What is This?

Lunar landing or another space probe?

A shadow on a surface?

I believe that it is the shadow of the Surveyor 3 moon lander taken by one of the Apollo 12 astronauts (Pete Conrad or Alan Bean).

I admit I had to search for the astronaut names but I remember all of the rest.

Something for the lip service vendors to claim as falsified in order to propagandize what is considered a threat to something or other?

It's the shadow of an alien craft on a distant planet....

All of the above!

Lunar shadow of Surveyor 1 & I didn't cheat with Google Images (I use a different programme).

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/50years/img/thumb-1966-06-02.jpg

correct

Shadow of a space probe

Thor's hammer?

Photo credit: NASA

When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin first walked the alien landscape of the Moon, they soon made a jarring discovery: The shadows of the Moon were far darker than those on Earth due to the lack of atmosphere. Everything the Sun didn't shine directly on was pitch black. Once their foot stepped in a shadow, they could not see it anymore despite the fact that the Sun was blazing in the sky.

Although they soon found they could adjust to the shadows, the constant contrast between dark shadowy areas and sunny ones remained a challenge. Things got even stranger when they noticed that some of the shadows-namely, their own-had halos. They later learned eerie experience was caused by the opposition effect, a phenomenon that makes certain dark, shadowed areas appear surrounded by a bright aureole when they're viewed in a certain angle to the Sun.

The shadows of the Moon caused mischief on many Apollo missions. Some astronauts found their maintenance tasks impossible because their own hands blocked out what they were doing, while others thought they were landing on a steep slope because of the deep shadows that seemed like a cavern.

Sorry did google, but did remember the photo of his shadow as he stepped down on the moon.

Regards JD

Shadow of some poor sod shoveling snow by moonlight.

damn it I didn't know I was being photographed

But, But, But, I have conclusive conjectural evidence that none of this ever happened. :-0