The man behind the Lennon conspiracy van

On Christmas Eve, I stumbled upon this van (pictured) on Newport Avenue, parked on Newport Avenue in Ocean Beach. The website “www.LennonMurderTruth, com” was written loud and clear on both sides of the van; and painted on the windows was, "Author Stephen King, not Chapman, murdered Lennon. It's true, or he'd sue."

My curiosity piqued, I looked up the website. Seems that Steve Lightfoot is the author behind what he believes to be a conspiracy at the highest levels, in that John Lennon was actually murdered by famous horror writer Stephen King, with backing from our government — namely, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.

Lightfoot also believes there was government coding in news magazines — Time and Newsweek — giving hints about, and leading up to, Lennon's murder. There is even a YouTube video where you can see Lightfoot talking about his theory. The website proves him to be articulate and complicated, if a bit obsessed with Lennon's murder.

In an article on the Psychology Today website titled, "Paranoia and the Roots of Conspiracy Theories,” authors Joshua D. Foster and Ilan Shrira claim that  "The rise in anxiety, individualism, and external locus of control may therefore underlie the rise in conspiracy thinking. In addition to the changes in personality, conspiracy theories are also growing more popular because of the mass media, which circulates these ideas to a wider audience and indoctrinates more believers."

On his website, Lightfoot claims to have attended a junior college here in San Diego in the late ’70s.