NASA is dedicated to the exploration of space, technological advancement, and transparency. But that last word, “transparency”, is the focus of doubt for many. Some ask is there any actual proof that NASA is hiding something from the world? Rumors persist that strange events have indeed been captured on camera by NASA and have been kept hidden. Those are exactly the tapes that we’re going to be discussing today, the exact tapes they don’t want you to know about. Here are 10 NASA space tapes they don’t want you to see.
1. The Apollo tapes
The Apollo space program ran from 1960 until 1972. Its aim was simple. To put a human being on the moon and to unlock the secrets of our nearest celestial neighbor. In fact, when we did finally land on the moon in 1969, it was seen as the greatest technological advancement since human beings had discovered fire. Why, then, are many of the tapes which documented this incredible journey missing or destroyed? You’d think that those involved in the space program would want to capture their achievements for future generations. Some believe that the reason the tapes are missing is because they hint at a difficult truth. Two possibilities have been presented, that the tapes contain evidence that the moon mission was a hoax or, more tantalizingly, they include footage of a rumored alien encounter in the depths of space.
2. STS-80
Hundreds of manned space missions have taken place over the last few decades. Most of them were to lower orbits where astronauts would repair satellites or carry out work on the International Space Station. During these missions, cameras have captured strange anomalies. These include objects which move as though they’re being controlled by an intelligence. Astronauts were there to deploy orbital equipment including two satellites, but their cameras inadvertently picked up bright objects which moved in the distance. Unlike any piece of debris, these objects seemed to change orientation, something debris should not be able to do. What they were, no one is sure, but it’s certainly a topic which some NASA officials continue to evade.
3. Gemini 4
During the Gemini 4 mission in 1965, which was NASA’s second manned space flight, pilot Jim McDivitt was shocked to see a strange object in the distance, set against the blackness of space. The object was cylindrical, with a long pole sticking out from one corner. McDivitt himself was noncommittal about it, not knowing exactly what he had seen. But there was film footage taken at other points during the mission, so the fact that alleged footage of such a singular encounter is missing seems eerily suspicious.
4. Apollo 10
Apollo 10 was the first moon mission to have a color TV camera on board, as opposed to an eight millimeter film camera. Just as the 1969 spacecraft was heading into the dark side of the moon where the crew would be out of radio contact for an hour, they began to complain about hearing strange music coming from somewhere.
They also captured an anonymous white object flying in the opposite direction of the command service module, which remains unexplained. Many argue that if it had been debris from the craft, it would have been traveling in the same direction. So what was it? And why did the crew of Apollo 10 avoid the topic of the strange music that they heard up there? The existing audiotapes showed that this happened, but few wish to officially acknowledge them.
5. The lost years
We have meticulous records surrounding the NASA space program. We know when each milestone was reached. Whether it was the first American manned space flight, or when Neil Armstrong first stepped onto the lunar surface, there’s film footage of it. But some argue that this account is only half of the story, the tip of a dark and concealed iceberg. One theory states that alongside the public missions, there were a series of earlier, secret ones, which were sent to test out new technology and explore the vastness of space. One of the reasons put forward for this is that the U.S. government did not want their space program to publicly fail during a propaganda war with the Soviet Union. Instead, these earlier missions were carried out in secret, no doubt filmed just as meticulously. The question is, just what happened to those tapes?
6. STS-48
STS-48 was a space shuttle mission which launched on September 15th, 1991. Its primary objective was to launch an upper atmosphere research satellite. After 81 revolutions of the Earth and 2.2 million miles later, the shuttle completed its mission, but not before its cameras captured unbelievable footage. The footage clearly shows several objects flying in what appears to be a controlled trajectory. This formulation was unlike anything the astronauts had ever seen before. One of the objects performs an about-turn and alters its speed and direction at the same time. This footage was soon released, though many believe this is because it had already been intercepted by amateur decoders on the ground. Several explanations for the STS-48 footage have been proposed, but none of them have been robust enough to remove the mystery.
7. Mars redacted footage
It’s difficult to understand why space exploration stalled for so long after Apollo 17. Space technology had progressed quickly, taking humanity from unmanned space satellites to standing on the moon in a short time. The official explanation is that public interest in the space race fell, and so investment in it dried up. However, there are rumors of secret missions which took place after Apollo 17. One of the most infamous is a rumored mission to Mars itself. Whispers continue that NASA crews traveled to the Red Planet, taking with them a variety of experiments and camera equipment. Some of this has been leaked online with out-of-focus film footage allegedly showing the crew in orbit. Of course, NASA denies this, but nevertheless, if they did indeed go secretly to Mars, what did they find there?
8. The engineer’s archive
In 2005, a man whose identity was protected passed away. In his basement, his wife found 325 data reels and two huge computers dating back to the early space program through the 1970s. Over 100 of the tapes were labeled, and some of the labeling remains a mystery. For example, one tape covered data from the Pioneer 11 mission, which launched in 1973. But this tape was labeled from 1972. The serial numbers on the two computers could also not be traced. They could not be found in any record, as though they came from a classified NASA project. It’s common knowledge that NASA taped over many tapes from important missions, so you would think that they would want to know what was on them. Instead, they destroyed all of the tapes without releasing any further information about them.
9. Alien moon base
There would be no more manned expeditions to the moon after the early 1970s. And yet many believe those missions continued, for a while at least. The reason those subsequent missions were not made public was because NASA had discovered an alien base on the moon. Whether inhabited or not is unclear, but supporters of this theory have identified footage taken from moon orbit as well as a controversial piece of footage showing astronauts exploring the alien structure on foot in a classified mission as definitive proof that NASA is hiding something. Others believe this footage has been released in order to muddy the waters and discredit anyone who claims that there is a structure of some sort on the lunar surface. Whatever the truth, officials remain tight-lipped about what’s really going on up there.
