Seriously, What's Up with the Moon?

(To check out the actual picture of the hole, go to http://www.universetoday.com/2009/11/25/kaguya-discovers-a-lava-tube-on-the-moon/)

What's this?  It's a big black hole on the moon.  And yet another "moon" posting?  Well, ...yes.  Because -WoW!-  All kinds of new discoveries are being made on our moon, "the moon."  (There's a moon in the sky and its called the moon).  First there was the recent (recent? really? Yes, quite recent actually) discovery of WATER on the moon.  Now, they (Junichi and friends) have discovered a "curiousity" in the appearance of a large black hole (a hole in the ground, not a 'blackhole') which scientists think must be a LAVA TUBE.  This is strange because usually lava tubes must appear as a series of holes, not just one singular hole.  Check out this clip from universetoday.com. Way to go Japan.  The Kaguya satellite is doing its job, and so is Junichi.  Wow, Junichi is quite a name.  Sounds more like a name for some sort of puzzle or curse.

Junichi Haruyama and colleagues report that they have discovered a mysterious hole in the lunar surface in high resolution images from the Kaguya spacecraft. The hole is 65 meters in diameter and is located in the volcanic Marius Hills region on the near side of the moon, right in the middle of a long sinuous rille. Sinuous rilles are thought to be formed by flowing lava, either on the surface or in enclosed lava tubes.

Couldn't this hole be a fresh impact crater? Nope. Haruyama's team observed the hole nine separate times, at various illumination angles, and even when the sun was almost directly overhead it looked mostly black, suggesting that it is very deep. They calculate a depth of around 88 meters, so the hole is deeper than it is wide. No impact crater is like that. Another possibility is that the hole is due to some sort of volcanic eruption, but there is no sign of volcanic deposits like lava flows or ash emanating from the hole. The hole is isolated, so it isn't likely to be due to a fracture in the lunar crust either – you would expect such a fracture to form a chain of holes.

...So what exactly do they make of this looney lunar sphincter?...

Haruyama's team concluded that the most likely explanation is that the hole that they discovered is a "skylight" – a location where the roof of a lava tube collapsed, either when the lava filling the tube flowed away, or later in the moon's history due to an impact, moonquake, or tidal forces from the Earth. If it is a lava tube, their calculations based on the multiple images of the hole show that the tube could be 370 meters across.

Lava tubes are important in understanding how lava was transported on the early moon, but they are not just a scientific curiosity: they may also provide valuable refuges for future human explorers. The surface of the moon is not protected from the harsh radiation of space by a magnetic field or a thick atmosphere, so a long term human presence would be most feasible if astronauts could spend most of their time shielded underground.

So you see, this is quite a fascinating find for several reasons.  Holy Haruyama! -future human explorers could use these moon tubes as an early moonbase, perhaps.  I guess it makes sense that we are discovering scientific anomalies like this (and water on the moon) because we've only been to the moon less than a handful of times.  But still, the nagging question (Junichi) once again arises, "Why haven't we ever gone back to the moon?" 
Seriously though, why haven't we gone back to the moon?  I mean, we achieve this great feat and then ...just leave it at that?  Why would we go to our moon just once -except for a few "quick scoops" (as astronaut Col. Gordon Cooper explained)?  I've heard that we don't have the money, or that NASA is saving up for Mars, but, given the resources used and NASAs budget (not to mention the military's enormous black budget), that doesn't seem quite right.  This makes me wonder if those who claim that Armstrong described an intimidating alien presence on the moon aren't accurate after all.  But, ...who knows?  Perhaps it truly is just the money.  ....(doesn't seem right, I say)

Well, only 5 days till the full moon.  Check it out (binoculars are awesome on the moon!).  You may just observe some "transient lunar luminosities."  And speaking of full, I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving holiday.  I sure did.  Butternut squash stuffed with pecans and marshmellow cream, mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy, greenbean casserole, fresh baked bread, chestnut stuffing, celebration roast, pumpkin pie, quinoa pilaf, homemade applesauce....  so much to be thankful for.

Atlantis Anomalies, Discovery's Strange Discovery... and Other NASA UFOs

        Are these cheezy B-rated fiction titles?  Well, they could be, but actually, these are NASA shuttles that have unwittingly captured some pretty amazing UFO footage.  Now, what are these "ufos" really?  Well, let me just say, in my effort to find out, I discovered enough NASA UFO footage to bore the hell out of anyone who isn't completely insane.  ...Seems like every time they go up there, they're filming something crazy... Maybe they should change their name to Now Another Strange Anomaly.

Actually, it is outer space, so its all quite fascinating.  HOWEVER, let me first say that several of these "videos" can be explained away quite simply, or at least, well enough for me to accept that they are nonsense.  Particles, debris, trash, ice crystals... -all of these things can be quite reflective in outer space, so if a small bright object appears to be floating through the camera view, it doesn't necessarily have to be a flying saucer.  That is, ...if it doesn't change speed or direction (or behave like a flying saucer).

Turns out, ONE out of this plethora of NASA videos, (which is by far the most famous), provides what seems to be the most substantial evidence that ufos are travelling around Earth.  -And even more unsettling, that we may have weapons of some sort that we're firing at them.

This is the video taken by the Discovery Shuttle in 1991.  I'll let you watch it first, before doing any sort of interprative analysis. Please take a moment (it's very short) and click to watch the video below:
(Actually, the main action sequence is from about 1:20-2:00; this is the original NASA footage, so you may want to skip the boring parts -although there are many anomalies in this video)


There are 3 main reasons why this video is (not to mention, the most famous) the most fascinating video evidence of UFOs to date.

1) You saw the video...  It shows several small moving objects (which must be either quite large or very bright) gliding over the Earth, and then a bright FLASH occurs.  Immediately after (or just as) this flash occurs, the objects (particularly the most prominent object) stops, and completely changes direction, zipping up and away from Earth. 

2) Even Better.  NASA has verified this video's authenticity by providing a public explanation of the recorded events.  Two astronauts (who were aboard the Discovery when the video was taken) offer an explanation of the footage that dispels any thought of anomalous activity.  Their explanation is that A: the bright objects observed are ice particles  B: the flash is the shuttle booster firing, and C: the particles change direction due to gases from the booster firing.

3) Now, the very BEST evidence that this is actual footage of our governments firing sometthing at UFOs, is ...that ...the official NASA explanation of this video has been scientifically proven to be false.
First, the shuttle's camera is focused to infinity, which means that anything close up will NOT be in focus if it shows up at all.  This is apparent because the camera is focused on the Earth, and toward the end of the video, when the camera pans down to the shuttle bay, the shuttle bay is out of focus until refocusing.  Certainly any particles of ice or anything nearby of moderate size would not show up, as such, on the video.  So, since the camera was focused on infinity, the bright objects are obviously very far away and relatively close to Earth in relation to the shuttle.
Second, if the "flash" is the shuttle firing its attitude adjustment jets (as NASA claims) the view of Earth and background star would change.  Also, mission control never authorized such a maneuver.  Furthermore, the primary moving object actually slows and stops a second before the flash appears.  Finally, scientists have explained that firing the jets couldn't cause a particle to slow and stop prior to changing direction.

Analysis of the video shows that the "firing" eminates from around Australia.  There is a large American installation at Pine Gap, Australia, belonging to the supersecret National Reconnaissance Office (which is loosely tied to the Air Force, but reports to the CIA).  This base is treated by Aussies as somewhat of an "area 51" type of base, and is involved in the STAR WARS type satellite control and missile defense systems you may have heard of.

To sum up; It is unknown if Pine Gap is the source of this "firing," and it is unknown what these extraordinarily fast-moving objects (which appear to evade the firing).  What is known is that NASA's explanation of the video has been proven to be incorrect.

It seems that the reason why the scientific community is so quick to accept erroneous explanations and to ignore this kind of evidence (as well as mass sightings, pilot sightings, radar readings & ufo footage in general), is that the very notion of "ufos" is culturally shunned and linked to superstition and craziness.  It is culturally crazy to entertain the idea of flying saucers, or ufos, and the scientific community seems to be reinforcing this cultural bias, which is very UNscientific.  They should know better, after all, it was culturally crazy to entertain the notion that the Earth is just one small planet orbiting our sun.  Not long ago, it was "scientifically proven" that getting to the moon would be impossible, because the fuel needed would greatly outweigh the means of leaving Earth. 

I say its time for all of the general scientific community and skeptics to step up and face the issue and analyze the facts.  I guess people are always scared of the unknown.  I, for one, want to know ...what's up with the aliens?  I'm sure I'm helping things with my posts about lesbian nazi hookers, (jk -c'mon, it was funny), but I think people need to start accepting the topic of ufos as a serious matter and a real phenomenon. 

On that note, I will leave you with another interesting video of apparent NASA ufo footage. [Please note: I am unimpressed with the "tether" sequence (at the end), which can be explained as particle reflections]