The Moon is the closest cosmic object to us, which has attracted the attention of astronomers and scientists since time immemorial. Not all the mysteries of this satellite have been solved. This article will list the most interesting unsolved mysteries of the Moon.
How the Moon appeared
The origin of our satellite remains the most interesting mystery. There are several theories regarding how the Moon came into being. Some scientists believe that in time immemorial it broke away from our planet, after which it formed into a separate cosmic body, and on our planet, in place of the missing piece, the Pacific Ocean was formed.
According to another theory, our Earth once collided with the protoplanetary Theia, which was at the stage of formation. This cosmic accident created a cloud of dust and debris that later coalesced to form the Moon.
Due to its size being too large for a satellite, some scientists prefer to call the Moon a planet. According to official data, as is known, it remains a natural satellite of the Earth.
What are moonquakes and why do they happen?
As you know, earthquakes often occur on our Earth, or rather in some of its corners. The reason for this is the movement of tectonic plates. However, there are no such plates on the satellite of our planet, but despite this, periodic shaking also occurs there, which is usually called moonquakes. Experts say that the cause of this phenomenon is the tidal activity of the Earth. In addition, according to other versions, earthquakes on the Moon can be provoked by collisions with meteorites or solar activity of a certain nature. The average duration of shaking on the satellite does not exceed ten minutes, and the power is five and a half points on the Richter scale. This is enough to move small objects.
Artificial structures on the Moon
All kinds of satellites studying our natural neighbor often record various structures located on its surface, having an unknown origin. Among them, the most unusual are considered to be pyramids and similar structures. Who built them?
The height of lunar structures varies widely - from a couple of meters to a kilometer. There is an assumption that these buildings were left behind by ancient intelligent civilizations, the existence of which may soon be proven. Our developed ancestors may have lived on Earth, or on another planet located not very far from Earth. They could visit our house for various purposes, for example, to extract minerals, food, or teach the life of ancient wild people. Official research organizations such as NASA deny the presence of man-made structures on the Moon, and all photographs of them are considered fake.
Moon Dust
This type of soil on our satellite causes many problems and inconveniences for astronauts. It has a finely dispersed structure, similar to flour, and can penetrate even the smallest crevices of lunar rovers. Astronauts who have been to the Moon have returned with skin irritations. As it turns out, lunar dust can even get under a spacesuit.
The most surprising thing is that the smell of the dust of the Moon is very similar to gunpowder. It is believed that even a steel object cannot contact it for long. The most durable material wears out quickly when exposed to it.
Moonlight
It is believed that if moonlight falls on a person's face while sleeping, he will certainly have nightmares. Disappointing statistics from criminologists show that the number of suicides and crimes increases sharply during the full moon. Thus, it can be assumed that the Moon influences a person, and not in the most positive way.
All-consuming moon shadow
Astronauts B. Aldrin and N. Armstrong, when visiting our satellite for the first time, noticed that the shadow on it, cast by various objects, has a denser structure than the shadow on Earth. The moon's shadow turned out to be much darker and more saturated. A little later, astronomers found out that this was due to the lack of an atmosphere on the Moon.
The most interesting thing is that if the astronaut stepped into the shadow with one foot, he completely stopped seeing it. All objects falling into the shadow on the Moon became as if invisible. Because of this unusual phenomenon, maintenance work on space research equipment became noticeably more complicated, since it was very difficult for astronauts to completely prevent shadows from falling on its parts during work.
MOON: riddles and secretsThe moon is rich in the power of suggestion,
There is always a mystery around her.
She echoes us: “Life is a reflection,
But this ghost is breathing for a reason."
With your ray, a pale green ray,
She caresses, strangely so exciting,
And induces the soul to long groans
The influence of a fatal kiss.
With its damage, two-week death
And with a new sovereign radiance
She talks about sadness that is not aimless,
That light awaits us after we die.
But, beckoning us with unforgettable hope,
She herself fell asleep in the pale distance,
Beauty of constant melancholy,
Supreme mistress of sorrow.
Konstantin Balmont
Neil Armstrong (American astronaut who participated in the expedition to the Moon):
The aliens have their bases on the Moon, but, apparently, are in no hurry to establish mutual contact. Their behavior showed a desire to kick us out of the Moon!
ALIEN BASES ON THE MOON?
Back in 1865, astronomers noticed how one of the large lunar craters suddenly changed its appearance. Before this, a small light gray cloud appeared over the crater. In 1948, a very intense orange flash was seen inside Plato Crater, and in 1955, American scientist McCorkle noticed a bright flash on the Moon that lasted as much as 35 seconds. On November 3, 1958, Professor I. A. Kozyrev managed to observe a real eruption of a lunar volcano.
At that time it was a real sensation, because scientists believed that volcanic processes on the Moon had long ended. In addition to eruptions, changes in the color of certain areas were also noted on the surface of our planet’s satellite. The most daring researchers have even suggested that the change in color of the lunar surface is associated with the development of primitive vegetation. Even before the start of studying the Earth’s natural satellite with automatic space stations, astronomers observed strange geometrically regular formations on the surface of the Moon. Thus, straight lines were noticed emanating from some craters and even connecting them to each other.
It seemed that after the American expeditions there would be no mysteries left on the Moon, because 12 astronauts visited it, directly explored its surface for 80 hours and delivered 400 kilograms of samples to Earth. However, after the lunar expeditions, the mysteries seem to have only increased. Firstly, of the 12 planned lunar landings, for some reason only half were carried out. Why? Secondly, officially unconfirmed information is well known that Americans saw spaceships of an extraterrestrial civilization on the Moon. Thirdly, after the flights to the Moon, American astronauts changed a lot: some became very religious, others took up parapsychology...
The first spaceship to take people to the Moon was Apollo 11. The team included Armstrong, Collins and Aldrin. The first to “pass” was Aldrin, about whom some time ago the newspapers wrote that he was completely demoralized, in the evenings he sits and looks out the dark window, gets very drunk and in general something incomprehensible is happening to him.
Edgar Mitchell, a member of the Apollo 14 expedition, became interested in parapsychology in 1973. He even founded an institute to study the phenomena of the human psyche. Over the years of research, Mitchell says, he became convinced that it was possible to bring science and mystical experience together, and consider supernatural phenomena to be completely natural. What could make this strong man change his destiny so dramatically? Many researchers believe that the Americans witnessed such incredible events on the Moon that they were forced to simply cancel the Apollo program.
Perhaps the reason for this was the presence on the Earth’s satellite of a very active activity of another civilization, which American ufologist Fred Steckling wrote about in his book “We Discovered Alien Bases on the Moon”? He analyzed about ten thousand photographs of the lunar surface and came to the conclusion that many of them clearly contain artificial objects of very impressive size. Fred Steckling and his son also managed to conduct personal astronomical observations, during which three cigar-shaped objects were noticed in the Archimedes crater, the sizes of which were estimated to be about 20 km long and 5 km wide... The “cigars” remained in the crater for several hours, and then they disappeared.
In the 70s, George Leonard's book There's Someone Else on Our Moon was published. In it, using photographs and facts from conversations with participants in NASA's lunar programs, he proves that manifestations of extraterrestrial intelligence are obvious on the Moon. On the surface of our natural satellite there are artificial embankments, geometrically correct formations, towers, giant operating mechanisms, domes, pipelines, bridges and even... inscriptions that are quite visible from space. Moreover, the largest part of strange objects is concentrated on the far side of the Moon, inaccessible for observation from Earth. Apparently, the aliens prefer not to be monitored for their activities.
Of particular interest are giant installations up to 2 kilometers long, which clearly process lunar soil. Perhaps they contain the solution to the question of what aliens are doing on the Moon. It looks like elementary mining and enrichment of minerals is underway. It is possible that some of the craters are not of meteorite origin, but of artificial origin - these are simply huge quarries. Giant mechanisms can operate automatically under the supervision of a few personnel, but at certain times “ore transporters” - giant ships several kilometers long - arrive to collect the ore. A couple of years ago, a video was shown on television by a Japanese amateur astronomer, where these huge UFOs were clearly visible maneuvering over the surface of the Moon.
When the next “armada” arrives on the Moon, and with it a group of researchers, there is a sharp intensification of UFO observations on Earth, because it has long been noted that the peaks of “flying saucer” observations have a fairly precise periodicity. It is possible that some of the people abducted on Earth (according to ufologists, up to five percent of missing people can be attributed to aliens) are used in some way in lunar mines. Of course, information about the activities of certain intelligent forces on the Moon is classified by the Americans. But they clearly allow a certain leak of information, apparently believing that gradual preparation of the population of the United States and other countries of the planet to perceive such an incredible fact is still necessary.
Maybe the Americans sent the military satellite “Clementine” specifically to monitor such active activity of aliens on the Moon, which earthlings, in their naivety, already considered personal property? And “Clementine” simultaneously discovered ice on the Moon, which was an excellent reason to send another probe there. And recently, American scientists reported sensational news: “Lunar Prospector” fully confirmed the data of “Clementine” about the presence of water in the form of ice on the Moon. NASA expedition leader Alan Binder said:
At the poles of the Moon, our probe discovered huge reserves of ice - on the order of several hundred million tons. This will be enough for the lunar station for hundreds, and maybe thousands of years, to obtain water, oxygen and rocket fuel.
The Americans have already calculated that they will be able to save about 65 trillion dollars on the delivery of drinking water to future lunar settlements...
The presence of water means that people will soon be able to move to the Moon. We will be able to build the first station in 8-10 years, and in 15 years it may be a whole colony, says Alan Binder.
Why are Americans in such a hurry to get to the moon? Maybe for new extraterrestrial technologies? Or are they in a hurry to establish contact with the Selenites? If we assume that all this is true, then there have been alien observers on the Moon for almost 30 years, and it is quite logical to assume that the Americans have established contact with them. Why were lunar explorations interrupted? Space is a strategic area, and those who possess its secrets are stronger than potential opponents. Many scientists believe the answer is quite simple: it didn't happen because the ability to contact an alien craft eliminated the need for costly launches from Cape Canaveral. Remember that it was from the late 70s that radio-space communications began to develop rapidly. The impetus for this was secret contacts. Of course, NASA denies everything, but if the truth ever comes out, we will understand where space blockbuster products suddenly came from: from “Stele” technologies to compact discs.
Nikolay GRECHANIK
Magazine: Kaleidoscope "UFO"
Back in the 1960s, Mikhail Vasin and Alexander Shcherbakov from the USSR Academy of Sciences put forward the hypothesis that in reality our satellite was created artificially.
This hypothesis has eight main postulates, popularly called “riddles,” which analyze some of the most surprising aspects about the satellite.
Because of the question of time and scientific precision, we will set aside most speculation regarding the nature of the luminary in order to concentrate on specific dilemmas that continue to remain mysteries in modern science.
In fact, the orbit of motion and the size of the moon's satellite are physically almost impossible. If this were natural, one could argue that this is an extremely strange “whim” of the cosmos. This is due to the fact that the size of the Moon is equal to a quarter of the size of the Earth, and the ratio of the sizes of the satellite and the planet is always many times smaller.
The distance from the Moon to the Earth is such that the sizes of the Sun and Moon are visually the same. This allows us to observe such a rare phenomenon as a total solar eclipse, when the Moon completely covers the Sun. The same mathematical impossibility applies to the masses of both celestial bodies.
If the Moon were a body that at some point was attracted by the Earth and found a natural orbit, then it would be expected that this orbit should be elliptical. Instead, it is strikingly round.
The second mystery of the Moon: the incredible curvature of the Moon's surface
The incredible curvature that the Moon's surface exhibits is inexplicable. The moon is not a round body. The results of geological studies lead to the conclusion that this planetoid is actually a hollow ball. Although it is such, scientists still cannot explain how the Moon can have such a strange structure without being destroyed.
One explanation proposed by the above-mentioned scientists is that the lunar crust was made of a solid titanium frame. Indeed, the lunar crust and rocks have been shown to have extraordinary levels of titanium. According to Russian scientists Vasin and Shcherbakov, the thickness of the titanium layer is 30 km.
The third mystery of the Moon: lunar craters
The explanation for the presence of a huge number of meteorite craters on the surface of the Moon is widely known - the absence of an atmosphere. Most cosmic bodies that try to penetrate Earth encounter kilometers of atmosphere on their way, and it all ends with the “aggressor” disintegrating.
The Moon has no ability to protect its surface from the scars left by all the meteorites crashing into it - craters of all sizes. What remains unexplained is the shallow depth to which the aforementioned bodies were able to penetrate. It really looks as if a layer of extremely durable material prevented meteorites from penetrating into the center of the satellite.
Even craters with a diameter of 150 kilometers do not exceed 4 kilometers deep into the Moon. This feature is inexplicable from the point of view of normal observations that there should be craters at least 50 km deep.
The fourth mystery of the Moon: “lunar seas”
How were the so-called “lunar seas” formed? These gigantic areas of solid lava, which originate from the interior of the Moon, could easily be explained if the Moon were a hot planet with a liquid interior, where they could arise from meteorite impacts. But physically, it is much more likely that the Moon, judging by its size, has always been a cold body. Another mystery is the location of the “lunar seas”. Why are 80% of them on the visible side of the Moon?
The fifth mystery of the Moon: mascons
The gravitational attraction on the surface of the moon is not uniform. This effect had already been noted by the crew of Apollo VIII when it flew around the lunar sea zones. Mascones (from "Mass Concentration" - mass concentration) are places where matter is believed to exist at a higher density or in large quantities. This phenomenon is closely related to the lunar seas, since the mascons are located under them.
The sixth mystery of the Moon: geographic asymmetry
A rather shocking fact in science, which still cannot be explained, is the geographic asymmetry of the surface of the Moon. The famous "dark" side of the Moon has many more craters, mountains and landforms. In addition, as we already mentioned, most of the seas, on the contrary, are on the side that we can see.
The seventh mystery of the Moon: the low density of the Moon
The density of our satellite is 60% of the density of the Earth. This fact, together with various studies, proves that the Moon is a hollow object. Moreover, several scientists have ventured to suggest that the above-mentioned cavity is artificial.
In fact, given the layout of the surface layers that have been identified, scientists argue that the Moon appears to be like a planet that formed "in reverse," and some have used this to argue for the "artificial casting" theory.
The Eighth Mystery of the Moon: Origin
In the last century, for a long time, three theories of the origin of the Moon were conventionally accepted. Currently, most of the scientific community has accepted the hypothesis of the artificial origin of the lunar planetoid as no less valid than others. One theory suggests that the Moon is a fragment of the Earth.
But the enormous differences in the nature of these two bodies make this theory practically untenable. Another theory is that this celestial body formed at the same time as the Earth, from the same cloud of cosmic gas. But the previous conclusion is also valid in relation to this judgment, since the Earth and the Moon should have at least a similar structure.
The third theory suggests that, while wandering through space, the Moon fell into the earth's gravity, which caught and turned it into its “captive”. The big flaw in this explanation is that the Moon's orbit is essentially circular and cyclical. In such a phenomenon (when the satellite is “caught” by the planet), the orbit would be quite far from the center or, at least, would be some kind of ellipsoid.+
The fourth assumption is the most incredible of all, but, in any case, it can explain the various anomalies that are associated with the Earth's satellite, since if the Moon were constructed by intelligent beings, then the physical laws to which it is subject would not be equally applicable to other celestial bodies.
The mysteries of the Moon put forward by scientists Vasin and Shcherbakov are only some of the real physical assessments of the Moon's anomalies. In addition, there are many other video, photographic evidence and studies that give confidence to those who think about the possibility that our “natural” satellite is not one.
With a diameter of about 3,476 kilometers, the Moon is a quarter the size of Earth, and its territory is the subject of many fascinating theories. Soil samples obtained during lunar expeditions revealed the content of brass, mica, uranium 236 and neptunium 237, giving rise to a splendor of fascinating mysteries.
In the eyes of numerous hypotheses, the Moon as an astronomical object appears to be one of the most mysterious bodies in the system. Our satellite is rightfully considered a strange astronomical body due to numerous physical properties that scientists are not yet able to explain.
The uniqueness of the Moon also lies in the fact that it is incomparable with any other satellites discovered near neighboring planets to date. In fact, our moon is so unique that Robert Jastrow (an American astronomer and planetary physicist and former leading NASA scientist) called the Moon the “Rosetta Stone of the Planets.” — By the way, the astronomer was skeptical about the idea of UFOs due to the lack of physical evidence supporting this hypothesis.
For a better idea of the uniqueness (or strangeness) of the Earth's satellite, just hear a quote from Robin Brett, a NASA scientist who once heartily declared: It seems easier to explain the non-existence of the Moon than its existence!
Lunar anomalies.
Who won't let us go to the moon? Why was the US lunar program, in which they invested an astronomical sum, curtailed? Why did they suddenly start talking about the achievements of American astronauts from different points of view?
There is no clear answer to these questions. Among numerous versions and arguments, supporters point out that the Moon is an inhabited celestial body!
In fact, astronomers have repeatedly observed mysterious objects on the lunar disk, the origin of which cannot be explained. Strange flights of celestial bodies, whose motion trajectories do not allow them to be confidently classified as space debris. It is difficult to classify them as wandering cosmic bodies, since they do not have a clearly directed trajectory of motion. Many unidentified individuals behave as if they are under the control of a pilot.
In other words, according to ufologists, this is nothing more than from distant worlds and galaxies, and our satellite is a special base created for the maintenance of space technology.
Consequently, if you believe in the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence and analyze a number of facts, then it is quite likely that the “Lunar Program” was curtailed for more fundamental and serious reasons than they told the whole society.
It is not difficult to guess that if humanity has not yet encountered representatives of other, more developed civilizations, then the proposed base on the Moon is simply hidden from human sight. However, these are just guesses and another version, because... The scientific community does not provide confirmation of the existence of intelligent beings in our galaxy.
Why is the Moon a strange object?
The moon rotates in a stunning orbit not found anywhere else in the solar system. Not a single satellite of the visible planets behaves in an appropriate manner. This is a unique phenomenon for the Moon, because all other satellites orbit the equator of their planets. The Moon rotates in Earth's orbit according to its own rules, denying the accepted laws of the system.
Surprisingly, the Moon maintains a precisely specified altitude, course and speed, which allows the satellite to properly function (interact) with our planet. Some researchers are confident that if the Moon is perceived as an object of natural origin (according to generally accepted teaching), then it cannot be located at all in the place where we see it.
The Moon contains copper, mica, uranium 236 and neptunium 237 - these products have never been found produced by natural conditions. The incredible lies in the following: uranium 236 is a radioactive product of nuclear waste contained in spent and regenerated uranium.
The discovery of neptunium 237, a radioactive element in nuclear reactors and a participant in the production of plutonium, is extremely intriguing. Such facts speak about the activity of intelligent beings, completely excluding the natural factor, the researchers are sure.
The mysterious lunar characteristics led Mikhail Vasin and Alexander Shcherbakov of the USSR Academy of Sciences to write a paper about the satellite in the 1970s entitled “Is the Moon the Creation of an Alien Intelligence?” Almost half a century has passed since its publication, but despite research expeditions to the Moon, we are still no closer to understanding the mystery of the origin of the Earth’s satellite.
In addition, Harold Urey, Nobel Prize winner in chemistry, adds: I am terribly surprised by the lunar samples with titanium delivered by astronauts. In fact, the soil samples are unimaginably mind-blowing because scientists could not really explain the presence of finds on the satellite.
The Hollow Moon Theory.
Could the Moon be an artificial structure? Research shows that the Moon is most likely a hollow object, ufologists say. Developing the hypothesis, researchers suggest the incredible: the Moon represents a tool for terraforming the living conditions of planet Earth. An ancient project to engineer the Earth was launched by a powerful alien civilization.
Under a protective layer of regolith, the Moon has a hard shell made of high-strength materials such as titanium, for example. Uranium, mica, neptunium, copper, and finally, these are definitely products that no one expected to find on the Moon. Meanwhile, this is just construction debris from the creation of a space station, where radioactive elements are “waste” from its working activities. Speaking of garbage, there are now more than 180,000 kg of garbage on the Moon that people have left there.
The version of the Moon with a hollow “pocket” inside looks absurd at first glance. However, due to the large number of anomalies, researchers are convinced that the night star is not just hollow inside, but is a product of extraterrestrial engineering, built tens of hundreds of years ago.In 1969, NASA crash-landed a probe onto the lunar surface to determine the satellite's response to impact. The effect they saw amazed the experimenters themselves: a powerful moonquake engulfed the entire satellite! Scientists were stunned when the moon rang like a bell for more than an hour. Ken Johnson, head of NASA's information department then noted: The moon not only rang like a bell, but was all “dangling”...
A small experiment with big results provoked the formation of countless hypotheses about the true origin of the Moon. In one version, the Moon does not have an internal natural core, which is partially confirmed by the average density of the Moon of 3.34 g/cm3, indicating a light body. For example, the average density of the Earth is 5.5 g/cm3.
The basic idea of the origin of the Moon is based on a fantastic story: supposedly the Earth’s satellite was brought here by aliens who were not just conducting exploration work in space, but also preparing the planets for biological life.
The theory resonates with things like ancient records of life before the moon people, a period of time when the Earth had no satellite. This also includes the version with the Ecumenical Flood. They say that the Moon, which suddenly appeared unexpectedly, caused a gigantic tidal wave, which is why the Earth could not calm down for almost two months, and in general, this seems to be true.
During the flyby of the Moon by spacecraft, it was found that its gravitational field is very uneven. Scientists P. Müller and V. Sjögren discovered pronounced positive gravity anomalies over large lunar seas. They tried to connect such a strange phenomenon with the existence of excess masses in these seas, which they called mascons (“mask” in short - concentration of mass).
The term "mascons" is difficult to find in the dictionary. Just a few decades ago there was no such concept at all. So, what are mascons?
Hypothesis one. Mascons are iron-nickel bodies that flew from space and “buried” into the lunar soil. Müller and Sjogren suggested that the bodies that formed these seas had an iron-nickel composition. But the hypothesis is very artificial, since the possibility of the formation of large iron-nickel satellites in a near-Earth swarm is extremely unlikely.
Hypothesis two. Mascones are strata of sedimentary rocks on the site of ancient seas. The idea that mascons consist of components of fallen bodies is rejected by J. Gilvary (USA). He believes that the masses of the bodies that formed the seas are an order of magnitude smaller than the masses of the Mascons. Gilvary is trying to explain the properties of mascons, starting from his long-standing idea that the seas on the Moon were once real water formations, similar to those on Earth.
In the early era of the Moon's existence, a large amount of volatile substances and water was released from its depths. Water covered the low parts of the lunar surface with a two-kilometer layer. By this time, giant craters already existed. The bottom of the craters was raised by the pressure of the underlying layers, and did not sag further, since, according to Gilvary, the initially heated Moon managed to cool down, restoring its strength.
“As you can now see, there are a large number of questions regarding the Moon, and the presence of water on the satellite in the past is not the most intriguing of them. Another thing is more interesting - can we call the Moon “our natural satellite of the Earth”?
The moon - its mysteries and secrets
It would seem that the Moon is always in sight and it cannot be connected with any national secrets. Nevertheless, some secrets of the Moon, apparently, are carefully hidden. The strangeness of research into the night star makes us think about this. Published information about the results of flights to the Moon is only part of the information obtained. And yet, sometimes you can notice some “traces” leading to steel safes.
1973 - the Soviet news agency Novosti informed Western readers (but not citizens of their country!) about the mysterious discovery of Lunokhod 2:
The Lunokhod began exploring a strange piece of lunar material that was ejected from the lunar interior during the formation of a large crater. This one-meter-long slab, which resembled the panel of a modern house, turned out to be completely monolithic. The cart's pressure of a hundred atmospheres left only a faint trace on the thin layer of dust that covered it. The slab has a smooth surface, while the giant rocks that lie nearby are covered in crater holes left by tiny ones.
A study of stones at the foot of the ancient Taurus Mountains showed that they had been lying there for tens and even hundreds of millions of years. The mysterious slab looks significantly younger... It was decided to study it further to try to determine its chemical composition and magnetic properties... Most of the stone fragments around are probably the result of the formation of the crater. The stone slab that surprised scientists clearly has nothing to do with this.
Despite the “artificial” appearance of the slab and the enormous interest of scientists and the public in it, there were no more publications about this matter. This is not surprising - after all, detection promises new, strategically important advantages in technology, economics and politics...
Accusations of concealing information continue to be heard against NASA. Thus, the American researcher J.H. Leonard is confident in the presence of intelligent beings from other worlds on the Moon. He bluntly noted: “Ignorance of their goals led to the secretion of the truth about the Moon.” F. Steckling also wrote about the secrets of the Moon:
It is clear that the military is trying to protect the country. This may be why they keep a lot of things regarding the Moon as secret as possible... While "protecting" the unsuspecting public is justified, in some cases "overprotecting" can also be harmful to the minds... I'm sure there are plenty of pictures that may remain unanalyzed by NASA due to lack of money, but I also know that many close-up photographs are placed in classified files.
And although the books of Leonard and Steckling are rather naive and have little evidence, their fears about the classification of part of the lunar information, perhaps, find indirect confirmation.
Thus, American engineer V. Sacheri published a detailed description of his attempts to see the original photographs of the Apollo expeditions, which J. H. Leonard referred to. It turned out that access to the lunar materials storage facility in Houston is burdened with all the trappings of secrecy. After many days of delays, filling out a large number of forms and security checks, Sacheri was finally allowed into the storage facility for 24 hours, but... with the condition that he would not have a camera, pen, paper, or even a calculator! He was not left unattended for a minute; he was even escorted to the dining room and to the toilet.
A very strange regime for storing purely scientific data about the demilitarized Moon... True, Sacheri himself claims that there were reasons for this - he allegedly himself saw unusually clear photographs of what seemed to him to be traces, machines and structures of intelligent beings. However, having ordered copies of them, I only received something vague...
Against the background of numerous unfounded and contradictory statements by ufologists, the articles of the American enthusiast R. Smith stand out noticeably. Over the course of several years, comparing photographs of our satellite obtained from Earth and spacecraft, he encountered a number of interesting contradictions. In the journal Selenology, R. Smith wrote:
The US government has had the ability to alter images using computer technology at least since the Lunar Orbiters. Assuming that alien artifacts were discovered on the Moon, there is no reason to believe that the American public could have been informed about this.
He suspected retouching of images of Cape Agar in the Sea of Crisis in photographs of the Lunar Orbiter 4 station and the Apollo 15 and 17 expeditions. In those photographs, R. Smith was unable to detect some surface features that are clearly visible from the Earth. In particular, in the high-resolution image transmitted by the Lunar Orbiter-4 photo probe, instead of Cape Agar, only a “large white spot” is visible. And the US Air Force analyst, to whom the puzzled researcher showed photos of this place taken from Apollo 17, considered that the Cape was heavily retouched.
R. Smith considers another case of retouching of Apollo 17 images to be a small isthmus that connects the hill to the northwest of Yerkes Crater with the edge of the Mare Crisis. This feature was not only observed visually from Earth, but it was also found in images from Lick Observatory, Lunar Orbiter 4, and Apollo 16 as a “white bridge-like feature.” Apollo 17 flew directly over the “bridge” and took two photographs in which... there is no hint of the isthmus. “These images are in direct contradiction to other NASA images. Clearly something is a lie! - wrote R. Smith.
The researcher considers three curious platforms with “sharply defined rectangular shadows” near the Archimedes crater to be another example of hiding images of some details of the lunar surface. It turned out that the platforms are clearly visible in the Lunar Orbiter 4 photo, but in the Apollo 15 image, instead of the rises, one can see “a hazy spot in each case, as if it had been cleaned up.” R. Smith noted: “My opinion: the shadows in the picture hide the existence of artifacts that have been retouched.”
It is clear why R. Smith titled one of his articles in Selenology rather harshly: “Patterns of deception. Why you shouldn't trust NASA images." However, his publications did not cause any noticeable reaction. Although, this was to be expected, regardless of whether he was mistaken or not...
The witness in the “case” of censorship of space images at NASA was D.M. Har, who worked at NASA’s Houston Photo Laboratory. She kindly forwarded me her article about the strange encounter:
…While working in the darkroom, I wandered into one of the adjacent rooms, designated as a “Closed Area.” I had secret clearance, so it wasn’t scary... In this room, a mosaic was being made on a large table. The mosaic consisted of several small images taken from satellites and stitched together to create a large image of the earth's surface... As I looked at these images, which were stacked like tiles on a floor, I noticed a small round dot near what appeared to be a wooded area.
I asked the laboratory assistant: “What is this?” He replied: “I can’t tell you! What do you think it looks like?” I said, “It looks like a white spot on the film that didn’t develop,” to which he began to argue, “But the white bubbles in the emulsion don’t cast round shadows on the surface.” Then I noticed that the white spot and the trees were casting shadows at the same angles, and I realized that this bright white dot was a solid object and not a flaw in the film emulsion. I asked: “Is this a UFO?” He shook his head smiling: “I can’t say.” I then asked him what he would do with this information, and he informed me of orders to remove these “things” from all photographs before they were published.
D. Har's story was captured on film by a Japanese group who specially visited America to film the film in June 1992. Later, D. Har herself spoke in the American press. And it doesn’t matter whether the object she saw was something anomalous or just a large hot air balloon (a hot air balloon) - NASA’s very fear of leaking this kind of information is curious.
The interview with Karl Wolf, who worked as a technician in the 4444th Technical Intelligence Group at the US Tactical Air Command Headquarters at Langley Field, is also quite interesting. He was involved in interpreting photographs of U-2 reconnaissance aircraft and spy satellites. But in 1966, it was connected to the processing of the first images of the surface of our satellite obtained by the Lunar Orbiter 1 space station.
Firstly, Wolf was surprised by the fact that the initial processing of lunar images was carried out not by NASA specialists in Houston, but at the Langley Air Force Base (note that the CIA headquarters is also located in Langley). Moreover, this work was carried out with all the signs of secrecy - with special passes, accompanying officers and restrictions on communication between employees.
“I saw geometric shapes. I saw the structures and this is the best answer I can give you. I saw structures that were not natural structures on the lunar surface... They were several miles on the surface... I often remember seeing a tower with reflectors on it, round objects that looked like telemetry dish covers... I actually thought, that a report about this might appear on the news... I remember waiting and waiting and watching the news every night. But nothing happened!”
NASA's jealous attitude towards photographs of strange phenomena on the Moon was reported by a former engineer of this department, K. Johnston.
1996, March 21 - at a press conference in Washington in front of 16 television cameras, he told how he was one of the first to see a movie just filmed by the Apollo 14 expedition. There supposedly 5-6 lights were visible in one of the craters and something like a plume of smoke. The next day, Johnston told his work colleagues about this. But when the film was re-screened, those shots turned out to be cut out on the orders of his boss, Dr. T. Page...
M. Bara described in detail on the Internet his doubts about the published photographs of the Moon taken by the Clementine spacecraft. Comparing photographs of the Plato crater floor, he wrote: “In my opinion, this difference (between the photos) leads to two conclusions. Either the “official” image was changed before publication, or there is some kind of “veil” over Plato, hiding the plain.”
American T. James tried to solve the problem head-on, asking NASA management direct questions:
"1. Did or does anyone at NASA have the authority to censor and classify documents, images and/or data according to internal regulations?
2. Are documents, images and/or data obtained by NASA by any means subject to censorship and classification (pursuant to applicable internal regulations) for any contractor, agent or other government agency not necessarily (directly or indirectly) associated with NASA?
3. Have documents, images and/or data obtained by NASA ever been classified in any way?”
The results of the experiment are quite interesting. It turned out that at that time there were two people in NASA management authorized to review and classify space information - D. Goldin and M. Borey. James asked NASA Security Director M. Boreas, focusing on "any images of planets that are not related to Earth." This was the answer:
“Yes, these are very good questions. But, I can't answer them by email. Please contact the Freedom of Information Act Office in Washington..."
In fact, the author of the request was sent to the American government to formalize the request with all its bureaucratic red tape and unclear outcome. Apparently, NASA has reasons for hiding some information about the Moon.
And in the space companies of the USSR, the secrecy regime was, without any doubt, much stricter. Instead of retouching and notes, apparently, they simply blocked free access to all the results of flights to the Moon. But the Moon itself cannot be hidden in a safe. And from time to time, astronomers, both amateurs and professionals, become eyewitnesses of mysterious phenomena on the night star. The President of the American Lunar Society, D. Darling, in one of his letters to the author of the book, remarked on this matter:
“I have to agree that some lunar short-term phenomena observed over centuries could be the effects of an alien presence on the Moon. This is a difficult topic to research in the US and is seen as taboo.”
Observers noticed mysterious moving objects on the Earth's satellite long before the start of the "saucer" boom in 1947. Perhaps the first such message dates back to 1715, when the famous astronomers E. Halley and J.E. de Louville, during a solar eclipse in London, saw “some flashes or instant vibrations of light rays, as if someone was setting fire to the powder tracks with which mines are exploded...
These flashes of light were very short-lived and appeared in one place or another, but always from the direction of the shadow.” Since that time, such prominent astronomers as S. Messier, I. Schröter, W. Brooks, V. Szafarzhik, W. Pickering and I. Klassen have reported on the movement on the Moon. The set of hypotheses about the nature of unusual phenomena was quite wide - from terrestrial meteors to lunar lightning.
But in the scientific community of the first half of the 20th century, the prevailing opinion was that the Moon is dead not only in the biological, but also in the geological sense. Selenologists were skeptical about all reports of changes on the surface of the satellite. And yet in 1941–1946. four observers from America noted a dozen “lunar meteors,” although the Moon, as we now know, does not have a dense enough permanent atmosphere for meteor phenomena to occur.
Noticeable interest in the problem reappeared in the 1950s in the wake of interest in UFOs. A number of books appeared, the authors of which published summaries of reports about “unidentified flying objects on the Moon,” which later became a canonical part of ufological folklore. Unfortunately, this folklore is more reminiscent of Scheherazade’s fairy tales than science - after numerous retellings, real events were sometimes distorted beyond recognition, turning into real legends.
In the 60s of the last century, specialists finally became interested in moving objects on the Moon. Some similar phenomena were included in catalogs of short-term lunar phenomena, in particular in the NASA catalogs (1968, 1978). Six photographs have been published in the astronomical literature documenting motion on the Moon. However, unfortunately, the matter did not go further than mentions and descriptions of individual cases.
Secrets of the Moon – the lunar circus lights up
Astronomers call gigantic, half-flooded lunar craters half-flooded with solidified lava circuses. It was there, in the rings of high mountains, that they were able to notice mysterious lights, similar to the play of unknown guest performers.
In honor of the great philosopher, Plato named one of the most beautiful lunar circuses - a round plain about a hundred kilometers across, surrounded by a ring of mountains as high as the Himalayas. Almost half a century ago, researcher D. Leslie (England) wrote:
“It seems that the Moon, which was considered a dead and uninhabited planet, is being used by space travelers as a convenient observatory or resting place... I have discovered that at times there is actually significant activity on its surface. Not the "dim glow of faint volcanic activity" observed by Patrick Moore, but energetic, moving, sparkling lights and patterns, many of which could be seen in the vicinity of Plato Crater, which appears to be something of a lunar headquarters."
As a rule, only 8% of anomalous lunar phenomena occurred in this circus, but sometimes some kind of “fuss” begins there and then Plato’s share jumps 2–4 times. According to NASA, the years 1869–1877 were particularly turbulent. and 1895–1927
Perhaps the greatest mystery of Plato is the “spotlight” that was occasionally observed in him, which shone with an even light for tens of minutes. It was first noticed by the young Italian astronomer Francesco Bianchini on December 10, 1685. During the eclipse of the Moon, a mysterious strip of red light stretched across Plato, as if someone was struggling with the unexpected darkness. Only 40 years later F. Bianchini was again lucky to see this phenomenon.
1751 - a strip of yellow light at the bottom of Plato, immersed in the darkness of the night, was simultaneously seen by three people, including the famous astronomer from Scotland J. Short. The selenographer T. Alger wrote about the mysterious strip of light in 1871, as well as astronomers L. Brenner and F. I. G. Fauth in 1895. Already in the 20th century, the same phenomenon was reported no less than 7 times.
In addition to the ray-like stripe, observers sometimes described a temporary bright point of light. So on January 11, 1788, several eyewitnesses in the German city of Mannheim noticed her on the unlit part of our satellite, exactly in the place where the Plato Circus is located. The same night fire was seen again in the same year 1788. It burned for about two days. A rather spectacular description of this kind of phenomenon was made on March 5, 1919 by the experienced Russian observer S. Selivanov:
...I could discern many details on the dark side of the Moon. They were all a fairly uniform lilac-gray-green color. But Circus Plato turned out to be intensely green. A little to the left of the center of its bottom, a point was visible, shining brightly with phosphorescent light, which seemed to illuminate the entire interior of the circus so that even the outlines of its inner shaft could be distinguished. During the entire observation period (from 7:20 a.m. to 7:35 a.m.), this glow remained unchanged. G. Tagarkov, who observed with me, described the phenomenon identically with me. I won’t attempt to explain the glow.
This mystery of the Moon, this anomalous phenomenon, has not been explained to this day. It is only clear that no cloud of gas ejected into vacuum from the depths of the night star, or lightning in a gas-dust mixture, is capable of producing a point glow that remains unchanged for 15 minutes! After all, artificial comets (gas clouds), specially thrown into space, dissipate and go out in a matter of minutes. In addition, in order for the point of light to “illuminate the entire interior of the circus,” it must be at an altitude of at least 700 meters above the surface of Plato’s almost flat bottom. One inevitably thinks that this is an artificial light source...
A. Arkhipov
