Is this for real? Or is this another conspiracy theory?

Question

Is this for real? Or is this another conspiracy theory?

I thought it was said the astronauts never actually went on the moon.

Or could this be a Soviet spy cruiser spying on their spaceship?

What do you make out of this? : (

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlkV1ybBnHI

Answer 1

that is bogus. all videos of astronautes suposedly seeing aliens in space is bogus. the moon landing however, was real my friend.

Answer 2

The astronauts DID go to the Moon, and the UFO encounter was later identified as one of the panels from the shroud that covered the LM. It was 'following' the spacecraft because it was launched along the same basic trajectory in the first place, since it came with the third stage of the Saturn V which placed the spacecraft on a course to the Moon.

This is a complete non-story. The only way any conspiracy idiots get any mileage out of it is to ignore everything that came after the reported sighting itself. The U in UFO means UNIDENTIFIED, not alien, nor even spacecraft. If an astronaut sees anything out the window he cannot immediately identify it is by definition a UFO. A metal panel several kilometres distant would qualify, since it would not be visually obvious what it was at first glance.

Answer 3

Great clip.

So it was a UFO.  They never did identify it.  Buzz didn't think it was 6,000 nm away, but it is extraordinarily difficult to judge distance when there are no other objects to reference. The on board telescope could show detail at that distance. It's not like on the ground where the atmosphere messes everything up.

Amateur astronomers might see a goose fairly close up and conclude that it was bigger and farther away moving really fast.  Then it honks and they get it. I mention amateur astronomers because they typically have thousands of hours of observations, and spot all kinds of weird things.  Even they can be fooled.

Answer 4

I would recommend you to first assume that people went to the moon. It makes many things easier, as all things can be logically derived. You no longer need argument from ignorance for sustaining it.

Next, the object was a part of the launch vehicle, which followed them, the so called SLA (spacecraft-launcher adapter) panel. Four of these were on the rocket, and protected the lunar module from the atmospheric drag during ascent (The LM would not even survive travelling at 500 km/h inside Earths atmosphere without ripping the isolating foil away and slowly disintegrating. But without atmosphere, it is perfectly suited for travel).

After the trans-lunar injection burn, the maneuver which placed the spacecraft on course for the moon, the SLA panels open like petals and separate from both Apollo spacecraft and the third stage of the Saturn V, called S-IVB, to which the lunar Module is still attached. The Apollo spacecraft docks to the lunar module and then separates it from the S-IVB stage. The Apollo spacecraft then does a small maneuver moving it a bit away from the S-IVB stage, before this stage does a propulsive propellant dump (=The outflowing propellant pushes the stage with a tiny force) to move it further away from the trajectory of the manned spacecrafts. The SLA panels had no such propulsion and kept their movement away from each other, following the astronauts in their spacecraft until the first executed course correction.

Buzz Aldrin saw one of these panels following the spacecraft, but was not able to identify it as such. I am almost sure, he expected something like that, but it could also have been a more important part of the spacecraft that got lost. Or a Russian spy sat. Or a alien spacecraft. Or Captain REFSMAAT following them. He was not sure at all, so it was a UFO. Later, mission control just looked at the trajectory and astronomers also supplied evidence for the object from another perspective - and it was identified as a SLA panel.

See my reference how these objects look like from Earth - all parts of the Apollo program had been pretty large spacecraft, some of the largest objects ever launched into space until then. Today, we are used to see the impressive ISS or the huge Space Shuttle orbiter over our heads - but at that time, astronomers loved looking for these large objects and make photos.

PS: The Shuttle is also trailed by "UFOs" right after launch, when you watch NASA TV from time to time. The main engines loose large pieces of ice after shutdown, which look like white snakes or Asian dragons with some fantasy. Many people including astronauts often don't realize what it is and are surprised to see it (Well, it is not too easy to believe that the main engines, which have some of the hottest temperatures ever created by man inside it, can also have freezing cold surfaces outside, but it is really like that).

Answer 5

I remember reading about this in the 70's. It could have been a piece that came off the rocket stage that they were talking about, or it could have been something else.. It's unidentified!

It wasn't a Soviet craft, if the Soviet Union could have launched a mission at short notice capable of tracking the Apollo craft, they would have used that technology to go to the Moon themselves.

This is one in the eye for the "we didn't go to the Moon" idiots. If the mission was a fake, why would the astronauts make up something like this?

Answer 6

Aldrin knows that what he saw was something he could not identify.  It kept pace with his spacecraft.  They were able to determine its shape (elliptical and L shaped depending on the angle of view).  It had to be significant in size or he wouldn't have made the reference to it. He couldn't say that it was a UFO because he was talking over an open channel.  In 2007 on Larry King Live he said that he "saw a light out there" that was "moving" and "going along with us."  Which sounds like a UFO, not a piece of space debris.  But then he backtracks and says it was one of the panels from the final stage booster.  Very convenient.  But he also knows the ridicule he'd be subjected to if he didn't give a mundane explanation for what he saw.  So he very prudently doesn't venture into the unknown.

However, Dr. David Baker, a senior NASA scientist, is very matter-of-fact about UFOs and the fact that NASA astronauts have had encounters with them which lead utlimately to them taking an oath not to disclose their experiences for fear of ridicule.  Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper was absolutely candid about his experiences with flying discs and even wrote a letter to the United Nations about it.  

Those who don't accept the reality of the UFO come up with all kinds of knee-jerk dismissals toward those who have had such encounters.   It must be nice living in a bubble.