Experimental Evidence

The following sections contain experimental evidence in favor of a Flat Earth.

Sinking Ship Effect

It is proven that the ship does not sink behind a hill of water, but that it is actually perspective which hides it. This demonstrates that the earth is not a globe. There have been experiments where half-sunken ships have been restored by simply looking at them through telescopes, showing that they are not actually hiding behind "hills of water".

Main article: Sinking Ship Effect

The English Mechanic

From The English Mechanic, a scientific journal:

Bedford Canal, England. A repeat of the 1870 experiment

"A train of empty turf-boats had just entered the Canal from the river Ouse, and was about proceeding to Ramsey. I arranged with the captain to place the shallowest boat last in the train, and to take me on to Welney Bridge, a distance of six miles. A good telescope was then fixed on the lowest part of the stern of the last boat. The sluice gate of the Old Bedford Bridge was 5ft. 8in. high, the turf-boat moored there was 2ft. 6in. high, and the notice board was 6ft. 6in. from the water.
The sun was shining strongly upon them in the direction of the south-southwest; the air was exceedingly still and clear, and the surface of the water smooth as a molten mirror, so that everything was favourable for observation. At 1.15 p.m. the train started for Welney. As the boats gradually receded, the sluice gate, the turf-boat and the notice board continued to be visible to the naked eye for about four miles. When the sluice gate and the turf-boat (being of a dark colour) became somewhat indistinct, the notice board (which was white) was still plainly visible, and remained so to the end of six miles. But on looking through the telescope all the objects were distinctly visible throughout the whole distance. On reaching Welney Bridge I made very careful and repeated observations, and finding several men upon the banks of the canal, I called them to look through the telescope. They all saw distinctly the white notice board, the sluice gate, and the black turf-boat moored near them.
Now, as the telescope was 18in. above the water, The line of sight would touch the horizon at one mile and a half away (if the surface were convex). The curvature of the remaining four miles and a half would be 13ft. 6in. Hence the turf-boat should have been 11ft., the top of the sluice gate 7ft. 10in., and the bottom of the notice board 7ft. below the horizon.
My recent experiment affords undeniable proof of the Earth's unglobularity, because it rests not on transitory vision; but my proof remains printed on the negative of the photograph which Mr.Clifton took for me, and in my presence, on behalf of J.H.Dallmeyer, Ltd.
A photograph can not 'imagine' nor lie!"
—"The Flat Earth: another Bedford Canal experiment" (Bernard H.Watson, et al), ENGLISH MECHANIC, 80:160, 1904

The Bishop Experiment

California Monterey Bay is a relatively long bay that sits next to the Pacific Ocean. The distance between the extremes of the Monterey Bay, Lovers Point in Pacific Grove and Lighthouse State Beach in Santa Cruz, is just over 23 statute miles.

Distance between the two points, courtesy of Google Earth

On a very clear and chilly day it is possible to see Lighthouse Beach from Lovers Point and vice versa. With a good telescope, laying down on the stomach at the edge of the shore on the Lovers Point beach 20 inches above the sea level it is possible to see people at the waters edge on the adjacent beach 23 miles away near the lighthouse. The entire beach is visible down to the water splashing upon the shore. Upon looking into the telescope I can see children running in and out of the water, splashing and playing. I can see people sun bathing at the shore and teenagers merrily throwing Frisbees to one another. I can see runners jogging along the water's edge with their dogs. From my vantage point the entire beach is visible.

IF the earth is a globe, and is 24,900 English statute miles in circumference, the surface of all standing water must have a certain degree of convexity--every part must be an arc of a circle. From the summit of any such arc there will exist a curvature or declination of 8 inches over the first statute mile. Over two miles the fall will be 32 inches; by the end of the third mile, 72 inches, or 6 feet, as shown in this chart. Correcting for the height of the observer of about 20 inches, when looking at the opposite beach over 23 miles away there should be a bulge of water obscuring objects up to 300 feet above the far beach. There isn't. Even accounting for refraction, the amount hidden should be around 260 feet - seeing down to the shoreline should be impossible.

Suppose that the earth is a sphere with a radius of 3,963 miles. If you are at a point P on the earth's surface and move tangent to the surface a distance of 1 mile then you can form a right angled triangle as in the diagram.

Looking over a distance of 1 mile, we can use the theorem of Pythagoras:

a² = 3,963² + 1² = 15,705,370

and when we square root that figure we get a = 3,963.000126 miles

Thus your position is 3,963.000126 - 3,963 = 0.000126 miles above the surface of the earth.

0.000126 miles = 12 in * 5,280 ft * 0.000126 mi = 7.98 inches

Hence after one mile the earth drops approximately 8 inches.

Whenever I have doubts about the shape of the earth I simply walk outside my home, down to the beach, and perform this simple test. Provided that there is no fog and the day is clear and calm, the same result comes up over and over throughout the year.
—Tom Bishop

Ergo, looking across 23 miles the Pythagorean theorem becomes:

a² = 3963² +23² = 15,705,898

and when we square root that figure we get a = 3,963.06674 miles

Thus your position is 3,963.06674 - 3,963 = 0.06674 miles above the surface of the earth

0.06674 miles = 5,280 ft/mi * 0.6674 mi = 352.3872 feet

Hence after 23 miles the earth drops approximately 352 feet.

There are a number of different methods to calculate the drop of the Round Earth. Go ahead and look some up try a few out. You will find that the drop while looking over 23 miles is on the order of 300-400 feet.

Further Flat Earth Evidence

Professor Mark Fonstad of Southwest Texas University demonstrates that Kansas is Flatter than a Pancake

Thomas Winship conducts numerous experiments in his work Zetetic Cosmogony.

See Samuel Birley Rowbotham's work on the Bedford Canal and other British locations in his work Earth Not a Globe which demonstrates a Flat Earth: http://www.sacred-texts.com/earth/za/za00.htm

A woman named Lady Blount was among the first to peer review Rowbotham's work: Lady Blount Trials

In A hundred proofs the Earth is not a globe by William Carpenter there are a number of referenced experiments which demonstrates the earth's non-globularity.

There are referenced experiments in the book "Terra Firma 1901" by David Wardlaw Scott which favor a Flat Earth: http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924031764594