Skylab Technical Crew Debriefing 1973
- Date
- 1973
- Place
- Low Earth Orbit (Skylab)
- Record
- Pentagon file
- Assessment
- Not assessed
- Evidence strength
What was reported
An 11-page excerpt spanning three separate Skylab crew debriefs (Skylab 1/2: Kerwin, Conrad, Weitz; Skylab 1/3: Bean, Lousma, Garriott; Skylab 1/4: Carr, Gibson, Pogue). All three crews confirm the light-flash (cosmic-ray) phenomenon, with Kerwin stating explicitly 'they're not an hallucination.' The most significant item is the Skylab 1/3 crew's report of a bright reddish object, brighter than any star or planet, tracked from the wardroom window for about 10 minutes on a near-identical orbit to Skylab's; it never took the shape of an object even under magnification, and the crew explicitly asked ground for its identification, unresolved in this document. Skylab 1/4 separately reports lights with relative motion presumed to be other Skylab debris or satellites.
What officials concluded
Unresolved
None offered in this document; the crew explicitly requested ground identify it and note they never saw it again.
- Agency
- NASA
- Released in
- 123456
Evidence profile
- Yes: Visual
- No: Infrared
- No: Radar
- No: Video
- No: Photo
- No: Film
- No: Audio
- No: Night vision
- No: Other sensor
- No: Civilian
- Yes: Military aircrew
- No: Military ground
- No: Airline crew
- No: Sensor operator
- No: Law enforcement
- No: Scientist
- Yes: Astronaut
- No: Intelligence official
- No: Other
- Yes: Light only
- No: Orb or sphere
- No: Disc
- No: Triangle
- No: Cylinder
- No: Cube
- No: Other shape
- No: Physiological
- No: Physical trace
- No: Electromagnetic
- No: Sound
- No: Silent
Why this rating Three independent crew members observed the same object over a sustained ~10-minute interval, reasoned a rough range from orbital light-timing, and it was never identified in this document; this is stronger than a single momentary sighting, but it remains naked-eye/optical only (no radar), the crew's own working hypothesis was 'another satellite,' and it was never re-observed for confirmation.
As described in the file
- Witnesses
- Owen Garriott and Jack Lousma independently first noticed the object; Alan Bean also observed it - 3 NASA astronauts (Skylab 1/3 crew)
- Sensors
- Visual, monocular/binoculars ('monitors')
- Shape
- Never resolved into a shape, even magnified; remained a point/blob of light
- Size
- Undetermined
- Lights and colour
- Bright reddish, becoming more reddish approaching sunset
- Motion
- Rotating with a period of about 10 seconds (brightness varied with that period); orbit very close to Skylab's own
- Duration
- Tracked about 10 minutes before sunset, followed the crew into darkness about 5-7 seconds after them
- Altitude or range
- Estimated 30-50 nautical miles away (from the light-entry delay into Earth's shadow) per one crew account
Pentagon files
Skylab Technical Crew Debriefing, 1973
Open the original on war.gov
What the file claims
- Unverified
Kerwin, Conrad and Weitz all independently confirmed seeing recurring light flashes with eyes closed, sometimes several per minute, and stated they were confident it was not a hallucination.
- Unverified
Garriott and Lousma tracked a bright reddish object for about 10 minutes on an orbit closely matching Skylab's own, which never resolved into a visible shape and was never identified or seen again.
- Unverified
Garriott estimated the object's range at 30-50 nautical miles from the delay between the crew and the object entering Earth's shadow, and explicitly asked for its identification.
- Unverified
Carr reported lights flashing outside with relative motion, presumed by the crew to be other pieces of Skylab or other satellites, with no further investigation reported.