Skip to playerSkip to main content
  • 22 hours ago
In November 1962, journalist Walter Cronkite interviewed astronaut Gordon Cooper. In this excerpt from that interview, Cronkite asks Cooper about his views regarding the nature of unidentified flying objects, having previously expressed an interest in the subject. Cooper opines that “a large number of exceptionally well-qualified people have seen objects” without a “logical explanation” and speculates on the existence of other planets with “a livable atmosphere” and that maybe there are “some type of human life” out there. Interview was conducted in November 1962.

Category

😹
Fun
Transcript
00:03Gordo, you expressed interest at one time in
00:08unidentified flying objects, the feeling that there
00:11might be something to all these stories. Do you still feel that way?
00:17Well, I feel that there have been a large number
00:20of fairly well qualified, or exceptionally well qualified I should say,
00:24people who have seen objects that have not
00:29had any really logical explanation other than this.
00:33I think that maybe in fact each and every one of them does have an explanation.
00:40But I think that there are so many possibilities, so many thousands of
00:45possibilities of other planets out somewhere in the universe that would
00:48have a livable atmosphere that I would hate to rule out the possibility that
00:55maybe there are people or some type of human life on some of these.
01:00And if this is the case, then it's not too unfeasible to think that perhaps
01:06some of these objects might have been something of this type.
01:10You don't think that the comparatively short step out into space that the
01:16Mercury flight will take you on is far enough out to make any observations in this area?
01:23No, I think we're still at a fairly low order of getting out into space.
01:29When you regard...when you speak of space and being millions of miles involved,
01:36we're only getting out a hundred miles or so.
01:39What about the so-called Glenn effect, Gordo?
01:42You know, the snowflakes, the fireflies, now both Shira and Carpenter seem to feel that it's frost of
01:51some nature off of the capsule, but apparently Glenn still sort of cast doubt on that theory.
01:59...I think it's a very interesting part of the time in this area.
02:00Thank you very much.
02:00Thank you, Mike.
02:00Thank you very much.
02:00Thank you very much.
Comments

Recommended