On July 20th 1969 the immortal words "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind- were uttered by the first man on the moon. Or were they? In this essay I intend to uncover the mystery that surrounds the Apollo moon landing.
Regarding Apollo 11 there are many claims and counter-claims. Theorists protest that most rebuttals address statements they never made, or else ignore the relevant facts.
According to a conspiracy theory the Apollo moon landing was a hoax. Adherents to this idea state that the landings were faked by NASA with possible CIA support. The landing sceptics believe that the moon landings of Apollo 11 on July 20th 1969 and subsequent missions never happened, but were faked on Earth. Although apparently gaining credence with some in the general public, nearly all interested scientists and historians have rejected the claim. .
Unlike some other conspiracy theories, this theory is falsifiable. Observations can be made "for example, through powerful telescopes or via new moon landings "of the physical evidence "landing bases, equipment, footprints, etc.""that would prove or disprove the theory. For example, the Apollo astronauts reportedly left reflectors on the moon that scientists routinely use to very precisely measure the distance from the earth to the moon.
All such evidence, however, is discounted by conspiracy theorists who contend that those data have also been faked. The theory has significantly grown in popularity since the release of the movie "Capricorn One- ,released in 1978, in which NASA attempted to fake a landing on Mars.
One motive for the hoax is that the political investment in the program was such that the U.S. government could not allow it to fail and that the available technology at the time was such that there was a good chance that it might fail if genuinely attempted.
A more subtle version of the theory is that although the Apollo missions were not faked some of the photographs were.