Updated 16.12.2013 A list of space farers - be they astronauts, cosmonauts, taigonauts or any new nomination that might surface as man continues his exploration of outer space. Included their flights, and ideas and experiences of UFOs or other extraterrestrial issues. It is clear that they, as well as airline and fighter pilots - have better than average opportunity to witness UFOs up there, and many have!
Afanasyev, Viktor (
1948-) Russian cosmonaut. A space veteran of three long-duration missions, he has logged over 545 days in space, and 7 EVAs totaling 38.55 hours. He says: "I think we are not alone, something of extraterrestrial origin has
visited Earth. The alien craft turned towards ours, followed us, and
flew formation 25 to 29 metres away. We photographed the metallic
engineering structure that was 40 metres long. The film was later
confiscated." But he made a drawing of the object. - UFO Casebook -
Akiyama,Toyohiro (1942-) Journalist, and the first Japanese in space. 8 days aboard Mir where he made live reports each day documenting life aboard the station.
Aldrin, Buzz (1930-)
2nd Person On The Moon. Pilot of
Gemini 12 in 1966 & Lunar Module Pilot of
Apollo 11 in 1969. Reticent about the UFO issue. But during the flight Gemini XII he and James Lovell spotted two UFO's
approximately 1/2 mile from the spacecraft. They were observed for some period
of time and photographs were taken. And then of course during the Apollo Moon landing in 1969, it is said that they were literally surrounded by UFOs. Timothy Good writes that HAM radio operators receiving the VHF signals directly picked
up the following message which was screened by NASA from the public.
Mission Control: "What's there? Mission Control calling Apollo 11."
Apollo 11: "These babies are huge, sir ... enormous....Oh, God, you wouldn't believe it!
I'm telling you there are other space craft out there... lined up on the far side of the
crater edge... they're on the moon watching us." -
ThinkQuest -
Altman, Scott (1959-) Four
Space Shuttle missions - 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2009.
Anders, William (1933-)
Orbiting The Moon. Lunar Module Pilot of Apollo 8 in 1968.
Anderson, Michael (1959-2003) Killed during
Space Shuttle Columbia reentry Feb
1st, 2003.
Armstrong, Neil (1930-2012)
1st Person On The Moon. Command Pilot of
Gemini 8 in 1966 & Commander of
Apollo 11 in 1969. If he and Aldrin really did see extraterrestrial crafts on the Moon and then just had to keep quiet about it, that would explain Armstrong's reclusive nature and public reticence in describing his personal
experiences there.Why tell anything when you can't tell everything?
Bean, Alan (1932-)
4th Person On The Moon. Lunar Module Pilot of Apollo 12 in 1969.
Beregovoy, Georgy (1921-1995) Soyuz 3 in 1968. He flew 81 times around the Earth.
Bolden, Charles Jr. (1946-) A veteran of four space flights, logged over 680 hours in space between 1986 and 1994. Pilot of
STS-61-C (Columbia/1986) and
STS-31 (Discovery/1990), and Mission Commander of
STS-45 (Atlantis/1992) and in the first US/Russian Shuttle-Mir Program
STS-60 (Discovery/1994).
Borman, Frank (1928-)
Orbiting The Moon. Command Pilot of
Gemini 7 in 1965 & Commander of Apollo 8 in 1968. The first to fly around the Moon. Borman saw, together with James Lovell onboard Gemini VII, something that perhaps after all wasn't anything alien, according to
ATS. But on Christmas Day 1968 onboard Apollo 8 he and co-pilot Lovell
are reported to have witnessed a UFO (a "Santa Claus"), also the day before. An unidentified language was picked up on one of the NASA frequencies used
during the mission. -
ATS -
NasaBio -
Brand, Vance (1931-) Command module pilot of the first U.S.-Soviet joint
space flight in 1975, and commander of three space shuttle missions.
Brown, David (1956-2003) Killed during
Space Shuttle Columbia reentry on Feb
1st, 2003.
Carpenter, Scott (1925-2013) Pilot of
Mercury 7 in 1962. Carpenter said of UFOs:
"At no time, when the astronauts were in space
were they alone: there was a constant surveillance by UFOs." -
Syti -
UFO Digest -
Cassidy, Chris (1970-) Expedition 36, 2013
Cernan, Eugene "Gene" (1934-)
11th Person On The Moon. Pilot of
Gemini 9 in 1966 & Lunar Module Pilot of Apollo 10 in 1969 & Commander of
Apollo 17 in1972. Cernan became - officially - "the last man on the Moon".
In January 1973 he said
in a Los Angeles Times article: "I've been asked about UFOs
and I've said publicly I thought they were somebody
else, some other civilization".
Chaffee, Roger (1935-1967) Pilot of Apollo 1 in 1967 - killed at launch.
Chawla, Kalpana (1962-2003) Killed during
Space Shuttle Columbia reentry Feb
1st, 2003.
Clark, Laurel (1961-2003) Killed during
Space Shuttle Columbia reentry Feb
1st, 2003.
Collins, Eileen (1956-) Pilot (the first female one) of Discovery on
STS-63 in 1995 (first rendezvous with
Mir) & the first female commander of a U.S. Spacecraft with Shuttle mission
STS-93 in 1999.
Collins, Michael (1930-)
Orbiting The Moon. Pilot of
Gemini 10 in 1966 & Command Module Pilot of
Apollo 11 in 1969. While on orbit, Collins saw a about 7-story high building on the Moon - that piece of transmission was later erased, but according to
ATS millions of people heard it. -
ATS -
Conrad, Charles (1930-1999)
3rd Person On The Moon. Pilot of
Gemini 5 in 1965, Command Pilot of
Gemini 11 in 1966 & Commander of Apollo 12 in 1969.
Cooper, Gordon (1927-2004) Pilot of
Mercury 9 in 1963 & Command Pilot of
Gemini 5 in 1965. Perhaps the most outspoken of all the astronauts concerning UFOs. Witnessed one in 1951, but never in space.
Cunningham, Walter (1932-) Lunar Module Pilot of
Apollo 7 in 1968.
Duke, Charles (1935-)
9th Person On The Moon. Lunar Module Pilot of Apollo 16 in 1972.
Eisele, Donn (1930-1987) Command Module Pilot of
Apollo 7 in 1968.
Evans, Ronald (1933-1990)
Orbiting The Moon. Command Module Pilot of
Apollo 17 in 1972.
Ferguson, Christopher (1961-) Pilot of
STS-115 Atlantis in 2006, Commander of
STS-126 Endeavour and Commander of
STS-135 Atlantis - the final mission of the space shuttle program.
Video(47m57s)
Fuglesang, Christer (1957-) Swedish physicist and an ESA astronaut.
STS-116 in 2006.
Gagarin, Yury (1934-1968) Vostok 1 in 1961. The first man in space.
Glenn, John (1921-) Pilot of
Mercury 6 in 1962. Became the first American to orbit the Earth, and is also the oldest person to fly in space, aboard the space shuttle Discovery (1998). Conservative
views about UFOs which always rhyme well with political ambitions. But in his
guest appearance on Frasier (Mar2001), did
he or did he not, disclose? Maybe, probably. He did ask the people on
"Frasier" to let him be a guest on the show. Thus maybe cleverly finding
a way to tell the truth without really risking anything.
Gordon, Richard F. Jr (1929-)
Orbiting The Moon. Pilot of
Gemini 11 in 1966 & Command Module Pilot of Apollo 12 in 1969. Onboard Gemini 11 together with Charles Conrad they report to Mission Control that their craft was being observed by a UFO estimated at being about six miles away.
Grissom, Virgil (1926-1967) Pilot of
Mercury 4 in 1961, Command Pilot of
Gemini 3 in 1965 & Command pilot of
Apollo 1 in 1967 - killed at launch.
Hadfield, Chris (1959-) Canadian astronaut. Mission specialist on
STS-74 (Atlantis 1995) and
STS-100 (Endeavour 2001). He also spent almost six months onboard ISS as part of
Expedition 35 (Soyuz 2012).
Haigneré. Jean-Pierre (1948-) French astronaut. Two missions to the Russian
Mir space station (1993 &1999). During the latter mission he took
this interesting photograph! Although no official statement has ever been released concerning the mystery object, it has been suggested by some that the anomaly is nothing more than a reflection of a water droplet from inside the Mir.
Haise, Fred (1933-)
Orbiting The Moon. Lunar Module Pilot of
Apollo 13 in 1970, the unlucky flight.
Hoshide, Akihiko (1968-)
星出 彰彦 - JAXA astronaut. Mission specialist of
STS-124 (Discovery) in 2008 and flight engineer of
Soyuz TMA-05M in 2012.
Husband, Rick (1957-2003) Killed during
Space Shuttle Columbia reentry Feb
1st, 2003.
Irwin, James B. (1930-1991)
8th Person On The Moon. Lunar Module Pilot on Apollo 15.
Jarvis, Gregory (1944-1986) Payload Specialist of
10th Challenger mission. Killed at
launch.
Jett, Brent W. Jr. (1958-) Pilot of STS-72 (Endeavour in 1996) and STS-81 (Atlantis in 1997), and commander of STS-97 (Endeavour in 2000) and STS-115 (Atlantis in 2006). Witnessed three UFOs during the STS-115 flight on Sep 20, 2006. -
YouTube:NASAfootage(9m45s/pay attention to audio, and after 5min video) -
Johnson, Gregory C. (1954-) Pilot on
STS-125 Atlantis, the final Hubble servicing mission in 2009.
Johnson, Gregory H. (1962-) Pilot of
STS-123 in 2008 and of
STS-134 in 2011.
Kelly, Mark (1964-) Pilot of
STS-108 (Endeavour) in 2001, pilot for
STS-121 (Discovery) in 2006, commander of
STS-124 (Discovery) in 2008 and
STS-134 (Endeavour) in 2011.Kelly believes there is probably life all over the universe, but doesn't think aliens have visited our planet. -
CapeTimes2008 -
Komarov, Vladimir (1927-1967) killed on re-entry of Soyuz 1 in 1967.
Kononenko, Oleg (1964-) ESA mission, 2011
Kubasov, Valeri (1935-) flight engineer of
Soyuz 6 and
Soyuz 19 (ASTP) and commander of
Soyuz 36 in the
Intercosmos programme. He was also involved in the development of the
Mir space station.
Kuipers, André (1958-) Dutch astronaut.
Soyuz TMA-4 in 2004. ESA mission 2011-2012.
Leonov, Alexey (1934-) Voskhod 2 in 1965. The first human to conduct an EVA (18 March 1965)
Lovell, James A. (1928-)
Orbiting The Moon. Pilot of
Gemini 7 in 1965, Command Pilot of
Gemini 12 in 1966, Command Module Pilot of Apollo 8 in 1968 & Commander of
Apollo 13 in 1970 (the unlucky flight). Lovell saw a UFO together with Frank Borman onboard Gemini VII in 1965. Lovell also witnessed an incident during flight Gemini XII in 1966: On November 12 both astronauts are reported to have spotted 2 UFO's approximately 1/2 mile from the spacecraft. They were observed for some period of time and photographs were taken. And then during the flight of Apollo 8 in 1968, as the command module emerged from behind the moon Lovell transmits "We have been informed that Santa Claus does exist!". This occurred on Christmas day so many believed it was just Lovell's sense of humor for the kiddies watching the broadcast - but many speculate that it was the use of the code word originally employed by Walter Schirra on the Mercury 8 flight. On Christmas Eve Borman and Lovell are reported to have seen a UFO, and an unidentified language was picked up on one of the NASA frequencies used during the mission. -
Time video -
Mattingly, Ken (1936-)
Orbiting The Moon. Command Module Pilot of Apollo 16 in 1972.
McAuliffe,Christa (1948-1986) Mission Specialist of
10th Challenger mission. Killed at
launch.
McCandless, Bruce II (1937-) Mission specialist of
STS-41-B (Challenger) in 1984 and of
STS-31(Discovery) in 1990.
McCool, William (1961-2003) Killed during
Space Shuttle Columbia reentry Feb
1st, 2003.
McDiVitt, James (1929-) Command Pilot of
Gemini 4 in 1965 & Commander of
Apollo 9 in 1969 . During the Gemini 4 flight he witnessed a UFO twice. Pictures taken, which were released by Nasa in
1985.
McNair, Ronald (1950-1986) Mission Specialist of
10th Challenger mission. Killed at
launch.
Misurkin, Alexander (1977-) Russian cosmonaut. Expedition 36, 2013
Mitchell, Edgar (1930-)
6th Person On The Moon. Lunar Module Pilot of
Apollo 14 in 1971, landing in the hilly upland Fra Mauro region. Very outspoken on the issue of UFOs. He says he has proof that the greys are real and that right now aliens are watching us.
NasaBio -
YouTube(2m27s) -
YouTube(4m20s) -
Nespoli, Paolo (1957-) Italian astronaut. Mission specialist aboard
Discovery,
STS-120 in 2007, and flight engineer aboard
Soyuz TMA-20,
Expedition 26/
27 in 2010.
Video(8m46s)
O'Leary, Brian T. (1940-2011) Because of program cancellations, never got to go to space -
Wiki -
Onizuka, Ellison (1946-1986) Mission Specialist of
10th Challenger mission. Killed at
launch.
Pettit, Don (1955-) American astronaut. ESA mission, 2011
Popovich, Marina (1931-) Soviet cosmonaut.
Popovich, Pavel (1930-2009) The 4th cosmonaut in space, the 6th person in orbit, and the 8th person in space. Witnessed a very bright, white triangle-shaped UFO
not in space but while flying home from Washington D.C. in 1978. -
Out of the Blue(at45ms25) -
Ramon, Ilan (1954-2003) Killed during
Space Shuttle Columbia reentry Feb
1st, 2003.
Resnik, Judith (1949-1986) Mission Specialist of
10th Challenger mission. Killed at
launch.
Roosa, Stuart A. (1933-1994)
Orbiting The Moon Command Module Pilot on
Apollo 14 in 1971.
Schirra, Walter (1923-2007) Pilot of
Mercury 8 in 1962, Command Pilot of
Gemini 6 in 1965 & Commander of
Apollo 7 in 1968.
During the
mid-December 1965 flight, he and his Gemini crewmate, Thomas Stafford,
unnerved Mission Control when they reported, slowly and in deadpan
fashion, seeing some kind of UFO consisting of "a command module and
eight smaller modules in front. The pilot of the command module is
wearing a red suit" - Santa Claus. -
TheDenverPost:Obituary -
NasaBio -
Schmitt, Harrison (1935-)
12th Person On The Moon. Lunar Module Pilot of
Apollo 17 in 1972.
Schweickart, Rusty (1935-) Lunar Module Pilot of
Apollo 9 in 1969
Scopee, Francis "Dick" (1939-1986) Commander of
10th Challenger mission. Killed at
launch
Scott, David (1932-)
7th Person On The Moon. Pilot of
Gemini 8 in 1966, Command Module Pilot of
Apollo 9 in 1969 & Commander of Apollo 15 in 1971.
Shatalov, Vladimir (1927-) Russian cosmonaut, Soyuz 4 in 1969.
Shepard, Alan (1923-1998)
5th Person On The Moon. Pilot of
Mercury 3 in 1961(first American in space) & Commander of Apollo 14 in 1971.
Shriver, Loren (1944-) Pilot of
STS-51-C (Discovery) in 1985, Commander of
STS-31 (Discovery) in 1990 and Commander of
STS-46 (Atlantis) in 1992.
Slayton, Deke (1924-1993) The docking module pilot of the
Apollo–Soyuz Test Project in 1975. He became the oldest person to fly in space at age 51 (that record has since been broken).
Smith, Michael J. (1945-1986) Pilot of of
10th Challenger mission. Killed at
launch
Stafford, Thomas P. (1930-)
Orbiting The Moon. Pilot of
Gemini 6 in 1965, Command Pilot of
Gemini 9 in 1966 & Commander of Apollo 10 in 1969.
Strekalov, Gennadi (1940-2004)
Veteran of four space missions (1983, 1984, 1990 and 1994). "On the last two flights (Soyuz TM-10 & Soyuz TM-21 / Mir EO-18 / STS-71) I saw something. During the flight of 1990, I
called Gennadij Manakov, our commander, to come to the porthole - but we
did not manage to put film in the camera quickly enough. We looked on Newfoundland and the atmosphere was absolutely clear -
suddenly a kind of sphere appeared. Beautiful, shiny and glittering - I
saw it for 10 seconds - it disappeared. What was it, what size it had? I
don't know, there was nothing I could compare with - it was a perfect
sphere. - UFO Casebook -
Swigert, Jack (1931-1982) Orbiting The Moon. Command Module Pilot of Apollo 13 in 1970, the unlucky flight.
Tereshkova, Valentina (1937-) Russian cosmonaut, Vostok 6 in 1963. The first woman in space.
Vinogradov, Pavel (1953-) Russian cosmonaut. Expedition 36, 2013
Volynov, Boris (1934-) Soyuz 5 in 1969
Walker, Joseph A. (1921-1966) NASA test pilot. He filmed five or six UFOs during his record breaking fifty-mile-high flight in April, 1962. It was the second time he had filmed UFOs in flight. On May 11th he said that one of his tasks was to detect UFOs during his
X-15 flights. But none of those films have been released to the public for viewing. In 1963 he made two X-15 experimental rocket aircraft flights beyond the altitude of 100 kilometers - at the edge of outer space. These were the first spaceplane flights past that threshold, thus qualifying Walker as an astronaut. -
Syti -
Wiki -
Wang, Yaping (ca1980-) The second female taigonaut in space as a member of the
Shenzhou 10 spaceship crew, which orbited the earth in June 2013. She told school children through a live video feed system that "through the front windows, we can see the Earth and many other stars, but up till now, we haven't seen any UFOs".
Wetherbee, James (1952-) Pilot of
STS-32 (Columbia 1990) and Commander of
STS-52 (Columbia 1992),
STS-63 ( Discovery 1995),
STS-86 (Atlantis 1997),
STS-102 (Discovery 2001) and
STS-113 (Endeavour 2002). The final three missions were dockings with
Mir and the
ISS. Jim Wetherbee is the only American to have commanded five missions in space.
White, Edward (1930-1967) Pilot of
Gemini 4 in 1965 & Senior Pilot of
Apollo 1 in 1967. The
first American to walk in space. Witnessed together with James McDivitt a UFO during Gemini 4 flight.
Killed at launch of Apollo 1 in 1967.
Williams, Sunita (1965-)
Worden, Alfred M. (1932-)
Orbiting The Moon. Command Module Pilot on
Apollo 15.
Yang, Liu (1978-) First Chinese woman in space onboard
Shenzhou 9 in 2012.
Young, John (1930-)
9th Person On The Moon. Pilot of
Gemini 3 in 1965 & Command Pilot of
Gemini 10 in 1966 & Command Module Pilot of Apollo 10 in 1969 & Commander of Apollo 16 in 1972.
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