NASA-UAP-D011, Mercury Atlas 9 Audio Excerpt, May 15, 1963
Official released audio
NASA-UAP-D011, Mercury Atlas 9 Audio Excerpt, May 15, 1963
The released record says l. Gordon Cooper Jr. describes the brilliant blue of sunrise beneath the haze layer of the Earth’s atmosphere during the Mercury-Atlas 9 mission. File: NASA-UAP-D011, Mercury Atlas 9 Audio Excerpt, May 15, 1963. NASA-UAP-D011, Mercury Atlas 9 Audio Excerpt, May 15, 1963 combines an official, playable audio, 10 extracted claims, 1 evidence record, and 1 timeline entry, and file-level provenance that can be compared with related release records.
- File
- Audio · Release 02
- Date
- May 15, 1963
- Location
- Low Earth Orbit
- Agency
- NASA
Probed Assessment
The released record says l. Gordon Cooper Jr. describes the brilliant blue of sunrise beneath the haze layer of the Earth’s atmosphere during the Mercury-Atlas 9 mission. File: NASA-UAP-D011, Mercury Atlas 9 Audio Excerpt, May 15, 1963.
Key takeaways
- The released record says cooper describes small, luminous, brilliant white particles drifting away from the spacecraft as he approaches sunrise.
- The released record says cooper describes observing 'fireflies' after deploying beacons, which are spherical mission-related equipment with xenon strobe lights.
- NASA-UAP-D011, Mercury Atlas 9 Audio Excerpt, May 15, 1963 transcript includes a light-related observation at 7:19.519
Why it matters
NASA-UAP-D011, Mercury Atlas 9 Audio Excerpt, May 15, 1963 combines an official, playable audio, 10 extracted claims, 1 evidence record, and 1 timeline entry, and file-level provenance that can be compared with related release records.
Corroboration
For NASA-UAP-D011, Mercury Atlas 9 Audio Excerpt, May 15, 1963, the release establishes official provenance but does not independently verify the record's statement that l. Gordon Cooper Jr. describes the brilliant blue of sunrise beneath the haze layer of the Earth’s atmosphere during the Mercury-Atlas 9 mission.
Open questions
- • Do the full recording and surrounding mission records add context beyond the 80 available transcript segments?
Probed separates this editorial assessment from the source claims below. It summarizes what the released artifact supports; it is not independent verification.
Official Description from War.gov
During the final and longest flight of Project Mercury, Mercury-Atlas 9 mission (MA-9) Faith 7 Pilot L. Gordon Cooper Jr. describes the brilliant blue of sunrise beneath the haze layer of the Earth’s atmosphere. As he approaches sunrise, he describes small, luminous, brilliant white particles drifting away from the spacecraft. Cooper describes observing “fireflies” after deploying beacons, which are spherical mission-related equipment with xenon strobe lights.
Preserved verbatim as source metadata. This wording is separate from Probed’s file-specific description and assessment.
File Context
Related entities
Tracker findings
Cooper describes small, luminous, brilliant white particles drifting away
The record states: Cooper describes small, luminous, brilliant white particles drifting away from the spacecraft as he approaches sunrise.
Release provenance
- Release
- Release 02
- Official ID
- release-02-file-060-nasa-uap-d011-mercury-atlas-9-audio-excerpt-may-15-1963
- Cleared
- May 22, 2026
Referenced Timeline
Mercury-Atlas 9 Mission
Final and longest flight of Project Mercury.
Source Claims
Claims are attributed to the released source and remain distinct from Probed’s assessment and tracker findings.
L. Gordon Cooper Jr. describes the brilliant blue of sunrise beneath the haze layer of the Earth’s atmosphere during the Mercury-Atlas 9 mission.
During the final and longest flight of Project Mercury, Mercury-Atlas 9 mission (MA-9) Faith 7 Pilot L. Gordon Cooper Jr. describes the brilliant blue of sunrise beneath the haze layer of the Earth’s atmosphere.
Cooper describes small, luminous, brilliant white particles drifting away from the spacecraft as he approaches sunrise.
As he approaches sunrise, he describes small, luminous, brilliant white particles drifting away from the spacecraft.
Cooper describes observing 'fireflies' after deploying beacons, which are spherical mission-related equipment with xenon strobe lights.
Cooper describes observing “fireflies” after deploying beacons, which are spherical mission-related equipment with xenon strobe lights.
NASA-UAP-D011, Mercury Atlas 9 Audio Excerpt, May 15, 1963 transcript includes a fireflies reference at 7:36.859.
[7:33.339] fire a pitch down thruster , I get a [7:36.859] shower of these little fireflies . Yeah , [7:40.019] it is flashing now . It is the light .
NASA-UAP-D011, Mercury Atlas 9 Audio Excerpt, May 15, 1963 transcript includes a light-related observation at 7:19.519.
[7:14.670] now 28 , I'm sorry , not 18 . [7:19.519] It's light in sight . It is below me . [7:23.239] It's quite a brownish . It reddish
NASA-UAP-D011, Mercury Atlas 9 Audio Excerpt, May 15, 1963 transcript includes a flash reference at 7:40.019.
[7:36.859] shower of these little fireflies . Yeah , [7:40.019] it is flashing now . It is the light . [7:43.049] It's quite bright , quite discernible .
NASA-UAP-D011, Mercury Atlas 9 Audio Excerpt, May 15, 1963 transcript includes a particle or fragment reference at 1:24.750.
[1:12.171] sunrise over . Roger [1:24.750] These small luminescent particles drift [1:26.972] away from you slowly and forward . In
NASA-UAP-D011, Mercury Atlas 9 Audio Excerpt, May 15, 1963 transcript includes a flash reference at 7:07.100.
[7:04.820] daylight going in the dark . I've been [7:07.100] looking for the flashing beacons . [7:11.170] 50518
NASA-UAP-D011, Mercury Atlas 9 Audio Excerpt, May 15, 1963 transcript includes a light-related observation at 1:30.269.
[1:26.972] away from you slowly and forward . In [1:30.269] this light , they appear , uh , [1:32.047] brilliant white without green at all in them .
NASA-UAP-D011, Mercury Atlas 9 Audio Excerpt, May 15, 1963 transcript includes a light-related observation at 0:14.899.
[0:09.250] layer . I can see the haze layer . [0:14.899] And the right band of light demarcation [0:17.950] coming underneath it . Quite
Source Material & Evidence
Transcript
And I'm beginning to get the brilliant
blue of sun rising in the east . Bright
blue band underneath all this haze
layer . I can see the haze layer .
And the right band of light demarcation
coming underneath it . Quite
distinctive .
There's a faint . greenish tint
Is where there are clouds , apparently .
How's your Hawaii phase 7 reading you
loud and clear .
At your Hawaii phase 7 reading you loud
and clear . Roger , I understand .
Roger , I'm just a small end forward ,
180 degrees , yaw approaching , uh ,
sunrise over . Roger
These small luminescent particles drift
away from you slowly and forward . In
this light , they appear , uh ,
brilliant white without green at all in them .
They appear to move on out , curve
around back towards the , uh , flight
path . And here , I don't think . Roger ,
you haven't seen the beacon at this
time . Negative . I still haven't seen the beacon
the beacon .
There was considerable noise though ,
as if something were departing . Say Again Seven
there was considerable noise of the
little doors . Sounded like the little
doors blowing open , so I assume the
beacon has departed . Roger ,
understand .
TM looks real good on the ground . All
right , roger .
OK , you confirm , uh , TV control
switch to off . Roger , TV control is
off .
Uh , we had a slight decrease in the
two links on DC current . Uh , would
you give us a readout ? All Roger , DC
current . Roger Main bus is
24 . Isolated 28 and a half .
OK , good . Gordo, this is Wally. Did you
have anything to eat ? Uh , negative ,
not yet . I'm
planning to shortly here though . Uh ,
Roger as for your information , system's last
computations on fuel at Hawaii gave you
88 auto . 98 manual , which
is somewhat better than you're
indicating on board . Uh , roger , on
board . I'm indicating 96 and 102 .
Oh boy , what a beautiful shot of
Florida . Roger
looks good from here once in a while
too . Roger , the whole state is clear .
I can , I can see I'm just off .
There's been a beautiful view coming
over Florida .
180 yaw. I got here a manual
proportional control . I'm at the last
daylight going in the dark . I've been
looking for the flashing beacons .
50518
now 28 , I'm sorry , not 18 .
It's light in sight . It is below me .
It's quite a brownish . It reddish
brown and Considerable
altitude above the ground . Each time I
fire a pitch down thruster , I get a
shower of these little fireflies . Yeah ,
it is flashing now . It is the light .
It's quite bright , quite discernible .
1234567 ,
rate. It appears to be about .
It appears to be about 10 to 12 miles away .
I'm keeping it directly in the window .
At the order of a 2nd magnitude star
now .
Research Map
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