Official · Document · NASA
Borman Reported an Unidentified Object Alongside Hundreds of Particles
In the same exchange, Jim Lovell described a bright object. The transcript identified it as the spacecraft’s booster.
In brief
Borman reported an unidentified object and hundreds of particles. Lovell described a bright object, which the transcript identified as the spacecraft’s booster.
Summary
Transcript excerpt from NASA tape T-00763(R1b) of the Gemini VII (GT-7/6) mission air-to-ground communications, dated approximately 4 hours 24 minutes into the flight. The Public Affairs Officer (P.A.O.) introduces a dubbed playback of the master tape from the Control Center, which contains references to a sighting of particles, an unidentified object (a 'bogey'), and the spent booster. Astronaut Frank Borman reports a 'bogey at ten o'clock high' and many small particles passing the spacecraft, while astronaut James Lovell describes the booster as a brilliant body slowly tumbling at the two o'clock position. The P.A.O. concludes by clarifying that the third unidentified object referenced was the bogey. The document also contains three pages of handwritten notes annotating segments of the mission audio recording, which are largely illegible due to OCR quality.
Incidents in the document
- 1965-12-04 (approx., 4 hrs 24 min into GT-7 flight) · Low Earth Orbit · Page 1
During the Gemini VII mission, astronaut Frank Borman reported a 'bogey at ten o'clock high' to Houston. He further described 'hundreds of little particles going by to the left out about three or four miles' on what looked like a path crossing the vehicle's trajectory at 90 degrees, stating they were 'going into polar orbit.' Astronaut James Lovell described the booster as 'a brilliant body in the sun against a black background with trillions of particles on it,' positioned at his two o'clock and slowly tumbling. Houston asked whether the small particles were in addition to the booster and the bogey. The P.A.O. later clarified that the 'third and unidentified object' referenced in the conversation was the bogey.