Do you know people who believe US astronauts never landed on the moon?

[Hyacinth]

I mean seemingly normal, intelligent people? Someone I know well believes it was all fake. Sent me a couple links that “prove” it was a hoax.

I’m not engaging with this person on the topic. I left it at “Huh, interesting theory” and we moved on.

But now I’m wondering…is this a widespread belief these days? 

Years ago a co-worker told me that when the moon landing was televised she thought it was a hoax. She said she was a hippie flower child who didn’t trust the government to tell the truth. And this was a common stance among her peers. Years later she was convinced by the evidence. So I knew there was skepticism “back then.” But today? Is this common?
 

 

Edited August 22, 2023 by Hyacinth

[Corraleno]

The only person I've personally known who believed the moon landing was fake was Russian, so I don't know if that's just a coincidence or maybe it's a more common belief in Russia?

I always wonder why the folks who think it was a hoax believe that NASA would go to the trouble of faking not just one but six manned missions, plus put everyone through the terrifying drama of Apollo 13? Like do they think the Apollo 13 astronauts were just hiding in a back room while the Mission Control guys worked around the clock and the world held its collective breath just for funsies? What would would be the point of that???

[kokotg]

I know one such person in real life (that I'm aware of), but I've gathered over the years that it's a surprisingly widespread belief, even amongst people you wouldn't suspect. 

[JustEm]

Yes. Just one person that in aware of. They are an intelligent and well educated individual. But they do have a few odd conspiracy theories they believe in

[WildflowerMom]

Yes, I do.  I am not a space person, but was not entirely convinced until MythBusters did an episode.  After that, I was encouraged to read more and became convinced it was real.  
But I know some, even educated, who don’t believe it.    I think it’s hard at times to believe our govt, so it’s not hard for me to understand why some people still don’t embrace the moon landing.  We believe it, but I still understand that some people don’t.    I think there’s a lot of stuff us citizens believe that we’ve been misled on or downright lied to about.   (I’m def not even a conspiracy theorist in the slightest, it’s just hard to trust the powers that be.)

[Faith-manor]

There is a home church of people in the county seat, and they are a flat earther church. So as part of that belief system they do not believe anyone has been to space or "outside the biodome". One of the leaders is a chiropractor, and his wife is a nurse. I have met and chatted with them. They don't present as unbalanced, but man when that flat earth stuff comes rolling out, it makes my brain twitch.

I figure they are no good at math. Getting ten people to keep a secret is a major achievement. Getting a hundred people to keep their mouths shut is monumental. Keep what now has to be hundreds of thousands of NASA and NASA adjacent people plus politicians plus other countries with space programs ALL maintaining the lie ranks right up there with the probability that a Gerard Butler film will be good! 😂😂😂

Edited August 22, 2023 by Faith-manor

[Elizabeth86]

Yes 

[pinball]

Well, why would Kubrick have made the Shining the way he did if not to let people know the moon landing was fake and he was the one who helped fake it?

[maize]

I've met someone who believes the moon landings are fake.

It was at a meeting of a little homeschool science group; just a few families that met every other week so the kids could do presentations for each other on what they were learning in science. It was a neat idea and the friends who invited my family were great. The first day we went though one family's presentation was all about how the moon landings were fake.

We didn't join the group.

[Katy]

I learned that back when there was an episode of Friends where Phoebe basically destroys Ross's belief in everything with a few flippant remarks, and then twists the knife further when he started questioning his own beliefs. I have no idea what year that was though.

[OhioMomof3]

I know a person who believes this. This person also believes in a flat earth.

[Amethyst]

I don’t know anyone who thinks it’s fake. My dad worked on the project involving the “space toilet” for years. It never occurred to me at the time that anyone thought it was a hoax. 

[Scarlett]

My step dad number one believed it was a hoax.  

[Shoeless]

Yes, half the local homeschool group thinks it's fake. They also believe that we're being poisoned by chem trails, soy beans are turning men gay, and that there are secret symbols in Biden's campaign bumper sticker that prove he's a member of the Illuminati. 

I wish I was exaggerating. 

[mommyoffive]

Not that I know of?  I have never even heard this theory.

[DeainUSA]

Yes.  They also believed the crew from the shuttle with the teacher aboard was a fake explosion and posted pics of where they live now, current pics of their faces and all.   The same person didn’t believe in Covid.  They ended up dying…from Covid.  Refused treatment.

[ScoutTN]

Not that I am aware of. 

[Catwoman]

No, and if I met someone who held that belief, I would be avoiding them in the future. 

I try to steer clear of conspiracy theorists.

[MercyA]

.

Edited August 23, 2023 by MercyA

[Shoeless]

1 minute ago, MercyA said:

 

My parents absolutely bought into the chem trails and the Illuminati and 9-11 theories and all of it. They've completely changed. There is hope!

It took my DH literally a couple *decades* of gently, subtly, kindly, gradually redirecting them but ultimately his efforts bore fruit. (With them and with me! I wasn't a conspiracy theorist, but I was I wrong about a lot of things.)

I think my dear Grandma questioned the moon landing. Interesting since I don't believe she was a conspiracy theorist otherwise.

One friend was able to pull away and see the light, thankfully. Her husband refused and it ended up costing him his family and life, (died of a preventable and treatable illness, but refused treatment from "Big Pharma"). 

😔

 

[Bootsie]

I was talking to a very intelligent, well-education person last week who told me that he thought we had indeed landed on the moon but that all of the footage and pictures from the time were created in a studio rather than really taken on a landing.

[Xahm]

1 hour ago, Corraleno said:

The only person I've personally known who believed the moon landing was fake was Russian, so I don't know if that's just a coincidence or maybe it's a more common belief in Russia?

I always wonder why the folks who think it was a hoax believe that NASA would go to the trouble of faking not just one but six manned missions, plus put everyone through the terrifying drama of Apollo 13? Like do they think the Apollo 13 astronauts were just hiding in a back room while the Mission Control guys worked around the clock and the world held its collective breath just for funsies? What would would be the point of that???

It is a common belief in Russia. I didn't talk about it with tons of people there, but any time it came up, at least one person was convinced it was fake. Their history books have a strong tendency to not mention anything that they didn't win. Young adults there told me about how the Russians had never lost a war, and i had to suggest they read a little more widely. I didn't say more than that because I didn't like the idea of a quick loss of my visa. I went to a planetarium show. It was pretty much the same show about the history of astronomy and space exploration as you get in America, just dubbed into Russian, up through the beginning of the Space Race. Then it split off. If I remember correctly, the voice actor and animation style changed to finish the show, and moon exploration was never mentioned. Here in the States we never really studied that time period in depth in school either, so there are likely a lot of people about my age who just don't know how big a deal the whole thing was. If you think it was a minor thing, it's easier to imagine the while thing being fake.

[Emba]

I know of one person who believes that. He’s a little off in other ways. His wife doesn’t agree with him about it and just sort of rolled her eyes when it comes up.

[ddcrook]

51 minutes ago, DeainUSA said:

Yes.  They also believed the crew from the shuttle with the teacher aboard was a fake explosion and posted pics of where they live now, current pics of their faces and all.   The same person didn’t believe in Covid.  They ended up dying…from Covid.  Refused treatment.

I wonder what they have to say about the other shuttle that disintegrated over Texas in 2003.

[ericathemom]

Yup. My sister-in-law and her family. They also don't believe that any of the Mars missions are real and believe many covid-based conspiracies. Her parents were both big hippies in the 1960s but she had a really normal education, even went to a decent college. After I learned this about her, it apparently really affected me for a few weeks. I was astounded that she has a pretty large media platform and so many people trust what she says; I don't feel I would ever be able to trust what she says if she's wrong on such a simple to prove issue.

[easypeasy]

Pre-2020, no. I didn't know a single person who thought this (or, more specifically, I didn't know anyone who admitted that they believed this).

Since 2020? Easily half of my extended family and probably more than half of the people we used to associate with when we were homeschooling.

It has been a speedy and shocking development and, honestly, a lot to wrap my own brain around to process.

It's not just the moon landing, either. So many things. Shootings - diseases - JFK, Jr. - Russia vs Ukraine - etc.

[ameliabergen]

Yes, the only person I know who believes in it is my aunt. But she has always been very into different conspiracy theories. But what I like about her is that she never convinces others of that. It's her opinion; she sticks to it but never proves that she is the only one who is right.

[QueenCat]

I know exactly one person who believes this. It absolutely diminishes my view of their being intelligence level. 

[elegantlion]

I've heard the theory but I don't know anyone personally who believes that.

[Soror]

Dh's science teacher in Jr. High or Highschool thought the moon landing was fake and taught that in class.

I *think* there are some local hs'ers that don't believe it but that is second-hand info and I don't wish to ask them myself to confirm. I'd not be surprised if there were some that believed that. I know families that have gone really far down conspiracy theory rabbit holes.

[Heartstrings]

You guys don't really believe the moon is real, do you?   

 

(j/k, of course!)  

[HomeAgain]

10 hours ago, Shoeless said:

Yes, half the local homeschool group thinks it's fake. They also believe that we're being poisoned by chem trails, soy beans are turning men gay, and that there are secret symbols in Biden's campaign bumper sticker that prove he's a member of the Illuminati. 

I wish I was exaggerating. 

I watched a homeschooling friend move to a new community and slowly start getting sucked into this.  Her social media posts went from being kind and kid focused to being more and more unhinged, claiming conspiracy on so many things.  What's worse is that it got her a job at a small private school in the area.  Her posts fit in with their views.

I only know one here who is a flat earth believer, but I also tend to stay away when I get a weird vibe from people now.  So there are probably more, but I'm not going to make my circle branch out to find more.

[Janeway]

I do not know anyone who is off the mainstream in these beliefs. BUT, many years ago, I heard from a very bright person who works in the sciences an idea. She was just tossing it around and not saying she believes it, it is just an idea, a "what if...." sort of thing. What if the US was not really the first to the moon? What if the first trip was a fake to make the rest of the world believe the US "won" the space race? Later trips were real, but the US was not the first as the first trip was faked? It was just an idea. Just a thinking outside of the box thing. 

I was not around when the first trip happened, but I assume it was loud enough and big enough when we took off that there were plenty of witnesses to the take off here on Earth, but it is an interesting idea. The person I mentioned above did not think it was a fake, just brought it up as a "what if...?" kind of thing. 

[Indigo Blue]

I was so naive when we began homeschooling. I took ds to a park day with a new homeschool mom friend. We met others there. Some really weird conversations ensued, and I was gobsmacked at what they believed. They seemed nice and very intelligent. My new friend was a conspiracy theorist, too, as I soon discovered. They were convinced that, on a certain date, every person was going to be pulled over in their car by police to be injected with a microchip. Another time, my friend had a map with a big red line dividing a large area where crops were going to be totally blackened and burnt up by the climate and the area on the immediate other side where the crops would be fine. She was distraught because she really believed this. Sadly, I pulled away and stopped hanging around them. I was more careful going forward. I really had no idea certain groups of homeschoolers believed these things. They may very well have believed the moon landing was fake. 
 

We have one family member on Dh side who believes some crazy things. 

[KungFuPanda]

I’ve never met anyone who believes this! I know a wide range of people as far as politics, education, and socioeconomic background goes. However, the majority of those people are in the same geographic region and a fake moon landing just doesn’t seem like a thing people believe around here. 

[Carol in Cal.]

Just one person, my kid’s otherwise very modern and normal German teacher about 20 years ago.

[CTVKath]

I've met several people who believe in chem trails and one flat earth person but haven't yet encountered a fake moon landing person. My DH has his hobby pilot's license and he'll sometimes be asked about seeing the curvature of the earth from the plane.

I once watched part of an elaborate video demonstration of how the earth is flat and how that works. It was amazing in its detail but so very wrong.

[Momto6inIN]

No

[Danae]

1 hour ago, Janeway said:

I do not know anyone who is off the mainstream in these beliefs. BUT, many years ago, I heard from a very bright person who works in the sciences an idea. She was just tossing it around and not saying she believes it, it is just an idea, a "what if...." sort of thing. What if the US was not really the first to the moon? What if the first trip was a fake to make the rest of the world believe the US "won" the space race? Later trips were real, but the US was not the first as the first trip was faked? It was just an idea. Just a thinking outside of the box thing. 

I was not around when the first trip happened, but I assume it was loud enough and big enough when we took off that there were plenty of witnesses to the take off here on Earth, but it is an interesting idea. The person I mentioned above did not think it was a fake, just brought it up as a "what if...?" kind of thing. 

This is an example of speculating without bothering to learn enough basic information to not make her “what if” nonsensical. All the crewed missions have been from the US, so if any of them were real the US was first.  Other countries have landed probes and rovers, but no people.  The US wasn’t the first to land a craft with no crew, but also hasn’t claimed we were. 

 

[WildflowerMom]

It’s interesting the varied responses!  I know a few who don’t believe it, but none of them are conspiracy theorists, it’s just this one thing they’re hung up on.   None of them homeschool either.  I don’t know a single flat earther.  For a lot of people here, y’all see an overlap in these beliefs, but I haven’t seen that in my real life, thank goodness!    Now the flat earthers are the ones that really have me scratching my head, but like I said, I don’t know any irl.    

[EKS]

It's a good question though.  What evidence do you personally have that anyone ever walked on the moon?  I'd argue zero.

[Happy2BaMom]

34 minutes ago, EKS said:

It's a good question though.  What evidence do you personally have that anyone ever walked on the moon?  I'd argue zero.

By the same token:

- what evidence do you personally have that they didn’t? 

-what evidence do you (or anyone) personally have that *anything* in recorded history has actually happened?

- ditto for much of the truths / beliefs we hold about anything in medicine, including knowledge of germs, nutrition, treatments, etc. How much of any of that can any of us personally verify is true?
 

And forget religion. No one has any personal evidence that Jesus or Mohammed or any other historical religious leader ever existed. 
 

So I’m not sure what your point is. Perhaps the nature of knowing what and whom to trust? But if you limit your world to only things you can personally verify, it’s a very tiny world and you will need to give up many/most of what you currently believe and the ways you operate if you are going to be consistent with your standard. 

Edited August 22, 2023 by Happy2BaMom
Grammar

[EKS]

17 minutes ago, Happy2BaMom said:

So I’m not sure what your point is. Perhaps the nature of knowing what and whom to trust? But if you limit your world to only things you can personally verify, it’s a very tiny world and you will need to give up many/most of what you currently believe and the ways you operate if you are going to be consistent with your standard.

Who says it's my standard?

[Farrar]

Moon landing referenced on TV maybe twentyish years ago? So I was a young adult visiting at this point.

My grandmother: "I never did believe they done that."

Me: "What?"

My grandmother: "I just never believe they done that."

A few days later, to my mother. "Did you know [distinctive grandmother name] doesn't believe the moon landing happened?"

My mother: "Oh, I know. I was THERE when it happened. We were all sitting around the TV amazed and none of them believed it. We were like, what? I almost left your father over it."

I'm dead. Seriously.

[wisdomandtreasures]

Yes

[Insertcreativenamehere]

I know one person who believes that and they are also a flat earther. 

[popmom]

Crazy you asked this today. Just last night I realized my dear cousin has been sharing posts from a “flat earther” who believes NASA lied to him. She and this guy and his followers all live in H’ville, AL no less. The Rocket City. 
 

She’s the only family I have that I’m not estranged from, so it really took the wind out of my sails to see that. She’s always been a little odd, but she’s intelligent and educated. Her father (phd in engineering) was the head of the jet propulsion lab at UAH for crying out loud. How does this happen???

[Condessa]

The first I ever heard of this was when I read about Buzz Aldrin punching a conspiracy theorist who was harassing him about it.  ( I believe Aldrin was in his seventies at the time.)

I have never met someone in real life who expressed this view, only internet wackos.

Edited August 22, 2023 by Condessa

[DawnM]

My parents knew someone who not only believed that, but she also believed the Holocaust never happened.    

My parents had a hard time talking to her sometimes but my parents aren't the kind to turn people away and were one of the only ones who would talk to her in the retirement complex.   Her own children didn't really talk to her.   When she died she left my parents about $30,000 out of the blue, so there is that.   I think that was all of what she had, or most of what she had.

[Happy2BaMom]

4 hours ago, EKS said:

Who says it's my standard?

You asked the question using that as your criteria / standard.

Sorry, didn't realize you were just pot-stirring.

Edited August 22, 2023 by Happy2BaMom