I'm not sure I'm understanding what you're getting at. I believe it's a hoax because all of the evidence says it was a hoax.
You know its a hoax only because scientists documented that it is a hoax.
I'm not sure I'm understanding what you're getting at.
He (and others) probably want you to say something like "science proved it was a hoax", to which he will presumably reply with powerfully banal retorts such as "see... science continuously revises itself -- and thats what makes it so great!" And so on, as if you thought otherwise.