I’m sure everybody who watched the first moon landing back in July of 1969 can tell you exactly where they were when Neil Armstrong took his “one small step,” just as they could tell you where they were when the Twin Towers fell. Seminal moments in our lives are like that – they ingrain themselves into our consciousness – they have a way of defining us.
But what if man didn’t go to the moon? What if it was all just a hoax? What if what we were watching on our grainy 1969 television sets with wide-eyed wonder was all fake? What if it all took place in a movie sound stage instead of on our nearest astronomical neighbor? What if what was arguably the greatest achievement in human history turned out to be the biggest hoax perpetrated on the entire human race?
Where did such an outlandish notion come from?
In 1976, Bill Kaysing self-published a book titled "We Never Went to The Moon: America's Thirty Billion Dollar Swindle" that insisted it would be easier for NASA to fake the moon landings than to send a manned mission there (Kaysing actually worked for NASA as a technical writer until 1963). As a result, many followed in his footsteps, adding numerous allegations and reasons why it would be impossible for humans to survive space travel. The “Moon Hoax” group became a movement, presenting a litany of allegations that in their minds proved we never went to the moon. Some of these are as follows –
- Marcus Allen – Radiation levels in space would be too deadly.
- David Groves – The photo of Aldrin descending the LEM ladder is faked.
- David S. Percy – Says whistleblowers claimed the moon landings were faked.
- Jay Weidner – Says NASA had an agreement with Stanley Kubrick to fake the moon landings.
There were many others, including Milton William Cooper, James Fetzer, Aron Raden and Jack White, to name a few. In 2001, Fox TV aired a special titled, “Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the Moon?” It was narrated by none other than Mitch Pileggi, who played F.B.I. Assistant Director Walter Skinner in the television series, “The X-Files.” It was a slick presentation which presented the most well-known reasons why NASA could not have sent a manned mission to the moon, such as the so-called waving flag, the impossibility of humans surviving the transit through the Van Allen Belt, messed up cross-hairs on the moon photos, lack of stars, etc. All of these issues have been endlessly debunked, as have all the other reasons presented over the years. However, like a bad rash that just won’t go away, the notion persists. Numerous scientists, NASA employees, even Adam and Jamie from the Mythbusters TV show have busted all the myths about the faked moon landing.
As you can guess from my tenor, I believe that what I watched as an enraptured nine year-old that warm July in 1969 was legitimate. NASA actually sent a manned mission to the moon in Apollo 11, and then six subsequent missions (whether or not there was an Apollo 20 mission is a topic for another blog post). Yes, Armstrong and Aldrin actually walked on the moon, and I would like to present my own reasons why I believe this is fact.
First of all, the accusation has been made that Stanley Kubrick was enlisted to film the faked moon landings in a sound stage somewhere in Hollywood or the Nevada desert. There’s even a YouTube video of him confessing to such an act of deception - (see the video here). However, watch the scene from 2001: A Space Odyssey where the astronauts walk down into the pit where the monolith has been uncovered. Pay close attention to how the astronauts move. Then watch some footage from the moon landings. Again, take note of how the astronauts move. They don’t move anything like the actors in 2001. 2001 was filmed by Kubrick in 1968 and the moon landing video was produced in 1969. If both were filmed by Kubrick within a year of each other, why do they look so dissimilar? If the moon landing footage was shot by Kubrick, you would think there would be at least some similarities.
My second reason is this – a YouTube video presented by a film maker named S G Collins explains how it would have been impossible for the footage of the moon landings to have been faked (see the video here). It’s definitely worth a watch.
Conclusion – yes, we did go to the moon. Yes, Armstrong and Aldrin landed and spent two days there, exploring, setting up experiments as well as non-fluttering flags. But there were some other events that happened while the two astronauts visited the moon.
And that will be the topic of my next blog.
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