Proof NASA Photoshops Images

Aug 05 2010 12:00 AM | Written by Majestic  in NASA

I have been conducting research on lunar anomalies, and I have run across something simply stunning over at TheLivingMoon.com. It shakes the very foundations that my childhood dreams were built on. We have all heard of NASA photoshoping images, but part of me wanted to believe that it wasn’t really true. Part of me wanted to have faith in an agency that had inspired me in my youth. Several people that were on the inside have come forward over the years, namely Donna Hare and Karl Wolfe, stating that NASA photoshops images before they are released. However, no one had presented irrefutable proof. No one had held up a smoking gun, and proclaimed that the emperor has no clothes.

The image I’m referring to is a famous photo claimed to have bee taken by Apollo 8 that supposedly shows a shot of the Earth rising over the horizon of the Moon. It’s a wondrous shot of our beautiful blue Earth contrasted by the deep black vastness of space and the barren, colorless, and uninviting surface of the Moon. Or is it?

When I analyzed these two NASA images in Photoshop, I was truly hurt. My heart was screaming “Say it ain’t so, Joe, say it ain’t so.” When I viewed these images, with my expertise in web design and Photoshop, I knew I had found a smoking gun. Indeed, at least in my heart and mind, Camelot had fallen. It shattered me to see an image I had seen my entire life, that had been presented to millions of people around the world, and held up as a pinnacle testament to man’s achievement of space flight…was a fake.

There are two versions of this famous picture. One that has incredible proof, and one that has been edited and blurred. Both of which are available from NASA itself. Therein is the truly heart breaking part of this revelation. Had I found these images on some obscure website, off the beaten path of the internet, I could dismiss them as being the product of an imaginative and somewhat skilled photoshopper, and thus obvious fakes. But they aren’t. They are from the champion of space exploration itself, NASA. Of course you may not believe what I post here. After all it is on the internet right? It’s posted on some obscure website, off the beaten path of the web right? I ask that you look and decide for yourself. I will post the NASA links here, but they may change so I will also host them on this site to protect them as best I can for posterity. And so here is the proof that NASA photoshops images…

Let us start with the first image, the famous Earthrise image supposedly photographed by Apollo 8.


NASA Link: ftp://eol.jsc.nasa.g...S11-44-6552.TIF (50.3 MB)
Project MAJI Link: http://www.projectma...S11-44-6552.TIF (50.3 MB)

Looking at the image we see nothing unusual about it. You can download the huge image from the link above if you want. It’s a beautiful shot that any photographer would kill for. Or is it? Look closer at the terminator line on the Earth. Does it look strange to you? Look at the right edge of the photo, do you notice the rust colored line that runs from the lunar horizon all the way around the photo to the bottom left? Take a closer look at the outline of the Earth, can you see the crop marks where it looks like it was cut out?

Here is an image that I have prepared for you to understand what I am talking about.



You can see in the above photo the areas that I’m talking about. First of all lets look at the Earth’s terminator line, that is the area where the Earth’s surface fades to darkness and is supposedly in nighttime facing away from the Sun. One would expect it to be a fluid smooth line that fades to black. However, on closer inspection of this photo we see that it is not. In fact it appears that the terminator line follows the cloud formations at the bottom of the Earth. What this in fact looks like, is that a NASA photoshop technician took the magic wand tool, and amateurishly cut out the bottom of the Earth to create a false terminator line. I invite everyone to open this image from NASA in Photoshop, or whatever software you wish, zoom in to the terminator line on the Earth and look for yourself.



Secondly look at the curvature of the Earth up close. Do you notice the trim marks along the Earth? It looks like a NASA technician used the eraser tool in photoshop to trim away the edges of the Earth's atmosphere. In some places you can even see clearly the circular cut made by the eraser tool, with no attempts made at all to hide or smooth the cuts.



Next let look at the anomaly that appears along the lunar horizon on the right side of this photo. To an untrained eye this photo would appear to be exactly what is presented, a view from the lunar horizon. Or is it? Look at the right edge of the photo at the lunar horizon. Clearly can been seen what appears to be an overlay of some sort on the lunar surface. It looks like a NASA technician created a layered photoshop image. The technician created a gray mask of some sort, and laid it over the top of the lunar surface. Due to a lack of attention to detail, he did not bother to line up the horizon on the right edge by only a few pixels. This same offset can be seen continuing around the lower edge of the image all the way to the left bottom corner.



Now another version of this photo is available from NASA that has been blurred a little and cropped to remove the border anomaly. You can see it below. There can be little doubt that NASA is altering images.

Say it ain’t so, Joe…say it ain’t so…


NASA Link: ftp://eol.jsc.nasa.g...S11-44-6552.JPG (Since removed by NASA. Wonder Why? Yeah that's sarcasm.)
LivingMoon.com Link: http://www.theliving...S11-44-6552.JPG
Project MAJI Link: http://www.projectma...S11-44-6552.JPG


Note: You can browse the NASA image directory here: ftp://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/


UPDATE: 8-6-2010 1:00PM Eastern US Time

The original "ISD_highres_AS11_AS11-44-6552.TIF" image that I had obtained from the NASA website has been removed. Luckily, I have it safely stored in my possession, and you can also find the Project MAJI hosted copy of it linked above. The NASA image archive website address is posted just above. It is the FTP address.

What's interesting to note is that this original article was posted around noon yesterday. If you look at the NASA image directory you will see in the right side three pieces of information: file size, and the date and time the file was last modified. All but two of the remaining AS11 series images were modified last night (8-5-2010) and today (8-6-2010). I've taken a screenshot of the directory today for proof in case of further manipulation on the NASA website. You can see the screenshot below.






UPDATE: 8-6-2010 5:03PM Eastern US Time

I emailed several NASA officials at the Johnson Space Center, Maura White and Orlando Bongat, who are listed as administrators of the image archive at the bottom of the JSC Image Archive Website. I asked why the .TIF image had been deleted. Within minutes of clicking send I went back to the NASA site to look again, and miraculously the .TIF image was back. It now has a last modified date of 8/6/2010 3:50:00 PM. Screen shots of the NASA archive are below. Maura White and Orlando Bongat never responded to my email.