Editing Modern flat Earth beliefs (section)

===Decline and relaunch===
According to Charles K. Johnson, the membership of the group rose to 3,500 under his leadership but began to decline after a fire at his house in 1997 which destroyed all of the records and contacts of the society's members. Johnson's wife, who helped manage the membership database, died shortly thereafter. Johnson himself died on 19 March 2001.<ref name="president1">{{cite web|last=Cole|first=John R.|url=http://ncse.com/rncse/21/3-4/flat-earth-society-president-dies |title=Flat Earth Society President Dies|publisher=[[National Center for Science Education]] |year=2001 |access-date=15 June 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Donald E. Simanek |url=http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/flat/flateart.htm |title=The Flat Earth |publisher=Lhup.edu |access-date=February 9, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130128084210/http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/flat/flateart.htm |archive-date=January 28, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 2004, Daniel Shenton (not related to Samuel)<ref>{{cite news|url=http://elpais.com/diario/2010/03/19/tentaciones/1269026579_850215.html|title=Miedo a un planeta esférico|date=19 March 2010|access-date=21 July 2012}}</ref> resurrected the Flat Earth Society, basing it around a web-based discussion [[internet forum|forum]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theflatearthsociety.org/forum/ |title=The Flat Earth Society forum|access-date=24 July 2014}}</ref> In the late 1990s, [[Thomas Dolby]]'s 1984 album ''[[The Flat Earth]]'' inspired Shenton to look into the Flat Earth Society, and he came to believe in its ideas.<ref name=":0" /> He believes that no one has provided proof that the world is not flat.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.livescience.com/14754-ingenious-flat-earth-theory-revealed-map.html |title=Ingenious 'Flat Earth' Theory Revealed In Old Map |date=23 June 2011 |publisher=LiveScience |access-date=February 9, 2013}}</ref> This eventually led to the official relaunch of the society in October 2009,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theflatearthsociety.org/library/pressreleases/flat_earth_society_press_release.pdf|title=Relaunch of the Flat Earth Society (press release)}}</ref> and the creation of a new website, featuring a public collection of flat Earth literature and a [[wiki]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://theflatearthsociety.org/cms/|title=The Flat Earth Society Homepage|access-date=24 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160708001505/http://www.theflatearthsociety.org/cms/|archive-date=8 July 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> Moreover, the society began accepting new members for the first time since 2001. Dolby accepted Shenton's offer of membership number 00001, although he does not believe the Earth is flat.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|author=Adam, David|date=23 February 2010|title=The Earth is flat? What planet is he on?|url=https://www.theguardian.com/global/2010/feb/23/flat-earth-society|work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-02-05 |title=Why celebs are joining the flat earth debate |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/why-are-these-celebrities-joining-the-flat-earth-movement/HDX4CD3YFQCFNGEAALBR6FHP5I/ |access-date=2024-02-05 |website=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |language=en-NZ}}</ref> {{as of|2017|July}}, over 500 people had become members.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Flat Earth Society – Membership Register|url=http://theflatearthsociety.org/cms/index.php/about-the-society/membership-register|website=theflatearthsociety.org|access-date=23 July 2014}}</ref>

In 2013, part of this society broke away to form a new web-based group also featuring a forum and wiki.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Flat Earth Society|url=http://www.tfes.org/|access-date=14 July 2014}}</ref>