Dave McKeegan
| Location | On the globe, regrettably sharing it with flerfs |
|---|---|
| Accounts | |
| Known for | Debunk / science communication |
| NASA salary | Direct deposit pending since 1958 |
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This person is a |
Dave Mckeegan is a YouTube glober well known for his expertise in photography and creating debunking videos. In 2024 Dave was a participant in The Final Experiment. In the glober community most people watch Dave's channel just for his adorable dog named Rusty and Dave is known as "Rusty's sidekick".
Background
Dave has been a freelance photographer for many years, and has experience in photographing a large variety of subjects including: commercial, property, and weddings to name a few. Wanting to share his knowledge and advice he decided to post videos discussing photography on YouTube. He started in late 2017, mainly posting videos about using cameras, and camera reviews, and also principles of photography - oh how naive our young David was.
It was around this time that Dave met a girl who felt pity for him and his thinning hairline, and she agreed to date him. Luckily for him this was when Rusty was introduced into his life. To no ones surprise, the cameos of Rusty in his videos coincided with his channel starting to steadily gain viewers and popularity.
Channel content
Dave had some success with his videos discussing commercial cameras and giving photography advice. In 2018 Dave created his first debunking video which addressed moon landing conspiracies and flat earth. The video itself was not more popular than his regular videos, and he wouldn't make another debunking video for several years later. Rusty started to make cameos in his videos in 2019.
Creating debunking videos
Around 2022 Dave's photography advice videos were accumulating on average around 5K-20K views, 50K for the more popular ones. He had been hearing about moon landing conspiracies and decided to make a video about moon photos. His breakthrough debunking video "Photographer examines IF NASA Moon photos are FAKE?", which gained more popularity than his other videos during that time. After that Dave started to regularly make videos about flat earth debunking and Moon landing conspiracies. Subsequent debunking videos were also popular.
His extensive photography skills and knowledge proved useful for the debunking videos because he was able to explain his arguments in a clear and simplified manner. He also used real world demonstrations and video graphics to better explain the topic he was covering. His channel slowly became more and more popular as it gained more subscribers. Dave's reputation and notoriety within the debunking community started to rise as well. Then in 2024 came The Final Experiment which would have a big effect on his channel and his life.
The Final Experiment
When the announcement for The Final Experiment occurred, Dave was among the 24 listed on the globe side. While he was not known for debating flat earthers, his reputation as an experienced photographer immediately put him to mind as a qualified representative - especially since the task was to record the 24-hour sun. He won a subsequent poll amongst the other globers for a free trip. Dave wasn't sure if he would go because around the same time he promised to photograph a friend's wedding, but eventually decided he could not pass up an opportunity to visit Antarctica.
Dave proved invaluable for TFE. First he researched photography in cold environments and contacted Anthony Powell for photography advice. Using that knowledge he planned for contingencies and failures in equipment. He also helped to advise Will Duffy in cameras and photography.
In Antarctica
While in Antarctica Dave stayed up for over 24 hours to ensure his cameras were tracking the sun correctly and keeping the sun in frame. Another of his cameras had a solar filter specifically to record sunspots for 24 hours. He was the first on the trip to release a timelapse of the 24-hour sun. This caused flat earthers to begin coping on unprecedented levels as they fruitlessly tried to debunk the video.
Dave also hosted his first ever YouTube Livestream from the halfway camp at Union Glacier, where he was interacting with the chat and read live sports scores, verifying that he was live and the video was not pre-recorded.
In addition to Dave recording with his own equipment he also helped Lisbeth with her equipment and would explain things to help her. He did the same with Jeran, and had a good conversation explaining how his EQ mount rotates on one axis and how it would not be able to track the sun if the sun was local and rotating above a flat earth.
Back from Antarctica
After the trip Dave joined MCToon on a Livestream while still in Punta Arenas answering questions from the chat. Kaleb called in and talked with both of them about the trip; Kaleb did not dispute the authenticity of the trip and afterwards would disappear from TikTok for about a year.
By the time Dave got back home flat earthers were coping hard and making spurious and sometimes ridiculously unsupported assertions about the trip. The next few videos he posted were debunking the various claims of fakery about TFE. Dave also posted a longer 360 interactive timelapse of the sun, and later a synced video from multiple cameras and livestreams.
Discussions with Jeran
Jeran has said Dave was instrumental in his departure from The Flat Earth Cult. Besides their good discussions in Antarctica they also agreed to have later discussions about the moon landing conspiracies. Jeran was able to see how reasonable Dave was and also his researching skills and the amount of thought he put into reaching conclusions. The moon landing discussions eventually convinced Jeran that it is more reasonable to say they happened.
Post TFE
Dave continues to post quality videos on YouTube on a regular basis. His channel has a variety of educational videos, covering topics like Flat Earth, Moon Landing, Camera Gear Reviews, and Photography Tutorials. He also can be found on YouTube in various livestreams such as WhatKast.
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Notable videos for the channel
| Date | Title | Views | Notes | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 7 2018 | Unbox + Review - Yongnuo 14mm f2.8 | Currently 350K | First popular video | Link |
| Mar 2 2018 | Using photography to DEBUNK CONSPIRACY THEORIES | Currently 2K | First debunking video | Link |
| Mar 16 2018 | "What camera should I buy?" - The 4 types of camera | Currently 1M | Highest viewed non conspiracy video | Link |
| Sep 10 2022 | Photographer examines IF NASA Moon photos are FAKE? | Currently 184K | Start of Conspiracy debunking on a regular basis. Rusty is center frame | Link |
| Dec 20 2022 | Flat Earth orbits are hilariously INSANE | Currently 1.7M | Highest viewed video on channel. Rusty is also in video (Coincidence?) | Link |
| Dec 15 2024 | The 24 hour sun has been captured in Antarctica! | Currently 155K | First Livestream on channel. Also from Antarctica | Link |
| Dec 23 2024 | 360° Timelapse of capturing the 24hr Antarctic sun | Currently 69K | First 360° Timelapse of the sun from Union Glacier Antarctica | Link |