The “Dark Side” of Apollo:

You’ve heard of Apollo 11 being the first manned shuttle to land on the moon in 1969, right? Well, brace yourself because you might have been hoodwinked. Thanks to conspiracy theorists like William Kaysing, many believe that the NASA program for all Apollo moon landings was a fabricated story by the US government to win against the Russians for the title of first to the moon. They called it, the Space Race. Did America really win the race? Was Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldridge the first men on the moon? Let’s find out.

OUTCRY:

All conspiracies start from somewhere. William Kaysing wrote a book called We Never Went to the Moon: America’s Thirty Billion Dollar Swindle, which claims that the Apollo landings was staged to look like we were first. He encompasses NASA’s lack of technical and engineering expertise to put a man on the moon, unexplained optical anomalies in photographs, and the absence of stars in the photos taken by Neil and Buzz. He incriminates and exposes NASA for falsifying their testimony about sending men to the moon. Kaysing was interviewed in a show called Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the Moon? Kaysing says:

The astronauts were launched with the Saturn V. Then, in order to account for their disappearance, they simply orbited the Earth for eight days and in the interim, they showed these fake pictures of the astronauts on the Moon. But on the eighth day the command console separated from the vehicle and descended to Earth as, of course, was shown in the films. (7:47 – 8:15).

Could this be true? Many theorists have come up with their own answers. Such as, the American flag blowing erratically like there is wind in a place with no atmosphere, the famous “footprint” needing water to make a perfect imprint, and multiple shadow angles, due to stage lighting, to create an authentic sunlit background. These are a few examples that conspiracy theorists believe NASA has fabricated since the seventies. But science has the answers.

Conspirabusters:

Countless scientists have their rebuttals of on the theories concerning the Apollo moon landings in pompous fashion. Vince Calder and Andrew Johnson, scientists from Argonne National Laboratory, have given their take on the authenticity of those landings. Here is a list of their rebuttals of some of the theories:

1. The waving flag pole was due to the inertia of erecting the flag in the moon.

2. The photos of the lunar night sky were taken with quick exposures that didn’t allow the stars light to be captured and caught by the camera.

3. All the shadow angles were due to multiple light sources like the sunlight, light reflecting off the earth, and light reflected off the lunar module.

4. The famous “footprint” does not need any water to hold its shape because of the zero atmosphere.

5. Finally, the reflection of the man was due to the camera mounted in the front on their chest. It created an awkward angle that caused distortion on the visor when the picture was taken.

The list goes on. NASA has continuously argued their side of the historical event of Apollo 11 landing on the moon. These; however, do not silence the conspirators.

Whether you’re a person who believes what was taught or a conspiracy theorist who calls “baloney”, the Apollo 11 moon landing has changed the course of human history. Did we land on the moon? Possibly. Who are we to believe? That is for you to decide.