Goosebumps: the strangest things astronauts have seen and heard in space

Some of the things heard in space puzzled astronauts, and others even frightened. Were these cases a confirmation that we are not alone in the universe? Let’s figure it out.

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Sound in a vacuum

In 2003, Yang Liwei became the first astronaut to be sent into space under the Chinese space program.

On his first flight, he said that heard someone hit the hull of the spaceship just as if it were a hammer knocking on an iron bucket.

The astronaut looked out the ship’s porthole, but could not find the source of the sound. Considering that space is a vacuum, it was even weirder that he heard a sound from outside the ship..

Liwei is not alone in this discovery: other Chinese astronauts have heard the sound on missions in 2005 and 2008.

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Luminous object

While traveling alone around Earth, Gordon Cooper may have stumbled upon more than just space debris.

Completing his space journey, on the 22nd orbit, he suddenly noticed a green glowing object approaching the Mercury capsulein which the astronaut was flying.

The fast approaching object was even detected by the nearest tracking station in Australia.

“I believe that these extraterrestrial vehicles and their crews visit us from other planets … Most astronauts are reluctant to discuss UFOs …

In 1951, for two days, I had the opportunity to observe many of their flights of different sizes, they flew in a formation of fighters, usually from east to west over Europe, “- Cooper described the incident at the UN.

Finger in space

Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Kovalenok in 1981 saw something strange through the window of the Salyut-VI station. It was a finger-sized object..

“It was difficult to determine the size and speed of an object in space. Therefore, I cannot say exactly what size. My partner Viktor Savinykh prepared to photograph this, but the UFO suddenly exploded..

Only clouds of smoke remained. The object is divided into two interconnected parts. He looked like a dumbbell… I immediately reported this to the Mission Control Center, “the cosmonaut said.

Kovalenok is one of the few cosmonauts who saw something inexplicable in space and then spoke openly about it.

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The moon is watching us

The first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong, may have seen several giant UFOs in space. Rumored to be astronaut sent a secret message to NASA during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969.

“These ships were huge, sir! Huge! Oh my God! You will not believe!.. I tell you there are other spaceships here … Lined up on the far side of the crater rim! .. They are at the rim of the crater. The moon is watching us! “- allegedly said Armstrong.

This is one of many similar stories related to the first landing on the moon. Armstrong himself never commented on these rumors.

Space eels

NASA astronaut Storey Musgrave claims that saw eel-like pipes floating in space… In an interview, he explains that he has seen this creature twice.

Although, some immediately mistook these objects for space debris – perhaps some type of hose that detached from the spacecraft.

However, Musgrave insists that the eel had a special movement technique.

Trash or UFO?

During the Mir mission in 1991, cosmonaut Musa Manarov observed a nearby docking station for a space capsule.

He filmed her approach when saw an object similar to that of a spaceship.

But Manarov knew that at that moment nothing could simply come off, so he continued to observe the object, which floated down away from the capsule.

Manarov still cannot explain what he saw there, but he knows for sure that this is not space debris, as some say.

Unknown spotlights

Leroy Jiao commanded the International Space Station in 2005. During a spacewalk Jiao saw white lights fly past him.

Some experts have speculated that these may have been searchlights from fishing boats off the coast of South America, but what kind of searchlights should they be so that they can be seen at an altitude of 400 km?

These should be very strong boat floodlights so that they can be seen from all directions.

After this incident, Jiao said: “I am skeptical about claims that aliens from another planet or another dimension visited us, but I do not rule it out 100 percent.”

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Fire without flame

From 2009 to 2012, astronauts in orbit conducted research on how fire behaves in space.

They found that fire burns at a lower temperature and with less oxygen, and can burn without flame in microgravity.

“So far, the most surprising thing that we have observed is the continued visible burning of heptane droplets after the flame is extinguished under certain conditions. This is currently completely inexplicable,” then project manager Forman Williams admitted.

Light show

During the Apollo 11 mission, astronauts reported that saw “flashes of light” in the eyes… The crews of the next Apollo missions were warned of this and reported that also saw strange flashes of light even when the eyes were closed.

Experiments were conducted on the next four Apollo missions to try to figure out what caused these strange visions.

NASA found that astronauts saw cosmic rays… We do not see cosmic rays on Earth because they are absorbed by our atmosphere, but without this cosmic barrier, astronauts saw something that no one had ever seen before.

UFO again

During the Gemini 4 mission in 1965 astronaut James McDivitt thought he saw a UFO… In an interview with NASA, McDivitt explained:

“I looked out, just looked up, and there was something. It had a geometric shape similar to a beer can.and with something as small as a pencil or something sticking out of it. The object was white, “said the astronaut.

Upon learning of this story, the media immediately started talking about UFOs. But later, McDivitt himself, having looked at the photo, changed his mind: it was a reflection of the bolts in the glass.

“It was a reflection of the design of the portholes.… They consisted of three, four or five glasses, so that even if one of them broke, we remained tight.

When the sun was shining directly into the porthole, elements from different panels were displayed on the glass. I am absolutely sure that it was just part of the window structure, “the astronaut later admitted.

Or maybe NASA told him to make such a statement?

Extraterrestrial object in the window

In 2013, when astronaut Christopher Cassidy was aboard the International Space Station, he saw a mysterious object floating by his window… Cassidy contacted Mission Control to report the alleged UFO sighting.

NASA has identified the object as the antenna cover of the Russian service module Zvezdabut conspiracy theorists remain convinced that the object was something extraterrestrial.

Fireflies in orbit

In February 1962, astronaut John Glenn noticed something strange in the window. He immediately informed NASA that watching a group of little fireflies dancing outside his window.

However, it took a perplexed Glenn and NASA almost a year to figure out what these little fireflies really are.

At first, NASA was concerned that perhaps these glowing points were metal parts of faulty equipment… However, later, during another flight, it became clear that these the specks were actually frozen drops of condensationthat moved and cracked during the flight of the spacecraft.