Can the past change? It sounds incredible, but scientists are debating exactly this, with various theories ranging from quantum mechanics to the many-worlds interpretation. If it could, how would it appear to us? The internet is buzzing with wild ideas, so it's time to go over where they originated, and consider in detail what exactly might be causing it.
Alternate: The broadcast showed it, then was cut short
Current: This broadcast never happened
Houston: Did you see that?
On Wednesday December 13th, 1972, Apollo 17 astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt drove their lunar rover 20 miles across the surface of the moon whilst NASA transmitted their journey live across America, via CBS.
Commentating on this was renowned broadcaster Walter Cronkite, who had become world famous for his coverage of many historic events such as Watergate, JFK and Vietnam.
Apollo 17 live feed cut short
At 8:40 pm the cameras, which were being operated remotely from earth, panned across the moonscape and showed a huge rectangular structure in the distance between some hills. Without warning, the feed was cut for 20 minutes. Cronkite exclaimed "That looks like a man made object!". Footage showing the astronauts which was recorded earlier was then shown instead.
When Cronkite returned, he said that apparently the camera had recorded a part of itself.
No record of this exists today. Was this really shown, and so those who claim to remember it are experiencing a false memory, or is there more to this than at first appears?
Photograph
The broadcast of the building isn't the end of the story. During a routine interview with a NASA employee in 2016, which was filmed, a photograph on the desk of the employee got conspiracy theorists buzzing because when they magnified it, it "appeared to show a building on the moon". Anthony Colapret, the NASA person interviewed, was resting his arm on it during the recording. Some go even further, and speculate that inside NASA there are whistle blowers who want the truth to come out, but can't speak openly so have to revert to this kind of subterfuge in order to get the message out.
There's not really a Mandela Effect here, but there is an MMDE because if true, NASA has engaged in propaganda and false news for decades, for reasons best known to itself.
