In the current global climate, this may be one reason why many more people appear to be endorsing conspiracy beliefs such as those surrounding the moon landing, Flat Earth, or vaccines.”Ĭommon conspiracy theories surrounding the landing suggest the Apollo mission was a hoax, staged by NASA, perhaps with the help of other organisations. This also helps to create a specific social identity in believers, an 'us vs them' mentality that can bolster those beliefs. “This may be because endorsing a conspiracy theory can generate feeling 'special', as if one has unique knowledge. In addition, there is evidence to suggest that feelings of anxiety correlate positively with conspiracy belief. Unsurprisingly, research suggests that people who are generally more paranoid are more likely to endorse conspiracy theories. “There are some dispositions that are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories. “We see this a lot with the moon landings - many conspiracy theorists argue against the evidence provided by NASA in favour of their own reasoning. “One such reason is confirmation bias, a cognitive processing error that causes people to focus only on information that supports their view, while disregarding evidence to the contrary. Inevitably, the milestone also sees the resurfacing of an array of conspiracy theories surrounding the historical moment.īut why are we so obsessed with disproving what is arguably one of humanity’s greatest achievements?ĭr Sophie Hodgetts, a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Sunderland, said: “There are lots of reasons people believe in conspiracy theories, such as those questioning whether or not we ever went to the moon. It was 50 years ago this weekend that man first landed on the moon – or did he? Published on 17 July 2019 Moon landing conspiracy theories

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