The Dark Ages and Modern Adrenochrome Conspiracy
During the Dark Ages, Europe was full of superstition, fear, and extreme beliefs. Back then, some people secretly blamed
During the Dark Ages, Europe was full of superstition, fear, and extreme beliefs. Back then, some people secretly blamed the Jews for the plague, saying they were involved in horrible acts like using the blood of children for rituals.
These rumours have reappeared in history in different forms, with modern-day conspiracies often connected to these old fears.
In 2020, a new kind of plague spread, driven by social media and global distrust. Conspiracy theories about global elites, torture, and the harvest of children for a chemical called adrenochrome became popular.
Some believe this blood-borne substance is injected by the healthy and young to stay youthful.
This topic became a favourite in conspiracy circles, showing how old fears can mix with new technology.
Adrenochrome, QAnon, and Pizzagate
The adrenochrome conspiracy is deeply connected to QAnon and Pizzagate, which are important stories in online conspiracy communities.
The idea of adrenochrome harvesting is not new; it predates these groups and was brought back during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Searches for adrenochrome spiked on Google Trends between March and June 2020, especially on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and Reddit. On July 30, an adrenochrome subreddit became very active, leading to widespread discussion on Friday, July 31.
Conspiracy theorists linked adrenochrome to events like the Child Lives Matter protest in Hollywood, which aimed to expose child trafficking. The event was widely advertised on social media, with many references to adrenochrome.
WIRED OPINION on Adrenochrome Conspiracy
WIRED OPINION offered insights into how the adrenochrome conspiracy spread. Brian Friedberg, a senior researcher at the Technology and Social Change Research Project at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School, has studied this issue.
Friedberg, an investigative ethnographer, focuses on how alternative media, anonymous communities, and unpopular cultures affect political communication and organization.
According to Friedberg, the adrenochrome harvesting conspiracy theory is a strong example of hidden virality in an unpopular culture. These ideas grow on social media platforms and eventually reach the mainstream.
Researchers like Britt Parris and Joan Donovan noted that hidden virality happens when certain content stays within specific parts of the internet, unseen by journalists and large audiences.
This makes it hard for social media companies to notice and act on these trends before they spiral out of control.
The Evolution of Adrenochrome Harvesting
The idea of adrenochrome harvesting keeps changing and often spreads faster than the rules and early intervention efforts of platforms like Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok.
Even though these platforms have tried to crack down on QAnon and adrenochrome harvesting discussions, the conversation continues in mainstream dialogue, mostly led by online communities.
On platforms like Twitter, the adrenochrome harvesting conspiracy became a trending topic fueled by viral content and videos. For example, the Internet Expert Debunks series, where experts try to correct cybersecurity myths and toxic social attitudes that spread alongside hoaxes and disinformation.
Adrenochrome harvesting has been openly blamed on the Jews and satanic globalist elites, using terms popular with the far-right. This modern obsession with adrenochrome is a new form of the old blood libel, an anti-Semitic myth from Europe during the Middle Ages.
This new version is a mutated form of medical misinformation, with roots leading back to the New Blood Libel.
Also read: Is TikTok Banned? Get the Facts
The Realities Behind the Adrenochrome Myth
Effective conspiracy theories often rely on small bits of truth. Adrenochrome is a real compound in the body, but there’s little scientific research supporting the claims made by conspiracy theorists.
Studies from the mid-20th century explored its role in schizophrenia, which fascinated writers like Aldous Huxley and Hunter S. Thompson.
Huxley was especially interested in mind-altering substances and wrote about adrenochrome as a psychotropic substance like mescaline in his famous book, The Doors of Perception.
The first adrenochrome studies captivated Huxley, who saw in them clues to the mysteries of the mind. However, these early leads were never fully explored by scientists, and interest eventually faded.
Nearly 20 years later, Thompson described adrenochrome as a psychedelic substance violently extracted from human glands in his novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. It was later shown in Terry Gilliam’s 1998 film, in a YouTube clip where Johnny Depp’s character takes adrenochrome.
This scene has more than 1.7 million views, with thousands of comments referencing the conspiracy.
Thompson’s work explicitly mentioned adrenochrome, and it became a key part of the earliest posts about adrenochrome harvesting on 4Chan’s /x/ and /pol/ boards around 2013 and 2014.
One especially anti-Semitic 4chan /pol/ thread even had an anonymous poster upload a restricted, unsearchable video titled Jew Ritual BLOOD LIBEL Sacrifice: Adrenochrome Harvesting.
Pizzagate and Adrenochrome
As Pizzagate grew between 2015 and 2016, the idea of adrenochrome harvesting spread on mainstream social media. By 2016, a video linked to a Pizzagate thread involving the artist Marina Abromovich and her spirit cooking ceremonies fueled these beliefs.
Within several months, more and more strange claims began circulating online, like the idea that the Pixar film Monsters Inc. had a secret reference to adrenochrome harvesting.
These ideas entered the growing QAnon community in 2017, further expanding their reach. By 2018, adrenochrome conspiracies had united different groups of conspiracy theorists, making the idea popular with new audiences.
Adrenochrome and Misinformation
The spread of the adrenochrome conspiracy was further fueled by new investigations and a hoax website that sold adrenochrome in exchange for cryptocurrency.
In 2018, conspiracy filmmaker Jay Myers released a video titled Adrenochrome: The Elite’s Secret Super Drug, which YouTube took down but later uploaded elsewhere.
The popularity of these ideas even led to an Infowars segment in February 2019, where adrenochrome was linked to the Clinton Foundation, EpiPen manufacturers, and a controversial young blood transfusion startup named Ambrosia.
Adrenochrome in the Modern Era
By 2019, adrenochrome harvesting had become a mainstream conspiracy theory, with proponents drawing on sources like Infowars to support their beliefs.
The popularity of the theory peaked during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in April 2020, when millions of users began sharing adrenochrome content on platforms like TikTok and YouTube.
Adrenochrome harvesting is now a key part of global conspiracy networks, with many believing that the world’s elite are involved in satanic rituals and blood libel to maintain power.
The myth of adrenochrome reflects deep fears about power and control in society, echoing the rumours of the Dark Ages and the accusations that targeted the Jews during that time.
This modern version of blood libel has been revived in the digital age, fueled by misinformation and fear and spread through hidden virality on social media platforms.
