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."

  • 2026 FIFA World Cup faces major health risks, according to experts - here's what to look out for
  • Bodies of Italian divers who died in Maldives scuba tragedy returned to Italy
  • Ebola outbreak could become 'deadliest on record' as countries the disease has spread to are outlined
  • Air India plane forced to turn around mid-flight just days after crash killed at least 270 people

Choose your content:

an hour ago
2 hours ago
  • Image: Predictive History
    an hour ago

    China's Nostradamus issues disturbing warning over Trump's UFO files with ominous prediction

    He went on to make the bizarre claims that the CERN hadron collider was made to create interdimensional portals

    News
  • Ennio LEANZA / AFP via Getty Images
    an hour ago

    US blocks World Cup star from entering country just days before tournament starts

    The forward's ESTA authorization was placed under review

    News
  • Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Images
    an hour ago

    Paul Rudd calls airplane mode 'nonsense' as expert explains why it's important

    Rudd claimed that not switching airplane mode on may cause pilots 'the occasional annoyance in their headsets'

    News
  • Nancy Higginbotham via Facebook
    2 hours ago

    Alabama college student goes missing in Japan as family issues urgent plea

    The student disappeared on May 29 after traveling to Kyoto’s Yamashina Ward, likely in search of hiking trails

    News