Source Criticism of the Conspiracy Theories Regarding Apollo 11 Moon Landing

On the 16th of July in 1969 the world could witness Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on live television while they entered Apollo 11. Four days later Apollo 11 landed on the moon, making Armstrong the first human being to ever stride on the lunar surface. Ever since the first alleged steps were taken on the moon, people have been discussing whether they really set foot there or if the whole landing were staged and all footage were recorded in a Hollywood studio.

My first source is a video posted by a man who claims that the moon landing never happened. In the video named 13 Reasons Why the Moon Landing was FAKE - Ultra Spiritual life episode 125 the youtuber AwakenWithJP is presenting thirteen different arguments which indicates that Neil Armstrong never landed on the surface of the moon.

The second source contradicts the other and is an article from NASA’s official website. The article is named July 20, 1969: One Giant Leap For Mankind and is a quite detailed explanation of the journey taking place in July back in 1969. Besides the text, the source also contains a video of Armstrong stepping off Apollo 11 and landing on the moon’s surface, and several audio files recorded during the journey.

AwakenWithJP is just a regular man with no special knowledge regarding the subject. The arguments that he is providing are made up and not based on any facts. One argument is that the government of the United States faked the moon landing to distract the public from the Vietnam war, something that he has no reason to believe and that is based on nothing more than his own imagination, since the war did not have anything to do with neither NASA or the moon landing.

Another argument is that Buzz Aldrin, who went to the moon together with Armstrong, once punched a reporter who alleged that they never went there. AwakenWithJP claims that this is because Aldrin felt insecure about faking the journey. Both these arguments are just taken out of the blue and neither of them are based on any facts.

Another questionable part about this source is all the left out information that he does not seem to have an answer to. The fact that there are actual videos of Apollo 11 being launched is nothing that AwakenWithJP feels the need to comment or explain. This makes the source less reliable since he is disregarding major proof that the moon landing actually happened, and is only paying attention to the parts that he can explain. A source that leaves out information that does not agree with its own point of view is not a reliable source.

It is also unclear if the man behind the video is being serious or if he is just making fun of others who believe that the moon landing was faked. The youtube channel consists of other videos that are posted as entertainment for others and AwakenWithJP does not seem like a very serious channel based on the thumbnails and the names of his other videos. This does not have to mean that the information that he is providing is untrue, but it is definitely decreasing the chances of the channel being a reliable source.

NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, on the other hand, is responsible for the civilian space program, aeronautics and aerospace research. The independent agency NASA is owned by the federal government of the United States. Since the second source is an article from NASA’s official website it is clear that the information provided is uploaded by an authority with the most knowledge regarding the subject in the world. At the same time NASA are the ones who executed the alleged moon landing and this article might just be a part of a huge lie.

The information is posted to inform the public about the moon landing and not to change anyone’s opinion about whether it happened or not. It is not posted to gain popularity or for economical winning either, since NASA is owned by the government and they have no reason to fake such a thing. The source also contains one video and multiple audio files. The video is filmed while Armstrong first took a step on the surface of the moon and the audio files are from different occasions during the journey. While all footage could be faked, it is less possible when there are more data than just a simple text that anyone could have written. With all of the above taken into consideration I would say that this source is reliable, since many other sources are claiming the exact same things and since it is uploaded at NASA’s official website, which is owned by the government of the United States.