Mercury-Redstone 4, July 21, 1961

This is the shortest NASA audio file in the release and one of the least obviously connected to UAP. It comes from the recovery of Liberty Bell 7, the Mercury-Redstone 4 suborbital flight flown by Gus Grissom on July 21, 1961, the second American crewed spaceflight. In 27 seconds, recovery crew members talk about a marker dye pack floating in the sea that had failed to activate.

What a dye pack was for

Mercury capsules splashed down in the open ocean, and finding them quickly mattered. Sea marker dye was carried so that a brightly colored patch would spread on the surface, making the capsule easier to spot from helicopters and ships. A pack that fails to release its dye is an operational problem, and that is all the clip describes. NASA’s description mentions nothing seen in the sky or the water.

Why it might be here

NASA’s note gives no reason for including the clip under PURSUE, and none is evident from the description. Liberty Bell 7 is otherwise remembered for its hatch blowing early and the capsule sinking — it was raised from the Atlantic decades later — but the clip does not cover that. Readers looking for Mercury-era sightings will find more in Scott Carpenter’s Aurora 7 audio and the other Mercury recordings, which concern particles seen around the spacecraft.