The Moon Landing Conspiracy by Ryan Kennedy

“A small step for man, a giant leap for mankind”, this quote came from the surface of the moon as Neil Armstrong became the first person in history to step foot on the lunar surface, or so the U.S. government claims. Ever since the moon landings, people have had doubts about what really happened, believing that the whole act of going to the moon was faked. There are two simple, major conspiracy theories involving Neil Armstrong and the moon landing; these include the more plausible outcome, which we did in fact travel to the moon,  or the less believable idea that we never stepped foot on the moon.  So did we in fact go to the moon? Or was it just a clever ruse?

To begin, who is Neil Armstrong and why was he such an important part to the moon landing, and even to the U.S.? Neil was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio, on August 5, 1930; and he even began his career at NASA in Ohio. After serving as a naval aviator from 1949 to 1952, he joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics in 1955 (Biography of Neil Armstrong).  For the next 17 years, Armstrong had a very rewarding career, his jobs included, being an engineer, test pilot, astronaut and administrator for NASA (1).

But Armstrong never would’ve made it to the moon without his dedication to his work, his courageous heart and actions, and his humble mind-set. (My Hero) What really makes Armstrong a truly unique person is that once he stepped on the moon; he became incredibly humble and soft spoken on the topic. He chose not to talk about his experiences very often and kept to himself. He felt the landing shouldn’t be about him, but more the actual idea of landing on the moon. Because of Armstrong’s morals, he really fits this idea of the stereotypical American hero, which includes being incredibly courageous, immensely dedicated, and profoundly humble about what he has accomplished. But what makes Armstrong so dedicated to his work? Ever since he was 10 he has been fixated on the idea of space and wanted to pursue his dream, and look what he’s accomplished. He never gave up on this dream and has become incredibly passionate about what he’s done. What about Armstrong that makes him so courageous? Armstrong volunteered to be the first man on the moon, a foreign celestial object that no man has been before, and willingly decided to go conquer this quest.

Armstrong had no real internal conflicts other than the mental aspect of his job, knowing that what he does can be extremely deadly. Luckily Armstrong had undergone many tests involving psychological analysis and he was a normal functioning man. But it’s the external conflict that really affected him. The main conflict he encountered was the fact that he would be in space flying to the moon, where everything and anything could go wrong at any given time (Before the Moon).

            There are two major conspiracies surrounding the moon landing; they include: The fact that we actually went to the moon along with the speculation that it was a hoax, filmed in a studio. Each scenario has its own side as to why it is correct, as well as proof to debunk its theory.

The first reason why people believe we didn't go to the moon was because of a simple picture, (Figure 1), you can see more than one light source, even though the sun should be the only one. People also say that there the reflections of the shadows of the astronauts are also not in proportion. This is caused by the fact that the moon is not perfectly flat, so the heights of the astronauts will greatly differ. An example of this is that one astronaut was on a hill, so it appeared his shadow was bigger than all the others (10 Reasons).

The second claim people have made was that there were no stars in any of the pictures (Figure 2). This is due to the fact that the stars were too dim to be picked up on camera. We have to remember this was 1969; they didn’t have the high power cameras we do today, so it was very difficult to pick up the stars in the background. You can also attribute this to the fact that she stars were exposed to the daylight lit lunar scenes. It was taken during the moons day, they would be visible at night (1).

                                                                 Figure 2

A third claim is that people have also made is why the American flag was fluttering on the moon, even though there is no atmosphere or wind to move it (Figure 3). The explanation for this is very simple; the astronauts were moving it while trying to put it in the ground and the momentum of the flag let it continue to move. If you look in every picture or video that makes it look like the flag is moving an astronaut is touching or had just touched the flag (2).  

                                                              Figure 3

And obviously NASA claims we’ve been to the moon. Their proof is simply coming from “Eye Witnesses” such as Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong along with pictures, videos, and rock samples. But every conspiracy theorist doesn’t trust these pictures, videos, and samples because they believe they were manufactured. And when it comes to people, such as Neil Armstrong, they believe that the government is telling them what to say and how to say it in order to keep the idea that the moon landing is real.

“A small step for man, a giant leap for mankind”, this quote came from the surface of the moon as Neil Armstrong became the first person in history to step foot on the lunar surface, or so the U.S. government claims. Ever since the moon landings, people have had doubts about what really happened, believing that the whole act of going to the moon was faked. There are two simple, major conspiracy theories involving Neil Armstrong and the moon landing; these include the more plausible outcome, which we did in fact travel to the moon,  or the less believable idea that we never stepped foot on the moon. People over the years have come up with reasons the landing was faked. Whether it be a flag flapping in an airless space, or different size shadows coming from multiple different directions, people will never stop doubting the moon landing. So did we in fact go to the moon? Or was it just a clever trick?

 Works Cited

"10 Reasons the Moon Landings Could Be a Hoax - Listverse." Listverse. 28 Dec.                      2012. Web. 6 Nov. 2015.

"Before the Moon: The Early Exploits of Neil Armstrong - BBC News." BBC News.

          Web. 3 Nov. 2015.

Dunbar, Brian. "Apollo 11." NASA. NASA. Web. 8 Nov. 2015.

Dunbar, Brian. "Biography of Neil Armstrong." NASA. NASA. Web. 8 Nov. 2015.

"The My Hero Project - Neil A. Armstrong." Myhero.com. Web. 3 Nov. 2015.