THE US REPORT

Astronaut Dr. Edgar Mitchell, an Apollo 14 veteran, says governments have covered up alien contact for years. The revelation came during an interview with an Australian Radio Station. News Digital Media (Australia) reported the story, 'Moonwalker claims alien contact coverup.' "It's been well covered up by all our governments for the last 60 years or so, but slowly it's leaked out and some of us have been privileged to have been briefed on some of it," he said. This echoes claims of past civilizations on other planets by respected author Richard C. Hoagland, whose book 'Dark Mission' makes a good case for governments keeping information about life on other planets from citizens because of potential widespread fear. Dr. Mitchell, along with Alan Shepard, holds the record for the longest moon walk, 9 hours and 17 minutes. I highly recommend Hoagland's book. Read other stories about this subject in our category, 'Space.' Dr. Mitchell joins others like Hoagland in claiming Earth has indeed been contacted by others from space.  NDM says Mitchell says, " ... our technology is not nearly as sophisticated as theirs and had they been hostile, we would be been gone by now. " 

  

Photo of Dr. Edgar Mitchell walking on the moon in 1971. Courtesy of NASA.

The Wall Street Journal's article about a new focus in the Salmonella-Tomato investigation is being picked up by many newspapers. This investigation has really hit Florida's tomato growers hard. I wrote about this at Covering Florida. I never believed the Salmonella was related to our state's crop simply because my family and I have eaten them in salads, homemade salsas (I grew my own Cilantro), and other dishes. We're fine.  Florida has had 2 cases of Salmonella. So I figure if this really had anything to do with The Sunshine State crop, we'd have way more cases than 2. Goes to show you an investigation like this can really be difficult. I hope the FDA is analyzing data carefully. I just don't understand how this can be such a difficult case. References below include links to a variety of articles and to the FDA page on the Salmonella serotype Saintpaul, which FDA says is uncommon. We probably have problems with Salmonella more than we realize. The illness isn't usually fatal for most of us and symptoms mimic what many refer to as "stomach flu."  The WSJ says now the FDA is looking at the possibility jalapeno peppers are the culprit in the Salmonella situation. Stay tuned, but make note of the numbers of Salmonella Staintpaul cases in each state on the CDC map below.

In the Kenyan village of Kegogi near the town of Kisii, 15 people, mostly elderly women, were murdered in late May because villagers in the rural area believed the women were witches.  CNN says this may be “difficult for modern-day Western cultures to fathom.” That’s a bit silly, considering our own American history’s Salem Witch Trials. As I grew up, my grandmothers told us tales about witches. And in the early 1980s, I did a story for SC Wildlife magazine about a woman named Aunt Ellen whose healing powers in the South Carolina Lowcountry were well-known; some called her a witch.

I walked the Lowcountry woods with Aunt Ellen one spring afternoon. She knew what every single flower, shrub and tree in those woods was good for. She knew their names and how to make a tea or poultice. She had delivered babies for scores of years and was much loved as a midwife. She was one of the most amazing women I’ve ever interviewed. But Aunt Ellen wasn't my only experience with a "witch."

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Every time you see mention of a UFO on the news, the anchors always make those corny jokes about little green men. And most of the time if they do comment, they’re completely inaccurate. A few days ago, a Fox News anchor said the Phoenix Lights were fabricated by guys lighting candles on helium balloons. Think about that statement and check out the photos on The Phoenix Lights website. Obviously, the anchor didn’t think to check out the facts. And he certainly didn’t look at the photos. Helium balloons don't fly in formation. I'm not saying the lights are flying saucers. But I'm not buying that they're balloons either. If NASA experts think it's feasible to study whether life exists elsewhere, what does that tell you?

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I catch a lot of flak for my open-minded approach to mysteries in space, especially for not dissing the possiblity of UFOs. But I came across a story about  NASA’s Moon Trees recently and admitted to myself  if someone told me about trees that literally traveled from Earth to Moon to Earth I probably wouldn't believe it. But this story happens to be true. The seeds literally were part of the Moon orbit, however. They weren’t taken to the lunar surface.

According to the National Space Science Data Center, Apollo 14 launched in the late afternoon of January 31, 1971. Five days later Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell walked on the Moon while Stuart Roosa, a former U.S. Forest Service smoke jumper, orbited above in the command module. Packed in small containers in Roosa's personal kit were hundreds of tree seeds, part of a joint NASA/USFS project. Upon return to Earth, the seeds were germinated by the Forest Service. Known as the "Moon Trees", the resulting seedlings were planted throughout the United States (often as part of the nation's bicentennial in 1976) and the world. They stand as a tribute to astronaut Roosa and the Apollo program.

Seeds were chosen from five different types of trees: Loblolly Pine, Sycamore, Sweetgum, Redwood, and Douglas Fir. The seeds were classified and sorted, and control seeds were kept on Earth for later comparison. Roosa carried about 400 - 500 seeds in his personal kit which stayed with him as he orbited the Moon in the command module "Kitty Hawk" in February, 1971. Unfortunately, the seed cannisters burst open during the decontamination procedures after their return to Earth, and the seeds got mixed together and were presumed to be no longer viable. Turns out they were viable and the rest is history.

NASA has a list of Moon Tree locations on the agency website, and there’s a photo of a Moon Tree, a Sycamore, [photo above] at the Goddard Space Flight Center. President Gerald Ford even sent a congratulatory Moon Tree telegram to mark the planting of the trees. Next time you want to strike up a conversation, try telling someone you can't prove the existence of UFOs (yet), but  there are Moon Trees growing right here on Earth and NASA confirms your claim.

For related stories and sources, click on the References link below.

[Text filed by Kay B. Day; photo from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.]