BrainStuff Classics: How Do Astronauts React to Lunar Landing Conspiracy Theories?

about the lunar landing. Astronaut Neil Armstrong once said, it would have been harder to fake it than to do it. On July nineteen sixty nine, Armstrong and Edwin buzz Aldrin Jr. Became the first human beings to ever walk on the Moon during NASA's Apollo eleven mission. Orbiting above them at the time was the third member of their crew, aviator Michael Collins, who was piloting their command module. Together, these

three entered the history books. The lunar landing was a defining moment, a technical che evement made possible by centuries of scientific progress and the hard work of more than four hundred thousand people. But according to a thirteen pole, seven million Americans think that the entire thing never happened. In a sixteen British poll found that more than half fifty two percent of Brits think that the Apollo eleven moon landing was faked, including an astonishing seventy percent of

Brits aged twenty five to thirty four. On December eighteenth, nineteen sixty nine, four months and twenty five days after Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins returned to Earth, John Noble Wilford of The New York Times ran a story about a few stool warmers in Chicago bars who had gone on record to claim that all the Apollo eleven moonwalk footage was fake and must have been secretly filmed somewhere out in the

Nevada desert. The popularity of this misguided belief mushroomed during the Watergate scandal, an actual government conspiracy that seems to have left people more susceptible to believing other big government cover ups were plausible. In nineteen seventy four, writer Bill Casing self published a hamphlet called We Never Went to the Moon. Casing's writings alleged that any sort of lunar landing would have been impossible to carry out. In nineteen

sixty nine. NASA, he concluded, staged the moonwalk in a makeshift studio and then swore the astronauts secrecy. Later, he added that the Challenger explosion wasn't an accident either. Casing accused NASA of sabotaging the spacecraft before the crew of seven got the chance to expose the Apollo eleven cover up. His pamphlet gave the so called lunar truther Or movement

its first manifesto. Deniers like Casing saw their cause enjoy a modern renaissance in two thousand one, when the Fox Network aired a documentary called Conspiracy Theory Did We Land on the Moon? A forty seven minutes special. The program featured interviews with Casing and other Apollo eleven skeptics. One of them was Bart Sabrell, a filmmaker who has released two documentaries of his own on the subject. The Fox program enjoyed great ratings, as did a rebroadcast of the

show that aired a month later. However, scientists overwhelmingly denounced the one sided special. The turn of the millennium also saw an explosion of Internet conspiracy sites, which further the spread of lunar trutherism. All that negative attention was bound to generate some uncomfortable moments for the Apollo eleven crew. In the year two thousand, Neil Armstrong was celebrating his

seventieth birthday. One of the cards he received came from a school teacher who wrote, dear Mr Armstrong, I would like to point out that you and the other astronauts are making yourselves a worldwide laughing stock thanks to the Internet. From there, the author encouraged Armstrong to visit a favorite conspiracy website. Armstrong forwarded the card to NASA, asking if

the agency had ever publicly refuted these allegations. He said, I occasionally am asked questions in public forums and feel I don't do as good a job as I might with more complete information. NASA had, in fact rebuffed the claims way back in nine seven. That June, a press release from the organization dismantled casing's major arguments. After the two thousand one Fox Special, the Space Agency reissued the document, Still,

the daters were not satisfied. While making one of his documentaries, Bart Sabrell and a cameraman ambushed Armstrong at a two thousand one aerospace event in New York City. James Smith, then the president of the event's sponsoring corporation, recalls a Sabrell held up a Bible and demanded that Armstrong place a hand on it and swear that he had really gone to the Moon. The conspiracy theorist was swiftly ejected. This wasn't the only time Sabrell filmed himself accosting an

Apollo veteran. He issued the same spontaneous bible challenge too many other space travelers, including Apollo fourteen's Edgar Mitchell, and, as Michael Collins told Airran Space Magazine in twenty sixteen, the fringe theorist once tried to corner him in a supermarket. For the record, Collins says that he finds lunar hoax theories laughable. Buzz Aldrin, on the other hand, sure wasn't amused when Sabrill and a cameraman ran up to him

outside of Beverly Hills Hotel in two thousand two. Sabrill had lured Aldren there under the false pretenses of an interview. Once Aldren arrived with his step daughter in tow, Sabrill started poking him with a Bible and unleashed a torrent of insults. Finally, the seventy two year old had had enough. With a swift left hook, Aldrin punched Sabrill in the jaw. Sabrill, who quickly fled the scene, tried to sue Aldrin for a salt, but the charges were dropped. The filmmaker has

since apologized for his behavior. In Armstrong gave what was to be his last interview before his death at age two. During a taped exchange with Australian CEO Alex Malley, the First Man on the Moon talked about everything from his Ohio childhood to NASA's future. Perhaps inevitably, Armstrong was asked point blank if the moon landing had been a hoax.

He replied, people love conspiracy theories. I mean, they are very attractive, but it was never a concern to me because I know that one day somebody is going to fly back up there and pick up that camera I left. Today's episode was written by Mark Mancini and produced by Tristan Neil and Tyler Klang. For more on this lots of other topics, visit how stuffworks dot com. Brain Stuff is production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts my Heart Radio, visit Day I Heart radio, app, Apple podcasts,

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