by Mike Bara
A hole punched in the glass structure over the Taurus-Littrow valley.
There is also the question of the photo itself, which is of much higher quality than many NASA scans available today. This is because most of the photos on official NASA sites are copies of copies of copies, many generations removed from the originals. These Italian images appear to be more akin to Ken Johnston’s first generation prints in quality and detail. This makes the “scratch” explanation even more unlikely.
As part of the research for Dark Mission, we subsequently assembled a number of other scanned images from the European archives and found that they showed a far different version of the area around the East Massif than could be gleaned from current official NASA imagery. Under contrast enhancement, instead of the dark, pitch black sky that would be expected was instead highly organized, geometric blanket of light above the East Massif. This three- dimensional grid of semi-transparent structure looked exactly as would be expected After eons of bombardment from meteors and other debris. On several of the frames not only can very dark, spar-like vertical struts be seen, but there are even obvious areas where meteors have punched holes through the protective glass domes over the area.
Clearly, the “spar” itself is one of these vertical supports which has fallen from the matrix of glass overhead and collapsed down on the East Massif below. A close up of the upper part of the spar shows it still loosely connected to this fuzzy background material overhead. It’s also clear from these other images that the overall structural matrix of the glass dome over Taurus-Littrow remains intact but clearly has seen better days.
Ultra close-ups of the three-dimensional matrix show that it has a wavy, layered quality to it that is entirely consistent with multi-layered glass meteor shield. There are also some fairly obvious points where huge impacts have punched holes in the glass medium.
Taken together, all of these anomalies and structures make a very strong case for the presence of an ancient alien base in the Taurus-Littrow valley. From the odd room-like structures built into the East Massif to the Spar sagging on top of it to the massive glass matrix suspended over it, it is clear NASA had high motivation to take the risks associated with landing there. But this still was only EVA-1. What the astronauts found and did the next day, on EVA-2, would be even more extraordinary.
EVA-2
The next day after their relatively short EVA to Steno crater, EVA-2 called for Cernan and Schmitt to head pretty directly for the South Massif and the odd depression named Nansen. After that, they were scheduled to visit locations on the Lincoln Scarp and then stop at Shorty Crater, one of the key targets for the mission.
In looking at the orbital images of the landing site, it becomes quite obvious why these locations (and EVA-3 ‘s planned visit to the “Sculptured Hills”) were so important to NASA. Enhancements of the Apollo landing site orbital images show the same rectangular, geometric patterns on the faces of virtually all the hills and mountains in the landing vicinity. But the South Massif was something even more special.
Photos of the landing site taken by the high resolution panoramic camera on the Command Module from Apollo 15 show the entire South Massif is criss-crossed with highly unusual geometric patterns, both on the visible face of the massif and in the hollowed-out interior. In fact, looking at these photos of the supposed “vent hole” on the South Massif, the whole thing looks very curious, as if it did not collapse in on itself so much as it exploded outward, from the inside.
The South Massif.
These close-up enhancements once again show the all too familiar cellular, geometric patterns all over the former interior of the Massif. It’s as if we were looking at literally millions of small rooms which had been suddenly and dramatically exposed by the blast that blew the back half of the mountain off. In fact, that probably exactly what we’re looking at.
Some geologists and other researchers (like Keith Laney) are of the opinion that the bright blanket of material around Nansen was created when debris from the blast that blew off the back half of the mountain pushed material out through the bottom of the South Massif, perhaps actually creating Nansen in the process.
As we described it in Dark Mission:
Room-sized cells on the South Massif.
Officially listed as a crater, Keith Laney has shown categorically that Nansen is nothing of the kind. Recon photos of the South Massif show Nansen as a V-shaped depression at the base of the massif, over which the “rim” of Nansen seems to be an overhanging shelf. Views of Nansen strongly imply that it is a hole in the base of the South Massif, possibly an entrance point (or exit wound) into the mountain. Certainly, if there were anything unusual about the South Massif, Cernan and Schmitt would be able to spot it either from “Geology Station 2,” which was at the base of the South Massif atop Nansen, or on their way up (or back from) the station.
Everybody at NASA certainly seemed very excited about prospects for the day 2 journey to Nansen. Excerpts from the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal show that as the astronauts prepared the rover for the second EVA, Mission Control and Schmitt had this quick exchange:
141:02:06, Parker: “And, Jack …you might want to shoot off a few five-hundred-millimeter frames of the North and South Massifs, if they look interesting…”
Apollo 15 pancam image of the South Massiff showing Nansen (A) and the bright debris blanket around it (B)
141:02:27, Schmitt: (Incredulous) “If they look interesting!? If they look interesting!? Now, what kind of thing is that to say?”
After a quick stop to lay some seismic detectors down at different points along the valley floor, Schmitt and Cernan headed straight for the South Massif and Nansen itself. As they neared the Mountain, Cernan again noted the linear geometry on the surface of the mountain:
141:52:03, Cernan: “Jack, can you see over there to the left … of the South Massif where you get those impressed lineations? See them going from left upward to the right?”
141:52:11, Schmitt: “Yeah. I see what you mean; right.”
141:52:14, Cernan: “That’s what I saw out my window.” (Here, Cernan is alluding to observations he’d made on the approach to landing the Challenger).
141:52:15, Schmitt: “Yeah, they go obliquely up the slope.”
141:52:20, Cernan: “They’re more like wrinkles, they’re linear wrinkles.”
141:52:22, Schmitt: “Yeah. Crenulations, you might say, in the slope that looks something like those I saw from orbit, looking in the shadowed area… or, at the edge of the shadows.”
142:12:30, Cernan: “Jack, look at the wrinkles over there on the North Massif.”
142:12:34, Schmitt: “Yeah. There’s no question that there are apparent lineations all over these Massifs, in a variety of directions. Hey, look at how that Scarp [sic] goes up the side (of the North Massif) there. There’s a distinct change in texture.”
Later images, along with the orbital photography, have confirmed that the “lineations” are not tricks of light and shadow, but undeniably real features of the mountains in this Taurus-Littrow Valley. Schmitt’s inability to explain the “apparent lineations” stems from the fact that this kind of geologic layering is almost always associated with sedimentary deposition caused by standing water. Since no water has ever flowed or pooled on the Moon, such natural geological explanations are totally untenable. These types of lineations can also be caused under rare conditions by lava flows, but again the lineations on the massifs were literally thousands of feet above the ancient lava pool on the valley floor, making that explanation even less likely than water. Remember, NASA’s geologic model was that these mountains were deposited on the Taurus-Littrow plane as ejecta from a massive impact event.
Close-up of Nansen (A) and the bright debris blanket around it (B) Nansen was the primary target of the Apollo 17 day two EVA.
“Lineations” on the South Massif.
This leaves only one viable explanation for the regular, repeating geometric patterns visible on the faces of
all the “massifs” in the Taurus-Littrow valley—architecture. That this was difficult for the astronauts to come to grips with is unquestionable from the transcripts. But that observation is only the beginning of the mysteries that the South Massif held.
EVA-2 traverse map.
Composite view looking north of two frames (AS17-138-21058 and -21059) showing the view of Nansen from above, near where the Lunar Rover was parked. The ridge running through the center of the image is the shelf seen in orbital photos. No publicly released views exist looking directly into Nansen from the north.
On the approach to Nansen, Schmitt, who has the task of taking a photograph every thirty yards or so during the traverse, suddenly stops taking pictures, saying at 141:56:24: “Holy cow! I’d better slow down my picture taking.” Why exactly he would stop taking pictures of the primary target of that day’s EVA is anyone’s guess, but the two astronauts took literally hundreds more photos during the rest of the EVA. It was just then interior of Nansen they didn’t seem to be interested in taking pictures of. This is in spite of the fact they had plenty of opportunity to do so:
142:42:21 Cernan: “Boy, you’re looking right into Nansen.”
A few moments later Cernan parks the rover at geology station 2, up on the shelf above Nansen and facing north, so the TV cameras cannot see directly into the opening at the base of the massif. Instead, we can only see down into Nansen from above and to the south of the curious opening. Schmitt and Cernan could however have seen directly into Nansen once they dismounted the Rover and began moving around the area. It’s pretty clear from the transcript that they were astounded by what they saw:
142:44:27 Schmitt: Look at Nansen! My goodness gracious.
In looking at the only available photos of Nansen, it is hard to figure out what was so exciting to Schmitt, unless he saw something off camera that was far more intriguing than the simple gray landscape we have been shown.
After dismounting, the astronauts activated the TV camera. Unfortunately, when we did get the television picture, it showed us little to nothing. Since they had parked the rover on the shelf above Nansen (the “entrance” to the South Massif), all we had was a view looking back to the north toward the light mantle avalanche runoff. After some minimal time spent on housekeeping tasks, the astronauts disappeared off camera for most of the next 20 minutes. In fact, they are out of sight of the camera for fully 85% of the entire sixty-four minute visit to the upper shelf of Nansen. This would have given them plenty of time to descend the hill and investigate the interior of Nansen, including examining the opening below the overhang.
As they are nearing the end of their time at the geology station, Cernan stops (off camera) to take some pans of the view from the base of the massif:
143:22:08, Cernan: “Well, I have some good pictures of Nansen, anyway, and… (long pause)… You know, I look out there, I’m not sure I really believe it all.”
A bit later, completely out of context, Schmitt seems to address their “off-camera” time to mission control:
143:27:11, Schmitt: “We haven’t had a chance to look around anymore than you’ve heard.”
143:27:14, Parker: “Okay.”
Is this an indication that they didn’t descend into Nansen during their off-camera time? And what was so unbelievable about Nansen that Cernan had to mention it? Certainly, there is nothing in the released images of the station that implies anything unusual.
Next, Cernan and Schmitt drove to station 2A, just a few hundred meters back down the slope they had ridden up to get to the lip of Nansen. From this perspective, they could have had a perfect vantage point looking directly into the hole leading into the South Massif.
Amazingly, there are officially no pictures taken of Nansen from this perspective, looking directly into the opening under the ledge and back up at the previous geology station. However, at station 2A, Cernan turned the rover in a circle, so Schmitt could take a panoramic view of the area and the valley below them. As he did so, there was this exchange:
143:50:20, Cernan: “Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Okay. Let’s take one from right here. I want the whole thing. (Pause.) You ready to start?”
143:50:26, Schmitt: “Yeah, I got it.”
143:50:27, Cernan: “Start taking. Take the whole thing.”
143:50:54, Cernan: “Isn’t that something? Man, you talk about a mysterious looking place.”
143:51:03, Schmitt: “They can cut some frames—some parts of those pictures out—and make a nice photograph.”
According to the transcripts, the pan “turned out to be relatively uninteresting because of the sun glare.” Published images do not seem to be a full 360° pan, because if they were, the entrance down into Nansen would be visible. In fact, it’s nowhere on the published sequences of this area. And how does Cernan’s statement “Man, you talk about a mysterious looking place” jibe with the “relatively uninteresting” description given in the transcripts? This whole area seems to be fascinatingly anomalous, so much so that Cernan stopped to make sure Schmitt got a complete photographic record of it. A record, incidentally, which now does not correspond to the descriptions of the astronauts at that time. And what about Schmitt’s nervous talk about cutting “some parts of those pictures out?” What does he see that NASA doesn’t want the folks back home to see?
Maybe this. At some point after they arrived at geology station 2 above Nansen, Schmitt took a series of photographs that show the floor of the Lunar Rover vehicle, frames AS17-135-20676 to 20679. But the last photo in this magazine, AS17-135-20680, is listed as “LRV Floor? Sunstruck” in the NASA Apollo 17 image library.3 It is a very noisy and over exposed image. But when the noise is removed, it takes the shape of a very pyramidal looking object, which may or may not be part of the Rover itself.
EVA-2 traverse map showing the locations of geology stations 2 and 2A at the base of the South Massif. Note that station 2A would allow a direct view into the Nansen opening.
Is it possible that Schmitt was supposed to take the pictures looking directly into Nansen from the north near geology station 2a, and forgot to change film magazines? If he had been tasked with taking the photos of Nansen from the non-public perspective, the one that we were never supposed to see, maybe there was a special “black” film magazine he was supposed to use? Maybe the “Chapel Bell” film magazine?
If this is true and Schmitt simply forgot about the one errant frame he took of Nansen’s interior, then it is possible that this is one of the long sought images that were part of the classified part of the mission to Taurus-Littrow. Certainly, the provenance of this photo implies at least some desire on NASA’s part to discourage anyone from ordering it or looking at it. While it is listed in the Apollo 17 image library, it is misidentified as being part of magazine 135 (G). In fact, it might be part of magazine 136 (H). So the correct frame number could be AS17-136-20680. However, you will not find it on any NASA web site with this designation, and the Apollo17 photo index from the 1970’s lists that frame number as “blank,” which it obviously is not.2 And, on the NASA Lunar and Planetary Institute web site, the frame doesn’t exist at all. Frames AS17-135-20680 (magazine G) and AS17-136-20681 (magazine H) are simply missing.
AS17-135-20680
As you read back through the transcripts, it’s clear from the comments of the astronauts that something is amiss. First, Cernan is concerned that they can see directly into Nansen, so much so that he parks the rover up over the lip of Nansen so the TV cameras can’t see directly into the opening. Schmitt—the trained scientist—is so astonished as he looks into Nansen for the first time that he exclaims, “Look at Nansen!” Cernan goes on to describe the whole area as a “mysterious place,” and “unbelievable,” and Schmitt cryptically informs Mission Control that the astronauts “haven’t had a chance to look around anymore than you’ve heard,” despite their thirty-plus minutes off-camera.
Later, as they take pictures that should show what lies beneath the shadowed “overhang” of Nans
en (which is clearly visible from orbit), they joke about cutting out certain parts of the pictures. And in all this time, not once did they take a picture showing Nansen from a vantage point that would reveal the interior of the “crater.” They evidently just missed the opportunity, and nobody at Mission Control decided to ask for such a picture.
The reality, however, is that between their off-camera time and the traverse to Station 3, the astronauts would have had plenty of time to descend from the rise and examine and photograph the interior of Nansen. That these photos could have been simply lifted from the photographic catalogs is easy to conceive, especially given the shenanigans around AS17-136-20681. It’s possible that Schmitt and Cernan found that getting into the South Massif through Nansen was impractical. There were descriptions of a great deal of debris in the crater. Or perhaps they tried and failed, leading to Schmitt’s admission that they didn’t get to look around as much as they wanted to.
Whatever the case, they were on a tight timetable to get on with the other stations. What they could not have known, however, was that they were also on a collision course with an even more unbelievable and mysterious encounter, with “Data’s Head.”
