Man tries to show the Earth is flat but ends up proving it's otherwise in brilliant video

The debate over whether the Earth is round or flat has persisted throughout history. Despite the Greeks proving over 2,500 years ago that the Earth is round, a group known as flat-earthers believe the planet is flat like a pizza. A social media clip circulating for years shows a flat-earther attempting to prove the Earth is flat, but ironically, his experiment proves the opposite. This clip, shared by u/killHACKS in the Reddit group r/facepalm, has garnered massive attention.

The resurfaced clip is “The Light Experiment” which plays in the ending scene of the 2018 documentary “Behind The Curve.” “Flat-Earther accidentally proves the earth is round in his experiment,” the user captioned the post. According to Newsweek, the person experimenting, as shown in the clip, was Jeran Campanella, while the experiment itself was the brainchild of Bob Knodel. In the clip, Campanella demonstrated a dramatic scenario when his own preconceived notions were challenged by the outcomes of the experiment.

Campanella used a laser gyroscope to perform this unusual experiment. The equipment included three posts of the same height and a high-powered laser. The idea was to set up three measuring posts, placed over a nearly 4-mile length of equal elevation. Once the laser was activated at the first post, its height could be measured at the other two. If the laser was at eight feet on the first post, then five feet at the second, it would indicate the measuring posts were set upon the Earth's curvature.

In his first attempt, Campanella's laser light spread out too wide and no accurate measurement could be taken. But by the end, when he used a light instead of a laser. This time, he utilized two Styrofoam sheets with a hole cut out at the center of both. Campanella’s goal was to shine the light through the first hole that would appear on a camera behind the second hole, indicating that a light, set at the same height as the holes, traveled straight across the surface of the Flat Earth. But if the light didn’t make its way to the camera, it would indicate the Earth’s curvature. As Campanella shone light through the hole, the light couldn’t be seen flashing on the computer screen. "Lift up your light, way above your head," Campanella said in the clip. As the light was lifted, it could be observed on the camera. "Interesting, that’s interesting" Campanella mumbled.

According to IFL Science, this experiment has been performed by flat-earthers since around 1836 when Samuel Birley Rowbotham, an English inventor, first did it on the Old Bedford River. Each time, the experiment has invalidated the notion that the Earth is flat. This particular experiment took an investment of approximately $20,000, per The Jerusalem Post.

Most Redditors who watched the clip took the experiment in a slightly humorous manner, saying how flat-earthers never stop experimenting to prove their flat-earth theory. u/incomprehensiblegarb said, “People have known the world is round for literal millennia. Flat Earthers are just addicted to the ‘I'm smarter than everyone else’ feeling and are constantly chasing the dragon.” Others suggested that there were flaws in the experiment. “Only if the ground level were exactly the same at both boards and both cameras would this be a valid experiment,” commented u/thejoshuabreed.