i think i said this before, but i'll say it again: FErs claim "the conspiracy" PRETENDS the trips are shorter than they are.
but there are some BIG problems with that.
two stories come to mind, so bear with me:
---------story1:
quote from an old Mad Magazine, making fun of Mandrake the Magician:
mandrake, "damn, our car has a flat tire."
loathar, "well, why don't you just fix it with magic?"
mandrake, "my magic involves hypnotism. i could make YOU think the tire is fixed, and i might be able to make MYSELF think it's fixed, but how do i make the TIRE think it's fixed?"
----------story2:
in a novel called "The Armor Trap" based on the "Iron Man" comic books, Tony Stark is abducted and wakes in a strange place, where an unknown villain tries to force him to reveal the secrets of Iron Man's armor.
Tony eventually realizes he's plugged into a VR simulation (like the Matrix).
his biggest clue? after what seemed like a week, which he judged by sleep cycles and food, his BEARD HAD NOT GROWN AT ALL!
----------
this should give you some idea of how hard it would be to pretend the flight was a different length. not only watches, but bodily functions would have to be fooled, and the AIRPLANE would have to be fooled!
and all it would take is ONE slip-up; for example, a passanger having a spare watch in his luggage, to ruin things!
and trying to fool the passengers on a ship would be even harder! they would be able to use sunrises and sunsets to judge the time!