Apollo Moon Landings Were Faked

Record	OBS-0001
Category	Space/Moon Landing
Status	DEBUNKED
Summary	Conspiracy theories claim that NASA faked the Apollo Moon landings, staging the events on Earth to win the Space Race. Proponents point to anomalies in photographs, radiation hazards, and missing technology as evidence. These claims are widely debunked by scientific evidence and expert consensus.
Origin	The modern Moon hoax theory gained prominence with Bill Kaysing's 1976 self-published book 'We Never Went to the Moon: America's Thirty Billion Dollar Swindle'.
Claimed	The Apollo missions were filmed in a studio or on a soundstage, not on the Moon. Photographs show non-parallel shadows, indicating multiple light sources. Astronauts could not have survived the Van Allen radiation belts. No stars are visible in Moon landing photos. The American flag appears to wave despite no atmosphere. Lost Apollo 11 telemetry tapes and Saturn V plans suggest a cover-up. The technology of the 1960s was insufficient to reach the Moon.
Evidence / consensus	Overwhelming evidence confirms the Moon landings occurred, including third-party tracking, lunar samples, and high-resolution images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter showing landing sites and astronaut tracks. Expert analyses explain the photographic anomalies as perspective and exposure effects, and the Van Allen belt transit was brief and within safe radiation limits.

> OBSERVER NOTE:
A persistent and well-documented hoax claim. The evidence against it is extensive and conclusive; the theory survives on distrust of government and misunderstanding of physics.

Sources

Sources are external and provided for verification. Listing does not imply the Observer endorses their claims.