SHE SAID, SHE SAID Was the moon landing a hoax? Photos by Tara Shear
Ilaria Georgi • Staff Reporter Reilly Nance • Arts & Entertainment Editor
I
YES
n 1969, families sat around the television set watching two men land on the moon. It was a crazy achievement, but might have been too good to be true. For over 50 years, people have theorized about inconsistencies in the televised moon landing, and I am also suspicious. The main theory is this: Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were not astronauts who went to the moon, but rather actors who were filmed in a studio. Theorists quickly detected various inaccuracies, and many of them make sense. For one, the American flag planted in the ground appeared to be waving; however, there is no air on the moon, so what could have caused the waving motion? NASA claims they built a contraption to make the flag look like it was waving, whoever was in charge of the flag was not aware that it would not wave in space. Another inconsistency is that there are no stars seen in any of the photographs. When it is dark on Earth, we are able to see the stars in the sky, but it was dark during the “landing,” so why were no stars spotted? The sky in the photos was dark, so stars should have been visible. Though NASA insists the moon landing is authentic, they were the ones behind the operation to show the Soviet Union that the United States had advanced technologies as well and, for this reason, cannot be a credible source. Therefore, all the evidence points to the moon landing being a complete hoax.
26 THE SHIELD | FEBRUARY 2020
N
NO
ot only was the July 20, 1969 moon landing an astounding achievement in human history, but it also paved the way for decades of space exploration that gives us an understanding of the cosmos. This voyage led to meaningful discoveries regarding our solar system. Due to the impact of this accomplishment, it is surprising that some individuals prefer to deny the validity of the moon landing and engage in countless debates to pin it as a hoax. Most conspirators’ “evidence” comes from images of the moon’s surface that astronauts transmitted back to Earth. According to The History Channel, theorists who promote the moon landing hoax conspiracy theory depend on “anomaly hunting.” This means if they cannot find an immediate explanation for something that looks odd, they decide it is evidence for a hoax. Scientific proof shoots down these anomalies. One of the most popular conspiracies among theorists is that the moon landing must be fake since the flag appears to be waving in the wind. Well, that is because it is not the standard flag we use on Earth. To allow the flag to stand in photos, NASA had to design a horizontal rod to make it stick out from the flagpole, creating a ripple effect. Another argument addresses the fact that there are no stars visible in the photos, which is simply due to the daylight exposure that was used. All the theorists’ efforts seem to accomplish is providing more evidence that the moon landing was genuine.
