The Secret Apollo 19/20 Moon Missions and an Alien Craft, 1976

Case overview

Event details

The secret Apollo 20 missionis one of the most famous space conspiracy theories of the internet age. According to the claim, on August 16, 1976, NASA and the Soviet Union jointly flew a secret lunar mission—Apollo 20—launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, to investigate the wreckage of a huge alien spacecraft near Delporte Crater on the far side of the Moon.

The theory comes from Apollo 20: Revealed, a book published in 2010 by the Italian investigative journalist Luca Scantamburlo, and from videos posted on YouTube by a man calling himself William Rutledge. Rutledge claimed to be an Apollo 20 astronaut and released photos and videos supposedly taken on the lunar surface of alien spacecraft wreckage and an alien body.

Allegedly, the Apollo 15 and Apollo 17 missions were the first to observe the object. It is said to have lain on the far side of the Moon for about 1.5 billion years and to be more than 4 kilometers long. The Apollo 19 mission (1975) was allegedly a failed attempt, while Apollo 20 (August 1976) landed successfully and recovered alien technology and an alien body known as the “Mona Lisa.”

The story has since been shown to be an elaborate internet hoax. All of the “evidence”—including the videos of the alien craft and the body—was fabricated by the French artist Thierry Speth with models and special effects. NASA never flew an Apollo 19 or Apollo 20 mission; the Apollo program ended after Apollo 17 (1972) because of budget cuts. Even so, the story’s influence shows the public’s lasting curiosity about secrets on the far side of the Moon and about extraterrestrial civilizations.

Source references

• Luca Scantamburlo, Apollo 20: The Disclosure (2010) — conspiracy-theory source
• Listen to the Earth Blog: Analysis of Apollo 19/20
• Street Directory: The Apollo 20 Alien Spaceship Hoax
• MSN: “How a Fake Mission Turned Into a Global Legend”