The Claim That No One Went to the Moon
Some people believe the Moon landings were filmed in a studio. The Moon itself has the answer.
What was reported
In 1976, an American named Bill Kaysing, who had worked for a rocket engine company, published a book claiming that NASA had faked the Moon landings between 1969 and 1972, filming them on Earth. The idea spread through television documentaries and later the internet.
Believers point to things like the flag seeming to wave, the lack of stars in photos, and shadows that don't look parallel.
Explanations offered
Each point has an explanation: the flag had a rod along its top and moved when touched, stars are too faint to show in photos of a bright surface, and shadows on uneven ground point different ways. The astronauts brought back 382 kilograms of Moon rock, left mirrors still used by observatories to bounce lasers off, and NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has photographed the landing sites, with footprints and equipment.
- When
- Claimed since 1976
- Where
- Sea of Tranquillity, on the Moon
- Witnesses
- Hundreds of thousands of people who worked on Apollo, and the evidence they left
- Status
- Disproved
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.