"Be advised , there is a Santa Claus"

this statement , uttered by Jim Lovell on DECEMBER 25th , 1968 ,yes Christmas day . and more importantly , moments after the Apollo 8 command module had cleared the radio shadow of the dark side of the moon

Has been repeatedly cited on conspiracy sites , and forums as some manner of evidence that Lovell has sighted a UFO or alien craft during the orbit

And now I have seen it on a current ATS thread , so its time for APE action

This notion is utterly preposterous My reasoning for this view is thus :

1)context and timing .

It was December 25th , and he had just successfully completed a transit of the dark side of the moon , a feat that only 27 other people have shared .

Given that the Apollo 8 crew also sent back a formal “ merry Christmas “ message , read from the bible , and conducted a religious service in orbit .

In this light , Lovell’s message as they emerged from the darkside takes on an entirely more innocent explanation Than some coded message for alien contact .

2)follow up and response

Here is the transcript of those few seconds , taken from :

Apollo 8 flight journal

089:32:50 Mattingly: Apollo 8, Houston. [No answer.]
089:33:38 Mattingly: Apollo 8, Houston.
089:34:16 Lovell: Houston, Apollo 8, over.
089:34:19 Mattingly: Hello, Apollo 8. Loud and clear.
089:34:25 Lovell: Roger. Please be informed there is a Santa Claus.
089:34:31 Mattingly: That's affirmative. You're the best ones to know.
089:34:37 Lovell: And burn status report: it burned on time; Burn time, 2 minutes, 23 seconds; seven-tenths plus VGX. Attitude nominal, residuals; minus five-tenths VGX, plus four-tenths VGY, minus 0 VGZ; Delta-VC, minus 26.4.
089:35:14 Mattingly: Roger.
089:35:19 Mattingly: Apollo FLIGHT has...
089:35:23 Mattingly: Apollo 8, recomfirm your burn time, please.
089:35:30 Lovell: Roger. We had 2 minutes, 23 seconds. Our - wait one. Stand corrected to that; 3 minutes, 23 seconds.
089:35:43 Mattingly: Thank you. [Long pause.]
Public Affairs Officer - "This is Mission Control, Houston. Flight Dynamics Officer says that burn is good."

That was theentire conversation at that time .

If a UFO really had been reported using a pre arranged code term of “ Santa Claus “ I for one would expect SOME response from CAPCOM

3)inconsistency

Reference to Santa Claus was first made [ in the context of NASA space operations ] by Walter Schirra aboard Mercury 8 . conspiracists claim that this too was a coded reference to UFOs NASA “ ignored this “ , WTH - their response to Lovell was pretty low key

Buzz Aldrin most notably did not use the “ Santa code “ during his report of an unidentified object visible during Apollo 11`s trip to the moon . Which is widely reported as evidence of an extra terrestrial craft shadowing the Apollo capsule

Why not , if you are going to have code – it must be both used and acted upon

The “ Santa code “ was neither used consistently , nor acted upon with any visible result .

In stark contrast to the “ Huston we have a problem “ message , which sent CAPCOM [ rightly ] into overdrive of activity

4)Jargon.

In keeping with technical nature of space travel , and the extensive military links of NASA [ all pree shuttle astronauts were USAF , USN or USMC flyers ]

the NASA space program was very jargon heavy , listen to any astronaut transmissions , or read any of the transcripts . at times a layman requires a glossary and list of abbreviations and Acronyms just to keep up , and this is just for routine operations .

jargon also hid other things , the most famous is “ request EMU check “ . during Apollo EVA missions .Ostensibly “EMU CHECK “ was a checklist of vital suit parameters which had to be monitored during the missions [ and this is how it was MOSTLY used ]

But it was also used to “ force “ a break in activities , when their hear rates and oxygen demand were rising towards unacceptable levels . Astronauts were even permitted to call “ EMU check “ when they were feeling fatigued

IMHO .If the NASA astronauts had a “ code phrase “ to signal the presence of an UFO , it would be a benign code phrase – such as : “ DZR lamp is green … “ Well that’s the type of signal I would use , if I ran the zoo .

5)Repeatability

The “ Santa code “ suffers from one final flaw , IMHO its lack of repeatability , just how many times can you drop “ Santa Claus “ into a radio message from a space mission ??

If you are going to have a code for “ UFO contact “ it has to be flexible enough to be reusable in the event of multiple contacts [ should these occur ] . see my suggestion above , a “ lamp code “ could be re used almost infinitely

Whereas the “ Santa code “ fails dismally here too .

This concludes my “ key points “

With these type of claims , a lot hinges on context and interpretation of motive and intent

I Hope I have shown that given that it was Christmas day , and he had just seen the dark side of the moon for the first time , it was a quite appropriate thing to say , further – it attracted zero untoward response from mission control .

Then the claims that it was a report of alien encounters will be seen for the absurdity with which I view such claims .

Ape out .

Very very good job, thank you for your post. I always wondered why the "Santa" statement just had to be a conspiracy signal Lol. Once again, thanks for your post.
Vance

Nice post Ape.
You have my vote.

Why would anyone correlate Santa Claus with seeing a UFO anyway? Doesn't make sense to me.

Good job!

And now I have seen it on a current ATS thread , so its time for APE action

Maybe you saw this post in the alien and UFO board in wich I laughed of the claims in the link someone posted...

Originally posted by ignorant_ape
This notion is utterly preposterous

My reasoning for this view is thus :
It was December 25th ...
That was theentire conversation at that time .

Okay Herr Ape... sit down cuz on this one I agree with you... but I wonder if you can find me the rest of the conversation?

What am talking about is the byplay in the days BEFORE the 25th because I listened to that broadcast live and I remember clearly they were building up to this "Santa sighting" in the days before... certainly thats the slant our local news in Toronto put on it.

Originally posted by Essedarius
Nice post Ape.
You have my vote.

Ferget the vote give him a star

The "Santa Clause" code would be stupid anyway, because if used at any other time of the year it would draw attetion and you might as well say "UFO"

My favorite clip (have to find it again) is the one where the astronauts are outside doing repairs and mission controls says they see something behind them. The video shows the orb drifting by, one astronaut is facing it, but the reply is "I don't see anything" and mission controls says "never mind" (paraphrased from memory)

Here's something I don't understand. I'm taking it that the numbers beside their names is the time right? Lovell is obviously in space, and i'm assuming Mattingly is on Earth. So, the entire transmission was 3 minutes long, and there was 12 transmissions in that time. How did they make 12 transmissions in 3 minutes if there is a few minutes delay between transmissions? The entire conversation should of taken about 30-40 minutes, not 3.

Levi Howard.

Here's something I don't understand. I'm taking it that the numbers beside their names is the time right? Lovell is obviously in space, and i'm assuming Mattingly is on Earth. So, the entire transmission was 3 minutes long, and there was 12 transmissions in that time. How did they make 12 transmissions in 3 minutes if there is a few minutes delay between transmissions? The entire conversation should of taken about 30-40 minutes, not 3.

Originally posted by ihavenoname
How did they make 12 transmissions in 3 minutes if there is a few minutes delay between transmissions?

The round-trip time delay to the moon is about 2 seconds, not "a few minutes."

Okay I have just come across this thread and realise it is 5 years old but the discussion is still relevant.
The Op makes some logical and well reasoned points but these are only valuable if the presumption that Santa Clause was official code for all sighted UFO's and not used casually initially but utilised later for a specific mission brief, such as evidence of an Alien presence past or present on the dark side of the moon.

Maurice Chatelain Chief of NASA communications back in the 70's is quoted as saying,
"...all Apollo and Gemini flights were followed, both at a distance and sometimes also quite closely, by space vehicles of extraterrestrial origin - flying saucers, or UFOs, if you want to call them by that name. Every time it occurred, the astronauts informed Mission Control, who then ordered absolute silence." "I think that Walter Schirra aboard Mercury 8 was the first of the astronauts to use the code name 'Santa Claus' to indicate the presence of flying saucers next to space capsules. However, his announcements were barely noticed by the general public. It was a little different when James Lovell on board the Apollo 8 command module came out from behind the moon and said for everybody to hear: 'PLEASE BE INFORMED THAT THERE IS A SANTA CLAUS.'

The counter point being that It would make perfect sense to use this code on the Apollo 8 mission, to confirm Alien existence, as cover as it was known that the craft would emerge from behind the moon on Christmas day.
Also bare in mind that it was not common knowledge that many astronauts had seen and reported
UFO's at that time and it is a pertinent fact that 8 Apollo astronauts alone reported witnessing UFO's.

There is no doubt in my mind that it was a coded message of some sort - it makes no sense whatsoever in any other context even given that it was Christmas day.
"Please be advised, there is a Santa Clause"
"Affirmative, you are the best ones to know"
Why would that conversation even be initiated and in what other context than a coded message does it make sense?
What exactly it related to is pure speculation but we do know not to take the astronauts sentence literally, unless you think the astronaut actually saw santa clause or was seriously deluded.

The only completely innocent explanation I can think of for the statement is that the astronaut is relating to Apollo 8 as Santa Clause but that is quite a stretch and even then the reply would be completely out of context with such a sentiment.

Given that we have a statement from a high ranking NASA official that Santa Clause was used as code and that
many astronauts have reported seeing UFO's perhaps it is not out of the realms of possibility that the cryptic message really was reference to the existence of or sighting of Alien craft.

Originally posted by Mucka
Maurice Chatelain Chief of NASA communications back in the 70's is quoted as saying,

There's no evidence that Chatelain was "chief of NASA communications." In fact, if I recall, there's reason to believe he made that up, much like the rest of his claims.

There is no doubt in my mind that it was a coded message of some sort - it makes no sense whatsoever in any other context even given that it was Christmas day.

I'm sorry, that makes no rational sense. Not only was it Christmas, but they just successfully completed the most critical step of the entire mission; TEI. That the engine lit as it was supposed to and performed the burn to send them back to earth safely came like a Christmas present, hence the Santa Claus reference. It was a joke reference in the same vein as when someone says "there IS a God" after something fortunate happens to them.

Okay, this is what I find interesting in the transcript. Lovell messed up the length of the burn time by a minute in his first transmission. That is a huge error! Imagine if you were supposed to get back home on one burn and screwed up your boost by more than 30%. This was noticed right away on the ground and confirmation was asked, because that would be a massive fubar if you only had a 2 min burn to get home with when you needed 3. How did a professional, trained astronaut mess up the transmission of his most critical burn stage for confirmation on the ground, deciding really if he and his crew make it home or not?

Simply, he was more concerned with whatever "Santa Claus" was. Right? That coded transmission was more important in his mind then confirming if he was even going to make it home or not.

There is no doubt in my mind that it was a coded message of some sort - it makes no sense whatsoever in any other context even given that it was Christmas day.

I'm sorry, that makes no rational sense. Not only was it Christmas, but they just successfully completed the most critical step of the entire mission; TEI. That the engine lit as it was supposed to and performed the burn to send them back to earth safely came like a Christmas present, hence the Santa Claus reference. It was a joke reference in the same vein as when someone says "there IS a God" after something fortunate happens to them.


Do you mean it made no sense or it was not rational? If something makes sense then it is rational.

What you say seems reasonable and gives the message another quite plausible context.
Perhaps it is just an unfortunate coincidence that other astronauts used the term Santa Claus in relation to UFO's.

I am still of a mind though that when a high percentage of astronauts give witness to seeing UFO's we should keep an open mind as to exactly what may or may not be out there.

To put things into perspective, the previous night (24th) the astros took turns reading Bible verses:

nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov...

Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the Moon, entered lunar orbit on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1968. That evening, the astronauts; Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot Jim Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders did a live television broadcast from lunar orbit, in which they showed pictures of the Earth and Moon seen from Apollo 8. Lovell said, "The vast loneliness is awe-inspiring and it makes you realize just what you have back there on Earth." They ended the broadcast with the crew taking turns reading from the book of Genesis.

Note the "live television broadcast". A8 was a having a religous ceremony in space, televised to the nation. That's some very strong propaganda and America used it very effectively.

49th anniversary of the birth of one of the more silly UFO myths, that astronauts used 'Santa Claus' as code name for secret UFO sightings.

a reply to: JimOberg

What do you think it meant Jim?

a reply to: hiddenNZ

Maybe they just actually saw Santa Claus?

originally posted by: Mucka

There is no doubt in my mind that it was a coded message of some sort - it makes no sense whatsoever in any other context even given that it was Christmas day.

I'm sorry, that makes no rational sense. Not only was it Christmas, but they just successfully completed the most critical step of the entire mission; TEI. That the engine lit as it was supposed to and performed the burn to send them back to earth safely came like a Christmas present, hence the Santa Claus reference. It was a joke reference in the same vein as when someone says "there IS a God" after something fortunate happens to them.

Do you mean it made no sense or it was not rational? If something makes sense then it is rational.

What you say seems reasonable and gives the message another quite plausible context.
Perhaps it is just an unfortunate coincidence that other astronauts used the term Santa Claus in relation to UFO's.

I am still of a mind though that when a high percentage of astronauts give witness to seeing UFO's we should keep an open mind as to exactly what may or may not be out there.

Two things;

1; Something can make sense and still be irrational. It makes sense, because I understood your messaging, and even how you could maybe come to that conclusion, albeit -- incorrectly. A perfect example of this, is your statement "If it makes sense, than it's rational"

That's an irrational statement, yet -- it made sense.

2; No, the incident makes zero logical or rational sense. If they had said "There IS a Santa Clause" because everything worked, than mission control wouldn't have said "You're the best to know" -- they would have said something like "He certainly delivered" or "Amen." You're the best to know, makes zero sense outside of one situation, and that's if the people on board have visually confirmed something that ground control couldn't. In other words, they saw something on the other side of the moon.

That's the only context that makes sense. This and Apollo 8 astronauts claiming to have seen something, taken together, rule out the innocence of that statement. It's more likely, they called a UFO Santa Clause BECAUSE it was the 25th, and people would think nothing of it, that it is for mission control to have answered "You're the best to know" when they have all the information of every action the apollo did. Ground Control would have known as much and as equal as the astronauts.

????

It doesn't make sense, because it's nonsense, which means it WAS coded, or ground control were a bunch of morons -- you tell me which it was? Were they morons, or was it coded?

[We all know they aren't morons.]

Bump the story for the date. Richrd Dolan is now using this old story.

An exuberant remark of Apollo-8 astronaut Jim Lovell, on his way home from the moon, that 'there is a Santa Claus', gave birth to a still-circulating notion that this word was a secret code for 'UFO'. Even Richard Dolan endorsed the idea as recently as this year.

UFOs IN SPACE. What's Going on Up There? Richard Dolan Intelligent Disclosure.
youtu.be...
Streamed live on Apr 2, 2019 50,000 views

Richard Dolan: “I think that Wally Schirra, he was an astronaut aboard Mercury 8, was the first of the astronauts to use the code Santa Claus to indicate the presence of flying saucers next to space capsules. So again, very interesting stuff.”



FACT CHECK: Twice, during spaceflights in the Christmas season, playful and exultant astronauts made Christmas references. On Gemini-6 in December 1965, notorious jokester Wally Schirra pranked Mission Control with a transmission that the Gemini was being approached by a mystery object in polar orbit that was trying to signal them – and then the two astronauts broke into an impromptu instrumental [harmonica and bells] rendition of ‘jingle bells’. To try to portray that as a deliberate code-talk about a UFO sighting is just silly. On Christmas in 1968, the Apollo-8 crew had just completed the do-or-die rocket maneuver to return to Earth [and not slowly die, stranded in lunar orbit] and as they came round the back side and restored radio communications, Jim Lovell exultantly announced, “Be advised there IS a Santa Claus.” To try to portray that as secretly announcing a UFO sighting is even more silly.

But what other UFO writers and bloggers have been clinging to that misinterpretation lately -- or has the story been abandoned?


Also:

www.express.co.uk...


ADD: I'm still trying to find the exact quote from Dolan about 'Santa Claus' on Apollo-8, so that's still unproven. He does attribute it to Schirra on Gemini-6.