Buzz Aldrin has revealed that he saw an unidentified flying object during Apollo 11’s 1969 trip through space that culminated in him walking on the moon.
The 84-year-old astronaut made the revelation during a Reddit “ask me anything” question and answer session last month, which also saw him reveal that the first human beings who ever set foot on Mars shouldn’t then return to earth.
“I observed a light out the window that appeared to be moving alongside us,” Aldrin noted, however he refused to actually declare that what he witnessed was actually an extra-terrestrial craft, even though he did admit that he does believe that there are other life forms in the universe.
Aldrin went on to try and explain what he saw: “There were many explanations of what that could be, other than another spacecraft from another country or another world – it was either the rocket we had separated from, or the four panels that moved away when we extracted the lander from the rocket and we were nose to nose with the two spacecraft.”
He then added, “So in the close vicinity, moving away, were four panels. And I feel absolutely convinced that we were looking at the sun reflected off of one of these panels. Which one? I don’t know. So technically, the definition could be ‘unidentified.’”
Aldrin also noted that his decision not to disclose the sighting when he first departed from Apollo 11 wasn’t an attempt to cover-up the situation. However, even though people who believe in UFO’s have accused Aldrin of doing just that, the legendary astronaut remains unapologetic about how he acted.
“Extraordinary observations require extraordinary evidence,” he explained. “There may be aliens in our Milky Way galaxy, and there are billions of other galaxies. The probability is almost certain that there is life somewhere in space.”
Aldrin then downplayed the incident, proclaiming: “It was not that remarkable, that special, that unusual, that life here on earth evolved gradually, slowly, to where we are today.”
When the topic of a future journey to Mars came up, Aldrin also revealed that if the trip was financed by the private sector then those who go should make the Red Planet their permanent home.
“I have considered whether a landing on Mars could be done by the private sector,” he divulged. “It conflicts with my very strong idea, concept, conviction, that the first human beings to land on Mars should not come back to Earth.”
[Image via Bing.com]
