Tuesday, November 30, 2010

The Wrath of Buzz

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Late Breaking NOT NEWS! The Apollo Hoax accusations are being kept alive for another generation to enjoy. What a relief. And here I was afraid the children born in the 21st century wouldn't be able to engage in a good moon landing debate.

While browsing the lively and droll headlines on my favorite not-news site, Fark.com, I found a link to the Cinema Blend web site, which was promoting a SyFy Channel show called Fact Or Faked Paranormal Files.

FARK
I am not sure what this has to do with the paranormal, but their young cast decided to film a Lunar Landing Hoax episode, which will investigate the Apollo 15 mission from July of 1971. Tune in Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 10/9c on Syfy to see their Red Bull-sponsored conclusions.

Fact or faked? Hammers vs. feathers? We'll see how well they understand physics and re-create lunar gravity.

Of course, half the fun of finding any kind of space news on FARK is the ensuing verbal tempest in their forums. Here are some of the choice comments that followed the publishing of the Syfy link:

YoMammaObama:
The only way I'll watch [this show on Syfy] is if Buzz comes in and punches every one of these farkers in the nose.

SiYkO:
"Well, we weren't able to replicate it... but that doesn't mean they couldn't have. Inconclusive."
"Well, we were able to replicate it... but that doesn't mean they did. Inconclusive."

Talos:
Already been done by the Myth Busters. (yawn)

Thamike:
Ghosts are real, but nobody went to the moon. I've never seen a symbiosis of suspension of belief and disbelief so strong it could power a city.

DrBear:
Tomorrow: Obviously, nobody could carve a mountain; how Mount Rushmore was formed by natural erosion.

Lunar Landing Hoax?
Voiceofreason01:
You don't believe the Moon landing really happened? One of the most documented events in all of human history and you don't believe any of it because you think that all evidence is subjective.
/you fail science

sircedric4:
How do people justify the lack of a moon landing with this elephant in the room: Russia was a nation every bit as technologically capable as we were, who were in a race against what were enemies at the time. Do people honestly believe that the Russians couldn't track our radio signals, watch the ascent of our rockets with telescopes, even bounce their own lasers off our refractory mirrors? I assure you had we faked it, they would have been able to tell and would have yelled it from the moon themselves that we were liars!

Gee, I remember saying something quite similar recently. Well okay, ranting something quite similar recently.

At the time I found this yesterday, there were 38 comments. I decided to be a spectator for awhile and see what unfolded. I don't actually have a login for FARK, because it's notorious for being wall-to-wall misogynist trolls, but I lurk and laugh quite frequently.

There are now over 200 comments, and like every other forum in existence on the internet, the discourse has degraded into The Tin Foil Hat Faction vs. The Science Geeks. Always Entertaining.