John Glenn was a member of NASA’s Mercury Seven, the United States’ first group of astronauts, and later served as a US senator for Ohio. Along with fellow Mercury Seven astronauts Wally Schirra, Gus Grissom and Gordon Cooper, Glenn was a member of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry.1 He died in 2016.2
In later life, Glenn reflected on the early years of the space programme. He said that at the time he had been uncomfortable being asked to say things he did not want to say, and to deny others.3 He said astronauts never gave the real answer when asked whether they were alone out there: they had seen strange things but were not permitted to say anything.4 He said NASA’s bosses were afraid of a panic like that caused by the 1938-10-30 War of the Worlds broadcast, which is why astronauts were told to keep quiet about what they saw.5 He said that astronauts now only saw the strange things they had seen in space in their nightmares or in films, and that some films came close to the truth.6
Glenn’s 2001-03 John Glenn Frasier appearance took place in March 2001, when he appeared on the NBC sitcom Frasier (NBC sitcom) and made not-so-subtle comments.7 James E. Oberg said the comments were simple humour, given their comedic context.8 Richard C. Hoagland took a different view: he said the appearance had all the earmarks of a straightforward “Brookings Report” revelation,9 and described the remarks as a scathing indictment of NASA’s integrity regardless of the forum in which they were spoken.10
Harry Reid said he had spoken with Glenn some years before Glenn’s death, and that Glenn had told him he thought the federal government should be looking seriously into UFOs.11 According to Reid, Glenn also said the federal government should be talking to military service members, particularly pilots, who had reported seeing aircraft they could not identify or explain.12
According to an interview excerpt with astronaut Gordon Cooper, Glenn cast doubt on the theory that the Glenn effect - reported snowflakes and fireflies observed during spaceflight - was caused by frost coming off the spacecraft capsule.13