Category: Space & Aerospace

• The Phobos 2 Attack (1989)

  A Soviet-era space conspiracy theory claiming that the Phobos 2 probe was attacked or destroyed near Mars after transmitting unusual imagery, especially an image interpreted by some viewers as a long cylindrical object or anomalous shadow. In this reading, the loss of contact signaled hostile action by an unknown Martian defense system rather than an onboard failure.

• The Moon Landing Tape Deletion

  A late-1980s and later rumor claiming that NASA erased or lost the original high-quality Apollo 11 moonwalk tapes in order to conceal evidence visible in the unconverted footage, often described as unusual objects, structures, or signs of alien activity on the lunar surface. The disappearance of the tapes became, in conspiracy telling, part of the evidence rather than an archival failure.

• The Star Wars Laser Test and Challenger

  A Cold War conspiracy theory claiming that Challenger was accidentally struck by a Strategic Defense Initiative ground-based laser or related directed-energy test. In this version, the shuttle disaster was not caused by a booster joint failure but by an SDI weapons experiment that intersected the launch trajectory and was then concealed beneath the official accident report.

• The Teacher in Space Sabotage

  A conspiracy theory alleging that the Space Shuttle Challenger was intentionally sabotaged in order to kill Christa McAuliffe, the first selected Teacher in Space, and use the highly public disaster to overwhelm media attention surrounding a separate government scandal. In many retellings, McAuliffe’s civilian status is treated as the key reason the mission was chosen as a sacrificial public spectacle.