Fact check: Video shows behind-the-scenes footage from First Man movie, does not support moon hoax
The claim: Video implies moon landings were faked
Some social media users are sharing a video that implies NASA’s crewed moon landings were faked.
The video features a montage of people in astronaut suits on a moon-like landscape. However, some of the scenes in the video appear to be from a movie set and were clearly not captured on the moon.
For instance, astronauts are shown attached to stage wires or standing with individuals dressed in plain clothes.
In addition to other commentary, a vocal track on the video states, “What I’d like to talk about for a few minutes today is the so-called ‘moon hoax,’ the belief that we never actually landed on the moon.”
A July 20 Instagram post featuring the video garnered more than 9,500 interactions in a week.
“How do you build trust with someone who’s been caught in a lie,” reads the post’s caption. Text on the video says, “You can tell us now. We already know.”
Rather than exposing a moon landing hoax, however, the clips in the video showing staged moon scenes are behind-the-scenes footage from the Ryan Gosling film, First Man.
USA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the post for comment.
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Video shows behind-the-scenes footage from mainstream movie
Behind-the-scenes footage shown in the post can also be seen in two short films that were uploaded to YouTube. One is called “First Man IMAX® Behind the Frame,” and was uploaded on Oct. 10, 2018. The other is called “FIRST MAN | VFX Featurette | DNEG” and was uploaded Jan. 3, 2019.
Evidence that the NASA crewed moon landings occurred includes photos and videos captured by astronauts on the moon as well as modern satellite photos documenting past lunar activity.
The video was previously debunked by Lead Stories.
Fact check: WikiLeaks did not release footage that proves moon landing staged
Our rating: Missing context
Based on our research, we rate MISSING CONTEXT the claim that a video implies moon landings were faked. The video contains behind-the-scenes footage from the mainstream film, First Man.
Our fact-check sources:
- Lead Stories, July 22, Fact check: Scenes do not show secret moon landing hoax — They are clips shot on a real movie set
- YouTube, Oct. 10, 2018, First Man IMAX® Behind the Frame
- IMDb, accessed July 27, First Man
- YouTube, Jan. 3, 2019, FIRST MAN | VFX Featurette | DNEG
- NASA, accessed July 28, The Apollo Missions
- NASA, Sept. 5, 2011, NASA Spacecraft Images Offer Sharper Views of Apollo Landing Sites
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