Is There a Man in the Moon?
Intelligent aliens hold up a mirror to the Earth; PLUS whale book, lollipop man, Erik Larson extract
The following story appeared in multiple newspapers, including the New York Herald, in October 1875.
“Is there a man in the moon? At Pamlateska, the highest point with one exception on the Himalaya range, the Russian Government has for several years maintained an astronomical observatory, from which a remarkable discovery has recently been announced. The particulars are as follows:
For several months a peculiar bright spot had been discovered, shining from the extreme edge of the moon’s disk, at a point where no mountains break the continuity of its perimeter. This light suddenly disappeared and remained invisible for nearly twelve mouths. It has lately reappeared in greater brilliancy than ever, and the immense power of the telescope attached to the above observatory, so well known in the scientific world, has developed the fact that the light proceeds from some huge burnished substance, acting as a mirror, which must be at least 100 feet in diameter. The most astonishing thing in the matter is the almost complete proof that this is actually a mirror of artificial construction, and the theory of the savans at Pamlateska is that it is erected for observing the phases of the earth’s surface.
It is well known that the immense height of that portion of the moon which is turned toward the earth, not only through the well known laws of gravitation, keeps that portion of her surface presented toward us, but also renders it uninhabitable. It is supposed that the side turned from us may have an atmosphere suitable for an animal life, and that intelligent beings, observing the halo of light shed around its horizon by reflections from the earth, may have taken this means to ascertain the cause. Some ingenious device to place a mirror at a height where animal life could not be sustained was the result. It is to be hoped that this discovery may lead to others in regard to our interesting satellite.”
A couple of red flags here suggest that this story might not be completely true. First, the highest point with one exception in the Himalayas is K2, not Pamlateska — which doesn’t seem to exist. Russia does have several important observatories, but they’re in — you know — Russia, not the Himalayas.
However, the idea that intelligent beings on the dark side of the Moon were using a giant mirror to peer around at the Earth is quite charming. (And it is “astonishing” that there was “almost complete proof”.) Back in 1875, knowledge of the Moon’s surface was limited, although telescopes had been focused on it since the time of Galileo Galilei in the 16th century. Galileo doubted there was life on the Moon, but his contemporary Johannes Kepler reckoned that tall Moon men lived in subterranean lunar cities.
By the time of the Pamlateska story, the idea of life on the Moon had been all but dismissed. In the 1830s, British astronomer William Herschel worked out that the air on the Moon must be at least 2,000 times thinner than on Earth and, therefore, completely unsuitable for maintaining intelligent (or stupid) beings. The Moon was uninhabited. But astronomers began to wonder, as they refocused their newer and more powerful telescopes, what about Mars?
As for the intelligent Moon men and their big mirror, the Detroit Free Press published the story with an additional footnote:
“Far be it from us to question the verity of the savans at Pamlateska. We have heard of such a thing as a ‘Moon Hoax’ before, but this, we are sure, is nothing of the kind. Let the savans go on with their lunar observations. We are anxious to hear all they can tell us about our interesting satellite and our neighbors, the Lunatics Union.”
Today, radio telescopes and space probes peer at the furthest reaches of the galaxy. In 2012, the Kepler Space Observatory spotted a strange flickering from a body known as Boyajian’s Star in the constellation Cygnus. Named for scientist Tabetha Boyajian and sometimes referred to as Tabby’s Star, this distant globe of light appears to brighten and fade as if being controlled with a dimmer switch.
Astronomers decided that Boyajian’s Star must be encircled by a huge mass that sporadically blocks its light. Scientists at Penn State University proposed that this mass could be a huge alien megastructure. According to physicist Freeman Dyson, an alien civilisation might be advanced enough to build huge arrays of solar panels around stars to capture their heat and light. Could the mass around Boyajian’s Star be a so-called Dyson sphere?
Most likely, the mass is a dust cloud. But the study of Boyajian’s Star could be useful in future efforts to analyse unusual celestial beings. Last month, the BBC Sky at Night TV presenter Professor Chris Lintott gave a public lecture titled Is it Aliens? The Most Unusual Star in the Galaxy. According to Lintott, the Boyajian’s Star project, which required the involvement of volunteer citizen scientists to sift through masses of findings, is an important research model for the ongoing search for extraterrestrial intelligence. ◆
Recommended
Leviathan; or The Whale by Philip Hoare (2008)
A few weeks ago, I published the story of the Dundee whaling ship The Snowdrop. When I’m writing and researching a piece, I tend to read non-fiction that might share a theme, mood, or atmosphere. One of the books I read while writing The Snowdrop was this Samuel Johnson Prize-winning love letter to one of the planet’s most incredible and mysterious creatures. Philip Hoare is a wonderful writer, and he conveys his fascination and obsession with whales with infectious enthusiasm. Leviathan traces man’s relationship with whales, from baffling early encounters, through the emergence of the brutal whaling trade, to the modern era of respect and protection. I was particularly drawn to the chapters covering Herman Melville and Moby-Dick, a book I admire but have never quite gotten around to finishing. Elegantly written and full of fascinating facts and strange mysteries, Leviathan is a tremendous deep dive into the world of the whale.
You can get Leviathan here, and find it on our Amazon bookshelf.*
If you prefer to listen to your books, you can get the Leviathan audiobook free with an Audible trial via Amazon. The audiobook is yours to keep if you cancel the trial. Amazon Prime members get two free audiobooks instead of one.*
In case you missed it, you can read The Snowdrop here.
The Snowdrop was featured as a Longreads Editors’ Pick.
Another Longreads pick I really liked is this New York Times story by Joe Sexton about a New York school crossing guard: Farewell, and Thanks, to a Man Who Kept Kids Safe. (In the UK we would call him a lollipop man.)
Erik Larson, author of narrative history classics such as The Devil in the White City, has a new book, The Demon of Unrest, about South Carolina’s Fort Sumter and the start of the American Civil War. It’s out today in the UK. You can read an extract here.
Erik was a guest on this newsletter when he published his previous book, The Splendid and the Vile. If you missed that, you can read it here.
More next month. Please share and subscribe. Thanks for reading. ◆
*This publication features Amazon affiliate links. If you use them, I may receive a few pennies to help fund the newsletter. See our Amazon bookshelf here.
Good stuff👍🌹