NASA-UAP-D006, Apollo 17 Technical Crew Debriefing, 1973

Official Conclusion

Observations consistent with known cosmic ray light flash phenomenon; ALFMED experiment specifically designed to study this effect.

Official Description

Apollo 17 was the ninth crewed U.S. mission to the Moon, and the sixth to land Astronauts on the lunar surface. This document is an excerpt from the Apollo 17 Technical Crew Debriefing on January 4, 1973, in which astronaut Harrison Schmitt reported seeing light flashes. • Page 24-4. [Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt]: “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 [Apollo Light Flash Moving Emulsion Detector] 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.”

Key Findings

• →Astronaut Harrison Schmitt reported experiencing light flashes 'just about continuously during the whole flight' when dark-adapted, consistent with known cosmic ray interactions with the retina.
• →Schmitt reported one flash he believed may have originated on the lunar surface.
• →During the ALFMED (Apollo Light Flash Moving Emulsion Detector) experiment when blindfolds were worn, no visible light flashes were observed by any of the three crewmen.
• →Astronaut Evans described a fireball sighting during reentry, visible through the rendezvous window, with a tunnel-like appearance and a bright spot at its center.
• →Cernan noted the only other unusual sighting during landing/recovery was the CMP mistaking an aircraft carrier's superstructure for an unidentified object due to foggy windows.

Extracted Entities