How do flat-Earth models account for time zones, sunrise/sunset times, and seasons?
Executive summary
Flat-Earth proponents typically explain time zones, sunrise/sunset, and seasons by positing a small, nearby Sun that acts like a localized spotlight moving in circular or spiral paths above a flat disk, sometimes combined with variable luminosity or additional ad-hoc mechanisms; these explanations aim to reproduce local day/night and seasonal variation but conflict with multiple observable consequences and quantitative tests [1] [2]. Scientific critiques and demonstrations show key mismatches — for example, a Sun a few thousand miles above a disk would not produce true sunsets at high latitudes and cannot match precise timing or shadow behavior worldwide — and no flat-Earth model has resolved those problems convincingly [2] [3].
1. How flat-Earth models create day and night: the “spotlight” Sun
Most contemporary flat-Earth accounts abandon ancient cosmologies where celestial bodies circle below the disk and instead describe the Sun as a relatively close, small source whose light is confined to a limited area, often likened to a spotlight moving over the plane; daylight is therefore a function of whether the Sun’s beam is over a given location, producing a patch of illumination that sweeps around the map [1] [2]. Proponents explicitly use that “confined light” idea to explain why one place is day while another is night, and some add the notion of variable luminosity so the Sun lights only part of the surface at once [1] [4].
2. Time zones explained: local solar time from a moving, local Sun
Under the spotlight/nearby-Sun picture, time zones arise naturally because local time is defined by the Sun’s position in the sky over each locality — as the Sun’s spotlight passes overhead in one region, that region experiences local noon while distant parts remain dark; flat-Earth writers argue this mechanism replaces the globe’s universal geometry to produce the observed staggered local times [1] [4]. Critics point out, however, that older flat-earth variants predicted simultaneous sunrise and sunset everywhere — a fatal mismatch with telegraph-era synchrony and with modern long-range observations — which is why modern flat models invented the spotlight Sun or other “add-ons” to patch that contradiction [3].
3. Seasons: changing the Sun’s circuit or spiral
To get seasons, many flat-Earth explanations make the Sun trace different-sized circles or a spiraling path above the disk over the year: small circles near the North Pole in northern summer and wider spirals toward the ice wall during southern summer, so the illuminated footprint changes size and latitude and produces warmer or cooler seasons locally [1] [2]. Live Science examined this popular scheme and summarized the mechanics — circle diameter controls seasonal heating — but also highlighted quantitative problems, such as the fact that a Sun at the proposed height (often cited around 3,000 miles/5,000 km) would not truly set at extreme southern latitudes, and simulation work shows the geometric consequences don't match observed day length or twilight behavior [2].
4. Where flat-Earth accounting breaks down: measurable mismatches and ad-hoc fixes
The flat-Earth spotlight and spiral models can qualitatively mimic day/night and seasonal cycles, but they rely on ad-hoc parameters (spot size, height, luminosity profile, spiral timing) that create measurable contradictions: predicted absence of real sunsets at some latitudes, incorrect shadow-length ratios for different latitudes at the same local time, and failure to reproduce the precise global timing of sunrises/sunsets and eclipse visibility; investigators and simulation demonstrations have shown these mismatches and note that no flat model has solved them to date [2] [3]. Answers in Genesis documents the historical challenge — telegraph-era awareness of varying local times forced modern flat-Earth models to invent moving-spotlight Sun mechanics and other add-ons to reconcile observation, illustrating an implicit agenda to retrofit observations rather than derive them from first principles [3] [5].
5. The alternatives and reporting limits
Mainstream science explains time zones, sunrise/sunset, and seasons through a spherical Earth tilted on its axis with the Sun at a great distance, giving consistent predictions for shadow geometry, eclipses, and global timing; the flat-Earth literature produces competing narratives but lacks peer-reviewed quantitative models that match the breadth of observational data [2] [1]. Reporting reviewed here summarizes flat-Earth proposals and critiques but does not provide exhaustive catalogues of every flat-Earth variant or all simulation results, so claims about every possible flat-Earth countermodel cannot be fully adjudicated from these sources alone [1] [2].