Gemini 7's 'Bogey'
Two weeks into the longest spaceflight yet, an astronaut radioed, 'We have a bogey at 10 o'clock high.'
What was reported
In December 1965 Frank Borman and Jim Lovell spent two weeks in orbit on Gemini 7, testing whether people could survive a long journey in space. Early in the flight Borman radioed Mission Control: 'Bogey at 10 o'clock high', pilot's slang for an unidentified object.
He went on to describe hundreds of small particles flying alongside them, and the transcript became a favourite in lists of astronaut UFO sightings.
Explanations offered
Borman himself said in the same conversation that they also had their booster rocket in sight, and the 'bogey' is generally taken to be the spent upper stage of their Titan rocket, tumbling nearby, with the particles as debris and ice. Borman later said he'd seen nothing he couldn't explain.
- When
- December 1965
- Where
- In orbit, aboard Gemini 7
- Witnesses
- Astronauts Frank Borman and Jim Lovell
- Status
- Mostly 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.