Petr Sittek
Archivist & Historical Researcher
Petr Sittek is a Czech researcher and archivist who has uncovered and preserved key historical documents related to the Moonshaft legend. His archival work has surfaced rare primary sources, including materials from the 1970 APRO expedition planning and documents from the MUFON UFO Journal.
Key Contributions
- •Discovery and preservation of 1970 APRO expedition documents
- •Archival research in international UFO and paranormal research collections
- •Sourcing and sharing of primary documents with the research community
Research Updates
Letters 1970: Horák's Failed Expedition Correspondence
A Czech archive document with English translations of 1970 correspondence and stylometric analysis. The letters trace Tony Horák's attempt to organize a professional American expedition to find and document the Moonshaft cave discovered in October 1944, including requests for sketches, photographs, route details, a $200 compensation offer, and the Cold War pressures that left Jurek fearful of persecution and Slávek fiercely protective of the hidden cave.
APRO First Expedition Documents (1970)
A collection of correspondence from June–December 1970 documenting the APRO-organized expedition to investigate AntonĂn Horák's account. The documents detail the planning process, the involvement of Theodore Phillips and J. Allen Hynek, and the eventual cancellation of the mission due to political safety concerns following the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia.
MUFON UFO Journal – Ted Phillips Profile (December 1998)
This December 1998 profile in the MUFON UFO Journal spotlights Ted Phillips — the foremost physical trace researcher in the world, according to the article's author Dwight Connelly. Phillips is directly connected to the Moonshaft search: he was among the experts assembled by APRO in 1970 to investigate AntonĂn Horák's account and plan an expedition to Czechoslovakia. A colleague of Dr. J. Allen Hynek, Phillips brought rigorous field methodology to the effort. The expedition was ultimately called off, but his involvement illustrates the level of serious, internationally recognised researchers who considered the Moonshaft claim worthy of investigation. Ted Phillips has since passed away; his work is continued by Thomas Ferrario.
AntonĂn Horák Biography
A biographical compilation built from primary sources: Horák's 1949 French CV, newspaper coverage from 1952–1971, ship passenger records, Social Security data, property sales records in Pueblo, and the death certificates of both spouses. The document is arranged chronologically and highlights how small archival errors can multiply across later records.
Horák's Pueblo Newspaper Advertisements
While searching digitised Pueblo, Colorado newspapers, Petr Sittek located classified advertisements placed by AntonĂn Horák himself. They add small but telling details to his American life and to the biography assembled from primary records.
Anna Horáková — US Archive File
A US archive confirmed it would send the complete file on Horák's wife, Anna — reportedly more than fifty pages. The hope is that it contains useful detail on the family's life in the United States and, indirectly, on Horák himself.
Parish Register Research: Sibiu and Brașov (1897, 1899, 1921)
A systematic search of Romanian church and civil registers for AntonĂn Horák's birth (Sibiu/Hermannstadt, 1897), Anna Krisch's birth (BraČ™ov/Kronstadt, 1899) and their 1921 marriage in BraČ™ov. After manually combing roughly 8 GB of digitised registers on the Romanian National Archives portal (SJAN) and on Ancestry, none of the three records could be found — and the report documents exactly why, pinpointing concrete gaps such as the Black Church marriage register that is missing entirely for 1921. It closes with a complete inventory of available registers for both towns, a glossary of Romanian archival terms, and specific recommendations for follow-up with the BraČ™ov archive.
UPDATE — August 2026
An August 2026 supplement expands on the Ancestry search: its Romanian vital-record collections yielded no additional birth or marriage records. Petr Sittek contacted the Brașov city and civil-registry archive offices and followed up twice; no reply had arrived by mid-August 2026.
Download PDF: Parish Register Research Supplement