Apollo Astronaut, Edgar Mitchell, Claims UFO Cover Up

From The New York Times:

Edgar Mitchell, the sixth man to walk on the moon, appeared on a British radio show to say that he was "privileged enough to be in on the fact that we've been visited on this planet and the U.F.O. phenomena is real."

Mitchell, a member of the Apollo 14 team, has long held these beliefs despite the fact that he himself has never seen neither an alien or a U.F.O. The Times' story has an excellent collection of more information on Mitchell's beliefs.

Mitchell's resurgence in the media was prompted by a radio interview that he did yesterday with a British radio show. Audio of the show is available below.

Past videos of Mitchell:

Comments

[jubo]

Just last week my brother, two cousins and I joined the people on Earth who have seen something... odd. In the night a succession of lights followed an identical path. They did not blink as an airplane does, made no sound and were quite rapid. What puzzled me was their light... why were they visible?

This experience was very reassuring.

[heal57]

I always believed; so many sightings. The gov couldn't tell the truth; they lie all the time. Too many stories. Just look in the sky if the pollution allows. Millions of stars....we are a very young planet. I guess it explains our behavior. Call me quirky cause I don't care; I just know.

[StarkRavingNakedEmperor]

Welcome.You have joined the 10% of people who have seen a UFO. It is impossible that every single one of us is lying or crazy--some of us HAVE TO be telling the truth! If it is only 5% of us, then millions of humans world-wide throughout human history have seen UFOs! Why were they visible? They wanted you to see them! Some realize that open contact with a species at our rudimentary level of evolution would be radically disruptive, so they respect our process and dont broadly intervene. On the other hand, some appear to be a bit impatient at our pace of development and want to spark a little interest and yearning in our minds. Interesting, you said you were reassured by the sighting. It is interesting that once one gets over the initial startle response, one does not have to sink into fear. I too was strangely "reassured" by my sighting 35 years ago. My only regret in the intervening decades--I have never seen another one!

[Scott1560]

There are many strange & unusual people living on our little planet. Attempting to find folks who are not nutballs, people who actually may have had a genuine experience is most difficult. This is a primary problem, one that breeds many a skeptic and causes anchors & reporters to deliver UFO stories tongue-in-cheek. And then there's the fact that hard money is made from books, symposiums, lectures, etc.. Culling any sort of evidence or truth out of this mess is probably as difficult as it is for SETI to find intelligent signals from another world. Way too much noise!

As far as personal experiences go, well.......how about enraging a producer and a director by refusing to complete a series of interviews w/supposedly legit witnesses & abductees. One does get to a point where being professional no longer matters; rolling on the floor in fits of laughter does not play well on camera unless you've got a deal w/Comedy Central.

Something is happening, but who knows what? Again, I'll remain open, but that wheat/chaff thing keeps getting in the way.

[harrymellon]

Wasnt it Buzz Aldrin who said when they explored the dark side of the moon they saw extremely large pyramidal and spherical buildings some as large as a mile long. He confessed this as he was deteriorating in old age. The moon is an alien base or was at some time. It is interesting that it is the planet or moon in our solar system that doesnt rotate...thus having a dark side of the moon.

[AmandaBC]

"It is interesting that it is the planet or moon in our solar system that doesnt rotate"

The moon indeed rotates, it's impossible for an orbiting body to not revolve around itself. The only reason why we only see one side of the moon is that the rotation is synchronous with earth.

[StarkRavingNakedEmperor]

It would explain much, like why we have not gone back there in decades. Logic would dictate that 40 years after the moon landing we would have a permanent base in a dome there as a staging ground for our first manned trip to Mars. There does seemed to have been declared a silent moratorium on further visits to our moon.

[THEhillbilly]

There is no dark side of the moon. At full moon, the side away from Earth is dark because it faces away from the sun. About two weeks later, it's facing toward the sun, so it's noon on the unseen side. The reason for this is that the moon does in fact rotate, once on its axis in the time it takes for one revolution in its orbit. Look up "tide locked" if you care.

[bumpersticker]

If they are so advanced why don't they turn off the lights when they are flying around at night?

[Scott1560]

The "Prime Safety Directive?"

[StarkRavingNakedEmperor]

Some of them WANT us to see them, to know of their presence.

[mulegino]

One thing constantly overlooked is that the idea of extra-terrestrial "intelligence" has been totally anthropomorphized in the common imagination. Why, (if there is indeed intelligent life elsewhere) would there be any interaction whatsoever with human beings? Are we assuming that ET's have the human traits of intellectual curiosity and thirst for adventure or conquest? If so, why? Common traits implies either a vitalistic /pantheistic universe, or a common Creator/or progenitor.
Why are most of the ET's supposedly seen bi-radial (like human beings) with large bulging eyes and large, distorted heads-in other words-half human/half insect? In other words, they are chimeras constructed by the human imagination.
The fact of the matter is that, until there is some real, material, hard evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence, people should keep an open mind, but be very cautious and selective when so called hearsay "facts" are used as ironclad proof.

[Schaden]

You just made the leap dismissing it as imagination. Based on that comment, I'd wager you haven't invested much time into this subject. Was it an overactive imagination when Edgar Mitchell describes receiving an acknowledgment of ET visitation by a senior intelligence officer within the JCS approx 10 years ago?

[TheEmptinessOfTruthiness]

But hearing it from someone else is exactly the definition of hearsay, even if one chooses to term it an "acknowledgment."

[StarkRavingNakedEmperor]

Schaden:
Alas, this thread has now grown cold. I truly appreciated your input on this subject. Let's hope these skeptics will take your advice, do their homework and start with your reading recommendations. Until, the next time a blog post on this subject pops up on the HuffPo (which it most certainly will!) I will be looking forward to your next posts. I have a feeling that NASA might be making some more announcements regarding the findings of Phoenix any day now. Again, many thanks, my friend!

[StarkRavingNakedEmperor]

Actually, you are describing the morphology of but one of the groups that is visiting us. Some look so much like humans that they could walk among us utterly undetected. Others with slight variations and others as wild and seemingly fanciful as you describe, and still others who seem to be what could only be called "interdime­nsional"--­not subject to the same physical laws that we are. Conditions on planets of origin dictate physical morphology­--gravity, atmospheric pressure and chemistry, amount of light available, evolutionary roots and etc. There are certain physical realities involved in mobility if you think about it so preponderance of Bi-pedal, two armed beings is not surprising--it is easier to move around on two legs than hopping on one and where ever you go in the Universe, mother nature is brilliantly wise and efficient in her design. Please dont make the mistake of dismissing all accounts of alien contact as "chimeras constructed by the human imagination". Think about it. It is impossible that 100% of everyone who has said they have seen something alien throughout scores of thousands of years of human history was lying or delusional. Some of the most highly regarded world leaders, like Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter were very interested in this subject with adamant claims of their personal sighting. Do your homework. Your own best advice: "Keep an open mind."

[Scott1560]

Anyone wonder why it was NASA that issued a response to Mitchell's claims? The agency didn't exist back when the contact and other supposed events happened. And if it is just a matter of assigning the (claimed) alien technology to a specific agency, it would go to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). DARPA was created when NASA was created. We've not heard from them?

And, by the way, DARPA would have zero trouble containing secrets and maintaining cover for as long as they are instructed to.

NASA can't contain anything and they certainly wouldn't be involved w/UFO reports & such so why did they issue the statement?

[StarkRavingNakedEmperor]

Yes, they are not inhumanely perfect--they do make mistakes. It is always hugely telling whenever government agencies unaccountably appear to feel obligated to issue some disclaimer on stories like this. And it is always the same canned, wooden response that tells us nothing and flies in the face of what we all already know is confirmed history in the matter. There ineptitude in the matter gives me comfort that they will not be able to maintain the cover-up indefinitely.

[illinoisan]

The same thing happened to pre-Columbian Americans; there's no reason it couldn't happen to us.

[OneWoman]

Do you have evidence of this? If so, would you please share it?

[frankky]

The fact that we are here should be evidence enough that there should be others in this
vast universe. Are we to think we are the only ones in the enormous universe? If so what
makes us so special? I refuse to believe that our creator cannot do better than us, a dumb
race that all it knows is war, war, war. There must me others better and worse than us!

[horhay]

The Nazca geoglyphs in Peru seem to have been created so they could be viewed from high in Earth's atmosphere or possibly outerspace. Not exactly proof of alien visitation but there are other native American rock paintins/p­etroglyphs depicting strange beings.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazca_Lines

[Budokan]

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. This ain't it.

[mulegino]

I am always open to new evidence, even with regards to the existence or non-existence of extraterrestrials. That having been said,one thing that has always appeared suspicious to me is that the ET's, supposedly light years ahead of humans in technology, appear to be light years behind earthlings in common sense. If they want to make themselves known to humans, why not just land in their spacecraft at CNN Center in Atlanta, or in Central Park at high noon? They always seem to be hovering around some top secret Air Force Base. If they want to be stealthy, they aren't doing too good a job either.
And isn't it curious how the reports of UFO's seem to jibe so closely with popular futuristic concepts and current levels of technology at any given period? In the Middle Ages, the UFO's were described as "flying sailing ships". In the nineteenth century, there were UFO's reported that looked a lot like the Hindenburg.

[aCurious1]

Good questions. But consider: When a few months ago there were internet photos of the primitive tribe in Brazil, did anthropologists and the military land their helicopters in the village? No. After centuries of doing just that, scientists, scholars and govt officials are realizing that it might be best to leave them alone. Land at CNN? Maybe along with being observed, Earth is being used as a way-station, a re-supply stop along the way to the next galaxy. Yes, we spot them occasionally. But, until we get our act together here on Earth, what interest do “aliens” have to make contact?

Hovering around Air Force Bases? Yes, indeed. Check out http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2008/07/20/lkl.ufo.long.cnn and you’ll see military officers being interviewed who state as fact that the missile silos they manned were visited by UFOs and the nuke missiles were deactivated as a result. What does that tell me? Says that those “aliens” that folks are spooked about are trying to tell us to quit playing with toys that will destroy us.

Regarding UFOs from history, on the one had, people liken what they see to what they know. So yes, they reported flying objects similar to their points of reference. But, on the other hand, there are a multitude of etchings, drawings, carvings and references to UFOs from thousands of years ago that render them as very futuristic.

[Eres]

We have rigged elections, government fraud, cover-ups about the impact of global warming, lies denying the possibility of superior social health care services, staged "attacks" on NY, wars based on deception, the list goes on...

Now why on earth would anyone believe the government would be truthful about the existence of extraterrestrial life?

Please...

[JShankel]

"Now why on earth would anyone believe the government would be truthful about the existence of extraterrestrial life?"

It's not about trusting the government. It's about requiring positive evidence for a positive claim.

The fact that the government denies something is not ipso-facto proof that that thing is true.

The government says cigarettes are unhealthy. Are they lying?

[Quaoar]

The government may be untrustworthy but it lacks the competence to pull off a conspiracy of that magnitude.

[StarkRavingNakedEmperor]

Exactly! Their cover-up is incomplete, shoddy and full of holes like every thing else they do.That is precisely why we are discussing this topic today! The government is composed, after all, of fallible humans. That gives us hope!

[StarkRavingNakedEmperor]

You are a very logical person!

[usindecline]

It's interesting that Edgar Mitchell's interview coincides with the release of the new X Files movie.Could a marketing ploy be at the core of this interview?! The truth is out there...I Want to Believe!

[danoj]

people believe all kinds of stuff, and the govenment hides all kinds of stuff. Guess that's why some people believe in UFO's.

[aCurious1]

There is so much data available on UFO sightings, encounters, abductions by credible sources. Tons of interviews with highly specialized and credentialed individuals; from military to private industry to sciences, who state irrefutably that UFOs exist.

It's easy to laugh off what we don't understand or what makes us uncomfortable or afraid. A bit of serious research can shed light. But the bliss of ignorance is so much easier.

The argument that "aliens" are just too far away to reach earth is absurd. This implies that those "aliens" developed at the same time and in the same way as we on earth. The odds favor there being life out there that is far older and superior to our humble selves, with capabilities beyond anything we can imagine.

It's not Sci Fi to believe that there just might be some type of intergalactic or universal federation with a prime directive of non-interference until a planet's inhabitants are ready. And are we ready?? Absolutely not! From internal conflicts within ourselves, to conflicts with family, friends, neighbors, communities.... to country against country conflicts... We're still so primitive.

We're probably being observed, and interfered with when annihilation is inevitable. Some day, hopefully soon, real contact will happen.

Anyway, check out this interview on Larry King on July 20, 2008. It should make a few skeptics squirm:

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2008/07/20/lkl.ufo.long.cnn

[Scott1560]

There may be something to all of this, but then again, probably little to nothing? I'll remain open to both sides.

However, it is interesting to note that not that many years ago the skeptics wondered how it would be possible for the government to cover up this great secret, that most certainly there would be those who would begin talking. Well, now they are. Of course, no matter the individual, a way is always found to discredit them in the public eye.

Skeptics always questioned why there were so few photos & video since nearly everyone had a camera. Well, now that folks actually have cameras in their cell phones, digitals fit in pockets & can also shoot video, the images are showing up all over the world at a rapid pace. Most are fuzzy, but that's expected w/cheap cameras. Arm everyone w/digital SLRs & quality glass and it might get better. Let's not forget that anytime a photo or video is clear & sharp, it is always dismissed as a hoax, mostly because it is too clear.

[StarkRavingNakedEmperor]

Terrific post! I think there must be some sort of "Prime Directive" of non-intervention in primitive cultures--that is why I feel there is absolutely no reason for fear. It is an uncomfortable truth to most (esp. our government) that due to our only rudimentary level of technology, we are sitting ducks. If they wanted to harm us, we would already be harmed. Sadly, that Prime Directive probably means that if we end up Nuking ourselves out of existence, they wont be able to interfere. We better not count on their help--better choose a saner path-today!

[NoSillyName]

I guess those video clips have been abducted.

[NoSillyName]

Ah, tried again and they're playing now. Must have been so kind of glitch in the ether.

[zizyphus]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDOOZ_IPb6Y

This is a Fox News report of UFOs filmed by the Mexican AIr Force, sharp video.

[gcallaghan]

If McCain somehow manages to steal the election out from under Obama, please beam me the hell out of here.

[LMT]

Why? Mitchell is slated to be McBush's Space(case) Czar!

[aristippe]

A lot of kooks on this thread hehe

[StarkRavingNakedEmperor]

Every majestic oak tree was once a nut who stood his ground.

[OnTheCusp]

You got it, Monad!

[TheEmptinessOfTruthiness]

Yeah but there are nuts and there are people who conclude the possible must be the actual. Apples and oranges.

[Titonwan]

Maybe they can straighten out the mess that Bush and Pelosi have gotten us into.