"I think that Walter Schirra aboard Mercury 8 was the first of the astronauts to use the code name 'Santa Claus' to indicate the presence of flying saucers next to space capsules. However, his announcements were barely noticed by the general public. It was a little different when James Lovell on board the Apollo 8 command module came out from behind the moon and said for everybody to hear: 'PLEASE BE INFORMED THAT THERE IS A SANTA CLAUS.' Even though this happened on Christmas Day 1968, many people sensed a hidden meaning in those words."
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Originally Posted by JayUtah
Hogwash. The astronauts were delighted to have received a "Christmas present" in the form of a working SPS motor, meaning they could return home and not die in lunar orbit. UFO enthusiasts simply transform every reference to something they don't immediately understand into a "veiled" reference to flying saucers.
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Jay's response of course refers to the Jim Lovell quote. The meaning of Lovell's remark is obvious and it is absurd to look for anything cryptic in it.
The Walter Schirra reference is to his Gemini 6 flight (with Tom Stafford) on December 15-16, 1965. Toward the end of the flight Schirra made a comment about seeing an unidentified object traveling from the north and getting ready to reenter the atmosphere. He then quickly added a "Merry Christmas". It is clear his remark was nothing but a light-hearted reference Santa Claus, being so close to Christmas. After the mission, Schirra said he hoped children hearing the comment got a kick out of it. It is again ridiculous to read anything more into it.
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