It was sad to read this weekend of the sorry demise of Armstrong.  A man whose career defining moments were on a different planet, and whose achievements have ever since been surrounded by doubters and conspiracy theorists.  Could we really believe that it was possible in the first place?  Even witnessing it on the telly, could we really believe that what we were seeing wasn’t just some elaborate fake to hoodwink us all to the truth?

I wasn’t even born in 1969, but the moon landings still continue to fascinate and provoke debate in equal measure.  I wonder if Neil Armstrong ever got sick of trying to silence the doubters and just ended up saying, “oh whatever, you can believe what you like because I know the truth about what I did”.

What?  Oh, you thought I was talking about Lance?  Well OK, despite the rather contrived comparison the central theme remains.  Drug-fueled success in sport or walking on the moon; some people will always believe the evidence of their own eyes because they trust the story to be true, and they are convinced by the romance of the story behind it. And some will always doubt because despite any concrete evidence, but armed with plenty of circumstantial and a balance of probabilities, the truth just sounds too preposterous to be viable.

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