Essay On Debunking the Moon Landing

Did Americans really land on the Moon? For decades, people have been debating whether or not the 1969 Moon landing was real or if it was faked by NASA. On July 1969, American astronauts landed on the Moon for the first time in history. However, many conspiracists debate that it was all a hoax. There are many forms of evidence showing that the Moon landing was a hoax such as the flag moving and the lack of craters on the moon’s surface; Although, there are many arguments against these claims, trying to prove them to be fabricated.

One of the biggest forms of evidence against the moon landing is in a video of the astronauts walking around on the Moon. The American flag that the astronauts planted is seen to be waving in the background. Due to the gravity on the Moon, “the flag should have been flaccid” (Cohen.) When an object is flaccid it is firm and not moving. Nonetheless, as seen in NASA’s video the flag appears to be waving. This led to many questions and theories. Why would the flag be moving if according to science it should have been still? NASA has tried to debunk this theory, but thousands of people are still weary and question the accuracy of the moon landing being real.

Another piece of information conspiracists use to question the moon landing is the fact that no impressions or marks were seen to be made on the moon's surface. According to experts, “If NASA had actually landed a craft on the moon, it would have left an impression and markings where the jets fired during takeoff” ( Cohen.) If the Apollo 11 mission was staged on a set, there would be no impressions from the spacecraft, because no jets were fired off and nothing would have made an impact. Therefore in the pictures there would be no marks. This evidence, along with the flag theory leads many people to believe that NASA used a movie set to stage the landing. 

Yet, there are claims trying to disprove those pieces of evidence. While many people think since the American flag planted in the moon was waving, it must have been faked, a prop in a movie. Others debate that “engineers fitted the pole with a cross beam on which to hang the flag; if it looks like it’s waving, that’s because Buzz Aldrin was twisting the pole, screwing it into the lunar soil” ( Cohen.) That can be used to disprove the previous evidence of it being fake, but since there are no images or videos of Buzz twisting the pole, it’s not one hundred percent accurate. In the second theory, it mentions how no markings or impressions were left on the Moon’s surface from when the spacecraft landed. Scientists say this is because the Moon’s gravity is about one-fifth of Earth’s, which creates a softer landing. It could be compared to “leaving an impression at the bottom of a pool”. (Cohen.) This claim is plausible compared to the other because it is using facts and science to back it up.              

There are many forms of evidence showing that the Moon landing was a hoax such as the flag moving and the lack of craters on the moon’s surface; however there are many arguments against these claims, trying to prove them to be made up. To sum up the theories, the flag that was planted on the Moon’s surface should not have been waving, and there should have been marks from where the spacecraft landed, however none were seen in any images. Although, there are points of evidence trying to disprove the theories, only one of those using actual facts. Overall,             there are many claims and pieces of evidence showing the Moon landing was faked and with only one of the original Apollo 11 members alive, the truth might never come out.    

Works Cited

Cohen, Rich. “How Stanley Kubrick Staged the Moon Landing.” The Paris Review, 18 July 2019, https://www.theparisreview.org /blog/2019/07/18/ how-stanley-kubrick -staged-the -moon -landing -and-other-stories/. Accessed 29 April, 2021

Greig, Charlotte. Conspiracy; The Greatest Plots, Collusions and Cover- Ups. Arcturus, 2018.

Steiger, Brad and Sherry Steiger. Conspiracies and Secret Societies; The Complete Dossier; Second Edition. Visible Ink, 2013.