J002E3, the New Moon That Was Apollo
In 2002, an amateur astronomer found a new object circling the Earth. It turned out to be part of a rocket that had left for the Moon in 1969.
What was reported
On 3 September 2002, an amateur astronomer in Arizona spotted a moving point of light that wasn't in any catalogue. Its path showed it was in a loose orbit around the Earth, and it hadn't been there a year before. It was given the name J002E3.
For a while, astronomers wondered if they had found a small asteroid captured by Earth's gravity, a new temporary moon.
Explanations offered
Its light had the colours of the titanium white paint used on Saturn V rockets, and its orbit traced back to 1971. Scientists concluded it was almost certainly the third stage of the rocket that sent Apollo 12 to the Moon in 1969, which had been circling the Sun ever since. It came back to Earth's neighbourhood for about a year, then left again in 2003.
- When
- September 2002
- Where
- In orbit, found from Arizona, USA
- Witnesses
- An amateur astronomer, then observatories worldwide
- 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.