Help identify this Apollo 12 Moon-UFO image

Hello Everyone

A long time ago I noticed an alleged Apollo 12 picture in a documentary which shows the Moons reflection on the Earth, and (according to the video) some folks thought the object might be a UFO.

Here is a screen-capture of the image ...



Really I wasn't sure what the explanation was but I thought the image was particularly interesting and wanted a better look at it so I decided to try and match it up with with the original on one of the many Apollo image websites but was never able to identify it or find an image that matches.


The image is presented in the documentary titled "The Case of the UFOs"

For anyone that hasn't seen it and wants to watch the entire video,
here's a search link - www.google.com...
https : // www.google.com/search?q=The+Case+of+the+UFOs+1982


To save time, here is the relevant portion and shows the image ...


Apollo 12 Moon-UFO Anomaly
Link - www.youtube.com...




My investigation of this image has been ongoing for well over a year now and I'm almost certain the image in question is not displayed anywhere on the web for public viewing.

Links to relevant imagery:

Not seeing a match here ...
Link - www.lpi.usra.edu...

Or here in this video ...
Link - www.youtube.com...



(Note: This is a complex subject and I have done a lot of work just to get it this far and present it here and It is necessary to study all the imagery and information to be of any real help in solving this puzzle.) just saying

This topic was posted elsewhere as a beta-test to see if it was worth perusing or not and get somekind of leads but it didn't get much response so the image still seems to be a mystery waiting to be solved.


So with that said, what do the members of ATS think about this image ?



Is it a real Apollo image or somekind of hoax?

Is the anomaly really the Moon's reflection? or a UFO ?

And ... can anyone identify the image ?

a reply to: easynow

For context purposes here's a quote from the transcripts ...

241:33:04 Conrad: Also, also, right in the center of the Earth now, we have some real bright light shining, staying on - that - that Dick's looking at with the monocular. It's really bright.

241:33:20 Weitz: Roger. Understand. Does it appear to be coming from your nadir point, which should be just off the Eastern coast of India now?

241:33:28 Conrad: Yes. Looks like it's coming just about out of the center of what we're looking at. I would say south of Burma and east of India.

241:33:39 Weitz: Roger. That's just about your nadir. [Long pause.]

241:34:11 Conrad: I can't imagine what that is.

241:34:21 Weitz: We can't either. We're checking for possibilities.

241:34:27 Conrad: It's a steady light, and it appears in size to be as big as any of the thunderstorms flashing.

241:34:39 Bean: Yes. It's as big as Venus at least. [Long pause.]

241:34:XX Weitz: Roger. Understand.

241:34:XX Bean: It's hard to tell if it is exactly in the center of the Earth or not, it's pretty close to being right in the center. Maybe just a little bit to our right, whatever that means. Just a little bit to the side that the Sun did not go behind the Earth on.

241:35:21 Weitz: Roger. I think we understand that.

http ://history.nasa.gov/ap12fj/20day10_sf3th.htm

Link - history.nasa.gov...

Lens flare. Again.
Who knows though, really?

originally posted by: slapjacks
Lens flare. Again.
Who knows though, really?

Wish it was that simple ...

240:47:01 Bean: It's a heck of a time to be without any 70-millimeter color film, I'll tell you.

240:47:07 Weitz: ...[garble]...

240:47:08 Bean: But I know how to get it on a 16-millimeter camera.

http : //history.nasa.gov/ap12fj/20day10_sf3th.htm

Link - history.nasa.gov...

a reply to: easynow

It's so blurry that it's hard to say for sure, but it is similar to S80-37406 from Apollo 12:



www.apolloarchive.com...

Of course, it may be from a different mission. The Apollo 12 transcripts suggest that the "light" was seen through an optical device, which means it was probably a lens flare.

ETA: It just occurred to me that the bright light they saw in the Indian Ocean can only have been the light from the near full Moon glinting off the water!

a reply to: easynow

You'll find the whole series of Apollo 12 eclipse photography here, near the end:

www.lpi.usra.edu...

a reply to: easynow

I love this, from the transcript:

241:34:XX Bean: It's hard to tell if it is exactly in the center of the Earth or not, it's pretty close to being right in the center. Maybe just a little bit to our right, whatever that means. Just a little bit to the side that the Sun did not go behind the Earth on.

I work for a medical device company. The owner always stresses that when speaking with doctors, we should use the medical terminology, know what distal end vs. proximal end of an instrument is, refer to the various components by their technical names, etc. But here's how doctors really talk most of the time:

Doctor - "I need the forceps that's really long on the part you hold, but it has the not-so-scary looking teeth, compared to this one."

or:
(me) - For the endocervical curette, do you want the rigid or malleable?
Doctor - I need the bendy one. You can't get the bendy ones with the rainbow (she's referring to titanium coating), can you?

originally posted by: DJW001
a reply to: easynow

You'll find the whole series of Apollo 12 eclipse photography here, near the end:

www.lpi.usra.edu...

Thanks I appreciate the help but if you would have taken the time to examine the opening post a little better, you would have seen I already posted that link.
(just saying)

Once again, I have been researching this topic for over a year and I'm almost certain the image is not displayed on any NASA image website or anwhere on the web for that matter.


It's very possible since it's a UFO related subject, it can not be accessed online anymore.

I found that to be the case with the SkyLab 3 UFO images.

The source has to be reflected light off the moon imo. If it is that much light I doubt a UFO would emit it otherwise everyone on that side of the Earth would have seen it. I am leaning to reflected light off the water and their seeing this anomaly for the first time. Lens flare is a possibility with any optical system of the time probably as it occurs even today.

originally posted by: dogstar23
a reply to: easynow

I love this, from the transcript:

241:34:XX Bean: It's hard to tell if it is exactly in the center of the Earth or not, it's pretty close to being right in the center. Maybe just a little bit to our right, whatever that means. Just a little bit to the side that the Sun did not go behind the Earth on.

I work for a medical device company. The owner always stresses that when speaking with doctors, we should use the medical terminology, know what distal end vs. proximal end of an instrument is, refer to the various components by their technical names, etc. But here's how doctors really talk most of the time:

Doctor - "I need the forceps that's really long on the part you hold, but it has the not-so-scary looking teeth, compared to this one."

or:
(me) - For the endocervical curette, do you want the rigid or malleable?
Doctor - I need the bendy one. You can't get the bendy ones with the rainbow (she's referring to titanium coating), can you?

I was thinking the exact same thing!


Also, I work for a medical device company as well

My personal view is that it is either a representation on the film maker's part of what they think they saw, or it is a photo of an eclipse from Earth with lens flare.

Some cool eclipse from space images:

www.universetoday.com...

a reply to: easynow

First of all I don't have an axe to grind as I do believe they did see UFO and other thing's they never tell the public about as well as being there for other reason's but to me this does look just like a lens flare, remember the surface of the lense is curved and so side on lights can cause strange reflection's in the lens itself, I would have to see similar shots at the same angle a the same time to rule that out.
It could be a UFO but I think len's flare.

Hey Thanks Everyone for responding.

The source has to be reflected light off the moon imo.

a representation on the film maker's part of what they think they saw, or it is a photo of an eclipse from Earth with lens flare.

but to me this does look just like a lens flare,

Just for the record, I am completely impartial to all the possible explantions and I understand it could be a lens flare or a representation or a real Apollo image or something else entirely. I have no dog in this hunt except to identify the image in order to find out the truth about it.

As far as the lens-flare theory, Has anyone looked at the 16mm video to see if there's a match ?


Apollo 12 - solar eclipse
Link - www.youtube.com...

Search - Apollo+12+16mm+solar+eclipse
Link - www.google.com...

I consulted with Dick Gordon about this light about forty years ago for my seminal article in Space World, since posted on the Internet. Easynow, why didn't you include my home page in your exhaustive investigation of this story? Want the link?

originally posted by: spirit_horse
The source has to be reflected light off the moon imo. If it is that much light I doubt a UFO would emit it otherwise everyone on that side of the Earth would have seen it. I am leaning to reflected light off the water and their seeing this anomaly for the first time. Lens flare is a possibility with any optical system of the time probably as it occurs even today.

Excellent idea, exactly what Gordon told me forty years ago, that I published and later posted to my website

www.jamesoberg.com...
p. 27 of magazine
sep 15, 1976 letter from Gordon

originally posted by: JimOberg
I consulted with Dick Gordon about this light about forty years ago for my seminal article in Space World, since posted on the Internet. Easynow, why didn't you include my home page in your exhaustive investigation of this story? Want the link?

Simply because it doesn't help in any way to identify the image.

Link - www.jamesoberg.com...

From Page 24: files.abovetopsecret.com...



Perhaps a more important question is,

Why did you present an image like that with no identification ?

And why not just go ahead and spill the beans and give us the image ID#

I'm sure you'll agree, Not doing so will seem suspicious?

a reply to: easynow

Simply because it doesn't help in any way to identify the image.

I think it is clear that the image in the video is one of the Apollo 12 eclipse images that has been "enhanced" to illustrate what the astronauts seemed to be seeing. Note how none of the forest fires, lightning or city lights describe in the transcript are visible in any of the photographs. The Moon's reflection was comparable to them in brightness.

originally posted by: easynow
....

Perhaps a more important question is,

Why did you present an image like that with no identification ?

And why not just go ahead and spill the beans and give us the image ID#

I'm sure you'll agree, Not doing so will seem suspicious?

You've lost me, where did I present what image?

originally posted by: DJW001
a reply to: easynow

Simply because it doesn't help in any way to identify the image.

I think it is clear that the image in the video is one of the Apollo 12 eclipse images that has been "enhanced" to illustrate what the astronauts seemed to be seeing. Note how none of the forest fires, lightning or city lights describe in the transcript are visible in any of the photographs. The Moon's reflection was comparable to them in brightness.

Clear ? No it's not clear at all my friend.

Your theory is certainly one of the possibilities but I have to disagree it's the "clear" answer because a lot more information is needed to validate that hypothesis.

Maybe you could just ask Jim for the information ?

originally posted by: JimOberg
You've lost me, where did I present what image?

This is You in the video ... correct ?

Link - www.youtube.com...