Disturbing images: Is NASA hiding aliens on the moon?
Did NASA delete objects from moon photos that it did not want the public to see? Physicist Manley Drahshani claims that examining different copies of the same photographs from the Apollo missions reveals differences that are hard to ignore: blue spheres, points of light, and metallic objects appear in some versions but disappear in others. In an interview with the "American Alchemy" podcast, Drahshani presented a photo from the Apollo 14 mission, in which astronaut Edgar Mitchell is seen standing on the lunar surface. According to him, in one archive copy, the sky is completely black, while in another version of the same photo, a clear blue sphere is visible above the astronaut.
Did NASA delete objects from moon photos that it did not want the public to see? Physicist Manley Drahshani claims that examining different copies of the same photographs from the Apollo missions reveals differences that are hard to ignore: blue spheres, points of light, and metallic objects appear in some versions but disappear in others.
In an interview with the "American Alchemy" podcast, Drahshani presented a photo from the Apollo 14 mission, in which astronaut Edgar Mitchell is seen standing on the lunar surface. According to him, in one archive copy, the sky is completely black, while in another version of the same photo, a clear blue sphere is visible above the astronaut.
Drahshani, who researches anomalies in moon and Mars photos, does not claim that the images prove that aliens were on the moon. However, he believes that the differences between the scans require an explanation and that not all objects can be dismissed as light flashes, film defects, or cosmic radiation.
The problem is that copies of old space photos may undergo scanning, color correction, contrast changes, and cleaning of marks considered defects. Without checking the original negative, the processing history, and the camera characteristics, the mere difference between two versions does not prove that someone intentionally deleted a UFO.
Three points of light above the lunar surface
Another photo presented in the conversation was taken during the Apollo 17 mission, the last manned mission to land on the moon in December 1972. Above a hill in the lunar terrain, three blue points of light are visible. According to Drahshani, when the image brightness is increased, an illuminated area connecting them is revealed, as if the lights belong to a larger object.
In other photos, he claims to have identified blue stripes with a metallic appearance, which he says take on a shape resembling insect-like objects when magnified. Astrophysicists and skeptics offer much more ordinary explanations, including cosmic ray impacts on the photographic material, light reflections, dust, scratches, or glitches created during scanning.
Even if the objects are still unidentified, the term UFO only means they were not identified—not that their origin is alien. Drahshani himself admitted that the findings are not definitive proof of life outside Earth.
The employee who claimed he was required to destroy photos
One of the central claims relies on Ken Johnston, who worked on the Apollo program and presented himself over the years as a staff member whose duties included handling photos and materials from the missions. According to him, he received an order to destroy early copies of photos in which anomalies not intended for publication were seen, but he kept some of the material.
This claim has been circulating for years in the UFO enthusiast community, but has not been supported by official documents confirming that NASA ordered the destruction of evidence of alien presence. Also, his description as a "backup astronaut" or as a pilot who trained Apollo personnel is not as accurate as it is sometimes presented in online publications.
Alongside the photos, the podcast also revived stories that Neil Armstrong and Eugene Cernan received telepathic messages from non-human beings who warned them not to return to the moon. However, these are stories that have never been verified and there is no documented evidence from the astronauts themselves. There is no verified recording, official document, or direct quote in which Armstrong says that humanity is forbidden from returning to the moon.
And what will happen when humans return to the moon?
The claims are now receiving renewed attention as NASA advances in the Artemis program. According to the updated plan, Artemis 3 is supposed to conduct manned experiments in orbit around the Earth in 2027, in preparation for Artemis 4—the mission planned to return astronauts to the lunar surface in 2028.
The fact that humans have not landed on the moon since 1972 has fueled countless theories over the years: from the claim that the landings never happened at all to the story that the astronauts encountered aliens and were ordered to leave. In practice, the hiatus has been linked for decades to costs, risks, and changing priorities of the USA.
As of now, there is no verified evidence that NASA hid aliens in the moon photos. There are photos with spots and lights that have not yet received a consensus explanation, copies that were processed in different ways, and old testimonies that are difficult to verify. For conspiracy theorists, this is enough to keep the story alive—but the road from a blue sphere in a photo to an alien base on the moon is still very long.
