Date
November 1969
Document Type
Authentication
Official PublicationRedaction Status
✓ Fully ReleasedIssuing Authority
NASA / Manned Spacecraft Center
Summary
Archival photograph from the Apollo 12 mission (November 1969), released as NASA-UAP-VM001 via PURSUE Release 1 on May 8, 2026. The image depicts the lunar surface as viewed from the Apollo 12 landing site and features a single highlighted area of interest slightly right of center, above the horizon. PURSUE Release 1 included five Apollo 12 photographs (VM001-VM005), each with government-added highlights identifying distinct anomalous areas. The accompanying transcript (NASA-UAP-D001) and audio records document the crew's real-time observations during this period.
Significance
NASA-UAP-VM001 is the first of five Apollo 12 lunar surface photographs released as part of PURSUE Release 1, representing the government's formal acknowledgment that unidentified phenomena were observed and photographed during the Apollo 12 mission. The release of five separate annotated images from a single mission is unprecedented in the public UAP record.