The need to believe?

[mordant]

Did man go to the moon? Can that be evidenced? That was numinous to me , we stepped toward the stars, but irrational fools disbelieve this.  Were does one draw the line?

Moon hoaxers are odd birds, aren't they?  It's one of those things where there seems to be no specific impetus to claim an elaborate conspiracy - and yet.

It is the sense of specialness from laying claim to hidden knowledge -- of having a leg up, of understanding things that few others do. That's almost all it is in that case. There's some element of that in all claims of esoteric understanding, including religious claims -- it partly explains the pull of the more fringe religious ideologies, too, despite their being unpopular or having onerous proscriptions to deal with. The lesser sense of belonging to something bigger to yourself in smaller sects is offset by the thrill of being "in on the ground floor", part of a more "select" group, being a part of which makes you wiser, smarter, and/or luckier.

It also selects for a certain type of personality that's prone to Schadenfreude -- taking pleasure in the comeuppance that outsiders will supposdly experience -- imagining that, at last, you'll not be on the outside looking in, those OTHERS will. That's one of the reason that doomsday cults seldom think the world is going to be around for long, it means you'll likely live to see that comeuppance.