Alright, folks—buckle up, because we’re about to blast off into the weirdest, most eyebrow-raising things astronauts have seen out there in the great cosmic beyond. Sure, they’re trained professionals with a strong grip on reality, but even they have reported seeing some seriously unexplainable stuff.
Are they secret space believers? Victims of zero-gravity-induced hallucinations? Or is the truth just really out there? We’ll let you decide.
1. "Something was flying alongside us." – Major Gordon Cooper (Mercury-9, 1963)
Good ol’ Gordon was a no-nonsense NASA pilot, and yet, he claimed that while orbiting Earth, he saw a glowing greenish object moving near his spacecraft. And guess what? Radar at mission control also picked it up. NASA’s response? Crickets.
2. "We have an unidentified flying object." – Neil Armstrong & Buzz Aldrin (Apollo 11, 1969)
Yep, the guys who walked on the Moon casually mentioned seeing something shadowing their spacecraft on the way there. They radioed Houston, described it as some sort of "L-shaped" object, and then... radio silence. Because of course.
3. “They’re watching us.” – Edgar Mitchell (Apollo 14, 1971)
Mitchell—who literally walked on the Moon—later said he believed in extraterrestrials and even claimed that people inside NASA knew they were being observed during missions. Not suspicious at all.
4. "I saw some things that I can’t explain." – Dr. Story Musgrave (STS-80, 1996)
A six-time space shuttle astronaut, Musgrave reported seeing strange long, flexible, white objects moving with intention. Space snakes? Cosmic noodles? Alien spaghetti? Who’s to say.
5. "We see a bright object in front of us!" – John Glenn (Friendship 7, 1962)
America’s first astronaut to orbit Earth saw tiny glowing orbs floating around his spacecraft. NASA said it was ice crystals reflecting sunlight. Glenn was like, "Yeah, sure, Jan."
6. "I saw a UFO. It was triangular." – Leroy Chiao (ISS Commander, 2005)
Chiao, while doing a spacewalk, reported seeing a formation of lights whizzing by. NASA chalked it up to fishing boat lights reflecting off the ocean. (Because, you know, the ocean is famous for its ability to reflect into space.)
7. "The aliens prevented nuclear war." – Edgar Mitchell (again, Apollo 14)
Mitchell doubled down on his space tea, claiming that during the Cold War, extraterrestrials actually intervened to stop nuclear disasters. If that’s true, we really owe them a fruit basket or something.
8. "I saw something move against physics." – Musa Manarov (Soyuz TM-11, 1991)
A Russian cosmonaut saw an object floating near his space station and then—without propulsion—it changed direction instantly. Physics was like, "I don’t know her."
9. "I’m convinced there are other beings out there." – Scott Kelly (ISS, 2015)
Kelly, a veteran astronaut, straight-up said he believes in aliens. Did he see anything specific? He’s keeping that part classified, which isn’t suspicious at all.
10. "We saw an object separating from us." – James McDivitt (Gemini 4, 1965)
McDivitt and his crewmate spotted an unidentified cylindrical object with an antenna-like structure, then watched as it flew away on its own. Either that, or NASA forgot to tell them they had a secret space pet.
11. "There was something huge near our craft." – Alexey Leonov (Soyuz-Apollo, 1975)
Leonov, a Soviet cosmonaut, later admitted he saw a massive object shadowing their spacecraft. He didn’t say much more, probably because the KGB wasn’t exactly known for encouraging fun space ghost stories.
12. "I saw an unidentified, metallic-looking object." – Cady Coleman (STS-73, 1995)
Coleman reported seeing something reflective and metallic zipping by their shuttle. NASA: "Definitely space debris." Us: "Debris that moves on its own?"
13. "I believe we’ve been visited." – Chris Hadfield (ISS, 2013)
Our beloved Canadian astronaut and guitar-playing space icon technically didn’t confirm seeing anything, but he did say he believes the possibility of aliens visiting us is very real. Which is basically the astronaut version of a wink-wink, nudge-nudge.
14. "The object didn’t look like anything we’d ever seen." – Pavel Popovich (Vostok 4, 1962)
This Soviet cosmonaut saw a boomerang-shaped object flying much faster than any human-made aircraft at the time. The USSR classified his report, which makes this even less shady.
15. "There was something following us." – Gennady Strekalov (Mir Space Station, 1990)
Strekalov reported seeing a strange glowing sphere outside his window. NASA and Roscosmos both shrugged and said, "Meh, probably an atmospheric phenomenon." Because spheres just do that, right?
So, what’s the deal?
Astronauts aren’t exactly the type to jump to conclusions. But all of these reports, spread out across decades, countries, and missions, seem to point to one thing—space is weird, and we might not be alone.
Is NASA hiding something? Is it all just optical illusions and space debris? Or are aliens out there watching us like some cosmic reality show?
Either way, the next time you stare up at the night sky, just remember: you might be looking right back at something that’s looking at you.
Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’re going to put on our tin foil hats and rewatch The X-Files.
