The Apollo 11 Conspiracy Theory

There’s nothing more interesting than a good conspiracy theory, because what right minded person doesn’t want to know the truth? Yeah, sure, lies can be convenient, but as the Latin saying goes, Veritas Vincit. It means truth conquers, and as much as I’ll admit that I agree with that saying, I also have to admit that the truth is not always an easy thing to know. In this case, it’s not an easy thing to find out.

Did NASA Really Send Men to The Moon in 1969?

The three American Astronauts of the Apollo 11 Mission: (LEFT TO RIGHT) Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin. -Taken from Public Domain

The NASA Apollo 11 mission of July 1969 saw three American astronauts blast off from Earth and travel towards the moon in a spacecraft. Approximately three days later two of them, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin actually landed part of that spacecraft on the moon, and then got out and walked around. They planted a flag, collected some moon rocks, spoke some very well-chosen words, and then eventually rocketed off the moon. They then joined their friend, Michael Collins, who was waiting in orbit and all three safely returned to Earth and lived happily ever after as heroes of all mankind. Does it seem like I’m understating this? Are you picking up on a hint of sarcasm, perhaps? That is because the whole thing stinks. That’s right, it stinks like a big fat lie; and why is that? Well, the idea that NASA faked the Apollo 11 Moon Landing is a well established and well supported conspiracy theory.

A picture of a NASA astronaut taken on the moon shows the differing vectors of shadows. Provided by “Aulis online".”

There are many reasons to believe that the Apollo 11 mission may have been one big conspiracy to fool the entire world into believing that American astronauts landed on the moon. For instance, one interesting tenant of the theory is that many of the photographs that were taken on the Moon and then provided to the public by NASA feature a very strange occurrence. Upon taking a close look, you can notice that the shadows being cast by various objects are pointing in different directions. This is strange because on the Moon there is only one source of light, the Sun. Thus, the shadows should all be cast in the exact same direction; but they are not. You may be wondering what that means. It means that there had to have been another light source… when the only light source should have been the sun. In trying to explain that peculiarity, some conspiracy theorists have proposed that the astronauts were not on the Moon, but in an elaborate studio set that mimicked the Moon’s surface. Of course, this is just one example of the pile of evidence supporting the conspiracy theory that NASA faked the Moon Landing. There’s actually lots more out there, it’s easy to find and a lot of it is very reasonable.

Check out Wikipedia’s article, “Moon landing conspiracy theories,” for a starting point; then, go and watch this 2001 documentary: “Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the Moon,” and that should give you enough reason to pick a side in this argument. If you need to do more research after that, which might mean that you aren’t satisfied in believing the legitimacy of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing, then I really feel like we’ve all accomplished something. The truth is out there, somewhere. Go find it!

Further Enquiry:

• “Moon landing conspiracy theories,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_landing_conspiracy_theories

• Moffet, John, “Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the Moon,” Netflix, Fox Studios, 2001.

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John Ryan:

Things aren’t always what they seem. John knows this, and he’s willing to help you figure it out too. Follow this Algonquin College student’s quest to expose the lies, and seek the truth!

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