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There are no barriers to entry into the communication of crazy ideas and for that reason you see all this stuff

Some conspiracists have pointed out that there are distortions in the light in photos of astronauts on the moon and no stars in the background. Shadows are explained by light reflecting off the surface of the moon. Light is also distorted by the camera lenses and bent by lunar dust. As for the stars, they were visible on the way to the moon, but couldn’t be seen upon landing because it happened during lunar daytime and the cameras were focused on the astronauts lit by the sun.

Asked if there was anything in the moon landing conspiracy theory that, in theory, he could see the appeal of, Launius just laughed: “It’s all silly and it’s mostly believable by people with no understanding of science and technology.”

Perhaps the most convincing, non-technical, blow to the conspiracy theory is that hundreds of thousands of people worked on the Apollo space program. In order for the whole thing to be a hoax, they would all have to be in on the lie. Of course, for that, too, there is a conspiracy theory: The seeming problems with photographs are evidence of whistleblowers quietly signalling to the outside world that the whole thing was faked.

Other events since have added to the rhetoric, though not the evidence. In 2002, Buzz Aldrin — the second man on the moon — slugged conspiracy theorist Bart Sibrel, who asked the former astronaut, then in his 70s, to swear on a Bible that he really had been to the moon.

Sibrel, for his part, wasn’t keen on being interviewed about why the hoax theory endures. “I am not the story. The fake moon landings are the story,” he wrote in an email.

Launius figures there has been an ebb and flow in the popularity of the moon-landing hoax. But now, unlike when Kaysing had to self-publish in pamphlet form to spread his theories, all you need to do is create a YouTube account; Sibrel, by the way, has a YouTube channel.

“There are no barriers to entry into the communication of crazy ideas and for that reason you see all this stuff,” says Launius.

• Email: tdawson@postmedia.com | Twitter: tylerrdawson