Perceptions

The Secrets of the Moon

Obaidur Rahman

While the sun has proven her superiority, it is the moon that the species of earth sincerely like to confide in. That's why she is a major aesthetical inspiration for mankind while the creatures of the wild instinctively howl at her mesmerising aura, which only strengthens her mysterious nature. However, despite such spiritual adornments, the moon, since her creation 4.5 billion years ago, has given away very little about her dark side….

What many are not aware of is that there are two sides of the moon and the tidal forces between earth and moon have slowed down the latter's rotation in such a way that the same side of the moon is always facing the earth. This synchronous rotation of the moon -- rotating on her axis in about the same time that it takes her to orbit the earth -- keeps a particular side of the lunar hemisphere permanently turned away from the earth at all times. The side of the moon that earthlings can see is called the “near side” and the opposite side, which is never visible in its entirety from earth, is known as the “far side” of the moon and rather popularly, “The dark side of the moon”! For thousands of years, humankind's curiosity towards this “dark side” eventually lead to the exploration where this mystifying far hemisphere of the moon was first photographed by the Soviet probe, Luna 3 in 1959 and directly observed by the human eye during the orbital mission of Apollo 8. The official verdict was the “far side” is the same as the “near side” covered with craters and highlands. But rumour has it that there is an Alien Base on the “far side of the Moon…”

Many would doubt this because by now almost everyone has seen the photographs of both sides of the moon taken so nicely by the western satellite probes and evidently their information showed no signs of life or intelligent structures on the surface of the moon. Then again, their information also evidently showed that there were WMD's in Iraq too! But before all this, since the time Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon on July 21, in 1969, there was speculation that during their stay on the moon's surface the crew of Apollo11 was never all by themselves. The following conversation between Apollo11 and NASA Mission Control that took place still mystifies people to date:

Apollo11 (Armstrong & Aldrin): What was it? What the hell was it? That's all I want to know. These babies were huge, sir…Oh, God, you wouldn't believe it…
NASA: What…What the hell's going on?

Apollo11: They're here, under the surface.
NASA: What's there? Mission Control calling Apollo11.
Apollo11: Roger, we're here, all three of us. But we've found some visitors…They've been here for quite a while judging by the installations…I'm telling you there are other spacecrafts out there. They're lined up in ranks on the far side of the crater edge…They're on the moon watching us!

According to noted Russian UFOlogist and Professor of Mathematics of Moscow University, Dr Vladimir Azhazha, this encounter took place shortly after the landing of Apollo11 but the report of this encounter was never heard by the public as NASA censored it. According to Otto Binder, a former NASA employee, amateur radio enthusiasts on a classified channel, reserved for high security messages, overheard the conversation. In 1979, Maurice Chatelain, NASA's communications expert who also helped design Apollo spacecrafts publicly stated that the encounter between Apollo11 and the UFOs was “common knowledge within the NASA”. One might wonder what Neil Armstrong and “Buzz” Aldrin had to say about this. Both of them publicly admitted later in life that they did encounter UFOs on the moon and Armstrong, the first human to walk on the moon, said during a NASA symposium “their ships were far superior to ours both in size and technology-Boy, were they big!...and menacing”! He went on saying that there is indeed an alien base on the moon. Another former NASA astronaut and fifth man to walk on the moon, Dr. Edgar Mitchell of Apollo 14, in a radio interview in 2008 admitted to the existence of alien life forms describing the beings as “little people who look strange to us” and in his own words “I happen to have been privileged enough to be in on the fact that we've been visited on this planet and the UFO phenomena is real”.

In between 1969 to 1972, a total of six manned missions explored the moon including Apollo11 and altogether a total of 12 astronauts walked on the surface of our sole satellite. Every single mission encountered mysterious anomalies during their stay on the moon. Numerous conversations between these Apollo astronauts and NASA Mission Control confirmed that the ambassadors of earthlings did come across some strange structures and there have been further sightings of UFOs both in the atmosphere and while on the surface of the moon. Some of these structures were referred to as blocked field, benches, beaches, terraces, watermarks, domes, tunnels, constructional ridge and strange tracks. The official claim is that these are just metaphoric terms used to describe unusual natural formations on the moon but then again there were several occasions where astronauts were told to switch to classified radio frequencies and use prearranged special codes like “Condorcet Hotel” (used by Apollo17) and “Barbara” (by Apollo16) in order to describe objects that were of great substance and clearly not meant for public knowledge. The question is, if the moon truly is lifeless and ordinary, then why so much secrecy about these findings? Surprisingly, the affirmation on the concealment of the findings on the moon and unusual encounters by the astronauts out there came from none other than the NASA supreme Dr Farouk El-Baz. Few words on Dr El-Baz are in order as he is the Egyptian-American Geologist who, during the Apollo programme years (1967 to 1972) was the supervisor of Lunar Science Planning at Bellcomm Inc. which worked with NASA extensively, secretary of the Landing Site Selection Committee to the moon, principal investigator of visual observations and photography and chairman of the Astronaut training group.

Don Wilson, author of Our Mysterious Spaceship Moon says in his book, Dr El-Baz did admit “not every discovery has been announced”! The noted NASA scientist admitted during an interview that there were secret searches for various things on the moon and in his own words, “a huge bridge-like structure in Mare Crisium (a region on the moon) has been reported…That is all I can say about it”. When asked if they were intelligently placed artifacts of extra-terrestrial origin, Dr El-Baz, although did not say yes, nevertheless went on to say, “Almost anything is possible”.

Even though numerous findings from the lunar explorations were meant to be kept under lock and key forever, the popular belief amongst the extra-terrestrial enthusiasts and UFOlogists is that there is an extra-terrestrial base on the “far side” of the moon which is secretly acknowledged and referred to as “Luna” by the intelligence communities of the world. There is also a strong belief that all forms of earthly scientific, exploratory as well as orbiter missions that were aimed at the moon by different nations picked up images of ruined lunar cities, transparent pyramids, castles, domes, mines along with the most speculated about pictures of the alien base. Chances are, these are all far-fetched ideas about the moon and her dark side since it is human nature to speculate on matters that are unfamiliar. But here is where doubt actually steps in.

The moon holds great mystery for many reasons. First and foremost, how it was formed is still in obscurity and scientists only hypothesise about how it could have happened. Secondly, the principles of her revolving around the earth exposing only one particular side at all times is still a wonder for all astronomers. Thirdly, why were the missions to the moon stopped so abruptly? The talk is again on the table about sending manned missions by 2020 and constructing a permanent outpost on the moon from here on. But what caused the one during the era of 1969-1972 to be put on hold? Had it continued, by now there would have been a proud space station set up by human beings on the moon instead of one that is constantly dangling in space. As for the reason behind staying off the moon, Neil Armstrong says, “We were warned off”! If this is true, then we must ask ourselves, by whom and why?

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