The Flashes Astronauts See with Their Eyes Closed
Trying to sleep in space, astronauts began to see flashes, streaks and stars of light, even with their eyes shut.
What was reported
On Apollo 11, Buzz Aldrin mentioned seeing tiny flashes of light inside the dark cabin. Later Apollo crews tested it on purpose, wearing blindfolds, and counted flashes every few minutes: single points, streaks, and starbursts, seen whether their eyes were open or closed.
Crews of space stations have reported the same thing ever since, especially when passing over the South Atlantic.
Explanations offered
They're caused by cosmic rays: fast particles from space that pass through the spacecraft and the astronaut's head and set off the light-sensing cells of the eye or the nerves behind it. The flashes are more frequent where the Earth's magnetic field lets more particles through, over the South Atlantic.
- When
- Reported since 1969
- Where
- In orbit and on the way to the Moon
- Witnesses
- Apollo astronauts, and crews of space stations since
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.