At best, the astronauts simply orbited the earth a few times and came back. At worst, they never left the earth and instead headed straight to the Nevada studio. The embattled Nasa spokesman who was asked to rebut the claims on air was left groping for words. Subsequent demolitions of the Fox evidence appeared on Nasa's site and other serious astronomical websites. To begin with, there is more than one light source on the moon.
Light is reflected by the earth and from the moon's own pale surface.
It can illuminate objects, even those apparently in deep shadow, from different directions. Moreover, on rudimentary black and white film, the light from very bright objects can bleed over and erase fine lines in the foreground, like crosshairs. And flags can flutter in a vacuum, especially when the flagpole is being handled by an astronaut. Such mundane explanations do not seem to have the same penetrating power as conspiracy theories. A cursory check of a popular internet chatroom, where television output is constantly discussed, suggested that paranoia was fast taking the upper hand.