5 Times NASA Caught UFOs on Camera

5 Times NASA Caught UFOs on Camera

UFOs (or UAP) are kind of a big deal right now, but in amongst all the attention-grabbing headlines and possibly questionable stories… every so often even the big guns capture something really strange. And it doesn’t get much bigger than NASA.

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for five times that NASA caught UFOs on camera.

In some cases, these visuals have since been explained; in other cases, the mystery remains. But with every example, we want to know what you think! What’s really happening with NASA’s UFOs?

#5: The Lost Shield

One of the great things about NASA is that every so often it releases some footage that really makes you feel like you’re up there yourself. In space, doing a spacewalk, being an astronaut. That was certainly the case in 2017, when a clip emerged of two astronauts from the International Space Station carrying out some routine maintenance. But wait… what’s that in the background? The film is shot by NASA’s Peggy Whitson, and part way through we suddenly see a long, thin, rotating object situated between the camera and the Earth below. As always, perspective is difficult in the NASA feeds, but it appears to be very close by. In this case, however, NASA quickly gave an answer to the mystery - explaining that what we’re actually seeing is a shield that had been accidentally lost during the same spacewalk. Unlike in some other cases, the feed wasn’t cut, and the claims of a cover up were short lived. But that’s not always how it happens.

#4: Apollo 16’s “Flying Saucer”

With Apollo 16, in 1972, NASA was embarking on what would become its fifth successful manned lunar landing. It saw the astronauts John Young and Charles Duke walk the moon, while Ken Mattingly remained in the Command Module, in orbit. As 16 began the return leg of its journey, however, it captured something seemingly remarkable. The images weren’t noticed until the on-board film canisters were analyzed after the mission… and one brief sequence instantly caught the eye. Apollo 16’s cameras had snapped a large, circular, glowing orb, in close proximity to the surface of the moon. The astronauts on board reported having seen nothing like it with their own eyes, but there it was in black-and-white. And, in fact, its appearance was a mystery that went unanswered for more than thirty years until, in 2004, tech innovations enabled fresh analyses. It was ultimately revealed that the seeming flying saucer was actually a floodlight jutting out from the Apollo module itself. For alien hunters it was so close, but so far.

#3: STS-48 and the Lightshow

In September 1991, NASA launched the Space Shuttle Discovery on a mission to deploy satellites high above the Earth. It all should have been fairly straightforward, as far as space travel goes… but STS-48 is still remembered for the footage of apparent UFOs that was captured midway through the journey. The clip, which is a firm favorite amongst UFO hunters, is pretty grainy… but you can clearly see a series of lights seeming to blink on and off, and apparently traveling across the screen. NASA has explained those lights as really being ice particles, affected by engine jets, and behaving as they would expect them to. But not everyone’s convinced. And, to some degree, the film sure does look like a mini-swarm of UFOs just doing their thing. What do you make of it?

#2: Buzz Aldrin’s Flashing Lights

OK, so this one is perhaps a little contentious. But, then again, aren’t all UFO claims at least a bit controversial, when you get down into it. When it comes to knowing about what’s really happening in space, surely none are better placed than the first astronauts to ever walk on the moon - Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. What’s interesting, then, is that both have been variously linked to alleged UFO claims in the past. With Armstrong, there are unverified reports that he recalled seeing a crowd of somethings during the Apollo 11 mission, apparently watching from afar. With Aldrin, he’s given interviews before outright discussing UFOs that he witnessed. It’s also alleged that some of them prominently feature in photos in the NASA archive. However, Aldrin has also continually rowed back on any suggestion that he ever saw an actual alien ship. Instead, he’s said that what he most likely noticed, apparently flashing in the distance, were discarded panels from his own rocket. And maybe it isn’t that surprising that the first men on the moon would see things that they couldn’t immediately identify - they were, after all, in uncharted territory.

#1: The Black Knight Satellite

In December 1998, NASA carried out its first space shuttle mission to the then-fledgling International Space Station. You might have thought that that, in itself, would be enough to enshrine this particular moment into the annals of history - but no. Instead, the mission is today most remembered as the time when NASA astronauts bore witness to the infamous, alleged black knight satellite. While its origins are a little sketchy, the black knight conspiracy theory says that its detection on Earth perhaps dates back as far as Nikola Tesla - who it’s claimed picked up interference created by the satellite, during a radio experiment in 1899. So what is it exactly? UFO enthusiasts say the black knight is an alien probe that has been silently circling our planet in near-Earth orbit for about 13,000 years. For those who believe, it’s a key bit of ET technology allowing aliens to watch our every move. NASA itself doesn’t back that up, though. It says that the satellite is really a lost thermal blanket that had originally been on board the same space shuttle mission that discovered it. So, what do you think? Debris or not debris, that is the question.

Where do you stand on the UFO debate? Have you ever seen a UFO yourself? Let us know exactly what you think in the comments!