How Credible Are Conspiracy Theories Research Paper

Conspiracy theories have become more and more popular over the last few decades. The most popular theories are Illuminati, The real truth behind 9/11, and the faked moon landing. The Article ``One giant ... lie? Why so many people still think the moon landings were faked“ tells about a man named Bill Kaysing and his notion of conspiracy, that the moon landing was faked by Americans using a film set. The article, written by Richard Godwin, uses the literacy of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos, in a variety of ways. Logos, the art of Logic and reason, and Pathos, the art of emotions and feelings, are used the most in this article with the evidence that was shared in this article. “Conspiracy Theories ', an article written by TIME Magazine, also talks about the Film hoax of the moon landing and how the American people themselves, don’t even know for sure if the landing is real or a hoax.

Ethos, or the use of credibility, is somewhat used in the articles. In “One giant… lie”, Kaysing tries to use the fact that NASA is a relatively new organization to his advantage, talking about how NASA has been disorganized for years. The article also talks specifically about the credibility of Fox News after they aired a documentary about how the moon landing was faked, making thousands of Americans believe that to be true because it was on Fox news.

Logos, or the use of Logic, is used in these two articles as well. In “One giant… lie”, Kaysing tries to use the logic that the landings were faked in various ways. For one he claims that in all pictures no stars are visible. Cameras back in the ’60s were probably not able to detect those stars with the sensors that they had. Along with that, they also used physics to prove that the landings were faked, under the Apollo landing zone, there should be at least a small blast crater from the landing of the ship. Going back on what was said earlier, NASA was an unorganized organization, “It’s well documented that Nasa was often badly managed and had poor quality control, But as of 1969, we could suddenly perform manned flight upon manned flight? With complete success? It’s just against all statistical odds.” In 1957, the soviet union already had a space program while the US was non-existent, and It’s not easy to make a multi-million dollar space program.

Pathos, or the use of emotions and feeling, is slightly used in these articles as well. He uses the emotions of how excited and happy people were in the ’60s when the American government announced that we are going to the moon, ‘It began as “a hunch, an intuition”, before turning into “a true conviction”’

All in all, Both articles have good points across the board. From the “logic” of having no stars in a photo to claiming it was American television. These articles have influenced some Americans that maybe the landing was faked. Over %12 people now say the moon landing was faked. What do you think?

Works Cited

“Conspiracy Theories.” Time, Time Inc., 20 Nov. 2008, content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1860871_1860876_1860992,00.html.

Godwin, Richard. “One Giant ... LIE? Why So Many People Still Think the Moon Landings Were Faked.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 10 July 2019, www.theguardian.com/science/2019/jul/10/one-giant-lie-why-so-many-people-still-think-the-moon-landings-were-faked.