As one might expect, astronauts have come upon things in space that they were not able to readily identify. In fact, astronauts have not only reported seeing UFOs, but some, most notably Gordon Cooper and Dr. Edgar Mitchell, have gone so far as to publicly advocate for disclosure and an end to secrecy regarding the subject.

Gordon Cooper described having encounters with UFOs as an Air Force pilot prior to his involvement in the space program. In his 2000 memoir, “Leap of Faith: An Astronaut’s Journey Into the Unknown,” Gordon wrote that he chased saucer-shaped craft when he was stationed in Germany in the 1950s, and that objects flew over the base daily that were faster than known man-made machines. He also claimed to have been given film in 1957 of a saucer that landed at Edwards Air Force Base, which he sent off to the Pentagon and never saw again.

In spite of his alleged UFO encounters in Earth’s atmosphere, Cooper claimed that neither he nor any other astronauts had seen UFOs while in space. According to him, there was nothing to the well-known report that he saw a green glowing object approach his craft during his final orbit in May 1963 aboard Mercury Faith 7 while over Australia.

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