Section 24: Visual Sightings

Young: I think we discussed almost all of the visual sightings that were unique during the flight.

Mattingly: ThereÂ’s one or two sights we didnÂ’t mention.

Young: Mention them.

Mattingly: One of them was just the "gee whiz" type. On launch morning right out the window was the Moon. That sucker was right-centered in there.

Young: WhatÂ’s the other one?

Mattingly: The other one was that little flash I saw. Maybe somebody saw it on one of those seismometers, on one of the early revs. ItÂ’s on the DSE because I remember commenting out loud about it. I was sitting there waiting for a solar corona. I had all the cockpit lights out sitting there in the dark. I could see a nice horizon against the corona. There was this bright flash, and it was below the horizon. I looked out the window every dark pass after that looking for another one. I never saw any more. I donÂ’t know whether I saw a meteorite hit, or what, but it was a bright flash. It was brighter than any star or planet that was above the horizon. it was definitely below the horizon. Maybe somebody in one of their seismic things might have seen something about that time. I donÂ’t know what good it would do us if they did, but it was there.

Young: You saw your first light flash.