On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the Moon — and at that moment, the moon landing hoax conspiracy theory was born.

For nearly 60 years, a small portion of the population has believed that humans never set foot on the Moon. Proponents of the theory claim that the footage of the Apollo 11 mission was filmed in a studio because the United States was so desperate to surpass the Soviet Union in the Space Race.

NASABuzz Aldrin walking on the Moon. July 20, 1969.

They point out the absence of stars in the photographs and the dangers of passing through the radiation field surrounding Earth, but each of their claims has been repeatedly debunked by experts.

Still, an estimated six percent of Americans believe that the moon landing was a hoax. This means nearly 20 million people.

Journey to the Moon

In the 1950s, in the midst of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union entered the Space Race, competing to be the first country to reach space and ultimately land on the Moon. The Soviet Union took the first step by successfully launching Sputnik 1 into Earth's atmosphere in 1957.

In response, the U.S. government focused on advancements in space travel by establishing NASA. However, the Soviets also surpassed the Americans by sending the first human into space. Yuri Gagarin orbited Earth in April 1961, and President John F. Kennedy asked Congress to send a man to the Moon by the end of the decade.

NASAPresident John F. Kennedy attending a NASA briefing at Cape Canaveral Missile Test Station in September 1962.

And in July 1969, NASA achieved this goal, but Kennedy did not live to see it. Apollo 11 was launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 16, 1969, with Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins on board. Four days later, Armstrong stepped onto the lunar surface and famously said, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

However, despite the extensive footage of this world-changing event, not everyone believes it actually happened.

Moon Landing Hoax Conspiracy Theory

Proponents of the moon landing hoax conspiracy theory argue that the U.S. used photographs taken to prove it had surpassed the Soviet Union in the Space Race to claim the entire mission was fabricated.

For example, one image shows Buzz Aldrin carrying equipment on the lunar surface against a deep black sky background. If the astronauts were truly in space, there should be stars in the background, theorists claim. However, it was daytime on the Moon when the photo was taken, so the stars were not bright enough to be seen by the camera.

NASAConspiracy theorists questioned why there were no stars visible in the sky in this photo of Buzz Aldrin.

In another photo, the American flag planted by the astronauts appears to be waving. But how is this possible if there is no wind on the Moon? Upon closer inspection, it can be seen that there is a thin rod at the top of the flag that holds it in place.

A third image pointed out by theorists shows that the shadows of an astronaut and a piece of equipment are not parallel. Advocates of the moon landing hoax conspiracy theory claim that studio lighting from different angles caused this inconsistency, but in reality, it is due to the projection of two-dimensional shadows onto a three-dimensional surface.

The idea that NASA used a studio to fake the moon landing did not come from nowhere.

Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey was released in 1968. Many theorists believe that NASA hired Kubrick to realistically depict the space environment and that the agency could pass his work off as real footage. More fringe beliefs even claim that Kubrick acknowledged his role in the hoax in his film The Shining, suggesting that Danny Torrance's Apollo sweater is a subtle reference to the hoax.

Warner Bros.Danny Torrance wears an Apollo sweater in The Shining, with some theorists claiming this is a way for Stanley Kubrick to acknowledge his role in the moon landing hoax.

However, Kubrick's daughter Vivian vehemently denied these claims in 2016, stating on social media, "Absolutely... it is clear that an artist like my father had a deep integrity in his art... don’t you think he would be the last person to help his country with such a terrible betrayal?!?"

Despite all the debunking of these claims, rumors about the moon landing being fake continue.

Was the Moon Landing a Hoax?

The photographs taken from the lunar surface are not the only evidence proving that Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins visited space. Independent laboratories around the world have verified the legitimacy of the rocks collected from the Moon. The astronauts' footprints can still be seen in the lunar dust. The Soviet Union, China, and India have sent several other missions with unmanned probes and rovers to the Moon.

If the moon landing hoax were true, it would require a massive international cover-up.

Of course, this does not deter conspiracy theorists. Some believe that the crew of Apollo 1 — astronauts Virgil Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee, who tragically lost their lives in a fire during a launch test — were executed by the U.S. government because they wanted to expose the truth.

NASAVirgil Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee, the crew of Apollo 1, died on January 27, 1967, when a fire broke out in the Command Module due to damaged wires during a test launch.

However, even people who do not subscribe to more extreme theories are skeptical that humans set foot on the Moon. According to a 2019 survey by Ipsos, six percent of Americans believe that the moon landing was a hoax, which translates to nearly 20 million people.

According to the deniers, every NASA scientist and the U.S. government conspired to fake the moon landing — and they all remained silent for six decades. Of course, NASA has completely denied these rumors since they first emerged. According to a 2010 report written by NASA's former chief historian Roger Launius, the agency commented on this conspiracy theory in 1977.

A NASA official stated, "Discussing this issue is somewhat of an insult to the thousands of people who worked for years to achieve some of the most magnificent discoveries in history. And certainly, it is an insult to the memory of those who gave their lives for space exploration."

NASAThe footprint left by Buzz Aldrin in the dust on the Moon.

Some theorists even went so far as to harass the Apollo 11 astronauts. In September 2002, 72-year-old Buzz Aldrin famously punched a man named Bart Sibrel who shouted at him in front of a hotel in Beverly Hills. In the video Sibrel released about the incident, the conspiracy theorist asks Aldrin, "Why don’t you swear on the Bible that you walked on the Moon?" Sibrel then calls Aldrin a "coward and a liar," stating, "You said you walked on the Moon, but you didn’t."

Sibrel produced several films about the moon landing hoax conspiracy theory and claimed that the CIA played a role in this deception. He argued that people could not survive passing through the Van Allen radiation belt surrounding Earth, but astronauts were only exposed to the radiation for a very short time, keeping their exposure levels within safe limits.

In conclusion, the Apollo 11 mission did indeed take place. Humans set foot on the Moon. And the moon landing hoax conspiracy theory is merely a fringe belief — there is no real evidence to support it.

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