NASA-UAP-D004, Apollo 11 Technical Crew Debriefing, 1969
Apollo 11 was the third crewed mission to the Moon and the first to land Astronauts on the lunar surface. This document is an excerpt from the Apollo 11 Technical Crew Debriefing (Volumes 1 and 2) from July 31, 1969. The document highlights three observations: one, an object on the way out to the Moon; two, flashes of light inside the cabin; and three, a sighting on the return trip of a bright light tentatively assumed by the crew to be a laser. • Page 6-33 (Vol. 1). [Lunar Module Pilot for Apollo 11, Buzz Aldrin]: “The first unusual thing that we saw I guess was 1 day out or something pretty close to the moon. It had a sizeable dimension to it, so we put the monocular on it.” The crew speculated that it could have been the S-IVB stage of the Saturn V launch vehicle. • Page 6-37 (Vol. 1). [Lunar Module Pilot for Apollo 11, Buzz Aldrin] “The other observation that I made accumulated gradually. I don’t know whether I saw it the first night, but I’m sure I saw it the second night. I was trying to go to sleep with all the lights out. I observed what I thought were little flashes inside the cabin, spaced a couple of minutes apart…” • Page 21-1 (Vol. 2). [Lunar Module Pilot for Apollo 11, Buzz Aldrin] “I observed what appeared to be a fairly bright light source which we tentatively ascribed to a possible laser.”
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Document Intel
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- Source
- War.gov PURSUE
- Type
- Report
- Classification
- Unclassified
- Agency
- NASA
- Reference #
- RELEASE-01-FILE-141-NASA-UAP-D4-APOLLO-11-TECHNICAL-CREW-DEBRIEFING-1969
- Published
- 2026-05-08
- Content Type
- application/pdf
- Pages
- 11
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The first unusual thing that the Apollo 11 crew saw was 1 day out or something pretty close to the moon, and it had a sizeable dimension.
The first unusual thing that we saw I guess was 1 day out or something pretty close to the moon. It had a sizeable dimension to it, so we put the monocular on it.
The Apollo 11 crew speculated that the object they saw could have been the S-IVB stage of the Saturn V launch vehicle.
Yes, and we weren't sure but what it might be the S-IVB. We called the ground and were told the S-IVB was 6000 miles away.
Buzz Aldrin observed little flashes inside the cabin, spaced a couple of minutes apart.
I observed what I thought were little flashes inside the cabin, spaced a couple of minutes apart...
Buzz Aldrin observed a fairly bright light source which was tentatively ascribed to a possible laser.
I observed what appeared to be a fairly bright light source which we tentatively ascribed to a possible laser.
The Apollo 11 crew revised their initial conclusion about the light source from the Earth, suspecting it was a reflection off a lake.
If no one owns up to having beamed the laser toward the Moon at that time, it was more probably a reflection off a lake.
Buzz Aldrin describes observing an object with a sizeable dimension on the way out to the Moon, which the crew speculated could have been the S-IVB stage of the Saturn V launch vehicle.
“The first unusual thing that we saw I guess was 1 day out or something pretty close to the moon. It had a sizeable dimension to it, so we put the monocular on it.”
Buzz Aldrin reports observing flashes of light inside the cabin during the Apollo 11 mission.
“The other observation that I made accumulated gradually. I don’t know whether I saw it the first night, but I’m sure I saw it the second night. I was trying to go to sleep with all the lights out. I observed what I thought were little flashes inside the cabin, spaced a couple of minutes apart…”
Chronology extracted from the document text.
Apollo 11 Technical Crew Debriefing
The debriefing document from the Apollo 11 mission highlights three observations made by the crew.
Apollo 11 Technical Crew Debriefing
Debriefing of the Apollo 11 mission crew.
Apollo 11 Mission
Apollo 11 was the third crewed mission to the Moon and the first to land astronauts on the lunar surface.
Observation of an unusual object
The Apollo 11 crew observed an unusual object with a sizeable dimension.
Observation of flashes inside the cabin
Buzz Aldrin observed little flashes inside the cabin.
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