(Original headline: Hoax theory is moon dust)
Sometimes, an urban legend proves the truth of that saying, "A little learning is a dangerous thing."
Take the conspiracy theory that the moon landing was faked. It's typical of online folklore: it involves science, technology and government and it is based on historical but readily available information.
The conspiracy theory has grown and persisted, thanks to the Internet, because people think they "know" things.
They "know" about space exploration. Space footage, such as shots from the Hubble telescope and Mars landing, can be seen in real time online. By comparison, the landing newsreels from the 1968 moon shots and video clips that are available in CD-ROM encyclopedias and on websites look dated and artificial. That fuels the belief there is something not quite right about the landing.
They "know" that one of the lunar landing astronauts subsequently published a book that revealed jarring information. Buzz Aldrin's book was not, in fact, a revelation of a cover-up.
It was about the horrible depression he suffered on his return to Earth and the book questioned whether it had all been worthwhile.
Still, it's easy for conspiracy theorists to remember there was a tell-all book but not remember what it was about.
They "know" that the flag the astronauts planted on the moon waved in the breeze, which was impossible because there was no atmosphere to make a breeze in the first place.
In fact, the flagpole the astronauts were screwing into the lunar soil included a metal rod attached to the cloth flag so the flag would be displayed. In twisting the flagpole back and forth, the astronauts put the flag in motion.
Had they had been doing this on Earth, the flag would have "waved" for a few seconds before being stopped by the friction of the air. On the airless moon, the flag kept moving.
Such basic laws of physics don't figure prominently on websites that perpetuate the urban legend that there was no moon landing. So, thanks to the Internet, a person could have access to just enough information to be primed to swallow the allegation the landing was a giant hoax.
