The word conspiracy is often thrown about these days as a term of derision, a way to dismiss anyone who raises a far-fetched idea of secret collusion.

Nobody wants to be labelled a conspiracy theorist. It's like being called a lightweight or a fool.

Yet we are surrounded by conspiracy, much of it accepted as a necessary part of life. It's the case in the business world, certainly so in the police forces of the world - except they call it undercover investigation.

Conspiracy lies at the very heart of national security and that's usually for a very good reason.

I say usually because most of us have no real way of judging for ourselves. Julian Assange would have us live in a world of no secrets, but I'm not at all sure that's a world many of us want to live in.

Most of us are more than happy to be kept in the dark. It's far less daunting than the alternative.

But there may soon come a day when some of those secrets emerge into the light and change the world forever.

That's my long-held theory of conspiracy anyway.
JFK: The Smoking Gun