NASA is under fire from many different groups after an image of Titan taken by the Cassini space probe reveals quite a bit was taken out of the original image. And while the controversy heats up, both sides of the argument are proposing different explanations for the obvious photoshop chop of something in the picture, and what it may be hiding. And with rumors that NASA has practiced photoshopping to remove unexplained objects from their photos, the controversy only finds more fuel for the fires of controversy.
The photo was originally taken by the Cassini orbiter as it made a flyby of Jupiter and took several photographs of the planet’s moon Titan, which has long been spoken of as one of the potential planets to contain life and even vast oceans of liquid water since late last year. But when youtube users turned up the contrast on the image making it brighter, an obvious series of brush strokes were clearly made visible surrounding the second half of the moon.
So what is the cause of this mysterious photographic anomaly? As NASA scrambles to avoid another controversy brought about by conspiracy theory, several others are stepping forward demanding an explanation. Enter Emily Lackdawalla, who claims she made the touch up because of the way NASA’s Cassini space probe takes photos. After the image was taken, she says one would have looked alright to observers but not the others. And as such photoshop was employed to exact the change that would allow both Titan and Jupiter to appear in perfect clarity to the public. But is this a sufficient explanation?
First, let’s take a look at the image itself. By simply reversing the image or raising the brightness, it is immediately apparent that something strange is going on. But is the type of brush stroke being used one that would suggest the blotting out of a distant alien craft?
NASA has admitted to using photoshop and other programs like it that edit images in order to make those images look clearer, but some ex NASA workers have also come forward claiming photo editing is used to cover up an alien presence around the planet. Ms. Donna Hare, in conjunction with the Disclosure Project led by Stephen Greer outlined an encounter she had while working with NASA where she was shown slides that suggested an extraterrestrial presence had been built on the Lunar surface and Mars. Hare went on to say that NASA conducted these types of coverups in order to stop the public from knowing about the presence of alien craft in our solar system.
But what about the official explanation by Emily Lackdawalla? While it certainly doesn’t seem beyond the realm of possibility to suggest a cover-up of sorts to regulate sensitive material in space for any number of reasons (not simply an alien presence) the haphazard and rushed method used to photoshop the entire edge of a planet away could have certainly been nothing more than NASA scientists attempting to get their money’s worth of Jupiter and Titan. Had there been anything truly sensitive in the photo, it stands to reason that it may not have even been released in the first place. Certainly one photo among millions would not have been missed. And if a massive coverup were involved, it may have enjoyed more attention to detail.
But then again, it’s not impossible to think that if NASA scientists were so commonly used to cover up incidents involving UFOs in space that one of the millions of doctored photos would have skipped over a level of the editing process and turned up entirely unconvincing.