McDivitt's Gemini 4 Object
On Gemini 4, while Ed White slept, command pilot James McDivitt saw a white, cylindrical object with what looked like a pole or arm sticking out of it. He took a few photographs. After the flight, a frame showing a bright tadpole-shaped streak was released as the object, but it turned out to be sunlight glaring on the window. McDivitt said for the rest of his life that he saw something real, but probably a piece of man-made debris, not a spacecraft from elsewhere.
The ledger
What the record shows, what people say, and the best explanation available so far.
What's documented
- McDivitt's own accounts and interviews.
- NASA's mission photography, including the frame later identified as window glare.
What's claimed
- A structured alien craft photographed by an astronaut.
Best explanation so far
Space historian James Oberg argues it was most likely the spent Titan II second stage flying nearby, made hard to recognize by glare, dirty windows and viewing angle. McDivitt agreed it was probably man-made.
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