Phuz

So twice now I've been asked by passengers while I'm at work whether or not the Earth is actually flat.. Maybe its the new basic economy fares bringing a different crowd, but in both cases it was twenty-something year old men who appeared to have poor hygiene, none the less how would you explain to someone that the Earth is actually a sphere without laughing and calling them a moron? Keeping it professional of course =)

Best I came up with was pointing out that all the other planets, moons, and stars appear as circles if you look at them through telescopes. And the only way that works is if they are all spheres, because flat discs would be at all random angles and some would appear as flat lines. So if they are all spheres then why aren't we?

Anyway.. Nobody ever went over how to prove the Earth was round in ground school so curious if anyone else has a clever explanation? Has anyone else run in to the same question from pax?