Official · Audio · NASA
Borman Reported an Unidentified Object to NASA
A recording from the Gemini 7 mission also captures comments from his crewmate, Jim Lovell.
Released to the public May 8, 20262 min readALIENS editorial
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A recording from the Gemini 7 mission also captures comments from his crewmate, Jim Lovell.
During the Gemini 7 flight, Frank Borman told NASA he had seen an unidentified object and called it a “bogey.” Jim Lovell can also be heard in the recording.
DVIDS-hosted NASA video (ID 1006119, 6 min 11 s) titled "NASA Audio 12/5/1965 Low Earth Orbit" presenting an audio-only excerpt set against a static NASA insignia ("meatball") image for the entire duration. The audio is described by NASA/DVIDS as air-to-ground communications and the NASA Public Affairs commentary feed from the Gemini VII mission, including Astronaut Frank Borman's report to Houston mission control of an unidentified object he called a "bogey" on December 5, 1965, with additional remarks from his crewmate Jim Lovell. No imagery of the reported object or of the spacecraft is shown; the visual track is a constant title card. This file is the audio counterpart to the written transcripts also released in this corpus (255-T-763-R1B) and the consolidated NASA Gemini-7 UAP transcript.
During the Gemini VII flight, Astronaut Frank Borman reported to NASA Mission Control in Houston that he had sighted an unidentified object, which he referred to as a "bogey." Crewmate Jim Lovell added further commentary on the sighting. The recording captures the air-to-ground audio plus the NASA Public Affairs commentary feed of this exchange.
Frank Borman
Astronaut, Gemini VII command pilot · NASA
Jim Lovell
Astronaut, Gemini VII pilot · NASA
Low Earth Orbit, n/a
Houston (Mission Control), United States
Gemini VII
spacecraft
This is an audio-only release wrapped in a video container; analysis depends on the DVIDS description because the video frames carry no information beyond the NASA logo. Should be linked tightly with the matching transcripts (slugs 019 and 140) for full content. Audio was not transcribed in this pass — only DVIDS-provided summary is used.
It’s an aviation term for an object that has not yet been identified.
No. NASA’s description of the recording does not say what the object looked like or what it was.
NASA’s official description of a recording from the Gemini 7 flight.
During Gemini 7’s orbit around Earth, Frank Borman told NASA’s Mission Control in Houston that he had seen an object he couldn’t identify. His crewmate, Jim Lovell, can also be heard in the recording.
The report was preserved in a recording of communications between the spacecraft and Mission Control. We can hear Borman describe what he saw during the mission, rather than simply read an account told years later. But the recording doesn’t answer what he saw.
The incident took place on December 5, 1965, during the Gemini 7 mission. The spacecraft was in low Earth orbit when Borman contacted NASA’s Mission Control in Houston and reported seeing an unidentified object.
Information about the recording appears in NASA’s official description. According to the description, the clip includes Borman’s initial report as well as comments from Lovell, who was with him in the spacecraft. It does not provide the words either man said, so we don’t know what Lovell said or what additional details Borman gave.
Borman called what he saw a “bogey,” an aviation term for an object that has not yet been identified. The term describes the fact that its identity was unknown; it does not explain what the object was.
The recording also includes voices from a NASA broadcast featuring commentary. But its main content is the exchange between the spacecraft and Mission Control, including Borman’s report. Lovell’s comments make the clip a record of more than one voice aboard the spacecraft, though the available information does not say exactly what was said.
NASA’s description does not say what the object looked like, how long it was visible, or what it was. Nor does it offer a conventional explanation for what Borman saw. The recording alone cannot identify the object.
What remains is the voice of an astronaut, midway through a flight around Earth, reporting something he cannot identify. What exactly did he see?