Over the past few weeks, there has been plenty of hype around reliving the 1969 moon landing.

You only need to ask someone who was alive at the time what they remember about it to see why, because it really was a monumental achievement that captured the world’s attention.

Of course, given all of that attention, those who believe the moon landing was faked are also upping the ante, and platforms like YouTube have been awash with tinfoil-hat-wearing crackpots broadcasting from their parents’ basements.

VICE decided to look into some of those, starting with YouTube:

Numerous videos by far-right “comedian” and general brain worm sufferer Owen Benjamin [below] about his moon hoax beliefs are being recirculated and re-uploaded on the platform. One of these re-uploads, entitled “Happy Fake Moon Landing Anniversary,” features a nice little section where Benjamin states space suits are made to look like the ritualistic garb the Pope wears. It’s been seen around 10,000 times and embedded into other conspiracy videos…

Other conspiracy theorists have made reaction videos to a Google Doodle marking the anniversary. One YouTuber named Barnabas Nagy proceeded to point out examples of some sort of occult activity and numerology in the video. “Let’s celebrate 50 years of bullshit,” Nagy starts off his reaction video with. When the little doodle shuttle has three parachutes pop out he says, “three, we know the symbolism there, right?”

YouTube doesn’t have a monopoly on crazy, and there’s plenty on Reddit to keep everyone entertained.

For now, though, let’s look at Facebook:

As one would expect (since Facebook is now just the stomping ground of racist and conspiracy-minded aunts and uncles everywhere) there are quite a few moon landing hoax pages. And because this is Facebook, there are a few of these pages which are racist like “The Moon Hoax was a Zionist agenda” who have (thankfully) not posted in a while.

Inside The Apollo Moon Hoax Facebook page, however, there was a buzz of activity today. Members posted YouTube videos, blog posts, and what have you all to, seemingly, impress their fellow conspiracy theorists. Within some of these groups, the theme of numerology comes up again. One commenter, writing on a story about the Google Doodle for Apollo 11 (this really set some of them off) said, “Apollo 11 x 3 ‘spacemen’=33” to which another user responds with “ holy shit that’s scary.”

Twitter is not exempt, and hashtags like #TheTruthCommunity #NASALies #FlatEarth #DrunkBuzz #Freemasons #MoonHoax #OperationPaperMoon #StanleyKubrick #LiesVsTruth #ApolloHoax have been running wild.

If you think these guys are annoying, imagine how Buzz Aldrin feels. The second man to step onto the moon, he’s been harrassed by conspiracy theorists at various points in his life.

I know we covered this one already earlier in the year, but it’s worth revisiting. You can skip ahead to the 45-second mark for the moment of impact:

Superb.

For the full story on who Buzz decked in the face, read here.

[source:vice]