NASA-UAP-D7, Skylab Techincal Crew Debriefing 1973

Between May 1973 and February 1974, three successive crews aboard NASA's Skylab space station reported observations of unidentified lights and objects during their orbital missions. According to the file, these accounts were recorded in technical debriefings conducted immediately after each crew's return to Earth. The witnesses were trained astronauts and mission specialists whose observations were entered into the official NASA record.

The Skylab 2 crew, debriefed on June 30, 1973, reported seeing light flashes that occurred frequently during the mission. The Science Pilot stated that he and his crewmates observed these phenomena, particularly when resting with eyes closed but awake at night. The flashes varied in appearance, described as either burst-like or streak patterns, and fluctuated in frequency at times reaching two or three occurrences per minute. Most of the flashes appeared in the observers' peripheral vision rather than their direct line of sight. The crew noted that the flashes did not appear to be hallucinations and discussed whether they might correlate with passage through the South Atlantic anomaly, though they could not confirm a connection at the time.

During the Skylab 3 mission, debriefed on October 4, 1973, the crew observed a bright reddish object approximately one week before their return. According to the file, the object was tracked for five to ten minutes and displayed characteristics consistent with a satellite in an orbit very similar to Skylab's own. The object exhibited a brightness variation with an approximately ten-second rotational period. The crew noted that it remained much brighter than Jupiter or other visible planets and retained a reddish hue despite being well above the horizon. The object drifted slightly in the window during observation, moving perhaps ten to twenty degrees over the ten-minute interval, and entered darkness approximately five to seven seconds after Skylab did. The crew expressed interest in receiving official identification of the satellite, noting they had never observed it again on subsequent orbits.

The final crew, Skylab 4, debriefed on February 22, 1974, reported occasional sightings of lights flashing outside the station with definite motion relative to Skylab's position. The Commander noted that the crew presumed these were either other pieces of Skylab or possibly other satellites, and that reports of two or three such sightings were transmitted to ground controllers as they occurred. The apparent tumbling motion of some objects was attributed to oscillation in the light flashes themselves. This document was cleared for public release in May 2026 as part of the Department of War PURSUE Release 01.