How to tell the difference between legitimate questioning and conspiracy theory

Here's how you can tell when someone is being legitimately questioning and when they're just a crackpot. Crackpots always use the exact same talking points, whether we're talking about JFK, the moon landing, 9/11, etc.

1. "WHAT THEY DON'T WANT YOU TO SEE/KNOW/HEAR"
Crackpots will often take photos, footage or other things that have been floating around for decades but fallen out of obscurity, post them, and claim that this stuff has been out of the public eye because "THEY" (Illuminati, Jews, One World, Freemason, US gov't) have been trying to hide or delete them or censor them: https://crispian-jago.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-conspiracy-theory-flowchart-they.html

2. "THE REAL TRUTH/THE UNTOLD TRUTH BEHIND..."
Crackpots will take an event that is common knowledge. but claim that the information they post contradicts the common knowledge, because it is the "real" truth, not because it is just plain factually incorrect. For example, it's not that it's complete bullshit that the Titanic was purposely sunk as part of a massive conspiracy involving the Federal Reserve; it's that this was hidden the entire time and now you're being told "the real truth" or the "untold truth" about it.

3. "YOU ARE SHEEPLE/BRAINWASHED/SWALLOW EVERYTHING YOU READ"
Any debunking of the lies being told by a conspiracy theorist can be dismissed as you being one of the "sheeple" who just swallows anything you read and doesn't "question reality."

4. "EXPERTS ARE PART OF THE CONSPIRACY"
Experts debunking conspiracy theories--people who have credentials a mile long and professional experience lasting decades--can be discredited as being members of the cabal. For example, medical experts explaining why it's not true that vaccines cause autism are said to be being paid by Big Pharma. Archaeologists explaining why the aliens didn't build the pyramids are part of the Roswell cover up.

5. "DISCREDITED MEMBERS OF THE CONSPIRACY MOVEMENT ARE ALSO PART OF THE CONSPIRACY"
If an avowed member of the conspiracy is proven to be a charlatan, it's not that he's a charlatan; he's a plant who was put there to discredit the movement. So, for example, Alex Jones is really a CIA plant to make QAnon look foolish.

Any time you hear one of these talking points, look out! It's a conspiracy theory. Conspiracy theories are like Mad Libs. There are a preset set of talking points; it's just a matter of filling in the blanks.