The expression "conspiracy theory" is used by scholars and in popular culture to identify secret military, banking, or political actions aimed at "stealing" power, money, or freedom, from "the people." Less illustrious uses refer to folklore and urban legend. Sometimes the expression is used to characterize a form of speculation as ridiculous, outlandish or irrational. This Reference Shelf examines a number of well-known conspiracy theories, their sources, effects and credibility.

"The paranoid style" : an introduction to conspiracy theories. After Hofstadter : conspiracy theories in America /by Paul McCaffrey -- Conspiracy theories : an overview / by Micah Issit -- Conspiracy theories probe the dark side of life / by Sally Driscoll and Laura Finley -- Conspiracy theories are fodder for the gullible / by Beverly Ballaro and Chuck Goodwin -- The truth is out there ... way out there / by George Case -- America's addiction to belief / by Brian Trent -- Internet conspiracies : where the absence of evidence is confirmation of the claim / by Brian K. Pinaire -- Confessions of a non-serial killer : conspiracy theories are all fun and games until you become the subject of one / by Michael O'Hare -- The twin towers and the truthers : 9/11 conspiracy theories. The 9/11 conspiracy : the theories and the evidence / by Paul McCaffrey -- Viewing 9/11 from a grassy knoll : you won't believe what the conspiracy theorists are claiming or will you? / by Will Sullivan -- The anatomy of lunacy / by Andrew Roberts -- 9/11 : the roots of paranoia / by Christopher Hayes -- The American empire and 9/11 / by David Ray Griffin -- Professors of paranoia / by John Gravois -- 500 conspiracy buffs meet to seek the truth of 9/11 / by Alan Feuer -- Who still believes in 9/11 conspiracies? : An empirical study on political affiliation and conspiratorial thinking / by Scott Sommers -- Shots in Dallas : the JFK assassination. American enigma : Lee Harvey Oswald and the JFK assassination / by Paul McCaffrey -- Oswald shoots JFK : but who is the real target? / by William Rubinstein -- A prosecutor takes on the JFK assassination / by Sheldon M. Stern -- Assassination of John F. Kennedy : conspiracy theorists agree that anyone who accepts the Warren Commission's "lone gunman" and "magic bullet" theories is living in the Land of Oz / by Brad Steiger and Sherry Steiger -- New insights into Kennedy's assassination : documents show that Oswald, the mob, anti-Castro Cubans, and right-wing groups really did conspire to kill the president / by David Kaiser -- Researchers at A & M discredit JFK theory / by Holly Huffman -- Martha, Steward : forty years after JFK's assassination, conspiracy theorists still rely on a retired Marion schoolteacher to keep the facts straight / by Bill Shaw -- The good spy : how the quashing of an honest C.I.A. investigator helped launch 40 years of JFK conspiracy theories and cynicism about the Feds / by Jefferson Morley -- Government machinations : political conspiracy theories. The Clinton conspiracies / by Paul McCaffrey -- Citing "sideshow", Obama offers full birth certificate / by Susan Page and Jackie Kucinich -- Latest conspiracy theory, Kerry won, hits the ether / by Manuel Roig-Franzia and Dan Keating -- Those pesky voters / by Bob Herbert -- A week of fear : but not in the GOP's convention hall / by Byron York -- Whatever it is, Bill Clinton likely did it : without proof, foes say he's tied to lurid crimes / by Greg Ferguson and David Bowermaster -- From bombed levees to blood libel : religious and ethnic conspiracy theories. "Myths of the unloved" and myths of the majority / by Paul McCaffrey -- Blame it on the Jews : anti-Semitism and the history of Jewish conspiracy theories / by Phil Molé -- ZOG ate my brains : conspiracy theories about Jews abound, Chip Berlet unpacks their appeal / by Chip Berlet -- The Tuskegee Experiment's long shadow / by Paul Ruffins -- Were the levees bombed in New Orleans? : Ninth Ward residents give voice to a conspiracy theory / by Lisa Myers and the NBC Investigative Unit -- For critics of Islam, "sharia" a loaded word / Michelle Boorstein -- Science fictions? Roswell, the Moon landing, and beyond. The Roswell mystery and its legacy / by Paul McCaffrey -- Roswell, New Mexico, UFO crash / by Brad Steiger and Sherry Steiger -- Did NASA fake the Moon landing? / by Ray Villard -- Seeing red on Mars / by David L. Chandler -- Is baked Alaska half-baked? : Alaska's High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) is a magnet for conspiracy theorists / by David Naiditch.