DID UNIDENTIFIED SOUND RATTLE STAR-CROSSED APOLLO 13?
LISTEN TO SOUND HERE
For years, the theory of what happened to the ill-fated voyage of the Apollo 13 mission was
irrefutable: an electrical fault caused an explosion in the oxygen tanks, depriving the Service Module
of the power it needed to return home.
But is that the whole truth?
It has emerged that astronauts aboard the Apollo 13 mission heard strange sounds according to a
rivetting recreation of the events that caused the world to pause and pray for the team’s safety.
The recreation, currently being recreated at Downstage Theatre, contends that the astronauts heard
something akin to music on their voyage – that did not come from the Apollo 13 spacecraft.
Furthermore, new information in the form of strange etchings on the module casing have come to
light that point to something intriguing. Possibly sinister, but definitely intriguing.
Mission commander Jim Lovell, played by actor Jack Shadbolt, reported as follows:
“Well, ah, I think we were shooting over New Zealand at the time; it was just before I asked Jack
(Swiggert – Command Module Pilot) to stir the tanks, like we normally do – but of course this time it
unleashed a whole pile of… well I think the Maori call it kaka,” said Lovell.
“But before that moment, we were all bugging out to some strange sounds. It sounded like music,
but we’d not brought our iTape with us on the mission. Ya’know, I thought ol Fred (Haise – Lunar
Module Pilot) had stuck a bit of acid in our drinks or something. I said ‘Dude! That’s some interesting
tunes man’.
“It was like some unknown orchestra of mortals or something. But I tell ya what: it was good.”
Authorities at Apollo 13 Mission Control have failed to locate the source of the music so far, but
believed it was connected with the Unknown Mortal Orchestra.
Meanwhile, the award-winning APOLLO 13: Mission Control season continued at Downstage Theatre
in Wellington after opening to sell-out performances on Friday October 29 and Saturday October 30.
The show runs to December 18, with the production set to tour Australia in 2011 and the US in 2012
