The Family Photo on the Moon
Lying in the grey dust of the Moon is a photograph of a family: a father, a mother and two small boys, sitting on a bench in their garden.
What was reported
Before Apollo 16 launched in April 1972, the astronaut Charlie Duke promised his two young sons that they could go to the Moon with him. He had a family photograph taken and wrote on the back: 'This is the family of Astronaut Duke from Planet Earth. Landed on the Moon, April 1972.'
On his last moonwalk, he laid it face up on the surface, sealed in plastic, and photographed it there.
Explanations offered
It's almost certainly still there, though the unfiltered sunlight and extreme heat and cold on the Moon will have bleached it long since. Duke is one of the twelve people who have walked on the Moon.
- When
- April 1972
- Where
- Descartes Highlands, the Moon (Apollo 16 landing site)
- Witnesses
- The crew of Apollo 16
- Status
- Confirmed
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.