Posted on 05/22/2026 4:43:08 AM PDT by DFG
Millions watched in awe earlier this year as NASA's Artemis II crew completed a daring trip around the moon – but it seems not everyone was convinced.
A viral video has captured the painfully awkward moment a conspiracy theorist accosted the astronauts on Capitol Hill.
Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen were confronted by an aggressive man who accused them of faking the moon mission.
'Stop lying! Stop acting! You all never went to space,' the man shouted as he filmed himself approaching the crew.
The befuddled crew simply stood in uncomfortable silence as the man berated them, apparently trying their best to pretend he wasn't there.
The man continued: 'Follow Jesus! God's watching you all!'
As Glover smiled and gave an uneasy wave, he went on: 'Stop lying to the public! Your psyop isn't working on millions of us! NASA's a joke!'
The Artemis II crew were hastily ushered away, yet the pursuing conspiracy theorist continued to hurl abuse, adding: 'Repent before God, y'all! I see through your lies! I know you never went to space! God's watching you all!'
The tense encounter was reminiscent of a similar run–in between Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin and the moon–landing denier Bart Sibrel in 2002.
Mr Aldrin, who was 72 at the time, ended that particular argument by punching Mr Sibrel in the face.
However, the Artemis II crew managed to keep cooler heads during their altercation with the conspiracy theorist.
On X, space fans praised the astronauts' composure, jokingly pointing out Christina Koch's rather confused expression.
One commenter wrote: 'Christina was too stunned to speak by this level of stupidness.'
Another added: 'She had to smile through that VEEERY awkward moment.'
And another bluntly wrote: 'They're so polite, I'd smack him in the face.'
While the vast majority of social media users were shocked by the wild claims about fake space missions, a few internet–dwelling conspiracy theorists hailed this unknown individual as a hero.
'CALLING THEM OUT IN THE CAPITAL....100%' wrote one conspiracy account on X.
Another said: 'Artemis II astronauts being called liars to their faces. Love it.'
And one chimed in: 'We know!!!! How much did you guys get paid??? You are a mockery to the world!!!'
Thankfully, claims that the Artemis II mission was faked are easily debunked by the vast quantities of evidence collected by the crew.
NASA livestreamed the entire 10–day mission, and the astronauts collected an enormous trove of photos and scientific observations.
These included the discovery of new craters on the moon's far side and observations of meteor impacts taking place in real time.
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I studied that Buzz Aldrin video. By carefully looking at the shadows I determined that he never hit anybody .
Why the big story about an obvious nut case? That said, I don’t believe we landed on the moon sixty years ago... the technology just didn’t exist to pull that off.
Wilderness Conservative wrote: “I don’t believe Kirk was killed with a 30.06. Wether Robinson pulled the trigger or not I do not know but I do know what a 30.06 does and that is not what hit Charlie.”
There is a wide performance band for all calibers including 30.06. Terminal ballistics is affected by barrel length, bullet size, weight and composition, amount and type of propellant, etc. Please explain your experience in reloading rifle ammunition.
It’s in part a side effect of 50+ years of fake mockingbird media that no one trusts.
Immediately after your response to me, I got a response that the Charlie Kirk assassination was a conspiracy and those questioning the shooting were trying to uncover the conspiracy.
Incredible.
Other factors are involved, but social media is a major source on the psychosis IMO, for example Charlie Kirk gets murdered, Candace Owens and a number of other podcasters start questioning the situation and before you know it a significant percentage of the public now believe the murder is part of some grand conspiracy involving a number of different parties
srmanuel wrote: “Have you noticed it’s not just space flight that has deniers or conspiracies about it’s authenticity. ... Just about every major event is now the subject of endless podcasts that everything was faked and it’s all part of some grand conspiracy.”
And FR includes many members of the anti-vaxxer conspiracy cult.
See post 15.....SMH
Someone should ask a “real” astronaut. Katy Perry, or Gayle King come to mind.
If you come around here making fun of conspiracy theorists, you will be asked a lot of questions....;)
Low IQ Right wingers.
And these are the ones the aliens usually land and appear to.
Except, there aren’t any.
Post 22 is now saying the moon landings never happened, the technology didn’t exist back then.
Apparent gravity malfunctions in cabinet footage along with chroma key edges make it easy to have doubts. I never had doubts before watching some of the careless footage shown lately. It’s like they aren’t even trying that hard to be convincing.
I knew they’d come outta the woodwork. 😂
I guess the Chinese are in on the conspiracy as they have published pictures of the bottom half of our landers.
And yet, that same non-existent technology is sitting on the moon today.
And the Indians. The Indian orbiter not only took pictures of the descent stage still in the moon but actually captured astronauts’ footprints.
I mean, you seem to know or at least claim to have information that the rest of us do not have.
Please share your information with us.
Speaking for my own self, I think that I'm generally open minded to new information.
I'm also aware that there are a lot of people in and out of government who hated Charlie. And, I thought it was stupid that they wouldn't allow drone overflights of the campus to check out the rooves of the buildings...
So be a sport and help us out?
Or not.
Totally your choice.
The story would be better with a picture of the nutcase screaming that the mission was faked.
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