Bart Sibrel vs Charlie Duke

 

The Danny Jones Podcast has just hosted a debate on the moon landings that's almost four hours long. It is truly unique because it features Bart Sibrel, one of the world's leading moon landing conspiracy researchers, but also one of the astronauts themselves, Charlie Duke. The last time Bart confronted an actual Apollo astronaut it was Buzz Aldrin and he punched Bart in the face, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr6Vcvl0OeU. This time the two men sit down at a table with Danny and have a strictly non-violent confrontation. Charlie Duke is one of only four surviving Apollo astronauts and was one of the Apollo 16 lunar module crew who landed on the moon on April the 20th 1972, supposedly. He was the tenth man who is claimed walked on the moon and was the youngest ever, aged thirty-six. He opens his contribution by giving his curriculum vitae, from his days as a test pilot to joining NASA's astronaut corps to his alleged mission to the moon. Bart presents his evidence against the reality of Project Apollo vigorously and without apology. He does not tone down his indictment one iota because he is in the presence of one of the men he is accusing. As somebody who has followed his work and that of the other Apollo Detectives I'm already familiar with his case and discussed them personally in my own interview with him, see: https://hpanwo-radio.blogspot.com/2023/01/programme-491-podcast-bart-sibrel.html. Charlie remains completely calm and respectful for the entire show, but does not seriously refute Bart's assertions. He merely replies over and over again: "But I did go to the moon." "What is the point of this discussion? Are you saying we didn't go to the moon?" The answer to that is obvious and indeed Charlie knows Bart well. Bart has confronted him publicly and privately many times since he began his investigation in the late 1990's. Duke also keeps asking: "Where did all the moon rocks come from if we didn't bring them back?" Again, this point has been addressed several times by Marcus Allen, Jarrah White and the other Apollo investigators. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMn6sI4X66s. Danny did a good job as a moderator and made a transparent effort to avoid saying anything biased. I was glad the debate remained on a civilized level, but I was actually disappointed Charlie didn't put up more of a fight; after all, he is being personally impugned here. I would welcome a spirited dissent on this matter and I expect Bart would too. This subject has caused more contention in the online conspirasphere and skeptisphere than almost any other. Debates like the one we had with "Blue Earth Thing", see background link below, are commonplace. Threads hundreds of posts long sprout overnight like bamboo under every social media post on this subject. The commentariat has responded in a form that has not changed much in the last thirty years. There has been very little rational rebuttal and more a sense that the whole affair was simply immoral. The word "disrespectful" has been used a lot. The general consensus is that Danny Jones did something bad by hosting this debate and that it was somehow unfair on Charlie. Despite the fact that Bart is by nature one of the most belligerent people on the scene, for more so than I would have been, I don't think he did anything wrong. He delivered facts in his own way and invited Charlie to do the same. Patrick from Vetted is clearly angry about this. Although he attempts to discredit Bart by pointing out a couple of his errors, he does not address Bart's main points, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRP7_Ns6bbk. I'm a fan of Patrick; as regulars know, I met him a few months ago and recorded a brief interview, see: https://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2025/06/ben-in-desert-2.html. Patrick's commentary on UFOlogy is excellent and he is sincere in his beliefs, but I suspect this is the first time he has come across the moon landing controversy. I expect this overlap will widen because UFO's and space exploration are intimately connected. I enjoyed Bart's new wrangle and I'm glad Danny arranged it. Possibly Charlie Duke was the wrong interlocutor though. Perhaps because of his advanced age, he is ninety; one of the space skeptics would have been better, like James Oberg or Jay Windley. Those men would also disarm the accusations of disrespect. Well done to Bart for a good performance. Hopefully the audience will want to learn more and question more.
See here for more information: https://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2020/12/moon-landing-portal.html.