 "Why do Americans still think 1969 Moon landing was fake? Kim Kardashian is newest conspiracy theorist")
Did humans really go to the Moon? We did, though a growing number of Americans think otherwise.
The latest high-profile celebrity to tout this conspiracy theory is reality star Kim Kardashian. Kim, 45, on the latest episode of her TV show The Kardashians, said she thinks the famed 1969 Moon landing “didn’t happen”.
But what did Kim say? And why is she the latest to join in this wacky conspiracy theory?
What Kim said
“They’re gonna say I’m crazy no matter what. But like, go to TikTok. See for yourself,” Kim, talking to actor Sarah Paulson on the set of her upcoming TV series All’s Fair, said.
She pointed out several ‘inconsistencies’ that people have raised over the years.“There’s no gravity on the Moon — why is the flag blowing? The shoes that they have in the museum that they wore on the Moon [have] a different [foot]print than the photos. Why are there no stars?”
She even added that astronaut Buzz Aldrin keeps “talking about how it didn’t happen. He says it all the time now, in interviews.”
“This girl asks [Buzz Aldrin], ‘What was the scariest moment?’ And he goes, ‘There was no scary moment, ’cause it didn’t happen.’ He’s older now, so he slips up. So I think it didn’t happen,” Kim claimed.
Kim herself said she got the idea from TikTok, which, like other social media companies, has at times proved to be a fountain of misinformation.
Claims debunked by experts
Kim cited some claims that have already been debunked ad infinitum by scientists and experts. While she claims the flag was blowing, the truth is it wasn’t. The motion was made by the astronauts planting it in the ground and not by wind. It was also held up by an angled rod.
Her complaint about the difference in shoes is explained by the fact that Aldrin and Armstrong left their footwear behind on the Moon. Scientists have explained that the stars were not visible because of the shutter speed used by cameras.
There is also a mountain of evidence — literal, not figurative — that Americans have brought back from the mission to the Moon, which scientists and experts from around the world have studied intensively. Other countries that have visited the Moon have also confirmed the presence of the US flag and the imprints.
We can go on and on and on. But don’t take our word for it. The Institute of Physics has noted that “every single argument claiming that Nasa faked the Moon landings has been discredited”. However, that hasn’t stopped the ‘free thinkers’ like Joe Rogan and his ilk from spreading conspiracy theories about the subject.
There were also apparently 400,000 Nasa employees involved in the arduous task of getting Aldrin and Neil Armstrong to the Moon. As the old saying goes, if three people know a secret the only way to keep it is to kill two. What are the chances that all 400,000 people are in on a conspiracy without a single whistle-blower?
As for Kim’s most damning claim, well, Aldrin, as recently as last year, described his memories of the mission. “I have many memories about the mission, getting to and getting off the Moon — and a lot of them are about teamwork, mission focus, just doing our jobs right, not letting people down,” Aldrin told People magazine. “Gratitude, I think, might be my strongest feeling, even now — gratitude for all those who made that incredible event in my life, our lives, the nation’s life happen,” he said. “God looked out for us, for sure.”
Aldrin added, “Obviously, I think that getting back to the Moon is important. But dreams, exploration and discovery, followed by more dreams, exploration and discovery, are at the heart of being human. For our species, for our nation and for the future of humankind, we need to keep daring, engineering and dreaming about reaching further out into the universe. We need to keep exploring.”
Nasa has clapped back at Kim, with Acting Administrator Sean Duffy writing on X, “Yes, @KimKardashian, we’ve been to the Moon before — six times (sic)!” “We won the last space race, and we’ll win this one too (sic),” he added, referring to the race between America and China to dominate the final frontier of space.
The power of conspiracy theories
However, conspiracy theories about whether or not humanity actually went to the Moon, the John F Kennedy assassination and the 9/11 attacks have pervaded the fringes of American culture for decades.
Experts say people often cling to these conspiracy theories in an attempt to make sense of an often chaotic and random world that they at times do not understand. They also say that some people do so as a way of demonstrating their ‘expertise’ and secret knowledge as a way of showing off to others.
In today’s world, people are even more at risk because of artificially intelligent-generated videos and images. The declining credibility of the media also plays into things. The United States is hardly alone.
Pakistan, for example, is rife with conspiracy theories, particularly those around vaccines for polio and Covid-19. In the mid-2000s, rumours in Pakistan did the rounds that the polio and immunisation vaccine efforts were a cover story for sterilising Muslims or an attempt at population control.
Notably, this came in the aftermath of the assassination of Osama bin Laden, who had been holed up in Abbottabad for years. The CIA had launched a fake vaccination campaign to gather information about bin Laden.
Which makes sense, as conspiracy theories usually take root in the aftermath of an earth-shaking incident. Experts also say that signs of conspiracy theories gaining ground in your country are a sure sign that a society is ill-informed and at risk.
Others say that people simply can’t resist a good yarn. “The reality is, the internet has made it possible for people to say whatever the hell they like to a broader number of people than ever before,” Roger Launius, a former chief historian of Nasa, told The Guardian. “And the truth is, Americans love conspiracy theories. Every time something big happens, somebody has a counter-explanation.”
With inputs from agencies
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