(a) Sophisticated weapons used on Luna at or near time of Lunarian
presence, mainly on Farside. Lunarian involvement implied but not
proved.
(b) If Lunarians involved, possibility of more widespread conflict
embracing Lunarian home planet. Possible cause of Lunarian
extinction.
(c) Charlie was a member of more than a small, isolated expedition
to our Moon. A significant Lunarian presence on the Moon is
indicated. Mainly concentrated on Farside. Practically all traces
since obliterated by meteorite storm.
chapter twelve
Front page feature of the New York Times,
14 October 2028:
LUNARTAN PLANET LOCATED
Did Nuclear War Destroy Minerva?
Sensational new announcements by UN Space Arm Headquarters,
Washington, D.C., at last positively identify the home planet of
the Lunarian civilization, known to have achieved space flight and
reached Earth’s Moon fifty thousand years ago. Inf ormation pieced
together during more than a year of intense work by teams of
scientists based at the UNSA Navigation and Communications Division
Headquarters, Houston, Texas, shows conclusively that the Lunarians
came from an Earth-like planet that once existed in our own Solar
System.
A tenth planet, christened Minerva after the Roman goddess of
wisdom, is now known to have existed approximately 250 million
miles from the Sun between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, in the
position now occupied by the Asteroid Belt, and is firmly
established as having been the center of the Lunarian civilization.
In a further startling announcement, a UNSA spokesman stated that
data collected recently at the Lunar bases, following research at
the University of Nebraska, Omaha, and the UNSA Mineralogy and
Petrology Laboratories, Pasadena, California, indicate that a
large-scale nuclear conifict took place on the Moon at the time the
Lunarians were there. The possibility that Minerva was destroyed in
a full-scale nuclear holocaust of interplanetary dimensions cannot
be ruled out.
Nucleonic Bombs Used at Crisium
Investigations in recent months at the University of Nebraska and
Pasadena give positive evidence that nucleonic bombs have caused
craters on the Moon previously attributed to meteorite
impacts. H-bomb and A-bomb effects are also suspected but cannot be
confirmed.
Dr. Saul Steinfield of the Department of Physics at the University
of Nebraska explained: “For many years we have known that Lunar
Farside craters are very much younger than most of the craters on
Nearside. All the Farside craters, and a few of the Nearside ones,
date from about the time of the Lunarians, and have always been
thought to be meteoritic. Most of them, including all Farside ones,
are. We have now proved, however, that some of the Nearside ones
were made by bombs-for example, a few on the northern periphery of
Mare Crisium and a couple near Tycho. So far, we’ve identified
twenty-three positively and have a long list to check out.”
Further evidence collected from deep below the Farside surface
indicates heavier bombing there than on Nearside. Obliteration of
the original Farside surface by a heavy meteorite storm immediately
after these events, accounts for only meteorite craters being found
there today and makes detailed reconstruction of exactly what took
place unlikely. “The evidence for higher activity on Farside is
mainly statistical,” said Steinfield yesterday. “There’s no way you
could figure anything specific-for example, an actual crater
count-under all that garbage.”
The new discoveries do not explain why the meteorite storm happened
at this time. Professor Pierre Guillemont of the Hale Observatory
commented: “Clearly, there could be a connection with the Lunarian
presence. Personally, I would be surprised if the agreement in
dates is just a coincidence, although that, of course, is possible.
For the time being, it must remain an unanswered question.”
Clues from ILIAD Mission
Startling confirmation that Minerva disintegrated to form the
Asteroid Belt has been received from space. Examination of Asteroid
samples carried out on board the spacecraft Iliad, launched from
Luna fifteen months ago to conduct a survey of parts of the Belt,
shows many Asteroids to be of recent origin. Data beamed back to
Mission Control Center at UNSA Operational Command Headquarters,
Galveston, Texas, gives cosmic-ray exposure times and orbit
statistics pinpointing Minerva’s disintegration at fifty thousand
years ago.
Earth scientists are eagerly awaiting arrival of the first Asteroid
material to be sent back from Iliad, which is due at Lana in six