On 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 landing, here's why 'moon truthers' still exist

This Saturday marks the 50th anniversary of when the Apollo 11 first touched down on the moon, securing the United States’ spot as the winner of fiercely competitive “space race.” But despite impenetrable proof that the landing itself happened, many still use the day as a way to perpetuate conspiracy theories.

This “moon truther” movement, as it’s called, has gained momentum in recent years, with one Gallup poll finding that six percent of Americans believe the moon landing was faked. Marcus Allen is the U.K. publisher of a conspiracy-based magazine and is one in a minority of people who believe the landing was a hoax.

“I do not believe that a human has landed on the moon, let alone in 1969,” Allen tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “The technology did not exist then and it does not exist now to enable humans to safely land on the lunar surface and return to earth.” Allen, who watched the landing himself as a kid, says his argument boils down to three things: “rockets, radiation and re-entry.”

Allen says he doesn’t think the rockets were “powerful enough to launch into earth orbit,” that humans weren’t able to be “protected” from the radiation, and that there wasn’t enough of a “heat shield” to complete re-entry. Many news organizations, along with the U.S. government and NASA, have provided further proof dispelling claims like Allen’s, but his mission to prove them false continues.

But even Allen can understand why the event itself captivates the nation. “We really want to believe this — the whole society wants to believe this because if it’s true, it’s an incredible achievement.”

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

• 11 Ways Mercury Retrograde Seriously Messes With Your Relationships

• Your Mercury in Leo Horoscope, Or How to Spend Your Last Hurrah Before Retrograde

• Mercury retrograde is back again and this astrologer thinks it’s here to help