The Final Experiment
The Final Experiment (or TFE) is an endeavor created by Will Duffy to end the debate by bringing flat earthers and globers together to collaborate on a single experiment with an agreed-upon interpretation.
Description from the website FAQ:
The Final Experiment is a way to settle the shape of the Earth debate. Both the flat earth side and the globe side agree that whether or not there is a 24-hour sun in Antarctica will confirm if we live on a flat plane or on a globe. A 24-hour sun cannot work on a flat plane in the south. And the sun cannot set on a globe during the southern summer.
They traveled to Antarctica near the December solstice in 2024, to observe the 24-hour sun and specifically test the Gleason map (which was then almost universally espoused by flat earthers). The trip had four flat earthers and five globers that went.
Official TFE channels:
Participants vs Antarctica-Bound
At the start of TFE, Will chose 24 flat earthers and 24 globers who were invited to participate. Participants from these 48 invitees would be added to a “big scoreboard.”
However, to make entries on the scoreboard as easy as possible for invitees, traveling to Antarctica was not required. (Will only planned to offer 2 free trips anyway.)
Entry on the big scoreboard was possible by any one of three methods:
- Traveling to Antarctica, or
- Interviewing Will Duffy, or
- Suggesting an improvement to the experiment.
Antarctica Team
These are the people who physically traveled to Antarctica. (Those listed here who are not among the 48 original invitees don’t affect the big scoreboard.)
Team Globe:
- Will Duffy (self-funded)
- Dave McKeegan (paid by Will)
- CriticalThink (crowdfunded)
- Michael Toon (crowdfunded)
- Mark Hermon (paid by donor)
Team Flat Earth:
- Jeran Campanella (paid by Will)
- Austin Witsit (paid by Will)
- Lisbeth Acosta (Golden Ticket winner / crowdfunded)
- Jonathan Mariande
Invitees
| Invitee | Status | Method | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dave Weiss | rejected | ||
| Eric Dubay | rejected | ||
| Jeran Campanella | accepted | interview & travel | entry |
| Mark Sargent | rejected | ||
| Matt Procella | currently in prison | ||
| Dean Odle | rejected | ||
| Nathan Oakley | rejected | ||
| Austin Witsit | accepted | interview & travel | entry |
| Dave Murphy | no response | ||
| Tanner Stewart “Flat Earth Millionaire” | no response | ||
| Matt Long | no response | ||
| Flatzoid | no response | ||
| Taboo Conspiracy | no response | ||
| Eddie Bravo | no response | ||
| Santos Bonacci | no response | ||
| Kaleb Davis | no response | ||
| Beyond the imaginary curve | no response | ||
| Sean Griffin “Kingdom in Context” | accepted | interview | entry |
| Ken Heidebrecht “Hanging on His Words” | no response | ||
| Sean Hibbeler “Hibbeler Productions” | no response | ||
| Robbie Davidson “Celebrate Truth” | no response | ||
| Darryle Marble “D. Marble” | no response | ||
| Bryce Mitchell “Thug Nasty” | no response | ||
| Globebusters | no response |
| Invitee | Status | Method | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| SciManDan | accepted | interview | entry |
| Dave Farina “Professor Dave Explains” | accepted | interview | entry |
| Dave McKeegan | accepted | travel | |
| Michael Toon “Conspiracy Toonz” | accepted | interview & travel | entry |
| The Creaky Blinder | accepted | interview | entry |
| Craig McNeill “FTFE” | accepted | interview | entry |
| Wolfie6020 | accepted | interview | entry |
| Red’s Rhetoric | no response | ||
| Globey McGlobeface | accepted | interview | entry |
| Globemann | no response | ||
| Bob the Science Guy | accepted | suggestion | entry |
| Mr Sensible | no response | ||
| Professor Stick | no response | ||
| Astrokobi | no response | ||
| Michael Jones “InspiringPhilosophy” | no response | ||
| Chuck Nice “Startalk” | no response | ||
| Mike Winger | no response | ||
| Scott Manley | no response | ||
| Mick West | no response | ||
| Dr. Blitz “BlitzPhD” | no response | ||
| Planarwalk | accepted | interview | entry |
| Danny Faulkner “Answers in Genesis” | no response | ||
| Ruslan Karaoglanov “Ruslan KD” | no response | ||
| WheresWally | accepted | interview | entry |
Results
Dave McKeegan
Dave's Timelapse of the 24 hour Antarctic sun on YT. A panorama stitched from frames of this video results in this image:
Data Collected
See here for data on this wiki that was collected for TFE.
Experimentalizations
The list of experiments the may or may not be performed
Sociology
The Final Experiment was always about exposing flerf sociology, almost more than about earth science. In Will Duffy's original reveal video, he said:
Part one of The Final Experiment is to see who from either side is going to change their position now that we are going to actually put it to the test. Now that we are going to actually do this experiment on location in Antarctica, who is going to go back on what they've been saying all along? If they do, that means they really don't believe what they've been saying to their followers.[1]
In Peter Markley's interview with Will on June 3, 2024, they discussed this:[2]
Peter: Is [the lack of participation from flat earthers] disappointing to you?
Will: Yeah, it definitely is. I had more communication with flat earthers prior to my identity being revealed than afterward. So I dunno, I'm still gonna give 'em time. There's still time.
Peter: So they all kinda ghosted you once you outed yourself as the guy behind this?
Will: Pretty much, yeah.
Peter: Wow. I see what you meant about the first part of the experiment, and how we're watching everyone's reactions to the situation develop.
Will: Yeah, a lot of people forget there's something called "social science." So check it out. This is a true experiment in many ways.
Although Will's initial intent for the sociology focused on reactions before the trip, the reactions after the trip snowballed into something greater.
The social experiment of TFE is basically an honesty test: if a flat earther (or any person) is honest, they will follow the physical evidence recovered on the TFE trip, and admit that earth is a globe. If they are not honest, then TFE is also a layered tactical move that exposes whatever type of dishonesty they have.
Their various dishonest reactions include:
- Pivoting away from the Gleason map to a new model that makes even less sense (e.g. a Pac-Man earth with teleportation, nonsensical sun movements, and/or open edges that the oceans would spill over)
- Pretending to pivot away from the Gleason map while still relying on Gleason-centric concepts (e.g. referring to North as the center, saying latitude is measured from Polaris elevation angles, etc.)
- Doubling down on the Gleason map with even more elaborate word salad or sleight of hand (commonly including a disavowal of all sky evidence—except when it serves them, e.g. Heffron’s so-called “Celestial theodolite”)
- Claiming that TFE is a hoax.
Most flat earthers inconsistently combine multiple reactions above, while they also fight each other about which reaction is “the right one” held by “real flat earthers.”
Almost always, this includes some variation on the last option: attempting to discredit TFE as a hoax. In doing this, they unwittingly admit that it threatens their worldview.
Infighting
The flat earthers who went to Antarctica have not been safe from the infighting. Flerfs of both great and small notoriety have joined livestreams and told them to their faces that they are liars participating in a hoax.
Here is a list of those and other examples of TFE-related infighting:
| Accuser | Accused | Date | Venue | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nathan Oakley | Austin Witsit | Dec 2024 | Oakley’s “Flat Earth Debate” Discord server | Bob the Science Guy review: |
| Flatzoid | Austin Witsit | Dec 31, 2024 | Flatzoid's YouTube channel | livestream recording |
| Steve from England | Jeran and Witsit | Jan 3, 2025 | TFE's YouTube channel | livestream recording |
Hostility to Globers
In addition to flerfs cannibalizing their fellows, TFE triggered a marked rise in flerf toxicity, slander, and threats toward globers—particularly toward Will Duffy, and also toward Jeran after he left flat earth.
Slander toward Will Duffy includes referring to “his true master, Satan”[3] and the claim that he believes lying is okay.
De-converts
As a cumulative result of TFE and its aftermath, there has been a mass exodus of people leaving the flat earth cult.
This section moved to Escapees