As is often the case with UFO reports, explanations related to the
object seen by the Gemini 7 astronauts on December 4, 1965 are varied.
I've gathered several accounts of the phenomenon for you.
The famous "We have a bogey" object has been explained as space debris
by James Oberg, former flight controller at the Johnson Space Center.
Gemini 7 Astronaut Frank Borman, who made the "We have a bogey"
statement, now says that the word "bogey" referred to the booster
rocket, which was drifting nearby after the capsule had separated from
it. However, although transcripts of the conversation between the
spacecraft and Mission Control do indicate that the astronauts thought
the object looked like debris, the statements "we have several" and
"we also have the booster in sight" seem to differentiate the "bogey"
from the booster.
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The "bogey," according to James Oberg, a flight controller at the
Johnson Space Center:
"Gemini 7
4 December 1965
Borman and Lovell
Transcript of radio communications:
SPACECRAFT: Bogey at 10 o'clock high.
CAPCOM: This is Houston. Say again 7.
SPACECRAFT: Said we have a bogey at 10 o'clock high.
CAPCOM: Gemini 7, is that the booster or is that an actual sighting?
SPACECRAFT: We have several, looks like debris up here. Actual sighting.
CAPCOM: ...Estimate distance or size?
Oberg concluded that this sighting was exactly what the astronauts
said: debris - debris from the stage separation."
About UFOs: Astronaut UFO Sightings
http://ufos.about.com/library/weekly/aa081297.htm
It should be noted that Oberg is a well-known UFO debunker who has
said this about reports of unidentified flying objects sighted by
astronauts:
"1. There are no 'astronaut UFO sightings.' All reported cases have
been readily identified as entirely prosaic events.
2. Previous research efforts heve been conducted with individuals
clearly lacking the proper credentials, experience and insight to
penetrate the 'mystery.'
3. A number of specific individuals in this country and overseas have
been the main source of the persistent published reports of 'astronaut
UFO sightings', in absolute variance with the facts known to
themselves but witheld from the general public. Evidence has been
altered, omitted, or fabricated to support myth."
Skeptic Files: Unidentified Fraudulent Objects
http://www.skepticfiles.org/ufo2/ufraudoo.htm
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"GEMINI VII December 4, 1965 (Frank Borman, James Lovell)
During this flight Borman describes what he calls a 'bogey at ten
o'clock high' The object was slowly tumbling and was at first thought
to be their booster rocket. But this was ruled out when the astronauts
also saw the booster simultaneously with the bogey.
C Bogey at 10 o'clock high.
CC This is Houston. Say again 7.
C Said we have a bogey at 10 o'clock high.
CC Is that the booster or is that an actual sighting?
C We have several, looks like debris up here. Actual sighting.
CC .... Estimate distance or size?
C We also have the booster in sight. . .
Lovell is reported to have taken some magnificent photographs of two
mushroom shaped UFO's on December 4. The pictures seem to show the
glow of a propulsion system on the underside. The pictures were taken
at a range of several hundred yards. Some believe this picture to be a
blatant forgery accomplished by airbrushing a picture of light
reflecting off the nose of the spacecraft."
Alien Chaser/Alien Hunter: Astronaut Sightings
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Hollow/8827/astronaut1.html
======================================================================
Oberg again, on the photograph mentioned above:
"December 4, 1965-Gemini 7: Frank Borman and Jim Lovell photographed
twin oval-shaped UFOs with glowing undersides. This famous photograph
is a blatent forgery, in which light reflections off the nose of the
spacecraft are made to look like UFOs by airbrushing away the vehicle
structure around them. Verdict: Fraud."
The Debunker's Domain: Astronaut "UFO" Sightings
http://www.debunker.com/texts/astronaut_ufo.html
======================================================================
The "bogey," according to Gemini 7 Astronaut Frank Borman, in a 1998 interview:
"Right after we got into orbit we were supposed to 'station keep' or
fly formation with the booster,' Borman says. 'We were flying
formation and taking photographs and infrared measurements and I
started calling it a 'bogey,' which is an old fighter pilot term.
Well, a lot of the UFO freaks on the ground picked this up and said we
had seen a UFO because we had referred to our booster as a bogey. Just
this past year I got a call from a producer at 'Unsolved Mysteries'
and they said, 'We read your account about your seeing a UFO on Gemini
7 and would you come on the program?' I told them: 'I'd love to come
on your program because I'd love to straighten that out.' I explained
what it was I saw and I said, 'I don't think there were UFOs,' and the
producer said, 'Well, I'm not sure we want you on the program."
Air & Space Magazine: Flying the Gusmobile
http://www.airspacemag.com:80/ASM/Mag/Index/1998/AS/ftgm.html
Regarding the term "bogey" and its meaning to pilots:
"Bogey is a term that today is usually only heard in the air force or
on the golf course. Up in the wild, blue yonder it is a reference to
an unidentified aircraft that is presumably hostile. Its counterpart
is bandit which is used to refer to a known hostile aircraft. Both
these aviation usages date to World War II, but the term bogey is
much, much older."
Etymologies and Word Origins: Letter B
http://www.wordorigins.org/wordorb.htm
======================================================================
More from Oberg (this is a very interesting article with a great deal
of detail, whether or not you accept Oberg's version of things):
Homepage of Henry Troup: Gemini-7, Lessons and Legends (A 30th
Anniversary Revisit)
http://www.igs.net/~hwt/oberg/gemini7.htm
======================================================================
Here's an audio file of Borman reporting the "bogey." He is then
interrupted by the Gemini Controller in Houston.
VJ Enterprises: Borman
http://www.v-j-enterprises.com/borman.au
In this audio clip, the controller says "It was Borman who reported
sighting the bogey." Many online sources attribute this quote to James
Lovell, but both a NASA controller and Borman himself give credit for
the line to Borman.
======================================================================
Google search strategy:
Google Web Search: "1965" + "astronauts" + "ufo" + "bogey"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=1965+astronauts+ufo+bogey
======================================================================
Thanks for an interesting question! I hope the information I've
provided is useful. If anything is unclear, or if a link does not
function, please request clarification; I'll be glad to offer further
assistance before you rate my answer.
Best regards,
pinkfreud |
Clarification of Answer by
pinkfreud-ga
on
29 Dec 2003 11:41 PST
On this site you'll find a brief video taken in 1972 during the Apollo
16 moon mission (click the still photo beside the text as excerpted
below to view the video clip):
"April 16-21, Moon, Apollo 16. This clip may be extremely important to
Ufologists, if it is authentic. Taken by astronaut John W. Young, the
clip clearly shows a UFO, which appears with extreme clarity. Young
was filming out the window when he saw the 'boggie.' Normally
explained away as space debris, or a satellite, most Ufologists think
that this is a real UFO."
UFO Casebook
http://ufocasebook.com/bestufovideos2.html
More on the Apollo 16 video:
http://www.chez.com/lesovnis/htm/apollo16.htm
Here you can see a video clip described as follows:
"A bright object flies across the moon. Filmed during the Apollo 12 mission."
We Are Not Alone: Videos
http://wearenotalone.net/videos.asp
These were the only video clips I could find online, but there are
quite a few still shots here (you can click on an image to enlarge
it):
Anomalous Images and UFO Files
http://www.anomalous-images.com/astroufo.html
Here's a story about Apollo 11 to file under the category "Important, If True":
"According to a Dr. Vladimir Azhazha: 'Neil Armstrong relayed the
message to Mission Control that two large, mysterious objects were
watching them after having landed near the moon module. But this
message was never heard by the public - because NASA censored it.'
According to a Dr. Aleksandr Kasantsev, Buzz Aldrin took color movie
film of the UFOs from inside the module, and continued filming them
after he and Armstrong went outside. Armstrong confirmed that the
story was true but refused to go into further detail, beyond admitting
that the CIA was behind the cover-up."
SytiNet: UFO Sightings
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/metasystems/UFOSightings.html
The MIR cosmonauts are said to have had UFO encounters, including one
with a cigar-shaped object, which was filmed:
"Beginning of 1991: MIR Kosmonaut Musa Manarov filmed the approach of
a PROGRESS cargo flight, when he suddenly discovered a cigar-shaped
object, surrounded by a rotating light, floating in space. He filmed
the complete maneuver of the UFO for over two minutes."
UFO Evidence: UFOs and the MIR space station
http://www.ufoevidence.org/documents/doc438.htm
I have not been able to find an online video clip of the MIR encounter
described above, but I did come across a $24.95 video which (among
other things) offers "The secret UFO films of the Soviet MIR
Cosmonauts":
The Black Vault: UFOs: The Footage Archives - Volume 5: 1998-2000
http://www.bvalphaserver.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=221
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