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This NASA transcript of Public Affairs Office release commentary for the Gemini 7/6 flight is dated 5 December 1965 and comes from tape T-00763. In the exchange with Houston, Frank Borman reports a bogey at ten o'clock high, hundreds of small particles passing three or four miles away and the booster in sight. Jim Lovell describes the booster as a brilliant, slowly tumbling body. The Public Affairs Office notes that the flight had reached 4 hours 24 minutes.
From the source: Release of 2026-05-08 Incident: 12/5/65, Low Earth Orbit. Gemini 7 was the tenth crewed American spaceflight. This document is a transcript of communications between the flight crew, Astronauts James “Jim” Lovell and Frank Borman, and the Manned Flight Center (now known as Johnson Space Center) in Houston, Texas. The transcript begins with Borman’s report of a “bogey,” contemporary nomenclature for an unknown aircraft, as well as a debris field. Borman described the debris field as consisting of “very, very many […] hundreds of little particles.” He estimated the particles’ distance from the spacecraft to be four miles. Lovell described observing a “brilliant body in the sun against a black background with trillions of particles on it.” This document also includes handwritten notes documenting the encounter, annotated with the phrase “UFO Sighting by Borman” in the top right corner.
.. TAPE No. T-00763(Rlb) "P.A.O. RELEASE COMMENTARY OF THE GT-7/6 FLIGHT." P.A.O. SINCE THEN WE HAVE DUBBED THE TAPE OFF. THE MASTER TAPE HERE IN THE CONTRO CENTER AND WE ARE NOW PREPARED TO PLAY IT FOR YOU - IT CDNTAINS REFERENCES TO SIGHTING NOT ONLY SOME PARTICLES BUT AS WELt AS AN UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT PLUS THE BOOSTER HERS THAT TAPE WE'LL PLA.Y IT FOB YOU NOW---- s/c GEMINI-7 HERE HOUSTON-- HOW DO YOU READ? HOUSTON: LOUD AND CLEAR SEVEN - GO AHEAD. s/c (BORMAN) A BOGEY AT TEN 01 CLOCK HIGH. HOUSTON THIS IS HOUSTON, SAY AGAIN SEVEN? s/c (BORMAN) I SAID WE HAVE A BOGEY AT TEN O'CLOCK HIGH. HOUSTON ROGER. GEMINI-7 ISTHAT THE BOOSTER OR IS THAT A NATURAL SIGHTING? s/c A WHAT? HOUSTON SAY AGAIN SEVEN. s/c (BORMAN) WE HAVE DEBRIS UP HERE - THIS IS AN ACTUAL SIGHTING. HOUSTON YOU HAVE ANY MORE INFORMATION - ESTlMATE DISTANCE OR SIZE? s/c (:BORMAN) WE ALSO HAVE THE BOOSTER IN SIGHT. HOUSTON UNDERSTAND YOU ALSO HAVE THE BOOSTER IN SIGHT .. ROGER. s/c (BORMAN) WE HAVE VERY, VERY MANY A - IT LOOKS LllCE HUNDREDS OF LITI'LE PARTICLES GOING BY TO THE LEFT OUT ABOUT THREE OR FOUR MILES. HOUSTON UNDERSTAND YOU HAVE MANY SMALL PARTICLES GOING BY ON THE LEFT AT WHAT DISTANCE? s/c (BORMAN) •••. GARBLED ... FOUR MILES. OH, ABOUT - GARBLED - IT LOOKS LIKE A PATH OF THE VEHICLE AT 90 DEGREES. HOUSTON ROGER. UNDERSTAND THEY'RE ABOUT THREE OR FOUR MILES AWAY s/c (BORMAN) THEY'VE PASSED NOW. THEY'RE GOING INTO POIAR ORBIT. HOUSTON ROlER. UNDERSTAND THEY WERE TimEE TO FOUR MILES AWAY. s/c THATS WHAT IT APPEARED LIKE. THATS ROGER. HOUSTON GEMINI-7 - HOUSTON - WERE THESE PARTICLES IN ADDITION 'ID THE BOOSTER AND THE BOGEY AT TEN -O'CLOCK HIGH? s/c (LOVELL) ROGER. I HAVE THE BOOSTER ON MY SIDE.ITS A BRILLIANT BODY IN THE SUN AGAINST A BLACK BACKGROUND WITH TRILLIONS OF PARTICLES ON IT. HOUSTON ROGER WHAT DIRECTION IS IT FROM YOU? s/c (LOVELL) ITS ABOUT AT MY TWO O'CLOCK POSITION. HOUSTON DOES THAT MEAN ITS AHEAD OF YOU? s/c (LOVELL) ITS AHEAD OF US AT TWO O'CLOCK, SLOWLY TUMBLING HOUSTON ROGER. •••••••••• LONG PAUSE ••••••••• DUAL TRANSMISSION•....••• P.A.O. THIS IS GEMINI OONTROL AGAIN THE REFERENCE IN THAT CONVERSATION TO THE THIRD AND UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT OF COURSE WAS OR THE THIRD OBJECT WAS A JBiB1r BOGEY. THERE WERE SEVERAL REFERENCES TO THE BOGEY. AT 4 Hrs 24 MIN into ~ THE FLIGHT THIS IS GEMINI CONTROL. - l -
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Hearing transcript, from the pursue collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 4 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.