Flat Earth Theory: do time zones hold the key?

You’re savoring your breakfast coffee in New York while making a phone call to a friend in Paris, comfortably enjoying their lunch break. But did you know that some of the world’s time zones make you question if we’re really living on a round Earth? Imagine if the earth were flat—would the concept of time zones suddenly click into place like a cosmic jigsaw puzzle?

Running a substantial risk of being declared insane, I once asked why we have time zones. It turns out they were invented because time used to be arbitrary. In each village, the chief would basically decide what time it was by looking at the sun. And boy, what a nightmare that was when you were calling for a pizza. — Dave Barry

Modern science asserts that the Earth is spherical, and this shape is what accounts for the time differences observed across the globe. However, let’s entertain the possibility that the Earth is flat and that time zones might actually support this claim.

Historical context

The primary division of time zones was proposed by Sir Sandford Fleming in 1879 to standardize time for railway communication. However, the need for such separation was recognized long before this, even in ancient times.

In antiquity, people noticed differences in local time, observing variations in the length of day and night depending on their location. For instance, Egyptian priests and Babylonian astronomers determined time based on the Sun’s position in the sky. Though they didn’t have the concept of time zones, they documented that day-night cycles changed with geographical location, without contradicting the flat Earth model.

The puzzle of time zones

Known for splitting the world into distinct temporal segments, time zones help us keep track of our daily lives. These zones ensure that when it’s noon in New York, it’s already evening in London. It’s a simple yet brilliant system—right? Wrong, say flat Earth theorists. They argue that time zones could actually point to a flat, not spherical, Earth. Could this staggering claim hold any water?

If you want to annoy one of our European friends, just eat dinner at an obnoxiously early time like 5:30 PM, the time zones alone might be enough to spark a revolution. — John Oliver

In the world, there are many unusual time zones that are interesting due to their unique offsets relative to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Let’s consider a few of them:

Nepal Time (UTC+05:45)

Nepal uses one of the strangest time zones in the world – UTC+05:45, which creates a difference with UTC of not a whole number of hours, but 5 hours and 45 minutes. This is due to Nepal’s aim to establish its unique time, distinct from neighboring India (UTC+05:30) and China (UTC+08:00).

Iranian Time (UTC+03:30 and UTC+04:30)

Iran has two time zones: from March to September (daylight saving time) the country operates on UTC+04:30, and from September to March (standard time) it operates on UTC+03:30. This atypical offset is related to the preferences of the Iranian government and religious considerations.

China Standard Time (UTC+08:00)

Although China spans 5 time zones, the entire country officially operates on Beijing time (UTC+08:00). This creates significant anomalies, especially in the western parts of the country, like Xinjiang, where solar time can vary greatly from the official time.

Afghanistan Time (UTC+04:30)

Afghanistan uses the time zone UTC+04:30, making it unique among its closest neighbors, such as Iran and Pakistan, which have different time zones.

Australian Half-Hour Time Zones (UTC+08:45, UTC+09:30)

In Australia, there are half-hour offsets: Central Standard Time (ACST, UTC+09:30) and the quarter-hour time zone UTC+08:45, which is used in the Eucla region of Western Australia.

A Flat Earth hypothesis

In this scenario, sunlight would travel along a cone-shaped or circular trajectory, illuminating different segments of the Earth’s surface at different times. This could explain why it is morning in one place while it is still night in another, hence the observed time zones.

Imagine the Earth as a circular plane centered at the North Pole. The Sun moves in a circle above this plane, shining light on different areas at various times of the day. The closer a region is to the center, the more efficiently sunlight is distributed.

Physically, this can be explained by the laws of wave and ray propagation. The Sun’s rays strike at an angle and spread in a circular pattern with a large radius. This leads to the gradual illumination of different regions, which we perceive as changing times of the day.

Certain astronomical observations can be interpreted to support the flat Earth model. For instance, the visibility of the horizon from a specific height above sea level, where the visible range remains almost constant, can be construed to align with a flat Earth.

The most popular scientific understanding insists that time zones exist because our planet is round and rotates on its axis. But flat Earth proponents counter with eye-catching, albeit confusing, visual “evidence” and testimonials. According to them, if Earth were truly round, the curvature should be apparent and consistent, yet they point out so-called anomalies in time zone implementation that they believe back their flat Earth claims.

This perspective on time zones opens new avenues in our understanding of the world. While the spherical Earth theory remains dominant in scientific circles, considering time zones within a flat Earth framework encourages further research and allows us to explore the issue from multiple angles.