NASA-UAP-D009

Apollo 17 Audio Excerpt, December 7, 1972

Official description

During the eleventh and final crewed mission in the Apollo program, Apollo 17 Commander Gene Cernan, Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt, and Command Module Pilot Ronald Evans report seeing small lights outside the Apollo spacecraft during transit to the moon. The crew describe bright “particles” or “fragments” as being “jagged,” “angular,” and drifting near the Apollo spacecraft and the separated Saturn S-IVB stage. The Apollo 17 crew speculate that paint chips or ice chips are likely the source of these lights and note that they “twinkle” and move away from the Saturn S-IVB stage.

Reproduced verbatim from the releasing agency.

AI summary

This NASA file contains an audio excerpt from the Apollo 17 mission on December 7, 1972, during which the crew reported seeing bright particles or fragments outside their spacecraft. The astronauts speculated these lights could be paint chips or ice chips, contributing to the ongoing analysis of unidentified phenomena observed in space.

Audio