Even at his old age, Buzz still has a stratospheric right hook.
Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin showed exactly what he thought of conspiracy theorists who claim that the Apollo 11 moon landing was fake, when he punched one right between the eyes in public.
Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr cemented his name into the history books in 1969 when he became the second person ever to walk on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission.
Aldrin followed mission commander Neil Armstrong onto the lunar surface and the pair spent about two and a quarter hours together exploring the site they had named Tranquility Base upon landing.
While the Apollo 11 mission was considered not just one of the most groundbreaking moments in US history but in the history of the world, claims have been made since the mid-1970’s by conspiracy theorists who believe some or all elements of the event were hoaxes staged by NASA.
Buzz Aldrin decided enough was enough one day in September 2002, when one of these conspiracy theorists thought they could approach him and accuse him of being involved in the cover-up.
According to BBC News, Aldrin was walking outside a Beverly Hills hotel when a conspiracy theorist by the name of Bart Sibrel started harassing him and accusing him of lying about the Apollo 11 moon landing.
Incensed, Aldrin punched the heckler in the face.
“You’re the one who said you walked on the moon when you didn’t,” Sibrel told Aldrin as he walked by his filming crew outside the Luxe Hotel.
“Will you get away from me?” an irate Aldrin warned the man in the incident which was caught on video.
In honor of Buzz Aldrin's 93rd birthday, here he is punching a moon truther in the face: https://t.co/GfokwczjHi
— Angela Morabito (@AngelaLMorabito) January 20, 2023
Sibrel responded, “You’re a coward and a liar and a … ”
Aldrin, then 72, socked Sibrel in the jaw, right when he finished the sentence with “thief.”
During the widely reported incident, Sibrel—who had a reputation for badgering Apollo astronauts more than once—even shoved a Bible in Aldrin’s face and asked him to swear on it that the moon landing was real and that Aldrin actually walked on the lunar landscape.
Aldrin was lured to the hotel on the pretext of an interview for a children’s television show, and then Sibrel accosted him.
Sibrel tried to press assault charges against Aldrin, but the court threw out the case and called Sibrel the instigator.
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In a later conversation about the altercation with Fox News, Aldrin said: “I don’t pay any attention to them, really. They’re out for themselves to make a name.”
Former NASA employees, engineers, and astronauts have all consistently affirmed the authenticity of the Moon landings.
Even the Soviets, who closely monitored the U.S. space program during the Cold War, never disputed the event’s authenticity.
It would take a brave person to confront Aldrin again after what happened to Sibrel, even though the man is 94-years-old.
