Apollo 12 Crew Saw Flashes of Light as They Tried to Sleep

The three Apollo 12 astronauts were trying to fall asleep in the dark when they saw flashes or streaks of light. Charles Conrad, Richard Gordon, and Alan Bean described the experience in a NASA medical debriefing.

All three experienced something similar, even though they were in darkness. NASA later concluded that the lights did not come from an external source. In other words, nothing outside the crew was shining at them. The record does not specify exactly what they saw or what led NASA to that conclusion.

Three Similar Accounts

The debriefing was conducted as part of an assessment of the crew’s health. Each astronaut described flashes or streaks of light in the dark while trying to sleep. All three crew members reported the phenomenon.

NASA considered their accounts alongside similar descriptions from Buzz Aldrin, a member of the Apollo 11 crew. He, too, reported a similar phenomenon. The resemblance between the cases led the medical team to investigate whether they might be connected.

The First Suspect

In Aldrin’s case, the medical team considered whether cosmic rays had caused the phenomenon. Cosmic rays are streams of particles that come from space. The team examined whether these particles had affected the retina, the light-sensitive part of the eye.

That possibility was considered in connection with the Apollo 11 reports. By itself, it does not explain what happened to the Apollo 12 astronauts. NASA later concluded that the lights they described were part of their vision, rather than light coming from outside.

What Remains Unknown

The record does not say what caused the flashes or streaks, nor does it explain how NASA reached its conclusion. It states only that the lights were part of the crew members’ vision and did not come from an external source.

Three people tried to fall asleep in the dark and saw light. Nothing outside was shining at them.