It is thought that the first recorded example of TLP was on June 18, 1178. This is when a group of men at Canterbury in England witnessed an incredible event according to a manuscript written by Gervase, a 12th century monk whose chronicle is preserved in the library of Trinity College, Cambridge. Gervase reports that the men were startled by "a flaming torch" which suddenly appeared on the four-day-old crescent Moon, "spewing out, over a considerable distance, fire, hot coals and sparks." The Moon is said to have "writhed like a wounded snake" and assumed a blackish appearance shortly after this unprecedented occurrence.

On May 4, 1783, William Herschel, the astronomer who discovered the planet Uranus, observed through his telescope a strange glow on the dark half of the crescent moon that resembled: "Slowly burning charcoal thinly covered with ashes."

In April 1787 Herschel recorded other prominent TLP, and he became convinced that the lunar surface was experiencing volcanic activity. Herschel even invited King George III to view the moon with him using the royal telescope in the grounds of Windsor.

In July 1821, Franz Gruithuisen, the creator of the meteoric impact theory of Lunar cratering, saw flashing points of light on the surface of the moon, however, when he revealed he had discovered a lunar city he was ridiculed by his colleagues and he burned his notes.

Since those early observations, many lunar observers have reported witnessing the brief appearance of inexplicable mists, cloud-like shapes, glows and flashes on the moon. Astronomer F.H. Thornton reported seeing "a puff of whitish vapor obscuring details for some miles," in February 1949. In 1954, Astronomer Walter H.Haas observed a "milky luminosity" present on the wall of the crater Tycho.

That same year, Spanish engineer Sixto Campo seriously promoted the theory that a technologically advanced civilization had once waged nuclear war against itself on the lunar surface. Annihilation came quickly he claimed, and the resulting craters remain as testament to the holocaust on a now dead world. However, red glows continue to be observed in the region of the moon's North Pole and blue misty glows have been periodically noted near craters at the South Pole.

Russian astronomer N.A. Kozyrev, has recorded numerous incidents of red transient lunar phenomena, particularly in the 80-mile wide crater known as Alphonsus. It was at this location in 1965 that the final Ranger probe 9 crash-landed. Aristarchus is not only one of the brightest formations on the moon; it is responsible for more than half the number of reported TLP.