What If the Beatles Never Actually Existed?

What if the Beatles, like ... weren't real, man?

That's the question posed by a creative and apparently tireless group of conspiracy theorists gathered at The Beatles (As They Were Presented to Us) Never Existed, a site dedicated to exposing all the reasons for refusing to believe John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr were ever actually the musical geniuses responsible for the songs released in their name.

For those of us who believe life's too short to go wandering down this particular rabbit hole, Dangerous Minds offers a fairly concise summary of the case against the Fab Four, which begins with the belief that no mere mortals could possibly have created all those great songs while also fulfilling personal and professional obligations -- and ends with the suggestion that the Beatles we saw in public were often, um, clones.

"This is a serious subject, not a joke," insists the site, which says it's "here to expose the actions of those who exploited these young men and defrauded us their fans" and "to defend the honor of everyone involved who did not take part in it willingly."

That's a serious undertaking, and one the organizers claim is supported by "extensive and painstaking research" suggesting "that there were never just four individual people known as 'John,' 'Paul,' 'George' and 'Ringo' who comprised one rock 'n' roll band known as 'The Beatles,' and rose to fame as the world’s first supergroup. For all intents and purposes as far as we can tell, no one such group ever existed."

This way lies madness, rock fans ... but it still might be preferable to whatever you've got going on at the office today, so feel free to spend a few hours checking out these claims, and let us know what you find in the comments.

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