The Faux Moon Landing Theory

The Faux Moon Landing Theory

July 20, 1969, in the midst of the Cold War, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins made history as the first humans to land on the moon. They returned home safely and America beat Russia in the race to get a human to the moon, one win in the great Space Race. However, some people think that they never went to the moon. According to conspiracy theorists, the moon landing was an elaborate hoax staged by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA, and the United States government to claim victory in the great Space Race, basing their arguments on photographic errors and the effects of radiation.

Some evidence in support of this theory is the anomalies associated with the photos. According to Dave Cosnette as well as other theorists, the astronaut could not have taken pictures as regular film would not be able to withstand the temperatures in space and even if the astronauts could use the film, they would not be able to make the pictures so stunning with

The evidence for the hoax, such as the lighting in the photos, is flimsy and easily discounted. A lot of the believers of the hoax, in typical internet fashion, doctor the photos to fit their beliefs, making it hard to trust them and take the theory seriously. Not only that, but had it been a hoax, it most likely would have been found out earlier, if not by the citizens of the United States then by the Soviet Union. Surely if it had been a hoax, our “opponents” in the great space race would have found out about it and it would have caused more tension and strife in the Cold War. NASA also has proof of the moon landing as they have rocks and soil samples of the moon. The rocks and soil samples have different compositions than the rocks and soil of the earth and, according to Tony Phillips, would be very difficult to reproduce in the lab, making the faux moon landing theory very unlikely ( “Great Moon