A “conspiracy theory” is a proposition that a group of people conspired on an event, such as an assassination. Conspiracy theorists developed a reputation in the 1970s and 1980s for being crazy and not accepting conventional wisdom. Investigative journalist Michael Rupper (1951-2014) said in 1997:
 
“‘Conspiracy theory’ is a piss-poor term by any standard. I deal in conspiracy FACT, and, as you will note from my web page,”
 
The term “conspiracy fact” was cited in print in 1970, but became popularly used since the 1990s. “Conspiracy fact” generally means a “conspiracy theory” that is proven to be true; however, a “conspiracy theory” could contain true “conspiracy facts” and still be a “theory.”
 
   
Wikipedia: Conspiracy theory
A conspiracy theory is an explanatory proposition that accuses two or more persons, a group, or an organization of having caused or covered up, through secret planning and deliberate action, an illegal or harmful event or situation.
     
Google Books
Review of the News
Volume 6, Issues 27-39
1970
Pg. 28:
They are being made to happen. What we are dealing with in America today is not a “conspiracy theory” but rather a conspiracy fact.
   
Google Books
—and the truth shall set you free
By David Icke
San Diego, CA: Bridge of Love
1997
Pg. 100:
We need to move away from conspiracy theory and see that it is conspiracy fact.
 
Eclectica
Aug/Sep 1998 • Miscellany
Michael Ruppert: An Interview
interview by Tom Dooley
I came across Mike Ruppert’s website by accident, and at first was only mildly interested in what I found there. However, as conspiracy “theorists” go (Mike will tell you he only deals in conspiracy fact), this former LAPD narcotics investigator has a great deal of credibility.
(...)
Mike Ruppert: If what I say was hype, then the motive would have to be profit. In twenty years I have made less than seventeen thousand dollars from this while having spent more than thirty. “Conspiracy theory” is a piss-poor term by any standard. I deal in conspiracy FACT, and, as you will note from my web page, I make no assertions without documentation. That takes things out of the realm of theory, doesn’t it?
 
Google Books
Facing Millennial Midnight:
The Y2K Crisis Confronting America and the World
By Hal Lindsey and Cliff Ford
Beverly Hills, CA: Western Front Ltd.
1998
Pg. 284:
Conspiracy Theory? No. Conspiracy Fact!
 
SilverDoctors
16 CONSPIRACY THEORIES THAT TURNED OUT TO BE CONSPIRACY FACTS
JULY 20, 2013 BY THE DOC
Are you a conspiracy theorist?  If not, perhaps you should be.  Yes, there have certainly been a lot of “conspiracy theories” over the years that have turned out not to be accurate.  However, the truth is that a large number of very prominent conspiracy theories have turned out to actually be true.  So the next time that you run into some “tin foil hat wearing lunatics”, you might want to actually listen to what they have to say.
   
Zero Hedge
Conspiracy Fact: How The U.S. Government Covertly Invented A “Cuban Twitter” To Create Revolution
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/03/2014 22:05 - 0400
Submitted by Michael Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,
It appears the U.S. government is doing its best to ensure that nobody anywhere in any corner of planet earth will ever trust American technology again (or U.S. aid for that matter). This process of distrust first really got going with the Edward Snowden revelations, which demonstrated that essentially all major U.S. tech firms are mere wards of the state with little to no privacy protections, and absolutely zero backbone.
 
Twitter
Stramineus
‏@Berndog6
Another conspiracy “theory” becomes conspiracy “fact”
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-06-15/cluster-central-banks-have-secretly-invested-29-trillion-market …
10:09 PM - 20 Jun 2014