predictive programming

One common theme in conspiracy theories has to do with the behind-the-scenes puppet masters being fond of dropping lots of clues about their master plan, usually in plain sight. These clues almost always have to do with significant symbols, numbers, or other identifiable references to the occult, Freemasonry (the Masons being a gigantic target for conspiracy theories of all sorts), or specific dates or imagery. This can supposedly be done in many ways (in architecture, for instance, or artwork), the most modern of which is what's known as predictive programming. For example, the above still, from a 1997 episode of The Simpsons, appears to put that "9" in a pretty strange place, right next to the image of the Twin Towers (which could be seen as an "11"). There are far too many potential examples of this to list here, with some obviously reaching pretty far to make the connections, and others being downright creepy-like the plot of the 1998 pilot of the short-lived Fox series The Lone Gunmen, which had government operatives hijacking a plane and crashing it into the World Trade Center. Beyond flaunting their nefarious plots, predictive programming is said to play a role in softening up the public for the traumatic events that they predict, in ways that are undetectable to those being affected.