The Bielefeld conspiracy is a satirical theory that claims the city of Bielefeld, Germany, is nothing but an elaborate illusion created to trick people. This wild theory first popped up on the German Usenet in 1994 and has since become a part of city marketing and even got a shoutout from former Chancellor Angela Merkel. The crux of the conspiracy is a set of three questions: Do you know anyone from Bielefeld? Have you ever been there? Do you know anyone who's been there? Most people answer 'no' to all three, which supposedly proves the city doesn’t exist. If you say 'yes,' you’re either in on the joke or you've been duped. The origins of this tongue-in-cheek conspiracy are murky, with suggestions that it might have been started by the CIA, Mossad, or even aliens using Bielefeld University as a cover for their spaceship. The theory was actually a joke by Achim Held, a computer science student, who posted it after a party encounter with a Bielefeld resident seemed too unbelievable to be true. Bielefeld's city council has tried to use the conspiracy to its advantage, even offering €1 million to anyone who could prove the city's non-existence. Spoiler alert: no one could. The city cheekily declared the conspiracy 'solved' and put up a monument complete with a QR code for those wanting more deets on the whole saga. In 2009, film students from Bielefeld University decided to cash in on the meme by making a movie about the conspiracy. The film premiered in 2010 and added another layer of fun to this ongoing joke. Bielefeld isn't alone in the satirical conspiracy world. Similar jokes have sprung up about places like Australia, Wyoming, and even the entire country of Finland. But for now, Bielefeld holds the crown as the city that might—or might not—be there at all!