Rumors and conspiracies that the moon landing was faked by NASA still run rampant 50 years later.
Moon rock mix-ups
Years following the moon landing, NASA gifted moon rocks to over 100 different countries. During their global tour after the trip to the moon, Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin gifted one such moon rock to Dutch Prime Minister Willem Drees. This stone was coveted by Drees and then donated to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam after his death.
However, in 2009, it was uncovered that the supposed moon rock was actually petrified wood, possibly originating from Arizona. But this doesn’t necessarily mean that the rocks Armstrong, Collins and Aldrin brought back were fake—it could point to possible theft by opportunists trying to make a quick buck. Moon rocks can fetch up to six figures on the black market.
NASA faked Gemini 10 space walk photos?
Before Americans actually landed on the moon, NASA headed several missions to prepare and practice several procedures crucial for a successful mission to the moon. This series of missions were known as Project Gemini and lasted from 1961–1966. During this time, a photograph was released of one of the space walks done by Astronaut Michael Collins.
Although not officially confirmed to be faked by NASA, the photo of the moon walk is suspiciously similar to the photo taken during a training exercise. Many believe the training image was doctored: the background blacked out to resemble space and the figure reversed. If NASA has faked one photo, who is to say they haven’t faked more?
Space radiation and film footage
One frequently asked question among moon-landing skeptics is how the astronauts from the moon-landing missions were able to bring back footage of the landing in such pristine condition? Some believe the high amounts of cosmic radiation in space would have fried the film or at least have left behind some evidence of radiation exposure, with some even comparing the effects of airport x-rays on early film reels. However, many say this would not necessarily have occurred. Astronauts reportedly used specially-designed cameras for the mission, and there wasn’t necessarily enough radiation to fog the film.
A more perplexing, and perhaps damning question would be: why did NASA erase and film over footage of the original moon landing? Yes, that’s correct. In 2009, NASA admitted the original recordings of the landing were among 200,000 other tapes slated to be erased and reused as a cost saving measure. Could NASA have been trying to hide something?
Goofy Astronauts
If you haven’t seen the footage of the astronauts walking around on the moon, you should go look it up. It’s comical to watch them stumble about on the surface of the moon, and it makes you wonder how the physics of the moon walk worked.
Some believe that the astronauts are actually in a warehouse with blacked out walls—which could explain why there are no stars in any of the photos—and that they are being held up by ropes or strings. The way they stumble forward makes it look like they’re balancing on a line around their waist, and the way they rise from their tumbles looks like they’re being pulled up from behind. The gravity on the moon is one-sixth the gravity on Earth, so it’s possible our brains don’t know how humans in that environment would behave.
Perhaps Americans did go to the moon, or perhaps NASA filmed it in a studio just to make sure the film survived. Whatever the truth is, there are certainly many strange things associated with the moon landing, which makes one wonder if the moon landing happened or if it really happened the way NASA says it happened.
