Today I learned of the death of Marcus Allen, publisher of Nexus magazine, leading lunar landing conspiracy theorist, and former guest on Legalise Freedom. His passing evoked in me similar feelings to those following the recent death of ancient alien theory pioneer Erich von Daniken, a palpable sense of personal sadness bordering on the hauntological, for an individual who helped set me out on a journey testing the so-called reality I was born into and ordered to accept without question. (Thomas Sheridan penned a warm farewell to von Daniken which you can read here).
As a lifelong astronomy and space enthusiast, I was well aware that over the decades since the Apollo moon missions many had questioned whether they took place as portrayed in the mainstream media or if they had even happened at all. I found the alternative theories interesting but didn’t give them too much thought. However, in 1997, I watched a late night round table discussion TV programme called For the Love of Lunar Conspiracy featuring Marcus Allen, and it really got me thinking. Let me be clear: I don’t have a dog in the moon fight. It makes no difference to me whether mankind landed on the moon or not. I’d love to think that we did, but I do have questions about the official story of how it was done. This discussion show – hosted by sceptic journalist and author Jon Ronson – lingered long in my consciousness afterwards and led, in an extremely long and parabolic arc, to Marcus appearing as a guest on my aforementioned Legalise Freedom podcast. You can listen to the episode here.
Marcus was every bit the gracious and erudite guest I had been led to expect, and our congenial conversation will forever remain a highlight of my journalistic career. Make what you will of his worldview – the moon landings were but one of his passions – Marcus Allen’s very existence seemed to somehow validate my own. Make no mistake – we are not just here to pay taxes and die. “Not only is the Universe stranger than we think, it is stranger than we can think.” – Werner Heisenberg.
