Speaking of which, did you all hear about the US plan to blow up the moon? It appeared in the Fairfax papers, so it must be
US planned to blow up the moon
In fact the first reference to this story I read was days ago, in that reputable organ of journalistic veracity, The Daily Mail. These quibbles aside, the story is truly fascinating:
The secret project, dubbed 'A Study of Lunar Research Flights' or 'Project A119', was allegedly devised by US military chiefs at the height of the space race in the late 1950s as a show of strength over the Soviet Union, scientists claim.
So, not entirely clear here how this is a plan and not just an idle idea thrown up by a couple of people of unknown influence in the US military. Let's tinker with that headline:
US 'planned' to blow up the moon
It's not entirely clear from the headline either that it's the US military, so maybe we should put some big fat quote marks around 'US', too. Hmmm...
'US' 'planned' to blow up the moon
Also:
The United States planned to carry out an explosion on the moon with a nuclear bomb during the cold war, according to reports.
It seems here they didn't plan to do anything so megalomaniac as explode the entire lunar body, just raise a bit of dust on one side of said lunar body with a bomb. So:
'US' 'planned' to 'blow up' the moon
Can't fault the involvement of the moon in all this, though. The research in The Age and The Daily Mail regarding the definitive presence of the moon in this story is of undoubted merit. However, the story now seems to be something like the following: a group within the US, though not the US themselves planned, in a way that doesn't seem to have involved much more than thought a bit about the possibility, to explode, in a non-destructive manner, a body of dust on a particular part of the moon.
I'm not sure if that would fit very well in the headline space though...
10 comments:
They were going to destroy a Bond villain, weren't they? I see it all so clearly. Not science, not geopolitical bullying, there was some twisted bastard holed up in a mooncano, stroking a pussy, and making threats against humanity.
I think you are totally right.
I usually am.
Gawd. I hope the Daily Mail never gets wind of some of Australia's plans*. Nudist Neo Nazis to Hijack Nuclear Submarines to Wage Green Eco War on Ships Carrying Coal.
* I am part of Australia, so it counts.
Gawd. I hope the Daily Mail never gets wind of some of Australia's plans*. Nudist Neo Nazis to Hijack Nuclear Submarines to Wage Green Eco War on Ships Carrying Coal.
* I am part of Australia, so it counts.
I just appeared twice for reasons mysterious. The Mail will onto that...
Thewaysheworetime - 'usually'?
I mean, that's very modest of you.
Steve my favourite story about whacky US plans is the one where the CIA tried to dope Cuba's water to make Castro's beard fall out.
Modesty is also one of my gifts. Oh yeah.
Post a Comment