# Bad Astronomer Makes Good!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-makes-good/153784
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [February 8, 2003, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-makes-good/153784 "2003-02-08T23:37:06Z")
**Posts on this page:** 15
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@GrandfatherTrout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandfatherTrout)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2003, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-makes-good/153784/1 "2003-02-08T23:37:06Z")
This weekend’s Times Magazine has an article about Bart Sibrel, media-friendly king of the Moon Hoax wackos. [Here’s a link](http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/09/magazine/09MOON.html), although I belive you have to register (free) to read the article.
And whom does the Times choose as their champion of rationality? Whom do they interview as an example of Somebody With A Brain? Who is the guy-with-a-website speaking out against ignorance, bad science, and conspiracy-obsessed ridiculousness?
I believe it’s our very own **Bad Astronomer!** Congratulations, dude, and thanks for your tireless efforts. I’m sure Uncle Cecil is proud.
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### Author:  [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2003, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-makes-good/153784/2 "2003-02-09T02:51:26Z")
Don’t want to read the article? Let me hit the highlights for you.
> [@](#):
>
> Statistics are vague, but somewhere between 6 and 10 percent of Americans say they don’t believe astronauts ever landed on the moon.
That’s the most encouraging thing in the article. I knew that loonies were only a small percentage of the people I encounter each day. This gives me hope for mankind as a species.
> [@](#):
>
> What drove him to this new level of understanding, Sibrel said, was not simply the mounting evidence. It was Jesus. Just before his lunar revelation, Sibrel explained, he had been carrying on a chaotic life of wenching and drugging. He gave up his party days, broke off a relationship devoted to ‘‘fornication’’ and became friends with the Lord.
Now I’m even more encouraged. He’s a wacko, lunatic, Jesus-freak! But before you PIT me for bringing in religion, hey, this guy was with the mainstream until he found GOD! What does that say?
Remember, this guy is the same fuckwit who chased Buzz Aldrin, trying to get him to swear on a Bible that he, Aldrin, had gone to the moon.
> [@](#):
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> All religious conversion is about coming to believe what once seemed impossible, and the greater the distance between the old degraded story and born-again revision, the more credible the teller of tales. Now this mode of revelation has visited our politics. It’s no coincidence that the on-camera purveyors of an evangotainment tape insinuating that Clinton slaughtered eight people were Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell. Sibrel’s story is just another variation of this, another story of our national wretchedness.
AMEN, brudder!
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### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2003, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-makes-good/153784/3 "2003-02-09T03:10:04Z")
Smart people in the news! Woo-hoo!
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### Author:  [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2003, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-makes-good/153784/4 "2003-02-09T03:13:57Z")
I read that today and bounced up and down proudly, thinking, “ooh, I know that guy, the one and only voice of sense in the article!”
Good on you, B.A.!
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### Author:  [@Splanky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Splanky)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2003, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-makes-good/153784/5 "2003-02-09T03:24:44Z")
Didn’t Buzz punch him in the face?
Mad props to Buzz if he did.
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### Author:  [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2003, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-makes-good/153784/6 "2003-02-09T03:36:49Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Splanky \*
> \*\*Didn’t Buzz punch him in the face?
>
> Mad props to Buzz if he did. \*\*
Yeah, Buzz did. There’s about 10 threads on the subject if you’re interested. Someone on the BA Board posted a link to where you could watch BS get mocked on _The Daily Show_ awhile back, funny stuff. They even showed the clip of Buzz clocking BS. Heh, Buzz was ready to kill 'im!
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### Author:  [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2003, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-makes-good/153784/7 "2003-02-09T03:44:31Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Splanky \*
> \*\*Didn’t Buzz punch him in the face?
>
> Mad props to Buzz if he did. \*\*
Yes. On tape.
Sibrel pressed charged.
And his case got thrown out of court.
😃
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### Author:  [@The\_Bad\_Astronomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Bad_Astronomer)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2003, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-makes-good/153784/8 "2003-02-10T03:26:53Z")
First, thanks! That article was a long time coming; I was interviewed for it months ago.
Second, I’m not really thrilled with how it came out. It makes Sibrel looks almost rational, and his claims are anything but. We’re discussing it [on my own BB now](http://www.badastronomy.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?topic=3797&forum=3&20).
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### Author:  [@Buck\_The\_Diver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_The_Diver)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2003, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-makes-good/153784/9 "2003-02-10T03:51:21Z")
Is there anyplace you **can’t** find Phil these days? In just the last couple of weeks, I’ve seen him in _Maxim_ magazine (an issue from last summer) and on the PAX network (another moon hoax program).
Is Phil going to be the next Carl Sagan? He’s got my vote!
BTW, Phil…how was _The Amaz!ng Meeting_?
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### Author:  [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2003, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-makes-good/153784/10 "2003-02-10T03:55:37Z")
I saw **The Bad Astronomer** mentioned in this month’s Scientific American, too! He really is everywhere! It’s kind of spooky, but in a rational, scientific way.
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### Author:  [@Inky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inky_1)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2003, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-makes-good/153784/11 "2003-02-10T04:02:17Z")
Kudos BA! I applaud your fighting ignorance! Sadly, there’s little point fighting with the ignorant.
I worked with a teacher (thankfully, merely a massage-therepy teacher) who was convinced of this Moon Hoax crap, and had the photos to prove it. Seriously, there’s just no point explaining ambient light to somebody who thinks “ambient” is an allergy medication.
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### Author:  [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2003, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-makes-good/153784/12 "2003-02-10T04:04:16Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Silentgoldfish \*
> \*\*Yes. On tape.
>
> Sibrel pressed charged.
>
> And his case got thrown out of court.
>
> 😃 \*\*
Correction: _It never even went to court!_ The DA refused to press charges because BS didn’t seek medical attention for his injuries (despite being told to by the police), and Buzz’s lack of a criminal record! 😃 (BS claimed to be thinking about suing Buzz in civil court, but I imagine that BS’s lawyer told him to **not** be _that_ stupid [:wally], since I never heard anything more about it.)
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### Author:  [@The\_Bad\_Astronomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Bad_Astronomer)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2003, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-makes-good/153784/13 "2003-02-10T04:08:22Z")
The Moon Hoax is why my name pops up a lot. Right place at the right time sort of thing. My webpage about it was up the day the Fox “documentary” aired, and it got a lot of hits. To be honest, I wish it would go away. It’s done a lot for my publicity, but I have to be an honest man and say that I wish people would wise up, look at Bart Sibrel and realize that everything he says is crap. I’d rather everyone were skeptical and critical over my having my 15 minutes.
The Maxim thing was… odd. They did a piece on advice from professionals. They wanted an astronomer to confirm that blinking rapidly would adapt your eyes to darkness more quickly (a commando told them that). I had never heard of it, and frankly it sounded silly. They didn’t want to print it, so they asked me if I knew anything that could be used for the piece. I gave them several ideas, and they went with finding Polaris.
And gah, that Pax thing. I was awful. I memorized my lines, and came off sounding really stilted. Next time, I’ll wing it and let then edit it as they see fit.
The Amazing Meeting was great – except for Saturday morning :-(. I haven’t had time to write anything about it yet.
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### Author:  [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2003, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-makes-good/153784/14 "2003-02-10T04:28:49Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Tuckerfan \*
> \*\*Correction: _It never even went to court!_ \*\*
Well, hell, even better! ;j
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### Author:  [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2003, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-makes-good/153784/15 "2003-02-10T14:20:24Z")
Oh, I didn’t think so at all; he came off pretty much as a raving loony.