Today is the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing – a date which always brings out the moon landing hoax conspiracy theories.
Conspiracy theorists believe the 1969 Apollo moon landing was a hoax staged by the United States government in a cold war ploy to make the Soviet Union believe the U.S. was technologically superior.
Citing photographs taken on the moon, the conspiracy theorists point out discrepancies as evidence they were faked, such as a photo of the American flag waving on an airless moon.
National Geographic examines eight photos and debunks the most common conspiracy theory claims.
So why is the American flag waving on the moon?
“The video you see where the flag’s moving is because the astronaut just placed it there, and the inertia from when they let go kept it moving,” said spaceflight historian Roger Launius, of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C.
The astronauts also accidentally bent the horizontal rods holding the flag in place several times, creating the appearance of a rippling flag in photographs.
Check out National Geographic for the other Apollo 11 hoax photos explanations.
Check out the National Geographic website for explanations