Sabine Hossenfelder
Flawed distance calculations render recent lunar spacecraft claims groundless, but the Moon's slow erosion warrants a systematic search for dormant extraterrestrial probes.
AI-assisted summary of Astronomers Claim To Have Seen Alien Spacecraft On the Moon — original source. Check the original for full context.
Source published:
Key ideas
- A non-peer-reviewed paper by Ukrainian researchers claimed to detect 20 to 40 km wide UFOs moving at 11 km/s around the Moon, but the claims suffer from critical analysis flaws including lack of triangulation and artifacts resolving to just 2x2 pixels. (0:00)
- Historical records, including accounts from Apollo 11, 12, and 17 astronauts, document multiple unexplained flashes and moving silhouettes on the Moon that do not all neatly fit standard explanations like meteorite impacts. (2:01)
- Physicists have argued since 2013 that the Moon offers an ideal, slow-eroding environment where ancient extraterrestrial monitoring artifacts could survive for hundreds of millions of years, though no dedicated database or search exists. (3:18)
Detailed notes
## Background Published on YouTube by Sabine Hossenfelder on August 18, 2026, this video investigates sensational headlines reporting that astronomers discovered over twenty giant alien spacecraft around the Moon. According to the description, Hossenfelder sets out to dismantle the tabloid-fueled hype while exploring an overlooked, genuinely serious scientific inquiry beneath the noise.
## TL;DR Hossenfelder thoroughly debunks a non-peer-reviewed paper by Ukrainian researchers claiming 20-to-40-kilometer alien spacecraft are stationed on the Moon, revealing that the authors committed severe data errors by attempting to calculate size and speed from single-point observations as small as 2x2 pixels. She then catalogs credible, historically documented lunar flashes and transit anomalies recorded by Apollo astronauts and amateur astronomers that lack tidy explanations. While ruling out active alien fleets, she highlights a peer-reviewed 2013 concept suggesting the Moon's geologically quiet surface makes it the prime solar system location to look for dormant extraterrestrial artifacts left behind over the past billion years. Ultimately, she advocates for creating a dedicated lunar anomaly database distinct from terrestrial UAP reports, before concluding with a sponsor segment for the privacy service Incogni.
## Atmosphere & style The presentation carries Sabine's signature blend of deadpan skepticism, sharp wit, and accessible scientific rigor. Watching the breakdown feels like a brisk, refreshing reality check, peppered with colorful exasperation as she jokes about exploded 'bullshit meters' and European potato databases. The tone moves seamlessly from amused debunking of sensational tabloids to thoughtful, open-minded scientific curiosity regarding how humanity might realistically search for ancient signs of intelligent life.
## Bulletin - [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WUril5ij5g&t=0s) A non-peer-reviewed paper by Ukrainian researchers claimed to detect 20 to 40 km wide UFOs moving at 11 km/s around the Moon, but the claims suffer from critical analysis flaws including lack of triangulation and artifacts resolving to just 2x2 pixels. - [02:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WUril5ij5g&t=121s) Historical records, including accounts from Apollo 11, 12, and 17 astronauts, document multiple unexplained flashes and moving silhouettes on the Moon that do not all neatly fit standard explanations like meteorite impacts. - [03:18](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WUril5ij5g&t=198s) Physicists have argued since 2013 that the Moon offers an ideal, slow-eroding environment where ancient extraterrestrial monitoring artifacts could survive for hundreds of millions of years, though no dedicated database or search exists.
## Key takeaways - [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WUril5ij5g&t=0s) Sensational media reports picked up a non-peer-reviewed paper claiming over 20 giant UFOs use the Moon as an active operational base. - [00:25](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WUril5ij5g&t=25s) The Ukrainian researchers behind the paper used a 15-centimeter telescope and claimed some objects were ring-shaped and traveling up to 11 kilometers per second. - [00:53](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WUril5ij5g&t=53s) Two of the paper's authors previously faced institutional criticism for a flawed analysis of fast-moving aerial objects over Ukraine due to faulty distance assumptions. - [01:22](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WUril5ij5g&t=82s) Because the lunar observations came from a single vantage point with objects resolving to only 2x2 pixels, distance and size cannot be triangulated, rendering the data functionally useless. - [02:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WUril5ij5g&t=121s) Declassified government files and historical mission logs show Apollo astronauts repeatedly witnessed strange flashes and particles escaping or moving across the lunar surface. - [02:44](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WUril5ij5g&t=164s) Amateur and professional astronomers have consistently recorded unidentified dark silhouettes crossing the lunar disc across several decades. - [03:18](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WUril5ij5g&t=198s) A 2013 peer-reviewed paper suggested that looking for dormant alien monitoring probes on the Moon is plausible due to exceptionally slow erosion rates from micrometeorites. - [03:52](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WUril5ij5g&t=232s) Tens-of-meters-wide artifacts could remain preserved on the lunar surface for hundreds of millions of years without being completely degraded. - [04:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WUril5ij5g&t=250s) Lunar anomalies are currently conflated with Earth-based atmospheric UAP observations despite requiring completely distinct physical hypotheses. - [04:28](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WUril5ij5g&t=268s) There is currently no formal scientific catalog or dedicated spreadsheet for tracking anomalous lunar phenomena.
## Detailed walkthrough ### [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WUril5ij5g&t=0s) Debunking the Ukrainian "Giant Lunar UFOs" Paper
A group of astronomers recently sparked sensational headlines by claiming they discovered giant UFOs flying around the Moon, suggesting that aliens could arrive any minute now. Picking up on the story, the *Daily Mail* ran the headline: "Scientists issue warning after spotting more than 20 giant UFOs racing across the moon." Sabine reassures viewers right away that "it's probably nothing," though she promises a genuinely interesting related idea to consider once the nonsense is cleared out of the way. Looking at the study itself, the astronomers pointed a 15-centimeter telescope at the Moon, corrected the resulting images for camera noise, and identified several moving spots that they labeled unidentified flying objects. From these spots, they calculated that the UFOs measure between 20 and 40 kilometers across, with some shaped like giant rings, traveling at speeds of up to 11 kilometers per second. Going even further, the authors state that "UFOs demonstrate intelligent behavior" and declare, "We believe that the moon serves as a base for UFOs." However, as Sabine dryly points out, they made these observations in September of the previous year, "so the aliens are taking their time."
The paper is not peer-reviewed and was written by three researchers in Ukraine, two of whom already made headlines four years earlier when they claimed to have observed extremely fast UFOs flying over Ukraine. Following that earlier paper, their own institution published an official report explaining that the authors had made a fundamental error in their data analysis: the distance to the objects was much shorter than they had assumed, meaning the objects were actually much smaller and moving much slower. This new lunar paper suffers from the exact same flaw. Some of the "objects" the researchers observed are barely at the pixel resolution limit of their camera, with the authors themselves admitting in the text that one object measures just 2x2 pixels. Because they only have a single observation record, there is no way to triangulate or determine the distance to the spots, meaning they effectively have no data at all. Sabine doesn't hold back on her verdict: "For all I can tell, they've observed dust. This so-called paper is so complete crap. They probably just wrote this to bait the Daily Mail. 2x2 pixels. Aliens are on the moon. It's exploded my bullshit meter."
- **Telescope aperture used:** 15 centimeters - **Claimed UFO dimensions:** 20 to 40 km across (some ring-shaped) - **Claimed UFO speed:** Up to 11 km/s - **Actual image resolution of one reported object:** 2x2 pixels (recorded from a single vantage point, making distance calculation impossible)
[02:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WUril5ij5g&t=121s) Apollo Astronauts and Historical Lunar Anomalies
Despite the flaws of the recent paper, people have been reporting strange lights and unexplained objects around the Moon for a very long time. Notably, several of these accounts come directly from Apollo astronauts, as documented in files released by the US government in early August. During Apollo 12, while astronaut Alan Bean was on the lunar surface, he reported seeing particles and flashes of light sailing away into space, remarking, "It looks like some of those things are escaping the moon." Similarly, during Apollo 11, astronauts observed a region near a crater suddenly light up, and during the Apollo 17 flyover, geologist Harrison Schmitt abruptly exclaimed, "Hey, I just saw a flash on the lunar surface."
Beyond the Apollo missions, there have been thousands of recorded reports of lunar irregularities over the years. While many of these flashes and spots can be explained away as meteorite impacts or sunlight reflections off the terrain, others do not fit those explanations so neatly. Throughout the 2000s and 2020s, amateur and professional astronomers alike have captured strange silhouettes moving across the lunar surface that defied immediate identification.
| Date / Mission | Observer / Location | Reported Lunar Phenomenon | |:--- |:--- |:--- | | **Apollo 11** | Apollo 11 Crew | A region near a lunar crater suddenly lit up. | | **Apollo 12** | Astronaut Alan Bean | Particles and flashes of light "sailing away into space" and appearing to escape the Moon. | | **Apollo 17** | Geologist Harrison Schmitt | A sudden bright flash observed on the lunar surface during a flyover. | | **2007** | Italian Amateur Astronomer | Filmed a dark, circular object apparently crossing the surface of the Moon. | | **2020** | Observer near Montreal | Filmed three elongated objects moving across the Moon. | | **March 2024** | German Astronomer | Filmed a fast, dark, unidentifiable object crossing the lunar disc. |
[03:18](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WUril5ij5g&t=198s) The Case for Ancient Alien Artifacts and a Lunar Anomaly Spreadsheet
Sabine makes it clear that she doesn't believe any of those recent sightings are active alien spacecraft, but she does think there is a very real possibility that sometime over the past billion years, extraterrestrials visited our solar system to take a look at Earth. If they did, the Moon would have been the most logical vantage point, and their technology might still be sitting there today. This is not just idle speculation: in 2013, two physicists made this exact argument in a peer-reviewed paper, proposing a dedicated search for alien artifacts on the Moon. Their reasoning relies on the fact that the lunar surface changes incredibly slowly, making it an ideal environment both for conducting long-term observations of Earth and for preserving whatever equipment was doing the observing. They estimated that an object a few tens of meters across could take hundreds of millions of years to be erased by micrometeorite impacts, meaning we might realistically find deliberately installed monitoring instrumentation or a dormant probe awaiting contact.
Yet, to this day, no such systematic search has been conducted, nor is there even a dedicated database for tracking lunar anomalies. Instead, anomalous Moon observations are routinely lumped together with general Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) sightings on Earth. Sabine argues that keeping them separate is essential, because any physical explanations for lunar phenomena would have to be completely different from atmospheric UAPs. As she puts it: "I mean, look, the European Union has a database for potato types. I feel like moon UFOs could get at least a spreadsheet." Wrapping up the science news, she adds a quick aside about another physicist who recently wrote a paper claiming that some observed UAPs are actually made of dark matter—prompting her to joke that "chances are, if we ever find actual aliens, physicists will explain they're a previously unknown type of dark matter."
[05:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WUril5ij5g&t=300s) Sponsor: Automating Data Broker Removals with Incogni
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## Notable quotes > [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WUril5ij5g&t=0s) it's probably nothing — Sabine Hossenfelder
> [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WUril5ij5g&t=0s) UFOs demonstrate intelligent behavior — Ukrainian researchers
> [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WUril5ij5g&t=0s) We believe that the moon serves as a base for UFOs. — Ukrainian researchers
> [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WUril5ij5g&t=0s) so the aliens are taking their time. — Sabine Hossenfelder
> [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WUril5ij5g&t=0s) For all I can tell, they've observed dust. This so-called paper is so complete crap. They probably just wrote this to bait the Daily Mail. 2x2 pixels. Aliens are on the moon. It's exploded my bullshit meter. — Sabine Hossenfelder
> [02:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WUril5ij5g&t=121s) It looks like some of those things are escaping the moon. — Alan Bean
> [02:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WUril5ij5g&t=121s) Hey, I just saw a flash on the lunar surface. — Harrison Schmitt
> [03:18](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WUril5ij5g&t=198s) I mean, look, the European Union has a database for potato types. I feel like moon UFOs could get at least a spreadsheet. — Sabine Hossenfelder
> [03:18](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WUril5ij5g&t=198s) chances are, if we ever find actual aliens, physicists will explain they're a previously unknown type of dark matter. — Sabine Hossenfelder
## Mentioned Sabine Hossenfelder, Daily Mail, Alan Bean, Harrison Schmitt, Apollo 11, Apollo 12, Apollo 17, European Union, Incogni
## Video description Take back your personal data with Incogni! Use code Sabine at the link below and get 60% off annual plans: https://incogni.com/sabine
A group of astronomers say they've spotted more than twenty giant unidentified objects racing around the Moon, some of them forty kilometres across, and that the Moon serves as a base for them. The daily mail loved it. My bullshit meter did not survive it. But underneath all this nonsense there's a serious question that almost nobody is looking into. Let's take a look.
#science #sciencenews #moon #space #astronomy #solarsystem
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[Source](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WUril5ij5g)