:UFO sightings in outer space
{{Short description|UFOs reported by astronauts while in space}}
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Unidentified flying objects have been reported by astronauts while in space. These sightings have been claimed as evidence for extraterrestrial life by ufologists.
Some of the alleged sightings never occurred: science fiction writer Otto Binder perpetuated a hoax claiming Apollo 11 Commander Neil Armstrong had encountered UFOs during the Apollo mission.{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna48790315 |title=Debunking myths about Neil Armstrong |publisher=NBC News |author=James Oberg |date=2012-08-25 |access-date=2014-04-23}} UFO proponents see comments by astronauts or photos processed by NASA as one of the "strongest bodies of evidence" because they are considered to be of high trustworthiness; however, NASA Assistant Administrator for Legislative Affairs, Robert F. Allnut, concluded in a 1970 letter, "after fifteen years of manned space voyages including space stations and landing on the Moon, spacemen have brought back not a shred of evidence – verbal, photographic, or otherwise – for the existence of extraterrestrial spacecraft, or 'UFOs'."{{cite news|url=http://www.jamesoberg.com/77Feb-SW-astro-UFO.PDF|title=Astronauts and UFOs – the Whole Story!|author=James Oberg|date=Feb 1977|work=Space World|access-date=18 May 2014}}
In 2009, footage from NASA was posted on YouTube by ufologists which "renew[ed] UFO conspiracy theories that the government is hiding knowledge about its interactions with intelligent life" by relying on a "lack of context" to promote a "collection of indistinct imagery and allegations". A number of the incidents were collected for an episode of the 2014 television series Are We Alone?.
Incidents
Some sightings involving astronauts or NASA include:
During the Gemini 4 mission, pilot Jim McDivitt spotted an object that he described as a "white cylindrical shape with a white pole sticking out of one corner of it." He took two pictures of it. His partner, Ed White, was asleep at the time.{{cite web|title=NASA UFO Files Revealed On Science Channel Special |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/27/nasa-ufo-science-channel-special_n_1380571.html|publisher=Huffington Post|date=March 27, 2012|author=Lee Speigel|access-date=2014-04-25}} McDivitt maintains that it was some unknown but man-made piece of debris, while James Oberg argues that it was most likely the Titan II second stage of the craft.{{cite web|last=Oberg|first=James|title=The Gemini 4 UFO|url=http://www.jamesoberg.com/gemini4.html|work=UFO Report|date=Fall 1981|author-link=James Oberg|access-date=7 May 2014}}
In a transcript of Gemini 7 mission, the astronauts mention a "bogey" which ufologists have claimed was a reference to a UFO. Oberg, based on his trajectory analysis of the mission, describes the astronauts' comments about a "bogey" as referring to booster-associated debris, and not a reference to some sort of UFO.{{cite web|author=Oberg, James|title=Gemini-7: Lessons and Legends (A 30th Anniversary Revisit – "Formation Flying", "Lessons Learned" Later, and one "Bogey"|url=http://www.jamesoberg.com/gemini7.html|publisher=Jamesoberg.com (self-published)|author-link=James Oberg|date=September 15, 1995}} The astronaut who made the comments, Frank Borman, later confirmed that what he saw was not a UFO, and that when he offered to go on the television show Unsolved Mysteries to clarify, the producers told him, "Well, I'm not sure we want you on the program."{{cite journal |last=Agle |first=D.C.|date=September 1998 |url=http://www.airspacemag.com/flight-today/flying-the-gusmobile-218187/?page=3 |title=Flying the Gusmobile |journal=Air & Space Magazine}}
Within the UFO community, stories have spread that Neil Armstrong was reported to have witnessed multiple UFOs during Apollo 11.{{cite book|last=Spignesi|first=Stephen J.|title=The Ufo Book of Lists|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BRHoKVTawnMC&pg=PA105|access-date=18 May 2014|date=2000|publisher=Citadel Press|isbn=9780806521091|pages=105–}} Armstrong claimed he saw two blue pale glowing orbs.{{Cite journal |last=Marsching |first=Jane D. |date=September 2003 |title=Orbs, Blobs, and Glows: Astronauts, UFOs, and Photography |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00043249.2003.10792170 |journal=Art Journal |language=en |volume=62 |issue=3 |pages=56–65 |doi=10.1080/00043249.2003.10792170 |issn=0004-3249}} An explanation was that the sightings could have been attributed to jettisoned components. Additional stories were accredited to a hoax spread by science fiction writer Otto Binder. Buzz Aldrin says his words were taken out of context from an interview in 2005 about the incident. Aldrin said that he "observed a light out the window that appeared alongside [the crew]".{{Cite news |last=Hannan |first=Martin |date=April 19, 2018 |title=Did Buzz Aldrin see a UFO in space? |work=The National |type=Newspaper}}
During a 2005 spacewalk outside the International Space Station, astronaut Leroy Chiao reported seeing lights in a formation he described as "in a line" and "almost like an upside-down check mark". The incident was promoted as a possible UFO sighting in the television series Are We Alone?. Chiao later identified the lights as being from fishing boats "hundreds of miles below".{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/02/nasa-unexplained-files-are-we-alone-science-channel_n_4880334.html |title=Astronaut Leroy Chiao Opens Up About His 2005 UFO Sighting |publisher=Huffington Post |author=Lee Speigel |date=2014-03-02 |access-date=2014-04-23}}
In August 2013, astronaut Christopher Cassidy reportedly saw a UFO float past the International Space Station near its Progress 52 cargo ship. It was identified by Russian flight controllers as an antenna cover from the Zvezda service module.{{cite news | url=https://www.foxnews.com/science/nasa-solves-ufo-mystery-outside-international-space-station/ | work=Fox News | date=2013-08-20 | title=NASA solves 'UFO' mystery outside International Space Station }}
On August 19, 2020, Cosmonaut Ivan Vagner posted a video on Twitter featuring UFOs on a time lapse he recorded of the Aurora Australis. Vagner dubbed the objects "space guests" with Roscosmos quote tweeting Vagner to say "An interesting and at the same time mysterious video made by the cosmonaut of Roscosmos Ivan Wagner from the International Space Station."{{cite news |last1=Dunham |first1=Jackie |title='Space guests': Russian cosmonaut shares video showing apparent UFOs |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/space-guests-russian-cosmonaut-shares-video-showing-apparent-ufos-1.5073744 |access-date=15 November 2021 |work=CTV News |date=21 August 2020 |language=en}} Ivan would later post another video clarifying that the UFOs seemed to be satellites.{{Cite web |title=Ivan Vagner video on X |url=https://x.com/ivan_mks63/status/1307244961465860098?s=20&t=mNytc9VK3x2z7PKpZ-T3WA}}
See also
References
Further reading
{{Refbegin}}
- {{cite book|first=Franklin E.|last=Roach|author-link=Franklin E. Roach|chapter=6. Visual Observations Made by U. S. Astronauts|editor-last=Condon|editor-first=Edward U.|title=Scientific study of unidentified flying objects|date=1968|publisher=Regents of the University of Colorado|chapter-url=http://files.ncas.org/condon/text/s3chap06.htm}}
- {{citation|title=Astronaut Sees 'UFO' Near Space Station (Video)|url=http://www.space.com/22478-nasa-astronaut-ufo-video.html|publisher=Space.com|last=Malik|first=Tariq|date=August 22, 2013}}
- {{cite book|last=Hansen|first=James R.|author-link=James R. Hansen|title=First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong|title-link=First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong|date=2012|publisher=Simon & Schuster|location=New York, N.Y.|isbn=9781476727813|pages=426–432|edition=1st Simon & Schuster trade paperback}}
- {{cite journal|last=Oberg|first=James|author-link=James Oberg|title=Astronauts and UFOs: The whole story|journal=Space World|date=February 1977|pages=4–28|url=http://www.jamesoberg.com/77Feb-SW-astro-UFO.PDF}}
- {{cite encyclopedia|last=Oberg|first=James|title=astronauts, UFO sightings by |editor-first=Ronald |editor-last=Story |encyclopedia=The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Extraterrestrial Encounters|date=2012|publisher=Constable & Robinson|location=New York|isbn=9781780337036}}
- {{cite web|last=Oberg|first=James|title=The Apollo-11 UFO Incidents|url=http://www.debunker.com/texts/apollo11.html|access-date=7 May 2014}} (excerpt from {{cite book|last=Oberg|first=James E.|title=UFOs & outer space mysteries : a sympathetic skeptic's report|url=https://archive.org/details/ufosouterspacemy0000ober|url-access=registration|date=1982|publisher=Donning|location=Norfolk, Va.|isbn=9780898651027}})
- {{cite book|last=Sagan|first=Carl|title=The demon-haunted world: Science as a candle in the dark|date=1996|publisher=Ballantine Books|location=New York|isbn=9780307801043}}
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External links
- {{cite web|url=http://sservi.nasa.gov/?question=apollo-11-ufo-sighting |title=Buzz Aldrin's UFO Sighting |first=David |last=Morrison|date=2 October 2006 |work=Solar system exploration research virtual institute |publisher=NASA |access-date=6 May 2014}}
- {{cite web|url=http://sservi.nasa.gov/?question=apollo-11-ufo-sighting |title=Apollo 11 UFO Sighting |first=David |last=Morrison|date=2 October 2006 |work=Solar system exploration research virtual institute |publisher=NASA |access-date=6 May 2014}}
- {{cite web|last=Oberg|first=James|title=99 Frequently Asked Questions {FAQs} about astronauts and UFOs|url=http://jamesoberg.com/99faq.html|publisher=Jamesoberg.com (self-published)|author-link=James Oberg|access-date=7 May 2014}}
- {{cite news|title=UFO No longer unidentified|url=http://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/travelinginspace/no_ufo.html|access-date=7 May 2014|newspaper=NASA News Topics|date=19 April 2004}}
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