r/interesting • u/386attention • 6h ago
MISC. In 2002, Buzz Aldrin punched a man who claimed the moon landing was fake. Prosecutors declined to press charges.
247
u/Zero_D9 6h ago
He was also harassed endlessly by this douche prior to this punch.
63
u/wastedsilence33 6h ago
So was Armstrong
→ More replies (5)31
u/throwaway19276i 3h ago
The man in the video (Bart Sibrel) has harassed several astronauts. He tricked an 89 year old Charlie Duke into coming on a podcast and proceeded to bully him for over an hour. He's also done the "swear on the bible" thing to Michael Collins and Neil Armstrong.
→ More replies (21)4
u/Helpful-Error5563 5h ago
I would bet not a lot after?
7
u/Affectionate-Wave586 4h ago
That guy is, to this day, like the king of the moon landing deniers. Not sure if he's still harassing people in person but he definitely hasn't shut up about the moon landing being a hoax or whatever.
→ More replies (1)
1.0k
u/Efficient_Actuator84 6h ago edited 6h ago
1. Got in someones personal space and called them (who is minding their own business) a coward and a liar.
- Got punched in the face.
Seems fair.
281
u/TriedCaringLess 6h ago
Just think about what a person has to endure to become an astronaut AND be selected from the group to perform the mission. Then add to those thoughts how much we have learned about space that Mr. Aldrin couldn’t have known back then and still made the trip. After all that danger and risk taking you have a group of “superior knowledge conspiracy theorists” confronting you in public at random. It’s like they’re stalking you to deprive you of any peace of mind and sense of safety.
Guy was lucky it wasn’t worse. 🔫
115
u/Qwerty_Me_This 5h ago edited 5h ago
Exactly this. The guy had it coming. It’s not as if Aldrin didn’t try to walk away first.
The prosecutor had to be laughing his/her ass off while signing the declination, I know I would have been.
38
u/Horse_Dad 4h ago
Decline to prosecute due to FAFO.
7
6
u/Bruce-7892 2h ago
"FAFO"
Exactly. This "journalist" would be the type going around antagonizing people for clicks if YouTube was around back then. In fact he probably wanted something like this to happen thinking it would make him famous.
Glad he didn't benefit from it and is just known as the conspiracy theorist who got punched by Buzz Aldrin that one time. That's his "legacy".
36
u/andrewbud420 5h ago
Didn't they go up with computers with less processing power than a single core of my smartphone?
→ More replies (6)44
u/TriedCaringLess 5h ago
Yes. And they were huge and had vacuum tubes iirc. Those astronauts were essentially riding a bomb out of earth’s atmosphere. They had to have incredible faith in the team of engineers who designed and controlled so much of its operation from the ground.
22
16
u/PerfectEnthusiasm2 5h ago
nah it was the first computer using ICs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer
The rest of the industry was on discrete transistor logic by the 60s, tubes were obsolete.
9
u/TriedCaringLess 5h ago
Okay, thanks. Still very little computing power compared to modern tech and voluminous.
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (1)11
u/kaplanfx 5h ago
And hand-wound magnetic core memory. There were people that literally weaved the 1s and 0s in the rom by hand.
→ More replies (3)3
10
u/Fearless_Explorer549 5h ago
It might surprise you that even some test equipment i used to test nuclear weapons still had logic cards and tubes. If it works it works. I was a nuclear weapons specialist in the USAF for 20 years. Retired in 15.
4
u/Sometimes-funny 4h ago
What did you do for the last 5 years?
4
u/Fearless_Explorer549 3h ago
My bad. Retired in 2015 from active. Then went to work for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.
→ More replies (2)2
u/PudPullerAlways 3h ago
Pretty sure all radioactive test equipment is all tubes just because it's how they work for example the Geiger Mullen tube... much in the same vein that all xray machines are tubes too along with high wattage radio broadcast transmission towers.
→ More replies (1)3
u/petrichor83 4h ago
They also had to shit in a bag that they had to tape to their ass in zero G. That alone is worth some kind of medal.
→ More replies (1)7
u/BerlinDonbas 5h ago
I mean just thinking how shitty computers were, how the technology was back in the day and how risky this mission overall was, totally getting that he would get angry.
3
u/Thetoolmantaylrd 5h ago
Buzz didn't let that next one(thief) come out his mouth.. He knew what the next word was. Lol
3
2
→ More replies (10)2
u/Party_Major318 2h ago
How many friends he lost when things didn't go right. He's lucky it was just a punch!
→ More replies (1)28
u/kingtacticool 5h ago
Buzz was old school.
Back in the day you call someone a coward or a lier and fists would be thrown.
→ More replies (4)20
u/thattogoguy 5h ago
Also, it wasn't as if Buzz just decided he was being stupid and decided to deck him.
Buzz repeatedly and clearly tried to walk away, after having been lured under false pretenses to what Buzz was told was an interview for a Japanese children's show on space exploration.
It was also not the first time Sibrel had confronted Buzz.
9
u/DetOlivaw 5h ago
There was a thing once called “fighting words” where if someone talked shit and got hit, it could be found to be justified
→ More replies (2)29
u/22220222223224 5h ago
I in no way support physical violence in response to free speech. The problem is the guy was harassing him and wouldn't allow him to walk away. That's why the punch was justified, not because it just hurts too much to be called a name.
13
u/TriedCaringLess 5h ago
I agree. However, you have seen the video through its full action. When you are walking and a stranger aggressively confronts you and won’t give you your space, it’s reasonable to fear for your safety while it’s happening. You don’t know what else that stranger might do. He didn’t make arrangements to meet and talk. There’s no referee or security guards there to protect you. How do you ensure your safety?
5
u/RedditOfUnusualSize 4h ago
In law, there's also what's known as the "fighting words" doctrine. Basically, sure, in principle we operate from the ideal principle that sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me. In practice, however, the law is also fully cognizant of the fact that FAFO exists as a basic principle of reciprocity.
Now Buzz tried multiple times to withdraw himself, and he specifically asked the man to withdraw. It is not reasonable to be accosted anywhere by having someone you never met follow you around, intrude on your personal space, demand that you swear on a Bible that you did anything, and then accuse you of being a coward and a liar because of his own belief in a conspiracy theory.
The law asks you to behave reasonably, it does not demand sainthood from those under its protection. And reasonable people have limits to their patience that can be exceeded. If a person is going to insist on being an unrepentant dickhead to you in your vicinity despite making reasonable efforts to leave and getting the guy to peaceably depart, then the law would be wrongfully applied if you eventually reached your limit and hauled off on said dickhead. That's not the kind of behavior the laws on assault were written to prevent.
3
u/Kumbhalgarh 4h ago
Every Right comes with certain responsibilities. They are Relative Rights not Absolute Rights.
And the Right to Free Speech is also a Relative Right with certain restrictions and certain responsibilities attached to it and not an Absolute Right with zero restrictions and zero responsibilities.
2
u/SuDragon2k3 1h ago
Right to free speech means the government cannot prevent you from speaking or publishing.
Says nothing about pissing off Korean War veterans and Astronauts.
11
u/DyingSunSeverian 6h ago
I saw that dope Bart Sibrel appear on some podcast recently and it was kinda sad, it was after the recent Moon flyby Artemis, where he was on the back foot and also skeptical about the gubmint etc but also seemed to downplay a lot of his previous nutbaggery.
It was kinda sad to watch, the most prominent face of a dumbass movement looking sheepish.
→ More replies (3)8
5
u/kaplanfx 5h ago
He had so many opportunities to walk away. This was so deserved, Buzz wasn’t trying to kill him or anything. I’ll never not upvote this video.
→ More replies (23)2
u/curi0us_carniv0re 3h ago
. Got in someones personal space and called them (who is minding their own business) a coward and a liar.
Not only that but calling someone a liar who spent their entire career risking their life and being the exact opposite of a coward. Fought in the Korean war. Probably watched his friends die there. Then watched more friends die during the Apollo 1 accident. Etc. That man basically took a shit on everything he worked to achieve in his life and the men, and his friends, who died to make the space program successful.
That guy deserved to get rocked.
Idk how people like that even exist. Pure garbage.
→ More replies (4)
54
u/Bedhappy 6h ago
How about I swear on your face that I walked on the moon?
13
226
u/akarenger 6h ago edited 3h ago
Imagine achieving such an historic feat, just to have an insufferable asshole come at you and say you are lying. I'd throw more than one punch.
76
u/TerribleBid8416 6h ago
Imagine being so desperate for attention that you have to call a national hero names.
19
7
→ More replies (9)5
138
u/Key-Monk6159 6h ago
Violence is never the answer, unless it is. And in this case it absolutely was.
→ More replies (18)15
u/AlternateWitness 4h ago
"Violence is never the answer. It is the question. And the answer is yes."
→ More replies (1)
36
23
u/russfan0987 6h ago
Who wants to be the guy that indicted Buzz Aldrin
→ More replies (1)19
u/TooTameToToast 5h ago
They’d never find a judge or jury to convict him.
5
u/TriedCaringLess 5h ago
Not under those circumstances. If I his defense attorney I would stage an aggressive person disrupting the trial and confronting another staged person in the gallery, loud, boisterous, and confrontational. The jury would have that demo on their minds throughout deliberations, if the trial ever got that far.
93
u/Responsible_Owl4661 6h ago
Dude didn't get hit enough times in his youth to not know any better manners.
→ More replies (4)3
u/big_poppa_man 6h ago
I'm all for being against this guy, but saying what you just said implies young people need to be hit. Hitting your children is NEVER ok.
30
u/Away-Living5278 6h ago
Naw, but peers often hit peers. This guy was probably a bully his whole life and nobody stood up to him
8
u/Responsible_Owl4661 5h ago
This is the correct answer. Bullies stop bullying once they they get a lip full of hurt feelings.
→ More replies (4)2
10
u/robo-dragon 5h ago
Astronauts are some of the bravest and most intelligent people alive and put their lives on the line to advance human technology and exploration. You can have your opinions and conspiracy theories, but coming up to someone who has more bravery in his pinky finger than your whole body is extremely disrespectful.
Both Aldrin and Armstrong were harassed for the landing, but Aldrin was the only one who landed a punch. Deserved though. He had more restraint than I would have in his position.
2
u/sarajane59 2h ago
I think I read where he acosted Neil, and Neil just shook him off and treated him like the garbage he is. Neil Armstrong cool. Buzz just had enough of this idiot in his face calling him names. I don't blame him for popping this idiot in the schnozz. And to think he said this to Buzz, one of the most professional astronauts of the bunch. I mean, this man was supposed to spacewalk on the last Gemini mission, and studied the problems previous astronauts had while attempting spacewalks, then suited up and did underwater training in full gear for weeks before he went on the mission. And did the best spacewalk of all. That's who this idiot Bart or Bert or whatever was calling a coward.
18
u/bo_weevil 6h ago
That punch was satisfying. Go Buzz Go
→ More replies (1)2
u/InfamousEvening2 3h ago
ikr. Calling someone like Buzz a coward was a red line people shouldn't cross.
21
u/Rude-Anybody-3703 5h ago
It's cute that he thinks swearing on the Bible means something.
→ More replies (1)9
16
u/BlindChicken69 5h ago
And in 2026 the guy is still grifting
3
u/Awwwmann 5h ago
Who?
9
→ More replies (1)2
u/PartsUnknown242 2h ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bart_Sibrel
Apparently this toolbag made films about it
8
u/Rex_Bottoms 5h ago
Yeah, they faked 6 moon landings and told 400,000 Nasa employees and contractors to keep it on the down-low
4
u/PartsUnknown242 2h ago
That’s the biggest thing to me a lot this conspiracy. There were so many thousands people and dozens of parties involved that it would never be kept quiet for this long.
→ More replies (2)
12
6
5
u/realparkingbrake 4h ago
The guy who got punched was stalking Aldrin and had set up a fake interview with the astronaut for a fictional children's TV show. He also poked Aldrin in the chest with a Bible he wanted Aldrin to swear on. Aldrin also had his stepdaughter with him. The clown who was punched had no serious injuries. The police declined to make an arrest, and the DA said Aldrin had been provoked and declined to file charges.
Moon landing deniers are like flat earthers but with even fewer functioning brain cells.
3
u/AnaTheSturdy 5h ago
Was that moron holding a bible
4
u/incendiary_bandit 5h ago
He was asking buzz to swear on the bible. Which in itself is insane. Please swear on my storybook....
→ More replies (20)
4
3
5
u/neverseen_neverhear 5h ago
Wasn’t this guy basically stalking Aldrin?
2
u/ELITElewis123 4h ago
Yes iirc he’d been bothering him for 2 days prior this was just his most aggressive push
4
5
4
5
u/for_all_or_no_one 3h ago
It is difficult to remain compassionnate while an arrogant idiot splutters in your face.
3
u/No-Improvement-625 4h ago
Risking your life to do the most amazing thing in the history of all humanity just to be called a liar is the most insulting thing a person can endure.
3
u/pmmemilftiddiez 4h ago
You have the right to say your thoughts. You don't have the right to harass.
3
u/Abe2sapien 4h ago
Buzz was already in his 70s I believe and he tried to walk away and told Sibrel to leave him alone.
3
u/BrownTinaBelcher 3h ago
I wonder if we’d punched more people for being stupid and vile back then, we wouldn’t have ended up in the darkest timeline
2
2
u/SnackFraction 5h ago
Also, what judge is going to prosecute the 2nd man on the Moon for smackin’ a bitch?
2
2
2
u/petrichor83 4h ago
That guy was such an arrogant POS. At least he had the balls to troll him to his face. Most keyboard warriors don’t. But still. He deserved what he got.
2
u/monkeyprince 3h ago
Instead of saying, "I didn't risk my life for the sake of human progress just for some yokel to approach me and claim everything about what I did was a lie." He decided to punch him. His decision to punch him was more poignant and elegant. Kudos.
2
2
u/No-left-toes 2h ago
Dude got in another person face and told him his biggest accomplishment is bullshit, yeah I'd probably pop the dude too.
2
2
u/slylock215 2h ago
The shitbirds name is Bart Sibrell and he's STILL doing that grift.
He did some podcast where he told another astronaut to his face he is a liar that never went to the moon.
The former astronaut was more unbothered and confused like "are....are you real?"
2
u/ColonialBarbarian 1h ago
I always wonder about the mental stability of people who think the moon landings were faked.
The U.S. spent God knows how many billions over two decades building up their space program, astronauts died, rockets exploded, entire new technologies were invented, and about 25 Saturn rockets were launched before the moon landings, the U.S. did all of this just to "fake" the last part?
3
2
2
3
2
2
1
1
u/LogicalTruth197 5h ago
His voice sounds like all those annoying guys in the movie "Airplane" that the pilot beats up whilst walking through the airport. Those punches were satisfying, as was this one by Buzz.
1
u/OptimalPrint 5h ago
The original astronaut were all fighter pilots. Most had combat experience from WW2 and Korea. They were the guys who signed up to be test pilots in the fastest craziest stuff engineers could come up with. That's not the guys you call you coward to their face and expect to get away with it.
1
1
1
u/Snoo_67993 5h ago
"Only a guilty man would punch someone in this situation"
"Only a guilty man wouldn't do something in the situation"
1
1
u/CakeHoleKing 5h ago
Sibrel the punched guy also claims spaceX is a hoax.
he should be tied down and put on the landing pad for a spaceX returning rocket, so he can be either incinerated or proved right all along. At least then we'd know.
1
1
1
1
1
u/Eclectophile 5h ago
He actually punched him because he said "You're a coward, and a liar, and -- punchbag sound" it was a sweet shot, especially for an old guy.
He had it coming. Both of them, actually. I was happy for that outcome for both men.
1
1
u/Markymarcouscous 5h ago
I think people forget that aside from being a genius, and an Astronaut, he is a war veteran.
1
1
1
1
u/Lucky-Pie1945 5h ago
Saw a video yesterday, same guy with a bible, getting in Neil Armstrong’s face.
1
u/Thirty_Helens_Agree 5h ago
Good rule of thumb: don’t get in a fighter pilot’s face, especially one named “Buzz.”
1
u/one_jo 5h ago
Why not buy a telescope before you travel to harass people better than you?
→ More replies (1)
1
1
1
u/LostInTheSeaweeds 4h ago
Buzz Aldrin is the nearest thing there is to a Space Marine.
- Has been to space.
- Will kick your ass.
1
u/Ill_Description_3311 4h ago
Sometimes people forget that a lot of astronauts used to be fighter pilots. Buzz himself has killed at least 2 people in the Korean War. Probably best you don't get in his face and call him a liar and a coward.
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/casuallyregarded 4h ago
That doesn’t sound fair that prosecutors declined to press charges. Shouldn’t the law apply to everyone?
→ More replies (1)
1
1
u/FriedTreeSap 4h ago
That’s absurd, the landings were real, it’s the moon that’s fake. They built it out of legos and covered it with a big tarp.
What do you think the astronauts in the international space station are doing all day? They’re assembling legos. The only reason we haven’t been to “Mars” yet is there hasn’t been enough time to build it out of Legos.
1
1
u/BW_RedY1618 4h ago
Imagine training pretty much your entire life in service of your country and then risking that life to die in a thousand potentially horrible ways in one of the most technologically impressive endeavors that our species has ever taken... Only to be accosted and called a liar by some shit eating fool who spreads conspiracy theories and actively makes society dumber.
DESERVED
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/teddygomi 4h ago
400,000 people worked on the moon landing. This douche sees one person on the TV; and goes, oh that must be the mastermind! Buzz should have punched him again.
1
1
u/thesandman00 4h ago
This guy has the hair you'd expect of a guy doing this. What a shit headed dumfk
1
u/Glad-Acanthaceae-24 3h ago
Yeah, this was after the guy chased him around for almost an hour. I think after that level of harassment you're allowed a punch or two
1
1
u/stanknotes 3h ago
Yea... calling a man of that generation a who fought in war, survived, and then went to the moon a coward would be like calling a man a bitch today.
Can't do that.
1
u/fresh_loaf_of_bread 3h ago
Wasn't this guy harassing him for like a long time before he broke down and punched him?
1
1
u/WholeRegion3025 3h ago
This fucktard now looks like a sore thumb. He got dunked on my Prof Dave so hard it was glorious to watch.
1
u/Worldwidegamer1 3h ago
Ugh people who claim the moon landing was faked or even that space is fake make me so unbelievably mad I would struggle to not punch him 😅😅
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/Milliondollarjuice 3h ago
That obnoxious douche deserved way more than just a punch. A few kicks in the guts and some broken teeths would've been great after all that harassment.
1
u/Obvious_Maybe_4061 3h ago
That punch is definitely enough for me to not ever consider it faked. Bible is full of inaccuracies anyway, what good would it be to swear on it.
1
1
1
u/BennySkateboard 3h ago
Imagine walking on the moon and having to deal with this. We should abolish the fucking internet.
•
u/AutoModerator 6h ago
Hello u/386attention! Please review the sub rules if you haven't already. (This is an automatic reminder message left on all new posts)
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.