I am no HB (just to get that out the way)...

I was watching Spacecraft film's "Apollo 16 Journey to Descartes" last night when I heard something that caught my attention. At the end of EVA 2 (TV is off - John and Charlie are getting back into the LM), you hear Charlie ask a.. well, strange question about "visitors"

Being intrigued, I checked out the ALSJ site and found the transcript of the conversation :


149:56:38 Young: Did you throw something out of there?
149:56:40 Duke: No.
149:56:41 Young: You didn't?
149:56:42 Duke: No. (Burst of static; Long Pause) (Deadpan) Maybe we've got visitors. (Long Pause)

[John brings up the first of the SCBs and tries to put it into the cabin far enough that Charlie can bend down and grab it.]


Hmmmmm, any ideas ?

About what exactly? One of them moved the object somehow, either intentionally or not, and either didn't notice or didn't remember doing it.

I guess I'm not sure I understand what it is you're asking.

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about Charlie's statement "Maybe we've got visitors"...

just seemed kind of weird to say.

I think the (Deadpan) gives it away.
He is making a joke.

Like pilots joking about gremlins messing up the engines, or the Irish about leprechauns sneakily moving things around.

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An idea is not responsible for the people who believe in it.

Why is it weird to say? The astronauts were people with a sense of humour. Young and Duke particularly were noted for their continued amusing commentary while on the Moon. It's a joke along the lines of 'maybe it was Santa Claus'.

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"The very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common: They don't alter their views to fit the facts, they alter the facts to fit their views." The Doctor, Doctor Who: The Face of Evil.

Sounds the same as "it was like that when I found it" or an opsy when the pause is pockets checked, er yes I did drop something.

Yep by reading it it does sound like a joke... and I know the astronauts joked around a lot. Apollo 16 is the best example of good natured astronauts having a good time on the moon but..

try listening to it on the ALSJ site... I'm not trying to make anything more out of it than what it is but I just found it a curious thing to say, and it doesn't sound like a joke .

Ah well...

It was definitely a joke; real gremlins and leprechauns would explode in the lunar vacuum.

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The views expressed are the febrile product of an overactive imagination of a person who in shadows sees the gyrating Elvis-like ghost of Leonid Brezhnev.

but not Santa Claus.

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That's the beauty of "deadpan" humor: saying the most ridiculous thing you can think of, in the most matter-of-fact tone of voice you can manage. Test pilots, whose life often depends on staying calm under pressure, and reporting any number of startling things in a matter-of-fact tone, seem to really appreciate and excel at deadpan humor.

Um . . . .

Okay, I think I see what you're saying. When it's spoken, it does not, to you, sound like they're joking. Okay. Why not? What about it sounds to you like it wasn't a joke, despite the fact that you agree that it reads like a joke?

Further, let's say it isn't a joke. Let's say he really believed they'd had visitors. So what? Is that actually evidence of anything? (Besides, he didn't say "alien visitors." Maybe he meant his uncle Oscar.)

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"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"

For those who appreciate a link to go with the questions...

MP3 clip, at149:56:38, running time 2 minutes 15 seconds from Apollo Lunar Surface Journal: Apollo 16 :: The Second EVA, EVA-2 Closeout

Like, wow. Weird thing to say? If that "visitors" comment doesn't trigger a smile, you're observing history way too somberly.

Astronauts are people, too. They joke. They have cheeks in which they sometimes put their tongues. They enjoy life.

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It's pretty clear to me that he meant the moon is haunted.

Of course. I mean everyone has heard of Space Ghost!

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At night the stars put on a show for free (Carole King)

Yes, the moon was hunted, by creatures from the blue orb across the sky. They came riding on a long flame, that scorched the ground beneath it. The took the Sacred Rock of Pootum, they desicrated the Holy Soil. And then they left, leaving mysteries in their wake.

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Everybody knows that aliens have a wonderful sense of humor and love to play tricks on astronauts on the Moon - like moving tools and objects around when the astronauts aren't looking. Then they run behind a rock and giggle. It's great fun for them - in fact, it's the main reason they came here from other solar systems.

thanks for pointing out the obvious.





anyone that listens to more than those few words will recognize immediately that it is only a joke.

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"I will do my best to understand and explain the universe from big to small without invoking miracles, unrepeatable events, or divine intervention. In place of those things I will use observations, mathematics, and science."


-Cross
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Those that lack education have a hard time understanding its value. - Cross

Context: Knocks Conspiricy Theories Dead!

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Your comment doesn't make any sense.

Sometimes you just say something funny because you want to. Example:
I was at camp, seeing if the TV could pick up any stations. I turned it on and saw a screen full of static.
"Oooh, the cosmic radiation channel!"

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I should have used one of thse

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I've met ngc3314


"I will do my best to understand and explain the universe from big to small without invoking miracles, unrepeatable events, or divine intervention. In place of those things I will use observations, mathematics, and science."


-Cross
My travel blog

Some of my Astrophotography


Those that lack education have a hard time understanding its value. - Cross