quote:
From: Dave Haith <visions.nul>
Date: Fri, 11 Mar 2005 00:33:32 -0000
Fwd Date: Fri, 11 Mar 2005 08:43:40 -0500
Subject: Moon UFO On Lunar TV Transmission
Moon UFO On Lunar TV Transmission - Former NASA Employee
The report, below, is the recollection of a trusted friend of mine
who would be happy for the incident to be fully investigated by
researchers on this List.
To avoid giving him unnecessary hassle he would like to remain
incognito for the present but would probably be willing to go
public if his case was being treated seriously.
He is happy to communicate with anybody keen to get to grips
with his story - but initially prefers to do it through me via
email.
Write to me privately or via the List and I will forward on to
'D', who I have to say I have complete respect for. I have done
some checking on the Web and can find no inconsistencies
regarding his descriptions of the MSC and those who worked there
at the time. But I have neither the expertise, contacts or
resources to further investigate what appears to be a very
important case.
DH
-----
An Oil Drop On A Camera Lens
When I first started working for NASA, its initials, not the
name, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, was how it
was referred to. NASA is with whom I began employment in 1958 as
a security guard on Wayside in Houston Texas. They hadn't even
started building Manned Spacecraft Center at Webster yet, which
would later be called MSC at Clear Lake.
In 1961, I transferred to the Fire Department at the fledgling
MSC and started training as a Fire and Safety Technician. The
contractor responsible for Fire and Safety was Houston Fire and
Safety. They held the contract for five years, losing out to
Wackenhut Corporation out of Coral Gables Florida in 1966
because Wackenhut incorporated all phases of fire, safety and
security under one blanket contract. Some say that George
Wackenhut had first, Kennedy's, then Johnson's ear, but I
haven't seen proof of it.
Everybody who hired in as a Fire Fighter was cross-trained in
almost every aspect of maintenance operations. I attended
numerous schools on fire alarm systems, pump repair, electrical
and mechanical maintenance, physical plant operations, and last
and certainly not the least, fire, safety and security. We were
told that we had to pass a very rigid security clearance
investigation, and that our job would be forfeit if we did no
pass. I passed with flying colors and kept my job. There were
several who did not pass, and we were never told why they had
been laid off.
When I started, there were approximately three hundred eighty
men who were attached to the fire department there at MSC. I saw
a lot of men come and go during my twenty-six years of
employment, but I never saw anyone who was willing to speak out
about the rigid security. Even in later years, I kept in touch
with several of my closest friends, when conversations turned to
anything we were told not to talk about, there was always
someone there to remind us that we had been told not to discuss
it, even after we were no longer there.
I saw things, and heard statements from Astronauts that I didn't
discuss, even with my wife or family. It was like a gigantic
trust handed us and we honored it. To this day, I don't talk
about everything I heard when I was around the Astronauts, at
least not in detail.
There were several incidents that occurred during my tenure as
an employee and to several of the Fire Fighters that got all of
us thinking about how our government wasn't telling all they
knew. For instance, in Building #1 on Johnson Space center,
which was Building #2 when I first started work there, most of
the north center of the second floor was the "crypto" room. We
didn't know what went on in the room, but we did know that we
weren't allowed in the room under normal circumstances. However,
when an alarm came in at the Fire Station, we responded to the
floor of the building that showed up on the enunciator panel at
the station, One time, around 1964, we responded to Bldg.#2 to
find that the alarm originated from the "crypto" room.
However, the doors were open and we just walked in to check the
minor panel located there.
The whole east wall was covered with photos of UFOs. As we
finished up, the officer of that room came back in and found us
there. He actually pulled his sidearm and pointed it at us
before demanding to know why we had entered that room.
He eventually accepted our explanation, but it took Everette D.
Shafer*, head of NASA Security to vouch for us before the man
would shut off his threats towards us. Everette Shafer reminded
him, that had the armed officer been there in the room with the
door locked, the incident could have been avoided. No, that was
one very unhappy officer. I think he was Air Force, but I could
be wrong; he was a Captain, I do remember that. When I came back
from the Cape in 1968, we had another incident in the very same
room, and the same officer was there also.
This time, he had Mr. Shafer to give the okay for us to enter
the room, with him as our armed escort. But this time the walls
on all four sides were photo-to-photo of UFOs and other very
strange looking aircraft. We did our job, got out of there, but
Mr. Shafer and the officer both told us to not speak to anyone
of what we saw or observed in that room, ever!
During Man Rated Tests, the fire department was trained to be
rescuers should anything happen. Or job was to stand-by in
readiness during many long hours of boring, repetitious, and
meaningless exercises. Most times it was not the Astronauts
themselves who performed the exercises, rather it was trained
test subjects who did. We all became acquainted with them.
Buildings #7, #32, and #33 on Manned Spacecraft Center, were the
test sites for Vacuum Chamber related tests. In Building #32,
was housed the largest vacuum chamber in the free world. In
Building #33, was the ultra-high vacuum test chamber, and
Building #7 housed three test chambers. Building #7 is also
where the Astronauts Space suits were manufactured.
Throughout the sixties, we performed numerous duties, some at
MSC, while others were at Area 2000 at Ellington AFB in Genoa,
Texas. Area 2000 was where the Lunar Landing Training Vehicle
was tested and flown by test pilots and Astronauts. I was Crew
Chief of the Contract Fire Department personnel at Area 2000 for
close to a year, working all three shifts due to loss of
personnel or whatever, but eventually being promoted up the
ladder to Training Officer.
Not anything really special happened while I was Training
Officer, but I did get to go places that was off limits to other
personnel. It was one of my jobs to draw the pre-fire attack
plans for every building on Site, to accomplish that job, I had
the need to enter all buildings and accurately record everything
of interest towards fire, safety, and security onto drawings.
That is why I remember so much detail concerning the buildings,
their locations, the interior layouts, and where all exits and
equipment relating to Fire, Safety and Security were located.
Another part of everyone's job was the Safety patrols during any
mission. From the first day on the job, before we were trained
to become good little NASA Fire Fighters, we were told that we
would perform various duties during our employment, that we
would be constantly training, ensuring that we all would have
the latest knowledge to do our job with the highest of
proficiency.
Part of the training regimen was to know, and I do mean know,
every building so intimately that we could draw a set of plans
for them in our sleep. We ate, slept, and dreamed of building
plans; construction materials inside and out, how many panels
and manufacturer name of all alarm systems; how to repair or
reset those systems; what was in the buildings that could be
dangerous to us during emergencies.etc. but mostly the interior
layout, hallways, exits, room locations.
With that small introduction, I will now attempt to give you the
details of the safety patrols for Integrated Mission Control
Center, commonly known as Building #30 on Johnson Space Center.
Building #30 is not just one building, rather it is two separate
buildings, each having distinct functions. There is the
Administrative side that houses support personnel, and the
Mission Operations Control Rooms, otherwise known as the MOCR.
By the way, at the time I was there, the Admin side of Building
#30 was the building that housed the office of James Oberg.
There are two MOCR's located in IMCC, one on the second floor
and one on the third floor. The building is like a big square,
windowless structure sitting right next to the Southwestern Bell
building. You can't miss it, because it is the only building
that looks like it. Three stories inside, it looks more like a
five- storied structure from the outside. As you have most
likely ascertained by now, there are some very high ceilings
inside the MOCR's.
Although we were never told we couldn't go into the MOCR's
during missions, all of the safety inspectors assumed that we
weren't welcome, that maybe we would be a distraction. However,
we were allowed in every section surrounding the MOCR's.
On the second and third floors, there was the outside section,
and the center section with a hallway completely around the
inside of the building that separated the outside section from
the inside. The outside section of the building housed the air
handlers, workshops, soft and hardware support offices, and tool
rooms, while the inside portion was dedicated to the MOCR and
it's support.
In the MOCR itself, was a huge screen that stretched across the
entire wall. It was the mission map, which kept the technicians
apprised where the vehicle was at any given moment during its
orbits above the earth. On one end was the big television
screen, which received its picture from a large bank of cameras
directly behind the screen.
Those cameras generated a lot of heat, and part of our duty
during inspections was to make sure that there weren't any
ignitable materials in that area. It was kept dark for some
reason, but the cameras gave off enough light so a person didn't
stumble around in there. It was also very cold most of the time,
especially during missions.
At the back of the MOCR is a series of glass windows. These
windows are set into the wall that makes up the barrier that
separates the viewing room from the MOCR. The viewing room has
two doors for entry. Entry is accomplished by getting off the
elevator, taking a right down the hall, and the first door is
the first entryway. About twenty-five feet further down the hall
is the second door. Situated between them is a small door about
three to four feet high. This door lets a maintenance technician
into the area under the viewing room.
On each side of the room, to the front are located phone booths,
one on each side of the window. There are about eight rows of
seats with a set of slight stairs that separate them into two
sections. The seats are similar to any seat you may see in a
movie house, but way more comfortable.
Mounted on the wall above the big windows are two large screen
colored TV's with several high mounted speakers so the viewer
can listen in to the conversations between the Astronauts and
the ground crews.
At the back of the room, right at the top of the center stairs,
is a minor alarm panel. It was this minor alarm panel that
safety had to monitor during all missions. The room was
relatively quiet, cool and very comfortable. It was here I
always chose to take a pipe break. My partner was also a pipe
smoker, so we shared stories, listened to the quiet banter
between the ground crew and the vehicle, and actually didn't pay
much attention to what was going on in the MOCR.
Nothing out of the way ever occurred in the Missions, but during
one particular Mission, something so unique happened that I
would always remember it. Jim Baker and I had been doing the
regular routine safety inspection during a Manned Mission to the
Moon.
We entered the viewing room at the end of our patrol, and as was
our wont, sat at the back of the room to enjoy a pipe. We both
smoked a pipe, and the viewing room allowed smokers. We had been
there for no longer than fifteen minutes, it may have been
longer, but I doubt it, when the stage left door opened and in
walked several, at least five of the upper echelon
administrators of Johnson Space Center.
Uh, it actually wasn't called Johnson Space Center at that time;
rather the name was Manned Spacecraft Center. Anyway, I do know
that one of the people was definitely Chrome Dome, as we were
irreverently known to call Dr. Gilruth. At that time I had hair
and found it funny to refer to one of the finest minds our
country had by the moniker, "Chrome Dome."
Just prior to their entering the viewing room, Jim and I noticed
that the Technicians in the MOCR had gotten up and left the
room. Now, that isn't unusual during a normal EVA, but the
Astronauts were in Hadley's Rille. They couldn't be seen because
they were over the edge, down in the Rille itself. The Lunar
Rover was about thirty, maybe forty or more yards from the edge,
and had the left front camera on the spot where the Astronauts
had disappeared. You could hear the Astronauts voices talking,
but as in most of the dialogs, we weren't paying close attention
to what they were saying. We did notice the technicians getting
up and leaving the MOCR. Jim is the one who actually said
something about it.
"Looks as if everyone got a bee in their bonnet at the same
time, don't it?" "Most probably their piss and lunch break," I
offered. It was right after I made that statement, that Dr.
Gilruth entered, and several others came in with him. They
didn't look back, just went to the center of the viewing room
and were talking excitedly among themselves and pointing towards
the big screen to the right of the main screen in the MOCR.
Jim and I then paid close attention to what was on the screen.
There was an object above the spot where the Astronauts were
supposed to be in Hadley's Rille, just hovering. I am totally
positive as to it being an object; it was round, it had a shiny
side with a shadow side, with the shadow side matching the
shadows on the moon, and though all the video shots coming from
the moon looked black and white, they could actually have been
in color. The harsh lighting was probably responsible for the
illusion of black and white.
Anyway, The object started a slow move from screen left to
screen right. The camera on the left front of the Rover followed
the object as it moved screen right. Soon it was apparent that
it actually wasn't moving screen right, but was circling the
Rover.
The Rover has two mounted cameras on it. One camera was mounted
on the left front and one on the right rear. As the object came
into view of the right rear, that camera picked up the object
and continued tracking it as it circled, very slowly around the
Rover. It finally came to the point where the right rear camera
could no longer follow it, so the left front camera picked up
the image again and followed it to where it was once more above
where the Astronauts were in Hadley's Rille.
I uttered something that brought us to the attention of Dr.
Gilruth and the others. "What the crap is that? What caused me
to utter that phrase was, the object took off straight up and
went out of sight in less than a second. It may have been
longer, but seemed like it was gone in the blink of an eye, but
I was still aware that it had actually gone straight up.
One of the men there, I still think it was Everette Shafer,
turned and asked us what we were doing in the room, and we told
them that we were there to inspect the fire alarm panel at the
rear of the room and to take our smoke break. And to ask a
question of our own. "What in hell was that about?"
Can you believe they actually told us it was a drop of oil on
the lens of the camera on the moon? Truth! Now, I am not stupid,
though I have done a few stupid things in my life, like getting
married the first time, but I know a pile of schlock when I hear
it! It wasn't a drop of oil, no way!
I opened my mouth and said, "There's no way it was on the lens
on the camera on the moon."
"The temperature would freeze the drop solid."
Which the man holding my clearance in his hand, reading my name
replied, "I mean it was a drop of oil on the camera lens at the
back of that screen." To which he pointed. Okay, it was a good
place to shut up and get out of the viewing room, but.. Once
more I said something because as I have previously stated, I'm
not stupid!
"There's no way that drop of oil is on any one of those lenses
at the back of the screen, because of the temperature."
"The heat is high enough back there to set the drop of oil on
fire."
Who ever it was holding my badge in his hand, says, "If you want
to keep your job, you'll get out of here and keep your mouth
shut about what occurred here."
Not about what I saw, not about why I was in there, just get out
and keep my mouth shut about what had occured. I pulled away
from him, turned to Jim and said lets go.
When we exited the room, to our surprise, there was Dick Nieber
and Loring E. Williams of security on the doors. They were as
surprised at seeing us come out of the room as we were at seeing
them standing guard there. Further, they told us that Andrado
and two others were on the rear doors to keep unauthorized
people out of there.
Then they told us their story: They were pulled away from
vehicular patrol and told to go immediately to IMCC and the
second floor MOCR viewing room and stand guard until further
notice. They were told that absolutely nobody other than Dr.
Gilruth and the people who were with him were to be allowed into
the room. It's no wonder our being there disturbed Dr. Gilruth
and the others; we weren't supposed to be there.
When Nieber asked us what had happened in there, we told them we
couldn't discuss it. They thought that the Astronauts had been
killed. That was what had been circulating between them while
they were guarding the doors to the viewing room. Wrong! That
same evening, I sat at the typewriter and wrote out everything,
time, date, place, and mission, plus all the names I could
remember of who were there with all the facts concerning the
incident, and asked Jim Baker to read it and sign it. He read it
and signed it on condition that I would give him a copy of the
report. I went to the copier, and made six complete copies of
the report and gave Jim one of them.
Incidentally, when we arrived back at the fire station, Sgt.
Thomas Walsh asked us to come to the dispatcher's office to
speak to him. He closed the door and told us that he'd received
a call from Shafer, that no matter what we had seen or heard in
the viewing room, we were not supposed to discuss it with anyone
at all, ever, because it had to do with National Security.
"National Security over a drop of oil on a camera lens?" I think
not!
Jim Baker died in 1983 of a sudden heart attack. He was forty-
six and one of my best friends and we got together regularly at
his home, in his gun shop to discuss different people and
things. The last time I saw him alive, I asked him if he still
had his report hidden away and he told me he had actually burned
his copy, but had given a copy to another friend from West
Virginia who wanted it.
I retired in 1979, and moved to Austin Texas. I was security
dispatcher for the LBJ Presidential Library there in Austin when
I got a call from Jim's daughter, Amey, telling me that her
father had passed away early that morning.
Jim's last words to me, there in his little gun shop was, "You
sure raised hell over that drop of oil, but you were right, they
were full of shit and you knew it."
*:Spelling may be Sheaffer, or Sheafer