In 1954, UFO researcher Donald Keyhoe told newspapers that the United States Air Force had reported that two satellites orbiting Earth had been detected. Rather than dismissing this claim let’s perform some simple thought experiments and assume that there is some truth to the claim.
First we will have to omit the well known satellite commonly called the moon from our analysis. Although there are very interesting schools of thought about the moon being an artificial satellite, which are more intriguing when we explore the hollow moon hypothesis, we will assume that these alleged reports were not referencing the moon at least for now.
So, it’s 1954 and no known group of humans have launched any satellites yet. However, two have been discovered. What would be the reaction? Some people would probably speculate that it was the Soviets and they launched it in secret. Some might speculate that it was secretly launched before the end of the war by the Germans. And some might speculate that it’s alien in origin. Still some might speculate that it may have been there for a very long time and is a remnant from an ancient civilization.
How do we analyze these different hypotheses? Let’s start by pointing out that such a situation absolutely would lead to obsessive secrecy as every single scenario is cause for alarm. Let’s also acknowledge that the Soviets did in fact launch the first known satellite only 3 years later in 1957 during the International Geophysical Year. This makes the hypothesis that the Dark Knight was a secret Soviet test run seem plausible. Launching the first satellite in secret does make sense as it’s likely that publicly launching to catastrophic failure would be embarrassing. However, if it wasn’t the Soviets it’s possible that the Soviets launched their satellite as a response to knowing about the Black Knight. They would equally be concerned about the Black Knight and speculating that it’s secret US technology.
The Black Knight satellite is alleged to be in polar orbit. It’s interesting then to point out that the International Geophysical Year was already being planned by this time as it was proposed as early as 1950. The International Council of Scientific Unions had declared July 1, 1957, to December 31, 1958, a time of high solar activity, the International Geophysical Year (IGY,) and resolved that artificial satellites should be launched to assist in mapping the earth and the atmosphere. The Soviets wasted little time in doing so and the US quickly created NASA in response. The space race was born. But what if the IGY was cover for researching the Black Knight? What if nobody knew whose satellite it was?
Let’s point out that the age of pointing telescopes in the sky and searching for things such as satellites didn’t exist yet. So, the idea that there has been an artificial satellite for thousands of years and only discovered in the 50’s is plausible. There wasn’t much reason to look for one until that point let alone the technology to do it. It is interesting to point out that if there was an advanced ancient civilization on earth that one thing we might expect to find is their satellites and space junk still in orbit. So, if the Black Knight satellite is real and not some secret early test launch by a nation state on Earth, then it could be evidence of some long lost technology. Of course, it also could be extra terrestrial in origin as well. Both are fascinating ideas to ponder in their own right. It’s fair to say, that if the Black Knight satellite is real, it would’ve been very secret as it’s mystery would represent some of our worst Cold War fears as well as some of our worst sci fi fears. The unknown unknowns would make it perhaps one of the most potentially dangerous yet important enigmas to solve.
In the event that the Black Knight is real and it wasn’t launched by any modern Earthly nation state, the entire space race that broke out during the Cold War would have to be viewed in a completely different light. It would make the accusations of the US space program being highly secretive and engaging in cover up make far more sense because that’s exactly what it would do in such a context as well as every other nation. It also would make theories such as the moon being an artificial satellite seem far more plausible. And once we do this, the Chapel Bell experiments also look very different in this new light. Why were experiments that indicate the moon rings like a bell classified? Could the moon be hollow? Does it being hollow indicate it’s not natural? What are the implications of a hollow moon being natural? Does that then require us to re-examine hollow earth theory?
To circle this all back, I’ve discovered that in the 1880’s Congress approved an expedition to Antartica to literally explore if the hollow earth theory is true. It was controversial and basically got shut down before it ever started, but eventually an expedition did happen although it apparently only made it to the shore. The point is that there is a very real history to people genuinely interested in hollow earth theory engaging in Antarctic research. It was reportedly very much a part of the thinking for the Nazi expeditions before WW2 broke out. I’m not claiming that any of this is what’s actually going on. Remember, this is a thought experiment. I’m simply pointing out a kind of imaginative unwinding of scenarios from the starting point of just imagining that the discovery of two mysterious satellites in 1954 was very real. Perhaps Keyhoe was mistaken, misled, or lying. However, it’s very interesting to ponder what if he was right? It would mean that the entire space age as presented to the public was largely a lie. It would mean that the “other” category was never actually ruled out and a major component of the research.
This fun little thought experiment forces me to suggest that the UFO community and its skeptics should perhaps take a close look at Keyhoe’s claims about these satellites. Perhaps they were real and just early secret launches. It’s very plausible. If so, then there should no longer be a need to classify this. The unfortunate reality is that in the event that they are real and represent an “other” category, the tensions of the Cold War most definitely would’ve created a solid framework for cover up and denial. It also begs the questions, could we go up there and retrieve these satellites and have we already?
submitted by /u/efh1
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