A near-Earth object is a small star.
Modern flat Earth societies date from the middle of the 20th century ; some adherents are serious and some are not .. These organisations are based on the archaic belief that the Earth is flat .. Earth is flat. flat Earth. The International Flat Earth Research Society -LRB- IFERS -RRB- , the first such organization , was founded by Englishman Samuel Shenton in 1956 and was later led by American Charles K. Johnson .. Samuel Shenton. Samuel Shenton. Charles K. Johnson. Charles K. Johnson. The belief lacked representation after Johnson 's death in 2001 , until the name was reclaimed in 2004 by Johnson 's self-proclaimed successor `` Daniel Shenton '' , a man claiming to live in Hong Kong .. Some adherents appear to be motivated by pseudoscience and some by religious literalism .. pseudoscience. pseudoscience