I have “lost my Pictures, help me!” but I have also searched FAQ, and read many earlier posts looking for guidance.
How do I search for missing Projects and their many (hundreds) of files on my last Vault backup and on earlier Time Machine backups (stored on an external hard drive)? I tried posting on two earlier related threads late March, but no one has responded so… here is the tale:
(I use Aperture 2.1.4, Lion 10.7.5 on early 2008 Macbook Pro (2.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo) with added hard drive (350GB free.))

Several Projects of imported iphone 4s photos are missing from my current Aperture Library. (They are no longer on my phone as I clear up space on my phone when needed and import into Aperture.) Although I don’t know exactly WHEN they disappeared, it MAY have been after I did a rebuild of my database that was part of my problem solving from an earlier Post back on 2/27/13 (last added to on 3/24) about the appearance of orange/red file symbols indicating “unsupported file” and increasing unstable behavior by Aperture 2.1.4 (Yes, the plan is to update to Aperture 3 ASAP… once I find these missing files and it seems stable enough to proceed with caution.)
Before rebuilding the Aperture database, I tried repairing permissions on my HD. (see post for details). I THINK that I backed up via Time Machine onto an external HD BEFORE I did the rebuild. The latest TM back up is dated 3-4-13.
My last Vault back up is 3-5-13. I THINK that I did the Vault back up AFTER the rebuild. My Vault is 154.7 GB (I imported 19 more images from my DSLR after that vault back up.)
At present my Aperture Library is 180.28 GB, w/ 465 projects that show up and 27,578 images. When I open Aperture it says that 466 projects have NOT been backed up in Vault. (How can that be? There should be just one.) It also says that 19 files have not been updated to the Vault. (Those are that last import/new project, after the rebuild and Vault back up?) I searched my Library using keywords and Filenames and I checked the folder with Aperture Deleted Files on the same external hard drive w/ my Vault. There are some iphone pics there, but only a few and it appears that they were ones that I deleted as rejects when editing. They date to Sept 2012 Vault back up, which is the same size as the next Vault Back up 12-4-12. (I keep a log of Vault backups and sz.) In Dec. I added a small project (not iphone) that still appears today. Not sure if that Vault back up was before or after the small import, but because it is the exact same sz as Sept. Vault, I am guessing that it was before the addition. I think that I would have noticed the missing Projects in early Dec. since I was using files for holiday related projects.
How do I go back to Time Machine to find the missing projects? Although I doubt that they exist in the last Vault back up, is there a way to double check before updating Vaults again?
I keep my Projects for iPhone pics in a Library Level Folder. There are 3 Projects that still show up. One named 2010 (w/ 645 files), one named 2011 #1 (872 files) and one named 2011#2 with 0 files. I remember that I did not add to that empty project immediately. But the next time I needed space on my phone, I added to that project and then created several more Projects for 2012 as I imported from the phone. I think those imports probably occurred late summer 2012 and the last by early Nov. 2012.
I apologize for such a long post, but hope that all info is included. I am frozen and holding my breath that I have not lost these images for good. Thanks in advance.