Cats are a mysterious kind of folk...-Sir Walter Scott
October 1963, in the Algerian desert, a well-trained, jet-black cat astronaut (catstonaut) is being prepared to take one great leap for Catkind.
He escapes.
So.
Another cat takes his place and the mystery begins.
The brave but unlucky cat, equipped with a stylish forehead-mounted transmitter, is launched into space and parachutes down to, if there's any justice in the world, barf in the shoes of every single scientist in France and Africa.
Mystery:
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Was he a male cat named Felix?
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These stamps made him out to be male
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| Mirror image, but still named Felix |
Or a female named Felicette?
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| Check out the signature on this glamor shot |
And people wonder why there are conspiracy theories surrounding the Moon Landing.
My Conspiracy Theory
Felix, a black cat was supposed to be the first cat in space, no doubt due to his superior intelligence, which he demonstrated by escaping. The next blackest cat on the roster was brought in to pitch hit. She was a female, so she got renamed Felicette.
The stamps were ready to go. They didn't change the name on them; they left it as Felix. And no one put her picture on them either; they just used a bit of white paint to make her face white while leaving the black outline intact.
Conspiracy nut details:
- Felicette was a short hair, but all the stamps show a long-hair.
- The last two stamps show that someone has rather sloppily colored her face in white, but didn't even whiten her chest.
- Sheesh, the last two portraits are mirror images of each other.
- Whoever did the Chad stamp did a little nicer job, but look at the eyes. That is not the cat in the glamor shot or in the photograph below.
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And some details that weigh against my theory:
So that's what I used to think happened, as I spent about an hour and a half researching this on Google and relying on my high school French.
- Apparently, the stamps were issued years after the event.
- This photo from AMSAT-FRANCE calls this cat Felicette.
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Do give my analysis all the weight it deserves. Speaking of which...
Here are some American cats in zero gravity
- A blog post on the Felix/Felicette.
- Space Today
- Here's a French page that shows a glamour shot of Felix/Felicette that is signed "Felicette." (French language.)
- The writer of this blog thinks that the first cat in space was named Felicette and the second named Felix. Click over for some great pictures. (French language.)
- This webpage pictures the tabby and calls him/her Felicette. (French language.)
- French Wikipedia article.
- Purr n' Furr -- always a great place for cat info.
