Conspiracy theorists are at it again and this time it’s a revival of the theory that China is buying the state of Idaho. The theory was revived on Reddit as a poster wanted to know what happened to “Project 60”, an initiative to “grow Idaho’s Gross Domestic Product.” The project eventually evolved into “Accelerate Idaho”, a plan that Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter described as his “new strategic plan to grow the state’s economy and expand career opportunities for Idaho citizens.”

According to Reddit user u/caddyben, however, “the plan was to sell 50 square miles to China south of the Airport in between Boise and the Airforce Base for commerce and manufacturing purposes.”

I instantly became curious as to what in the world was going on and were there really parts of Idaho being sold to China? When searching the words “China buying Idaho”, I came across a 2014 article from blogger Mike Rothschild on the site Skeptoid.com. Rothschild wrote that China was buying the state of Idaho as part of “a mysterious joint Chinese/American plan” that was Project 60 before diving into other details of the theory that include “Idaho had sold out to the communists.”

Hopefully, we all agree that this theory is absolutely ridiculous. I love digging around on Reddit but when misinformation gains traction from people who fail to research any deeper, that info is then spread throughout social media.

So, if you see any rumors circulating that the state of Idaho is the property of China, take comfort in knowing that it’s all hogwash. I love a good conspiracy theory as much as the next person (ex: UFOs, Sasquatch, etc.) but this one is just too far out for even me to believe. There are, however, other bizarre theories out there like those who believe birds aren’t real or that Idaho doesn’t exist.

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