Flat Earth

“Alice laughed: "There's no use trying," she said; "one can't believe impossible things."
"I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast." Alice in Wonderland

"Then you should say what you mean," the March Hare went on.
"I do, “ Alice hastily replied; "at least I mean what I say, that's the same thing, you know."
"Not the same thing a bit!" said the Hatter. "Why, you might just as well say that "I see what I eat" is the same thing as "I eat what I see!" Alice in Wonderland

It can be argued that the Earth is flat as far as its being expansive, that does not preclude the obvious that the Earth is an orb; even before the satellite imagery and the Earth Rise image taken from the Moon, this fact was arrived at just by considering that the Oceans were not draining off its edges. Any statement made along the lines that the Earth is flat has not so much to do with its geometry but rather an explanation of some other effect or observed phenomenon, such as wave propagation over the Earth’s surface—that not only includes Earth’s terrain but also its oceans and atmosphere.

Radio waves are electromagnetic radiation in the range 3 Hz-300 GHz (10Mm- 1 mm); a wide spectrum that covers what we commonly refer to as ELF, LF, ULF, AM, FM, VHF, UHF and so on. Radio waves travel via several modes over the Earth; their predominant path primarily dictated by their wavelength. For example, longer wavelengths travel for the most part via ground conduction and shorter ones throughout the layers of the atmosphere.

For those waves that propagate primarily via the troposphere, mountainous regions and rolling terrain between the transmitter and receiver can effectively degrade the signal; such that a relatively flat path, over land or sea, becomes necessary between the transmitter and receiver for ideal tropospheric ducting.

And in the case of Earth’s atmosphere, weather--including such factors as the Sun’s activity which can create a barrier to proper wave propagation since it affects ionization in the atmosphere-- needs to be surmounted in order for an electromagnetic signal to get through effectively. So any reference to the Earth being flat in this context refers to the barriers for these types of signals becoming apparently lowered or flattened. Under ideal conditions signals can range for thousands of miles across the globe.

One example of the flatness alluded to is yesterday’s total solar eclipse that occurred over India and Asia and is said to have been the longest one of the century. While everyone was looking up or hiding in, those of us listening were treated to fine fidelity over our otherwise static-y car radios for the few minutes this was taking place. In California this translated into my being able to drive out to Malibu in the evening without losing my preset stations as would normally happen at any other time; and a good thing too, since I got stuck in traffic.

Al Ghashya (The Overwhelming Event)
88:20 وَإِلَى الْأَرْضِ كَيْفَ سُطِحَتْ
88:20 And how the Earth is spread out

Ash-Shams (The Sun)
91: 6 وَالْأَرْضِ وَمَا طَحَاهَا
91:6 And the Earth how it is spread out

( سُطِحَ v. flatten, spread, prostrate, surface, press; n. surface, face, superficies, flat, flatness, roof)

What might be the expected net end result from all this Earth’s flatness? One likely outcome is that a signal from as far away as Timbuktu might sound like its ringing in your ears!

Qaf ق
50:41 وَاسْتَمِعْ يَوْمَ يُنَادِ الْمُنَادِ مِن مَّكَانٍ قَرِيبٍ
50:41 and listen for the Day when the Summoner (Caller) will call out from a nearby place,