Conspiracy beliefs are more common than you might expect - about 50% of Americans hold one or more of them. Though most of these beliefs have a political component, they are not always tied to one’s politics. It isn’t clear, for example, which side of the political spectrum will endorse the belief that the Egyptian pyramids were constructed by extraterrestrial beings. This is why belief in this particular conspiracy theory seems to appear heterogeneously.
Mercier and Sperber's "The Enigma of Reason" gives good ideas about why reason can go astray. The gist of their point is that it was never designed for us to find the truth but to convince others in social contexts.
Mercier and Sperber's "The Enigma of Reason" gives good ideas about why reason can go astray. The gist of their point is that it was never designed for us to find the truth but to convince others in social contexts.