In this blog post, we will look at the scientific evidence behind the Apollo 11 moon landing and the truth behind the conspiracy theories.
There are many events and accidents in the world, and they are always accompanied by some reason. The reason is that it is a means and a way for humans to understand and be convinced of something. Ordinary events can be fully understood and convinced of with “ordinary” reasons.
However, some events are beyond the scope of what humans can understand. This may be the case with the death of a loved one, or a mystery like the frequent plane disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle. How do people react when something happens that is beyond their understanding? To put it simply, people create reasons for such events. Even if the logic is illogical and unrealistic, humans create reasons to make sense of events that they cannot understand.
Let’s consider a typical example of what happens. When a top star commits suicide, there is always suspicion that someone killed him. People cannot believe that their idol has taken his own life. But the fact that the idol is dead is clear, and it is a fact that must be accepted. So people raise the suspicion that the idol was murdered. This is because murder is more easily accepted by people than suicide.
Through this mechanism, conspiracy theories are always raised in response to new and difficult-to-understand events. The conspiracy theory about whether the Apollo 11 manned lunar mission actually took place is probably based on this background. At the time, the fact that humans were going to land on the moon was not just groundbreaking, but was also seen as a new event that would mark history. However, at the same time, it was also an event that many people found difficult to understand.
The conspiracy theory of Apollo 11 was started by the book We Never Went to the Moon by American Bill Kaysing. In this book, Kaysing raised various suspicions. It is true that the astronauts of Apollo 11 took off with Saturn V. However, Casing claims that they only orbited the Earth for eight days, and that the footage broadcast worldwide was faked and shot in a secret studio. According to his calculations, the probability of humans safely returning to Earth after going to the moon at that time was only about 0.0017%. The fact that the astronauts were within that 0.0017% was something that he could not accept. That is why he came up with the conspiracy theory that the footage of the human landing on the moon was fabricated.
This conspiracy theory did not stop at mere claims, but numerous pieces of evidence were presented. The number of people who raised the conspiracy theory increased, and their claims became more and more convincing. Let’s take a look at the five main pieces of evidence.
The first piece of evidence is that the American flag stuck on the surface of the moon was flapping in the wind. Wind is generated by the flow of air, and there is no air on the moon. Therefore, in theory, the American flag stuck on the surface of the moon cannot flap.
The second piece of evidence is that no stars are visible in the photographs taken by the Apollo astronauts. The Earth has an atmosphere, which refracts starlight, so starlight cannot penetrate well. However, the Moon has no atmosphere, so there is no refraction and no weather phenomena that block starlight. Therefore, stars should be visible in photographs taken from the Moon, but the photographs taken by the Apollo astronauts showed only black space and no stars.
The third piece of evidence is that no engine exhaust marks are visible even when analyzing the photos and videos of the moment the Apollo spacecraft landed on the moon. Spacecraft are very heavy and require a lot of power to move and stop. Strong engine exhaust pressure is also required when landing on the moon. However, no engine exhaust marks or even dust were raised on the surface of the moon.
The fourth piece of evidence is the footprints of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, which are still on the moon. The gravity on the moon is only one-sixth of the gravity on Earth. Therefore, a person’s weight is also only one-sixth of what it is on Earth. How is it that a person’s footprints could remain so deeply on the moon, while even the strong engine jet could not leave a mark on the moon?
The fifth piece of evidence is the suspicious lighting. The strongest light source on the Moon is the Sun. Other stars can also be light sources, but they are much weaker than the Sun’s light reflected on the Moon. All shadows on the Moon should be parallel, but in the Apollo photographs, the shadows were intersecting in multiple directions, not in one direction.
These five main pieces of evidence were convincing enough to convince not only Bill Kasing himself, but also many others. As a result, this conspiracy theory spread across the United States and the world.
However, there are two things to note. First, it is not clear how Bill Casey calculated the probability of 0.0017% that he raised. Second, the evidence presented as proof of the conspiracy theory can be scientifically refuted.
The first piece of evidence, the waving flag, is made of nylon and was designed by the developers to be unfurled even on the moon where there is no air. The flag appears to be waving because of the creases and because the astronaut is waving the flagpole. In fact, the flag only moves when the astronaut is holding the flagpole and waving it.
The reason why the second evidence, the stars, cannot be seen, is due to the limitations of photography technology at the time. With the technology available at the time, it was difficult to capture distant starlight when photographing a bright subject.
The reason why the third evidence, the engine exhaust marks, cannot be seen, is because there is no air on the Moon. Without air, there is no wind, and without wind, there is no dust. Also, because the gravity of the moon is low, the spacecraft could land with weak pressure and did not leave a large mark on the surface of the moon.
Fourth, the shadows in multiple directions are explained by the topography of the moon. If there were multiple lights, each object should have had multiple shadows.
Finally, the traces of the lunar landing remain clearly visible even today. Even with today’s technology, we can observe the landing traces of the astronauts on Earth. In addition, the approximately 400 kg of lunar rock that the astronauts brought back to Earth is solid evidence that the lunar landing actually took place. For reference, lunar rock is different from Earth rock in its main components.
As such counterarguments and scientific explanations were presented, the conspiracy theory of the moon landing gradually lost its persuasiveness. Just as the conspiracy theory of the suicide of a top star was dispelled by the autopsy results, the conspiracy theory of the moon landing was also dispelled by scientific explanations. Only after clear answers to various questions were presented, were people able to understand the new event of the moon landing.
