Like most here I looked forward to SyFy’s
Aliens On The Moon. The Truth Exposed and like many I was very disappointed when it aired. Although I have to say the title and the teaser with the Hoagland surrogate Bara, pretty much set the stage for disaster.
When they made Ron Collins appear to be endorsing the idea that there was a nuclear power station on the moon, I knew we were seeing some creative editing, because I knew that was not Ron’s position.
I was also shocked at how shabbily Buzz Aldrin was treated. We’ve heard him tell that story numerous times on television before, and the producers edited his account to make it sound like he was saying it was a UFO. He has said every time the whole story is allowed to be told, that he believed he identified it as a panel from the second stage. His refusal to play along with the agenda driven interview is understandable. Here is a national hero, a test pilot, astronaut, and second man on the moon. Braver men haven’t been made. I am certain his refusal to look the photographs had to do with discretion and past experience in similar situations rather than any lack of intestinal fortitude. At least he didn’t punch anyone out this time, although from the look on his face, I think he felt like it.
Alan and Vitto's stories got short changed to placate the ridiculous Apollo 20 hoax, which I refuse to comment on. What were the producers thinking?
...However the one thing I saw very scant mention of was the photo I brought to the table, the pipe running thru the crater and extending out with a very strange extension on the end of it. Damned few have mentioned that anywhere. In my own and very humble opinion that is one of the most kick ass moon photographs I have ever seen ... and I have seen a bunch of them.
Decker
As you know, I have been interested in your photograph since I first heard you mention it on one of your fascinating moon shows. I was thrilled when you graciously gave me the identifying numbers after your presentation of the photo during the April 2012 Alternate Universe i-Conference. That allowed Ron Collins and myself to identify the photograph and the crater in question. I appreciate that so much. I finally could stop looking through endless lunar photos for the crater.
My rule of thumb when looking into claims of anomalous features on the moon has been to attempt to identify the photograph, to identify the feature and its location on the moon, and ultimately to find
other photographs that can confirm the presence of the anomalous feature. That has always proven to be difficult to impossible to do.
The numbers on your pipe photograph indicate that it was captured for the
Consolidated Lunar Atlas program by the 61 inch telescope at the Steward Observatory Catalina Station on Mount Bigelow in the Santa Catalina Mountains 18 miles northeast of Tucson, Arizona on September 5th 1966 at 3:40 am Pacific Time. It is plate C8,
photo number C 2593 of the Consolidated Lunar Atlas.
It makes sense that copies of the Atlas would be at JPL during that period. The features in the photograph are striking and I can also see why someone might mark the photo up to draw attention to them. However, it highly unlikely that it shows an artificial structure and here is why.
The crater in question is Manilius in the Mare Vaporum. Here is what Websters has to say about Manilius:
"http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definitions/Manilius
Manilius is a lunar impact crater on the northeast edge of Mare Vaporum. It has a well-defined rim with a sloping inner surface that run directly down to the ring-shaped mound of scree along the base, and a small outer rampart.
The small crater interior has a higher albedo than the surroundings, and it appears bright when the sun is overhead. Within the crater is a central peak formation near the mid-point. The crater also possesses a ray system that extends for a distance of over 300 kilometers.
Emphasis mine."
That higher albedo and the telescope's settings (adjusted for the bright moon rather than stars) in 1966 created a high contrast photo with strange features.
Identifying the crater allowed me to find other photographs of it made by both terrestrial telescopes and Lunar Orbiters. Very high resolution photographs of the crater interior are available on the Internet. The LROC browser allows you can see objects as small as a meter across on the ridge that appears to a 20 kilometer white line (or pipe) in the 1966 photograph.
The technology has changed to the degree that
amatuer astronomers have taken better pictures of Manilias than the C 2593 photograph from the Consolidated Lunar Atlas. Here is one from Damian Peach, taken on March 26th and 27th, 2007, in Loudwater, UK. using a $4000 Celestron C14 telescope with a Lumenera SKYnyx 2.0M camera.
Here is a close up from a LROC screen capture.
While I agree that there does appear to be an anomalous or artificial looking object in the photograph C 2593 taken in 1966, analysis of additional photographs of the region and the photograph itself indicate that it is a trick of light and shadow and not an artificial object. If there are artificial structures on the moon, I don't think they are in Manilius crater. I really wish there were my friend. As always, I remain your fan and look forward to your upcoming book on the UFO magazine days.
Additional Material:
Follow the link below and double-click on the image to “zoom in” to see even higher resolution images of the crater.
LROC ACT-ReACT quickmap tuned to the location shown in Don's slide.
Apollo Image Atlas - Manilius
Consolidated Lunar Atlas
Consolidated Lunar Atlas
Consolidated Lunar Atlas, C8
Consolidated Lunar Atlas
Lunar Chart
Mare Vaporum -
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/mapcatalog/LAC/lac59/150dpi.jpg
Mare Serenitatis -
Lunar Chart (LAC) Series
Wiki Entries
the-moon - Manilius
Manilius (crater) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia