Neil Armstrong, the first man to step on the Moon, believed in extraterrestrial life, claims his son Mark Armstrong. The 57-year-old, who works as a software engineer in Silicon Valley, revealed that his father, who died in 2012, never spoke about his religious beliefs and unlike other astronauts that went to the Moon he didn’t have any spiritual experience, but said he felt that humans were not alone in the universe.
"I once heard someone ask him if he believed in extraterrestrial life and his response was 'it would be arrogant not to'", Mark Armstrong said, citing his father.
Reflecting on the legacy of the first flight to the Moon and subsequent manned missions to Earth’s satellite, Mark Armstrong said that it inspired people, who felt they were part of the space trip.
"The human spirit was uplifted by the Apollo programme. It inspired a generation of people to want to work harder because they believed something good could happen in their future if they prepared themselves. I still see the evidence of that today when I speak to people from all over the world who say that they felt they were a part of the Moon landing. I am excited that going back to the Moon is now at the forefront of discussions in the public forum”, said Mark Armstrong.
NASA’s Apollo missions to the Moon sparked many conspiracy theories, one of which claimed that astronauts found proof of extraterrestrial life. Supporters of this theory claim it is for this reason that NASA no longer sent manned missions there after 1972.
This speculation risks to be disproven soon as the US space agency prepares to send the first woman and the next man to Earth’s satellite by 2024 as part of its Artemis programme. Together with its partners from Australia, Canada, Europe, and Japan, NASA plans to establish a sustainable presence on the Moon following the manned mission.