Apollo 17 crew medical debriefing: light flashes in lunar orbit and on the surface (1972)
NASA released two segments of the Apollo 17 crew medical debriefing, recorded on 21 December 1972. According to the official description, the crew discussed the "light flash phenomena", and two of the three crew members reported seeing flashes during the mission, including in lunar orbit and on the lunar surface. The release explains the effect as cosmic rays striking the retina. As with Apollo 14, this is a perception effect inside the eye, not a sighting of an external object. *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 reports no text layer for these files.*
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)
- 18 Feb 1971Apollo 14 crew (NASA debriefing)documentthe same light-flash phenomena discussed in the 1971 debriefing Apollo 14 crew debriefing: the "light flash phenomena" (1971)
How plausible · High
A released NASA medical debrief records two named astronauts seeing flashes; NASA attributes them to cosmic rays.
- ●●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
- D028 is segment 1 of 2 of the Apollo 17 crew medical debriefing, Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston, 21 December 1972. The crew discusses the "light flash phenomena"; "Two of the three crew members reported observing the flashes" at points in the mission, "including in lunar orbit and on the lunar surface". (NASA-UAP-D028, official description as given on the mirror)
- D029 continues the debriefing on the same topic. (NASA-UAP-D029, official description)
Claims
Similar cases · sharing people, threads, topics or era
Threads · click one to see it on the board
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-D028 (war.gov), mirror page with official description
- NASA-UAP-D028 original file, via mirror
- NASA-UAP-D029 (war.gov), mirror page with official description
- NASA-UAP-D029 original file, via mirror