AudioNASALow Earth Orbit· 5/15/63
NASA-UAP-D011, Mercury Atlas 9 Audio Excerpt, May 15, 1963
Description
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.
Released by the U.S. Department of War on 2026-05-22 via war.gov/UFO under PURSUE — Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters. This record is in the public domain (U.S. Government Work).