--- title: "Government Releases UFO Files Containing Photos of “Anomalies” During Apollo 12 and 17" description: "Newly declassified UFO files show several \"anomalies\" spotted by NASA astronauts during the Apollo missions on the Moon." date: "2026-05-10" modified: "2026-05-10" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/space/government-releases-ufo-files-anomalies-apollo" categories: - "Off-World" - "Space" --- # Government Releases UFO Files Containing Photos of “Anomalies” During Apollo 12 and 17 ![In one Apollo 12 photograph taken by a NASA astronaut on the lunar surface, a strange light can be seen hovering above the horizon in space. ]() *NASA* The Department of Defense finally dropped its first batch of UFO, or shall we say UAP, files on Friday. There's no smoking guns, but there're definitely a few things in here to turn heads. Chief among them: photos of "anomalies" spotted during the Apollo missions. In [one Apollo 12 photograph]() taken by a NASA astronaut on the lunar surface, a strange light can be seen hovering above the horizon in space. Zoomed in, the UFO actually appears to comprise three distinct lights. What this means, of course, is inconclusive. Another image from the 1969 mission [shows a blurry smear]() above the Moon's horizon. And [another]() taken from the landing site shows two pairs of barely visible, luminous specks. ![Another image from the 1969 mission shows a blurry smear above the Moon's horizon.]() ![In one Apollo 12 photograph taken by a NASA astronaut on the lunar surface, a strange light can be seen hovering above the horizon in space. ]() ![Another photo shows taken from the landing site shows two pairs of barely visible, luminous specks.]() There was also a [photo from Apollo 17](), which launched in 1972. In the image, which had previously been released, three dots in a triangular formation can be seen in the sky, also close to the horizon. A caption from the DoD states "there is no consensus on the nature of the anomaly," but that a "new preliminary US government analysis suggests the image feature is potentially the result of a physical object in the scene." These lights were spotted by the astronauts at the time, who described the phenomena as "streaks" or "flashes" on the Moon, so they're not simply camera artifacts. The batch also contained a previously unreleased [audio recording]() and [full transcript]() of the famous "bogey" sighting made by two NASA astronauts on the Gemini VII mission in 1965. "A bogey at ten o'clock high," said pilot Jim Lovell. "This is an actual sighting," he added, insisting it wasn't their spacecraft's booster rocket. While fascinating, most of these sightings have been known for decades, so the dedicated Fox Mulders out there may come away unimpressed. This is the first time that some documents and photos related to them have been officially declassified, however, and there will be more to come in the weeks to follow with future batches. **More on UFOs:** [*Another Military UFO Guy Just Died*]() ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()