The Illuminati Central to almost every movie about a global secret organization, we’ve watched Nicholas Cage protect the Declaration of Independence from them, Tom Hanks foil an Illuminati plan to annihilate the Vatican, and countless more defend the world against undercover plots masterminded by the centuries-old collective.

The intrigue surrounding the Illuminati stems from their secretive and anti-governmental nature, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find a school textbook covering them. But are the Illuminati real, and could they still exist today? `YES.

The Illuminati aimed to create “a state of liberty and moral equality.”
Over the following years, Weishaupt’s secret order grew considerably in size and diversity, possibly numbering 600 members by 1782. They included important people in Bavarian public life, such as Baron Adolph von Knigge. Although, at first, the Illuminati were limited to Weishaupt’s students, the membership expanded to included noblemen, politicians, doctors, lawyers, and jurists, as well as intellectuals and some leading writers, including Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.