Exopolitics Comment

Did the USA/USSR fly a Secret Joint Mission to the Moon in 1976 to investigate a crashed extraterrestrial mothership?

Luca Scantamburlo, an Italian UFO researcher, has published online an interview he conducted with a whistleblower claiming to be a former astronaut on a secret mission flown by NASA and the Air Force Space Command to the moon in August, 1976. The alleged mission was titled Apollo 20 and was a joint US and Soviet mission that followed by just over a year the joint Apollo-Soyuz 1975 mission. The Apollo 20 mission filmed the dark side of the moon where a very large extraterrestrial vehicle appeared to lie wrecked on the moon's surface.

This 'wreckage' was first captured on film by Apollo 15 in 1971 which shows a moon panorama with what appears to be a large elliptical object on the moon's surface in an official NASA photo (blow up on right of AS15-P-9630 - original available online at: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/apollo/frame/?AS15-P-9630). The alleged Apollo 20 mission comprised two US astronauts (William Rutledge and Leona Snyder [Both from Bell Laboratories and employed by the USAF but not officially part of the US astronaut corps] and Alexei Leonov (first man to walk in Space and Soviet Commander on the 1975 Apollo/Soyuz Mission). The mission was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. There was an alleged moon landing by Rutledge and Leonov wherein the crashed vehicle was entered and found to be an ancient mothership. A dead EBE female was also found who was well preserved in some protected layering.

The whistleblower, "William Rutledge", began in April of this year to upload hours of film footage of the secret Apollo mission on to YouTube video. Scantamburlo investigated some of the videos and had them analyzed by Italian film experts who concluded they were authentic. He then contacted Rutledge to conduct an interview by email correspondence.

Scantamburlo is a well respected writer/journalist in Italy that has commented on many UFO cases and conducted a number of investigations that have been published in Italian UFO magazines. My own knowledge of Scantamburlo is that he is a very competent and thorough UFO researcher who first came to my attention due to his efforts to verify the Vatican's involvement in extraterrestrial affairs and discussions between Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan to form an alliance against a possible extraterrestrial threat. These stories are available from his website at: http://www.angelismarriti.it/ANGELISMARRITI-ENG/home-ENG.htm

Scantamburlo's report on Rutledge demonstrates a sincere effort to verify a number of the details provided by Rutledge who supplied much information about the secret mission and his own background. Scantamburlo's overall conclusion is that Rutledge's testimony and film footage are genuine, and that a secret Apollo 20 mission did indeed go to the moon.

I recommend that all take Scantamburlo's analysis and conclusions very seriously. Scantamburlo's report and interview is available online at: http://tinyurl.com/yplpdl . I also recommend viewing some of the Youtube videos uploaded by William Rutledge which can be found by typing in Apollo 20. The one to begin with is the following:
http://tinyurl.com/2ty5pc .

My own view at the moment is that it is very possible that such a secret Apollo mission went ahead to explore the wreckage first discovered in the Apollo 15 wreckage. It would have made sense for that to be a joint US-USSR mission, that followed the joint 1975 mission. Rutledge's account of his background as a Foreign Technology expert and recruitment by the USAF to fly on the mission is credible given the Apollo 15 photograph. It would make sense that exploration of a crashed ETV would need to be investigated by someone with expertise in foreign technologies. Rutledge has also given much information about his work background and credentials online for verification purposes. His background and credentials can be checked and the other individuals mentioned on the Apollo 20 mission can be interviewed for their responses to his allegations.

There are two inconsistencies I find in Rutledge's testimony. First, the Apollo 20 insignia that is shown in a number of his films only show the names of the three astronauts (Rutledge, Synder and Leonov) and the name of the Apollo mission. This is inconsistent with the 1975 insignia of the joint Apollo-Soyuz mission which had both the 'Apollo' and 'Soyuz', and the names of the three astonauts/cosmonauts on them. See image on right: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Astp_Patch.png .

The second inconsistency concerns what was revealed by another whistleblower, Ingo Swann in his book Penetration. Swann revealed that he had been secretly recruited by a covert intelligence agency to remote view artifacts on the dark side of the moon in 1975. He discovered extraterrestrial artifacts and extraterrestrial entities on the moon. Swann deduced from what he had been told that there was a concerted effort to gather intelligence using remote viewing since physical access to the moon had been curtailed. Presumbly, the extraterrestrials declared that no further moon landings would be allowed. This according to Swann (and a number of other whistleblowers) is the real reason why the Apollo moon missions were quietly terminated after the 1971, Apollo 17 mission. [For more information go to: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/exopolitics/message/348 ].

If Swann's experience and conclusions are correct, then this does appear to be inconsistent with Rutledge's testimony that a secret Apollo 20 mission was allowed to go ahead and land on the moon to explore an extraterrestrial artifact. Combined with the first inconsistency, this could lead to the conclusion that Rutledge's testimony and videos are a sophisticated hoax to deceive the public.

On the other hand, if proven to be true, Rutledge's video evidence and testimony may be the final straw that breaks the camel's back concerning UFO secrecy. His testimony, background and film footage can be confirmed. The Apollo 15 photograph of the alleged alien vehicle is genuine and does point to an object that could have been the focus of a joint US-USSR secret moon mission. The reasons for Rutledge's disclosure may be as he claims that he wants to divulge the truth for the "wonder of it all". He also commented that that UFO sightings will increase dramatically in September 2007 and this will speed up disclosure efforts considerably. Rutledges comments and revelation suggest that he continues to have access to a benign faction within the extraterrestrial management system that desires official disclosure, and that events associated with September 2007 and 2012 will force disclosure.

If Rutledge's background, testimony and film footage prove to be true, and simple answers are found for the two inconsistencies above and any others found, then this will lead to an escalation of public disclosures. More officials will recognize that the secrecy system is imploding and will wish to be on the winning side of history as that part of the government that played a proactive role in preparing the public for disclosure of the extraterrestrial presence. If Rutledge's testimony is proven to be a sophisticated hoax, this may nevertheless signify an attempt to raise the public's awareness of extraterrestrial life through partially valid information. I recommend considering Scantamburlo's report due to the possibility that this is a genuine disclosure of a secret mission to investigate an ancient extraterrestrial mothership first identified in a photo taken during the Apollo 15 moon mission.

***

Update: June 28, 2007

It appears that William Rutledge (aka retiredafb) has used part of the audio feed from the Apollo 15 mission for the alleged Apollo 20 videos he uploaded onto the web. If you listen to the audio at the start of the following video concerning the ancient moon city uploaded by Rutledge (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbncnnygZwk ) you will hear the following words:

Presto chango; there's the TV.

[Pause] Oh, beautiful, I'm glad to hear that.

These are identical words to part of a dialogue from an actual Apollo 15 mission. The Apollo 15 audio can be heard here: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a15/a15v.1210530.rm . The actual transcript is available here: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a15/a15.lrvload.html (go to: 121:05:30).

It looks as though Rutledge has simply uploaded some genuine Apollo 15 audio on to his moon city video. That suggests that his videos and story are part of an elaborate hoax. For some, this discovery will suffice to dismiss the whole affair and conclude that the alleged Apollo 20 mission was entirely contrived. However, this does raise the question of what the underlying agenda of Rutledge is in performing such an elaborate deception? Is it merely to disinform the public or to direct the public's attention to something important? Given the extensive work that has gone into producing the videos and the possibility that security concerns may have influenced Rutledge's method, this merits exploring the second possibilty.

If we consider the goal is to direct the public to something important, then the natural starting point is the elliptical object found in the Apollo 15 photo (http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/apollo/frame/?AS15-P-9630 ) . That is a genuine photo and may depict an extraterrestrial artifact as Rutledge claims. Significantly, photographs of the object were also taken by the Apollo 17 mission on December 1972: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/apollo/images/print/AS17/M/2805.jpg . So this means two Apollo missions photographed the same mysterious object.

Another thing to consider is the alleged date of the Apollo 20 mission in 1976, just one year after the joint Apollo-Soyuz mission of 1975. I have already mentioned the insignia problem for a joint US/USSR mission in my initial commentary that a joint mission insignia was not correctly depicted in Rutledge's Apollo 20 videos. Rutledge is probably here suggesting that there may have been joint secret mission to discover more about the artifact depicted in the Apollo 15 photo, but its actual name was not Apollo 20 which would have signified solely a US space mission.

Confidence in the authenticity of the videos uploaded by Rutledge is significantly eroded by discovery of him using Apollo 15 audio for his alleged Apollo 20 video. There is nevertheless a possibility that something important was discovered during the Apollo 15 & 17 missions that justified a joint secret US/USSR mission to investigate. Rutledge may be conveying this information by a combination of genuine information and deliberate deception. At this stage, the most sensible conclusion is that the alleged Apollo 20 mission is a fabrication, but the artifact in the Apollo 15 and 17 photos may have great significance. The photo may have led to a covert effort to investigate and this is what underscores Rutledge's fabrication of a secret Apollo 20 mission.

***

Michael E. Salla, Ph.D
Kona, Hawaii
June 26, 2007 (updated June 28)
www.Exopolitics.Org

Forward as you wish. Permission is granted to circulate among private individuals and groups, post on all Internet sites and publish in full in all not-for-profit publications. Contact author for all other rights, which are reserved.


Back to Homepage NEW DVD of the Extraterrestrial Civilisations and World Peace Conference. Also recommended Book information.	Did the USA/USSR fly a Secret Joint Mission to the Moon in 1976 to investigate a crashed extraterrestrial mothership? Luca Scantamburlo, an Italian UFO researcher, has published online an interview he conducted with a whistleblower claiming to be a former astronaut on a secret mission flown by NASA and the Air Force Space Command to the moon in August, 1976. The alleged mission was titled Apollo 20 and was a joint US and Soviet mission that followed by just over a year the joint Apollo-Soyuz 1975 mission. The Apollo 20 mission filmed the dark side of the moon where a very large extraterrestrial vehicle appeared to lie wrecked on the moon's surface. This 'wreckage' was first captured on film by Apollo 15 in 1971 which shows a moon panorama with what appears to be a large elliptical object on the moon's surface in an official NASA photo (blow up on right of AS15-P-9630 - original available online at: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/apollo/frame/?AS15-P-9630). The alleged Apollo 20 mission comprised two US astronauts (William Rutledge and Leona Snyder [Both from Bell Laboratories and employed by the USAF but not officially part of the US astronaut corps] and Alexei Leonov (first man to walk in Space and Soviet Commander on the 1975 Apollo/Soyuz Mission). The mission was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. There was an alleged moon landing by Rutledge and Leonov wherein the crashed vehicle was entered and found to be an ancient mothership. A dead EBE female was also found who was well preserved in some protected layering. The whistleblower, "William Rutledge", began in April of this year to upload hours of film footage of the secret Apollo mission on to YouTube video. Scantamburlo investigated some of the videos and had them analyzed by Italian film experts who concluded they were authentic. He then contacted Rutledge to conduct an interview by email correspondence. Scantamburlo is a well respected writer/journalist in Italy that has commented on many UFO cases and conducted a number of investigations that have been published in Italian UFO magazines. My own knowledge of Scantamburlo is that he is a very competent and thorough UFO researcher who first came to my attention due to his efforts to verify the Vatican's involvement in extraterrestrial affairs and discussions between Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan to form an alliance against a possible extraterrestrial threat. These stories are available from his website at: http://www.angelismarriti.it/ANGELISMARRITI-ENG/home-ENG.htm Scantamburlo's report on Rutledge demonstrates a sincere effort to verify a number of the details provided by Rutledge who supplied much information about the secret mission and his own background. Scantamburlo's overall conclusion is that Rutledge's testimony and film footage are genuine, and that a secret Apollo 20 mission did indeed go to the moon. I recommend that all take Scantamburlo's analysis and conclusions very seriously. Scantamburlo's report and interview is available online at: http://tinyurl.com/yplpdl . I also recommend viewing some of the Youtube videos uploaded by William Rutledge which can be found by typing in Apollo 20. The one to begin with is the following: http://tinyurl.com/2ty5pc . My own view at the moment is that it is very possible that such a secret Apollo mission went ahead to explore the wreckage first discovered in the Apollo 15 wreckage. It would have made sense for that to be a joint US-USSR mission, that followed the joint 1975 mission. Rutledge's account of his background as a Foreign Technology expert and recruitment by the USAF to fly on the mission is credible given the Apollo 15 photograph. It would make sense that exploration of a crashed ETV would need to be investigated by someone with expertise in foreign technologies. Rutledge has also given much information about his work background and credentials online for verification purposes. His background and credentials can be checked and the other individuals mentioned on the Apollo 20 mission can be interviewed for their responses to his allegations. There are two inconsistencies I find in Rutledge's testimony. First, the Apollo 20 insignia that is shown in a number of his films only show the names of the three astronauts (Rutledge, Synder and Leonov) and the name of the Apollo mission. This is inconsistent with the 1975 insignia of the joint Apollo-Soyuz mission which had both the 'Apollo' and 'Soyuz', and the names of the three astonauts/cosmonauts on them. See image on right: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Astp_Patch.png . The second inconsistency concerns what was revealed by another whistleblower, Ingo Swann in his book Penetration. Swann revealed that he had been secretly recruited by a covert intelligence agency to remote view artifacts on the dark side of the moon in 1975. He discovered extraterrestrial artifacts and extraterrestrial entities on the moon. Swann deduced from what he had been told that there was a concerted effort to gather intelligence using remote viewing since physical access to the moon had been curtailed. Presumbly, the extraterrestrials declared that no further moon landings would be allowed. This according to Swann (and a number of other whistleblowers) is the real reason why the Apollo moon missions were quietly terminated after the 1971, Apollo 17 mission. [For more information go to: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/exopolitics/message/348 ]. If Swann's experience and conclusions are correct, then this does appear to be inconsistent with Rutledge's testimony that a secret Apollo 20 mission was allowed to go ahead and land on the moon to explore an extraterrestrial artifact. Combined with the first inconsistency, this could lead to the conclusion that Rutledge's testimony and videos are a sophisticated hoax to deceive the public. On the other hand, if proven to be true, Rutledge's video evidence and testimony may be the final straw that breaks the camel's back concerning UFO secrecy. His testimony, background and film footage can be confirmed. The Apollo 15 photograph of the alleged alien vehicle is genuine and does point to an object that could have been the focus of a joint US-USSR secret moon mission. The reasons for Rutledge's disclosure may be as he claims that he wants to divulge the truth for the "wonder of it all". He also commented that that UFO sightings will increase dramatically in September 2007 and this will speed up disclosure efforts considerably. Rutledges comments and revelation suggest that he continues to have access to a benign faction within the extraterrestrial management system that desires official disclosure, and that events associated with September 2007 and 2012 will force disclosure. If Rutledge's background, testimony and film footage prove to be true, and simple answers are found for the two inconsistencies above and any others found, then this will lead to an escalation of public disclosures. More officials will recognize that the secrecy system is imploding and will wish to be on the winning side of history as that part of the government that played a proactive role in preparing the public for disclosure of the extraterrestrial presence. If Rutledge's testimony is proven to be a sophisticated hoax, this may nevertheless signify an attempt to raise the public's awareness of extraterrestrial life through partially valid information. I recommend considering Scantamburlo's report due to the possibility that this is a genuine disclosure of a secret mission to investigate an ancient extraterrestrial mothership first identified in a photo taken during the Apollo 15 moon mission. * Update: June 28, 2007 It appears that William Rutledge (aka retiredafb) has used part of the audio feed from the Apollo 15 mission for the alleged Apollo 20 videos he uploaded onto the web. If you listen to the audio at the start of the following video concerning the ancient moon city uploaded by Rutledge (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbncnnygZwk ) you will hear the following words: Presto chango; there's the TV. [Pause] Oh, beautiful, I'm glad to hear that. These are identical words to part of a dialogue from an actual Apollo 15 mission. The Apollo 15 audio can be heard here: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a15/a15v.1210530.rm . The actual transcript is available here: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a15/a15.lrvload.html (go to: 121:05:30). It looks as though Rutledge has simply uploaded some genuine Apollo 15 audio on to his moon city video. That suggests that his videos and story are part of an elaborate hoax. For some, this discovery will suffice to dismiss the whole affair and conclude that the alleged Apollo 20 mission was entirely contrived. However, this does raise the question of what the underlying agenda of Rutledge is in performing such an elaborate deception? Is it merely to disinform the public or to direct the public's attention to something important? Given the extensive work that has gone into producing the videos and the possibility that security concerns may have influenced Rutledge's method, this merits exploring the second possibilty. If we consider the goal is to direct the public to something important, then the natural starting point is the elliptical object found in the Apollo 15 photo (http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/apollo/frame/?AS15-P-9630 ) . That is a genuine photo and may depict an extraterrestrial artifact as Rutledge claims. Significantly, photographs of the object were also taken by the Apollo 17 mission on December 1972: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/apollo/images/print/AS17/M/2805.jpg . So this means two Apollo missions photographed the same mysterious object. Another thing to consider is the alleged date of the Apollo 20 mission in 1976, just one year after the joint Apollo-Soyuz mission of 1975. I have already mentioned the insignia problem for a joint US/USSR mission in my initial commentary that a joint mission insignia was not correctly depicted in Rutledge's Apollo 20 videos. Rutledge is probably here suggesting that there may have been joint secret mission to discover more about the artifact depicted in the Apollo 15 photo, but its actual name was not Apollo 20 which would have signified solely a US space mission. Confidence in the authenticity of the videos uploaded by Rutledge is significantly eroded by discovery of him using Apollo 15 audio for his alleged Apollo 20 video. There is nevertheless a possibility that something important was discovered during the Apollo 15 & 17 missions that justified a joint secret US/USSR mission to investigate. Rutledge may be conveying this information by a combination of genuine information and deliberate deception. At this stage, the most sensible conclusion is that the alleged Apollo 20 mission is a fabrication, but the artifact in the Apollo 15 and 17 photos may have great significance. The photo may have led to a covert effort to investigate and this is what underscores Rutledge's fabrication of a secret Apollo 20 mission. * Michael E. Salla, Ph.D Kona, Hawaii June 26, 2007 (updated June 28) www.Exopolitics.Org Forward as you wish. Permission is granted to circulate among private individuals and groups, post on all Internet sites and publish in full in all not-for-profit publications. Contact author for all other rights, which are reserved.
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