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My attempt to debunk a local moon landing hoax video using a 1972 almanac backfired spectacularly
I found this grainy video on a forum claiming the Apollo 17 flag was waving in a vacuum, so I dug out my grandpa's old World Almanac from 1972 to check the official mission dates. Turns out, the video was a clip from a 2013 student film shot in Arizona, and the 'flag' was a windsock. Has anyone else had a conspiracy theory fall apart because of a simple date check?
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holly_williams2mo ago
What's the first thing you check with these old clips? I had a similar mess with a "lost" Soviet lunar rover video. Spent an hour arguing before I looked up the launch year. The footage was from a 1990s museum exhibit, not the 70s. Now I just google the date before anything else. It saves so much time.
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the_gavin1mo ago
Wait, people actually check the metadata on stuff like that? I used to just look at the video quality and figure it was old enough to be real, but you guys are making me feel like I need to be way more careful about this stuff.
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mia_park2mo ago
Exactly. I learned that lesson the hard way with a "lost" Apollo 11 tape. I was ready to dive deep into the technical weeds, but a quick check of the file's metadata showed it was created in 2001, long after the mission. It was just a digitized copy of a common broadcast. Like holly_williams said, checking the date first is the best filter. It turns most "mysteries" into simple mix-ups before you waste an afternoon.
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