Space is fake, claim sceptics, as online movement draws millions

PRECISELY 50 years ago, Apollo 9 took three astronauts into low Earth orbit, where two of them opened a hatch into the void to perform a spacewalk – a crucial step to the moon landings.

But today, a growing number of people insist that it never happened – not because of the decades-old conspiracy theory that the moon landings were hoaxed by Nasa, but because of an emerging belief that space itself is fake.

It is, inevitably, a predominantly online movement. Countless tweets, videos and blogs are winning huge audiences by lending credence to the idea that the entire architecture of our solar system is a fraud, rallying under the hashtagged banner: #spaceisfake.

One video shared on Youtube explaining the “space is fake” conspiracy has racked up 1.6 million views after being uploaded just two weeks ago.

Later this year, a “Globe Lie Convention” is due to take place over a series of weekends across Europe, from Kidderminster to Amsterdam, with attendees paying between £55 and £700 to hear speakers including the man behind an American Youtube channel known as “Paul on the Plane”, whose video series “Faking Space” has been watched millions of times.

‘What’s bringing people together is it’s not easy to share with friends because of the fear of being isolated’

“We are trying to make sense of the environment having discovered the globe model doesn’t stack up,” claims Robin Campbell, one of the organisers behind the convention.

The reality behind #spaceisfake is still being thrashed out by its adherents. One camp believes that space is merely an artificial light show projected above a flat plain. Another views Earth as disc-shaped, enclosed at the edges by an Antarctic ice wall with space a dome-like firmament sitting on top.

Such beliefs mark a radical departure from the widely accepted reality that the Earth is a sphere hurtling through the cosmos at 67,000mph.

Many scientists, understandably, are at a loss for words. Neil degrasse Tyson, the astrophysicist, has attempted to engage and debunk such theories.

When he points out that “we have video from space of the rotating spherical Earth”, #spaceisfakers claim the reality is Photoshopped nonsense.

The greater aims of the conspiracy are to uncover the supposed desire of elites to keep the masses subjugated due to the threat of alien invasion – something only possible if space exists.

“What’s bringing people together is that it’s not easy to share with friends and family for fear of being isolated,” says Campbell. “The growth of this movement is exponential.”