In a world where adventure is a cruise on Jeff Bezos’ eye-catching yet eyebrow-raising New Shepard, Gayle King and her posse of star-studded friends took a little jaunt to the edge of space. Or at least, that’s what they’d like everyone to believe. The premise seemed simple enough: take a ride on Blue Origin, spend a few minutes floating in weightlessness, snap some photos for Instagram, and return to Earth with celebrity sci-fi cred. But between the space tourists’ dramatic reactions and the remarkably pristine spacecraft, the whole escapade feels less like the moon landing and more like a scene out of a Hollywood spectacle.

Let’s rewind for a moment. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has strict rules to determine who earns the prestigious title of “astronaut.” Spoiler alert: no selfies are involved. For those who imagined King piloting her spacecraft like a veteran NASA commander, here’s a fun fact: the entire trip was piloted remotely from Earth. The passengers aboard were basically akin to daydreaming kids in the backseat on a road trip, nowhere near the front seat where real space flight happens.

Now, let’s address the elephant – or, in this case, the marshmallow – in the room. Normally, upon re-entering Earth’s atmosphere, a spacecraft looks like it’s been toasted like a s’more over a campfire. But our intrepid explorers arrived in what looked like a spotless capsule. Think showroom-new, not space-battle-scarred. This curious lack of burns took many on the internet from space enthusiasts to skeptical sleuths, wondering just how far this “high-altitude hop” truly went.

And if that wasn’t enough to spark conspiracy theories, the spacecraft featured a door with an inward handle, supposedly simple enough for a celeb to pop open mid-journey. One can only imagine the potential chaos that could ensue if, in the middle of a weightless selfie session, one of them decided to give the handle a playful tug. This kind of design has people questioning if they were looking more at a stage set rather than a once-a-century engineering marvel.

The chatter in social media circles is abuzz with claims that the whole event was staged for show rather than science, with whispers of possible AI and CGI trickery. Critics have pointed out lighting irregularities like they’ve been watching an old science fiction flick rather than a live broadcast. The only thing missing from this space odyssey is the epic plot twist where everyone pops out to reveal they’ve been on a studio set all along.

In the end, whether or not Gayle King and her companions ventured into the final frontier remains a debate among passionate debunkers and awe-struck believers. While this excursion might not earn them astronaut wings, it certainly has them flying high in the media spotlight. If nothing else, it gives new meaning to being “over the moon” with a perspective that just might be more grounded than spaced out.