Reality Check with Ross Coulthart
Episode overview

Inside lunar triangle, STS-48 anomaly: The footage the Pentagon has not explained | Reality Check

Reality Check with Ross Coulthart · 5 Egleze moments
Inside lunar triangle, STS-48 anomaly: The footage the Pentagon has not explained | Reality Check
Episode summary

On this episode of Reality Check, host Ross Coulthart interviews Dr. Manali Max Derekshani for the fourth time to examine NASA lunar and orbital anomalies in the wake of the Pentagon's war.gov/ufo document release. The episode centers on evidence the Pentagon and NASA have withheld or downplayed footage showing potentially non-human technology. Most explosive is Coulthart's revelation that Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell told a close friend he was warned it would be "treason" to discuss UFOs witnessed during lunar missions, suggesting official prohibition on astronaut disclosure. Dr. Derekshani presents detailed technical analysis contradicting NASA's prosaic explanations for multiple incidents: the Apollo 17 triangular blue lights now officially termed a "potentially physical object" by the Pentagon, the 1991 STS-48 shuttle footage showing an object making impossible maneuvers calculated at 18,000 G-forces and 430,000 mph, and the 1996 STS-80 mission capturing plasmatic objects moving at over 1 million mph. Coulthart reveals previously undisclosed information about a secret US facility at Australia's Harold E. Holt Naval Communications Station that was bulldozed before being returned to Australian control in 1991, speculating it may have housed directed energy weapons tested during the STS-48 incident filmed overhead. The discussion examines how NASA administrator Bill Nelson's claims of no anomalous UAP evidence contradict the agency's own archives, and why NASA chose to release lower-resolution images when higher-quality scans exist. Both argue these shuttle and Apollo anomalies warrant congressional investigation and represent more compelling evidence of exotic technology than recently released Pentagon videos.

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5 moments from this episode

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01
UFO & Paranormal

Space Shuttle STS-80 Object Tracked Moving 500 Miles Per Second

Dr. Mark Carlotto's 2005 analysis of 1996 Space Shuttle STS-80 footage calculated a tadpole-shaped plasmatic object moved at 500 miles per second (over 1 million mph) after emerging near Puerto Rico. Carlotto noted such speed in atmosphere would generate thermonuclear-level kinetic energy, suggesting exotic propulsion. The shuttle camera operator appeared to anticipate the object's appearance and tracked multiple similar objects during the mission.

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02
UFO & Paranormal

Pentagon Confirms Apollo 17 Blue Lights as Potentially Physical Object

The Department of Defense's war.gov/ufo release officially classified the famous Apollo 17 triangular blue lights photograph as depicting a potentially physical object rather than three separate objects or camera artifacts. Dr. Manali Derekshani explained that multiple scans from different archives show identical configurations, ruling out scanning artifacts, and that NASA has higher-resolution versions it chose not to release publicly.

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03
Espionage

Secret US Facility at Australian Base Bulldozed Before Return to Australia

Coulthart revealed witnesses describe a concrete platform with a metal door concealing a tunnel with flashing lights at Australia's Harold E. Holt facility while under US control (1966-1991). When the facility returned to Australian sovereignty, that specific area was bulldozed and filled in, with Americans providing no explanation. Coulthart speculated this may have been a directed energy weapon test site potentially connected to the STS-48 incident filmed overhead.

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04
UFO & Paranormal

Shuttle STS-48 Object Calculated Moving at 430,000 MPH with 18,000 G-Force

Dr. Jack Kasher's peer-reviewed analysis of 1991 Space Shuttle STS-48 footage calculated that if the main UAP was at the horizon as evidence suggests, it would require 18,000 G-force acceleration and reach 430,000 mph after what appeared to be projectiles fired from Earth. The object made an abrupt 45-degree turn, stopped for half a second, then shot into space, behavior incompatible with NASA's ice particle explanation.

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05
UFO & Paranormal

Astronaut Edgar Mitchell Called Reporting UFO Sightings Treason Under Oath

Host Ross Coulthart revealed that Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell told a close friend he was warned it would be treason to discuss UFOs he witnessed during lunar missions. Mitchell reportedly believed all Apollo missions were followed by intelligently guided craft, and that Apollo 13 crew members were aware of being followed and possibly protected. This suggests a decades-long official prohibition on astronauts discussing anomalous encounters.

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