Now conspiracy theorists claim to spot a fake HAND on the Blue Origin ship - as they continue to insist something was 'definitely wrong' with Katy Perry's flight

Katy Perry's flight to space on Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin rocket has been a lightning rod for conspiracy theories since the crew landed on Monday.

Now, online sceptics think they have spotted a conclusive piece of evidence which shows the entire mission was a hoax.

Eagle-eyed social media users have spotted what appears to be a fake hand onboard the New Shepard capsule which transported the all-female crew.

On X, formerly Twitter, one conspiratorially minded commenter wrote: 'Something is definitely wrong with the Blue Origin "Space Flight" that Katy Perry was on.'

Shockingly, for once the conspiracy theories are actually correct - but not in quite the way their supporters might think.

The viral picture which has ignited a new wave of conspiracy theories really does show a mannequin aboard the New Shepard capsule.

However, this picture is of the first test flight of the New Shepard Capsule 2017, not the NS-31 mission taken by Katy Perry and Lauren Sanchez.

But that hasn't stopped the rumour spreading like wildfire on social media, with one conspiracy theorist declaring: 'Mannequin confirmed.'

On Monday at 14:30 BST (08:30 local time), the NS-31 mission launched from Blue Origin's Launch Site One, about 30 miles north of Van Horn, Texas.

On board were Jeff Bezos' fiancé Lauren Sánchez, pop star Katy Perry, CBS Mornings co-host Gayle King, film producer Kerianne Flynn, activist Amanda Nguyen and former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe.

Although their 11-minute flight to the edge of space was well-documented and streamed live online, many people have become suspicious that the mission never really occurred.

The latest wave of scepticism emerged yesterday morning as images of a synthetic-looking hand through the New Shepard capsule window began to circulate on social media.

Social media users who were already suspicious that the flight had been faked quickly leapt on this as definitive proof of their theories.

On X, one commenter wrote: 'Why is there a dummy hand on the blue origin'.

'That sure looks like a mannequin, shiny hand,' added another.

One commenter chimed in: 'Hey! That looks like a Barbie hand or is it Ken's?'

Other commenters correctly pointed out that there were a number of differences between the hand in the picture and those of the NS-31 crew.

A sceptical commenter wrote: 'The space suit in this picture is super LOOSE! The ride or die chicks wore crazy tight spandex. Not the same.'

While another pointed out: 'It doesn't even look like the same shiny material the girls have on.'

For many online conspiracy theorists, this appeared to be the final piece of evidence needed to show that Katy Perry never really went to space.

According to the conspiracy, the Blue Origin mission was actually produced in a film studio on Earth and CGI was used to create the appearance of a rocket launch.

Likewise, some people believe that there were no humans on the flight and that the crew were swapped in later for the cameras.

As one conspiracy theorist crudely put it: 'Guess what was inside the capsule when it touched down before they cut the cameras for 10 minutes to remove all the mannequins and usher in the astrohoes.'

However, upon further examination, it is extremely easy to see that this claim is totally false.

As many commenters pointed out, this photo is clearly not of the Blue Origin NS-31 launch which took place this Monday.

Instead, this is from the test flight of New Shepard Crew Capsule 2.0 which took place on December 12, 2017.

The flight included a mannequin which had been jokingly nicknamed Mannequin Skywalker, the hand of which can be seen in the viral image.

Both photos and video of this test flight are available online and the launch was widely reported on at the time.

Even a cursory comparison of the 2017 launch and Katy Perry's flight shows that this is not the same crew capsule.

The lettering on the New Shepard capsule from the 2017 flight is blue while the lettering on the NS-31 crew capsule is clearly black.

In the wider photo, you can also see that there is only one manequin onboard, as oppposed to the six members of the NS-31 crew. 

Yet, despite there being no evidence to suggest that the launch was faked, rumours have continued to spread rapidly online.

This follows a surge in speculation on social media after commenters spotted an embarrassing gaffe during the capsule's landing.

After the New Shepard capsule landed, Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos proudly wrenched open the hatch with a specialised tool to greet the all-female crew.

However, footage from just minutes earlier clearly shows the capsule door being opened from the inside before being hastily shut.

Internet-dwelling conspiracy theorists seized on this strange moment, hailing it as 'definitive proof' the mission was faked.

On X, formerly Twitter, one sceptical commenter wrote: 'I'd say this is the nail in the coffin. FAKE!'

However, the more likely explanation is simply that one of the crew members mistakenly opened the door and shut it to give Jeff Bezos a better photo opportunity.

Conspiracy theorists also pounced on the fact that the door opened inwards and that the capsule did not seem to have any burn marks from 're-entry'.

They claimed that these facts don't make sense for a pressurised capsule that had to travel into outer space.

But these issues can be explained by the fact that the New Shepard capsule barely made it into space.

The crew capsule hit a maximum altitude of 66.5 miles (107 km) which just put them over the Karman Line, the official boundary of space.

At this altitude, the atmosphere is thin but the capsule isn't exposed to the true vacuum of space like craft travelling to the International Space Station are.

This means it isn't necessary for New Shepard to have extremely well-reinforced outward-opening doors like the Crew Dragon.

And, since it barely left the atmosphere, the capsule's return from Earth didn't create the heat of a typical re-entry burn that would scorch the exterior like a SpaceX Crew Dragon returning from orbit. 

Additionally, since the Apollo 1 disaster in which a capsule burst into flames on the launch pad, it has been standard practice for capsules to be openable from both sides.

In fact, NASA's safety requirements specifically state 'doors shall be operable by a single crew member in no more than 60 seconds, from both sides of the hatch'.

This means there is nothing unusual about one of the crew members being able to open the door from the inside and scupper Jeff Bezos' grand reveal.