Police are investigating allegations former Apollo 11 astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin made a sceptic see stars by punching him when confronted with charges that his historic 1969 moonwalk was a hoax, police said today.

The 72-year-old Aldrin, who was one of the first two astronauts to walk on the lunar landscape when the United States landed man on the moon on July 20, 1969, is accused of punching independent filmmaker Bart Sibrel in the face outside a Beverly Hills hotel yesterday.

Sibril, 37, - who believes the moon landings were faked to fool the Soviets into believing the United States had achieved the ultimate space goal - was used by a Japanese television team to surprise Aldrin with an "ambush", following an interview in the hotel.

"I walked up to him on the sidewalk and put a bible up to him and asked him to swear on the bible that he actually walked on the moon," Sibril, who has confronted Aldrin on two other occasions, told AFP.

"He refused to do it so I told him he was a thief to take money for giving and interview on something he didn't do.