Why do people think the moon landing was a hoax?

Question

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Answer 1

It's the Bell Curve.  There is a certain percentage of any population who are idiots.  They are roughly equal to the number that are geniuses.

Answer 2

it's funny

i always believed it to be true, that the moon landing happened

but my husband totally thinks it's a hoax

i have made fun of him over the years for thinking this

buuuut...now i am starting to think that these hoax theories are right or that they at least hold some credibility

there are lots of websites that talk about this issue

just google it and you will get lots

some of their points

* if we've gone before, why not go again

* the flag seems to be waving in some pics, there should be no waving in the flag

Answer 3

well, some people just don't think that we are technologically advanced enough, and some people just don't trust the government and are skeptical or cynical of everthing it does

also, the hoax explainations are easy to see and understand, while rocket-science generally isn't.

EDIT:

Rikki V, that is AWESOME!

Answer 4

Three reasons are possible:

1. Ignorance.  The person is simply not informed enough to make a rational decision.  These would include people who didn't know that we landed on the Moon 6 times (not once) and around it 4 times without landing (Apollos 8, 9, 10, and 13), or didn't know that there was a spring built into the flag to make it LOOK like it was waving, or that even on the Moon, stars don't show up on short-exposure film.

2. Stupidity.  The person knows all these things, but chooses to believe otherwise.  This usually points to a poor achiever who needs to disbelieve in other people's achievements in order to feel better about their utter failure as a human being.

3.  Paranoia.  These are the conspiracy freaks who automatically assume that a government as massive and as bad at hiding secrets as the US is somehow magically kept a secret which would necessarily have had THOUSANDS of witnesses - and that their country's WORST ENEMY at the time (The USSR) willingly went along with the conspiracy, despite the fact that exposing any such fraud would have handed them a colossal propaganda victory.  And they believe this because they haven't been taking their meds.

Answer 5

It is absolutely not a hoax.

They installed mirrors on the moon. They did it so that from earth, with a laser they could point at them and by getting a reflection, they would know the exact distance between the moon and Earth.

I have seen this first hand in my university's planetarium. and trust me.... YOU DO get a signal back!.

...

you should also check the Myth Busters episode based on this topic! very interesting,

Oh and just so you know... for all you ignorant people.... The Space Shuttle Program is set to be retired in 2010. The program ORION will replace it in 2015, where NASA will go back to the moon by 2018!

Answer 6

It's for real! Check out my source!

Answer 7

You should check out the Mythbusters web page on Discovery.com.

They did an awesome show debunking most of the hoaxes.

The problem is that explaining most of the issues that the hoax-believer raise requires at least some knowledge of science.

The nice thing about the mythbusters show is that they showed it - no need to get into all the science behind it...

There are also always people who are paranoid and love the idea of conspiracies...

Answer 8

There are TONS of reasons folks think it might be a hoax. While most of these can be argued as unlikely or have been successfully stricken down with hard evidence or new physics studies... you can't blame some folks for wondering in light of a lot of things.

For instance...

-the behavior of the moon dust being contrary to what one might expect in low gravity/vaccuum.

-The fact that a lot of shots occurred from angles/at times when nobody could have been on the surface at the time, and there were no unmanned/remote cameras left there for such things

-The fact that the flag appears to be waving despite there being no atmosphere thus no wind (though that one's been disclaimed by various sources, but if nobody knows of those sources, the photos really look that way)

-The fact that there are footprints UNDER the landed spacecraft where it would have been impossible for the astronauts to have been walking (this one for some reason isn't brought up on my source site I'm including... Probably because nobody could strike it down yet)

There are a lot of things that give folks reason to doubt. I'm neutral on the subject; I take both possibilities as just that, possibilities. All "conspiracy theories" should be taken with a grain of salt, yet if there is actual evidence or question to sources, then one should at least figure it could be slightly possible. One just shouldn't swear to it either though.

You can check out the link, it's very extensive. It looks like the landing really did happen. But with so many included questions, you really can't blame some folks for wondering about the validity. Some of the responses that strike those questions down, could have just as easily been invented too, after all. But they could all be right. Just saying that there's plenty of questions to the contrary, so don't think that folks wondering about it are nuts or something. You can see that there's plenty the average joe SHOULD wonder about, and it's good that folks are keeping their minds open to both possibilities rather than just writing one or the other off completely.

Answer 9

It's usually people who

- hate the government

- know less science than a Highschool student

- fell for one of the stupid books, videos, websites etc and didn't bother do their own research (those are generally the only ones that can be educated)

- want to make money with their books and videos

- simply are trolling

that claim that the landing was faked.

Answer 10

Because some people will never do great things or even have great original thoughts, so they like to

A) Tear down and refute the achievements of greater men

B) Have deluded, grandiose feelings of superiority because they think they know something most people are too ~stupid~ to see

C) People who believe the accepted story on issues are usually certain because they have seen enough evidence to prove the accepted story is true.  However the conspiracy theorists would like to believe that the masses are believing it for conformity's sake alone.  Another thing they like to take pride in is rebelling against conformity, though I'd like to point out, buying into the Hollywood fantasy of James Dean or Easy Rider as the epitome of cool is completely conformist.  h**l, every Baby Boomer fancies himself or herself a rebel of some kind.  It's utterly ridiculous.

These people are severely insecure but ego driven at the same time.  If something doesn't revolve around them, well by God, they're going to make it revolve around them...you posted this question didn't you?  You've made every conspiracy theorist feel a little more important by doing so, and that is what they are really after: validation; whether they deserve it or not.

Answer 11

Because they're gullible, brainless simpletons.

Answer 12

Media-brainwash

Answer 13

Because some people are just plain... well... stupid, and ignorant. I can see some of them answered your question.

All moon landing conspiracy theories are pathetic.

The classic "flag waving" and "why haven't we gone back" are the worst of all... those can be explained easily... but I'm assuming I don't have to.

Answer 14

The conspiracy theorists are satisfied with you thinking "they might be right."  They aren't, but they capitalize on you not knowing enough yourself about the evidence and the related sciences to see why their claims don't hold.  You give them the benefit of the doubt because many of them seem sincere and to have done their research.

Really why people believe in the Moon hoax theory is simply because they want to.  That is, it's an emotional belief that often doesn't have anything to do with the evidence they present.  But there is a variety of modes of belief:  not everyone falls into the same category.  Some are actively trying to make money promoting it.  At the other end of the scale you have people who just casually think there might be something wrong with the evidence.

Answer 15

I can't believe that some people think that the moon landings were all staged. I think that's terrible. They might believe this because of some in the media that may say this, or perhaps they are just skeptical about anything of the government, and this can include the Space Program. I think it's sad that people don't believe it happened, when it actually did. Just my view.

Answer 16

because its physically not possible.

y have the russians not done it and why has it not been done since? The russians were the most advanced and they did not do it nor attempt it with a human as it cant be done.