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Stupid Top Moon Conspiracy Theories 23

Top Moon Conspiracy

Theories and Why They

Are Stupid

By Yasemin Saplakoglu

When humans first walked on the moon 50 years
ago, they left footprints, a flag and for some, a
trail of doubt. While most Earthlings celebrated
humanity's great feat, a handful of holdouts just
raised their eyebrows and whipped up some
bizarre theories. The most famous of these
conspiracy theories is that the moon landings
were not real, but were staged by NASA.
Though the first moonwalker has died,
these conspiracy theories — and others about
the moon — live on. Here are some of the most
famous moon conspiracies and myths, and here's
why they make absolutely no sense.

The Apollo moon landings were faked

About 5% of Americans think the moon
landings were completely staged (they were
not). These people cite various reasons for this
belief, as Space.com previously reported. Why Conspiracy theorist Richard Hoagland claimed this photo was taken by the Lunar Orbiter in
are there no stars in the photos of the 1967 and it depicts a mile-high spire that is artificially-made. It turned out that Hoagland had
moonwalkers? Why is the U.S. flag fluttering? processed the image.Credit: NASA
Why are there footprints but no prints from the
lunar modules from the landers? city" on the "dark" side of the moon. He came to "Shard" and argued that no geological
There aren't any stars in the photo this conclusion after analyzing a photo of the phenomenon can explain it, so it must be
because daylight on the surface washes them Giordano Bruno crater — a 14-mile-wide (22 artificially made.
out, just like it does on our planet. The U.S. flag kilometer) crater that lies on the far side of the Another photo taken during the Apollo
is fluttering because it has a metal rod sewn into moon. There, he said, he found destroyed or 15 moonwalk in 1971 depicts a bright light
it to give it the appearance of moving in the damaged "structures" that could be a hundred above astronaut David Scottt's head. This led
"wind." And there are footprints but no million years old. Some of them had reflective some people to suggest that maybe it's evidence
impressions from the modules because the roofs and some looked like ships, he explained of alien activity — but experts say it's just a lens
weight of the lunar modules was more evenly in a Youtube Video. flare.
distributed than the astronauts' weight was in NASA dismisses these and other claims
their boots. of "objects" on the moon as simply mind tricks The moon might turn green
"OK," others ask, "don't you need water or a psychological phenomenon called
or some kind of moisture in the soil to leave "pareidolia," according to the International A couple of years ago, rumor had it that the
footprints?" The answer is no, particles of dust Business Times. It's simply like finding an moon would turn green. After all, several of the
can hold various shapes because of the friction image of a bear in a cloud or Jesus on a piece of planets aligned and caused an eerie glow,
between them. And the lunar module that landed toast. according to Space.com. This sickly shade was
on the lunar surface did not leave a deep crater supposed to fall upon the moon on April 20 and
because beneath the dust, the moon is made up Random things on the moon May 29 of 2016, allegedly making it the first
of densely packed rock. But the dust and loose time the moon has gone green since 1596.
dirt on the surface was kicked up, as can be seen The photograph on the top of this page taken by Spoiler alert: It didn't.
in the photos. the Lunar Orbiter in February of 1967 shows a
mile-high piece of "something" rising from the The moon is made of cheese
Aliens on the moon surface of the moon. NASA conspiracy theorist
Richard Hoagland said this should be called the The moon is (unfortunately) not made up of
The moon is not real, but an alien space station cheese, a popular myth or story told to children.
that is used to monitor our planet, according to If it were made of cheese, that would mean there
another conspiracy theory. This came from a is a gigantic cow somewhere in the solar system.
website written by a person named Scott C. And in this cosmic game of Where's Waldo?, we
Waring, who claimed to have found two photos probably would've already detected the beast.
in the NASA Image Atlas in 2013 that have But then again, space is random and you never
since been deleted. know what you'll find, you know?
"The evidence that NASA deleted is not
just a UFO, but is also 100% evidence that the The moon makes us lunatics or
moon is not real, but actually an alien space insomniacs
station," he wrote. According to him, the surface
of the moon is covered in debris to make it seem A popular lunar myth holds that a full moon can
like a natural celestial body, but in reality it affect our well-being — it can make us wilder,
opens up like a gate and allows spaceships to
more likely to give birth, less likely to sleep,
enter in and out.
more likely commit crimes.
This same self-proclaimed UFO
researcher also claimed that there was an "alien Astronaut David Scott in a photograph taken (Continued on Page 24)
during the Apollo 15 moonwalk in 1971.