NASA-UAP-D004, Apollo 11 Technical Crew Debriefing Excerpt: Object En Route to the Moon, July 31, 1969
- Date
- July 31, 1969 (debriefing)
- Location
- Apollo 11 spacecraft (in flight)
- Agency
- NASA
- Release
- Release 01 (May 8, 2026)
- Type
- document
Summary
In the Apollo 11 technical crew debriefing, Aldrin describes "the first unusual thing that we saw" en route, a bright object of "very sizeable dimension" that through the monocular "seemed to have a bit of an L shape to it. Like an open suitcase." The crew had assumed it might be the S-IVB but were told by the ground it was 6000 miles away; through the off-focus sextant it appeared to be a cylinder or "two connected rings." The excerpt also notes it was "right at the limit of the resolution of the eye," and, per the index, covers in-cabin light flashes and a bright light the crew took to be a laser.
Note
The crew stresses they could not judge size or range.