Triter and Triter: We Never Went to the Moon pp. 191-196

We continue on with the appendix and we are regretful that it is more of the same; but it’s a lightening round so here we go.

Lloyd Mallan: Mallan was a scientist who examined Russia’s Lunik 3 pictures of the far side of the Moon. Mallan concluded that the pictures were faked. He found artists that agreed that the pictures were actually really well-done paintings and that was settled. However, this would not be the case. The Russians used captured American spying film developed by Kodak to take the pictures, which explained their quality (for the time). Kaysing tells us that Lloyd died of cancer in 1972, and the Apollo program didn’t even comment, because why would they? He’s just some guy unaffiliated with the program.

Paul Jacobs: One of the founders of the magazine “Mother Jones.” We are told that Jacobs was going to help out Kaysing because Jacobs had interrogated the head of the US Geological Survey about his views on the Moon landings, but then Jacobs died in 1978 from cancer. That’s two deaths from cancer, and Kaysing is implying that they were both murdered by the NASA cancer gun. He knows he can’t say it, he knows that cancer is a thing that kills people; but he needs you to think that there is something more to this story.

The Dismantled Plane: I’ll summarize the story. Kaysing tells us a story about a man who told him a story that he swore was true. Already, anything that follows is bullshit. It’s hearsay and we can’t use this as proof of anything. The story is that this person flew a plane over the secret DOE (Department of Energy) base North of Las Vegas and the Airforce sent planes to escort it down. The plane was searched for a camera and everyone was released. The base was probably the Groom Lake facility, otherwise known as Area 51. We are told that this is the facility that Kaysing thinks they used to fake the Moon Landing, that would be Mercury NV (page 63 of the pdf). In either case, Kaysing wants us to think that it’s strange that you can’t just fly over a military base in a private plane.

Visual Evidence: A woman once agreed with Kaysing that there wasn’t enough visual evidence left behind. We are provided with some things which would count as proof that NASA should have done to satisfy Kaysing. The first would be to scatter some black dust in 1/2-mile-wide concentric circles, a valuable use of the Astronauts’ time. The second is a cloud of mylar ballons floating around the Moon. The third would be to leave a rocket engine burning so that it created a dust cloud, while the fourth is to leave a laser device that would shine a beam from the Moon to the Earth.

If you are thinking, but wait Bill, they left reflectors on the Moon when they were there. Well, he personally doesn’t know anyone with access to the reflector experiment so that’s probably fake. He also tells us this, “Further the laser reflector, if it does exist could have been planted on the moon by an unmanned vehicle.” That line tells us everything. Kaysing would totally accept the Moon landing if NASA did the four things that he suggests. However, he’s goalpost shifting. No matter what evidence you can provide it will be considered fake. None of Kaysing’s suggestions are such that they could have been done in orbit. If NASA had done the Mylar balloons instead of the reflector, he would have asked for the reflector.

Quarantine: The story is that after the return to Earth Collins, Armstrong, and Aldrin were quarantined to prevent the spread of possible Lunar germs. However, after the quarantine they didn’t mention the presence of germs so why was there a quarantine? This is Kaysing’s dumbest ploy, it’s pure question begging. The quarantine was ultimately not necessary because there were no germs. They couldn’t have known that until afterward, which it is then never mentioned for the same reason that NASA didn’t address the unicorns up there either.

Kaysing then pulls a non-sequitur discussing that if NASA cared so much about Moon germs, then why do they allow the sale of junk food with “lethal preservatives.” This is a stupid attempt at equivocation. The two are not comparable and if you want to bring up a case where better government regulation of food products is necessary that’s a fine position but not one that belongs here.

High Level Sound: Kaysing says because of the sound that rockets make we shouldn’t be able to hear the Astronauts, “Voices could not be heard no matter what kind of amplification was used.” Three things are problems for this assertion. The first is that sound doesn’t travel through space. Second is that there would be vibrations, but the landing module would account for this. Third is that the Armstrong and Alrdin would have been wearing helmets which are insulated against sound or else at 150db every astronaut would come back deaf.

Apollo 6: didn’t go as planned, which Kaysing thinks means that no space mission can go as planned. This is like how we don’t have airplanes because early attempts at flying failed.

Apollo Records: Kaysing wants to know why he can’t have the records. He asks why, if the mission was peaceful, they haven’t been provided. It may be trade secrets, it may be that the rocket technology is considered secret even though it isn’t military. No matter what, the records have been made public since then.

The TTS Satellites: Communication satellites exist so therefore the Moon landing didn’t happen. This is, seriously, his argument.

Nine Days in Space…: This is a space monkey experiment where the monkeys died after nine days. Kaysing thinks that this means that space is inhospitable to life after nine days. It seems that the monkey died due to lowered metabolism and low temperature, the latter of which would be easily corrected.

The Unmanned LM: After the Apollo 1 tragedy, a plan was suggested to use an unmanned lander on the Moon for the first time. This was later abandoned, Kaysing wants to know why this idea is never mentioned again. I would suggest that it’s because it was abandoned.

Our final category is “Moon Rocks.” It’s mostly the accusation that they were fabricated, but then we revisit the Paul Jacobs character with more details. Jacobs asked the head of the US Geological Survey (Vincent McKelvey) if the rocks were real and was told yes, then Jacobs is alleged to have replied that if he was in on the conspiracy, he would have to say that. Which gives us the damned if you do damned if you don’t position. What could McKelvey say to satisfy Kaysing? I, for one, doubt that Jacobs ever contacted Kaysing. Paul Jacobs was too busy with anti-war protests to deal with a conspiracy quack like Bill Kaysing.

These sections are getting thankfully shorter, but they are also getting more repetitive. Hang in there folks, we can see the end in a post or two.