Oh Say Can You See...?

But the sun does shine through the flags; you can see it on many flag-on-the-moon pictures, as in this example from Apollo 14.

And that's not the only proof. Remember how on page 3, the flag's shadows and wrinkles became reversed? This effect happens if the flag is turned slightly so the light shines through its other side, as in this demonstration:

For these pictures, I placed a wrinkled paper flag in front of a mirror and shined a light along the righthand edge of the flag. The righthand picture was shot with the lamp at a slightly different angle (note the shadows underneath each flag). In this second picture the flag (and its reflection) has now become almost a negative image of the first: dark patches in the lefthand picture have now become light patches in the right, and vice (almost) versa. However, if you were to try my light, mirror, paper experiment with an opaque material you would not get this effect.

(One more thing before we leave these pictures: Note how, even though the flags are wavy, their mirror images are nice and straight. This effect happened because I took these pictures at a high angle while the mirror is reflecting the flag at ground level. Just another example of how different yet simultaneous views of the same object can create an "anomaly" to embarrass the casual analyst.)

The sun was shining along the edge of the Apollo 17 flag. At some point it got turned slightly so the sun shone against the other side. This changed the entire pattern of shadows, thus neatly explaining the illusion and proving that the flag was gauzy enough to cause that illusion.

But what turned the flag? Contrary to a certain CBS-FOX show, there was no breeze to wave it. But there were a couple of astronauts. And what they did to that flag has been preserved for posterity, and particularly on a17v.1182451.rm. The next three flag pictures from that clip show what happened:

	Here is how the flag looked 48 seconds into the clip. Note the y-shaped shadow with which we have become all too familiar. The lower right corner is also curling up; see the slice of angled stripes?
	One minute and 2 seconds later, and you can see Gene Cernan's hand holding the lower right corner of the flag to stretch it out. The shadow patterns are now quite different. To see the other side, this is the pic that Jack took.
	After the last pictures were taken, Gene let go of the flag. It snapped back, whipped around for some seconds with no air to slow it down, and finally settled into this position. And there it stayed until it could be photographed 46 hours later.

The Apollo deniers are a stubborn bunch. They will not yield points even on an illusion this trivial. They cannot afford to; since their case is so lame they need all the pointless "proof" they can produce. So I expect someone will try to say that I am wrong, that the Apollo flags were as gauzy as lead, and they might even dredge up some evidence to support this wild claim. For instance, they might point out that the shadows of the flags were just as dark as the shadows of the flagpoles, as seen in this picture from Apollo 11. They might even suggest that some extra-considerate whistle blowers posted a slew of black shadow pictures on NASA's ALSJ Website to reveal their handiwork and thwart some would-be debunker.

I'm not suggesting David Percy would say this. He's much too intelligent and probably knows perfectly well that any light that shines through a flag would be so diffused that very little would touch the flag's shadow to make any noticeable difference. But just in case someone else thinks that a diaphanous material cannot cast a black shadow, then I suggest two things they can try:

1. Go out some sunny day and look at the shadows of flags;
2. Look at the next picture.

And so, after all this study and experimentation, we can make a number of conclusions:

1. There is no evidence that more than one flag was used for each Apollo mission.
2. The Apollo 16/17 flag anomalies described on pages 43-5 of Dark Moon can be explained by natural effects of perspective distortion, translucence, backlighting, and a false perception of depth.
3. These optical illusions would best occur under a single point of light acting upon an object that seldom moves.
4. The unusual appearance of the flags is fully compatible with the appearance of flags deployed on the moon.
5. If enough pictures are taken of an event, and particularly if that event happens at an unfamiliar location, then some of those pictures are bound to look strange. However, with a bit of thought and perseverance, these illusions can be explained.
   
   And finally....
   
   
6. If the current crop of deniers ever hope to be taken seriously, then they will have to vastly improve their skills in seeing and thinking.