This is how many Brits think the moon landing was staged

One in six Brits think the moon landing was staged, a new poll has revealed.

The poll by YouGov is part of a look at which conspiracy theories Britons believe.

According to the survey, 16% of Britons say the moon landing was ‘probably’ or definitely staged (12% and 4% respectively).

The poll asked people whether the phrase, ‘the moon landing was staged’ was true or false.

Older people were considerably more likely to say the statement was false, with 62% of those aged 55 or older saying it was wrong, compared to 48% of 45 to 54-year-olds and 50% of 18 to 24-year-olds.

The subject is one of the conspiracy theories discussed on the latest episode of Yahoo UK’s podcast Britain Is a Nation Of...

Listen to the full episode below

Speaking on the podcast, New Scientist’s news editor Penny Sarchet said: “My primary reaction is I’m really sad for them. It’s basically the greatest thing humans ever did.

“Even now you read the books, you watch the films...it’s so exciting.”

“People are really missing out on a lot if they don’t actually look at the moon and think, ‘we put people up there’.”

BBC presenter and writer Dallas Campbell said people often forget there was more than one moon landing.

“We went to the moon nine times from 1968 to 72, it wasn’t just a onetime thing,” he said.

“Also, 400,000 people worked on Apollo. I’m always amazed by the faith that conspiracy theories have in being able to do that and keep it a secret.”

Reasons for thinking the moon landings were staged include the idea that the US faked the whole thing to beat Russia in the space race.

One theory suggests that footage shows the flag Buzz Aldrin placed on the moon was flying - suggesting that wind was blowing.

But Dallas Campbell said the custom-made flag actually had a metal pole across the top to make it look like it’s flying.

“He’s moving the flag - things still move in a vacuum if you touch them,” he said.

He added: “This is one of our greatest achievements as a species - of galactic significance. This was a point in history where we actually went to another planetary body. That’s pretty big and was a rare thing.

“To dismiss it is a disappointing thing.”

This survey was made possible by YouGov’s panel of 6 million respondents. Join the trend and share your opinions with the world today.