As I sheepishly mind the gap I wonder why my facts failed so badly to change their minds. The train pulls up in a station, it isn’t my stop but I take the opportunity to make an exit anyway.
Stanley Kubrick filmed the lot, key personnel have died in mysterious ways, and so on … They turn on me, producing more and more ridiculous claims. If that isn’t enough then the final clinching proof comes from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter’s photos of the landing sites where you can clearly see the tracks that the astronauts made as they wandered around the surface.īut it appears my listeners are far from convinced. There was a camera mounted on the outside of the lunar module which filmed him making his giant leap. And nobody took the footage of Neil descending the ladder. The weird shadows are because of the very wide-angle lenses they used which distort the photos. “The flag didn’t flutter in the wind, it just moved as Buzz Aldrin planted it! Photos were taken during lunar daytime – and obviously you can’t see the stars during the day. I continue undeterred, hitting them with a barrage of facts and rational explanations. They turn to me aghast that a stranger would dare to butt into their conversation. “Actually all that can be explained quite easily … ” So I take a deep breath and decide to chip in. But now things are taking a turn down crackpot alley.
To my amazement the group joins in with other “evidence” supporting the moon landing hoax: inconsistent shadows in photographs, a fluttering flag when there’s no atmosphere on the moon, how Neil Armstrong was filmed walking on to the surface when no-one was there to hold the camera.Ī minute ago they seemed like rational people capable of assessing evidence and coming to a logical conclusion. I read this blog the other day that pointed out there aren’t even stars in any of the pictures!” Then there’s a lull in the conversation, and someone takes it as an opportunity to pipe in with: “That stuff might be nonsense, but don’t try and tell me you can trust everything the mainstream feeds us! Take the moon landings, they were obviously faked and not even very well. The chatter quickly turns to other conspiracies and I enjoy eavesdropping while the group brutally mock flat Earthers, chemtrails memes and Gwyneth Paltrow’s latest idea. The others soon chip in with their thoughts on the US president’s fondness for conspiracy theories. One picks up a discarded newspaper and chuckles derisively as she reads about the latest “alternative facts” peddled by Donald Trump.
Fresh from the game – their team has clearly won – they occupy the empty seats around me. I’m sitting on a train when a group of football fans streams on.