NASA-UAP-D010: Mercury Atlas 9 (Faith 7) Audio Excerpt — Gordon Cooper UAP Observation, May 15, 1963
Date
May 15, 1963
Document Type
Audio
Authentication
Official PublicationRedaction Status
✓ Fully ReleasedIssuing Authority
NASA — Mercury Program / Department of War (PURSUE Release 2)
Summary
Audio excerpt from the Mercury Atlas 9 (Faith 7) mission released by the Department of War as part of PURSUE Release 2. The recording captures mission audio from May 15, 1963 during Gordon Cooper's 22-orbit Mercury mission — the final Mercury flight and the longest single American spaceflight at that time. Cooper subsequently reported observing an anomalous glowing green object during the mission, making Faith 7 one of the most-discussed early spaceflight UAP accounts. This is the first of two D-series audio excerpts from the same Mercury Atlas 9 mission (D010 and D011).
Significance
Gordon Cooper's Faith 7 observation is one of the most credentialed early spaceflight UAP accounts: Cooper was a Mercury Seven astronaut, a USAF test pilot with extensive classified aircraft experience, and later testified about his UAP observations to the United Nations (1985) and in multiple public disclosures. The D010 and D011 pair provide two audio windows into the same mission. Cooper's general credibility in UAP discourse makes this audio record significant as contemporaneous mission documentation.