Ever since Man first walked on the moon after that 'giant leap' in 1969, conspiracy theorists have sought to debunk what is one of humanity's greatest achievements.

Now, one keen-eyed stargazer is convinced he has seen something strange in a photograph which suggests the sixth and final moon landing, at least, never happened - a figure on the lunar surface who is not wearing a spacesuit.

A video uploaded to YouTube by a user named Streetcap1 focuses on an image which purports to show a 'stagehand' reflected in the visor of an astronaut after Apollo 17 landed on the moon in December 1972.

On that mission, Eugene Cernan and Harrison 'Jack' Schmitt spent about 22 hours on the surface in the Taurus-Littrow valley, while colleague Ronald Evans orbited overhead.

A video uploaded to YouTube by a user named Streetcap1 focuses on an image which purports to show a 'stagehand' reflected in the visor of an astronaut after Apollo 17 landed on the moon in December 1972

On that mission (pictured), Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt spent about 22 hours on the surface in the Taurus-Littrow valley, while colleague Ronald Evans orbited overhead

The team carried out a series of experiments including seismic profiling, atmospheric composition analysis and lunar sampling.

Or did they?

The video clip - which has garnered more than 53,000 views - contains a commentary by Streetcap1, who says of the visor reflection: 'I thought it looked a bit strange, so I took a picture of it using my software.

'What we appear to have here is a figure of a human not wearing a spacesuit. There was some dispute back in 2009 of the legitimacy of these photos.'

He describes the strange figure as having 'long hair' and 'wearing some sort of waistcoat'.

And concludes: 'Did we make it to the moon? Where's this guy's spacesuit?'

The team (above, Harrison 'Jack' Schmitt on the mission) carried out a series of experiments including seismic profiling, atmospheric composition analysis and lunar sampling

The Apollo 17 crew returned with 110kg of rock and soil samples, more than was returned from any of the other lunar landing sites

The three crewmen arrive aboard the prime recovery ship, U.S.S. Ticonderoga, to conclude the final lunar landing mission in the Apollo programme. Above, Cernan (waving), Schmitt (next to him) and Evans at the back

Fact or faked? YouTubers react to the 'stagehand' moon photo LANDINGS FAKED... Leo Dei: I thought 'another astronaut' then checked the astronaut in the reflection has NO life support backpack, while the astronaut in the foreground HAS a life support backpack. Good catch, Streetcap1! You continue to impress. Adrian Lee: Someone definitely there. Looks like they're wearing high-top sneakers and a jacket with a hood. Mathias Weiss: First I thought this is a camera of some sort, because of the form of the casted shadow. But when I looked into it, the Apollo 17 mission took a camera with a small tripod with them, which is not comparable to this figure. LANDINGS REAL... Unum: Hey, geniuses - the guy in the reflection is the other astronaut taking the photo. Brian Chandler: It looks to be photoshopped. Notice the circular line around the person, whether adding or removing not my call to make, original negative needs to be analyzed! willows26: I vote astronaut... the shadow on the ground looks more like an astronaut in a bulky suit. I don't know why some people would much rather buy into the 'studio' conspiracy; Russia would have been all over this had there been an inkling of fraud at the time and I don't recall hearing a thing from them. Advertisement

Apollo mission conspiracy theories answered

Why are no stars visible in the Apollo photos?

The Apollo landings took place during lunar mornings so the stars were not bright enough to be captured on camera.

Who filmed Neil Armstrong take the first steps?

A video camera was fixed on an extending arm to swing out and capture the historic moment.

Why did the heavy Landing Modules make no impression on the surface, while the astronauts' footprints did?

The layer of lunar dust on the rocky moon is thin, so was blown away from the landing area by the descent engines. This dust resettled by the time the astronauts left the module.

Why does the flag wave?

It was rigged with a rod and wires so that it would look as if it was unfurled and blowing in Apollo photographs.

Why didn't the Lunar module show a flame when it took off from the Moon?

The fuel used does not produce a flame in a vacuum.