Case files / apollo-17-1972
Apollo 17: like the Fourth of July
- When
- December 1972
- Where
- Between Earth and the Moon, and in lunar orbit
- Reported by
- The Apollo 17 crew
- Released
- May 8, 2026 (first release)
- Status
- Crew suspected spacecraft debris for some sightings
On the first day, Ron Evans reported "very bright particles or fragments" tumbling near the spacecraft, and Jack Schmitt said it looked "like the Fourth of July." They guessed it was ice or paint coming off the spent rocket stage, calling that a "wild guess."
On the third day, Gene Cernan described a light flashing between his eyes as bright as a train headlight, and over three hours reported flashing, rotating objects he believed were real objects in space. Some he later put down to panels from the Saturn V. On day four, Schmitt saw a flash on the lunar surface north of Grimaldi crater.