Former NASA astronaut Leland Melvin, best known for his adorable photo of himself with two dogs, is another victim who encountered something strange in space. He claimed to have seen what appeared to be an “alien-like organic creature” in the cargo bay of the space shuttle and even reported the sighting to ground control.
In 2018, Melvin made startling claims during a discussion with self-proclaimed UFO researcher Scott C. W̳a̳r̳ing . The former NASA astronaut and NFL football player confessed to seeing the alleged creature in the cargo hold of the space shuttle Atlantis, which was orbiting Earth.
Immediately after noticing the “creature,” he and his fellow astronauts reported the sighting to NASA, but space agency experts responded that the most likely explanation for the mysterious sightings was ice that had broken off the space shuttle and that it was the movement of the space shuttle. The floating shards were what caught the astronaut’s attention, making him see an “organic” creature.
This peculiar conversation took place on Twitter where W̳a̳r̳ing asked: “What is your view on the existence of intelligent alien life living in our solar system? Have you ever witnessed a UFO?”
The NASA engineer responded that he witnessed something translucent, curved and organic-looking while working with his colleague Randy Bresnik. He wrote: “I was about to say, ‘Houston, we have a problem,’ but I know everyone gets nervous when those words are uttered from a spacecraft.”
The astronauts continued to ask NASA what they might have seen in space, and the space agency responded that the most likely explanation was ice that had broken off and floated on the freon hoses. W̳a̳r̳ring went on to suggest that NASA’s explanation was a cover-up, which Melvin dismissed, although he wrote, “You never know.”
Several NASA astronauts have made sensational claims about alien life and things they have witnessed during their time in space. There are several reports of UFO sightings witnessed by NASA astronauts as well as Russian cosmonauts while on the space station.
During his time in space, former NASA astronaut Jerry M. Linenger saw a few anomalies that weren’t space debris. He shared his sightings in a live interview with Bild in 2018. He said: “Well, I’m going to go out on a limb, but how many people think I saw a UFO when I was up there? Well, I did, I saw things in the true sense of the word, unidentified flying objects – don’t take me out of context there – no aliens. But I saw things that made me call my crewmates and say, ‘What the hell is that?’”
Linenger in his Sokol suit floating on the Mir Base Block. Image credit: NASA
His statements surprised everyone, as it is a unique case when people hear an astronaut talking about UFOs in space. Mr. Linenger’s credibility is very high.
During the interview, he further said: “We’d look and sometimes it would be metallic, it would be like a spoon if you’re far away and in the province of space, good luck figuring out if it’s a really small object nearby. Something floated out of the airlock. Is it something 100,000 miles away that’s the size of a large spacecraft? It’s very hard to make that out, usually it was something you could explain, maybe an external tank or something like that. But you’d see things and think ‘wow, that’s cool – I don’t know what it was exactly, but it’s not a satellite.’”
On May 5, 1981, retired Russian cosmonaut Vladimir Kovalyonok saw something remarkable from the Salyut 6’s porthole. According to Kovalyonok, at about 6:00 p.m., as the spacecraft was flying over South Africa toward the Indian Ocean, he saw an elliptical-shaped object that was flying along with the spacecraft. From the front view, it looked like it would rotate in the direction of flight.
“The object resembles a bar. I saw it becoming transparent and with a ‘body’ inside. At the other end I saw something like gas being discharged, like a reactive object. Then something happened that is very difficult for me to describe from a physics point of view,” Kovalyonok said.
He added: “I have to acknowledge that it was not artificial in origin. It was not artificial because an artificial object could not achieve this form. I do not know of anything that can make this movement… tighten, then expand, pulsate.”
Another bizarre claim was made by cosmonaut Victor Afanasyev. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Afanasyev dared to tell his story. In April 1979, he took off from Star City to dock with the Soviet space station Salyut 6. But on the way, something strange happened. He saw an unidentified object that turned towards his ship and began following him through space. ( Click here to read the full story )
Furthermore, Afanasyev said that they photographed the craft and continuously reported to Mission Control about its size, shape and position. When the cosmonaut returned to Earth, he was interrogated and ordered never to speak to anyone about it again. His cameras were confiscated. These photos and his voice transmissions from space have never been released.
Despite these strong and bold statements from renowned astronauts, space agencies have always ignored such reports. There may be more such cases, but due to peer pressure from the government and other agencies, they have never been made public. The presence of extraterrestrials in our solar system or on Earth is still a mystery, but as we move closer to the future, some experts are coming forward with surprising information.
