When astronaut Neil Armstrong first stepped out of the Eagle space capsule and looked around at the lunar landscape, he reported that it had a strange kind of beauty. He said it reminded him of the high desert of the United States. A modern conspiracy theory claims that it WAS the American desert, or a Hollywood studio. This theory asserts that the Apollo space mission and first moonwalk was a hoax to fool the Russians (who also had designs on being the first men on the moon), and whip up pro-American propaganda among the populace.
The theory may sound outlandish, but it's gotten quite a bit of TV time. It was first featured on network television on February 15th 2001 when the program "Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the Moon?" was aired on the Fox network. On this show, guests argued that NASA made the video clips and that the astronauts got closer than the moon's orbit.
There are lots and lots of reasons why so many people believe this. Here are just a few of the more commonly made charges.
Is There A Breeze On The Moon?
If you've seen the video, you know that the flag is moving around, rippling in the breeze. You can see how it's bending and rippling with your own eyes. Hoax theorists say that this makes it obvious; after all, there is no air on the moon, so how can there be a breeze?
The reason that the flag is moving, according to NASA, is not that there's a breeze. It's because the film footage shows the astronauts driving the pole into the lunar surface. As they're turning and twisting it to get it into the ground, it causes a motion that makes it look like the flag's blowing in the wind.
What Happened To The Stars?
Another charge is that, in all the pictures we see of the earth taken from the moon, the sky is pitch black without any stars at all. Why can't we see them? They point out that in all pictures taken of the moon, there isn't one star visible in the sky.
If you understand the basics of photography, this will make sense. It was daytime on the moon. In all the photos, you can see how bright the ground is. The stars are there, but they're too dim to see. Objects in the foreground are lit up and the stars are underexposed.
It's not only a trick of the camera, however. Neil Armstrong has commented himself on how strange it was that the sky was so black. The astronauts couldn't see any stars either because of the intense daylight conditions.
Although this doesn't present any evidence to counter the claim, think about this - If they were going to fake the moon landing, and make fake pictures and video to back it up, wouldn't it make sense to put some fake stars in the sky? If it was a hoax, this was a major goof-up.
The Biggest Hoax On Earth
If this was all a hoax, it's the biggest the earth's ever seen. For 10 years, more than 400,000 people were in on it, working for the "space program." This means that all of these individuals have kept quiet about it for the last 50 years. Not one has come forward to reveal it. This has been pointed out by Purdue University Aeronautics professor James Longusky. Plus, with all the money put into the program, wouldn't it have been easier to just go to the moon?
The moon hoax conspiracy theory is intriguing but most of its theories fall flat. Like most conspiracy theorists, proponents of the hoax theory use lots of faulty evidence and misleading pseudo-science. If you're considering the argument, be critical of what both sides have to say.
You can learn more about the Apollo Space Mission at Arizona's Meteor Crater - Meteor Crater. At the crater, Apollo astronauts trained for the mission. They used the site because of its supposed resemblance to the moon's surface. Meteor Crater's visitors center as an actual test capsule used in training as well as its Astronaut Wall Of Fame.
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