Were the lunar landings a hoax? (1 Viewer)

[Jon]

There are more than a few grumblings out there that indeed it was a hoax, perhaps for political gain and to placate the electorate. Of course, Neil Armstrong enjoys his fame and place in history, but is that evidence of motive to lie? What do you think? Hollywood production or did they really go to space with less onboard computing power than your mobile phone?

I credit (blame?) Nautical with this thread idea.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

I am inclined to think it really happened. At least on of the teams left some reflector devices on the moon for the purpose of doing laser distance measurement to get better data on lunar orbits and such. These lasers, being totally passive, respond to any nation's laser measurements, and nobody has complained from other countries. We can triangulate the lunar rover locations. We know something is up there. The problem with it being a hoax is the size of the group. There is a principle I remember from somewhere that says the probability of maintaining a secret is inversely proportional to the number of people who know it. I find it difficult to believe that after all these years, SOMEONE hasn't blown a whistle on them.

 

[Steve R.]

In case anyone forgot about this very forgettable 1978 film. Capricorn One
I hope that no one will have a PTSD episode as a consequence of unforgetting it.

 

[Minty]

I have a friend who's father categorically denies it happened.
He's not the sharpest knife in the kitchen, but some of the arguments I've heard him use to defend his position are Trump-like in their absurdity.

@Steve R. Thanks for that. I had actually managed to forget it, until now.

As the Doc said - there is plenty of recently constructed man-made things up there and they didn't appear by magic or via a giant catapult.
Or when Elvis landed his world war two Bomber up there with Hilter as a co-pilot.

 

[Uncle Gizmo]

Of course it happened... Can you imagine any government, and especially the American government keeping such a thing secret for this length of time? Any one of the thousands of people that must have participated in a hoax, if indeed it had been a hoax, any one of them would make millions revealing the story. That's not happened, it's not going to happen, because it didn't happen, it wasn't a hoax..

 

[deletedT]

Can you imagine any government, and especially the American government keeping such a thing secret for this length of time?

UK cracked the German Enigma during World War II and kept it as a secret for how many years? 50 years?
The Imitation Game

I don’t say that lunar landing was hoax. I’m only talking about possibilities.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

The lunar landing hoax theory is bad enough, but the ones that make me sick to my stomach are the Holocaust deniers. I personally knew a woman who was a child in one of the camps. Still had her tattooed number on her forearm. My father-in-law landed at Normandy on D-day (3rd wave, had much better survival rate). His unit liberated more than one concentration camp. The National Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC documented hundreds of individuals who gave verbal testimony on videotape. They had artifacts. But there are those who deny the Holocaust out of disbelief that anyone could be so cruel. To which my response is, "Ah, but people can obviously be that DUMB."

 

[NauticalGent]

Been away for the weekend and pro used myself not to get online while I was visiting family. I took a nose dive into this subject back in the late 90's.

Still not sure what I believe...but...I DO .like to hear the "experts" discuss the hazards of the Van Allen Belt...

 

[Micron]

I have a friend who's father categorically denies it happened.

I bet he says the earth is flat, too.

 

[kevlray]

The show Myth Busters explored some of the common lunar landing conspiracy theories. All of the theories were found not to be true. Of course there there are the hundreds of pounds of lunar rock that they brought back.

 

[Darrell]

I bet he says the earth is flat, too.

And that Oswald shot JFK

 

[Minty]

And that Oswald shot JFK

No no no, that was President Kennedy due to a lack of curry in the future https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tikka_to_Ride

 

[Darrell]

No no no, that was President Kennedy due to a lack of curry in the future https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tikka_to_Ride

Well I never watched much of Red Dwarf but that write up is certainly making me want to watch more!