NASA-UAP-D006, Apollo 17 Technical Crew Debriefing, 1973
This declassified NASA document is an excerpt from the Apollo 17 Technical Crew Debriefing conducted January 4, 1973, prepared by the Crew Training and Simulation Division at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Texas. Apollo 17 was the ninth crewed U.S. lunar mission and the sixth to land astronauts on the Moon. In the transcript, Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt reports experiencing light flashes 'just about continuously during the whole flight' when the crew was dark adapted, including one he believed was a flash on the lunar surface. He notes that during the ALFMED (Apollo Light Flash Moving Emulsion Detector) experiment, while blindfolded, he saw no flashes, but observed them again before sleep. The excerpt also includes remarks from crew members Evans and Cernan describing a fireball sighting through the rendezvous window and an aircraft carrier observation during recovery. The light flashes are a documented phenomenon attributed to cosmic ray interactions with the visual system. The file was released by the U.S. Department of War as part of a UAP data release on May 8, 2026.
Description
Excerpt from the Apollo 17 Technical Crew Debriefing dated January 4, 1973, prepared by the Manned Spacecraft Center Training Office, in which Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt and other crew members describe visual phenomena including near-continuous light flashes observed while dark-adapted during the flight.
Claims
Astronaut Harrison Schmitt reported seeing light flashes almost continuously during the whole flight when dark adapted, including one he thought was a flash on the lunar surface.
90%During the ALFMED experiment while blindfolded, Schmitt saw no visible flashes, but observed them again that night before sleep.
90%Astronaut Harrison Schmitt reported seeing light flashes almost continuously throughout the flight when dark-adapted, including one he thought was a flash on the lunar surface.
90%Crew members described a fireball visible through the rendezvous window and an aircraft carrier sighting during recovery.
85%During the ALFMED blindfold experiment period, no light flashes were visible to the crew.
85%
Events
Jan 3, 1973
Apollo 17 Technical Crew Debriefing
Post-mission debriefing in which crew reported observations including continuous light flashes.
May 7, 2026
UAP data release
Release of the document as part of a government UAP data disclosure.
May 7, 2026
Public release of debriefing excerpt
File released as part of the war.gov UAP disclosure.
Dates mentioned
Keywords
Entities
Extracted text (OCR)
ae ERP | MSC.-07631 NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION APOLLO 17 TECHNICAL CREW DEBRIEFING (U) JANUARY 4, 1973 PREPARED BY TRAINING OFFICE CREW TRAINING AND SIMULATION DIVISION This document will automatically become declassified 90 days from the published date. NOTICE: This document may be exempt from public disclosure under the Freedom of Infor- mation Act (5 U.S.C. 552). Requests for its release to persons outside the U.S. Govern- ment should be handled under the provisions of NASA Policy Directive 1382.2. iN MANNED SPACECRAFT CENTER HOUSTON,TEXAS SANE PATA nag CHDITET SIGNATOR LOC = ! » Mo FeLi \ DECLASSIFIED ; B.O. 13526, Sec 3.3€a) NASA Declasssfication Guide Date of Guide: (M1) 05 [¥) 2026 Reviewer. #2 Dates6s2028 eh-4 EVANS (CONT'D) CERNAN EVANS SCHMITT after the brightness of the fireball decreased, I could look back up through the rendezvous window and see what to me was kind of like a tunnel with a bright spot in the middle of the tunnel. Way down the tunnel, way back behind, I could see the fireball. The only unusual sighting I can recall during landing or recovery is when the CMP looked out the window and saw the superstructure of an aircraft carrier and said, "Oh, we've got a tin can with us." Well, it was kind of foggy on the windows. Transearth we had only a small crescent of an Earth and it was not feasible to do any extensive weather observations. We had light flashes just about continuously during the whole flight when we were dark adapted. I had one which I thought was a flash on the lunar surface. That one period of time when we had the blindfolds on for the ALFMED experiment there were just no visible flashes, although that evening, that night, before I went to sleep I noticed that I was seeing the light flashes again. So, it just seemed to be that one interval either side of it where the light flash was not visible to myself or to the other two crewmen.
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Connected through the network
SF-2026-000431