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Mythbusting the Moon Hoax

By Gregon

Skeptical stuntmen The Mythbusters will be taking on one of the grand-daddies of all myths in need of busting, the Apollo Moon Landing hoax theory, in a show set to air on Wednesday, August 27.

The Mythbusters take on one of their biggest, most controversial myths ever: Could the July 1969 moon landing have been an elaborate hoax? First, Adam and Jamie focus on photos, testing the theory that two of NASA’s most famous images were shot in a studio. Then, they investigate the myth that to get the classic “low lunar gravity look” the government shot the footage in a studio and then simply slowed it down. And Grant, Tory and Kari take on the claims that the footage of footprints and flags flapping in zero gravity had to be faked.

Now, I know it’s hardly going to make a difference to the debate – The Mythbusters are self-professed skeptics, and so they’ll have their take on it, and the hoax believers won’t be drinking their skeptical Kool-Aid. But there are so many elements of basic stupidity* to the Moon Hoax, it just needs a good walloping by someone…so it may as well be The Mythbusters. Note that I’m not saying people shouldn’t question things like this – and there are some superficially valid reasons why people would do so – just that we should be a bit sane about it all.

* Feeding my frustration is watching Richard Hoagland’s book ‘Dark Mission’ sit comfortably within the Top 1000 on Amazon for the past 6 months, sitting at #1 most days on the list of ‘UFO’ related books. WTF?

Greg
Editor
Greg is the owner-editor of The Daily Grail, as well as the author of a number of books including Stop Worrying, There Probably is an Afterlife.
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7 Comments

  1. I am a believer – in the hoax!
    Carol A Noble

    I always found the scientific evidence that man could land on the moon to be unproven. In recent years scientists have been worried about the space station it is now slowly building within Earth’s atmosphere. They are worried about radiation coming through the sides of the craft. Various methods have been used to try and improve the protection.

    Now, if scientists are that worried about radiation coming through what will be much thicker and stronger metal walls, how is it that people who went to the moon in very thin small metal ships didn’t have radiation burns or even a little sickness?

    There is also worry about getting past the Van Allen Belt which is surrounding our planet. This is supposed to be a very difficult obstacle to overcome yet little was said about it on the broadcasts when the men went to the moon!

    Even if these two difficulties could be proved to be difficult to overcome, I am sure there will be plenty of others who prove otherwise. For me, the clincher was how the whole hoax could have been done, given the broadcasting of the phenomenon. The film, The Dish, gives the answer. No, I am not referring to the incompetence and comedy that the film showed, or the desire for Australia to have some public credibility, but the little comment made by the screenwriter that it was based on a NASA document which stated the transmissions of the moon landing were relayed via an Australian astronomical centre.

    By using the Australian telescope, it would have been possible for NASA to intercept the transmissions and put their own version of the moon landing out to the rest of the world. This version could well have come from a studio on Earth. No-one can be sure what exactly was transmitted!

    I still find it hard that I can believe we have been hoaxed on such a massive scale, but Kennedy made a promise to the world and NASA did its best to deliver that promise, only I think it found the reality harder than they or Kennedy had expected, so they decided to hoax the world, and succeeded!!!

    1. Radiation
      [quote]how is it that people who went to the moon in very thin small metal ships didn’t have radiation burns or even a little sickness? [/quote]

      I’m no expert, but I do seem to recall there was certain evidence that the Apollo astronauts did suffer from cosmic radiation exposure. I think it was Buzz Aldring the one who mentioned to Houston during the Apollo 11 mission that he observed points of light when he closed his eyes. The scientists at NASA attributed this to cosmic rays passing through the brain of Aldrin *gulp!*

      I do not know if there has been a consistent study of the long-term effects this exposure has caused in the lives of those men. Since some of them live a very private reclusive life (e.g. Neil Armstrong) maybe we won’t find out until after they die.

      Nevertheless radiation exposure is one of the main difficulties for any prolongued manned mission. One idea is to have a shield of water—which would also be the crew’s supply for consumption— surrounding the capsule which could protect the astronauts from cosmic radiation. The problem here is trying to warn the crew with enough time so they can drop what they’re doing and run—or is it levitate—to safety.

      The thing is that during the first space missions, the level of safety for the volunteers would probably be considered reckless for our current standards. We literally sent these men to the unknown without a clear idea of what they would experience or what long-term effects they could have latr in life. But such has always been the price exploraton demands, and some people feel we should keep that in mind when designing the next lunar and martian missions.

      For example, for the Mars mission we probably expect that all the astronauts will eventually RETURN safely to Earth; and yet when Colombus embarked to discover a new route to the Indies—and accidentaly discovering a new continent, or not?— I don’t think he sincerely expected that all of his sailors would return to Spain!

      I do wonder how many people would volunteer for a one-way suicide mission to Mars…

      —–
      It’s not the depth of the rabbit hole that bugs me…
      It’s all the rabbit SH*T you stumble over on your way down!!!

      Red Pill Junkie

      1. I am still a believer in the hoax
        Carol A Noble

        Thanks RPJ, I hadn’t heard about any of the crew suffering from effects, but the fact that so many of them are still here shows the possibility that the radiation contamination was not as serious may have been. I am also sure they could have picked this problem up in the upper atmosphere as they were up in space for quite a few days.

        I think they did go into orbit around Earth but never left orbit to go to the moon. The transmissions I believe were of film already created prior to the moon launch. This is why Apollo 13 was so disastrous. Everyone thought they were beyond the Earth but I think something went wrong whilst they orbited and it may not have been possible for them to correct the problem easily, especially as to bring the men down sooner would have showed a hoax. They survived and I am pleased they did, but I still doubt the validity of the expedition.

        After all, everyone expected that the Moon would be exploited for its hidden resources, but it hasn’t been, and it is only now that anyone is considering returning to the moon for further exploration, some forty years later! Something strange about that I think, but then I always did have a doubting mind when it came to authority and the “truth” they give us.

        As for people going on one way trips, there will always be some who feel the sacrifice is worth it!

  2. Me too, I’m sorry to say
    Maybe the first moon shot did work, maybe it didn’t or experienced unforseen problems in either transit or transmissions. Maybe some of the moon shots reached their target – I don’t suppose we’ll ever know.

    However, I do believe that the film/video/whatever we were shown of Armstrong taking that ‘small step’ was pre-made and put out as the genuine article to avoid gross embarassment in the event something did go awry. There was intense competition at the time between the States and Russia in the race for the moon, and the States couldn’t be seen to fail after all the pre-launch hype. Plan “B” was needed, and that’s what we were shown – just in case.

    I’m with Carol on this one.

    Regards, Kathrinn

    1. The Russians
      I share some suspicion regarding the Apollo missions aswell, however I always thought that if the Moon landings had been a hoax, the first ones to cry fould would have been the Russians. What would they have had to lose in embarrasing the yankees in front of the whole World?

      —–
      It’s not the depth of the rabbit hole that bugs me…
      It’s all the rabbit SH*T you stumble over on your way down!!!

      Red Pill Junkie

      1. The Russian View?
        Carol A Noble

        I believe the Russians would have been in the plot as none of the countries would want to have it publicly known that humans cannot leave the planet under that system of space travel! The Russians are just as keen as the Americans to have a positive profile.

        I do think it is possible for anti-gravity machines to cope as they would repel many of the harmful rays away from the ships as well as overcoming gravity. Also to make such methods of space travel public would at that time have brought into the open many black projects which everyone was trying to keep secret.

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