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Moon landing myth? Decades later, conspiracy theories remain

Every week Roger Launius, chief historian at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, devotes his time to debunking one of history's favourite such theories: That astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin never landed on the moon.

The entire July 20, 1969, landing and the spacewalk several hours later was just a show, all lies, filmed in a Hollywood studio or in a desert, the sceptics say.

At one time, up to 10 percent of Americans may have believed the conspiracy theories about the moon. On average, it has dropped to about six percent of Americans, Launius said.

The arguments of the critics include the "waving flag", the "missing stars" and "false shadows" in television images. But at the root of the idea is that the country was not yet technologically advanced enough to make the trip. The US was in a space race with the Soviet Union during the Cold War and could not hand a win to the communists. As a last resort they reached for fabrication, the disbelievers say.
Read entire article at Economic Times