Conspiracy theorists claiming photo is proof moon landing was a 'hoax'

Conspiracy theorists are claiming that a photo is proof a 1972 moon landing was a ‘hoax’, after a YouTuber spotted something ‘strange’ when they studied the image in detail. 

Moon landings have long been a hot topic for conspiracy theorists, with many still adamant that Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong’s 1969 trip never actually happened. 

One YouTuber believes they’ve also found something suss about the 1972 Apollo 17 mission, which saw Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt land to complete three moonwalks. 

Streetcap1 shared a video on the matter a few years back, having found a photo of the expedition and noticed something unusual. 

“There is no backpack on the figure and even allowing for visual distortion due to the visor, surely you would see a backpack because they were extremely large,” the video description said. 

The black and white photo in question shows one of the mission's astronauts in his spacesuit, the moonscape in front of him visible in the reflection of the helmet.

YouTube/Streetcap1

“Does astronaut’s visor reflection show a stagehand on the Apollo fake moon set?” Streetcap1 asked in the video, going on to explain: “I came across this. I have no idea if it’s been discovered before or if it’s been uploaded before. […] This is from a moon photograph, but it’s a reflection from one of the astronaut’s face visors. I thought it looked a bit strange, so I took a picture of it using my software. 

“What we appear to have here is a figure of a human not wearing a space suit, circa early 70s […] Apollo 17 photograph. 

“There was some dispute way back in 2009 as to the legitimacy of these photos, whether somebody discovered this I don’t know, but it certainly hasn’t popped up on Google.” 

Using their mouse to highlight the areas he is talking about, the YouTuber continued: “You can see some sort of, it looks like a man, back in the early 70s, long hair, wearing some sort of waistcoat-type thing […] and a shadow of that figure, presumably. 

“Where’s this guy’s space suit?” 

YouTube/Streetcap1

As with all of life's more left-field theories, not everyone was convinced by the idea - with the YouTube comments inevitably divided.

Agreeing that the landing may not be legitimate, one wrote: “I’ve always thought it was a hoax since we didn’t go back in modern times."

But someone else reckoned there's a perfectly simple explanation, saying: “To me it clearly looks like another astronaut with the white, bulky spacesuit. you can see that he has both arms slightly stretched forward and the shadow shows the bulkyness of the spacesuit, including the life support on his back."

A third added: “The curvature of the astronaut’s visor causes a fish-eye lens effect. Just Google ‘fish eye lens pics’ and you will see how distorted they are. When you look at the shadow you can clearly see the boxy shape of his life support system."

One claimed the shadow showed the 'backpack' even if it wasn't immediately visible on the astronaut, while another said: "All I can see is an astronaut being distorted by the curved reflection on the helmet. You could say it looks like anything, it could be a space alien. but its not... It's just an astronaut that's looking kinda weird do to how reflections and how blowing up a frame from an old video turns out."

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