On the anniversary of Apollo 11, let us revisit the time Buzz Aldrin punched a moon landing denier

#NeverForget
 By 
Marcus Gilmer
 on 
On the anniversary of Apollo 11, let us revisit the time Buzz Aldrin punched a moon landing denier
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Exactly 48 years ago Thursday -- July 20, 1969 -- Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin descended from the Apollo 11 capsule to become the first humans to ever walk on the moon.

And while the video of Armstrong and Aldrin actually stepping foot on the moon is one of the greatest moments in history, one video that doesn't get enough love is the one you see above from 2002.

On Sept. 9, 2002, Buzz Aldrin decide he had finally had enough of Bart Sibrel's moon landing hoax conspiracies and punched Sibrel right in the face. Police decided not to file charges after witnesses and other evidence confirmed that Sibrel provoked the attack by harassing Aldrin.

Sibrel is infamous in astronomy circles for claiming to be a journalist, who pushes a conspiracy theory that all of the NASA moon landings were hoaxes to fool the Soviet Union in the space race.

That's not to say any such violence should be condoned, just that Buzz Aldrin has been to the damn moon so your hoaxes are a mere trifle.

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Marcus Gilmer

Marcus Gilmer is Mashable's Assistant Real-Times News Editor on the West Coast, reporting on breaking news from his location in San Francisco. An Alabama native, Marcus earned his BA from Birmingham-Southern College and his MFA in Communications from the University of New Orleans. Marcus has previously worked for Chicagoist, The A.V. Club, the Chicago Sun-Times and the San Francisco Chronicle.


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