Manic Monday on the Moon…
Jyly 20th, 1969. I remember it well. I was 5, and Man was about to land on the Moon. Trouble was, it was happening way past my bedtime, and there was no way I could convince anyone that I should be allowed to watch this momentous event – kids should be in bed. And I was put to bed, regardless of my pleading.
Those were the days when news on TV were reported in radio form unless they had a camera on the scene as things were happening – everything was live, and the world as we saw it through the TV screen was black and white.
I did see it. The television had a prime location in our living room, which meant that it was also in full view from the staircase just outside.
At the appointed hour, I snuck down, and watched the whole thing from the staircase. The picture was blurred, and I couldn’t understand a word that was said, but I saw it, and it was awesome. No one stirred from their seats in front of the TV, so I was able to sneak back into bed unnoticed when it was all over.
Maybe it was a hoax to fool the Soviet Union, maybe it never happened, I don’t know. As I was looking for a picture to post here, I came across loads of “proof” that it wasn’t real, and some of it is quite convincing.
Fabricating footage of a moonwalk would have been much easier than actually doing it, I guess. I can’t help thinking that NASA would have made a much better job of it though (both the footage and the destruction of the evidence), if it were fake. After all, with the cold war and space race going on, both world peace and US credibility were at stake.
Funnily enough, I don’t really care. At the time, it was a marvelous thing to watch, and something that fueled my imagination for many years afterwards.
I hope for their sakes that they were actually there. For me, who saw them, huddled on a staircase – live from the Moon – it was an experience I’ll never forget.
Stumble it!
