Why do people believe this stuff?
I am no psychologist, however I have seen and heard enough over the past years to recognize certain reoccurring personality traits in those professing to be hoax believers. Although there are varying degrees of each, I have come to categorize the hoax believers into two generalized types: the Confused and the Hardcore.
The Confused are average people who have seen or heard the claims of the hoax advocates on TV, the Internet, or from friends and associates. They usually lack the scientific knowledge or experience necessary to dispute the claims, so they begin to doubt the authenticity of the moon landings. Despite their doubts, these people tend to be open-minded and willing to listen to varying points of view. When giving the opportunity to study both sides of the argument, they usually agree the moon landings were real. :0corn
The Hardcore, on the other hand, are a completely different type of personality. They almost always exhibit strong paranoid tendencies with an extreme distrust and hatred of the U.S. government. Rather than allowing the evidence to speak for itself, they will often begin by assuming a hoax and then search for evidence to support that preconception. When they see something that looks suspicious they immediately accept it as proof of their belief. When someone attempts to offer an alternate explanation they dismiss it as a NASA lie. Any evidence that contradicts their belief is described as an attempt by the government to deceive us. They will say that anyone who believes in the moon landings has been brainwashed or is in denial. They are usually argumentative and often hostile. :0corn
The Hardcore also tend to be completely close-minded, refusing to consider alternate possibilities. I have often debated with hardcore individuals over various hoax topics and, to date, I have always been able to completely discredit their claims with arguments that would more than satisfy any open-minded individual. However, they routinely refuse to acknowledge the possibility they could be in error. They will stubbornly cling to their belief in the hoax even when they have no creditable evidence to fall back on. The debate is clearly not just about evidence and physics; there are those who believe in the hoax merely because they want to believe it.
Why do some people choose to believe in the moon-landing hoax? I wish I could provide a definitive answer to that question, however I suspect it is a combination of paranoia and, perhaps more importantly, feelings of inadequacy. The hoax believers create a delusional fantasy in which they are the heroes. Their ability to decipher the subtle clues and uncover the hoax is seen as a demonstration of their intellectual superiority. To the hoax believers the more complex and convoluted the theory, the smarter they feel for having figured it all out. To the rest of us the theory just doesn't make any sense.
Who should you trust?
If you have a toothache you go to a dentist; if you have legal problems you consult a lawyer. Throughout our daily lives it is commonplace to defer to trained professionals when we require specialized treatment or consultation. If you want to know about the functionality of the Apollo spacecraft, the nature of space radiation, or lunar geology you should seek the expert opinion of the engineers, physicists, geologists, and other specialists who dedicate their careers to knowing such things. These specialists unanimously agree that the Apollo moon landings were real, yet the hoax advocates discount their opinions and characterize these professionals as NASA disinformationists.
The hoax advocates like to paint the picture that they are soldiers in a war against government corruption and stand for truth and justice. However it is they who commonly employ the deceptive and manipulative tactics they accuse others of. They will typically show only the information and evidence that, on the surface, appears to substantiate their claims while suppressing any information that contradicts them. They try to conjure up feelings of distrust and antagonism toward the government. In most cases the hoax advocate's goal is to manipulate the reader, by whatever means, into agreeing with their interpretation of the facts. Encouraging a reader to study all the facts and formulate a scientifically based and unbiased opinion is generally not on their agenda.
NASA is one of the more open and cooperative of all government agencies. They are typically happy to answer questions and assist in locating information. On the other hand, if you contest the findings of a hoax advocate you are likely to be greeted with evasion and, in some cases, hostility. Now which of these descriptions sound like someone with something to hide? I have seen no indication that NASA has anything to hide, but I've seen much to suggest the hoax advocates do. They have often been dishonest with us about their credentials, the availability of evidence, and their interpretation of the evidence. But why would they lie? There are some who truly believe what they say but are simply wrong due to ignorance; however, there are others who are nothing more than snake oil salesmen who's only goal is to convince the public to buy their books and videos. They disparage the reputations of dozens of astronauts and thousands of engineers and scientists for profit. These people can certainly not be trusted.
If you wish to examine the photographic and written evidence for yourself, I recommend the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal, by Eric M. Jones. This site is an enormous collection of mission summaries, photographs, video clips, audio clips, mission reports, science reports, technical debriefings, etc. compiled over a period of many years. Much of it is the very same information the hoax advocates try to tell us either does not exist or is unavailable. I also recommend the Apollo Image Gallery and the Apollo Image Atlas.
Many hoax believers are well meaning people who have been duped into believing the hoax theories by what they perceive to be compelling evidence. Although I may not agree with their views, I mean these people no malice. There are other hoax advocates, often representing themselves as experts, who publicly make claims based on erroneous conclusions resulting from a lack of proper research, scientific ignorance, or extreme prejudice. I find these people to be very dangerous because they possess the power to sway people into accepting their assertions as fact. A third possibility is that there are those who may believe the moon landings were real, but intentionally try to persuade people otherwise for some sort of attention, fame or profit. These people I believe are especially loathsome.
The thing I find most bothersome about the hoax advocates is their repeated failure to apply the scientific method, that is, the principles of discovery and demonstration considered necessary for scientific investigation, generally involving the observation of phenomena, the formulation of a hypothesis concerning the phenomena, experimentation to demonstrate the truth or falseness of the hypothesis, and a conclusion that validates or modifies the hypothesis. The hoax advocates routinely observe a phenomenon; they usually call it an anomaly, dream up one possible explanation for the anomaly, and then jump straight to the conclusion that their explanation is the correct one. They universally fail to put their claims through the rigorous testing necessary to validate them. It is this failing that irreparably damages the credibility of the hoax advocates.
The problem the hoax advocates face is that there is a mountain of evidence supporting the authenticity of the moon landings. In order to substantiate their story, this evidence must be refuted. In some cases, the hoax advocates propose arguments that, on the surface, appear to have some merit, but as they try to dismiss other evidence it becomes more difficult. Usually their claims become more and more outlandish, often times foolish. In many cases they resort to making assertions that are seriously flawed in both science and logic. On the other hand, the claims of the moon landing supporters are always based on scientific fact. (It's easy when you have truth on your side.)
If one looks at the hoax "theory" in total, it becomes apparent it is little more than a fairy tale based on a handful of mistaken observations and assumptions. You may see a hundred examples of so-called hoax evidence, but it is mostly just repeated samples of the same misinterpreted phenomena. For those who have convinced themselves Apollo was nothing more than a hoax, it becomes necessary to create a story that fits the remaining evidence and is consistent with the hoax plot. For example, one must explain the existence of the Moon rocks, so the hoax advocates claim the rocks are fakes even though there is overwhelming evidence to the contrary. They make this claim only because it is crucial to the storyline. Another example is the claim the Soviet Union was faking its space program. Again, the hoax advocates have no proof, however they must invent an explanation for the Soviets' failure to challenge the moon landings. If you look critically at the hoax story you will see it is no more than an illusion.
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I think this guy has a interesting viewpoint .
Lets face it we landed on the Moon.
Live with it.
