NASA's Unexplained Files

N.A.S.A.'s MISSION IS TO EXPLORE THE UNKNOWN.

THERE'S MORE THAT WE DON'T KNOW THAN WE DO KNOW.

THAT'S JUST THE NATURE OF THE UNIVERSE.

SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS,

IT LAUNCHES SCIENTISTS INTO SPACE

AND CRAFT BEYOND THE EDGE OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM.

TAKING RISK IS PART OF MAKING DISCOVERIES.

SPACE EXPLORATION IS LIKE LIGHTING A MATCH,

AND WE DON'T KNOW WHAT LURKS IN THE SHADOWS.

THERE COULD BE ANYTHING OUT THERE.

STRANGE EXPERIMENTS

CONDUCTED DURING THE "APOLLO" PROGRAM.

AND SUDDENLY, THERE'S SOMETHING OUT THERE.

THIS... THIS IS AMAZING.

THIS IS SCIENCE FICTION, EXCEPT YOU'RE LIVING IT.

WEIRD PHENOMENA THAT APPEAR TO DEFY

THE LAWS OF PHYSICS...

IT REALLY DOES PROVE

THAT THERE CAN BE A SNOWBALL'S CHANCE IN HELL.

AND THREATS TO THE CONTINUED EXISTENCE

OF LIFE ON EARTH...

IT'S PROBABLY THE MOST DESTRUCTIVE EVENT

IN THE HISTORY OF HUMAN CIVILIZATION.

BUT THERE'S NO TRACE OF WHAT ACTUALLY HIT US.

N.A.S.A.'s MISSIONS

HAVE UNCOVERED DISTURBING ANOMALIES...

Okay. We're seeing three or four objects.

No, there are... There are three objects.

...THAT CONTINUE TO PERPLEX OUR FINEST SCIENTIFIC MINDS.

THESE ARE...

NASA's Unexplained Files - SEASON 2 EP - 1 - Life in Hell

THE "APOLLO 12" MISSION ENDS

WITH HUMANITY'S FIRST DELIBERATE SPACESHIP CRASH.

WE JETTISONED THE LUNAR MODULE.

IT IMPACTED THE MOON AT JUST THE RIGHT SPOT.

AND THE SCIENTISTS MONITORING THE IMPACT

GET THE SURPRISE OF THEIR LIVES.

THIS IS WEIRD. IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE.

UH, IT'S RINGING LIKE A BELL.

ONCE YOU GO DOWN THE PATH OF A HOLLOW MOON,

EVERYTHING IS ON THE TABLE.

STEPPING OUT FROM THE LUNAR MODULE,

"APOLLO 12" ASTRONAUTS PETE CONRAD AND ALAN BEAN

BECOME THE THIRD AND FOURTH MEMBERS OF HUMANITY

TO SET FOOT ON ANOTHER WORLD.

THIS... THIS IS AMAZING.

THIS IS SCIENCE FICTION, EXCEPT YOU'RE LIVING IT.

WE KNEW WE'D BEEN SENT THERE FOR A JOB,

SO I LOOKED AT THE CUFF CHECKLIST

AND SEE WHAT WAS TO DO NEXT.

ONE OF THE MISSION'S PRIMARY OBJECTIVES

IS AN EXPERIMENT TO REVEAL THE MOON'S GEOLOGICAL MAKEUP.

CRASHING PART OF THE "APOLLO 12" SPACECRAFT

SHOULD SEND MEASURABLE VIBRATIONS

THROUGH THE LUNAR CRUST.

SCIENTISTS SAID, "LET'S SEPARATE THE LUNAR MODULE

"AND HAVE IT IMPACT THE MOON JUST AT THE RIGHT DISTANCE

"AWAY FROM THIS SEISMOMETER THAT THEY PUT THERE,

"AND WE'LL MEASURE HOW IT VIBRATES,

"AND THAT'LL TELL US WHAT'S GOING ON

IN THE CENTER OF THE MOON."

THE EXPERIMENT BEGINS WITH THE INSTALLATION

OF A SEISMOMETER, A HIGHLY SENSITIVE DEVICE

TO DETECT TINY MOVEMENTS IN THE MOON'S SURFACE

AND THE ROCKS DEEP BELOW.

THE FIRST THING IT MEASURED ON THERE

WAS US RUNNING NEAR IT.

THEY COULD CATCH OUR FEET.

Feet now.

We're picking up, uh, your heavy footprints

going by the seismometer.

FOR THE NEXT 31 HOURS,

THIS GEOLOGY EXPERIMENT REMAINS ON HOLD

WHILE THE ASTRONAUTS FOCUS ON OTHER WORK,

INCLUDING CONSTRUCTION

OF A NUCLEAR-POWERED SCIENCE STATION

ON THE LUNAR SURFACE.

THE EXPERIMENT RESUMES WHEN THE ASCENT STAGE

BLASTS INTO ORBIT TO RENDEZVOUS WITH THE COMMAND MODULE.

ONCE THE LUNAR MODULE ASCENT STAGE

DOCKS WITH THE COMMAND SERVICE MODULE

AND THEY TRANSFER ALL THE PERSONNEL

AND THE MATERIAL INTO THE COMMAND MODULE,

THE ASCENT STAGE BECOMES VIRTUALLY USELESS.

THE ABANDONED SPACECRAFT

BECOMES A MISSILE UNDER THE CONTROL

OF TECHNICIANS IN HOUSTON.

Guidance and control officer reports that...

That, uh, the two spacecraft have, uh, separated.

THE LUNAR MODULE ASCENT STAGE IS TARGETED TO LAND

ABOUT 40 TO 50 MILES AWAY FROM THE "APOLLO 12" LANDING SITE.

"Apollo 12," Houston. The land is on its way down.

TRAVELING AT ALMOST 3,800 MILES PER HOUR,

THE USED VEHICLE SLAMS INTO THE MOON'S SURFACE...

...CREATING A 30-FOOT-WIDE CRATER AND A MOONQUAKE.

IT IMPACTED THE MOON AT JUST THE RIGHT SPOT

SO OUR SEISMOMETER

COULD MEASURE WHAT THE INTERIOR OF THE MOON WAS LIKE.

THE RESULTS RECORDED ON THE SEISMIC SENSORS

ASTONISH N.A.S.A. SCIENTISTS.

WHEN THEY SAW THEM ON THE SEISMIC RECORD,

IT WAS RINGING LIKE A BELL, AND IT JUST WOULDN'T STOP.

IT... IT WAS JUST AMAZING.

THEY HAD NOT SEEN SOMETHING LIKE THAT BEFORE.

THEY WONDERED, "WHAT THE DEVIL IS THIS?"

WHEN MAURICE EWING,

CO-HEAD OF THE SEISMIC EXPERIMENT,

STARTS THE SCIENCE PRESS CONFERENCE

30 MINUTES LATER, THE MOON IS STILL RINGING.

AS FOR THE MEANING OF IT, I'D RATHER NOT MAKE A...

AN INTERPRETATION RIGHT NOW,

BUT IT IS AS THOUGH ONE HAD

STRUCK A BELL, SAY, IN THE... IN THE BELFRY OF THE CHURCH,

A SINGLE BLOW, AND FOUND THAT

THE REVERBERATION FROM IT CONTINUED.

THE MOONQUAKE CAUSED BY THIS SINGLE IMPACT

CONTINUES FOR ANOTHER 25 MINUTES.

THIS, OF COURSE, SET OFF

A SEARCH TO TRY TO FIND AN EXPLANATION

FOR WHAT THIS BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WHAT WE SEE ON EARTH,

WHERE THE EARTHQUAKES ONLY LAST FOR A FEW MINUTES,

AND ON THE MOON, WHERE THEY GO ON FOR HOURS AND HOURS.

SCIENTISTS WHO WERE WILLING TO THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX SAID,

"HEY, THAT'S HOLLOW. WE HAVE A HOLLOW MOON."

ONCE YOU GO DOWN THE PATH OF A HOLLOW MOON,

EVERYTHING IS ON THE TABLE.

SO, IF THE MOON WERE HOLLOW, WHAT WOULD THAT MEAN?

WELL, OBVIOUSLY, IT'S NOT A NATURALLY OCCURRING PHENOMENON

SO IT'S GOTTA BE ARTIFICIAL.

SOMEBODY PUT IT THERE. SOMEONE BUILT IT.

"FIRST MEN IN THE MOON."

THEORIES ABOUT OUR MOON BEING HOLLOW

HAVE BECOME COMMON IN SCIENCE FICTION STORIES

BUT DON'T FIT WITH MAINSTREAM SCIENCE.

THE IDEA THAT THE MOON COULD BE AN ARTIFICIAL SPACE STATION...

HOW DIFFICULT IT IS JUST TO GET OUR SPACE STATION UP,

CAN YOU IMAGINE PUTTING SOMETHING THE SIZE OF THE MOON

IN ORBIT?

I DON'T THINK SO. IT HAS A BIGGER STORY.

N.A.S.A. SCIENTISTS

HAVE THEORIZED THAT THE UNEXPECTED VIBRATIONS

COME FROM LOW LEVELS OF WATER IN THE MOON'S CRUST.

THE EARTH IS A WATER-RICH PLANET.

WE HAVE WATER COVERING THE SURFACE,

BUT THERE'S ALSO LOTS OF WATER THAT'S BEEN BURIED DEEP

INSIDE THE EARTH'S MANTLE.

WHEN YOU HAVE AN EARTHQUAKE, THE WATER IN THE EARTH

ABSORBS THAT SIGNAL VERY QUICKLY,

LIKE SHOCK ABSORBERS.

BUT ON THE MOON, THERE'S MUCH LESS WATER ON THE SURFACE

AND THEN ALSO VERY LITTLE WATER INSIDE THE INTERIOR OF THE MOON.

WITHOUT THE WATER, IT MAKES IT KEEP ON RINGING.

THE IDEA OF A HOLLOW MOON

REMAINS SCIENCE FICTION...

AT LEAST FOR NOW.

N.A.S.A.'s GEOLOGICAL RESEARCH

IS CONSTANTLY EXPANDING THE BOUNDARIES

OF HUMAN KNOWLEDGE BY UNLOCKING THE SECRETS OF DISTANT WORLDS.

BUT MANY OF THE SPACE AGENCY'S STRANGEST DISCOVERIES

ARE FOUND CLOSER TO HOME.

AGENT WHITE WAS DEEP INTO THE UNKNOWN.

HE WAS EXPERIENCING THINGS

THAT NO PILOT HAD EVER ENCOUNTERED BEFORE.

WHEN A N.A.S.A. TEST FLIGHT

SOARS TO THE EDGE OF SPACE,

EVERYONE EXPECTS IT TO BE A SOLO JOURNEY.

WHITE SAID, "THERE ARE THINGS OUT HERE."

WHITE'S THINKING, "WHAT IS THAT THING,

AND WHAT'S IT DOING IN OUR ATMOSPHERE?"

JULY 17, 1962.

AT THE HEIGHT OF THE COLD WAR,

BOTH SUPERPOWERS FIGHT FOR TECHNOLOGICAL SUPREMACY

OVER AIR AND SPACE.

AND N.A.S.A.'s ENGINEERS MAN THE FRONT LINES.

THESE ARE THE EARLY DAYS

OF HIGH-SPEED, HIGH-ALTITUDE FLIGHTS.

EVERYTHING IS NEW. EVERYTHING IS ON THE EDGE.

IN 1955, N.A.S.A.'s FORERUNNER,

THE NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR AERONAUTICS,

COMMISSIONS THE X-15,

A ROCKET-POWERED, SUPERSONIC PLANE,

TO REACH THE EDGE OF EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE.

THE X-15 IS A JOINT VENTURE BETWEEN N.A.S.A.

AND THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE,

AND IT'S TESTING WHAT THE LIMITS ARE

FOR AIRCRAFT FLYING AT HIGH ALTITUDE INTO SPACE

AND IS DEFINITELY CUTTING-EDGE.

THE CHIEF TEST PILOT FOR THE X-15 PROGRAM

IS MAJOR ROBERT WHITE.

A VETERAN OF THREE WARS,

WHITE HOLDS THE RECORD FOR THE FASTEST MANNED FLIGHT EVER,

OVER 4,000 MILES PER HOUR.

MAJOR WHITE AND THE OTHER X-15 PILOTS

WERE FLYING FASTER AND HIGHER

THAN ANYONE HAD EVER FLOWN BEFORE.

FIRST, HE HITCHES A RIDE TO 45,000 FEET

UNDER THE WING OF A B-52 MOTHERSHIP.

THEN THOSE ENGINES LIGHT OFF.

AT THAT POINT, HE'S ALL ALONE.

THE ENGINES BURN FOR 82 SECONDS,