Rebuttal of Suspicions About the Falsification of Footage of the Landing of Americans on the Moon

“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind ” (Armstrong, Apollo 11). Yes, we landed on the moon, but it’s been 45 years since we’ve been back there. When I say we, I mean the United States. Only approximately 12 humans have supposedly ever walked on the apical of the moon: all of which were men and all of which were Americans.

The last two to be there were Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt which was in December of 1972 for the Apollo 17 operation. According to many, we never landed on the moon, the whole concept of the moon landings were all hoaxes. In a Gallup poll in 1999, it is said that “Opinion polls taken in various locations have shown that between 6% and 20% of Americans, 25% of Britons, and 28% of Russians surveyed believe that the moon landings were faked, ”(Byrd,Human World).

It is easy to decipher why people would be dubious. Skeptics tend to be drawn to the fact and motive of wanting to fake the event that occurred. The Space race took place in a problematic time during the cold war. The United States and the Soviet Union were competing against each other to get there first. Many skeptics believe that the United States would have wanted to fake the moon landings to show that they conquered the space race although they knew that it was not feasible to go. Therefore it is arguable that it seems quite cynical that the United States was able to land mankind safely on the Moon.

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The conspiracy theories surrounding the moon landings were a retort to a desire to make sense of the world and to help citizens decipher the unknown when situations occur in which are fearful or unanticipated. These theories have supplied refutation of scientific facts and societal consequences. During this time, the competition between the Soviet Union and the United States made the race for space even more of a necessity and the Cold War a possibility. Although people’s fascination with conspiracy theories may seem a bit delusional, this attraction is derived from a motive to make sense of the atmosphere around them.

Determining what a specific event means has caused many humans to evolve as a species and conspiracy theories are just another way to make sense of our surroundings. When it comes to the moon landing, there is a saying that arose prior to 1969, “You can no more do than you can fly to the moon”. The idea of the first man on the moon seemed to be impossible to many who did not comprehend science or engineering. How could this hoax be pulled off? Disbelievers have argued that technology did, in fact, exist to recreate a fake moon landing in a government studio.

The first commonly known example that causes doubt that the Moon landing even happened is the motion picture showing the American flag on the Moon waving. Skeptics claim that the flag-waving alludes to the existence of wind. The flag’s impression of movement in the wind should be impossible on the Moon because the Moon does not have what could be considered as an atmosphere and is also encased by a vacuum. In addition, the astronauts chosen to embark on this journey bent the rods that were originally supposed to hold the flag outwards.

The next evidence that supports the point that NASA faked the first landing on the Moon is the fact that there are no stars that can be seen in any of the footage or photographs depicted by NASA. An abundance of individuals argues that stars were left out because astronomers would be able to use them to dictate if the pictures were taken from the Earth or the moon. NASA and many others refute that individuals would not be able to see the stars because the Moon surface is so illuminated. Moreover, many discussions revolve around the puzzling shadows in the photographs of the astronomers on the moon. People believe that these shadows are not consistent and tend to cross over one another in many of the pictures taken.

Believers of the moon hoax argue that shadows should run parallel to the subject they are shadowing and should be entirely encompassed in black. Although these arguments can be easily debunked, the evidence that surrounds this historical event elicits many naive characteristics about our culture. In response to these claims, NASA argues that the flag had movement due to Buzz Aldrin, one of the first man on the moon, twisting the flag pool. Although it may seem a bit impractical to conclude that this rebuttal is the scientific reason for many people suspicions, conspiracy theories often require a better degree of standards that allow them to ignore evidence against they theories they have created.

Moreover, although NASA stated that the illumination of the moon’s surface caused the absence of stars, there have been some astronauts that are able to take highly exposed ultraviolet photographs of bright stars and other planets from the moon despite the illumination levels. For example, in the Apollo 16 mission in April of 1972,stars were actually captured in the photos by NASA. Jason Major states, “ the truth is that there ARE stars visible in photographs taken from the Moon—photographs taken in ultraviolet light during the penultimate,”( Major, Lights In the Dark).

Stars were pictured on camera from the Moon.However, in order to capture these stars, it took a long exposure and tripod that was sturdy aimed upward from a dark location. Lastly, in refute to the abnormal shadows on the Moon, NASA argues that the shadows on the moon are unusual because the many illumination sources staged in the area and terrain of the moon alter how we perceive it. There is plenty of evidence that verifies that we landed on the Moon, however, people will swear to this day that it was a hoax. With an ego boost,non believers will consider themselves as being separate from the majority-that has conceptualized what is going on. This separation can evoke people’s desire to believe a story that empowers them or gives an explanation for their circumstance. It would be quite the conspiracy involving tens of thousands of people all around the world to successfully pull this off.

In essence, there are many other pieces of evidence that skeptics use to justify their reasoning however, they do not seem as convincing as the few above. The fact of the matter is that in just a few years we will know for sure, whether or not we truly landed on the Moon. Although conspiracy theories have been around for billions of years- dating back to Jesus Christ, they are excelling in a movement that provides positive compensation to those who reject common knowledge.

When conspiracy theories become engrained in the human mind, they corrupt society’s trust in authoritative figures and the circumstances of the world. The conspiracy theories surrounding the moon landings were a retort to a desire to make sense of the world and to help citizens decipher the unknown when situations occur in which are fearful or unanticipated. In a continuous rotation for the opportunity for even more conspiracy theories to arise, these theories have supplied refutation of scientific facts and societal consequences.

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