Moon landing conspiracy: Do weird shadows on the Moon prove NASA faked Apollo 11 footage?
NASA’s Apollo 11 astronauts successfully landed on the Moon on July 20, 1969. The mission saw US astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin safely fly to the Moon and back. And despite an estimated 600 million people watching the lunar landing live on television, NASA critics believe the Moon landing was staged. Conspiracy theorists often cite the eerie lighting and shadows on the Moon as evidence of their outlandish claims.
As the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing rapidly approaches, conspiracists are still challenging NASA’s incredible accomplishment.
To fight back against NASA hoax theories, National Space Centre Discovery Director Professor Anu Ojha appeared at the Royal Observatory Greenwich in London.
The space expert addressed a number of popular conspiracy theories disseminated online in an “ocean of information”.
Professor Ojha said: “There has been more data produced in the last two years than in the whole of human history.
READ MORE: Here are the six NASA lunar landing sites visible in plain sight on Moon
“This information ocean is getting more turbulent every single day.
“The only tools we have to navigate through this maelstrom are the critical thinking skills that we are trying to develop in people as scientists.”
So, why are conspiracy theorists adamant shadows on the Moon prove the lunar landing was staged?
When you look at the lunar photographs taken by Commander Armstrong himself, you will notice the shadows are not parallel.
READ MORE: Why did the Apollo 11 flag wave and flap in space?
Conspiracists believe the shadows would have to run perfectly alongside each other if the only source of light present was the Sun.
Conspiracy theorists believe this can be explained by the presence of strong stage lights – evidence NASA staged the Moon landing.
Except, Professor Ojha argued the claim does not hold up under scientific scrutiny.
He said: “This is on the surface of the Moon, but we can reproduce this effect any time we want to on Earth.
READ MORE: Was it worth spending billions to put the first man on the Moon?
“You have all seen this phenomenon yourself, where, because of perspective, parallel lines appear to be non-parallel.
“You are trying to reduce on to a two-dimensional plane a three-dimensional situation, you can make lines do all sorts of weird things. Artists have been using this for centuries.”
You can try this out for yourself by heading outside when the Sun is low in the skies – the produced shadows will not run parallel to one another.
The same hoax theory was debunked by film expert Howard Berry, which you can read about here.
Quick facts about the Apollo 11 Moon landing:
1. Apollo 11 took off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral on July 16, 1969.
2. Astronaut Michael Collins remained in the Columbia spacecraft when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon.
3. Armstrong and Aldrin spent less than three hours outside on the Moon.
4. The original goal of Apollo 11 was not to extensively explore the lunar surface but to touch down and return to Earth.
5. The Apollo 11 astronauts received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Richard Nixon.
