Pages from AS17_PAO

8/7/2019 Pages from AS17_PAO

1/8

APOLLO 17 MISSION COMMENTARY 12/9/72 CST 17:18 GET 68:24 272/1

SC Change it. The other side is not verygood.

SC Mark, Gene I've got a series of randomlines which do not appear to be the width of my field ofview that are moving like a flashing horizon with thunder-storms on the horizon. Their dimly flashing and their movingacross the eye from left to right and from top to bottomindividually. Both eyes. It's stopped now.

SC Mark, this is Gene again going from theupper left to the bottom right lines of the same sort ofthing, dimly lit flashing horizon type flashes. But theirlinear. Their linear and they tend to come from either theupper left or the upper right and work their way downward.Now they've stopped. Both eyes.

SC Mark, Gene again. Both eyes this timethe same flashes on the horizon, but they don't seem to bemoving out of both eyes. Tend to be up at the tops of botheyes. Just rapid sequential lightening like flashes. They'vestopped.

SC Mark, Gene again. Similar type of flashesthey don't seem to be moving, but their coming from the rightof the right eye and from the upper left of the right eye.And I can actually see an outline of a curved horizon andthe flashes are coming out from behind it. They've stopped.

PAO This is Apollo control at 68 hours30 minutes. Distance from Earth 183 910 nautical miles.

SC And I see peripherally out of my righteye. I cannot see these flashes, but I can see peripherallythe right hand and upper right hand side of my right eyebeing lit up.

PAO Distance 183 920 nautical miles velocity2 504 feet per second.

SC Pardon? this last one2 They were peri-pherally I couldn't see them all I know is that there wassome light out peripherally out but a flashing glow. Ohman, there is a good one the left eye right in the middleit's almost a purple flash. It's still going right in themiddle of my eye and it's coming out from behind a horizonthat is almost. It starts out as a semicircle and thenfolds in to a point like on a pencil, and then it disappears.That's the horizon and the light is flashing from behind it.It's gone.

CAPCOM Hey Gene, Houston.SC Go ahead.CAPCOM Okay, according to all our experts here

the phenomena your describing is pretty much the phospheneeffect sort of like when you rub your eyes or squint your


2/8


CAPCOM eyes too hard because the effect islasting too long. The streaks or the flashes that we'relooking for are very fast and they do not remain as a sceneto your eye. And I guess the only thing we could say wouldbe to maybe either relax your squint a little bit or to put theblindfolds on exceptionally tight. I know this sounds kindof screwy, but those are the words that we would like to sayto you but the actual phenomena we're looking for will bea very short lived phenomena it will either be a flash ora very fast streak. Something along this -- we're not tryingto load the data, but we feel your describing a differentphenomena.

SC Bill we lost all that last conservationyou better repeat it.

CAPCOM Okay, Gene, sorry about that and here Ithought I had waxed so eloquently. But the effect you'redescribing is an effect that comes from rubbing your eyesor perhaps squinting too hard, but the effect we're lookingfor and I guess we're really not trying to load the data,but the effect that we're looking for is a very short livedphenomena and would not -

SC Mark, Ron, I got one in the right eyethat's coming from going towards - very narrow streak.

CAPCOM And Gene our only words of wisdom aretry to relax the eyes a little bit or if you have the blind-fold on exceptionally tight you might work on that. But - Iguess sort of relax and see if we can see the other phenomena.

S C Ok ay.

END OF TAPE


3/8

APOLLO 17 MISSION COMMENTARY 12/9/72 17:30 CST 68:36 GET MC273/1SC Mark, Ron, one about 12:00 in the right eye and

looked like it was just a spot.SC How about 15 seconds ago? It's so dim

now I hardly noticed what it was.SC Kinda started in the left eye and just

a flash in the left eye and then a flash in the right eye,very dim. Going left, left to right.

SC Mark. Can't tell if it's right or lefteye. Looks like it's almost between the two eyes. There'sa mark in the one of the left eye. It's about right in thecenter. Spot, no streak or anything, just a spot. Firstspot seems to be between the two eyes. Upper half of thefield of view.

SC Mark, Gene, straight from the upper righteye down to about the middle.SC Mark, Ron, about 8:00, (garble) the diameter out,

just a bright flash, it's the brightest flash I've seen yet. Lefteye.SC Just about a seeond or two after Ron said

Mark, I saw a vertical bright line in the left side of theleft eye, just flashed. It was the greatest intensity on thelast one I had but, the brightness was there but it was kindadull glow to it. It wasn't. A spot that you could reallyfocus on.

SC Mark, Ron, left eye, about 9:30, halfway.SC Mark, Gene, left eye, very bright spot, left

eye, left side about half way in towards the middle.SC That was the brightest one I've seen and

it was just a spot.SC On tbe intensity of the last one I hadwas, oh, a fourth of the bright one I had before that. Spot,yes on the left eye.

SC Mark about 5 seconds ago, about 6:00 inthe right eye. Mark, right between the two eyes seemed like.Both spots.

SC Mark, Gene, a sharp line from the centerof the left eye to the upper left hand, upper left hand side.

SC Mark, Gene it's a very short, very short lineupper left hand of left eye going towards the right.

PAO This is Apollo Control at 68 hours 57 min-utes. Apollo 17's distance from Earth is 184 548 nauticalmiles, traveling at a speed of 2488 feet per second.

SC Mark, Gene, upper right eye, tangentialto my eye, just a very short line. Moving -

SC Mark, Ron, oh, a fourth of diameter outin the right eye. Light spot seemed like it was coming in.


4/8

APOLLO 17 MISSION COMMENTARY 12/9/72 17:30 CST 68:36 GET MC273/2

I could see the spot and then the streak, it went from that pointkind of in, or up, I guess.

SC Mark, Gene, a dull flash in the bottom in-side corner of the right eye.

SC Mark, Ron. Go ahead, Gene.SC Okay. Correction, Gene. That was on

the left eye, that last one?SC The last ones, for Ron, was at 10:00 and

three-fourth of the diameter out, just a, oh, well it was onlyabout an eighth of an inch in diameter, right eye.END OF TAPE


5/8

APOLLO 17 MISSION COMMENTARY 12/9/72 GET 69:02 CST 17:55 MC274/1

SC Mark Gene. Mark again, a flash. Thefirst flash was in the left eye and the left side. It wentvertically up and away. And following that was a flash inthe identically same spot. It was a line flash up and away.On the left side of each eye and it went up in both cases,but they were split by about 2 seconds.

SC Mark Ron. One fourth of the diameter out at3 o'clock in the right eye. I mean a half a diameter. Halfa radius, put it that way.

SC Mark Gene. A flash across the bottom ofthe right eye coming inward from left to right.

SC On the last one it looked like it was aSC Mark Gene, just a spot flash in the bottom of

the left eye.SC This is Ron. My last one there was just

a spot flash. No direction to it at all.SC Ron mark. Mark, this is Ron. When I

first said the word, it kind of looks like a, almost a sinewave transition from the corner and upper at 10 o'clock inthe right eye to about 2 o'clock in the left eye. Right be-tween the two of them. The sine wave with maybe two wigglesin it and it was about a fourth of an inch long. Going fromright to left, yes. And going into the left at about2 o' clock.

SC Turn that music higher.SC Yes.SC Mark Ron. Seems like I looked up and as

I looked up, there was one in the left eye about 12 o'clock,just a flash. On the outer periphery.

PAO This is Apollo Control at 69 hours15 minutes. Apollo 17's distance from Earth 184 987 nauticalmiles. Velocity 2477 feet per second.

SC Mark Ron. Looks to be down about 6:30,just a flash. Right eye. Mark Ron. Left eye, about 3:30three quarters of the radius out. A very dim flash. About3:30. Mark Ron. Left eye. Starting at 5 o'clock on thecircumference going to 3 o'clock and about thrre quarter diameter,three quarter radius, I mean. Just a straight line. Did I sayleft eye? I guess I meant it. Okay, let's see. (garble)It appears the motor quit. Okay.

SC Is that it?SC Yes, I'll give it to Gene.

END OF TAPE


6/8

APOLLO 17 MISSION COMMENTARY 12/9/72 CST 18:15 GET 69:21 275/1SC Okay, you want to take a picture of the

first one? Okay, stand by 3, 2, 1 mark it, power's on yaw.SC Say, Bob or Stu.CAPCOM Roger, go ahead.SC Okay to add to today. Not last night,

but I guess the first night I was in bed I definitely sawsome of these. Because I had a hard time going to bed tostart with I saw some of the same peripheral horizon typethings you said were not the type of data you were lookingfor, but I also saw some sets of the streaks and probablythe one most imposing thing that I remember was - and thelast one I remember before falling alseep was the fact thatthere was a very bright spot that flashed right between myeyes like a very bright headlight like a train coming at youonly with a flash. It's difficult probably to estimate thefrequency of any of those because I was in a sort of a sleephazy mode.

CAPCOM Roger.SC But then as today I saw some that flashed

and lit up the horizon and some that lit up peripherally andI guess as you say that's different kind of data, but I didsee them there and they impressed me.

CAPCOM Okay, we got all that Gene.SC Okay, and it might be interesting to

know I've never seen it before today.CAPCOM Hey, Gene we appreciate all the data we

were just trying to make the data fit the curve you know theold trick.SC Okay, I just wanted you to - just tell

old Mike we saw them that's all.CAPCOM Rog.SC I will say one thing, though, no ques-

tion in my mind but that they're there. Last trip I took Iguess I just wasn't looking for them or paying any attentionto them. Maybe they were there and I ignored them becauseof other things. But they were there.

SC Okay, all you flash bugs down there -flash bulbs I guess is the word frame 50 I just took fourpictures to show two on the side and two on the bottom toshow the position of the ALFMED and one of them of each setwas focused on the ALFMED the others were focused - the otherset was focused on the strutts.CAPCOM Roger, Jack.

SC And when you don't have anything else todo why don't you have somebody predict where the S-IVB isI think I've got her spotted behind us and above us withrespect to the Earth and our travel from it.


7/8


CAPCOM Item just went out and shot himself, butwe'll get working on it.

SC Oh, don't worry about it shoot. Ithought you guys might have an idea off the cuff there.

CAPCOM No what's humorous in this Jack is theyhave really been working on that S-IVB impact point. It'sbeen a real difficult problem for them so far.

SC I'll tell you, I bet you Ron could give a starsighting on it. I looked at it through the monocular andsure looks like the S-IVB.

CAPCOM Jack, we're not doubting you at all we couldprobably start cranking it right now.

CAPCOM Jack are you all stowing the ALFMED nowor are you done?

SC What's that, Bob?CAPCOM Are you all done with the ALFMED now, Ron?SC Yes, I've got to get it to, get the plate

moved back down there yet.CAPCOM Okay, Ron.SC Get the blindfold off first so I can

see what I'm doing.CAPCOM Roger, I just want you to know we've got

a real long update coming up to you here on the LOI abortcharts and it's probably going to be a difficult read up.And your the most familiar with the charts you probablywould want to take them. But whenever you want to takethem they are on charts on page 3-81, 3-82 and then the cuecard for LOI limits. Whenever you want to take them it willbe a lengthy one.

SC Stand by, Bob let us get squared awayfrom the ALFMED then we will get going on that.CAPCOM No, I don't want to hurry you, Ron. Ijust want you to get yourself comfortable and be ready totake them whenever you want them. It's going to be a lengthytime, though.

SC Okay. Hey Bob, I'm looking at what Jackwas talking about and it's definitely not a partical that'snearby because there is another one I can look at and get athree dimensional comparison with. It is a bright objectand it's obviously rotating because it's flashing. It's wayout in the distance as I say because there are particlesthat are close by and it's obviously not one of those. It'sapparently rotating in a very rhythmic fashion because theflashes come around almost on time and as we look back atthe Earth it's up at about 11:00 about - oh, maybe 10 or12 Earth diameters I don't know if that does you any good,but there is something out there.


8/8


CAPCOM Rog, we don't doubt it Gene and we mightwork out a set of fimble angles or something here maybe wecan get a look at it through the optics.

SC Okay. And I just want to emphasize that'sit definitely not one of these particles that tends to looklike a star out there something physical in the distance.

SC (Laughter). (Garble). Yes, guess I am.END OF TAPE

Documents

Pages from AS17_PAO