Astronauta lunare: gli UFO esistono e gli alieni ci hanno visitato

L'articolo è stato aggiornato dopo la pubblicazione iniziale.

Edgar Mitchell, uno dei due astronauti che camminarono sulla Luna durante la missione Apollo 14, ha dichiarato di essere "stato informato che siamo stati visitati su questo pianeta e che il fenomeno UFO è reale". Non solo: dice anche che l'incidente di Roswell è autentico e che da sessant'anni i governi tengono segreta tutta la faccenda delle visite aliene.

La notizia esplode ovunque in Rete: Slashdot, The Inquirer, News.com.au, Telegraph, BoingBoing, giusto per citare alcuni siti. L'origine della storia è Kerrang, dove trovate l'audio dell'intervista telefonica a Mitchell.

I lunacomplottisti esultano, perché naturalmente credono agli UFO e possono dire "Vedi? Esistono, l'ha detto persino un astronauta".

Ma esultano soltanto per un istante. Perché poi si accorgono che quell'astronauta è una delle persone che loro accusano da quarant'anni di essere uno dei bugiardi traditori che hanno falsificato le missioni lunari, per cui assolutamente non gli possono credere. Oops.

Dai, Ed, che scherzo da prete.

Appena smetto di ridere vi racconto tutta la storia di Ed Mitchell.

2008/07/25: La trascrizione delle parole di Mitchell

Ecco una stesura veloce del testo integrale delle dichiarazioni dell'astronauta Edgar Mitchell. La trascrizione è stata realizzata con Dragon Naturally Speaking (io ripetevo le parole dette dagli interlocutori) e poi riveduta a mano un paio di volte. Se trovate refusi o decifrate le parole incomprensibili, avvisatemi via mail o nei commenti.

INTERVISTATORE: Do you believe in life on other planets?

MITCHELL: Oh yes, there's not much question at all, but there's life throughout the universe. We're not alone in the universe at all.

I: You're convinced that we're not alone in the universe?

M: Oh, I... know for sure we're not alone in the universe. Now, have we been able to identify for sure where the other planets are? No, we have not. Certainly not in our solar system. But they've identified quite a number of planets, now, that very likely could be life-bearing planets, and... I happen to be privileged to know... to have... be in on the fact that we have been visited on this planet and the UFO phenomenon is real, although it's been covered up by our governments for quite a long time.

I: Wow! Hang on a minute. But this is big. So... I'm... Whoa... This is... All of this is quite a shock to me.

M: Well, I'm sorry, you haven't been reading the papers recently, they're starting to open up quite a bit.

I: So you're telling me... whoa, this is a lot of information to take on board. Hang on a minute. I mean, listen, I've heard like, you know, crazy UFO nuts tell me this kind of thing before. I've never had Dr. Ed Mitchell, you know, the sixth man to walk on the moon, a respected scientist in his own right, uh, announce to me that we've been... visited by... aliens from... other planets and that they... they definitely are out there, there's no debating it.

M: Well, that's [incomprensibile] talked to me, I would have told you about it before.

I: So... So you... you believe in all of... you believe the whole idea...

M: Well, no, there's more nonsense out there about this that there is real knowledge, but there is... it is a real phenomenon, and there's quite a few of us... it's been well covered up by all of our governments for the last 60 years or so, but slowly it leaks out and some of us are privileged to have been briefed on some of it. I happen to have grown up in the... I don't even know you... whether you know this place, Roswell, New Mexico, where presumably the Roswell incident of 1947 took place, and I'm quite knowledgeable [incomprensibile] there, since I grew up there, but I've also been in military circles and intelligence circles that knows beneath the surface of what has been, uh... public knowledge, that yes, we have been visited.

I: So... and... and.. you're serious? You're not going to go, "You know, I was just pulling your leg about that, it's not true"?

M: [incomprensibile]

I: I'm just... I was wondering if I'm... I've just stumbled upon... astronaut humour, and in a couple of minutes you're going to go, "I was only pulling your leg".

M: No, I won't... won't do that.

I: Wow, so... wow! So.. what... so... I mean, so you've been briefed on the fact that there are... we've been visited.

M: Well, I haven't... briefed is one word for it. I have been involved in... in... much of this work. It's not my main work, it's not my main interest. But I have been deeply involved in certain committees and certain research programs with very credible scientists and intelligence people that do know the real inside story, and I'm... I'm not hesitant to talk about it.

I: What is the real inside story?

M: Well, I've just been telling you, we have been visited.

I: Are they... I mean, are we in regular contact, or was it a one-off crash, or...?

M: Well, no, there's been quite a few... there's quite a bit of contact going on, I can't tell you because I don't know all the extent of it, I don't know all the inside details because that isn't my really main interest, but the fact that we have been visited, the Roswell crash was real and a numbers... number of other contacts have been real and ongoing. Uh, it's pretty well known for... to those of us who have... been briefed and been close to the subject matter.

I: So why is it being covered up then? Why is it that it's not mainstream?

M: Well, the reason for that goes back to the main incidents that really started taking place after World War II, when in the United States at least, I can't speak for European governments or the South American governments, all of them have recently started opening their files, and most... I mean, it's been opened, this is starting to open up, and read the Internet or look at... look at some of the press, the international press, you get, start to get stories coming out now. But...

I: I've... I've... I've had people on the show telling me that we're mount–...that... that governments are mounting up towards disclosure, towards saying that this is the case. Do you think it'll be the case that there will be an actual disclosure on this, maybe this year, that the governments will come out?

M: I don't know whether it will be this year in the United States, but certainly we 've already had it in the last few years from the Belgian government, the French government, the Brazilian government, the Mexican government, they've opened their files and admitted that they had the files.

I: Okay, right, let me get my head together. Okay, listen, here's what I now. I've had people on the show talking about the fact that the Catholic Church has said, belief in life on other planets doesn't compromise your Catholicism.

M: Of course, that just happened recently in association with a major release, I believe, of the British government...some of the British government files, they weren't their deepest files, but some files were released.

I: Yep, what's happening is at the moment, over the next four years, all the UFO files here in the UK are being released. Do you think it's the case we are ramping up towards maybe the UK admitting?

M: Well, I can't say how fast it's going to happen, but certainly the public awareness of it... uh... is increasing, public acceptance is increasing. The amount of... misinformation... covert and actual attempts to cover up, seem to be decreasing. I think we're headed toward... real disclosure in some very serious organisations, uh, moving in that direction.

I: What do you... you've had a long time to think about this. What you think the impact will be on the world when it's finally mainstream news that there are alien beings that live outside this planet?

M: Well, I think at this point it's probably "Ho-hum, so what's new?" I think that certainly in the United States well over 70% of the people now accept this as fact although they may not... they do not know... all the correct story, they do know that there has been, or accept the fact, there has been visitation, UFOs in the skies all the time that are very likely alien craft. Now, not all of them are, I suspect some of them are home-grown. I suspect that in the last 60 years or so, that there has been some, uh, back-engineering and the creation of this type of equipment that is not nearly as sophisticated, yet, as what the apparent visitors have.

I: So... as part of this... I mean, as part of you knowing about this and also going public with it, are you worried for your own safety with this kind of stuff or are you convinced that [incomprensibile]?

M: Oh, I think that those days are gone. There used to be a concern among the people on the inside, but I don't think they're knocking anybody off for that any more or, uh, doing drastic things to them.

I: What do you think the intent of the aliens is? Is it hostile or peaceful?

M: No no no, it's not hostile, it's pretty obvious that if it were hostile, we would've been gone by now.

I: Really?

M: We could have been. We had no defense, if that's what their real intent was.

I: And what... are we talking... What do they look like, are we talking, like, you know, the traditional sort of...?

M: You've seen some of the pictures, uh... the pictures that I know of, some of them are... uh... are these little.. little people look strange... that look strange to us. As far as I know from my... from my, uh, contacts that have had contact, that looks... is pretty accurate.

I: Wow! Do you think other people who are involved in the moon landings know about this?

M: Some of them do. But again, it's like other people, if you're interested enough to dig into it and want to know about it, you can know about it.

I: Because... uh, listen, I don't want... I know you're a busy guy and I know there's other people...

M: Yeah, this phone that... is not leaving me alone, this other phone is ringing all the time, and... I'm by myself here at the moment.

I: I've... This has been... easily one of the most significant conversations in my life. Unbelievable. Uh, Uh... just... I want to thank you for joining us, and, uh, Doctor Ed Mitchell, that's inc... Listen, you're a friend of the show, if you want to accept that friendship and... and wow, what an incredible conversation. Listen man, thanks for joining [troncato dalla fine della registrazione, presumo "us"]

2008/07/29

In sintesi, Mitchell non dice di aver avuto contatti diretti con alieni o veicoli alieni, ma di averne saputo attraverso le parole di altri. La sua accusa ai governi di aver cospirato per tenere segreta la verità è basata soltanto su vaghe dicerie. Quello che colpisce è che Mitchell annuncia una delle notizie più importanti della storia (il contatto con altre civiltà) e poi la liquida dicendo che "non è il mio interesse principale". Come sarebbe a dire? Cos'altro ci può mai essere di più "principale" e di più interessante rispetto a una notizia del genere?

Mitchell non ha prove e non fa nomi di testimoni né indica circostanze precise (salvo dire che l'incidente di Roswell del 1947 è "autentico"). Un po' poco, per un'affermazione così straordinaria.

Le dichiarazioni di Mitchell vanno calate nel contesto. Mitchell, come notano i commenti qui sotto, è ben conosciuto da tempo per le sue affermazioni riguardanti i poteri paranormali: condusse privatamente degli esperimenti di telepatia durante la sua missione nel 1971. La cosa non deve stupire, perché era un periodo nel quale la parapsicologia era in auge. Qui trovate un articolo del 2003 che racconta in dettaglio gli esperimenti e i rapporti di Mitchell con il presunto sensitivo Uri Geller e offre vari esempi delle concezioni mistiche decisamente originali di Mitchell.

Già nel 1973 aveva fondato l'Institute of Noetic Sciences per indagare sui fenomeni paranormali, e afferma (senza prove) di essere stato guarito dal cancro ai reni da un guaritore fra il 2003 e il 2004.

In altre parole: Mitchell è stato un grande astronauta che ha sempre albergato idee trascendentali piuttosto estreme. E' perfettamente plausibile che un'esperienza intensissima come il viaggio nello spazio per sbarcare sul suolo di un altro corpo celeste abbia stimolato ulteriormente queste idee: chi non sarebbe spinto a pensieri mistici di fronte alla visione di tutto il nostro pianeta tanto lontano da poterlo coprire con il proprio pollice?

Non siamo dunque di fronte a uno scettico che presenta dei fatti concreti, ma a una persona con decenni di inclinazioni mistiche che presenta delle dicerie. Di conseguenza è d'obbligo molta cautela prima di prendere per buone certe affermazioni.

Quest'episodio, con le reazioni istintive che ha provocato in molti, è un caso classico della fallacia del cosiddetto "principio d'autorità": ci viene naturale fidarci delle persone che hanno ricoperto ruoli importanti e autorevoli, anche quando parlano di cose che stanno al di fuori della loro sfera di competenza. Mitchell è stato un astronauta quarant'anni fa: ha imparato a fare cose tecniche assolutamente straordinarie, come pilotare il modulo lunare. Ma questo non gli conferisce competenze o autorevolezza in altri settori, come la parapsicologia, verso i quali anzi chi ha una preparazione scientifica è particolarmente vulnerabile: il caso dei fisici Russell Targ e Harold Puthoff, gabbati dai giochi di prestigio di Uri Geller negli anni Settanta del secolo scorso, fece storia in questo senso.