Bart Sibrel | |
---|---|
![]() Sibrel in 2014 | |
Born | 1964or1965(age 59–60) |
Nationality | American |
Occupations |
|
Years active | 1985–present |
Website | www |
Bart Winfield Sibrel (born 1964or1965) [1] [2] is an American conspiracy theorist who has written, produced, and directed films arguing that the Apollo Moon landings between 1969 and 1972 were staged by NASA under the control of the CIA. [3] He has created four independent films promoting the ideas, with the first having been the film A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Moon (2001).
In his works, Sibrel films himself asking various Apollo astronauts to put their hand on the Bible and swear that they walked on the Moon. In the case of the Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, whom Sibrel arranged to meet on a false pretense, [4] outside the Luxe Hotel in Beverly Hills, the interaction resulted in Aldrin punching Sibrel, which brought him significant publicity. However, no criminal charges were filed against Aldrin.
Sibrel has been a director of TV commercials [5] and is sometimes identified as a maker of "documentaries" with respect to his self-released Moon landing denial films, [3] though other sources point out the personal distribution, limited release, and style and content call into question placing Sibrel's work in this genre of filmmaking (e.g., with the St. Petersburg Times and The New York Times placing the word documentary in quotation marks in some of their reports). [5] [6] This concern relates in part to Sibrel's record of misrepresenting his identity to the subjects he attempts to interview, notably repeated attempts involving former astronauts including Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, Alan Bean, Eugene Cernan, and Edgar Mitchell (where Sibrel posed as filmmaker associated with the History Channel). [5] [3] [4]
As of 2002, Sibrel was operating a video production company in Nashville, Tennessee, and had "made a career out of perpetuating the notion that NASA's Apollo moon missions were hoaxes." [5] [ needs update ]
Sibrel's single most notable work is a 47-minute video work likewise calling into question the historicity of the Apollo Moon missions; entitled A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Moon, Sibrel describes the Apollo program as a "Cold War CIA and Nixon administration deception." [6] Amanda Hess, writing for The New York Times , alludes to the work as a pseudo-documentary, [7] and describes the work in this way: "It mashed up moon footage with ominous shots from the Soviet Union and Vietnam, was narrated by a severe British woman and was sold on a [personal] website called MoonMovie.com." [5] [6] Sibrel confronted several Apollo astronauts in the preparation of his videos, [3] all of whom responded indifferently or negatively when they realized that they were being challenged on their achievement of landing and walking on the Moon. [3]
During 2019, the Bart Sibrel YouTube channel was demonetized. [8]
In a July 2019 HBO interview, [9] Sibrel stated the following main reasons that he believed the Apollo missions were a fake:
All the common Moon landing denial theories, including Sibrel's and others, have been repeatedly debunked. [3]
One confrontational incident involved Apollo 11 crew member Buzz Aldrin. Earlier, Sibrel had interviewed Aldrin in a hotel room for his film Astronauts Gone Wild . In that interview, Sibrel confronted Aldrin with purported newly discovered footage from the Apollo 11 mission, to which Aldrin replied: "Well, you're talking to the wrong guy! Why don't you talk to the administrator at NASA? We were passengers, we're guys going on a flight." [14] Sibrel refers, in post hoc interviews, to two confrontations with Aldrin prior to the one that resulted in his being punched. [5]
Regarding the subsequent interaction, occurring on September 9, 2002, [5] the BBC reported that witnesses came forward to the police with jurisdiction, the Beverly Hills Police Department, stating: "Mr Sibrel...lured Mr Aldrin to the hotel under false pretences in order to interview him." [4] By Aldrin's account, he went to the Beverly Hills hotel on that date under the pretext of an interview on space for a Japanese children's television show. [5] At the time, Aldrin was aged 72 and Sibrel was aged 37. [5]
Sibrel attempted on-camera to coerce Aldrin to swear an oath on a Bible that he had been on the Moon. [5] Witnesses came forward to the police indicating that "Sibrel had aggressively poked Mr Aldrin with the Bible". [4] When Aldrin refused Sibrel's request, Sibrel followed him, saying: "You're the one who said you walked on the Moon when you didn't." [14] The BBC reported that "Deputy District Attorney Elizabeth Ratinoff told Reuters... [the] videotape shot by a cameraman hired by Mr Sibrel had shown the film-maker follow Mr Aldrin, calling him a 'thief, liar and coward'." [4] Still being recorded by Sibrel's camera crew, Aldrin responded with "Will you get away from me?" and then punched Sibrel in the jaw. [4] [5]
On the day following the altercation, a statement from a lawyer for Aldrin described the "6-foot-2, 250-pound [1.88 m, 113 kg] Sibrel forc[ing] Aldrin up against a wall and refus[ing] to let him leave", thus making the case for self-defense. [5] Aldrin made the case to police that he had been attempting to defend "himself and his stepdaughter, who was with him at the time". [4]
Sibrel gave the tape to the police, [4] apparently alleging assault. The incident received significant publicity, with many television talk shows airing the clip, usually supporting Aldrin's action. Shortly after the altercation, Sibrel told the St. Petersburg Times : "[Aldrin] has a good punch. It was quick, too. I didn't see it coming." [5]
As described by Eric Spitznagel for Popular Mechanics , since "witnesses testified that Sibrel had provoked [Aldrin], assault charges against the former astronaut were dropped". [3] Police either did not file or dropped charges based on Aldrin's lack of a prior criminal record, witness accounts of Sibrel's having drawn Aldrin to the hotel under false pretenses, Sibrel's aggressiveness before the punch, and his having declined to seek medical attention and sustaining "no visible injury". [4] [3]
In July 2009, Sibrel, who at the time was working as a Nashville taxicab driver, was charged with vandalism when he jumped up and down on the hood of a car owned by a woman with whom he was having a parking dispute. Court documents show he was arrested after the driver refused to pull out of a parking space he wanted. The arresting officer wrote, "A few moments later the parking space in front of the victim opened up and Sibrel drove into it and parked." Sibrel "then walked up to the victim's car and jumped onto the hood, and then jumped up and down several times." The report says he caused $1,431 worth of damage, after which Sibrel pleaded guilty to vandalism and was placed on probation. [15]
Year | Film | Director | Producer | Writer | Run time (minutes) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2001 | A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Moon | Yes | Yes | Yes | 47 |
2004 | Astronauts Gone Wild: An Investigation Into the Authenticity of the Moon Landings | Yes | Yes | 53 | |
Apollo 11 Monkey Business: False Photography Unedited | Yes | 108 | |||
Apollo 11 Post-Flight Press Conference | Yes | 83 | |||
Apollo 11 was a spaceflight conducted by the United States and launched by NASA from July 16 to July 24, 1969. It marked the first time that humans landed on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, and Armstrong became the first person to step onto the Moon's surface six hours and 39 minutes later, on July 21 at 02:56 UTC. Aldrin joined him 19 minutes later, and they spent about two and a quarter hours together exploring the site they had named Tranquility Base upon landing. Armstrong and Aldrin collected 47.5 pounds (21.5 kg) of lunar material to bring back to Earth as pilot Michael Collins flew the Command Module Columbia in lunar orbit, and were on the Moon's surface for 21 hours, 36 minutes, before lifting off to rejoin Columbia.
Neil Alden Armstrong was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who, in 1969, became the first person to walk on the Moon. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor.
Buzz Aldrin is an American former astronaut, engineer and fighter pilot. He made three spacewalks as pilot of the 1966 Gemini 12 mission, and was the Lunar Module Eagle pilot on the 1969 Apollo 11 mission. He was the second person to walk on the Moon after mission commander Neil Armstrong. Following the death of Michael Collins in 2021, he is the last surviving Apollo 11 crew member.
Moon landing conspiracy theories claim that some or all elements of the Apollo program and the associated Moon landings were hoaxes staged by NASA, possibly with the aid of other organizations. The most notable claim of these conspiracy theories is that the six crewed landings (1969–1972) were faked and that twelve Apollo astronauts did not actually land on the Moon. Various groups and individuals have made claims since the mid-1970s that NASA and others knowingly misled the public into believing the landings happened, by manufacturing, tampering with, or destroying evidence including photos, telemetry tapes, radio and TV transmissions, and Moon rock samples.
Michael "Mike" Collins was an American astronaut who flew the Apollo 11 command module Columbia around the Moon in 1969 while his crewmates, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, made the first crewed landing on the surface. He was also a test pilot and major general in the U.S. Air Force Reserve.
Capricorn One is a 1977 thriller film in which a reporter discovers that a supposed Mars landing by a crewed mission to the planet has been faked via a conspiracy involving the government and—under duress—the crew themselves. It was written and directed by Peter Hyams and produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment. It stars Elliott Gould as the reporter, and James Brolin, Sam Waterston, and O. J. Simpson as the astronauts. Hal Holbrook plays a senior NASA official who goes along with governmental and corporate interests and helps to fake the mission. The music score was created by Jerry Goldsmith.
Edgar Dean "Ed" Mitchell was a United States Navy officer and aviator, test pilot, aeronautical engineer, ufologist, and NASA astronaut. As the Lunar Module Pilot of Apollo 14 in 1971 he spent nine hours working on the lunar surface in the Fra Mauro Highlands region, and was the sixth person to walk on the Moon. He was the second Freemason to set foot on the Moon, after Buzz Aldrin.
Dark Side of the Moon is a French mockumentary by director William Karel. It originally aired on the Franco-German television network Arte in 2002 with the title Opération Lune.
Tranquility Base is the site on the Moon where, in July 1969, humans landed and walked on a celestial body other than Earth for the first time. On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 crewmembers Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed their Apollo Lunar Module Eagle at approximately 20:17:40 UTC. Armstrong exited the spacecraft six hours and 39 minutes after touchdown, followed 19 minutes later by Aldrin. The astronauts spent two hours and 31 minutes examining and photographing the lunar surface, setting up several scientific experiment packages, and collecting 47.5 pounds (21.5 kg) of dirt and rock samples for return to Earth. They lifted off the surface on July 21 at 17:54 UTC.
Bill Kaysing was an American author and conspiracy theorist who claimed that the Apollo Moon landings between 1969 and 1972 were hoaxes.
Alternative 4 is the fourth album by the British rock band Anathema. It was released on 22 June 1998 through Peaceville Records. Like the band's third album Eternity, Alternative 4 is sung with clean vocals.
Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D is a 2005 IMAX 3D documentary film about the first humans on the Moon, the twelve astronauts in the Apollo program.
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Moon is a 2001 film written, produced and directed by Nashville-based filmmaker Bart Sibrel. Sibrel is a proponent of the conspiracy theory that the six Apollo Moon landing missions between 1969 and 1972 were elaborate hoaxes perpetrated by the United States government, including NASA. The film is narrated by British stage actress Anne Tonelson.
Apollo 11 was the first human spaceflight to land on the Moon. The 1969 mission's wide effect on popular culture has resulted in numerous portrayals of Apollo 11 and its crew, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins.
Astronauts Gone Wild: Investigation Into the Authenticity of the Moon Landings is a 2004 Pseudo-documentary produced and directed by Bart Sibrel, a Nashville-based videographer who claims that the six Apollo Moon landings in the 1960s and 1970s were elaborate hoaxes. Sibrel made this video as a follow-up to his 2001 video A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Moon, which accuses NASA of falsifying the Apollo 11 mission photography. The title of the presentation is a wordplay on the Girls Gone Wild video series.
The notion that the Apollo Moon landings were hoaxes perpetrated by NASA and other agencies has appeared many times in popular culture. Not all references to Moon landing conspiracy theories are in support of them, but the ideas expressed in them have become a popular meme to reference, both in humor and sincerity.
Apollo 11 is a television docudrama film which aired on November 17, 1996 on The Family Channel. It was nominated for a Primetime Emmy.
The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting occurred on December 14, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut. The perpetrator, Adam Lanza, fatally shot his mother before murdering 20 students and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School, and later committed suicide. A number of fringe figures have promoted conspiracy theories that doubt or dispute what occurred at Sandy Hook. Various conspiracy theorists have claimed, for example, that the massacre was actually orchestrated by the U.S. government as part of an elaborate plot to promote stricter gun control laws.
Unidentified flying objects have been reported by astronauts while in space. These sightings have been claimed as evidence for extraterrestrial life by ufologists.
Apollo 11 was the first human spaceflight to land on the Moon. In the decades after its 1969 mission took place, widespread celebrations have been held to celebrate its anniversaries.
One of these conspiracy theorists is Bart Winfield Sibrel, and he's made a film based on video evidence he claims the Moon landing never happened.
Bart Sibrel, 37, of Nashville, Tenn., says he plans to file a criminal assault complaint against the 72-year-old astronaut and will sue him for civil damages.
Pulling off the hoax would be harder than pulling off the reality. Footage from the moon shows astronauts bounding in low gravity, and dust kicked up then moving as if in a vacuum. On Apollo 15 an astronaut memorably dropped a feather and hammer together. They hit the ground at the same time, as Galileo predicted they would without atmosphere. They also moved slower than they would have in Earth's gravity. If the landings really were hoaxed, they were a technological achievement more impressive than going to the Moon. Ironically, only today do we have the CGI technology to make such a convincing spoof.