Off Topic — HabitableZone

Off Topic » in reply to re: Say what?

Which Apollo mission allegedly said that?
LJK — (archived)

If you want the real details on what the Apollo astronauts said during their
lunar exploration missions, start here with the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal:

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/

I am willing to bet the tree statements were no more said than the Apollo 11 crew
exclaiming they saw UFOs, but if any astronauts did, it sounds like they were
merely saying that some lunar surface features *looked* like trees from their
vantage point.

Such misunderstandings, deliberate or otherwise, show why it was wise of the
Apollo 8 crew to forgo their planned joke to report to Mission Control that they
saw a large black monolith in lunar orbit with them (2001 had come out just
months earlier in 1968).

When the crew of Gemini 12, launched in December of 1966, "reported" the
sighting of a UFO being pulled by eight tiny reindeer while in Earth orbit, some
people actually took their joke seriously and there was real concern for a while.

If some people can't get that one, then no wonder they react as such with
all the stories that have floated around about UFOs buzzing manned spacecraft
going back to Glenn's 1962 Mercury flight with his famous "fireflies" (they turned
out to be ice crystals condensed on the spacecraft hull.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_Atlas_6

http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4201/ch13-9.htm

Space expert James Oberg has written quite a few items on the UFO reports
by astronauts, including the infamous Apollo 11 one:

http://www.jamesoberg.com/ufo.html

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