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The Moon


Decker

Administrator
Staff member
I just received some good news in reference to the "Moon Special", there is some movement on it. In light of this I wanted to upload some lunar info for you all to peruse, stuff I've written and other material. I encourage discussion on the material.
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The Moon
by Don Ecker (originally in UFO Magazine)

The Moon, gazed upon for countless centuries by lovers in all
seasons, used by farmers to illuminate their harvesting in the
autumn, cursed by soldiers trying to sneak up upon the enemy, and
gazed upon with awe by first time young astronomers. The Moon has
almost always presented a familiar if not friendly countenance
peering down upon us with serene familiarity.

The "Man in the Moon" has been a familiar figure for generations
of moon watchers. The optical illusion of a face is generated by
the craggy features and smooth plains of the lunar surface. The
Moon was also the catalyst that fueled a multi billion dollar and
ruble race between the American and Soviet space agencies in the
early 1960's when President John Kennedy threw down the gauntlet
to the American public in his historic race to the moon speech.
And on July 20th, 1969 the American Apollo 11 Mission touched
down with Neil Armstrong's immortal "One small step for man, one
giant leap for mankind" quote. So, if we as a species should know
about any celestial body, our moon should be the most known,
right? Well as it turns out, not necessarily.

For the last several hundred years, astronomers have observed
mysterious lights on the lunar surface. In the early 19th
century, Sir John Herschel of England, observed mysterious lights
on the moon during an eclipse. He said some of the lights
appeared to be moving above the moon. Other astronomers of the
period reported seeing geometrical patterns of lights that
resembled city streets. In 1869 the Royal Astronomical Society of
Great Britain began a three year investigation when a "sudden
outbreak" of mystery lights were observed in the area of Mare
Crisium.

On the night of July 29th, 1953, John J. O'Neill settled himself
at his telescope for an evening of lunar viewing. O'Neill was the
science editor for the Herald Tribune. The "seeing", an
astronomer's term for viewing, was excellent. As O'Neill began to
observe the area around the Mare Crisium crater he was astounded
to view what appeared to be a "bridge" that straddled the crater
Mare Crisium, that stretched 12 miles! O'Neill reported his
discovery to the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers. As
he expected, O'Neill was attacked by a number of astronomers, but
one month later O'Neill found support from England when Dr. H. P.
Wilkens, a legendary British astronomer verified it. Patrick
Moore, a leading member of the British Astronomical Association
also observed the bridge and reported it. A bridge where one had
never been seen before. O'Neill, careful in the extreme, called
it a "natural" bridge that had somehow "popped up" almost
overnight.

LUNAR-TRANSIENT-PHENOMENA or LTP is an old subject with
astronomers. Beginning several hundred years ago, certain areas
of our moon have consistently displayed light and object
phenomena. Starting in the 1960's, NASA began to study LTP in
earnest. This study included anything that showed color, light,
movement or anything mysterious. Anything that was different from
the normal. In June of 1972, NASA announced a program for
studying LTP in an astronomy magazine, looking for anyone with
the proper equipment and experience to study the moon in detail.
32 observers responded and were detailed to study 4 different
sites that had shown LTP in the past. The program was not a
success as only 6 astronomers reported with regularity, and then
not necessarily on the sites assigned.

Patrick Moore began to catalog LTP, and the list proved to be
fascinating. In the crater ARISTARCHUS, blinking lights, red and
blue lights, brightenings and pulsations have all been observed.
In the crater of PLATO, blinking lights, moving lights and red
color have been observed. Other craters that have displayed LTP
where unexplained lights, clouds, blinking and flashing displays
and colored lights have included ERATOSTHENES, BIELA, RABBI LEVI,
and POSIDONIUS. NASA has attempted to explain the above examples
of observed LTP as gas escapes from lava deposits, moon sunrise
that ultraviolet excitation of gas, solar flare particles that
create luminescent excitation, or volcanic action that causes
belching fire that would explain the lights and occasional smoke.

First published in 1976 by David McKay, author George H. Leonard
authored one of the first books to take a close look at the Moon.
Titled "SOMEBODY ELSE IS ON THE MOON" Leonard created quite a
stir by delving deep into NASA's archives and finding a great
number of photo's from the first unmanned missions, and the later
Apollo missions to the Moon. Many of the photo's showed anomalies
on the Moon that Leonard and others claimed could not have been
natural. The Moon does not have any discernable atmosphere or
weather, no air or running water. With the exception of meteor
bombardment, the surface stays much the same as it always has
been. NASA has stated that the Lunar body is almost geologically
dead, yet certain areas of the lunar body have registered on
seismic equipment left on the moon by the Apollo missions. These
areas correspond with areas that are known for LTP.

Speaking of the Apollo missions, rumors have abounded for years
about what the astronauts are reported to have witnessed. Timothy
Goods "ABOVE TOP SECRET" reported former NASA Chief of
Communications Systems, Maurice Chatelain, reported that Neil
Armstrong viewed two UFOs resting on the rim of a crater. "The
encounter was common knowledge in NASA, but nobody has talked
about it until now" Chatelain stated. Soviet scientists confirmed
the incident. Dr. Vladimir Azahzha, a physicist and mathematics
professor stated "Neil Armstrong relayed the message to Mission
Control that two large, mysterious objects were watching them
after having landed near the moon module. But his message was
never heard by the public--because NASA censored it."

Several years ago moon anomaly investigator James Sylvan
contacted UFO Magazine requesting information on contacting
Richard Hoagland of the Cydonia, Mars investigating team. Sylvan
had been following up for years on George Leonards work, and had
gathered all the photos that Leonard had referenced. Sylvan then
sent Hoagland samples of photo's showing the anomalies that
Leonard had found during his investigation. These photo's showed
items that truly did not appear "natural". Hoagland began to
study the lunar question and became convinced that certain areas
did have huge artificial structures upon it. Areas that today are
referred to as the "SHARD" and the "TOWER", plus the "CUBE" and
the crater "UKERT".

The first area to be addressed is crater UKERT. Noticed by
Hoagland, Dr. Bruce Cornet, an independent geologist that has
allied himself with Hoagland, examined the photos of the lunar
areas in question. As to UKERT, he explained it as "..a crater
like feature that displays a circumscribed equilateral triangle
at full Moon in its center. I agree that this triangle is not
natural, because the sides of the crater are much brighter only
opposite the sides of this triangle. The angles of the triangle
intersect the darkest three areas of the crater rim, while the
brightest three areas of the rim are opposite the sides of the
triangle. In addition, the brightest parts of the rim are midway
between the apices of the triangle, and are at 120 degrees
orientation from one another."

Cornet says of the SHARD, "The SHARD is an obvious structure
which rises above the Moon's surface by more that a mile. Its
overall irregular spindly shape (containing a regular geometric
pattern) with constricted nodes and swollen internodes, if
natural, has got to be a wonder of the universe. No known natural
process can explain such a structure."

Cornet goes on to say that "The TOWER represents an enigma of the
highest magnitude, because it rises more than five miles above
the surface of the Moon, and has been photographed from five
different angles and two different altitudes. In all four
photographs the same structure is visible, and can be viewed from
two different sides. The TOWER exists in front of and to the left
of the SHARD in the Lunar Orbiter III-84M photograph. The top of
the TOWER has a very ordered cubic geometry, and appears to be
composed of regular cubes joined together to form a very large
cube with an estimated width of over one mile!"

Cornet also described evidence for a massive, but vastly damaged
dome that appears in MARE CRISIUM. Cornet stated that he was able
to make out a set of large, concentric and circular light
patterns within the mare. He stated he identified a spire or
tower that rises from the surface within the light circles.
"Magnification of the area around this spire shows cubic patterns
like those around the TOWER in SINUS MEDII."

The next question that readers are likely to ask is if this
information is even half true, then why was none of this reported
by either NASA or the Apollo astronauts. Remember that even
though NASA is a civilian agency, it is in part financed by
Department of Defense funds. In the past, most astronauts were
active duty military officers on detached status to NASA. All are
subject to the military regulations in effect, and if these
regulations are broken, fines and penalties await. Sitting behind
all this is the National Security Agency which monitors all
transmissions, and screens all footage taken on missions. The
barriers to openness are close to insurmountable in the present
circumstances. We must ask ourselves if our years long effort and
billions upon billions of dollars (1960's dollars) were to just
say we got there? Then after a half a dozen missions we just
quit? For years rumors abounded that we were asked to leave early
on, but that would have caused massive panic if we suddenly
stopped, so we completed the program and then went into hiatus
until Apollo-Soyuz in 1975 and then the Shuttle in the early
80's. Of course this is speculation and rumor but the underlying
question is "Where secrecy is possible, where can we be sure of
getting the truth?"
 
Wallking On The Moon
by Don Ecker Director of Research
UFO Magazine

98 years ago in December, humankind in the persona of Orville and Wilbur Wright made human kinds first powered manned flight. On a windswept spot in Kittyhawk, North Carolina a man took an incredibly primitive aircraft and flew it using mechanical means. Unbelievably, for several years after newspapers around the United States refused to believe that anyone could actually fly using a mechanical device and called the Wright brothers hoaxers. About 1909 the brothers offered the device to the Army and several senior officers refused to believe that the airplane would provide any advantage during war time.

A very short 12 years later European combatants were dueling it out in the skies above Europe proving that airplanes were indeed suitable as instruments of war. What about peace? In the 1920's aircraft were put into service carrying the mail from coast to coast and in the 1930's aircraft were carrying passengers everywhere. With war clouds once again looming above Europe and Asia aircraft advances were legion. Huge military bombers, transports and fighter craft were all being manufactured and rolling off production lines. Advances were also rolling along, the British were testing jet engines in 1939. By 1943 the Germans were flying their jet aircraft the ME 262. Thankfully the Germans were never able to mass produce the ME 262 in numbers to prolong the war, but they also were experimenting with rockets and used their deadly V-2 missiles. At war’s end the US, the British and the Soviets impounded all this advanced material and the nascent space race was on.

In 1948 the sound barrier was broken by Chuck Yeager proving that this barrier was mostly in the mind. It had just been 45 years since the first flight. In 1957 the first satellite was in Earth orbit by the Soviets, goosing the American space efforts into high gear. American science was beginning to look outwards. Who would have believed then that just a short 12 years later mankind would be stepping on the surface of the Moon? In just 65 and a half years, human beings went from no aircraft to spacecraft traveling to another world? Why did we stop after such a breathtaking leap into the future with our new technology? And not just science was looking ahead. Science fiction took a huge leap with Arthur C. Clarke’s “2001, A Space Odyssey” and Gene Roddenberry’s “Star Trek.” This new and thoughtful science fiction convinced the public of the wonders to come. And who didn’t think so with our leap into the future? But then it stopped. Quiet rumors circulated. Lunar missions ready to fly, with men trained and equipment ready never left. The public spin was that “we the people” lost interest in our space program and at least the media seemed to buy into that explanation. The rumors remained however.


What were these rumors? That for centuries, astronomers observed activity on the Moon. Geometric patterns of light popping up and moving. Astronomers observed “lunar domes” that would appear in a location and later inexplicably move to another location. It appeared to suggest intelligent activity on the Moon, read that - ET intelligence. As the United States sent the first unmanned lunar photographic probes to the Moon, what appeared to be artificial artifacts showed up in the photographs. Years later former NASA and Air Force technicians spoke out about these anomalies, all denied by officialdom. But we stopped our missions after a spectacular beginning. The rumors suggested we were “asked” to leave. Perhaps ordered off, Arthur C. Clarke or Gene Roddenberry notwithstanding. And the bottom line is still that “we” will never know until we go back again. And it doesn’t look like we will anytime soon.
 
The NASA Moon Photos

My Story of dealing with NASA in the 1970's

by Vito Saccheri

In 1979, I was a project manager for a privately owned engineering
company doing business with the Venezuelan oil industry. My
counterpart in Venezuela, our client's chief engineer, an American
engineer named Lester Howes, had come to Houston on business.

Les and I had spoken by phone and telex for years (no fax machines
back then), but we had never met. We hit it off when he arrived, and
after a few days, he confided that he had an ulterior motive in coming
to Houston. After asking me to keep an open mind, he told me he was
both an amateur astronomer and a ufologist and that he wanted my help
in obtaining access to secret photos held somewhere inside NASA. I was
speechless. When I finished laughing, I realized he was dead serious.
Some of the guys at work thought Les was just a little light in the
loafers, and others thought he was just plain crazy, but I could see
that he was concerned about what I would think of him. After all, we
were professional engineers, and he had taken quite a chance with me.

Les showed me a small paperback book entitled "Somebody Else Is on the
Moon," written by a former NASA scientist, George H. Leonard. Leonard
had been working in the photo intelligence division of NASA. His job
had been to interpret moon pictures taken by the unmanned space probes
we were sending there during the early and mid-sixties. NASA was
mapping the moon, scoping out possible landing sites for the future
manned missions.

Les lent me the book, and I read it overnight. Leonard had come across
photos he felt confirmed the presence of a very ancient-and possibly
current-civilization on the moon. He explained that in 1961, President
Kennedy had committed the USA to reaching the moon within a decade,
primarily because throughout the 1950s, the scientific community had
been rocked by observatories around the world, which began reporting
and later confirming that "moon craters" were actually disappearing,
right out from under the watchful eyes of their state-of-the-art
telescopes! Since the possible ramifications were obvious (and
presumably, since the Roswell incident had already gotten the
government's attention), the powers that be had decided that Uncle Sam
had to be the first to reach the moon.

After arguing futilely with NASA authorities about releasing the
photos, Leonard published them himself in his book. He felt the
taxpayers had a right to know what NASA knew, pointing out that
despite a nine-year mobilization effort that had cost billions of
dollars, NASA had shut down the entire moon project after only a few
landings. His contention was that we had confirmed that we were
trespassing! The small photos would show little, so he provided
hand-drawn sketches to accompany each photo. And he published the
special NASA identification code numbers for each picture.

When I finished the book, I called Les and said I was intrigued and
would help. The very next day, we made the first trip out to NASA and
spent the day taking the guided and self-guided tours. On the second
day, we made our move.

We entered the public orientation building and told the receptionist
that we wanted to make arrangement to see some moon pictures. With no
clue where to start, she eventually directed us to her supervisor, who
was equally at a loss. Apparently, no one charged with dealing with
the public knew where NASA kept its photos-or whether they kept them
at all. And no "Photo Records" department showed up on any list.

We were passed around to at least four other people before someone
admitted that NASA had lots of photos "somewhere" on the complex, but
that the public wasn't permitted to view "unauthorized" photos of any
project. That's when we changed our strategy. Les blurted out, "Isn't
it true that NASA is a civilian agency funded by taxpayer money?"

Confusion spread over her face, and I added, "Well, we're two
taxpayers, and we're here to see our pictures. Who's got them?"

Before she could recover, we flashed Leonard's book in her face. I
continued, "What's so unauthorized about pictures that have already
been published?" From then on, we decided to stay on the offensive at
all times.

Reinforcements were called in, and we soon found ourselves having the
same conversation with the big boys from administration. None had seen
the book, but significantly, one had taken the time to confirm that
Leonard was in fact a former NASA scientist-at the Jet Propulsion Lab,
from what I could gather. This threw them, and they seemed even
curious to learn about the book. For after all, the information had
been generated by NASA in the first place. We settled for a truce and
to return the next day. Before leaving, however, we reiterated that
these two taxpayers had every intention of going to the mat with
whoever was holding back "our photos."

To make a very long story short, we spent the next several days
filling out enough forms to give a woodpecker a headache. My office
advised me that NASA had called to confirm my employment history and
to inquire about Les. His hotel advised that someone had called to
confirm that he was staying there. Obviously, the wheels were turning.
Finally, someone called to say we could see the photos. We returned to
NASA thinking we had finally succeeded. But success was not to be so
easy. We were directed to a Building 30, which had not been on the
tour and which didn't even exist. Building 30 A turned out to be empty
so we walked into Building 30 B and found ourselves in the middle of a
high-security area where an existing mission was being monitored.
Realizing that we were somewhere we should not have been, we tried to
blend in. Failing miserably to do so, we were soon unceremoniously
tossed out. Security personnel demanded to know how we had passed the
civilian section and what was this about moon pictures, taxpayers, and
a book about the moon? We knew we were really in sheep dip when
security not only whisked us out of the building but escorted us off
the premises altogether.

The next day, after some scrambling on both sides, officials
apologized to us for the mix-up. For our part, we insinuated that at
least one thousand photocopies of the Leonard book could rain down on
everyone on the space center's mailing list. We were counting on this
bluff to get us past what we considered an impasse. It was time for
NASA to act. After all, we weren't a couple of underwater pipe welders
from Boise... We were fellow engineers, brothers of the blood!

Finally, some serious discussions transpired. The photo library, we
were told, had been relocated off site to the "Lunar Landing
Observatory" directly adjacent to the east NASA property on NASA Road
1. They would be expecting us in two more days at 8:00 AM.

Two days later, we drove east on NASA 1 past the main entrance of the
facility, found a chain-link fence that marked the eastern limit of
the property line, expecting to see a building or sign. Nothing but a
heavily wooded area! Driving back and forth along the road trying to
decide whether they had done it to us again, we noticed a narrow dirt
road running back into the woods directly along NASA's fence line.
Hung on the chain between two small posts was a sign that read simply:
"No Trespassing." In- stinct told us this had to be the place. We
lowered the chain and drove about three-quarters of a mile down the
dirt road, which U-turned back toward the highway. Directly behind the
trees and camouflaged by the woods was our building. There was no
number, only a small plaque near the door that read "Lunar Landing
Observatory" in half-inch high letters. Somehow we weren't surprised.

Upon entering, we found ourselves in a small alcove. A large main room
buzzing with people was off to the right, and what appeared to be a
small broom closet was on the opposite wall. When we told the
receptionist we wanted the library, she pointed toward the broom
closet, which as it turned out, opened onto a winding stairway leading
down into a dimly lit under-ground tunnel. I'm certain it took us
back toward the NASA property line.

At the end of the tunnel was a large room where we found ourselves
standing in front of a wall-to-wall counter separating us from the
librarian, who was sitting on a stool. I seem to remember that his
name was Roger. He explained that there were at least two million
photos in the library, everything NASA had ever photographed since
year one. Unfortunately, no one could see "random" photos, as time was
always short and filing systems complicated. In other words, to see
any picture, you need its specific code number.

Roger was surprised that we had all the numbers (no one had told him
about the book). We handed him our list, thinking we had hit pay dirt
at last. But after a quick glance, he gave us the bad news: the
numbers were meaningless in Houston. He explained that for security
reasons, NASA had split the country into five regions, each with a
duplicate set of records and a different code number system. Leonard's
numbers weren't applicable in this facility. I asked where the master
list was kept, and Roger replied at Langley, Virginia. Les and I
looked at each other... We didn't have to say it, but we suspected who
that meant.

We huddled in the corner for a few minutes trying to decide whether
this was another stalling effort. But we had come too far to give up.
We informed Roger that we wanted to proceed. He said that someone in
the NASA complex had the proper forms to start the ball rolling. He
just wasn't sure who since no one had ever requested the photos
before. We were the first, he said, at least in Houston.

A few days later Roger called us to come fill out new forms, though
there wasn't much they didn't already know about us. It took two more
days, but our summons finally came. Roger announced that the photos
were ready for our inspection. There were, however, strict rules: we
were to get three eight-hour business days. We were not allowed pens,
pencils, paper, calculator, camera, or recording devices of any kind.
Nor could we be left alone with the photos. We were allowed only the
book and a magnifying loupe. We would be escorted in and out for lunch
and bathroom breaks. If we agreed to these terms, he said, we could
begin at nine o'clock the next morning. We arrived at eight.

This time, we were escorted in by two men. We found five extra-long
conference room tables set up in a U shape. We had expected to find
only the pictures listed in Leonard's book. To our amazement, there
were thousands of photos, all in sets of numerical order. Leonard had
mentioned that the photos were numbered sequentially by the cameras.
He also had mentioned that each time the on-board computer analyzing a
photo picked up an anomaly, it triggered a sequence of additional
photos that zoomed in on the target closer and closer.

The photos were huge, approximately 32 by 24 inches, with a dull grey,
almost dull-black look. On the back of each, technical information was
recorded, such as the probe's height above the moon's surface while it
was taking the picture, the angle of approach, and the location of the
sun in relation to the capsule.

Frustratingly, we had all the technical data for triangulation--simple
trigonometry and algebra were all that we needed to compute the size
and distance of anything shown. But without paper, calculators, or
pencils, we were limited to what we could do in our heads, and we
weren't up to it--the numbers were too big, the angles too acute. We
had to rely on Leonard's numbers. But we verified everything that he
had seen.

To this day, I can remember these views: A boulder that seemed to have
been rolled uphill, leaving its tracks in the side of the hill;
obvious machinery on the surface, showing bolted sections; three
dilapidated "bridges" crossing a chasm that reminded me of the Grand
Canyon; pipe fittings that looked like four-way Ts (or Xs) that could
be seen in every photo, some with their ends turned up or down as they
hung over the edge of a crater; three surprising pyramids that
prompted me later to closely study the Egyptian Giza pyramid complex;
apparent pipelines criss-crossing the surface, running to and from
craters; a UFO rising from the surface and photographed directly above
a crater; and perhaps the most memorable, the unmistakable figure of a
rectangular structure placed squarely in the biggest crater pictured-
the structure looked either very old or under construction, but the
crater had to be miles wide, and the camera angle gave a perfect
three-dimensional view.

The clarity and resolution were unlike that of anything I had seen
before or since, and I shudder to think that this was only the
beginnings of the spy-in-the-sky technology that has evolved since
then.

Nobody said much at all for three days. Lester was in hog heaven,
having realized his greatest ambition. And I was hooked on UFOs. On
our last day, actually during our last hours, I had seen enough and
decided to stretch my legs. As I was escorted back to the main room, I
noticed a false panel that was slightly ajar and peeked inside.
Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves were filled with white three-ring
binders. Roger volunteered that most of the binders were filled with
the details of NASA's scientific experiments conducted in space. The
rest, he said, were simply transcripts of the manned space flights,
including the moon landings. Since he had gotten to know us over the
three days and had enjoyed seeing the photos himself, he gave me a
wink and a nod and allowed me to enter the room unescorted.

I spent most of the remaining time poring over the scientific data, as
I wasn't much interested in the transcripts. After all, along with
four billion others, I had watched the first lunar landing on TV.
Fortunately, however, I decided to browse some transcripts and flipped
casualty through a few, killing the last 15 minutes of time. Then my
eyes caught it- "Houston, we've got a bogey at two o'clock."

And there was more- "Roger that, Apollo. Switching to alpha. Roll
eight degrees and begin sequence... "

"Roger, Mission Control. Confirming alpha."

Though I knew instinctively what it meant, I couldn't believe what I
was reading. I raced through the pages and other mission transcripts
and found similar dialogue-

"Mission Control, we've got Santa Claus coming over the hill...."

"Roger, Apollo. Hold your fix. Switching bravo. Do you copy?"

"Roger, Houston. Bravo link...."

These guys were reporting UFO activity, but I couldn't remember ever
hearing this during the live TV broadcasts of lunar missions in `69
and `70. I was too dumbfounded to say a word and too scared to tell
Les or Roger. I didn't want to get either of them in trouble-we had no
clearance to see these documents.

So I just kept my mouth shut while Les asked Roger if there was any
way to buy some of the pictures we had reviewed. Roger gave us more
forms to fill out and told us it would take several weeks. When the
pictures arrived, Les was back in Venezuela. They were lousy as we
expected, with almost no resolution. No one who saw them was
impressed, least of all me. But I remained preoccupied all the same,
particularly with my other find.

Not until years later did I mention the transcripts to a few close
friends. One eventually mentioned a special lady he thought I should
meet. Since I don't have permission to use her name, I'll call her
Jane. Jane was a college coed at the time, transcribing audio tapes
for NASA. I eventually asked her how astronauts could talk about UFOs
during live broadcasts being transmitted all over the world without
anyone hearing their conversation.

She explained that the space program had developed many technologies
which at the time had not been declassified or adapted for commercial
use. One of these new developments-unknown to the general public-was
instant replay video, which would become common later. But in 1969 and
70, only a handful of people were aware of it. Thus, NASA could switch
the Mission Control picture to a live broadcast of a news reporter
standing next to a full-scale mockup, and while a viewer's attention
was diverted, the real stuff was happening behind the scenes. It's no
wonder that in the early days, only military pilots were qualified to
be astronauts. These were the guys with the real right stuff-they knew
how to keep their mouths shut!

When I met moon photo researcher Marvin Czarnik in 1995, I learned
that he had helped develop some of the technical systems used at NASA.
Besides the length of time of instant replay, he knew that code words
like "alpha" and "bravo' referred to special switching stations around
the country that "switch" broadcast reception away from Houston and
Mission Control directly to CIA headquarters in Langley. This was my
missing puzzle piece. I knew then for certain who it was that had the
master list of photographs.

In 1980, another puzzle piece fell into place. A friend had shown me a
special congressional subcommittee report on moon rocks brought back
by the astronauts and a feasibility study on colonizing the moon. The
document was dated 1972 or `73 and concluded that moon colonization
using giant plastic air bubbles was unrealistic and that we would need
to transport air from the earth. The congressional report concluded
that there was plenty of oxygen on the moon trapped in the rocks. The
recommend solution: pulverize the rocks on a large scale with major
excavations. The liberated oxygen would be stored in underground
caverns and tunnel systems and the debris from these pulverized rocks
dumped into the existing craters. Naturally, the craters would
eventually disappear, an observation made by astronomers long before
the first moon landings and, ironically, one that had initially
prompted Leonard and other scientists of the 1950s to analyze early
moon photos.

That the moon should be occupied by others who periodically visit the
earth makes perfect sense to me. I remember in the 1960s, after
President Kennedy mobilized NASA, that the talk was about beating the
Russians to the moon and using it as a station, or stepping stone, to
the stars. In those days, there were great debates on who would get
the mining and mineral rights if gold or other precious metals were
found. Also in those days, there were arguments about allowing the
U.S. military to place missiles on the moon since it was not to be
used militarily.

Today, we no longer talk about using the moon as a base of any kind.
Instead, we talk about using space stations. Why? The moon would seem
to be a ready-made station. And why aren't companies like U.S. Steel,
3M, and Shell Oil lining up for concessions to the moon's mineral
rights? I can remember when Pan Am World Airways was actually selling
advance tickets to the moon! And finally, when has the government's
Defense Department _not_ pushed for funding to build a strategic missile
base with first-strike capability? They're still building Star Wars.

Personally, I think Leonard was right, and I thank Lester Howes for
trusting me to get involved. Someday I'll track him down and tell him
about those transcripts.

*end*
 
Excerpt from The Brookings Report, 1960

Subject: Excerpt from The Brookings Report, 1960

The following excerpt is posted FYI

Proposed Studies On The Implications Of
Peaceful Space Activities For Human Affairs

By

Brookings Institution, 1960
Report To The 87th Congress, Union Calendar 79
Report Number 242

For

National Aeronautics And Space Administration

The general public

1.As with other matters not central to day-to-day living, the
public, considered as a whole, is probably only selectively
attentive to and knowledgeable about space activities. The
relationship between the impact of events on indifferent or only
occasionally interested people and their attitudes and values is
but partly understood and needs further study.

2.It has been alleged that the "public" is optimistic about
space activities. If this is so and if the optimism is
widespread, the present support it generates for the space
program may not be lasting if the difficulties inherent in space
efforts have not been appreciated enough to make the failure of
specific projects understandable. The resulting disillusionment
may be a serious factor in reducing public support as space
efforts become more grandiose, the consequences of payoff more
exciting, and the losses from failure more dramatic. On the other
hand, this optimism, if it exists, may produce a state of mind
tolerant of failures. The factors affecting optimism, realism,
and tolerance of frustration need more study as an aid in
preparing for this situation. The roles of the promoter spokesman
and the mass media in encouraging expectations of great and
imminent accomplishments are integral to this problem area and
would benefit from research.

3.The conviction that space activities will broaden man's
horizons are presently based on the perspectives and special
interests of a relatively few people in western societies. The
claim may be justified, but there is need for research to assist
understanding of the conditions under which innovations broaden
or narrow perspectives in various cultures. For example,
sufficient emphasis on space as the proper expression of man's
highest aspirations may result in the evolution of a broadly
based belief that this is so. But whether or not this is likely
to be the case cannot now be decided in view of our limited
understanding of how new ideas disseminate through societies. If
and as horizons were broadened as a result of space activities,
other aspirations would compete with them for attention and
resources, and continuous study would be required to evaluate the
appropriate position of space in this competition.

4.Though intelligent or semi-intelligent life conceivably
exists elsewhere in our solar system, if intelligent
extraterrestrial life is discovered in the next twenty years, it
will very probably be by radio telescope from other solar
systems. Evidences of its existence might also be found in
artifacts left on the moon or other planets. The consequences for
attitudes and values are unpredictable, but would vary profoundly
in different cultures and between groups within complex
societies; a crucial factor would be the nature of the
communication between us and the other beings. Whether or not
earth would be inspired to an all-out space effort by such a
discovery is moot: societies sure of their own place in the
universe have disintegrated when confronted by a superior
society, and others have survived even though changed. Clearly,
the better we can come to understand the factors involved in
responding to such crises the better prepared we may be.

5.Man-in-space programs in their early days will confront some
groups with value conflicts over the proper circumstances for
risking life, family integrity, etc. Arguments are already
intense on the merits, or lack of them, of investing heavily in
man-in-space efforts. Later efforts may expose astronauts to
living conditions with which many of the public cannot, or will
be reluctant to identify. The threat and isolation of space thus
emphasized may repel many people, especially as urban living
becomes ever more the life pattern, and support for these
efforts, therefore, might be less forthcoming. In some people,
however, the adventures of the astronauts may fire a latent
pioneer spirit; support for man-in-space programs might be strong
among this group -- but it also might be displaced by their newly
stirred personal pioneer aspirations. There may be possibly
profound effects on attitudes and values if through the astronaut
experiences it is found that the extraordinary abilities
sometimes displayed under conditions of extreme physical or
emotional stress can be made available to man for use in-more
normal circumstances.

However, it should be kept in mind that intense solar radiation
and heavy-particle cosmic rays may make more than an occasional
manned essay into deep space too dangerous to be practical during
the time period under examination. If so, the consequences for
attitudes and values are not clear. Understanding of the impact
of the man-in-space program on attitudes and values in general,
and on those toward the program itself in particular would
benefit from a series of studies of public expectations and
beliefs as these change over time.

Since commitment of effort to competing programs for social
betterment fundamentally depends on attitudes and values about
their relative merits, a research area with potentially profound
implications for society and space activities, which is also
urgent for policy purposes, concerns the development of:

Systematic methods for assigning priorities between competing
scientific and social efforts (where competition may be over the
long term and involve personnel, money, public support, and
conflicting attitudes and values).

A variety of more specific studies on public opinion and values
as affected by space activities will depend on research providing
trend data describing:

The state of knowledge, values, and attitudes regarding space
activities, both on-going and contemplated; and what assumptions,
expectations, and values underlie the attitudes and
interpretations of this knowledge. What are the effects over time
of new knowledge and events on attitudes toward space activities,
and what are the effects of the sources of information on the
acceptability of the information?

In view of the conflicting attitudes and values so far expressed
about the Mercury program, and in view of the possible favorable
and unfavorable consequences of astronaut launchings, it is
urgent to plan studies that would provide information on what the
public needs to know and would assist in interpreting public
reactions by determining:

Present public knowledge and expectations about and underlying
attitudes toward, the Mercury program and the astronauts. These
should be continuing studies so that the impact of events can be
anticipated, evaluated, and planned for.

While the discovery of intelligent life in other parts of the
universe is not likely in the immediate future, it could
nevertheless happen at any time. Whenever it does occur its
consequences for earth attitudes and values may be profound.
Hence a long-term research effort, which would aid in preparing
for this possibility, could usefully begin with:

A continuing determination of emotional and intellectual
understanding and attitudes regarding the possibility and
consequences of discovering intelligent extraterrestrial life.

While space activities offer a special opportunity to study the
relationship of innovation to social change, understanding the
relationship will require examination of other innovation
situations, too. Research is recommended to determine:

What factors historically have entered into support or rejection
of new ideas or technologies. What was and wasn't appreciated
about the potentialities (or lack of them) in the innovation and
under what personal and social circumstances did this occur? In
particular, what were the roles of physical environment,
politics, personalities, limited systems analysis capabilities,
insufficient communications to decision makers, etc.?
 
Thank you Mr. Ecker, that was a good read.
Any suggestions as to where one may find some compelling photographic evidence of some of the moon 'structures' mentioned in your articles?
Thefoundryman
 
If there is anything to these claims, then the LRO with 1m per pixel resolution should find them, it's already spotted many of the Apollo sites.. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter . . My 2 cents; this is just low resolution film plus a strong dose of pareidolia playing tricks on people.
 
It pretty obvious to me that we know very little. The moon has been barely been explored.The Astronauts landed only on tiny portions of the Moon

Imagine the Earth in your head. Then go out to your back garden and look around.They experienced only a tiny fraction of what could be there.

I think, we need a honest broker other than Nasa. Maybe India or some other European country will decide to go to moon. We might get something different and hopefully knowledge which will dispel this rumours once and for all?
 
I think, we need a honest broker other than Nasa. Maybe India or some other European country will decide to go to moon. We might get something different and hopefully knowledge which will dispel this rumours once and for all?

...You mean, like, evidence of a massive towing hitch that the greys used to tow it into it's current orbit? :D

..All silliness aside, I agree with you that the NASA led monopoly on the moon needs to end. I'll hedge my bets on the ESA/india's joint mission to the moon to hopefully yield the evidence of the lunar 'towing hitch'.
 
On the Clementine Mission -From NASA 02/04/1994

Clementine was a DOD mission back to the Moon.


Clementine is a Department of Defense mission. The only
information that has been released through NASA Public Affairs
sources is the following document. We suggest that you write to
either of the Defense systems offices that are mentioned in this
document for information.

Clementine, sponsored by the Strategic Defense Initiative Office
(SDIO), launched a small spacecraft in January 1994 to orbit the
moon for several months, then de-orbit the moon in early May
1994. The spacecraft would then fly by the near-Earth asteroid
1620 Geographos on Aug. 31, 1994, when the asteroid is several
million miles away, its closest distance to the Earth.

The goals of the mission are to test new, lightweight sensors in
a space radiation environment and to demonstrate autonomous
navigation and spacecraft operation. Lightweight and innovative
spacecraft components also will be tested, including a
lightweight star tracker, an inertial measurement unit,
lightweight reaction wheels for attitude control, as well as a
lightweight nickel hydrogen battery and a lightweight solar
panel.

The science team will plan for the acquisition of the scientific
measurements, the archiving of all science data in a form easily
accessible to the planetary science community and initial
analyses of the data.

Geographos is one of the earliest discovered Earth-crossing
asteroids. It was discovered in September 1951, in a sky survey
sponsored by the National Geographic Society. Most
Earth-crossing asteroids are thought to be fragments produced by
collisions between asteroids in the main belt between Mars and
Jupiter, which are later perturbed into Earth-crossing orbits.

Radar images recently obtained of the asteroid 4179 Toutatis
suggest that the shape of Geographos and other Earth crossers
might be much more complex than previously suspected.

The sensors will be trained on the moon and on the asteroid.
Also, mutispectral science measurements at ultraviolet, visible
and infrared wavelengths will be made and played back to Earth.
The specific filter wavelengths were selected in consultation
with NASA scientists, to both meet SDIO objectives and maximize
the scientific data return.

The science team members selected and their affiliations are:

Charles Acton, Jet Propusion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Daniel Baker, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Jacques Blamont, CNES (France)
Bonnie Buratti, Jet Propusion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Merton Davies, Rand Corp., Santa Monica, Calif.
Thomas Duxbury, Jet Propusion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Eric Eliason, U.S. Geologic Survey, Flagstaff, Ariz.
Paul Lucey, University of Hawaii, Honolulu
Alfred McEwen, U.S. Geologic Survey, Flagstaff, Ariz.
Carle Pieters, Brown University, Providence, R.I.
David Smith, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Paul Spudis, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston

The Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C., is responsible
for mission design, providing the spacecraft and for mission
operations. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory will be responsible
for tracking the spacecraft radio signal using NASA's Deep Space
Network and will be responsible for accurately locating
Geographos using its Near Earth Object Center in preparation for
the flyby.
 
May 26, 1994
CLEMENTINE PRODUCES FIRST GLOBAL DIGITAL MAP OF MOON


The Clementine mission, sponsored by the Department of Defense
Ballistic Missile Defense Organization, has completed systematic
mapping of the Lunar surface to produce the first global digital map of
the Moon. NASA's Clementine science team has mapped the topography and
composition of major regions of the Moon in detail and produced other
important science results released today at the spring meeting of the
American Geophysical Union in Baltimore, Md.

The digital data set covers 38 million square kilometers of the Moon
mapped in 11 colors in the visible and near infrared parts of the
spectrum during the mission's 71 days in lunar orbit, providing the
first view of the global color of the Moon.

"The scientific significance of the lunar data set from Clementine is
immense. For the first time, multi-spectral imaging data of consistent
viewing geometry, resolution, and lighting conditions have been
obtained for the entire Moon," said Dr. Jurgen Rahe, NASA Program
Scientist. "With Clementine data, we have begun a new era in the
exploration of the geology of the planets using global multi-spectral
data sets."

Composition of Lunar Surface Studied

The color of the Moon in the visible to near infrared part of the
spectrum is sensitive to variations in both the mineral composition of
surface material and the amount of time that material has been exposed
to space. Color filters for the two principal mapping cameras, the
ultraviolet-visible camera and the near infrared camera, were selected
to characterize the overall surface composition and to search for
titanium-rich rocks.

By combining information obtained through 11 filters, multi-spectral
image data are used to map the distribution of rock and soil types on
the Moon. Preliminary studies of areas of already known geological
complexity, including the Aristarchus crater and plateau, the
Copernicus crater and the crater Giodano Bruno, allow scientists to
identify and map the diversity within and between geologic areas which
have both impact and volcanic origins.

The mission also provided tens of thousands of high resolution and mid-
infrared thermal images. The topography of the Moon was mapped using a
laser ranger. Knowledge of the surface gravity field of the Moon was
improved through analysis of radio tracking data. A Charged Particle
Telescope characterized the solar and magnetospheric energetic particle
environment.

Surface and Subsurface Structure

In addition to compositional data from the images, Clementine has
produced views of either previously unknown regions of the Moon or
previously known areas from a different and unique perspective, in both
cases yielding new insights into lunar evolution.

Scientists measured the topography of large, ancient impact features,
including the largest (1,600 miles/2,500 km in diameter) and deepest
(more than seven miles/12 km) impact basin known in the Solar System.
Preliminary analysis has deciphered the gravity structure of a young
basin on the limb of the Moon, showing that a huge plug of the lunar
mantle has been uplifted from below its surface.

The Science Team completed a mosaic of the South Polar region of the
Moon using over 1,500 images obtained during the first month of
systematic mapping. A striking result from this mosaic, depicted by an
extensive region of shadow, is the discovery of a large depression
centered very near the South Pole. Scientists believe this is almost
certainly an ancient impact basin about 190 miles (300 km) in diameter.
They also believe that large parts of this dark area may never receive
any sunlight because the Moon's rotation axis is nearly perpendicular
to the plane of its orbit around the Sun.

If this region receives no sunlight, it possibly will be about minus
230 degrees Celsius. This fact is significant because water molecules
>from impacting comets may have found their way into such 'cold traps'
and accumulated in significant amounts over billions of years.
Clementine beamed radio waves into the polar areas and the scattered
radio signals were received by the large antennas of NASA's Deep Space
Network. This "bistatic radar" experiment was designed to look for
echoes that would indicate the presence of water ice deposits. The
results of this experiment may not be known for many months as the data
will require thorough analysis.

Topographic and Gravity Studies

Laser ranging data from Clementine allow a nearly global view of
topography (or relief) of the lunar surface. A striking result from
these data is the confirmation of a population of very ancient, nearly
obliterated impact basins, randomly distributed across the Moon. The
presence of these basins was inferred from obscure circular patterns
found in photographs taken by NASA's Lunar Orbiter spacecraft in the
1960s.

Clementine laser ranging has provided dramatic confirmation of their
existence, including their surprising depth, typically three to four
miles (five to seven km), even for the most degraded features.

Another major result is the confirmation of the largest impact basin on
the Moon, the 1,600 mile (2,500 km) diameter South Pole-Aitken basin.
This feature is about over seven and one-half miles (12 km) deep,
making it the largest and deepest impact crater known in the Solar
System.

Gravity data obtained from radio tracking of Clementine indicate that
these great holes in the Moon's crust are compensated by structural
uplift of dense rocks from the mantle beneath each impact basin.

The Clementine data, together with the lunar rock and soil samples of
known geologic context which were returned to Earth from the Apollo and
Luna programs, constitute unique data sets which do not exist for any
other body in the Solar System, including the Earth. On the basis of
the initial study of the Clementine data, new insights are likely into
how the Moon has evolved over its protracted and complex history. NASA
plans to sponsor a multi-year peer-reviewed program of lunar data
analysis, which will include the extensive Clementine data sets.
____________________________________________________________________
 
Why did you have to be a smartass, I was only asking for a link.

:confused:

ddd999, if I had been trying to be a "SmartAss" I would have told you to get off your dead ass, onto your dying feet and check Google.

I was just trying to be helpful. Take a chill pill dude.

Decker
 
My bad, usually "try internet" and "try Google" is used in a juvenile intent to be smart and humorous.

I really enjoyed your first post in this thread and was under impression that Gareth is in the possession of a link to some of the photos mentioned in your article, so was just asking to share with the rest of us.
It’s not about being lazy, it’s just that over the years I've seen some of the photos (Hoagland,etc) and to be honest most of them are just pixelated mess of nothing so was hoping that maybe there's some quality stuff out there that I haven't come across. That's all. ;)
 
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