Apollo 17 crew reported seeing mysterious objects and lights during 1972 mission, UFO files reveal

WASHINGTON, DC: The Pentagon has finally released the hotly anticipated and “never-before-seen” files relating to unidentified anomalous phenomena, previously and more infamously known as unidentified flying objects, or UFOs.

The release follows a sneak preview from President Donald Trump, who told a conservative gathering that some “very interesting documents” would be released by the Department of Defense “very, very soon.”

The files included hundreds of pages of documents, photographs, and audio recordings that allegedly contained evidence of extraterrestrial encounters dating back to the 1940s.

Among what has been described as the Pentagon’s first major release of UFO files this year were transcripts from the historic Apollo 12 and Apollo 17 moon missions.

Apollo 17 crew reported seeing mysterious lights

The files and images related to NASA’s Apollo 17 mission indicate that the crew saw multiple unidentified objects in space, including three mysterious dots and sparks that resembled fireworks.

A NASA photograph, taken in December 1972 from the Apollo 17 mission, which included astronauts Gene Cernan, Jack Schmitt, and Ron Evans, shows "three 'dots' in a triangular formation in the lower right quadrant of the lunar sky that is clearly visible upon magnification of the image," the Defense Department said in a caption of the image.

“While this photo has been previously released and discussed by keen observers, there is no consensus about the nature of the anomaly,” the Pentagon noted in the accompanying caption.

“New preliminary US government analysis suggests the image feature is potentially the result of a physical object in the scene,” it added.

Astronauts say the objects lit up the sky like ‘Fourth of July’

During the 1972 Apollo 17 mission, which was the last time NASA astronauts walked on the moon, the crew also reported seeing bright tumbling sparks and jagged fragments that resembled fireworks.

"Now we've got a few very bright particles or fragments or something that go drifting by as we maneuver," pilot Ronald Evans said, according to the transcript released by the Pentagon.

Pilot Harrison Schmitt reported: "There's a whole bunch of big ones on my window down there — just bright. It looks like the Fourth of July out of Ron's window."

Meanwhile, mission commander Eugene Cernan admitted he struggled to sleep after witnessing intense flashes of light that he likened to the powerful beam of an oncoming train headlight.

"Over the next three hours, Cernan described observing several flashing, rotating phenomena that he assessed as corresponding to physical objects in space rather than a purely optical phenomenon," the Pentagon said.

The astronauts described the mysterious objects as bright, solid-looking fragments rather than fluid-like forms, saying most drifted alongside the spacecraft while a few suddenly darted past at much greater speeds.

This came three years after the Apollo 12 crew also reported strange sightings as they went closer to the lunar surface.