This is a description of the moon landing hoax, a conspiracy theory that suggests the Apollo 11 mission to the moon in 1969 was faked by the United States government. The theory suggests that the footage and photographs of the mission were staged, and that the astronauts never actually set foot on the moon.
Conspiracy theories claim that some or all elements of the Apollo program and the associated Moon landings were hoaxes staged by NASA, possibly with the aid of other organizations. Such views are considered fringe. The most notable claim of these conspiracy theories is that the six crewed landings (1969–1972) were faked and that twelve Apollo astronauts did not actually land on the Moon. Since the mid-1970s, various groups and individuals have claimed that NASA and others knowingly misled the public into believing the landings happened by manufacturing, tampering with, or destroying evidence including photos, telemetry tapes, radio and TV transmissions, and Moon rock samples.