No American has ever been to the moon. It's all just fake.

The moon landings? Staged in TV studios, where the scenes weren't even properly lit.

And then there were the amateur mistakes, such as the waving US flag. Pfffff. As if flags "wave" on the moon. Without an atmosphere. Fake. A political conspiracy by the Americans to show the Soviets, "Look, we got it, you don't. Our men are able to land on the moon, not yours."

Space Race, Cold War. Sometimes special methods are needed.

Read more: From Apollo 11 to the new space race

Earthquake machines and lizard people

And while we're at it: In the wilderness of Alaska, a mysterious research facility is said to exist that can cause earthquakes. It's called HAARP, and it's also capable of various weather manipulations to terrorize the world. Enter "HAARP" and "earthquakes" into Google and marvel at the number of hits.

Want another one? Here you go: Chemtrails, or the white stripes in the sky that we all think are just harmless contrails. In reality, however, airplanes spray chemicals on behalf of evil governments to change the weather, the climate and to poison us humans.

And of course, the earth is flat — and hollow inside.

And is actually ruled by lizard men.

Read more:Of 'white guys on the Moon' and black America

A question of perspective: Are the shadows of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin at the wrong angle?

We all love conspiracy theories

Are you laughing now? Or are you slowly getting angry? Such nonsense from DW? OK, then, well you're obviously not very prone to falling for conspiracy theories.

Just how many people believe in absurd stories of this kind has not been put into numbers. Nor do we know whether today, in 2019, there are more of these people than before.

In any case, crude conspiracy theories have become more visible through the internet and social media, psychologists say. Followers of these ideas feel supported, and they no longer feel they're part of a small minority.

But scientific experiments also show that conspiracy theorists enjoy believing the most absurd things in order to belong to a supposedly exclusive, elitist circle of knowledge.

Though psychological reasons behind why so many people still believe the moon landing was faked still need to be scientifically examined, the trigger was a strange book by the American Bill Kaysing. It was published in 1976 under the title "We never went to the Moon."

And it was a success. Many people believed the absurd theories. Kaysing was not a scientist, technician nor an engineer. He was an author who wrote about agriculture, cooking or saving on tax payments. He came up with make-believe evidence to prove that moon landings actually never occurred.

Read more: Towards the Moon: Why Europe wants to work with China

Does the flag really fly? Of course not, it's held up, by a bar.

These are four of his most popular theories:

1. The waving flag

Conspiracy theorists say:

In the footage, the US flag that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin rammed into the moon's regolith blows in the wind. But that is not possible, because there is no atmosphere on the moon.

Science says:

The flag did not flap. It only moved when the two astronauts touched it and rammed it into the ground. On Earth, the atmosphere quickly slows down such light oscillations. But on the moon — without atmosphere — the oscillations keep going for much longer. In addition, a cross strut was braced in the flag to give the impression it was blowing.

Read more: Why aren’t Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk trying to colonize the moon?

2. No stars in the photos

Conspiracy theorists say:

On the moon pictures, no stars are to be seen. So they were created in a studio.

Science says:

It's true that on the moon — without an atmosphere to disturb things — we have a fantastic view of the starry cosmos. But when the astronauts were on the moon, it was always daytime. One explanation is that the moon's surface, the lander and the astronauts were so brightly illuminated by the sun that the weak light of the stars was not to be seen.

3. The photos were too perfect

Conspiracy theorists say:

The Hasselblad cameras carried by the astronauts at chest height had no viewfinder. How could the astronauts take so many perfect photos with them?

Science says:

Not all pictures were perfect. There are numerous blurred images in NASA's archives. Only the most beautiful ones have been published. In addition, the astronauts had time to practice with the Hasselblad cameras on Earth. A special wide-angle lens simplified focusing and allowed larger image sections.

Read more: 50 years ago the space race took humans to the moon

Apollo 11: Memories of the first moon landing "One small step for [a] man" (July 20, 1969) One of the first footsteps on the moon. Walking on its surface, Neil Armstrong uttered one of the most famous quotes of all: "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind." How and when he came up with this sentence himself, and whether he forgot a (relatively important) vocal ⁠— the 'a' ⁠— is still being discussed today.

Apollo 11: Memories of the first moon landing Here we go (July 16, 1969) But lets go back: From the control room of the Kennedy Space Flight Center (KSC), the director of the Apollo program, Samuel C. Phillips, monitors the activities before the launch. Apollo 11, the first lunar landing mission, was launched on July 16, 1969 with a Saturn V launch vehicle. On board the spacecraft: Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins.

Apollo 11: Memories of the first moon landing Space TV (July 16, 1969) These three were among the thousands of people camping on beaches and streets next to the Kennedy Space Center, NASA's spaceport in Florida, to follow the launch of the Apollo at close range. About one million people visited the space area to see the historic flight.

Apollo 11: Memories of the first moon landing Lights, camera, action, lift-off! (July 16, 1969) But not only thousands of excited people were present, also thousands of journalists reported on the launch of the Apollo 11 mission. A total of 3497 journalists were officially registered, all of them gathered at the press area of the Kennedy Space Flight Center (KSC). The rocket took off on July 16, 1969.

Apollo 11: Memories of the first moon landing So close (July 21, 1969) This photo was taken by Michael Collins. You can see the lunar module Eagle returning from the moon, behind it the moon itself and on its horizon the earth. While Armstrong and Aldrin were the first humans to step foot on the moon, Collins maintained his position in the Columbia Command Modul. He orbited the Moon alone for 21.5 hours.

Apollo 11: Memories of the first moon landing Teamwork (July 20, 1969) In a NASA statement in 2009 Collins said, "I feel very much a part of what is taking place on the lunar surface. I know that I would be a liar or a fool if I said that I have the best of the three Apollo 11 seats, but I can say with truth and equanimity that I am perfectly satisfied with the one I have."

Apollo 11: Memories of the first moon landing "The eagle has landed!" but... (July 20, 1969, 20:17:58 UTC) On July 20, 1969 at 20:17:58 UTC, Neil Armstrong transmitted briefly: "The eagle has landed!". But it still took some time until the two of them actually stepped on the moon. First of all, the flight back had to be prepared. On July 21 at 2:56:20 UTC the big moment finally arrived: Neil Armstrong stepped onto the lunar surface.

Apollo 11: Memories of the first moon landing Sample No. 10003 (July 27, 1969) During 2.5 hours of surface exploration, Armstrong and Aldrin collected 47 pounds of lunar surface material that they brought back to Earth. This small chunk is part of it. During the six Apollo excursions, 2415 samples were collected, almost 400 kilograms. The collected works and their descriptions are listed in the "Lunar Sample and Photo Catalog".

Apollo 11: Memories of the first moon landing Odd astro imports Not only samples were collected, but all kinds of stuff was left behind. This brooch by Neil Armstrong is one of the more symbolic objects. The olive branch (less than half a foot in length) represents peace. But you can also stumble over golf balls, a family photo with camera, works by Andy Warhol or a falcon feather. Oh, and beware of astronaut excrement.

Apollo 11: Memories of the first moon landing Back to earth (July 24, 1969, 4:50 pm UTC) The crew landed safely in the Pacific ocean, about 812 nautical miles southwest of Hawaii and 12 nautical miles from the USS Hornet. After their arrival, the astronauts had to fill out a customs form and declare their moon rock. When asked for their disease exposure status, they wrote: "to be determined". They were transported in a quarantine trailer where they were isolated for 21 days.

Apollo 11: Memories of the first moon landing Superstars in spacesuits (September 23, 1969) Well, obviously the astronauts of the Apollo 11 mission don't wear space suits here, but sombreros and ponchos. Fiesta Mexikana! A 45-day tour following the space mission took the astronauts to 24 countries and 27 cities. The US wanted to emphasize their willingness to share their space knowledge. The astronauts were celebrated like superstars like here in Mexico City. Author: Hannah Fuchs



4. The shadows run diagonally

Conspiracy theorists say:

Some photos show shadows that do not run in parallel to each other. With the sun as the only light source, however, all shadows should run in parallel. But they don't. That's why spotlights must have been involved.

Science says:

Parallelism is always a matter of perspective. Parallel lines on a three-dimensional surface always appear as if they are converging if they are imaged two-dimensionally. Think of railway tracks. They seem to converge towards the horizon, although they are always guaranteed to be parallel. This is true on earth and also on the moon.

Read more: Why NASA turned Apollo tough guy pilots to geologists

Not enough yet?

There are other points that moon landing deniers make about dust, radiation or shadows. But there is no reliable evidence to suggest a moon landing conspiracy.

So the bottom line is: The moon landings took place, and not even the Soviets questioned it back then. And that meant something in the Cold War era.

Also, a total of about 400,000 people worked on the Apollo missions. So there were enough witnesses, and one of them would have mentioned something at some point.

What do you think?