EARTH
1960’s

There are times when even very obvious, physical observations just do not jive with our version of reality. For instance have you ever seen an insect creep into your range of vision so huge or unusual looking that you pause to look again before running to get the extra big can of Raid? Sure, you see the six or eight-legged critter staring at you but a series of questions about its existence in your home instantly enters your head. How could the beastie have gotten in? I’ve never seen anything like that in my life. Or you might be thinking: “I DIDN’T KNOW THAT COULD GET THAT BIG!” At times, seeing just isn’t believing.

HISTORY AS WE KNOW IT

In the last part of the 1950’s the Cold War between Russia and the United States took a new turn. People around the U.S. were surprised by an announcement: on October 4, 1957 Russia, a country that American’s had long considered to be vastly inferior in the areas of technology, had launched the first artificial satellite into space and into history. Morale immediately following this revelation was seriously damaged. Americans wanted to prove their ability to outshine the Communist in the race to the stars. A program was designed and called the National Aeronautics Space Administration. NASA took over from where the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) had left off. Beginning on October 1, 1958 NASA had several goals, but the most important on the agenda was beating the Soviets by launching the first manned space flight. The first high-profile projects were Mercury and Gemini as they worked to design a craft that could support humans in the environment of space, however by the time the first two American’s had actually orbited Earth a new objective had replaced even this monumental achievement. The Apollo project, with its aspirations of orbiting and landing on the Moon’s surface had become a passion, not only for NASA, but also for many in the government including most especially Vice President Lyndon Johnson.

 In 1962 in a speech given at Rice University President John Kennedy would give the nation’s angst a voice and drive the country toward a new goal. "William Bradford, speaking in 1630 0f the founding of the Plymouth Bay Colony, said, "All great and honorable actions are accompanied with great difficulty and both must be enterprised and overcome with admirable courage".
If this capsuled history of our progress teaches us anything, it is that Man and his quest for knowledge and progress is determined and cannot be deterred.

The Conspiracy Theories Begin

On July 16, 1969, the Apollo 11 launched from the Kennedy Space Center, and even as they left the Earth’s atmosphere there was speculation from naysayers. While many television and radio announcers interviewed Flat Earth Society Members, and doubters in a tongue in cheek fashion, others seem to seriously entertain reservations about the possibility of a successful mission.
The belief of the Flat Earth Society was in keeping with the name of that organization. They firmly believed despite scientific evidence and the pictures taken by earlier missions as they orbited the planet that the Earth was in fact--flat. Convinced that the scientific community and NASA in particular was attempting to defraud the public using camera tricks and actors they began a campaign to get their message out.

Doubters were less extreme in their concerns. They felt that NASA and the Space Program had placed the crew of the mission in danger. Naysayers doubted the thoroughness of the research that had taken place, and they were concerned that the technology used would not be sufficient to meet such a demanding task. These worries included: the concern that Apollo 11 would malfunction, that the craft would not be able to sustain the radiation the crew might encounter, or that they might be placed in danger by an unknown virus possibly even life forms on the Moon’s surface. There was even concern among some of the public that the scientist were wrong and the first man who attempted a walk would simply go flying off into space in the low gravity of the Moon’s surface.
Every television channel covered the landing on July 20, 1969, and a camera on the lunar module captured the images of Neil Armstrong as he descended the ladder and became the first human being to walk on another planet. His words at that moment conveyed the feelings of the millions of people back on Earth who, sat in their living rooms watching mesmerized: "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
Despite what was watched and heard by so many there were doubters, and there are STILL to this day those who do not believe America reached the Moon, walked on its surface and planted a flag. In fact there may be more unbelievers now than in 1969.

 Reasons for Doubt

The moon is full and my arms are empty
All night long how I've pleaded and cried
You always said the day that
you would leave me,
Would be a cold day in July-- Cold Day In July –The Dixie Chicks

The original settlers (after the Native American’s of course) came to America in ships that would hardly be classified as seaworthy by today’s standards. As hard it is to believe the entire United States was colonized and its wilderness carved out in conditions that few present day American’s could even survive. Likewise the technology we take for granted today was unknown to crew aboard Apollo 11. It can seem almost inconceivable that during a period before hand held calculators, microchips, and at a time when computers that now fit on our desktops took up whole rooms we sent out men to leave the Earth’s atmosphere and fly to the moon. But like those early pioneers NASA’s progress was not without sacrifice. A tragic fire that swept through Apollo 1 in mere minutes resulted in the deaths of: Edward White, Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Roger Chaffee, and illustrates the point that the expertise of the age was being tested to its limit.

The lack of technology during that time period is not the only reason that theorist don’t buy the story of the landing despite the rooms full of video footage, and samples collected by the crew of Apollo 11. The change in the political landscape of the United States lead not only to doubts about the reality of the Landing, but also brought many other conspiracy theories into the mainstream.

Richard Nixon’s involvement in the Watergate scandal (1973-1974) sent a slow-motion ripple of cynicism throughout the country. After winning a landslide victory in his re-election, Nixon believed he could ride out the repercussions of the scandal, however when he eventually was forced to resign in disgrace those who had placed so much faith in his policies and programs were left disillusioned. Few politicians would ever really experience that much approval from a majority, and the people’s trust in the government as a whole would be forever damaged. The slogan that popped up in the early 1970’s-“Question Everything”, would reverberate in the catch phrase-“Trust No One” from the early 1990’s television show X-Flies. The fact that the government had the opportunity to have preformed such a hoax, and considering the pressure they were under would certainly have had a clear motive was cause enough to question whether or not they had in fact faked the landing.

Ironically, the recent home computer trend has lead to what appears to be new evidence of a hoax. Using personal equipment that would have dearly benefited those early NASA employee’s individuals analyzing the photos taken by the Apollo’s crew and later missions, have found discrepancies  that raise even more questions. Looking carefully at the photos questions have been raised about the flag seeming to ripple, which would have been impossible in the moon’s atmosphere. Crosshairs that appear behind objects have also raised eyebrows, as well as the fact that stars do not show up in the pictures. A list of responses to inquiries such as these can be found at: http://www.redzero.demon.co.uk/moonhoax.

So the questions live on. Did the government in the 1960’s conspire to fake an historic Moon Landing to appease a nation that was used to always being number one, or did the technology spring up so fast that some people have difficulty believing in it? As with anything else the question is up to reader to examine and decide.

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	SOURCES
	1.	MOON HOAX
	2.	PHOTO COURTESY OF NASA
	RELATED STORIES FROM THE INTERNET
		APOLLO ONE - Visit NASA for more information on this mission and the accident.
		APOLLO 11 - More from NASA
		The Great Moon Hoax - NASA talks about the fake theories.
		Bad Astronomy - Fox TV and the Apollo Moon Hoax

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