Project Gemini was a transitional step between the pioneering Mercury Program and actually landing a man on the moon. The success of this "Middle" program was critical to finally reaching the Moon some three years after its last flight.

The Gemini Program was conceived to BE that intermediate step between Project Mercury and the Apollo Program. Gemini was not without its problems and difficulties, however.

The major objectives assigned to Gemini were:

1. To subject two men, and spacecraft equipment, to long duration flights. Success in these would be a requirement for projected later trips to the Moon and beyond.

2. To achieve rendezvous, and docking, with another orbiting spacecraft. This was a major requirement for a future Lunar landing.

3. To maneuver the docked vehicles in space, using the propulsion system of the target vehicle. This was important in that steering large complexes could be perfected.

4. To perfect methods of reentry, and landing the spacecraft at a pre-selected landing point on dry ground rather than in the ocean as was the case with the Mercury flights. (The idea for making a landing on dry ground was eliminated from the Gemini Program in 1964, a year before the first manned flight.)

5. To build a database of information concerning the effects of weightlessness on crew members, and to record the physiological reactions of crew members during long duration flights.

A study of the ten Gemini flights reveals that the program was entirely successful. All of the important objectives were met as well as many of the individual goals assigned to each mission. The Gemini VIII flight nearly killed Neil Armstrong, the man who would eventually be the first to walk on the moon.

Whilst viewing a TV documentary on the U.S. space program, I noticed there was included a film clip of a Gemini capsule at the beginning of its re-entry procedure. The film was shot through left side cabin window of the vehicle, by a camera which was hard-mounted behind the Astronaut's seat. These were usually 16mm movie cameras of high quality. No information was given as to which particular Gemini flight (Out of Ten) this film clip was obtained from. So this video is basically "stock footage" for our purposes.

What really caught my eye was the orange orb shaped object in the field of view outside the window. It demonstrated motion that didn't fit with the usual explanations for such objects.

An ice flake, or bit of debris, would not be following the capsule, AND SURVIVING, during re-entry. They also don't suddenly "take off" for parts unknown when the going "gets hot" the way this anomaly did.

One friend of mine asked if this object could be a light of some sort reflected from the inside of the window. Some basic facts will prove this suggestion to be without merit.

First, the object travels across the field of view in relation to the window frame AND the distant limb of Earth. We can see the bumps and gyrations associated with the "wild ride" that is re-entry.

If it were an instrument panel light, one must question how it inexplicably moves on its own persistent course (Especially with great and sudden speed toward the end of the clip). In addition, where would this light be? The light would have to be "over the shoulder" of the Astronaut on the rear bulkhead. It would be behind the seat he was securely strapped in to. Not a likely place for a "flying" light inside the Gemini capsule; where the crewmen couldn't see it.

Was it a light on the camera itself perhaps? If so, then we would NOT see any independent motion. A light on the camera would have remained rock steady in one locaton on the window surface. This object moved ACROSS the field of view, and exited in a direction AWAY from Earth. So, I believe we can safely rule out internal reflections as the source for this bogey.

Then we are left with what? So far as I myself can determine, there is no rational explanation for the appearance of this object just as Gemini was hitting the Earth's upper atmosphere, with its ablative heat-shield, during the re-entry phase of its mission.

Let's have a look as some preliminary visuals, to help familiarize you with the circumstances, shall we?

This is a representative photo of a Gemini capsule in orbit. It is from the record setting two week flight of Gemini VII in December 1965.

The red circle emphasizes the left side hatch window through which the event was filmed.