The Blair Cuspids
A spacecraft photo of the Moon showed a group of spires casting long, sharp shadows, arranged, some said, like a pattern.
What was reported
In November 1966, NASA's Lunar Orbiter 2 photographed an area of the Sea of Tranquillity from orbit. With the Sun low in the sky, a group of objects cast long, pointed shadows across the ground, like spires.
A researcher, William Blair, suggested the spires were arranged in a geometric pattern, and newspapers asked whether they could be artificial. They became known as the Blair Cuspids.
Explanations offered
Planetary scientists explained that the 'spires' are ordinary boulders, a few metres tall, whose shadows were stretched enormously by the very low Sun. Later, sharper photos of the area show natural rocks and no pattern. It's a classic example of how shadows can mislead on the Moon.
- When
- Photographed in November 1966
- Where
- Sea of Tranquillity, the Moon
- Witnesses
- The Lunar Orbiter 2 spacecraft
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.