One of the most notorious conspiracy theories is that the six Apollo moon landings, which took place between 1969 and 1972, were hoaxes, and that the photographs released by NASA documenting them were faked. This idea was first given substantial form by the former US Navy midshipman Bill Kaysing, who self-published a book outlining his theory, We Never Went to the Moon: America’s Thirty Billion Dollar Swindle, in 1976.

Those who believe in the moon-landing hoax argue that NASA’s motivation for hoodwinking the world was to create the impression that the Americans had won the space race against the Russians, when, in fact, they hadn’t. “Kaysing was a well-educated man, and he believed his theory and followed it through in a very analytical way,” MacDonald says. “When you read his concerns, they seem quite coherent, which is why people believe them.” Kaysing and his followers, many of whom continue to question the moon landings today, focus on supposed peculiarities of the NASA photographs, which are freely available on the agency’s website.

MacDonald explains: “There were several contentions: that the same backdrop appears in different locations, so that it feels like a set; that shadows from boulders and astronauts run in different directions; and that too many photographs were taken, given the equipment they had at the time.” Of course, MacDonald continues, every argument has been countered by NASA – but the enduring popularity of Kaysing’s argument is significant, because it suggests an underlying motivation for conspiracy theories in general: the mistrust of governments and those in power.

“It’s the same with UFO conspiracy theories,” MacDonald says. “Often, there is an idea that governments are hiding something: look at Area 51. There’s always an ‘us and them’ angle with conspiracy theories (otherwise who would be conspiring?) – and usually it’s governments who are the ‘them’.”

Life on Mars