The Flapping Flag: Poor Conspiracy Evidence

Every Moon hoax conspiracy theorist knows about the flapping flag. Whenever Astronauts in the Apollo films plant a flag on the Moon, the flag goes flapping around like a strong breeze is flowing through the area. The hoax theorists claim that the flag can't do this, since there's no atmosphere on the moon.

 

Despite the initial reaction people have to this hoax theory, the theory really has no solid logic. It's pure sensationalism. The Astronaut in the picture torques the flag left and right in order to screw it into the ground, so naturally that same torque will be applied to the flag post and the flag itself. All of this torquing results in the appearance of a breeze flowing through the flag. This is just basic physics at work.

If you read my post about "marionettes," you'll find an explanation about why it is possible to jump higher in a vacuum. In a vacuum, the lack of heavy oxygen, nitrogen and argon on top of you allows you to jump higher. An atmosphere of gasses is like a giant hand pressing in every direction - up, down, sideways, etc. In other words, atmospheric gasses offer resistance to motion. Since the Lunar surface has no atmosphere, any torque applied to the base of the flag allows the flag to flap even more than it would on Earth, because there are no gasses present to slow down the motion

As droll as it may seem to conspiracy theorists, NASA allowed the Mythbusters team to torque a flag in one of their own vacuum chambers. Naturally, the flag appeared to flap even more in the vacuum - not less. Evidence like this doesn't phase a conspiracy theorist one bit. The experiment was done in a NASA laboratory, and for all we know, there wasn't a real vacuum in that chamber. The conspiracy theorist believes that allowing NASA to conduct anti-Moon hoax experiments is like allowing a tobacco company to determine whether cigarettes are harmful.

The flapping flag theories represent some of the worst evidence that conspiracy theorists have come up with. After the flag has been planted by Apollo Astronauts, it remains stationary. This theory might have some credence if the flag were to flap randomly, without the presence of the Astronauts. Flag flapping hoax theories really drive home the notion that these conspiracy theorists have never studied basic (high school) physics.