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This U.S. Department of War PURSUE release, dated 2026-05-08, compiles excerpts from NASA Johnson Space Center technical crew debriefings for Skylab missions, dated June 30, 1973, October 4, 1973 and February 22, 1974. Crews describe light flashes seen with eyes closed and believed to be cosmic particles. The second crew describes tracking a bright reddish rotating object near their orbit for about 10 minutes and asks for it to be identified. The third crew reports flashing lights they presumed were Skylab pieces or other satellites.
“Nevers”3 pages
BEAN LOUSMA GARRIOTT I did too. The sack would move over in the corner. Things we saw out the window. For example, we saw that satellite about a week before splash down. That was one of the most unusual things that we saw and I guess Jack noticed it looking out the window. This bright reddish object was out there and we tracked it for about 5 or 10 minutes. It was obviously a satellite in a very similar orbit to our own. It was rotating and had a period of almost exactly 10 seconds because you could see the bright ness vary with that period. We followed it until sunset and it went out of sunlight just about 5 to 7 seconds after we did. It held its position nearly the same, in the wardroom window for that 10-minute interval although we could see it drift in relative positions slightly, maybe 10 to - 20 degrees during the course of that 10-minute interval. It was reddish in color even when we were well above the horizon. As we approached sunset, it turned more reddish, presumably because . of the sunlight change. What satellite it was and how it happened to end up in such a similar orbit, no one ever explained to us. And I would like to hear a few words from someone about that satellite. 7-4
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