Missing Lunar Orbiter Tapes Found

I'm not criticising Zorgon OP. Haven't checked but I have read great posts from OP I think. Just trying to stimulate some ideas. U r correct I need to look at all the info again.

It does look like McDs specifically and it looks like it is in good condition, ie not rundown and obsolete. That alone I find important.

Yes the guy in the video seems legit. (haven't watched it properly yet.

But I will.

Help us all out here OP.

My "closed" post was a bit of an unintentional stir. I am looking for some info that steers us in a productive direction.

Would McD allow even a closed joint to be used for such a project. I am sure they would have all sorts of rules about how their franchises are used, even if unoperational.

For starters. Anyone with the where with all to actually purchase a closed McDonalds would black out the windows and install special security.

I see none of that. That place looks like a crack heads dream break in.

Originally posted by Sinsear
reply to post by franspeakfree

 

There is no "digging". The OP clearly labels it a Pirate McDonalds and links to the original photos. All you have to do is read the post and follow the links and you will see that Zorgon is not trying to cover anything up.

I do think though, that Zorgon does like to make a bold statement with his opening posts.

See here: www.abovetopsecret.com...

He posts up a very intriguing photo, cropped mind you, A damn good tactic coupled with a catching title to get the readers in.

Click the source link and we get the uncropped original....not so intriguing anymore is it?


Is this thread being set up similarly? Who knows. Either way it still is very interesting.

(edit double post)

[edit on 26-9-2008 by gopher mines]

McDonalds... I don't know the story behind the McDonalds in the pictures, but I have seen a completed McDonalds, brand new, never open it's doors for business. It was due to local ordinances that required all buildings to have a historical look to them, the McDonalds didn't pass the local inspections and the franchise owner couldn't afford to renovate after the costs of building the entire thing. So it sat there.

Here is an abandoned McD's in Airway Center, Franklin, VA:

www.flickr.com...

and another one (location unknown)

abandonedmcdonalds.ytmnd.com...

Aside from the upfront oddness.....their are layers of oddness to this. I'm getting a "staged" feeling about the first photo in the opening post. An abandoned McDonalds with the chairs left behind? Yet, there is clearly a spot on the wall where a picture was hung. If the equipment is very nearly obsolete....where is the output device for the images? On that Mac notebook sitting there? I don't see any interface cable running to it.

This is just weird......old moon data simply sitting around in a McDonalds kitchen. Can anyone verify if those cannisters have the appearance of legitimate NASA film or tape cannisters?

I dunno'....

Why does it matter if the image is cropped? You can clearly see the entire inside in the video which has all of the exact same information. My question is not only why there? But also how did those guys find that? This situation is seriously convoluted even if it turns out to be 100% true and is a proverbial gift from karma.

Do we know the general location of this Micky-D's?

Well here is something very interesting! I dont just run around giving stars and flags to threads. But in this case I give you both.

As I know you will keep us updated on whats going on here. Because I am truely lost here. Why would they keep stuff like this in a building such as that? That part doesnt make sense but okay, Im along for the ride, so I will keep my hands and feet inside the ride at all times.
Im going to leave this to you Zorgon to figure out and keep us updated.

I just think its a little strange if he did find it, he would turn it over to NAZI
err I mean NASA. What ever was there will be gone! Then he can turn around and say sorry guys, those damn Nazi's took off with our booty.

I did noticed the pirate flag in the window.. Why was it there? Who are the pirates?

Are they playing games? Are they being honest? I know I have come to trust you Zorgon on here.. And you have my support..

However I dont trust pirates, and anyone running a pirate flag is trying to steal something. Or trying to do something that isnt right..

Keep us updated and keep us informed.
And let me know how you truely feel about this.

[edit on 26-9-2008 by zysin5]

Greetings,

Zargon's post is exactly true. Only the conspiracy theorists are false. Here is a brief overview of the Lunar Orbiter Data Recovery Project:

This project started in the late 1980's when the National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC) discovered a cache of the only known remaining set of Lunar Orbiter tapes in existence stored in a "salt mine." The story there is that there are abandon salt mines that store government records, as the temperature and humidity are stable. There was some documentation attached indicating what they were and that JPL should be notified as to what their ultimate fate should be. JPL took possession of them in about 1988 or so, as there was some interest in recovering the data so that the images could be digitized and made available to the general public as the pictures were then a bulky 2000, 28" x 30" prints. The problem at that point was that no one knew what technology created the tapes so the format and method was unknown. At the time a private consulting firm became aware of the project and decided to research the issue with the purpose of proposing a data recovery project. After amassing all the Lunar Orbiter literature available, it was determined that the Ampex FR900 tape recorder (the first real video tape recorder), was used to create the tapes. More importantly it was revealed that the data was in an analog format with the video in a format called “Vestigial Sideband Filtered", slow scan TV. This knowledge set about the search for any source of FR900 tape drives. The search covered NASA sites, Vandenberg’s Pacific Missile Range at Kwajalein, the CIA and Egland AFB's radar test site in Florida. Ultimately a total of four tape drives were obtained and as far as is known, are the only remaining drives of their type in the world.

The next problem was to determine if the drives would read a tape without destroying it. After numerous calibrations and experiments on spare tape, it was determined that it would be safe to try one of the Lunar Orbiter tapes. This was done and the specified video spectrum was obtained which proved the capabilities of the drive and that the data on the tape was still there. However, in order to obtain the video from the data, a circuit called the VSB decompressor (or "restorer"), needed to be designed and constructed. This was done and a recognizable sync pulse with video data was retrieved.

This was all accomplished in about 1992. Since then several proposals to NASA and various private sources failed to produce the money required to recover this data. So the tape drives were stored in a "chicken coop" (actually it was a garage / barn combination), for the next 15 or so years. Last year a call was made form the person in the video (who I will only identify as "D" until I can obtain his permission to release his name - though I don't think this mission is actually a secret), called to ask about the tapes and the tape drives as he had some contacts that might be able to help. After visiting the "chicken coop" and ascertaining that the tapes were still at JPL's storage facility, he then made arrangements to transport both to a site in Northern California from the Los Angeles area, which he did. He then assembled a crew of experts in various fields and located a site to carry out his low budget "proof of concept" which turned out to be a McDonalds, which was located on a military base, that was closed due to poor attendance after a government cutback. As it turned out, each of the little tables, normally used for enjoying your "Happy Meal", were excellent workbenches for the various projects associated with bringing the drives back to working condition.

This then is pretty much where it is today. Once five full images are recovered, then the "Proof of Concept" will have been achieved and further funding may follow.

Someone mentioned that Google might be interested. Well they are, and they have visited the site. (More...)

I just don't understand some of the logic around here.

Hi, i'm pretty new here. been lurking quite a long time and i've only recently started to reply to posts. i just have a few things to say. first i would love for this to be a true story that someone somehow uncovered long-lost footage of nasa missions to the moon and is going to restore them in an abandoned mcdonalds and we will finally see what is "really" there that we've been missing all these years. I would love to see buildings on the moon, believe me. but before we go celebrating, lets think about the following:

we haven't seen anything from those tapes.
we (I) have never heard anything about these people.
it doesn't matter if its a mcdonalds or an arbys or a log john silvers.
it only matter whats on those tapes.

what's on those tapes???!!!

there 1 of three possibilities

1. thay are what we want them to be and we will rejoice
2. thay are what we want them to be but we will never see them
3. they are props

nothing else matters

I would expect to see a label much like this one;



on those canisters in the second photo. Much like these NASA archival canisters from Apollo missions;

Continued...

Some information that might be of interest:

The products of the original LO project were:
Tape: 2" wide tape that contained all the mission data. There are about 2,000 of them

GRE file: Ground reconstruction 35mm film that were the reconstructed picture "framelett" data
About 30 of these make up one of the 28" x 30" prints.

Prints: The prints are about 28" x 30" in dimensions

There are 4 kinds of data on the FR900 Lunar Orbiter tapes:
Video: From sync to sync represents one scan line. There are 4 scan lines per meter on the surface at best resolution.
There are about 16,600 scan lines per framelett and there are about 30 framelett's per print.

Telemetry: Another channel in the video data is for telemetry, which reports on the status of the satellite.

Carrier: In order to reconstruct the original video data the carrier must be available.
But because it was suppressed by the VSB processing, it was divided by 8 and stuck in the lower sideband.

Audio: There is an audio channel that the various sites recorded the tape ID on as can be heard in the video.

Film in refrigerator:
Some have said that storing film in a refrigerator would extend its life. This is true only for unexposed film.
For exposed film, it is best to have a stable temperature and humidity, cold has no effect.

Tape storage in canisters in picture:
Note that the canisters in one of the pictures with the yellow tape. These are the 2" wide original LO tapes and
are in excellent condition. What is not in the picture are the GRE film, which were also with the tapes.

Pirate Flag:
The pirate flag was placed on the window was for fun as it was seen by some that this mission was going on
oh, shall we say, by any means possible. More for humor I am sure.

If you want more info let me know.

~ Dr. X ~

Originally posted by zysin5
I did noticed the pirate flag in the window.. Why was it there? Who are the pirates?

Are we looking at radio equipment? Are we being scammed with images of a pirate radio station? McDonalds restaurants look identical around the world.

I'm in East Tennessee and we have an abandoned McDonalds here in town. And we are not some out of the way small town... pretty good sized city. We have three McDonald's here... the one that is abandoned closed and reopened a whole new store on what is called our Bypass (next to our Super Wal-Mart). The sign on the property says "For Sale or Lease". I could rent the property easily if I wanted to. So what is the big deal.

What I think alot of people are forgetting is that McDonald's is a franchise... and they do not own the buildings or property that 'most' McDonald's are in/on (there are a 'few' corporate McDonald's left in the US... but not many). Another thing that some might not be taking into consideration is that we are not talking about some smuck that has these tapes. This man is a millionaire and has traveled the world. He has connections in many fields - it's not hard to imagine him leasing a McDonald's building or having the films. I see this all as very possible. Thanks to the OP for the story. Very interesting.

OMG! WTF!



ARRRR me matey, where are me cheese burger & fries.

Ok, if this is really legit, I could see this being a McDonald's inside a military base, most likely one of the ones that got shut down like 10 years ago.

If this is legit, it would be one of the biggest and most odd disclosures that we have ever seen. However, this idiot went to NAZA already. I would expect now that their Black Ops goons will come and confiscate it all because their precious hiding spot was discovered.

We can always count on Zorgon for something new and exciting.

Thanks Buddy!

reply to post by thecandyman



I believe this story is true. But why would McDonalds not take the expensive kitchen equipment with them? Of course someone in the group could own that particular franchise I guess. Seems like they would be setting themselves up for theft of all this stuff.

Originally posted by MrPenny

Originally posted by zysin5
I did noticed the pirate flag in the window.. Why was it there? Who are the pirates?

Are we looking at radio equipment? Are we being scammed with images of a pirate radio station? McDonalds restaurants look identical around the world.

I hate to say it, but MrPenny has a good point. This could easily be some guys pirate radio station.

I thought that this was one of their new espresso machines.

Thanks for the laugh.

The author of the "external" source article discribes the machine that is reading data as an Ampex tape player.

Does he mean to say that these are computer storage tapes? If so can an Ampex "tape player" read that kind of tape?

I'm not saying that the OP is perpetrating a hoax. Isn't he just posting the info?

However, I really believe this is not real.

Large amounts of classified DATA collected from NASA space missions?

This is probably a McDonald's that was about to undergo remodeling. Before construction started the manager let his buddies set up their stuff, take pics, etc.

There was a McDonald's in my neighborhood with the same decor, same pattern on the upholstered bench seats, etc. They recently demolished it and built a completely new restaurant. It now looks like a Country Kitchen, or farm house type design.



[edit on 26-9-2008 by Electro38]

reply to post by Dr. X


HEy Dr. X I'm sure you will have noticed by now, that all the info you posted has not been read.

Now how do you know all of this? are you working in the project with them?
I would like to know where will this information be available?
Or when will it be made public to the mainstream.


And to all of you crying hoax, well, look at Dr.X posts and wait for his reply.