Nathan Oakley Housekeeping Debunked

Nathan Oakley is one if the more annoying Flat Earth folks out there. He’s known to allow anyone in his live show, then cut them off when he starts losing or getting cornered.

He posted a video with a list of his so-called “unanswered questions”. I responded. I’ll post the questions and answers here in case they suddenly go missing from the YouTube comment section.

1. Any evidence of the distance to the sun?

Yes, using a simple parallax measurement from two points on the earth, you get the distance to the moon. Then just do a simple trig measurement when the moon is at its half phase. You then get the sun is about 400X times farther than the moon.

Really simple.

2. The Refraction value. Any evidence?

Yes. Atmospheric refractive is easily measured and seen quite well. As everybody knows that the sun moves 15 deg/hr. Just measure the track of the sun and you will see the sun stay at a constant angular velocity just until it sets. Once it gets close to the horizon, you will see it slow down to where you are still able to see the sun even though it physically below the horizon.

When measuring this, you can then verify the formula R=57/tan(altitude of the object). As the sun is setting below the horizon, the sun is refracted almost 0.5 degrees.

Really simple.

3. Any sign of earth’s curvature?

Yes. The confusion most flat earth folks have is how it’s visible. The common complaint is that they can’t see a curve looking out over the ocean. They just see a flat horizon. That’s because you are looking at the X-axis from left & right. You are seeing too little of a 360 circle to see a curve. You are seeing less than 0.2 degrees at sea level. At 60,000 ft, it’s barely visible and at 110,000 it’s pretty prominent.

But, the Y-axis, you easily see it as you keep a video zoomed in on any ship or airliner as it moves away from you until it’s out of view. To test, wait until it’s completely out of view, then try to zoom it back into view. If you can’t, it’s because of the earth’s curve.

Bonus content. If you see a clear horizon, that’s because you are seeing the edge of the curve. At flat earth would not have a horizon and all objects would disappear gradually until there is too much atmosphere to see it clearly.

Really simple.

4. Any evidence of a molten iron core?

East, just measure the seismic waves from across the globe. As we see the waves pass through different properties, we can measure which elements are where.

Waves passing directly through the earth are times and measured by intensity and we can see that the core is both molten and made mostly from iron.

Simple logic as objects get hotter as they go deeper into the earth.

Really simple.

5. Any signs of axial rotation?

Yes, the very fact that the stars rotate 15 deg/hr counterclockwise around Polaris at the same time the stars rotate around Sigma Octanis at 15 deg/hr clockwise.

Also, we see the rotation causes hurricanes to rotate counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.

Really simple.

6. Have pressure without a container?

Yes. When Hurricane Harvey was hitting Houston, the core was at a pressure of 27.67 in. 200 miles north in Ft Worth, the pressure was over 30 in. There was no container keeping the high pressure from getting to the low pressure.

Also, on a typical day, the pressure at sea level is just below 30 in. At 5,000 ft, it’s just under 25 inches. What container is holding that high pressure from reaching the lower pressure? None.

At 10,000 ft, the pressure is about 20.5 inches. Still no container.

At 40,000 ft, the pressure is 5.5 inches. Obviously airliners are required to be pressurized otherwise the passengers would die. But outside, no container keeping the high pressure at sea level reaching 40,000 ft.

At 65,000 ft, it’s only about 1.66 inches. At 100,000 ft, it’s 0.32 inches. If you require a container to hold gas pressure, where exactly is it? We went from 30 inches to 0.32 without any noticeable container.

Really simple.

7. Any scientific evidence of gravity?

Yes, Henry Cavendish was able to measure the force of gravity between two objects in the late 1790’s.

The value he discovered as the gravitational constant has been confirmed ever since as every object (regardless of density) falls to the earth at that value.

Really simple.

8. “R”-Value. Any Evidence?

Actually, Pythagoras was able to calculate the existence of a globe. Eratosthenes did it a few 100 years later. Al-Biruni did it again using a different method 1,000 years ago. So, after 2.5 millenia, the globe is still a globe.

Now, the question is how do we calculate the radius (R) of our globe if we don’t have a measuring tape 1,000’s of miles long?

Let’s look at bridges. Very long bridges. Bridges that require the towers to be perfectly vertical because they are holding up many 1.000’s of tons of steel and cables. These towers are built so far apart, that they literally have to be farther apart at the tops than the base at sea level due to the curve of the earth.

The formula we will use us very simple, repeatable, and verifiable. R = h(height in feet) * d(distance apart in feet) / s(Tower separation in inches)*12. R = h * d / (s/12).

Let’s try a few and see how we do. According to NYMTA, https://new.mta.info/bridges-and-tunnels/about/verrazzano-narrows-bridge the Verrazano-Narrows bridge the towers 693 feet in height, 4,260 feet apart, and dude to the curve of the earth, the tops are 1.69 inches further than the bases.

R = 4,260*693/(1.69/12)

R = 2,952,180/0.1408

R = 20,967,187.5 feet

Actual radius of the earth is about 20,925,197 feet that gives us a variance of 1.002 or 1/5 of 1%. Nice

But, let’s validate this with other bridges in the world:

Name	Tower Sep(in.)	Tower Hgt (Ft)	Tower Dist (Ft)	R Calc (Ft)	Variance	Var%
Varrazano-Narrows Bridge	1.69	693	4,260	20,962,225	1.002	0.18%
Humber Bridge	2.15	692	5,414	20,910,631	0.999	-0.07%
Akashi Kaikyo Bridge	3.47	928	6,529	20,953,010	1.001	0.13%
Xihoumen Bridge	2.15	692	5,414	20,910,631	0.999	-0.07%
Great Belt Bridge	2.55	833	5,328	20,885,760	0.998	-0.19%
Runyang Bridge	1.98	705	4,888	20,885,091	0.998	-0.19%
Jiangyin Suspension Bridge	1.62	623	4,543	20,965,104	1.002	0.19%
Tsing Ma Bridge	1.75	676	4,518	20,942,866	1.001	0.08%
Golden Gate Bridge	1.80	746	4,200	20,888,000	0.998	-0.18%
High Coast Bridge	1.35	591	3,970	20,855,733	0.997	-0.33%

Looks like the variance is a pretty good mark and well within tolerances for this experiment. I’ll have to guess why Nathan will be forced to ignore this and all the other points as they will dig into his story a bit.

9. Alternate “R”-Value Calculation

In the 11th century, Al-Biruni successfully determined the radius of the Earth. He accomplished that by measuring the dip of the horizon from the top of a hill. From the measurements, he was able to calculate the radius of the Earth.

In the 21st century, we can easily repeat the same experiment with practically no effort. We just need a smartphone and an opportunity to observe the horizon from a high altitude, like during a flight.

Al-Biruni carried out his measurement in two steps.

First, he measured the height of a mountain. He took two measurements of the angle to the top of the mountain from two different locations. From the results, he was able to determine the height of the hill.

Second, he climbed to the top of the mountain and measured the dip of the horizon. From his measurements, he was able to calculate the radius of the Earth.

Using modern technology, we can carry out the same measurement and determine the radius of the Earth by ourselves. These days, practically all smartphones are equipped with GPS that can measure our altitude, and we can skip Al-Biruni’s first step. And with the accelerometer sensors inside our phones, we can measure the dip of the horizon. Using a smartphone that we already carry everywhere, we can carry out Al-Biruni’s measurement. We only need to be in a high enough location and a clear view of the horizon, like during a flight.

Calculation

Calculation using the numbers in the illustration: 38805 ft * cos(3.4 degrees) / (1- cos(3.4 degrees)) in km = 6707.8 km

The result is different only about 5% from the actual value.

Derivation of the Equation

References

• Al-Biruni’s Classic Experiment: How to Calculate the Radius of the Earth – Owlcation
• The Empire of Reason 3/6 (Science and Islam – Episode 2 of 3) – Jim Al-Khalili – BBC
• https://flatearth.ws/al-biruni-method#:~:text=Al-Biruni%E2%80%99s%20Method%20to%20Determine%20the%20Radius%20of%20the,%3D%206707.8%20km%203%20Derivation%20of%20the%20Equation

12 Key Points that Prove a Globe Earth

I have been debunking a grand list of conspiracies over the years, but one that still lingers lately is the idea that 7.4B people live on a flat and still earth with the sun, moon, and planets all circling above us on some sort of dome. Anybody that has passed 9th grade science knows this is impossible, but it seems not everybody was awake as they took that class.

12 Points

I have developed 12 points that independently and solely end the Flat Earth story. Just to clarify, its just a story as it has not come close to being a theory. So, in no particular order:

1. Sunsets — According to a few common versions of Flat Earth, they make the claim that the sun is between 3,000-5,000 miles up. This would mean that sunsets are impossible. Explain how we see a sunset.
2. Phases of the moon — Explain how this is possible on a flat earth using ANY FE model you wish.
3. Eclipses — Explain how both lunar and solar eclipses are possible on a flat earth.
4. Southern Hemisphere Flights — Qantas and LATAM both have flights that fly non-stop between Australia and Chile. The flights take between 14-15 hours. How is that possible on a flat earth?
5. Seasons — Explain how seasons are possible on a flat earth
6. Sigma Octanis — Explain how every person in the southern hemisphere can see this star, but not in the northern hemisphere.
7. Polaris — Explain how nobody in the southern hemisphere can see this star, ever.
8. Eratosthenes — Explain how he couldn’t have known the diameter of the globe 2,300 years ago.
9. Al-Biruni — Explain how he couldn’t measure the curve of the earth 1,000 years ago.
10. Coriolis — Explain how hurricanes, typhoons, and Foucault’s pendulum are affected by the Coriolis Effect
11. The Blue Marble — Explain how a 1972 photo of our globe is not genuine proof.
12. Satellites/ISS — How are satellites possible?

Hasty Generalization Fallacies

As a standard response to typical questions to the Flat Earth story, there are a list of hasty generalizations. Most of these are a quick way to deflect the question and to avoid answering the point. The biggest problem these fallacies present are an unsupported claim added to the debate and are used as a method of burden shifting which is another fallacy Flat Earth folks use.

1. Gravity doesn’t exist or is not a force.
2. All NASA photos are CGI.
3. NASA lies and cannot be trusted.
4. Space doesn’t exist.
5. High pressure requires a container.
6. The earth’s curve is 1.22*sq rt (height of viewer), so anything seen after that is impossible.
7. Refraction isn’t real.
8. Appeal to ignorance fallacy.

Challenge

The challenge is to explain one or all of these 12 points. The rules are if you choose to use a hasty generalization, you are then required to prove both the point AND the generalization you used. I am available on Twitter @IEAffiliate if you wish to discuss.