Astronaut Buzz Aldrin punching moon conspiracy theorist in face GIF

[Jon]

A classic, now in GIF form, with slow-mo punch.



We've all seen the "man didn't really land on the moon" conspiracy theories, most famously planted by the Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the Moon? television broadcast, and regurgitated by the online distribution of a "rare" grainy video claiming to show the moon landings being filmed in a studio.

Surveys indicate that roughly 10-20% of Americans, many people in certain small countries, and various subcultures still subscribe to this theory. While extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, the third party evidence for Apollo moon landings certainly qualifies. NASA has also repeatedly issued a press release debunking these claims.

One such adherent to these theories was Bart Sibrel, taxi driver and moon hoaxer extraordinaire. In 2002, Sibrel contacted Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon. Sibrel lured Aldrin to a Beverly Hills hotel, by claiming that he wanted to interview Aldrin for a Japanese children's television show. With cameras rolling, Sibrel demanded that Aldrin swear on a bible that he had indeed walked on the moon, and called Aldrin "a coward, and a liar, and a thief". Aldrin tried to walk away, but Sibrel persisted.

So Aldrin punched Sibrel in the face. The police found that Aldrin was provoked, and no charges were filed. Full video of the encounter:

Sibrel actually pulled this faux media credential bible-swearing gag with multiple Apollo astronauts, featured in his Astronauts Gone Wild movie. Here's him and Neil Armstrong:

Previously:
astronaut loses $100,000 tool bag during spacewalk
International Space Station tools
English/metric measurement error in the Mars Climate Orbiter

[mklotz]

There's an obvious solution to this jerk. Send him to the moon and let him hunt for the footprints, the bottom half of the LEM and the laser reflector that are still there. Or land him on the dark side with a flashlight and a picnic basket and let him find his way home.

Better yet, give him an opportunity to become the first man to walk on the sun. [Heavy duty, lockable restraints in the descent capsule may be required.]

[NortonDommi]

Buzz Aldrin, a real 'Man's man'. Hope he didn't hurt his hand.

[bstanga]

There's an obvious solution to this jerk. Send him to the moon and let him hunt for the footprints, the bottom half of the LEM and the laser reflector that are still there. Or land him on the dark side with a flashlight and a picnic basket and let him find his way home.

Better yet, give him an opportunity to become the first man to walk on the sun. [Heavy duty, lockable restraints in the descent capsule may be required.]

I wonder if the Hubble telescope can see those items on the moon?

[mklotz]

The LEM base maybe but not the footprints. The presence of the laser reflector can be verified by, wait for it..., reflecting a laser beam from the earth back to the emitter, something that's been done many hundreds of times.

Even if Hubble took a picture of the LEM, the conspiracy nutbars probably contend that the Hubble itself is a conspiracy.

My idea of recruiting them for the first manned mission to the sun is still the best solution. Imagine a man-sized version of this...

[C-Bag]

Buzz definitely had "the right stuff". Especially in that right hand

[Saltfever]

Why is salacious, low-life journalism, on an esteemed forum focused on tools and individual creativity?

[bigalscorpio]

Nice right hander Buzz! I bet that left him with a "buzz" of his own, good on you. Al

[bigalscorpio]

My idea of recruiting them for the first manned mission to the sun is still the best solution.

Yup, good idea, and if you told them it would set off at night most of them would probably go happily!

[Toolmaker51]

Why is salacious, low-life journalism, on an esteemed forum focused on tools and individual creativity?

I don't mind when threads displace themselves, participants here are creative and certainly varied. Collectively we dissect topics and respond to facets in apparently common thought processes based on individual experience and background.
But Marv's planetary recliner for a lesser (of certain other hominids) Hominidae brought this to mind.

from John Prine and Peter case, lyricists extraordinaire...

"Space Monkey"

Space Monkey, Space Monkey
What you doing out there?
Why it's dark as a dungeon way up in the air

Come gather round me you little monkeys and a story I'll tell
About a brave young primate, outer space knew him well
He was born at the top of a big old tree
Way back in 1953.

He could swing through the jungle and hang by his toes
Till they took him to Russia cause they could I suppose
They dressed him up in a spacesuit and it started to snow
Shot him off in a rocket where no man would go

Space Monkey Space Monkey
What you doing out there?
Why it's dark as a dungeon way up in the air
There'll be no one to greet you when you get back home
No hammer or sickle you'll be on your own.

He had plenty of Cuban bananas and loads of Spam
But he found great difficulty trying to open the can
One day he slipped on a banana peel and the ship lost control
It spun out of orbit and shot out the black hole

It's been four decades now, that's nine monkey years
That's a long time for a Space Monkey to confront all his fears

Space Monkey Space Monkey
What you doing out there?
Why it's dark as a dungeon way up in the air
There'll be no one to greet you when you get back home
No hammer or sickle you'll be all on your own.

Space Monkey, Space Monkey
It's time to get real
The space race is over, how does it feel
Cold War's had a heatwave, Iron Curtain's torn down
They've rolled up the carpet in Space Monkey town

Now Leningrad is Petersburg and Petersburg's hell
For a card-carrying monkey with a story to tell
The Space Monkey was reportedly last sighted about
A half a block off of Red Square
In a karaoke bar having a few drinks with some of his friends
There was the dog that flew Sputnik
And a blind red-headed, one legged parrot
Who had done some minor research for Dow Chemical
They were drinking American Vodka
Imported all the way from Paducah, Kentucky
And reportedly had their arms around each other's
Shoulders singing.
"Those were the days, my friend, we thought they'd never end"

Space Monkey, Space Monkey
There's nothing to do
But it's better than living in a Communist zoo
There'll be no one to greet you when you get back home
No hammer or sickle you'll be all on you own

Writer(s): John Prine, Peter Case

from "Live On Tour" (1997)