How incompetent to you have to be to “lose” original footage of man’s very first walk on the moon? You would think that would have been treated like the Crown Jewels. Just more evidence of the efficiency and care of government.
It was the Aussies’ film, taken from independent reception of the moon landing video. Though why Americans didn’t immediately buy copies, is odd.
It wasn’t really lost. The Australian recording was so much better because the US recievers or something weren’t dialed in correctly for a clear picture, we got the blurry version.
It was intended for the TV audience, and was not considered part of the mission record, which in itself is quite extensive, and of course available on the internet.
Have you looked at any of it?