UNCLASSIFIED // PUBLIC RELEASERELEASE 01 · MAY 8, 2026
PENTAGON UFO FILE · DOCUMENT · NASA-UAP-D007Skylab Technical Crew Debriefing 1973
Skylab crews lived in orbit for weeks at a time, long enough to notice things short missions missed. This file collects excerpts from the formal technical debriefings of all three crews, and together they show trained observers carefully separating what they could explain from what they could not.
Flashes, a red satellite and passing lights
The first crew, debriefed in June 1973, described light flashes seen with eyes closed in their sleeping bags — two or three a minute at times. Joseph Kerwin said someone had asked whether they coincided with the South Atlantic Anomaly, a region where radiation is higher, and that they may have; Paul Weitz recalled an entry streak and an exit streak, as if something had crossed his eyeball; Pete Conrad and Kerwin noted they could be confused with a fire-sensor light winking.
The second crew’s sighting is the most detailed. About a week before splashdown, Jack Lousma spotted a reddish light brighter than Jupiter. Owen Garriott said they watched it for about ten minutes; its brightness varied with a period of almost exactly ten seconds, suggesting rotation, and it passed into Earth’s shadow five or so seconds after Skylab did, from which they judged it no more than 30 to 50 nautical miles away. Garriott called it obviously a satellite in an orbit much like their own, and asked to be told which one — no one ever explained it to them, he said.
The third crew, debriefed in February 1974, reported occasional flashing lights outside moving relative to the station, which Gerald Carr presumed were pieces of Skylab or other satellites.
Reading it
None of the crews claimed anything extraordinary; the open question in the file is simply an unidentified satellite. For the cosmic-ray explanation of the flashes, see the Apollo 12 medical debriefing.
The official description
From war.gov/UFO, released May 8, 2026, quoted in full
Launched on May 14, 1973, Skylab was the United States’ first laboratory in space. From 1973 to 1974, the station was visited by three crews. This document contains excerpts from all three crews to visit the station. In the first excerpt taken from Skylab 1/2 [first crew] Technical Debriefing from June 30, 1973, highlights crew observations of light flashes. The second excerpt taken from Skylab 1/3 Technical Crew Debriefing from October 4, 1973, highlights two observations—a satellite in similar orbit and another object with a “reddish hue to it.” The final excerpt taken from the Skylab 1/4 Technical Crew Debriefing from February 22, 1974, highlights an observation of flashing lights outside Skylab. • Skylab 2 crew observation: o Page 23-20. [Science Pilot for Skylab 2, Joesph Kerwin] “We saw light flashes. I think all of us saw them. I saw them most often when I was in the sack at night with my eyes closed but awake naturally. They tended to wax and wane in frequency.” • Skylab 3 crew observations: o Page 7-4. [Science Pilot for Skylab 3, Owen Garriott] “We saw that satellite about a week before splashdown. That was one of the most unusual things that we saw and I guess Jack [Lousma] 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.” o Page 20-1. [Science Pilot for Skylab 3, Owen Garriott] “Jack [Lousma] first noticed this rather large red star out the wardroom window. Upon close examination, it was much brighter than Jupiter or any of the other planets. It had a reddish hue to it, even though it was well above the horizon.” • Skylab 4 crew observation o Page 7-8. [Commander for Skylab 4, Gerald P. Carr] “One other area of unusual events that we reported on the dump tapes was that on occasion we saw some lights flashing outside with very a definite motion relative to ours. We presumed that they were other pieces of Skylab, or possibly other satellites.”