What really happened during the missing 2 minutes of the Apollo 11 live broadcast?

For 50 years there has been a heated debate regarding the roughly two missing minutes during which Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the surface of the moon. NASA officially claims the transmission went dead during the time in question because the broadcast equipment temporarily overheated.

Many claim to have inside information that the astronauts saw something very disturbing and chose to instead discuss it with mission control on the private channel. Fantastic theories abound. Some even claim they encountered huge alien space vehicles which shadowed them and watched them from the rim of a crater.

What do you believe happened?

NASA Moon landing SHOCK: What did Apollo 11 discover during lost two minutes of SILENCE?

the alleged hidden transmission:

Apollo 11: “Those are giant things. No, no, no, this is not an optical illusion. No one is going to believe this.”

NASA: “What… what…. what? What the hell is happening?” “What’s wrong with you?”

Apollo 11: “They’re here, under the surface.”

NASA: “What’s there? (muffled noise) Emission interrupted; interference control calling Apollo 11.”

Apollo 11: “We saw some visitors. They were here for a while, observing the instruments.”

NASA: “Repeat your last information.”

Apollo 11: “I say that there were other spaceships. They’re lined up in the other side of the crater.”

Apollo 11: “Let us sound this orbita… in 625 to 5… automatic relay connected… my hands are shaking so badly I can’t do anything. Film it? God if these damned cameras have picked up anything – what then?”

NASA: “Have you picked up anything?”

Apollo 11: “I didn’t have any film at hand. Three shots of the saucers, or whatever they were that were ruining the film.”

NASA: “Control, control here. Are you on your way? What is the uproar with the UFOs over?

Apollo 11: “They’ve landed there. There they are and they’re watching us.

NASA: “The mirrors, the mirrors – have you set them up?”

Apollo 11: “Yes, they’re in the right place. But whoever made those spaceships surely can come tomorrow and remove them.

Ancient Aliens and the UK Daily Express eh?

That video is just Buzz being old as hell talking around dentures fitted by the same guy that fitted Nancy Pelosi's. Careful there - looks like those choppers want to go rug munching by themselves. I heard him say that we never returned to the Moon after Apollo because we just didn't and we ought to examine the reasons why if we're going to do something like that again. It was a bumbly but reasonable answer for a kid. We're supposed to learn from failure, or whatever you want to call the denouement of our manned space program.

There were all sorts of gaps and static and back channels. In 2019 we take for granted the ease of communication - when you consider the global logistics required to talk to those three men in that itty bitty moving machine so very far away it's impressive that there weren't more comms problems. In 1969 it was a huge deal to take turns yelling into the kitchen phone to speak to relatives a thousand miles away.

This was an excellent program and you can hear it all for yourself, including the original transmissions with the static. It does stop shortly after landing - probably to keep the secret that there were aliens there wanting to pose for selfies with Neil and Buzz.
BBC World Service - 13 Minutes to the Moon - Downloads

Wouldn't you just love to hang out with the Ancient Aliens writers when they are imagineering? I picture it as a lot of weed, maybe some beer, lots of caffiene and what the hell, maybe a purple barrel or two thrown in for good measure. No matter how outlandish the idea you just start it it with 'there's a theory some say ......' - which was lifted right out of the Ghost Hunters playbook.

Excellent observations there, pf. The fact that TV signals were sent from the moon and into our living rooms was a jawdropping accomplishment in '69. Never mind that there were actually people walking around up there. We had only had a telephone for a few years at that point, and talking to Grampa and Gramma on it was a once-a-year treat for us. Mom could have fed us all for a week for what one of those phone calls cost. Such calls are now essentially free. Even a $50 smartphone probably has more raw computing power than the whole Apollo Program had.

It's inevitable that the context of the times gets lost over the decades, I suppose. Like the podcasters and bloggers nowadays who seem to think that the people investigating UFO reports in the 40s through the 70s were all morons or at least quaint simpletons, it shouldn't be so irritating, but I have a hard time with it. Also inevitable is that it says more about the podcasters and bloggers than anything else. Learning about the first few generations of investigators would be a far more productive use of their time. Bloviating is apparently a lot more fun.

Double Nought Spy said:

there were actually people walking around up there.

Click to expand...

A non-sequitur but I remember reading an account of an American POW who endured being buried up to his neck and all sorts of other things when at one point one of his captors told him that Americans had landed on the Moon. The intent was to make them feel abandoned and that their country was wasteful. To put it mildly, didn't work.

You're right, context is important. But decades later when researchers go digging they can find surprising things but the overall picture is, by necessity, lost. Langoliers already ate it. The facts and figures of history are in black and white. The context made up of contemporary events, personalities and all the bad breath human factors, is what adds all that vibrant color.

All I can think about is how these guys had to be pretty dang ballsy to be the first to step into the surface...

Not knowing for sure what to expect, they could have been pretty nervous... so if an O2 or CO2 light came on in the helmut, no doubt they would do a public blackout while they assessed the situation...

Could have been any number of reasons for the blackout.

An overheated camera seems like it would be less likely since the engineers would have insulated it for use on the moon... I mean, think about how that was just as critical to the mission as everything else. We needed to prove to the world we made there first.

I've read that even in 1969 there were a few ham radio operators who may have been able to pick up some of the Apollo 11 transmissions. Eavesdropping on Apollo 11 Certainly other foreign powers like the Russians must have been doing everything technologically possible to listen in.

To put things into context as far as the state of technology, however, consider the fact that there is no full recording of the first superbowl which was played in 1967. Hard to imagine this today at time when almost everyone has a video camera and recorder in their pocket at all times via their smart phone.

I'm all for digging into old cases, looking for stuff that might have been missed, things that were not publicly known at the time, or especially things that can be analyzed much more effectively with technology that didn't exist at the time. My problem is mostly with the "explanations" that newer pundits come up with, usually based on the assumption that someone like Len Stringfield (for example) didn't have enough sense to look at astronomical charts or even the weather for chrissakes. It's just a big wank.

One glaring omission by the Apollo conspiracy nuts is the fact that for NASA as a whole and the moon missions in particular, PR was a big deal. Of course photos were altered, for all sorts of reasons. Of course radio transmissions were censored, blocked, cleaned up or whatever. Of course transcripts were likewise sanitized. Duh! It should be obvious to even a cretin that there were things they didn't want to tell their enemies, or even their friends for that matter. Stuff that would likely be misunderstood, or that might even just make NASA look sloppy or suspicious were excised all the time. The military did it routinely. Still do. It's an ingrained part of the culture. It was a big deal during WWII.

There is an excellent illustration of this in the book The Right Stuff. As I recall, the seven Mercury astronauts were put on a dais in front of reporters for a press conference. They sat there stiffly, uncomfortable in suits and ties, and fielded questions, some of which were quite personal. Someone asked a question they were not expecting, about their religious beliefs. A panicked pause ensued while all seven tried to think of an appropriate response. John Glenn (of course) saved the day by stating that he "attended" such and such a church. The other six quickly picked up on the brilliant solution and stated what church they "attended". Everyone was happy, and the astronauts were free to discuss less loaded subjects. It's a great example of how NASA succeeded in its PR mission, as well as a sign that John Glenn also had the right stuff for a successful political career.

Anyway, when I see an Apollo conspiracy theory that takes that reality into account, I might read the whole thing. An alternative transcript that has some provenance beyond "some guy saying stuff" would surely help.

Sheltie said:

Certainly other foreign powers like the Russians must have been doing everything technologically possible to listen in.

Click to expand...

No doubt. The USSR covered quite a chunk of the globe and they were definitely listening. Makes me wonder if there are recordings locked away in old Soviet archives. Not to prove that Neil and Buzz saw ET but to maybe fill in a few missing pieces.

I guess you can learn something new every day. I knew the Russians had an unmanned lunar lander. What I hadn't realized was that they attempted to land on an July 21 and snatch a few headlines.

Guess who was waiting at the Moon for Apollo 11? The Russians

Takes a while to grind through this but it's original audio: Astronomers Uncover Audio of 1969 Soviet Attempt to Beat U.S. to the Moon

Double Nought Spy said:

Stuff that would likely be misunderstood, or that might even just make NASA look sloppy or suspicious were excised all the time. The military did it routinely. Still do. It's an ingrained part of the culture. It was a big deal during WWII.

Click to expand...

I'm still on the fence as far as what actually transpired but I think there is a reasonable possibility that a decision was made to edit something NASA may have considered to be disturbing or embarrassing. That being said, the worrying event, whatever it was, may have been something far more mundane than an alien encounter.

I also think about the Kennedy assassination which had occurred just 6 years earlier. The best footage available came from a guy using a super 8 camera like the one my parents would use at Christmas.