This is a question put forward by several authors of books, video material and television programmes. Questions are asked and evidence presented, accusations are made and dramatic even sensational conclusions are reached. Their conclusion is that Man has never set foot on the surface of the Moon. That the entire Apollo Programme was a forty billion dollar hoax by NASA and that even today, space missions are faked.
So what is the evidence? Such startling claims require solid proof to back them up. After all, we are talking about the biggest conspiracy in history, bar none. It is important when approaching this subject to learn a few things about the science behind the Apollo missions, as otherwise it is easy to become confused by misrepresentations of what spaceflight is, the conditions on the Moon, and so on. Certain things must also be taken into consideration when approaching the claims of the proponents of hoax theories, such as who are these people and what are their motives? But first it would perhaps be obvious to highlight those who stood to gain the most from exposing an Apollo hoax...the Soviets. Why have they been silent all these years? Surely if the Apollo programme was in any way faked the Soviets would have announced this to the world immediately? The Russians don't deny the validity of Apollo, which is a very important fact to remember.
On July 16th 1969 a Saturn 5 rocket costing some $85 million was launched with Neil Armstrong, Micheal Collins and Buzz Aldrin aboard. Their destination had been ordered by the late President J F Kennedy who had committed the USA to a "space race" with the Soviet States of Russia in the early 1960's. On July 21st 1969 Armstrong and Aldrin landed on the Moon, the first of seven manned missions to the lunar surface. Some people have since publicly attacked the Apollo missions, in books and tv programmes, saying that all (or some) of the missions were faked.
However, the Russians tracked Apollo 11 to the Moon. Observers at the Jodrell Bank Radio telescope in the UK tracked the lunar lander as it descended to the Moon. The trans lunar coast (where the spaceship flies through space towards the Moon as a result of a kind of sling-shot effect) was observed by hundreds of professional and amateur astronomers. Ordinarily, this would leave the hoax theories without premise, but the proponents of faked Moon landings are persistant and cite further evidence...which brings us to the authors themselves. Who are they?
Bill Kaysing
Mr Kaysing is perhaps the originator of most of the theories concerning faked Moon landings. He has been the author of hoax accusations since around 1974. Whether his credentials stand up to any scrutiny is open for question, as are all of his theories.
Bart Sibrel
Mr Sibrel is an Investigative Journalist which would probably make you wary of him if you were famous, like an Apollo Astronaut, for instance. He sells video evidence you can buy and peruse for yourself. Beware of this, if you are a US citizen, that all Apollo media is in the public domain which means if you pay taxes, you have paid for it already.
Ralph Rene
Curiously billed as a "Self taught Engineer", Mr Rene seems to have a somewhat tenuous grasp of the mechanics of a vacuum and lunar gravity, being stunned by the "American flag waving in the wind" on the Moon...the same supposed wind that meticulously avoided blowing any dust around while buffeting the flag...strange indeed.
