A decades-old account from Apollo 17 Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt, describing persistent light flashes he observed during the 1972 mission, has been made public through a newly established government archive. The document, released May 8, 2026, under the PURSUE archive by the U.S. Department of War, is an excerpt from the Apollo 17 Technical Crew Debriefing dated January 4, 1973.
On page 24-4 of that debriefing, Schmitt details a visual phenomenon he experienced continuously during the flight when his eyes were dark-adapted. He specifically noted one flash he believed occurred on the lunar surface itself. The document now carries a classification number — NASA-UAP-D6 — marking it as a standalone entry in the PURSUE system, which was created to centralize records related to unidentified anomalous phenomena.
The release represents a significant shift in how such astronaut observations are framed. For decades, similar reports were treated as minor technical notes within NASA debriefings.
The Department of War’s involvement is noteworthy, as that agency does not typically release Apollo-era astronaut comments. The PURSUE archive, launched in response to legislative mandates for transparency, serves as the mechanism for this disclosure. The document is available for direct download as a PDF. Schmitt’s account includes a period during the Apollo Light Flash Moving Emulsion Detector (ALFMED) experiment when he wore a blindfold.
No visible flashes occurred during that test. However, later that night, before he went to sleep, the flashes returned.
NASA has long attributed such phenomena to cosmic rays passing through astronauts’ eyes, and the ALFMED experiment was designed specifically to study that effect. Apollo 17 was the ninth crewed U.S. mission to the Moon and the sixth to land. Schmitt, the only professional geologist to walk on the lunar surface, reported a flash he perceived on the ground, not just inside the spacecraft.
This detail adds a layer to the discussion, as cosmic rays can hit the eye anywhere, but a flash perceived on the lunar surface implies a specific location. The debriefing does not explain the difference.
The release comes amid growing public interest in UAPs, which has increased steadily since the 2017 disclosure of Navy videos. Congress has held hearings on the topic, and the Department of Defense operates the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office. The PURSUE archive is expected to release many more documents as part of its transparency efforts.
The excerpt is brief and does not include the full Apollo 17 crew debriefing. It omits statements from Commander Eugene Cernan and Command Module Pilot Ronald Evans.
The release does not explain why this specific page was chosen. The PDF may contain more context, but some browsers cannot display it, requiring users to download the file. Current International Space Station crews report similar light flashes, and the phenomenon has never stopped a mission.
However, the public release of a single astronaut’s detailed account from a lunar mission, carrying a UAP classification, gives the topic new weight. Researchers will likely look for patterns across missions as more data becomes available.
This is the first Apollo document released under the PURSUE system, and officials indicate it will not be the last. Schmitt’s own words from 1973 now form the foundation of a new public record, with the flash he saw on the lunar surface remaining unexplained.
