Moon Landing Hoax

Claim: The Apollo Moon landings (1969–1972) were staged by NASA, allegedly filmed in a studio to win the Space Race against the USSR.

Origins: The theory gained traction in the 1970s, fueled by Bill Kaysing's self-published book We Never Went to the Moon (1976). Proponents point to supposed anomalies: flag "waving" in a vacuum, absence of stars in photos, shadows pointing different directions, and the danger of the Van Allen radiation belts.

Why it's false: Every visual anomaly has a physics-based explanation — the flag has a horizontal rod so it appears to move only when handled; camera exposure settings suited for the bright lunar surface make faint stars invisible; multiple light sources (sun, ground reflection, spacecraft) create divergent shadows. Independent verification exists: over 400,000 people worked on Apollo, Soviet tracking stations monitored the missions in real time, laser reflectors left on the Moon are still used today by observatories worldwide, and lunar samples have been studied by scientists from many countries.

Status: Overwhelmingly rejected by scientists and historians; classified as a paradigm case of a conspiracy theory in psychological research on motivated reasoning.