MOON - Conspiracy theory

[Outbackmanyep]

Hey guys!
I know this question may have come up to you all many times....but i was recently at my local Lapidary club...and through the monthly meetings they ask someone to do a talk on a particular subject...so when they approached me i thought id do one on meteorites....
It took me 2 months to get to the presentation stage and i had it nailed, easy to understand....i also tied it in with a bit of lapidary science as well....as the only rocks most of these guys knew were terrestrial.....and they were amazed to learn out where exactly GOLD came from!!

Then i almost got into an argument with one lady who asked me if i believed the moon landings were real or not....naturally i told her that i believed it happened.....she played it down and said she watched this tv program etc. and she reckons it was all staged.....so i told her i'd field questions later...but at that stage i was only halfway through my presentation....i had been going for an hour then that came up.....so we decided to do the presentation in 2 halves....which not only kept the remaining people interested but it also gave me an opportunity to ask you all here on IIS if you can think of a way that i could turn this conspiracy theory on its head....

Whats the best way to combat this argument should it arise again???

I did get an assurance from her husband that he'd leave her at home next time....hehe....but i doubt that'll happen....
The presentation was better than i expected and they really got interested!
but as they say....there's always ONE!:lol:

id be interested to hear everyones thoughts.....fellow conspirators and all....i need AMMO!:D

Cheers!

[Ric]

Hi OBMY, I believe that we travelled to the moon as well, but it's a fact of life that some people will believe the conspiracy theories there's not much that we can do about that.
You could always email Neil or Buzz and ask if they would be interested in coming along to your next meeting to answer a few questions :D

Cheers

[ving]

interesting discusion here: http://pirlwww.lpl.arizona.edu/~jscotti/NOT_faked/

[xelasnave]

When confronted with belief such as that what can you do.. to argue the toss with her will only destroy your presentation. Maybe say it is interesting and you are going to do some research and dont want to talk about it until you have more details (in her support) that may get you thru the day. Suggest she may like to do a presentation at another meeting in the future ..distant future..that is.
alex

[CoombellKid]

First I would avoid the discussion, especially where your presenting
something completely different. You will always get a heckler and
how you handle that heckler will lead you away or further into that
arguement. Perhaps something like this....

When Neil Armstrong was a kid. Him and his mates were playing
baseball in Neil's backyard. When one of the other kids hit the ball
over into the neighbours backyard. Neil, being the bloke he was jumped
the fence to retrieve the ball. While in the garden he could hear the
Mr and Mrs Kawoski arguing about his request for some mum and dady
time, since it had been sometime since the last. Mrs Kawoski was
heard to say "Not until the kid next door walks on the moon" Hence
the theory goes that Neil didn't first say "One giant step for..." But
"This one is for Mr Kawoski"!!! : )

regards,CS

[DobDobDob]

I have no problem with the moon landing, it got me out of school ;)
On the other hand I have always doubted Columbus discovered America :shrug:

[Outbackmanyep]

Hey thanks guys!
This is going great! Im reading that article you sent the link to Vingy, its a great read.....and i suppose she thinks Elvis is alive too!
Well as Coombellkid said about moving on, i did sway past it.... but i had to say something.... for what she said was only insulting my intelligence, but i did move quickly past it......she obviously has no understanding on the way physics works, so if i have to explain it to her she's probably a "seeing is believing" character....i'd have to "show" her how these things operate....

Everyone enjoyed the presentation as i used an overhead projector and my laptop to show different things.....but there wasnt enough time to complete the talk.....so the 2nd half is adjourned until next month....

I guess it all comes down to proof......like i was skeptical about the hoo-haa caused when that jap submarine , M24, was supposedly "found" in Broken Bay...there was lots of hype over it....i watched the documentary on it but i was frustrated to see that they couldnt positively identify the "thing" under the water....then a few months later some "amatuers" found the sub and photographed it off the northern beaches......and yet not much else was said about it.....to this day i dunno whats come of it, but i did see the photos of it..... it only raises more questions doesnt it!?
As you said too, Tailwag, you sort of wonder if Columbus was the first to discover America!? We all know the dutch landed in Australia before Cooks time...my dad always said Columbus didnt find America as it wasnt lost to begin with! LOL

[Dennis]

I guess if you grew up with the Space Race, which included the USA Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs, you don't need proof - these events, launches and missions were indelibly etched in my mind as part of the continuum of life as I grew up. Therefore I don't have to believe - I know. I was there, at the time.

If you were born after these missions, all you have are impersonal records in the form of images, video and books.

It seems belief is very shallow and can easily be shaken.

Knowledge based on experience has a richness of content, depth and longevity that permeates the faculties and does not require belief.

Cheers

Dennis

[chunkylad]

Try Phil Plait's " Bad Astronomy" website. This will really give you some ammo for next time you're confronted by this issue.
http://www.badastronomy.com/

I cop this sort of thing at work as well, so this website, and his book of the same name has helped me out too.

Cheers

Dave W

[xstream]

Never a truer word spoken Dennis, I agree whole heartedly.

[CoombellKid]

One of the first television images etched into my mind was bouncing on my
old man knee, watching Neil Armstrong climb down that ladder on a black
& white tv in NZ the whole family was watching. As a young boy space
travel was very much (I thought) something I could do. Then I grew a lil
more and realised NZ didn't have a space program, and as you can see
it still doesn't lol

regards,CS

[wavelandscott]

I struggle a bit with "conspiracy theorists" when it comes to the moon landing...Having grown up with the space race and visiting Cape Kennedy (again a few weeks ago) I find it nearly unthinkable that there is a doubt in anyone's mind about the fact that people have landed on and safely returned from the moon.

C'mon it is not like the real conspiracy about Area 51 and the US government and their continued suppression of alien landings on earth!;) (For those that don't know me I'm joking...Area 51 is not where the aliens are housed...):whistle:

[Blue Skies]

I'm glad to see the Bad AStronomy site mentioned, that one is pretty good.

Apparently aroudn 400,000 people were invloved with the Apollo project, and none of them have said anything to the contrary.

And on another board some people pointed out the Russians have never denied the acheivement either. You'd think they'd be the first ones to kick up a fuss if it was faked.

And finally - the doppler shift in the radio communications couldn't be faked. (I don't think I've called it the correct thing, perhaps someone can elaborate on it).

[Lee]

I will admit, that watching that show a few years ago really instilled some doubt in my mind - what has convinced that we did land on the moon was the John Dobson show a few months ago where he pointed out the parabolic path of the dust behind the rovers wheels.....

[Ric]

What! there's no aliens at Area 51 :P

Actually there hiding them in a secret giant bunker under Mount Rushmore :whistle:

Cheers

[bloodhound31]

Which moonwalking astronaught was it that punched out that dude on camera for calling him a fraud? If I had put my life on the line in such a dangerous way as to sit on top of thousands of tonnes of hydrogen, go to the moon in a radiation filled vacume suck your insides out if you get a leak tin can and freefal faster than terminal velocity while my vehicle was glowing hot, smack into ocean that feels like concrete and not sink and survive all that, then some prick comes up to me and says I didnt...I would punch him too. If I hadnt done all that, I might have said...thats nice dear........

Baz:D

[Ric]

Hi Baz, that was Buzz. I saw it on some show and a damn good swing it was too.

Cheers

[avandonk]

It is very sad that there is even a discussion about some deluded peoples beliefs.
Ask them how their mobile works!
Then ask them how they know that the Moon landing was faked!

You will not get past question one!

Bert

[OneOfOne]

Unfortunately, these people probably also believe in the "Face on Mars" and take all the statements in "Chariots of the Gods" as truth too!

Maybe just nod your head and ask them how the fairies at the bottom of the garden are going!

[huckabuck]

hello OBMY,
i hate to use the word impossible, but, the number of folks involved in that undertaking could NEVER, EVER, POSSIBLY keep their mouth shut. maybe one or two, but not thousands. it's just IMPOSSIBLE. heck, you can't even miss one sunday at church without the whole community finding out. many people who have trouble thinking for themselves are easily swayed into a falsehood. just like the fellow that used to work with me, i talked him into being sick a number of times.

i guess you just gotta have faith........

[jjjnettie]

She saw it on TV so it must be true.

[Outbackmanyep]

Ok Everyone you have me laughing.......:lol:

Its all good stuff!
keep it coming!

Cheers!

[Mikezoom]

Tell her she can see the Lunar landing sites & equipment if she looks through a telescope, maybe she might get the bug and we will have captured another IIS member!!! :lol:;):whistle:

Mike.

PS: I can see the landing sites & with a bit of "imagination" the rovers! :P