We Never Went to the Moon: America's Thirty Billion Dollar Swindle

by Bill Kaysing

This is the classic "We Never Went to the Moon" by Bill Kaysing, which kicked off the entire moon hoax craze of the 1970s. Bill Kaysing was head of the technical presentations unit at the Rocketdyne Propulsion Field Laboratory from 1956 to 1963. This period encompassed the major planning for the engine and components of the Apollo project. During this time, Kaysing held security clearances with the U.S. Air Force and the Atomic Energy Commission.

Genres: Nonfiction, Conspiracy Theories, Science

206 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1976

Reviews

[Robert Chapman · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this book for fun, sometimes it's enjoyable to see how convincing of a story an author can make against a mainstream belief.

This book was a total disaster, a jumble of disorganized thoughts and assumptions from one page to the next. This was evident very early in the book. Funny thing is, the author includes a letter at the end of the book which documents the exact reason I outlined above.

Don't waste your time on this one.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back when Obamacare was first made law, thousands of people were quickly hired but they had nothing to do. Some months later a whistleblower revealed they sat around and played board games all day.

In similar fashion, those who worked in Nevada on the Apollo space program took advantage of the government largesse and lack of supervision. If a man could steal away for a few hours with a lady friend, have a picnic lunch, and roll around in the bushes, why not? This was common practice. Kaysing describes one division that was supposed to be moved elsewhere to work on a different part of the project, but nobody took the initiative. So the employees just lounged around for months on the taxpayer dime waiting until somebody noticed.

The Apollo program had serious quality control issues through at least 1967, the year that Grissom et al burned alive on Pad 34. These issues were thoroughly documented by both Thomas Baron and Major General Samuel Phillips. They were also documented by astronaut Gus Grissom, but all his written records were stolen by the government from his home immediately after his death.

A significant portion of this book is dedicated to quoting excerpts from Baron's testimony before Congress combined with excerpts from Phillips' report. It is fascinating to see how members of Congress tried to intimidate, twist, and suppress Baron's testimony. Of course, we know that Baron and his wife were killed just 4 days after he testified; struck by a train in his car on a train track. Suspicious timing, isn't it? Baron's full 500-page report has never been released.

Kaysing takes a few bunny trails to talk about the sad state of American medicine, food, and education. He was a man wide awake back in the 1960s and 70s. I can't imagine how difficult that must have been. And here we are, 50+ years later and the masses are still alseep. Unbelievable.

Five stars for the content. There are nuggets of information in this book I've not encountered anywhere else. For example, the moon rocks have been proven fake in the years since Kaysing published his book. He suspected the moon rocks were fake (but had no proof in 1976), so he described the process by which they could have been created at NASA's facility for manufacturing ceramics.

Three stars for the reproduction of this book. It's done in black and white, and the reproduced pictures are not worth anything, really. They look mostly like smudges. However, the reproduced letters are legible, and it's fascinating to read them.

[Matthew · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well I figured if I'm going to spend a little time on addressing moon landing conspiracies, I may as well start at the source. Kaysing is the definition of making claims with no evidence and just "asking questions." This is about all I expected it would be.

[Mark Potts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally published in 1976, much of what is written here is still true 50 years later. If you are convinced that man did land on the moon in 1969, nothing is likely to persuade you otherwise. Unless, of course, you have doubts. Once you look into it in any detail you quickly see the holes in the official story. The more you look, the more you see. Eventually, the truth becomes clear. It's not pretty either. Look into it. See the truth for yourself.

[Tariel Yong · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a literal gem. Great book with minor references to other hidden agendas and U. S. propaganda besides the Apollo project.

But of course, this is one of the most journalistic and realistic view that inquires the truth on the cover subject.

I'm just glad that this book was successfully published.

(Summary Reader)

[Gus · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book could be considered the origin of many conspiracy theories about the Moon landing—or more precisely, about the alleged non-landing. In that sense, Bill Kaysing deserves the "credit" for having lit the fuse.

Beyond its content, the text can be read as an unintended sociological study: a clear example of how such theories easily take root among laypeople or those lacking the tools for serious critical analysis.

The book presents a torrent of speculative questions without foundation or evidence—questions whose answers require little more than a basic search and a bit of common sense. Yet perhaps more important than refuting each claim is to reflect on the troubling lack of critical skepticism across large segments of society.

This is dangerous ground: if we begin to question everything indiscriminately, what stops us from doubting the law of gravity, the existence of viruses…? What if those, too, are deceptions? This kind of thinking, more akin to a distorted form of postmodernism, reveals a deeper failure in education: critical thinking has not always been effectively taught.

[Matej yangwao · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book you need to take with pinch of salt.
With few definite contrary views.

Albeit, Apollo meant to be peace project, it opens few questions how real landing was and what was real purpose back then

>You cannot fool all the people all the time.

>Burning hundreds of pounds of propellants within a short time produces acoustic vibrations that can trigger resonance.

>The high level of noise causes anomalies in propellant burning. Standing waves with high kinetic content flash back and forth within the chamber. In seconds, these waves can concentrate high temperatures at some points within the rocket chamber, burning the walls and causing engine failure.

>It also allowed the present warfare state to maintain the economy without killing many people.

>The Apollo project was a replacement for war.

[Paul Kilfoil · Rating 1 out of 5]

Complete rubbish. This book is an early example of how idiocy and ignorance can make gullible people disbelieve scientific truth. The internet, of course, has given many thousands more people the opportunity to publish their ridiculous theories (to the detriment of human education and knowledge). At least back in the 1970s it required quite a bit of effort to write and publish a book, thereby denying the majority of conspiracy theorists any substantial following.

[Steven H · Rating 1 out of 5]

THE ORIGINAL "MOON LANDING HOAX" BOOK

Bill Kaysing has written a number of "freedom" books that question established values: e.g., 'Eat Well For 99 Cents a Meal,' 'Great Hideouts of the West: An Idea Book for Living Free,' 'How to live in the new America,' 'Bill Kaysing's Freedom Encyclopedia,' etc.

He explains the origin of the book thusly: "During the summer of 1969, I was living in a small house on the beach of Santa Barbara... But despite a seven year stint at Rocketdyne, the firm that built the main propulsion units for Apollo, I could not work up the least interest in the entire astrophysical circus... I decided I did not believe that Armstrong, Collins and Aldrin or anyone else was going to the moon. And consequently, I could not generate the least enthusiasm for watching a phony performance." (Pg. 7)

He continues, "As the years passed, I found myself comparing the Apollo flights to many other incidents in American life. Watergate was an outstanding example... The energy 'crisis' was another Apollo simulation... Now was the time to ask some questions of NASA... like, why didn't the astronauts make some visible signal from the moon?... Why is it that NASA's Apollo records are not classified, but are also not available to the general public?... Why did so many astronauts end up as executives of large corporations? Was this their real reward for the moon 'trip'?... Eight astronauts died in non-space accidents: were they all accidents?... What proof do we have that they are actually rocks from the moon?" (Pg. 7-8)

He admits that the launches were real ("After all, if people could drive to the Cape, park and see an immense rocket lift itself off the pad, was this not the ultimate proof that a trip was, indeed, being made to the moon itself?"; pg. 63). He summarizes, "as astropolitics, as a justification for great expenditures, and finally, as a military venture, the Apollo project looms as a most formidable entity. It is understandable why... to this day, there is virtually nothing available to dispute the hoax. Nothing, that is, until this book was written." (Pg. 72) He also notes that after writing the book in 1974, a short paragraph was included in the Zodiac News Service in San Francisco, after which "I did a total of 52 live and taped shows, including one on 'Tomorrow' with Tom Snyder." (Pg. 74)

The book is long on speculative questions, and short on genuine evidence. Caveat emptor!

[Jordan]

read this book because i am a poet interested in the concept of belief and how humans understand and internalize science. this book is fascinating not because it makes a good (or even half-decent) case that the moon landing was a hoax, but because the author’s understanding of the motives of the government and disbelief of media narratives is a peek into the logic of a human mind trying to makes sense of our increasingly complex world. the line between conspiracy theorist and educated skeptic is often invisible to the naked eye, as both are people who question the narratives constructed for us (the mass public) by power. the two individuals diverge only in how they react to this skepticism: one does so by deconstructing narratives through nuanced analysis, the other simply writes over one unbelievable story with an equally unbelievable one.

[Lis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un libro interessante, sebbene scritto non benissimo.
Sicuramente non dà nessuna certezza, ma i dubbi che solleva sono interessanti e apparentemente ben documentati.

[Lashawn · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book has some intriguing pictures and text, but it failed to convince me. The author seems to veer off topic and discuss issues unrelated to the veracity of the moon landings.