NASA-UAP-D009 / APOLLO 17 AUDIO EXCERPT, DECEMBER 7, 1972

About this recording

NASA-UAP-D009 / APOLLO 17 AUDIO EXCERPT, DECEMBER 7, 1972 is a declassified NASA mission audio recording from Cislunar Space, dated 12/7/72. It is part of PURSUE Release 02 — the Department of War’s second tranche of UAP-related records, declassified on 2026-05-22 — and is hosted by the Department of Defense via the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS).

AARO assessment

During the eleventh and final crewed mission in the Apollo program, Apollo 17 Commander Gene Cernan, Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt, and Command Module Pilot Ronald Evans report seeing small lights outside the Apollo spacecraft during transit to the moon. The crew describe bright “particles” or “fragments” as being “jagged,” “angular,” and drifting near the Apollo spacecraft and the separated Saturn S-IVB stage. The Apollo 17 crew speculate that paint chips or ice chips are likely the source of these lights and note that they “twinkle” and move away from the Saturn S-IVB stage.

How to listen

The audio can be played and downloaded directly from the official DVIDS asset page. UAP.WATCH does not host the audio file directly to preserve the government chain-of-custody. All 7 PURSUE Release 02 audio recordings are listed in the browse archive.