Some day, maybe the truth may come out. After all, it is out there–somewhere. But it is unlikely to happen any time soon.
Skeptics Cite Hoax Evidence
Besides the fact of the exceedingly poor quality lunar landing video, many critics point out several inconsistencies in the lunar landing video. A few are listed below:
- No stars are visible in the sky: NASA argues that the brightness of the moon’s surface and the astronaut’s suits didn’t permit the relatively dim stars to show up on film.
- The American flag appeared to wave as the astronaut placed its staff in the lunar soil. Without an atmosphere on the moon, this should be impossible: NASA declares that the astronaut rotated the pole as he inserted it in the moon’s surface, making the flag flap back and forth as if it were rippling in the breeze.
- The rest of the evidence is fake: NASA declares that the astronauts returned with soil and rock souvenirs as physical evidence, and argues that a rock looks like any rock. How can one tell just by observation if it came from the moon? NASA has the chemical data to prove that the rocks are lunar in origin. The photographic evidence includes photos, videos and testimonials from the dozen astronauts who made the trip.
Motive For The Hoax
Many say that although the US brought many German rocket scientists to Huntsville, Alabama and the White Sands Proving Ground in New Mexico from Penemunde, Germany at the conclusion of WWII, NASA still was not prepared to back up John F. Kennedy’s promise to land a man on the moon before 1970. The US simply didn’t have the technology to pull off sending a human to the moon and returning him to Earth alive. It was a matter of national pride to make something work in 1969.
Our Russian adversaries where having their own space problems even though they had rounded up their own share of German scientists after the War. Many of their dogs, monkeys and cosmonauts died in the training and experimentation process.
The Cold War was on and it was in the national interest of the United States to come out on top.
The Hoax
The prevailing argument proposes that NASA set up a sound stage and filmed the Apollo 11 landing at a remote spot out in the Nevada desert. Landing skeptics propose Area 51 as the most likely site. It is a remote detachment of Edwards Air Force Base located in the southern portion of Nevada on the southern shore of Groom Lake.
Supposedly the main purpose of the installation is to support the development and testing of experimental aircraft and weapons systems. Some skeptics go on to say that beyond the interest of the military in protecting experimental projects, they want to keep the site hidden from civilian prying eyes.
Capricorn One
Hollywood entered the debate in 1977 with a sci-fi thriller movie about a Mars Mission landing hoax. For various reasons, NASA can’t get its equipment to work on limited funding. So just this one time, the authorities decide to fake it.
The movie, Capricorn One, starred Elliott Gould, James Brolin, Brenda Vaccaro, Hal Holbrook and O.J. Simpson among others.
The plot is about the first manned Mars mission. Just before the countdown to launch, NASA calls it off but doesn’t tell anyone. They fly the crew to an abandoned US Army Air Force base and tell the astronauts that it is their patriotic duty to go along with the farce for the sake of national security. When they refuse, the authorities level the final threat: their families will be killed unless they cooperate. From this point on, the movie makes its own argument about how such a hoax might be successfully pulled off.
NASA Astronauts
Many of the astronauts who flew on the lunar missions insist that they were under constant observation by alien spacecraft and UFOs during their flights, but that NASA seeks to squelch their comments. During the flights, Mission Control censored their communications except in one instance when NASA Astronaut, Walter Schirra, in Mercury 8, referred to a UFO– “Please be informed that there is a Santa Claus.” In addition, other astronauts involved in the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions made similar observations and comments which also drew rebukes from NASA.
This might beg yet another debatable question: If the lunar astronauts never made the flights, why would they come up with such a tale, and why would the others back it up with their own UFO sighting experiences?