Moon landing conspiracy theories

Overview

Moon landing conspiracy theories claim that NASA's six crewed Apollo lunar landings between 1969 and 1972 were faked; the claims have been examined and rebutted by scientists, engineers, multiple independent national space agencies, and physical evidence on the Moon itself.

Details

Origin:

Originated in the United States, with significant followings in Russia, the United Kingdom and elsewhere; the conspiracy theory circulates globally on the internet.

Regions:

American conspiracy media, Russian-language media, Online conspiracy communities

First Reported:

1976

Full Account

Moon landing conspiracy theories assert that one or more of NASA's Apollo crewed lunar landings (Apollo 11 through Apollo 17, 1969-1972, with twelve astronauts walking on the Moon) were faked, typically claiming the missions were filmed on a soundstage with director Stanley Kubrick named in some versions. The modern American hoax theory was popularised by Bill Kaysing's self-published 1976 book 'We Never Went to the Moon: America's Thirty Billion Dollar Swindle'; Kaysing had worked as a technical writer at Rocketdyne (1956-1963) but had no engineering training. Other prominent proponents include Bart Sibrel and the Flat Earth Society (which formally accused NASA in 1980). Survey data show belief rates between roughly 6% and 20% of Americans, 25% of Britons, and 28% of Russians in polls between 1994 and 2009. The theories are debunked by visual evidence (NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter photographed the Apollo landing sites in 2009-2012, including the lunar module descent stages and disturbed regolith, with five of the six American flags still standing); by physics-based explanations of the alleged 'anomalies' (no stars in photographs reflects camera exposure for the bright lunar surface; Hasselblad / Carl Zeiss optics explain image quality; flag movement is pendulum motion of an L-shaped support rod, not wind; radiation dose was ~1 rem / 10 mSv, well within safe range); and by social-network analyses (David Robert Grimes calculated that a successful conspiracy of ~411,000 NASA-affiliated personnel would have been exposed within 3.68 years). MythBusters' 2008 'NASA Moon Landing' episode tested and rejected major claimed anomalies. The Soviet Union, NASA's Cold War rival, never alleged a hoax and tracked Apollo missions from its IP-15 and IP-16 deep-space facilities.

Also Known As

• Apollo Moon hoax (United States and worldwide)
• We Never Went to the Moon (Title of Bill Kaysing's 1976 book)

Etymology

Origin:

American English; popularised by Bill Kaysing's 1976 self-published book.

Meaning:

The claim that the Apollo Moon landings were a hoax.

First Use:

1976 (Kaysing); concept circulated earlier in fringe space-program criticism.

Timeline

• 1969-07-20 — Apollo 11 lands on the Moon; Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the lunar surface (The historical event the theories deny)
• 1969-01-01 — Apollo 12, the second crewed lunar landing (Continuing missions)
• 1971-01-01 — Apollo 14 and Apollo 15 lunar landings (Continuing missions)
• 1972-12-01 — Apollo 17, the final crewed lunar landing (Last of the six Apollo landings)
• 1976-01-01 — Bill Kaysing self-publishes 'We Never Went to the Moon: America's Thirty Billion Dollar Swindle' (Founding text of the modern hoax theory)
• 1980-01-01 — The Flat Earth Society publicly accuses NASA of having staged the landings, naming Stanley Kubrick as alleged director (Cross-pollination with Flat Earth conspiracism)
• 2001-02-15 — Fox television airs 'Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the Moon?' (Major mainstream-media exposure of the hoax claims)
• 2002-01-01 — Phil Plait publishes 'Bad Astronomy', detailing scientific rebuttals of common Moon-hoax claims (Influential debunking)
• 2008-08-27 — MythBusters airs the 'NASA Moon Landing' episode rebutting major claimed anomalies (High-profile public debunking)
• 2009-01-01 — NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter begins photographing the Apollo landing sites, showing lunar module descent stages and rover tracks (Direct orbital imagery of Apollo hardware)
• 2012-01-01 — LRO imagery shows five of the six American flags still standing on the lunar surface (Continuing direct evidence)
• 2016-01-01 — David Robert Grimes publishes mathematical model finding a Moon-hoax conspiracy of about 411,000 personnel would be exposed within 3.68 years (Quantitative argument against the conspiracy's feasibility)

Sightings & Evidence

Cultural Significance

Belief is concentrated in conspiracy subcultures; survey data place believers at roughly 6-20% of Americans (1994-2009).

Related Phenomena

• Flat Earth — Other denial conspiracy that frequently overlaps with Moon-landing denial
• Chemtrails — Other denial / re-interpretation conspiracy theory
• Montauk Project — Sometimes claimed to have 'staged' the Apollo landings
• New World Order — Wider conspiracy framework that absorbs Moon-hoax claims

Tags

Sources

• Moon landing conspiracy theories — Wikipedia
• We Never Went to the Moon: America's Thirty Billion Dollar Swindle — Self-published
• Bad Astronomy: Misconceptions and Misuses Revealed, from Astrology to the Moon Landing 'Hoax' — Wiley
• On the Viability of Conspiratorial Beliefs — PLoS ONE