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AUD · NASAPURSUE Release 02

Department of War PURSUE File

NASA-UAP-D009, Apollo 17 Audio Excerpt, December 7, 1972

Cislunar Space·12/7/72

Declassified

Government description

During the eleventh and final crewed mission in the Apollo program, Apollo 17 Commander Gene Cernan, Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt, and Command Module Pilot Ronald Evans report seeing small lights outside the Apollo spacecraft during transit to the moon. The crew describe bright “particles” or “fragments” as being “jagged,” “angular,” and drifting near the Apollo spacecraft and the separated Saturn S-IVB stage. The Apollo 17 crew speculate that paint chips or ice chips are likely the source of these lights and note that they “twinkle” and move away from the Saturn S-IVB stage.

Caption issued by the U.S. Department of War on war.gov/ufo. Verbatim, unedited.

Originating agency

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Record type

AUD

Incident date

12/7/72

Incident location

Cislunar Space

Release tranche

Release 02 (May 8, 2026)

Distribution

Cleared for public release

More from NASA

Source: war.gov/ufo · PURSUE Release 02

PURSUE = Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters. Records released by the U.S. Department of War on May 8, 2026 are unresolved cases for which the government cannot make a definitive determination, and the Department has invited private-sector analysis.