The Green Light That Followed Faith 7
A popular story says the last Mercury astronaut reported a glowing green object approaching his capsule over Australia. He said it never happened.
What was reported
Gordon Cooper flew the last Mercury mission, Faith 7, in May 1963, orbiting the Earth 22 times. A story that spread through UFO books in the following decades said that over Perth, on his final orbit, he radioed that a glowing green object was approaching his capsule, and that a tracking station in Australia picked it up on radar.
Cooper was a real believer in UFOs: he said he had seen strange objects as a fighter pilot in the 1950s, and later spoke about them at the United Nations. That made the Faith 7 story easy to believe.
Explanations offered
The mission's transcripts contain no such report, and Cooper himself said repeatedly that nothing of the kind happened on Faith 7. The tale seems to have grown from his genuine interest in UFOs and was retold until it became 'fact'.
- When
- Said to be 15 May 1963
- Where
- In orbit over Western Australia, aboard Faith 7
- Witnesses
- None on record; the astronaut Gordon Cooper denied it
- Status
- Myth
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.