WHAT ARE TRANSIENT LUNAR PHENOMENA?

For centuries, people have reported seeing flashing lights on the moon. They come in different colors, all emanating from a specific area of the moon. The activity is intermittent. An amber colored light may suddenly appear and then disappear just seconds later.

Once telescopes were invented in 1608, astronomers became even more fascinated with the intermittent flashing lights.

The majority of this activity is around Aristarchus, a crater almost the size of the Grand Canyon.

What is this translunar phenomenon, more commonly known as transient lunar phenomenon? Could extraterrestrial life have anything to do with it?

In 1966, a transient lunar phenomena report was compiled for NASA by four of the top scientists and astronomers of the time. Barbara Middlehurst, a well-known astronomer, worked with her team member, Patrick Craig, and others. They prepared a detailed chronology of lunar events that occurred from June 1950 to October 1967. The report was published in 1968, prior to the first moon landing.

Middlehurst provided detailed documentation on sightings of moving objects, flashing lights and many other odd events on the lunar surface. About 60 percent of the activity was around Aristarchus or based on activity coming from the crater itself. Some examples of her entries include the following:

• October 25, 1966: “Large bright area obscuring half of crater wall. It was not present on Oct. 24″
• April 22, 1967: “Aristarchus so bright that it could be seen by the naked eye”
• August 13, 1967: “Glow in interior in crater”

Naturally, the crater was an area of interest once manned missions to the moon began. Many audio tapes and photos of the moon missions, particularly the most important ones from Apollo 11, are mysteriously missing.

One copy of a debriefing log taken after the astronauts had returned from their first landing on the moon reveals a conversation with astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, Michael Collins and an unknown speaker. They discussed that one request had been for them to look at the crater Aristarchus to see if they “could see any glow or evidence of observations that had been made by people on the ground.”

Aldrin concluded that the lights around and emanating from Aristarchus were brighter “than anything else we could see in either direction.” They also mentioned that the photos taken during the trip could shed light on what they had seen. But, the photos are either missing or of such poor quality it is difficult to use them in a meaningful way.

In 1994, a joint task force between NASA and the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization sent a probe to the moon as part of their Clementine Project. The probe had several tasks, one of which was to fly over the Aristarchus Crater and take photos. Astronomers who viewed the photos reported seeing a clearly visible blue dome-shaped structure when the Aristarchus “lights are on.”

Even though the photos are in low resolution and highly pixelated, astronomers believe there is a dome structure in the Aristarchus Crater. One photo, dated September 7, 2007, shows an “electric blue” color emanating from the crater with “dome like structures” in the crater itself.

There is a strong indication that the dome-shaped structure is a fusion reactor. A former NASA manager of the photo department claims that the government has evidence of ancient alien cities on the moon. These were discovered mostly during the Apollo program. If there is evidence of ancient cities, could the activity around the Aristarchus Crater indicate current extraterrestrial life?

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