How do hoax believers account for the complicity and 41-year silence of hundreds of NASA employees involved in the massive scheme to fool the world? And what of the spectators who watched the Apollo rockets lift off with their own eyes?

Kaysing and other theorists claim only a handful of key players actually knew about the fraud and most of the people in mission control were also duped. They say the astronauts took off in the rocket and orbited the Earth until it was time to splash down again in front of a worldwide audience.

Some hoax adherents say many would-be whistle-blowers were too fearful to reveal the truth.

Apollo 1 astronauts Virgil Gus Grissom, Edward H. White II and Roger Chaffee died in a flash fire that erupted in the cockpit of their rocket during a launch-pad test in 1967. Kaysing said the three astronauts were killed because they were threatening to tell the truth.

An extensive investigation into the fire found no evidence of sabotage. The report concluded, however, that conditions in the command module were extremely hazardous and the accident could have been prevented. The Apollo missions were put on hold as major safety modifications were made.

Footage Destroyed to Preserve the Hoax?

In 2006, news broke that the original taped footage from the Apollo 11 moon landing had been misplaced. The famous dark, hazy images were the result of conversions necessary for broadcast, but clear recordings of the direct transmissions were also made.

In July 2009, days before the 40th anniversary of the moon landing, NASA revealed that an investigation found the magnetic tapes had been mistakenly erased in order to be reused. This revelation was heartbreaking for most people. For hoax theorists, it was more convincing evidence of a cover-up.

Then came news that, in an odd way, brings the possibly faked first moon landing full circle from claims that it was originally filmed on a movie set by 2001: A Space Odyssey director Stanley Kubrick. NASA announced that the best available Apollo 11 footage would be digitally restored by a Hollywood production company. Chosen for the job was none other than Lowry Digital of Burbank, Californiathe company that was the force behind the digital remastering of George Lucass Star Wars trilogy. More fuel for the conspiracy theorists fire, no doubt.