Did Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin actually walk on the moon? Can we ever truly know?

Conspiracy theories are of great interest to many people. People want to know if Lee Harvey Oswald actually shot John F. Kennedy, or if the Illuminati is actually real. But why are conspiracy theories so intriguing?

First and foremost, it is because these theories cater to our desire for mystery. Especially in American pop culture, we crave mystery. One of the most popular shows on TV right now is "Sherlock," about a detective who is constantly trying to solve mysteries. Mystery novels are very popular among many groups of people. People strive to know secrets and find out the truth behind things, but the mystery is what makes the search for truth worth it.

With conspiracy theories, we have no way of knowing the truth. I think that is what makes them so compelling to so many people. While we are seeking the truth, we never quite get there.

Now you may be saying, "But we have proof of the moon landing, how could you possibly say it was faked?"

Well, that's another thing about conspiracy theories. With technology these days, information could be doctored. With technology when the moon landing happened, it would have been a lot harder. But some conspiracy theories confirm others. For example, the idea that the government has been hiding technology from us for an extended amount of time could confirm that the moon landing footage was doctored. We, as normal civilians, could never actually know whether or not Armstrong and Aldrin were told to lie about the moon landing. Maybe they were part of some elaborate plan to trick us all.

The moon landing could have been faked for a variety of reasons: the government wanted to prove they were better than other governments; NASA wanted to give us something to be proud of; or maybe people were ashamed of not going to the moon yet, so they faked it. We cannot really prove a reason for the moon landing being faked any more than we can prove the moon landing actually happened.

Conspiracy theories are hard to disprove mostly because a majority of the time the information that we have about the situation is either limited or privileged information. We can't confirm because we do not know the whole process of what is happening. It is a mystery that we may never know, especially after the people involved have passed away.

Another major reason conspiracy theories may be so intriguing is that it distracts us from actual truth. While sometimes truth is good to know, sometimes we would prefer not to know. Thinking that the moon landing was faked is a good distraction from things like war and famine - it keeps our minds occupied in times of hardship. Thinking that the Illuminati exists gives us reasons to excuse the way that celebrities act. Conspiracy theories distract us and also let us push blame onto others.

Most of all, though, I think conspiracy theories are so compelling because they are so outrageous. They are so impossible that they, in an odd sense, seem possible. They are fun ways to escape from truths, and they keep so many people interested in the world around them in interesting ways.

So, did we ever land on the moon? I guess we'll never know.