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Have astronauts had close encounter experiences during theirs trips into space?

In 1985 astronaut Colonel Gordon Cooper, one of the first Americans to orbit earth, stood in front of a United Nations panel chaired by the then Secretary General, Kurt Waldhiem, and made an alarming statement. 'I believe that... extraterrestrial vehicles and their crews are visiting this planet from other planets, which are a little more technologically advanced than we are on earth. I feel we need to have a top-level programme to scientifically collect and analyse data concerning any type of encounter, and to determine how best to interfere with these visitors in a friendly fashion.'

Cooper's qualifications for this statement, he claimed, were that he had 'been into the fringes of the vast areas of which "they" travel. Also, I did have occasion in 1951 to have two days of observation of many flights of "them", of different sizes flying in fighter formation.. they were at a higher altitude than we could reach.'

Here, then, was one of the US's greatest pioneers, a man who had held the record for the longest flight into space - 34 hours - admitting to some of the most powerful people in the world that he had had encounters with intelligently controlled alien craft. But could these allegations possibly be true?

A History Of Sightings.

Since the formation of NASA in 1958, a number of its test pilots and astronauts have testified to witnessing UFO's and aircraft of unknown origin. The first to formally announce a sighting was Joseph Walker, pilot of the pioneering X-15 aircraft. According to a speech delivered at the National Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Space Research in May 1962, Walker had an aerial encounter with, and filmed, two disc-shaped objects the previous month. In July of the same year, another X-15 pilot, Major Robert White, reportedly found himself part of a formation of UFO's while flying at 314,000 feet.

Despite these seemingly reliable eyewitness accounts, NASA refused to back its pilots. Photographs and film containing anomalies were never released, and the official line stated that the UFO's had been identified as 'flakes of ice'. But although NASA denied having any interest in UFO's this was soon proved to be a lie.

During 1965, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) learned from a confidential source that a NASA informant was covertly 'leaking' information on UFO's. Receiving the data were two individuals from Pittsburgh who, to quote the FBI, 'had personal interests in UFO's', and who were 'acquainted with the NASA employee'.

An FBI file, dated 2nd September 1965, states: 'The source believes that the information may be classified. The source said, for example, that [censored] had seen a motion picture film showing a missile separating and a UFO appearing on the screen. Prior to the flight of Gemini 4, [censored] said to watch out for something interesting because the spaceship had devices aboard to detect UFO's..'

Evidence Of A Cover-Up.

A study of the FBI's documentation on this case raises two significant points. Firstly, the reference to a 'motion picture film' held by NASA showing a UFO in flight confirms that NASA has in its possession data on UFO's to which the public at large is being denied access. Secondly, the mention of the Gemini 4 mission is intriguing, since one of its pilots James McDivitt, has confirmed that during the mission he did indeed see some form of UFO.

Although McDivitt does not believe that the object was anomalous, he does not adhere to the theory of UFO sceptic James Oberg that the object was merely the second stage of the titan rocket that launched Gemini 4. As Timothy Good states in Beyond Top Secret, 'if this is the case, the only puzzle remaining is McDivitt's apparent failure to recognise his own rocket'.

Moon Mysteries.

Following the Gemini missions, the space race moved into full throttle with the Apollo programme. Following President Kennedy's promise to land an American on the moon, public interest became firmly focused on the mysteries of space - and particularly man's new frontier, the moon. So, when the astronauts of Apollo 11 finally took their first tentative steps on to the surface of the Moon on July 20th 1969, even the most hardened of sceptics must have at least considered the possibility that some form of extraterrestrial life would be found.

Despite claims that nothing unusual was seen by the astronauts, rumours have circulated that during their stay on the moon, the crew were never alone. For example, related below is what is alleged to be a classified conversation between the crew of Apollo 11 and Mission Control:

Apollo 11: What was it? What the hell was it? That's all I want to know. These babies were huge, sir...Oh, God, you wouldn't believe it...

NASA: What... What the hell's going on?

Apollo 11: They're here, under the surface.

NASA: What's there? Mission Control calling Apollo 11.

Apollo 11: Roger, we're here, all three of us. But we've found some visitors.. They've been here for quite a while judging by the installations... I'm telling you that there are other spacecraft out there. They're lined up in ranks on the far side of the crater edge....

The evidence for this encounter on the moon, however, is very thin. Otto Binder, a former NASA employee claimed that it was overheard by amateur radio enthusiasts able to pick up a 'confidential channel' reserved for such messages. For the record, Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, has informed investigator Timothy Good that 'There were no objects reported, found, or even seen on Apollo 11 or any other Apollo flight.'

The only corroboration for this story came from Maurice Chatelain, a NASA communications expert. In an interview in 1979, he confirmed that a time delay between Apollo 11 and Mission Control allowed NASA to censor information regarding the 'visitors'.

Lack Of Evidence.

There is, however, no way of verifying that the Apollo 11 UFO incident took place. Many researchers are dubious of the claims made by Binder and Chatelain, despite their career credentials, and NASA deny censoring the transmissions. But, a similar case involving the space shuttle discovery brings the story into the 90's.

At around 6.30am on 14th March 1990, Donald Ratsch, a 'radio ham' from Baltimore, Maryland, USA, was monitoring the radio transmissions from discovery when he heard the following communication: Houston, discovery, we have a problem. We have a fire.' And shortly after, this additional transmission was heard: 'Houston, discovery. We still have the alien spacecraft under observance.'

Quite naturally, this astonishing revelation prompted numerous individuals, including Bob Oeschler, a former mission specialist with NASA, to make their own enquiries, he came to the conclusion that the broadcast was not from space, but from Fort Meade, Maryland, USA - home to the US National Security Agency. he could only conclude that it was a hoax.

It seems that people will not be happy until NASA admits that it is keeping aliens under wraps, but it has denied it for the past 30+ years, and does not seem to be altering its plans any time soon.

Sources: The X Factor