Did Apollo 17 astronauts witness UFO on moon? What's in disclosure files

• The Pentagon is also investigating a photo from the mission showing three bright lights in a triangular formation above the lunar surface.
• These documents were part of a larger release of government files related to Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP).
• Other NASA missions, including Apollo 11, Apollo 12, and Gemini VII, also had reports of astronauts witnessing unidentified objects or phenomena.

The Apollo 17 astronauts were the last humans to set foot on the moon, and apparently the three crew members saw some very interesting sights during the mission.

While scouring the lunar surface for intriguing rock samples in 1972 to take back to Earth, the astronauts also reported witnessing mysterious phenomenon in space. Among them? flashing lights that one crew member said lit up the sky “like the Fourth of July.”

The revelation was included in a trove of new files the government released Friday, May 8 related to reports of UFOs, which are now more officially referred to as the less stigmatized "unidentified anomalous phenomena." The release marks the latest chapter amid a resurgent public interest in UFOs, which has been spurred by a number of high-profile Congressional hearings in recent years on the topic.

Here's what to know about not only what the Apollo 17 crew witnessed, but what strange sights other Apollo and Gemini-era astronauts have also apparently experienced.

What was NASA's Apollo 17 moon mission?

The Apollo 17 mission in 1972 was NASA's ninth and final crewed U.S. mission to the moon under the iconic program.

Following in the footsteps of Apollo 11 – the first mission to get boots on the lunar surface – Apollo 17 was the sixth and last time astronauts have been on the moon. NASA, however, is in the midst of returning humans to the moon under its Artemis campaign, which in April sent four astronauts on a trip around the moon's far side without landing in the first crewed lunar mission since Apollo 17.

The Apollo 17 astronauts were largely tasked with collecting lunar regolith samples, but the crew also apparently witnessed a number of strange sightings above the lunar surface.

Did Apollo 17 astronauts witness UFOs above lunar surface?

New documents released by the Pentagon reveal that the Apollo 17 astronauts reported observing unidentified phenomenon during three consecutive days of their mission. A transcript of communications released in the disclosure detail the crew members' exchanges with the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

On the first day of operations, crew member Ronald Evans reported observing “very bright particles or fragments” drifting and “tumbling” nearby. Harrison Schmitt, the lunar module pilot, further described the phenomenon as looking “like the Fourth of July.”

The next day, commander Eugene Cernan reported spotting “some sets of the streaks" accompanied by an intense light flashing between his eyes, which he compared to a train headlight. Within the next three hours, Cernan said he observed more flashing, as well as a rotating phenomenon that he said seemed to correspond to objects in space.

On day three, Schmitt exclaimed that he had observed a flash on the lunar surface north of Grimaldi (crater).

To explain some of phenomena they observed, the astronauts assumed the source could have been separated stages of the Saturn V rocket that propelled them to the moon.

Pentagon to investigate photo from Apollo 17

The Pentagon also included a previously released photo that shows three bright lights visible in a triangle formation above the lunar terrain that it said is now under investigation.

"There is no consensus about the nature of the anomaly," the Pentagon said in the disclosure files. "New preliminary US government analysis suggests the image feature is potentially the result of a physical object in the scene."

Trump, Pentagon release UFO disclosure files

The transcript was included in a batch of files the Pentagon released May 8 on its new website, war.gov/UFO.

The release comes after President Donald Trump has previously signaled that he had tasked Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth and other government officials to make public "government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs)."

The documents are from the White House, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Defense Department’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, NASA and the Energy Department.

Hegseth said in a statement on the May 8 news release that the Pentagon was "in lockstep" with Trump, "to bring unprecedented transparency regarding our government’s understanding of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena."

Other NASA missions, including Gemini VII, also included in UFO files

Apollo 17 is apparently far from the only NASA mission during which unidentified objects were observed in space.

Included in Pentagon's first release are files from Apollo 11 and 12, as well as Gemini VII and Skylab, an orbital outpost that was a predecessor to the International Space Station.

The Earth-orbiting Gemini VII mission in 1965 was NASA's 10th-ever crewed spaceflight. Here's what was said in a transcript of communications shared in the newly-released files during the mission between crew members Jim Lovell and Frank Borman with what's now known as the Johnson Space Center in Houston:

• Borman reported sighting a "bogey" – referring to an unknown aircraft – and a debris field.
• Lovell described observing a “brilliant body in the sun against a black background with trillions of particles on it.”
• An attached document also includes handwritten notes detailing the encounter, annotated with the phrase “UFO Sighting by Borman."

Apollo 11, 12 astronauts witnessed unidentified phenomenon, Pentagon report states

Apollo 11 made history in 1969 as the first mission to successfully land astronauts on the moon. But a released debriefing dated July 31, 1969 suggests the crew may have also witnessed three UFO sightings.

Authored by Buzz Aldrin, the observations highlighted in the document – all made during the crew's return trip to Earth – include an object on the way toward the moon that the astronauts speculated may have been the Saturn V launch vehicle. The astronauts also witnessed two, flashes of light inside the crew cabin, and a sighting of a bright light tentatively assumed to be a laser.

During Apollo 12 in 1969 – the fourth crewed mission under the program and the second to land astronauts on the moon – astronauts twice reported observing unidentified phenomenon above the surface, according to the files.

Here's what was said in excerpts from the Apollo 12 "technical air-to-ground voice transcriptions," based on the files:

• On day 5, Alan Bean, the pilot of the lunar module, described observing particles and flashes of light “sailing off in space” that he characterized as “escaping the moon.”
• On day 6, Mission Commander Charles “Pete” Conrad described observing floating debris outside the lunar module, which had been illuminated by the module’s onboard tracking light.

Contributing: Cybele Mayes-Osterman, Bart Jansen, USA TODAY

Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at [email protected]