Frank Borman
Gemini 7 and Apollo 8 commander whose 1965 “bogey” report is filed by NASA as “UFO Sighting by Borman”
| Frank Borman | |
| Born | March 14, 1928, Gary, Indiana |
|---|---|
| Died | November 7, 2023 |
| Nationality | American |
| Category | Astronaut |
| Roles | Gemini 7 and Apollo 8 commander; later CEO of Eastern Air Lines |
| Notable claim | Reported a “bogey” and a field of particles on Gemini 7 (1965) |
| Status | Historical |
| Historical | |
Frank Frederick Borman II (1928–2023) was an Air Force test pilot who commanded Gemini 7 (December 1965), a two-week endurance flight with Jim Lovell, and Apollo 8, the first crewed mission to orbit the Moon (December 1968). He later ran Eastern Air Lines.[1]
On December 5, 1965, Borman told Mission Control he had a “bogey at 10 o’clock high” along with “hundreds of little particles.” NASA’s file copy, released in PURSUE Release 01, is annotated “UFO Sighting by Borman.”[2]
Assessment
Borman said at the time that he was looking at their Titan II booster’s second stage and its debris, flying nearby in a similar orbit, and that remains the accepted explanation. The UFO label on the file reflects how the sighting was categorized, not a NASA conclusion.
See also
Further reading
- Frank Borman & Robert J. Serling (1988). Countdown: An Autobiography (Amazon)
References
- ^ NASA, Gemini 7 mission records, December 1965.
- ^ U.S. Department of War (2026). PURSUE Release 01, NASA-UAP-D003 and D003A.