If Earth was rotating objects in the air would be left behind

Dubay includes many versions of a "proof" all built on the same misunderstanding of the laws of motion.

Dubay imagines that if you jump up on a rotating Earth, while you are in the air the Earth will continue rotating underneath you.

• When you land you would land in a different place.  A globe rotating eastward would mean that you would land further west.

• When you landed you would fall over because the Earth would be moving so fast underneath you

He repeats this nonsense so often and in so many ways I feel that I need to explain it in as simple a way as possible for him.

• When you are standing on the Earth, and the Earth is rotating eastwards at 1000 mph (at the equator), you are also moving at 1000 mph.

• If you jump in the air, you won't suddenly stop moving at 1000 mph.  The laws of motion dictate that you will continue to travel in the same direction at the same speed unless some external force acts on you.

• So when you jump up, you and the Earth both continue moving together at 1000 mph.  Assuming you jump straight up, you stay directly above the location you were standing.

• All Dubay's examples of balloons, cannon balls being fired, and planes travelling east west fail to take into account that all of them start off travelling at 1000 mph eastwards.  Any extra velocity added by for example jet engines is added or subtracted from the initial 1000 mph.

• This is called relative motion.  All these objects are moving relative to the motion of the Earth.

20. On a spinning earth vertically fired cannon balls should land a significant way due west

”If Earth were truly constantly spinning Eastwards at over 1000mph, vertically-fired cannonballs and other projectiles should fall significantly due west. In actual fact, however, whenever this has been tested, vertically-fired cannonballs shoot upwards an average of 14 seconds ascending, 14 seconds descending, and fall back to the ground no more than 2 feet away from the cannon, often directly back into the muzzle.”

21. Helicopters and balloons should be able to hover and wait for the earth to move under them in order to get to their destinations

” If the Earth were truly constantly spinning Eastwards at over 1000mph, helicopters and hot-air balloons should be able to simply hover over the surface of the Earth and wait for their destinations to come to them!”

22. Felix Baumgartner’s high altitude balloon jump would end with him landing in the Pacific Ocean if the earth were rotating

“If Earth were truly constantly spinning Eastwards at over 1000mph, during the Red Bull stratosphere dive, Felix Baumgartner, spending 3 hours ascending over New Mexico, should have landed 2500 miles West into the Pacific Ocean but instead landed a few dozen miles East of the take-off point.”

24. On a rotating earth, west facing cannons would fire their cannon balls significantly further than east facing cannons

“If Earth and its atmosphere were constantly spinning eastwards over 1000 mph then North/South facing cannons should establish a control while East-firing cannonballs should fall significantly farther than all others while West-firing cannonballs should fall significantly closer. In actual fact, however, regardless of which direction cannons are fired, the distance covered is always the same.”

25. On a rotating earth, eastward commercial flights would never be able to reach their destinations. I.e. Earth is spinning faster than a plane can fly

“If Earth and its atmosphere were constantly spinning eastwards over 1000 mph, then the average commercial airliner travelling 500 mph should never be able to reach its Eastward destinations before they come speeding up from behind! Likewise Westward destinations should be arrived at thrice the speed, but this is not the case.”

26. A quote from a Flat Earth believer makes the same point as proof 25

“Quoting “Heaven and Earth” by Gabrielle Henriet, “If flying had been invented at the time of Copernicus, there is no doubt that he would have soon realized that his contention regarding the rotation of the earth was wrong, on account of the relation existing between the speed of an aircraft and that of the earth’s rotation. If the earth rotates, as it is said, at 1,000 miles an hour, and a plane flies in the same direction at only 500 miles, it is obvious that its place of destination will be farther removed every minute. On the other hand, if flying took place in the direction opposite to that of the rotation, a distance of 1,500 miles would be covered in one hour, instead of 500, since the speed of the rotation is to be added to that of the plane. It could also be pointed out that such a flying speed of 1,000 miles an hour, which is supposed to be that of the earth’s rotation, has recently been achieved, so that an aircraft flying at this rate in the same direction as that of the rotation could not cover any ground at all. It would remain suspended in mid-air over the spot from which it took off, since both speeds are equal.””

27. On a fast spinning Earth airplanes landing on runways would be practically impossible

“If Earth and its atmosphere were constantly spinning Eastwards over 1000 mph, landing airplanes on such fast-moving runways which face all manner of directions North, South, East, West and otherwise would be practically impossible, yet in reality such fictional concerns are completely negligible.”

28. If Earth and its atmosphere were spinning eastwards over 1000 mph clouds could not be travelling casually in different directions

“If Earth and its atmosphere were constantly spinning Eastwards over 1000 mph then clouds, wind and weather patterns could not casually and unpredictably go every which way, with clouds often travelling in different directions at different.”

158. If the atmosphere rotated with a spherical Earth effects would be noticeable with fireworks, rain and hot-air balloons

"If “gravity” magically dragged the atmosphere along with the spinning ball Earth, that would mean the higher the altitude, the faster the spinning atmosphere would have to be turning around the center of rotation. In reality, however, if this were happening then rain and fireworks would behave entirely differently as they fell down through progressively slower and slower spinning atmosphere. Hot-air balloons would also be forced steadily faster Eastwards as they ascended through the ever increasing atmospheric speeds."

179. If the Earth were a spinning sphere westbound flights would reach their destination quicker than eastbound flights

"If the Earth were constantly spinning Eastwards 1000mph then airplane flight durations going Eastwards vs. Westwards should be significantly different. If the average commercial airliner travels 500mph, it follows that Westbound equatorial flights should reach their destination at approximately thrice the speed as their Eastbound return flights. In reality, however, the differences in East/Westbound flight durations usually amount to a matter of minutes, and nothing near what would occur on a 1000mph spinning ball Earth."

180. If the Earth was a spinning ball NYC to LA should only take 2.75 hours instead of 6

"The spinning ball model dictates that the Earth and atmosphere would be moving together at approximately 500mph at the mid-latitudes where an LA to NYC flight takes place. The average commercial airliner traveling 500mph takes 5.5 hours traveling East with the alleged rotation of the Earth, so the return flight West should take only 2.75 hours, but in fact we find the average NYC to LA flight takes 6 hours, a flight time totally inconsistent with the spinning ball model."

181. If the Earth was a spinning sphere LA to Tokyo would take 5.25 hours instead of 11.5

"Flights Eastwards with the alleged spin of the ball-Earth from Tokyo to LA take an average of 10.5 hours, therefore the return flights Westwards against the alleged spin should take an average of 5.25 hours, but in actual fact take an average of 11.5 hours, another flight time totally inconsistent with the spinning ball model."

182. If Earth was a spinning sphere London to NY would take 3.5 hours instead of 7.5

"Flights Eastwards with the alleged spin of the ball-Earth from NY to London take an average of 7 hours, therefore the return flights Westwards against the alleged spin should take an average of 3.5 hours, but in actual fact take an average of 7.5 hours, a flight time totally inconsistent with the spinning ball model."

183. If Earth was a spinning sphere Boston to Chicago would take just over an hour instead of 2.75

"Flights Eastwards from Chicago to Boston with the alleged spin of the ball-Earth take an average of 2.25 hours, therefore the return flights Westwards against the alleged spin should take an average of just over an hour, but in actual fact take an average of 2.75 hours, once again, completely inconsistent with the spinning ball model."

184. If Earth was a spinning sphere Rome to Paris would take 1 hour instead of 2 hours 10 minutes

"Flights Eastwards from Paris to Rome with the alleged spin of the ball-Earth take an average of 2 hours, therefore the return flights Westwards against the alleged spin should take an average of 1 hour, but in actual fact have an average flight duration of 2 hours 10 minutes, a flight time totally inconsistent with the spinning ball model."