For most people, the words "Project Apollo" bring to mind Apollo 11, and the first landing on the Moon by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in July 1969. But it was much more than that. Apollo was the culmination of President Kennedy's 1961 vow that America would reach the Moon before the end of the 1960s. It included some six manned landings on the Lunar surface, the wrenching loss of three brave Astronauts in a fire, the first manned orbital mission to the Moon, and several test flights in Earth and Lunar orbit. There was also the near disaster that turned into the human triumph of Apollo 13.

Projects Mercury and Gemini were the necessary stepping stones to the Moon. The piloting and ground control skills needed for the Moon project were honed to perfection. The technology required for missions a quarter million miles from Earth, where there would be no rescue if things went awry, was developed first in the one man, and two man flights of Mercury and Gemini.

The benefits of Apollo include:

Humans landing on the Moon for the first time.

A total of six manned missions to land on the Moon, and bringing back a uniquely human perspective on that achievement. These 12 men carried out important scientific experiments and tasks as well.

Over 800 lbs (363 kg) of Moon rocks and soil samples returned to Earth for scientific analysis.

Six different arrays (one from each landing) of scientific intrumentation set up and activated for remote telemetric study after the crews returned to Earth.

Accumulation of much new medical knowledge and technology which benefitted millions worldwide.

Development of early solid state compact computers. This work eventually led

to the computer revolution of the 1980s and 90s.

Development of fuel cell technology.

And so much more in the long run. In spite of many detractors, some of whom claim that men never actually went to the Moon, there is ample hard evidence that they did. There can be no doubt that the United States Moon landing program, known as Project Apollo, was an unqualified success.

Whilst watching a TV programme about Project Apollo on the History International Channel, I noticed an object resembling a small white orb pass near the Apollo Command Module. Now I don't know which Apollo flight this film came from, as it was not made clear during the show. This is just stock footage of a rendezvous between the LEM and Command Module, from one of the seven missions where this operation was done in Lunar orbit.

There will be those who will insist that this is merely a chunk of ice, or debris from the Apollo craft themselves. I dispute this based on the trajectory of the object, which is directly opposite of the two manned craft, and at an angle hard to trace back to either module. There is also indication that the crewman in the Apollo command module was aware of the object, and took steps to track it on radar.

The filming in this instance was done by one of the Astronauts aboard the LEM using a hand held 16mm movie camera. In the original video clip, and the animations, we can see a "bump" as the Astronaut slightly jerked the camera.

Would that we had the ORIGINAL 16mm film to work with, rather than this very short, low resolution, clip acquired from television!

So, let's have a look at the visual presentation now, OK?

Our first look at the anomaly. The object is inside the yellow circle, and the red arrow indicates direction of travel.

This little animation shows you where it comes from and where it goes. It flies, at high speed, right past the command module as the LEM is approaching to dock.

In our last offering for this story, you can follow the motion of the antenna array. It is fairly obvious that it is in synchronization with the object as it flies past at high speed.

We have slowed the action to about 1/2 speed to help you follow the event as it unfolds.

The anomaly seen in this incident lends some credence to the many stories, over the years, concerning Astronaut encounters with non-conventional objects during the Lunar exploration flights. Because of the flight characteristics involved, and the fact that the main antenna on the command module was diverted from its critical role in rendezvous and docking with LEM in order to track the anomaly, I must classify this object as unknown.

A second interesting event from this short video clip is "The Flash On The Moon".

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

© 2006 Jeff Challender