US state

    The new execution rule came into force on July 1, 2026

    News
  • Flat Earther speaks out on beliefs now after realizing he was wrong while on trip to Antarctica to prove the Earth isn’t round
  • Startling changes that happen to the human body after taking just one puff of a cigarette
  • Scientists issue chilling warning to how the world could possibly end and give a timeframe
  • Man who has been to every country in the world reveals how he avoided prison in North Korea