Apollo 14 crew debriefing: the "light flash phenomena" (1971)
NASA released two segments of the Apollo 14 post-flight crew debriefing, recorded on 18 February 1971 at the Manned Spacecraft Center. The release frames them around the crew's discussion of "light flash phenomena": streaks or flashes of light that astronauts perceived, which the description explains as high-energy cosmic rays passing through the eye and striking the retina. The first segment's text mostly covers food, weight loss, biomedical sensor dropouts and sleep. This is a physiological perception, not an external object, but it was released as a PURSUE UAP file. *Method note: war.gov blocks this server. These are audio recordings (served by the mirror as large MP4 files). They were not played or transcribed here. Content comes only from the official descriptions as given on the ufotransparency.com mirror. The mirror notes that its transcript extract of NASA-UAP-D026 does not contain the light-flash exchange itself, so that discussion is unverified here.*
Evidence, in date order (2)
- 1969Apollo 12 crew (NASA debriefing, PURSUE Release 2)documentcrew describe light streaks in the same part of the visual field Apollo 12 lights released by war.gov (VM001-VM005)
- 21 Dec 1972Apollo 17 crew (NASA medical debriefing)documenttwo of three crew report the same light flashes in lunar orbit and on the surface Apollo 17 crew medical debriefing: light flashes in lunar orbit and on the surface (1972)
How plausible · High
NASA debrief audio confirms the crew discussed light flashes that other crews also saw; NASA attributes them to cosmic rays in the eye.
- ●●Access Direct observation or instruments.
- ●●No gain sought Nothing to gain.
- ●●Restraint Reported plainly.
- ●●Character record Trained professionals.
- ●●Independent convergence Independent sources agree.
- ●●Checkable details check out Released official records.
Plausibility weighs how well an account fits where secrecy hides the documents by design, so missing records never count against it. Strength measures what is documented. Assessed 2026-10-23.
On the record
- D026 is segment 1 of 2 of the Apollo 14 crew debriefing, Manned Spacecraft Center (now Johnson Space Center), Houston, 18 February 1971. Its extractable text covers in-flight appetite and weight loss, food packaging, biomedical harness/EKG sensor dropouts and fixes, and broken sleep. (NASA-UAP-D026, official description)
- D027, the continuation, records crew members and debriefers discussing the "light flash phenomena", described as "a then novel effect in which high-energy cosmic rays passing through the eye strike the retina and produce the perception of light streaks or flashes". (NASA-UAP-D027, official description as given on the mirror)
Claims
war.gov files on this case (1)
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Sources
- war.gov UFO/UAP records portal (PURSUE releases; not reachable from this server)
- Mirror file list, war.gov Release 04 (10 July 2026)
- NASA-UAP-D026 (war.gov), mirror page with official description
- NASA-UAP-D026 original file, via mirror
- NASA-UAP-D027 (war.gov), mirror page with official description
- NASA-UAP-D027 original file, via mirror