Pentagon files revive 1970s NASA discussion of possible lunar 'space base'

A 55-minute audio recording released by the U.S. Defense Department on June 12 as part of 71 newly declassified files captures a closed-door NASA meeting held after the 1972 Apollo 16 mission, in which agency specialists discussed laser measurements, lunar gravity and unusual observations. During the session, participants reviewed a large depression near the Van de Graaff crater on the far side of the Moon, with one attendee suggesting the structure could be a space base, the Daily Mirror reported. The remark followed more technical scientific assessments and was characterized by the newspaper as a joking comment rather than a formal finding. The release comes under a U.S. government decision to declassify materials related to unidentified aerial phenomena and the possibility of extraterrestrial life. The audio is among 71 files published by the Pentagon on June 12, opening a window into internal NASA discussions that have remained out of public view for decades. Apollo 16, crewed by astronauts John Young, Thomas Mattingly and Charles Duke, landed in the Descartes region of the Moon in April 1972 and remains one of the last crewed lunar missions. The Van de Graaff crater, located in the lunar far side's southern hemisphere, is a roughly 100-kilometer-wide feature that has long drawn scientific interest for its unusual gravity readings. No further details on the meeting's agenda or participants were immediately disclosed.