NOW / THE POLLS
How many people doubt the landings, from 1995 to today.
RECORD / AT A GLANCE
DOCUMENTED
American polls have consistently found about 5–6% saying the landing was staged. Questions that allow “not sure” find more doubt, especially among younger adults.
THE EVENTS / THE CLAIM / THE RECORD
July 1995
6% say the landing was staged.
July 1999
6% say staged, 89% real, 5% no opinion.
February 2001
Fox says doubt rose to about 20% after its special; we found no poll behind the figure.
June 2019
6% say staged, 78% say the US landed.
July 2019
About one in five are “not at all sure” it happened.
READ THE FILE
Millions of people doubt it.
Steady at about 6%.
Open an article for its evidence, labeled AI assessment and numbered sources. Read the complete static edition ↗
WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT THIS FILE
3 claims people make about this file, each rated documented, partly true, disputed, unproven or false. Think a rating is wrong? Use Dispute or Support, or join the Discussion.
Gallup 1999 and later polls agree.
Who says it: Gallup, AP.
YouGov found more doubt among the under-50s.
Who says it: YouGov.
Most polls find about one in twenty.
Who says it: Headlines.
OPEN THE RECORD
Numbered citations in each article identify the relevant sources. These records have different purposes and evidentiary weight.
Online poll: about one in five Americans “not at all sure” it happened; more doubt among under-50s.
Associated Press story, reprinted. Quotes historian Roger Launius on the flag, stars and shadows.
Gallup poll, 13–14 July 1999: 6% said the landing was staged, 89% said it was real. Also reports a 1995 TIME/CNN result.
Poll roundup by a public-opinion specialist: Ipsos/C-SPAN 2019 (6% staged) and CBS (68% watched).
Magazine retrospective. Quotes Fox’s own claim of about 15 million viewers, as reported in 2002.
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Millions of people doubt it.
Even 6% of American adults is well over ten million people. A 2019 YouGov poll found that one in five Americans were not at all sure the landing happened, with more doubt among younger adults. [1][2]
Online poll: about one in five Americans “not at all sure” it happened; more doubt among under-50s.
Associated Press story, reprinted. Quotes historian Roger Launius on the flag, stars and shadows.
Steady at about 6%.
Gallup’s July 1999 poll found 6% said the government staged the landing, 89% said it did not, and 5% had no opinion. A TIME/CNN poll four years earlier found the same 6%. Gallup noted that about that many people in a typical poll agree with almost any question. [1]
The Associated Press reported in 2019 that polls have “consistently shown 5–6 percent” believe it was faked. [2] An Ipsos/C-SPAN poll that June found 6% staged and 78% real. [3]
YouGov’s 2019 poll found one in five “not at all sure”, and those alive in 1969 were 30 points more likely to say a fake was “definitely” not true. [4] Fox’s 2001 claim of 20% doubt is not backed by a published poll. [5]
What we can’t tell you. Poll wording matters. “Not sure” is not the same as “faked.”
Gallup poll, 13–14 July 1999: 6% said the landing was staged, 89% said it was real. Also reports a 1995 TIME/CNN result.
Associated Press story, reprinted. Quotes historian Roger Launius on the flag, stars and shadows.
Poll roundup by a public-opinion specialist: Ipsos/C-SPAN 2019 (6% staged) and CBS (68% watched).
Online poll: about one in five Americans “not at all sure” it happened; more doubt among under-50s.
Magazine retrospective. Quotes Fox’s own claim of about 15 million viewers, as reported in 2002.
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