Reptilian Encounter

This is a transcript of the last audio recording from Apollo 18; the astronauts never returned from the moon.  

0900 hours on February 5, 1973

Apollo 18:  “Houston, Apollo 18.”

Mission Control: “Go ahead with your traffic Brandon.”

Apollo 18:  “We’re at the lunar cave.  Making entry to take geologic samples.”

Mission Control: “Roger that.  Be safe gentlemen.  Mission Control Out.”

0903 hours- Apollo 18 astronauts talking to each other over the radio, recorded by Mission Control.

Brandon: “It’s darker in here than I expected, even with our lights”

Andrew: “Luckily our suits are bright-white so we will be able to see each other with no problems.”

(Mild Static)

Brandon: “Haha, yea, the white is pretty vibrant down here in the dark.  Too bad they're so bulky and clumsy.”

Andrew:  “We have to be extremely careful.  These rough cave walls are jagged and razor sharp.  They will cut right through our suits and air hoses.”

(Static)

Brandon: “Definitely.  This cave gives me the creeps for some reason.”

Andrew: (laughing) “Yes, me too.  There’s definitely something eerie about it.  I wonder how far it goes?”

(Subtle swishing sounds made by spacesuits as the astronauts move, oxygen hissing through air hoses as astronauts breathe)

Brandon:  “I don’t know.  Let’s take our samples here.  I think we’ve gone far enough.”

Andrew:  “Roger that.  Houston, Apollo 18.”

Mission Control: (static, unclear voices)

Andrew:  “Houston, you are coming in broken and unreadable.”

Mission Control: (static, buzzing sounds, unclear voices)

Brandon: “Must be these cave walls causing radio interference.  Houston, if you copy, we are taking core samples.”

(Static)

0905 hours

(Tool sounds, laborious breathing, spacesuit sounds)

Andrew: “I never thought we’d be taking rock samples from a cave (heavy breathing) on the moon together when we were getting our geology degrees (move heavy breathing).”

(Static, faint clicking sounds on radio)

Brandon: “Me neither (heavy breathing).  I wonder what formed this cave?  No water (breathing)....No erosion.  So what forces produced this cave?”

(Tool sounds, pause in conversation)

Andrew:  “I don’t know.  It’s a mystery for sure,  but these samples should tell us.”

(Static, clicking sounds)

0907 hours

(Clicking sounds become louder, more frequent as static subsides)

Brandon: “What’s producing these clicking sounds??”

Andrew: “Must be our radio waves bouncing off the cave walls and reverberating back through our receivers.”

Brandon: “Sounds like the clicks that dolphins make for ecolation.”

Andrew: “Why would we be hearing that over the radio?”

Brandon: “No clue.”

(Clicks, breathing)

Andrew: “Houston, Apollo 18.  If you copy, we are hearing strange clicking sounds…are you picking any of this up?”

Mission Control: (Indiscernible voices)

(Clicks are very clear and seems to be a form of communication)

Brandon: (Gasps) “What the…”

(Two different pitches of clicks heard on radio)

Andrew: (breathing heavy)  “I don’t like these clicks.”

Brandon: “Me neither; I swear they sound like echolocation.”

Andrew: “I almost feel crazy agreeing with you.”

(Breathing)

Brandon: “Don’t.  I have a bad feeling about staying in this cave, especially since we don’t have clear communications with Houston.”

Andrew: “Houston, if you read, we are aborting this EVA.” 

(Static)

(Spacesuit noises, breathing noises inside space helmet, oxygen hissing)

0909 hours

Andrew: “Did you see that?”

Brandon: “See what? (nervous breathing)”

(Clicking sounds)

Andrew: “I swear I just saw movement ahead of us… in the shadows over there (frightened tone).”

Brandon: “Probably just your flashlight casting a weird shadow off a rock? (nervous tone).”

Andrew:  “No, it..it was gray and it looked like a reptile or someth…OH MY GOD- THERE!”

(Loud clicks)

Brandon: “W..WH..WHAT IS THAT THING? OH F**K IT’S HUGE!” (heavy inhale sound)

Andrew: “IT’S COMING FOR US, RUN!”

Mission Control: (indiscernible panicked voices)

(Heavy breathing, spacesuit noises, hysterical panicked voices)

Brandon: “THERE’S ANOTHER ONE! (heavy breathing) OH S**T! AHHHHHHHHH IT’S GOT ME!  HELP ME!  NO! NO! NOOOOOOOOO! AHHHHHHHHH!”

(Violent smashing and ripping sounds, horrific screams, gasping for air, gurgling sound)

Andrew: “BRANDON NOOOOOO! SOMEBODY HELP US!  (extreme panic, heavy breathing)  NO BRANDON! (crying).”

Brandon: (Faint indiscernible sounds).

-End of telemetry from Brandon-

Andrew: “MAYDAY HOUSTON MAYDAY…WE’RE BEING ATTACKED…SOMEBODY HELP US! (extreme panic, heavy breathing)

Mission Control: (static, indiscernible voices)

(Heavy breathing, spacesuit noises, clicking)

Andrew:  “HOUSTON PLEASE!  SOMEBODY!! HELP! (hysterical crying, panic)

(Loud clicks)

Andrew: “OH MY GOD NOOOOOO!  AHHHHH NOOO!!  OH S**T HELP! (extremely fast, heavy breathing)  IT’S GOT ME AHHHHHHH PLEASE NO AHHHHHHHHHH!!”

Mission Control: (indiscernible panic)

Andrew: SOMEBODY HELP ME! AHHHHHHHHHHH!  

(Blood-curdling screams, violent smashing sounds, gasping for air)

-End of telemetry from Andrew-

The Apollo 18 astronauts are presumed dead by 0912