The notion that the Apollo Moon landings were hoaxes perpetrated by NASA and other agencies has appeared many times in popular culture. Not all references to Moon landing conspiracy theories are in support of them, but the ideas expressed in them have become a popular meme to reference, both in humor and sincerity.
In 1956 James E. Gunn wrote a science fiction story entitled "Cave of Night" in which the United States Air Force fakes the first manned American spaceflight. When lack of funds precludes a survivable manned mission, the mission is faked to spur funding for a real space program. The Air Force launches the craft carrying a transmitter relaying prerecorded messages from the pilot. The Air Force later claims that the astronaut died in orbit, and that his body will remain in orbit until the craft disintegrates in the atmosphere. The conspiracy is nearly exposed by a radio reporter who sees the astronaut on Earth after his supposed "death," but he is forced to destroy his evidence by the government. "Cave of Night" was adapted for radio and broadcast as an episode of the popular program X Minus One on February 1, 1956, a full five years before Yuri Gagarin's first manned spaceflight.[1]