Yes, Bebelicious, the “Flat Earth Society” ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_earth_society ) thought the Moon Landings were a hoax while the Apollo program was going on. Their reasoning was based on the famous “Earthrise” photo taken from the moon’s surface. The Flat Earthers contended that, since the photo erroneously showed the Earth being round (a sphere), the landings had to be fake because we all know that the Earth is flat.

Capricorn One did fuel the conspiracy theories. Unfortunately, the people who promote these “The Moon Landings were a Hoax” positions have not presented one piece of evidence that proves (or even gives credence) to the idea that the landings were fake. Even the Russians confirm that the landings were real. The people promoting hoax theories always have a book or DVD or something they are trying to sell, and thus have an ulterior motive for creating controversy and promoting a hoax.

I considere these “Moon Landings were a Hoax” theories to be hoaxes themselves, so perhaps it is a legitimate topic for this forum.

Some people actually do believe this stuff.  I tried arguing with a friend of mine one time that, had the moon landings been faked, you know the Soviets would have jumped all over it.  They sent robot probes to the moon and were just a small step (hehe) from sending a man themselves.  You know they would have crowed over it had they been able to prove the landings were a fake, and they were the only ones with the power to do so at the time.

well, some people argue that the moon, itself, is fake…...the same people that claim Idaho isn’t really there…..

was the moon landing a fake?

No.See the Bad Astronomy page or book.

Thanks BugbearSloth Went to the flat earth societies website… funniest thing i’ve seen all day

Funny how people only look on the surface to reach a conclusion about a conspiracy. The Moon Hoax is a classic example. If they only dug just a little deeper, they would see the errors in their thinking.

First there is the whole idea the Russians would have spilt the beans and they didn’t. Actually, it’s curious they didn’t try that even though they knew it was real. Perhaps that’s a sign the idea of claiming the moon landings were fake was so outrageous no one would believe it and they would look stupid. Seems they overestimated the intelligence of the average person.

The other thing rarely mentioned is the people outside the US that would have to be in on it or somehow fooled. For instance, a radio telescope in Australia was used to received the TV pictures of Armstrong’ first moonwalk. Either the Aussies were bought off (and never talked) or they would have to have been sent a fake radio signal. How do you fool professional radio astronomers into thinking they are really receiving a signal from the moon? They do this for a living. The beamwidth of a radio telescope is so narrow, the Americans really would have to be at Tranquility Base to send it. Then there is the problem of making the signal have the correct power level and the correct constantly changing Doppler shift.  Those things are accurately predictable so would have to be spot on.

Then there were the ham radio operators who were also listening in. The Doppler shift and rate of change would be different for every point on earth and since NASA had no idea who or how many were listening, how could they fool them? The bottom line is it would have been a lot harder to fake the landings then to actually do it.

Geekmafia - 22 December 2005 02:57 PM

Thanks BugbearSloth Went to the flat earth societies website… funniest thing i’ve seen all day

Yes, I enjoyed reading that too!!!  Those folks just don’t quite grasp the concept of gravitational pull, do they?

Flat Earth Society..LMAO…have these guys heard of a telescope??? Derrr

Captain Al,

You are right on with your comments. Especially concerning the Russian’s…

Long, long ago…on an Internet far, far away…I was brought to this place by a Google search for the Russian MiG Pilot, Viktor Belenko, that defected to the west in 1976.  In fact, you were the one that recognized his name and mentioned it to me. (I’m still trying to figure out how a Google search for “Russian MiG Pilot that defected” brought me here—-but, I digress)

ANYWAY….I found the info I was looking for on ole’ Viktor. He was interviewed for a book and one of the comments he made was concerning our space program of the late 60’s on into the 70’s. He said Russia hated to admit that the US could send men to the moon AND get them back. He maintained they had the technology to get them there but could not return them to earth.

As you said…they would have loved to have blown the whistle on us if only they could have. Alas, they could not…to me, that in of itself is evidence enough and I cannot imagine how anyone could actually question this happening?

Concerning the Aussie’s though…they would have been easy to buy off. We’d just threaten to stop importing Australian beer

sigh…

It’s great to have your own opinions and all but the moon a hoax? huh? Do you not see it most nights? prettty elaborate hoax. Although I often feel I’m on a show like the truman show or something…

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120382/ - the movie

Larry,

In Australia, I don’t think they have any surplus beer to export.

I’m glad you found your information on Victor Belenko. Interesting fellow. Did you ever come across the book, “MiG Pilot: The Final Escape Of Lt. Belenko” by John Barron?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0380538687/qid=1135377105/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/103-5268755-3219811?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

At the time, it was a rude awakening for me to find Russia was far behind the West in technology. We all assumed they were ahead. Even so, they had some amazing accomplishments in space. NASA could learn a few things from them about cost efficiency. I now suspect the American military establishment knew about Russia’s shortcomings but kept up the facade of the Communist threat to maintain support for their immense military budget. If Moscow had not been forced to use their limited resources to keep up, they may have eventually been able to land men on the moon.

Years later I worked with a person who had emigrated from the Ukraine. During the 80s, he was in the Soviet Air Force and serviced MiG fighters. I lent him Barron’s book and asked his opinion about it. He said everything about the Soviet lifestyle described in the book sounded plausible but he found found it hard to believe it all could have happened to one person. Life in Cold War Russia was hard, he said, but it wasn’t that hard. I think the author may have been paraphrasing Soviet society to set the mood of the story.