Moon Landing Conspiracy "Not Entirely Unconvincing"

Does the Times have a weakness for left-wing conspiracy theories? Mike Hale is unable to totally dismiss a TruTV documentary, "Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the Moon?"

Is Times television reviewer Mike Hale not entirely convinced that the Apollo 11 moon landing really happened?


Hale, who is usually pushing government-run health careunder the guise of reviewing TV documentaries, dipped his toe in that polluted water at the end of his Monday review of channels marking the 40th anniversary of the moon-landing, "To the Moon, Buzz! Commemorating Apollo at 40."


Turner Classic Movies covers all the bases, showing one of the most honored documentaries about the Apollo program, "For All Mankind," as well as Philip Kaufman's vibrant drama about the Mercury program, "The Right Stuff." These films are part of an all-day marathon of Moon movies beginning with "They Came From Beyond Space."


The Turner marathon ends at 3:45 a.m. Tuesday with the infamous "Capricorn One," which imagines the American government faking a mission to Mars. That notion started with the Moon missions of course. For a comprehensive (and not entirely unconvincing) presentation of the case, you can check out "Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the Moon?" on TruTV.


Back in June 2006, the Times gave left-wing 9-11 conspiracy theorists a respectful hearing in a story by Alan Feuer.


By contrast, right-wing conspiracists who thought thatClinton aide Vince Foster's suicide was actually murder werelabeled "haters" in ClintonCrazy," a9,000-word New York Times Magazine story by Philip Weiss from February 1997.