Apollo 12 launched atop the mighty Saturn V booster on 14 November 1969 at 10:22 AM CST (16:22 GMT). Liftoff was from launch Pad A, Launch Complex 39 at Kennedy Space Center. (Launch Complex 39 is still in use by the Shuttle Program) It was a very stormy day, and the main booster was struck TWICE by lightning shortly after liftoff, temporarily taking some electrical systems offline. But, true to its reputation, the Saturn V kept right on going. After making exhaustive checks for damage, it was decided to contintue on to the Moon.

Personally, Apollo 12 was my favorite of all the lunar missions. The crew consisted of Commander Charles "Pete" Conrad, Command Module Pilot Richard Gordon, and Lunar Module Pilot Alan Bean. This crew had a most compelling sense of humor. For their first television broadcast from space, they wore beanie caps with propellers, telling the audience that the propellers helped them move around in zero-g! When reminded by Houston that they were expected to carry out housekeeping chores inside the spacecraft, they radioed back that they couldn't FIND the housekeeper! They joked their way through the entire mission like this. It made these men more human, and easier to identify with.

The Lunar Module (Intrepid) landed in Oceanus Procellarum (Ocean of Storms) on 19 November at 12:55 AM CST (6:55 GMT). The formation of craters in this area was named "The Snowman". A part of their mission was to investigate the landing site of the robotic Surveyor III, which had been on the Moon since 19 April 1967. Amazingly, they landed only 530 feet (163 meters) from it!

The first Moonwalk began just under five hours later at 5:44 AM CST (11:44 GMT). When stepping off the Lunar Module ladder, Pete Conrad jokingly stated "Whoopee! Man, that may have been a small step for Neil, but that's a long one for me." Rock and soil samples were collected, as well as a number of scientific intruments and experiments being deployed. This EVA lasted 3 hours 56 minutes.

After about 12 hours rest in the Lunar Module, Conrad and Bean went out on their second EVA on the Lunar surface. The moonwalk began at 9:55 PM CST 19 November 1969 (3:55 GMT 20 November) This time, more rock and soil samples were collected for a total of just under 76 lbs. (34.4 kg) The men then walked over to the

defunct Surveyor III, examined it, and removed its TV camera and sample scoop for analysis back on Earth. The two moonwalkers reentered the Lunar Module at 1:44 AM CST 20 November (7:44 GMT), resting and preparing for departure for the next six hours. Liftoff occurred at 8:26 AM CST 20 November 1969. The Apollo 12 crewmen had spent a total of 31 hours 31 minutes on the Moon.

After docking with the Command Module (Yankee Clipper), pilot Richard Gordon refused Conrad and Bean permission to enter the crew comparment until they stripped naked, leaving their dirt encrusted space suits in the Lunar Module. This was a precautionary measure to prevent Moon dust contaminating instruments and electrical connections. A short time later, Lunar Module Intrepid was discarded, and crashed into the Moon.

After 89 hours 2 minutes in Lunar orbit, Yankee Clipper fired rockets and began its return trip to Earth. Splashdown in the Pacific Ocean took place at 2:58 PM CST 24 November 1969 (20:58 GMT). Crew and spacecraft were recovered by the aircraft carrier USS Hornet. The mission was a total success.

Recently, I got an e-mail from Mr. Edward Lopez of New York City. In it he advised me to look at a certain film clip from Apollo 12. This film clip was shown in a TV program titled "UFOs: Above & Beyond", hosted by James Doohan of Star Trek fame.

What turned up in the video was a very brief film showing an anomalous object passing over the surface of the Moon as seen from one of the Apollo 12 spacecraft. As this object flew across the field of view, no less than TWO lights flashed from a crater below. One of these flashes appears to have come from the crater rim, and the other from within the dark shadow inside the same crater. The enitire video clip lasted only six seconds, and the portion containing the flashes just 21 frames. Less than a second.

HUMAN CAUSED?

One's first thought might be that it was the descent stage of a LEM, or one of the instruments left behind, at one of the six Apollo landing sites. These can be ruled out, as NONE of the manned landings took place in terrain as rough as the area from which the flashes came. The areas around large craters, as seen in the video, were considered far too dangerous for bringing the LEM vehicle safely to rest.

Perhaps you remember that Neil Armstrong was forced to over-ride his descent computer and land the Eagle manually. This was because of unexpected boulders strewn about the landscape. The automatic landing computer failed to detect these. Armstrong and Aldrin came within seconds of running out of fuel during the search for a clear spot to land in. This would have resulted in an ultimately fatal crash. Should any of the LEM craft, which landed on the Moon between 1969 and 1972, have been severely damaged or even tipped over on landing, the two Astronauts aboard would never have been able to return home again.

One might also think that the flashes were perhaps caused by one of the several US and Soviet unmanned probes which landed on the Moon during the 1960s. This does remain a possibility, but fails to account for two separate flashes whose originating reflective surfaces must be physically separated from each other.

There were also a number of craft from both nations which hit the Moon violently, and would have left a scattered debris field. Some of these locations are known, but we don't know the identity of the crater from where the flashes were seen. (Perhaps one of YOU out there would like to help resolve these questions? Any and all assistance with getting to the truth is always appreciated. Please e-mail me if you are interested. jeffchallender@projectprove.com)

OR SOMETHING ELSE??

NONE of the above scenarios accounts for the fact that ONE of the flashes came from an area shadowed from sunlight. This strongly suggests that the light was artificial, rather than a reflection.

in light of the many photographs returned from the Moon containing many anomalies resembling artificial structures NOT of human origin, we also must consider the possibility that the flashes were caused by something quite mysterious on the surface of our closest neighbor in space.

There is a last possibility to take into consideration, regardless of how "far out" it sounds. Could the multiple flashes have been an aritificial signal of some sort? We obviously can't draw such a conclusion from the limited data we have to work with here, but it is an intrigueing thought. Another event, from STS-108 in December 2001, included strange flashes like the ones filmed on the Moon. We call that one "A Case of Censorship".

The filming in this instance was done by one of the Astronauts using a hand held 16mm movie camera. Would that we had the ORIGINAL 16mm film to work with, rather than this very short, low resolution, clip acquired from television!

Let's have a look at the visual presentation now, shall we?

I have reached no conclusions concerning what these flashes might be, due to the lack of further data. This case is NOT unique from the films taken by the Apollo Astronauts in the vicinity of the Moon. Another example is from an unspecified Moon flight. That event can be explored here.

The Flash On The Moon!

The fact remains that SOMETHING down there emitted two very bright lights as an anomalous object approached. Both were bright enough to be seen from a considerable distance. And due to the fact that the individual flashes were separated physically from each other, there had to be two individual sources for the light.

Additionally, the brighter of the two flashes originated from a shadowed part of the crater, suggesting an aritificial source.

For these reasons, I must classify them as unknown.

***

At the end of the day, it's up to YOU to draw your own conclusions.

© 2007 Jeff Challender