The WORST episodes of NASA's Unexplained Files

Every episode of NASA's Unexplained Files ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of NASA's Unexplained Files!

Strange flying objects have been caught on NASA's cameras and astronauts have reported seeing UFOs. Some of the odd shapes and lights can be identified; others remain a mystery. We'll reveal NASA footage and interview the astronauts and scientists.

Last Updated: 3/16/2024Network: Science ChannelStatus: Ended
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Curse of the Full Moon
star
6.80
25 votes

#1 - Curse of the Full Moon

Season 4 - Episode 5 - Aired 9/27/2016

Cosmonauts are trapped in a capsule in a frozen lake; a NASA scientist investigates the Hindenburg; the full moon affects experiments.

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Did Earth Have Two Moons?
star
6.88
24 votes

#2 - Did Earth Have Two Moons?

Season 4 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/4/2016

A discovery suggests the hellish clouds of Venus may be the origin of life on Earth. A bizarre sighting 2,000 years ago raises the possibility that Earth once had two moons. A scientist helps the FBI crack the 1996 Olympic bombing.

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The Earth Next Door
star
6.96
24 votes

#3 - The Earth Next Door

Season 4 - Episode 4 - Aired 9/20/2016

Astronomers notice a planet in Earth's vicinity capable of supporting life; top secret military program exposed; the moon contains the components to start life.

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Mystery of the Invisible Planet
star
7.00
14 votes

#4 - Mystery of the Invisible Planet

Season 4 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/11/2016

A probe carrying a message to aliens malfunctions as it enters deep space. A NASA mission goes disastrously wrong when an imposter breaches Mission Control. Astronomers may have found an invisible planet around a distant star.

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Alien Death Ray
star
7.02
91 votes

#5 - Alien Death Ray

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 3/6/2014

STS - 115 Triangle: September 20, 2006 - Space Shuttle Atlantis prepares to return home from work assembling the International Space Station, when the shuttle commander spots objects in a triangle formation. Alien X: Astronomers focus on a comet that has a X shape not commonly found in nature Life But Not As We Know It: Saturn's moon Titan has a primitive Earth like surface, but has liquid methane instead of water. Could life develope based on methane? Alien Star Wars: December 1970 - X-rays that can destroy planets are coming from an area without a star, could it be a sign of an alien war with advanced weaponry? Or is there a natural explanation. Aurora Arrow: In 2006 photos taken from the International Space Station show what looks like a space ship parked in the northern lights. Space Eel: A secret shuttle mission sees a snake like object moving across space. Could something live in the environment of space. Moon Pigeons: Apollo 10 photographs something they have dubbed moon pigeons, but their appearance always seems to bring trouble for the mission. Life on Mars: The Viking probe in 1975 looks for life on Mars, the agreed upon results show life. NASA dismisses these results. But new information may indicate the results were correct all along.

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Red Storm Rising
star
7.08
25 votes

#6 - Red Storm Rising

Season 3 - Episode 7 - Aired 4/5/2016

Two astronauts trapped in the vacuum of space face an agonizing death; the first close up images of Pluto reveal an alien landscape, and residents of Houston struggle to explain videos of unidentified flying lights captured above their city at night.

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Rise of the Planet Killer
star
7.19
31 votes

#7 - Rise of the Planet Killer

Season 4 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/6/2016

A mars mission captures an image of a strange structure on the planet; an intriguing sight on the dark side of the moon; a planet-eating star gives scientists a peek of Earth's bleak future.

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Rise of the Ice Creatures
star
7.20
71 votes

#8 - Rise of the Ice Creatures

Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 3/8/2016

Neil Armstrong goes into an unexplained spin. He needs to figure out what’s causing it, or he faces certain death. An Apollo 17 photo seems to show a military outpost on the Moon & could there be alien life swimming in the oceans of Jupiter’s moons?

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Return of the Moon Bugs
star
7.20
40 votes

#9 - Return of the Moon Bugs

Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 3/1/2016

Apollo 12 astronauts bring back something alive from the moon and NASA track an asteroid heading towards Earth but make a shocking discovery: it’s not an asteroid, but an object that’s artificial in nature.

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Saturn's Death Star
star
7.25
20 votes

#10 - Saturn's Death Star

Season 5 - Episode 8 - Aired 2/10/2018

A mysterious object is orbiting Saturn, and it looks just like the Death Star. New evidence might shed new light on the mysterious death of Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space. When a cuting-edge satellite vanishes, fears of a space war escalate.

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A President's Close Encounter
star
7.30
27 votes

#11 - A President's Close Encounter

Season 4 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/13/2016

The discovery of geysers on a moon; NASA's mission to detect life; an object is spotted approaching an asteroid.

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Black Knight Rises
star
7.32
90 votes

#12 - Black Knight Rises

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 3/11/2014

Cold Warrior: December 1998 - NASA astronauts begin construction of the International Space Station and photograph a strange object that some link to the 1950s story of the 'Black Knight'. Space Geysers: The Casini probe takes pictures of Saturn's moon Enceladus and sees massive geysers of liquid water on a moon that should be dead. These geysers also contain the building blocks of life. Hole in the Sun: July 18, 2013 - Scientists observing the Sun see what appears to be a 500,000 mile hole creep across the Surface of the Sun. Alien Spies: September 2002 - An amateur astronomer spots a bright object orbiting Earth. He reports the object to the authorities and NASA scientists are surprised to find the object covered in paint. Martian Tracks: November 1971 - Mariner 9 arrives on Mars and sends back images of unusual tracks on the planet's surface. Faster Than The Speed of Light: December 1995 - The Hubble Telescope is pointed at a completely empty spot of sky to see what's there and surprisingly the faint galaxies seen appear to be traveling faster than the speed of light. STS-114 Boomerang: July 26, 2005 - One of the cameras from Space Shuttle Discovery sees an object change direction own its own. We Are The Aliens: The theory of Panspermia is that life here on Earth may have originated elsewhere, by riding rocks to Earth after being knocked off other planets by asteroid strikes.

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Ghosts on a Comet
star
7.43
68 votes

#13 - Ghosts on a Comet

Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 3/15/2016

When a Chinese moon rover breaks down, a NASA scientist points to a mysterious material that seemed to sabotage the Apollo missions, decades earlier. The Rosetta spacecraft finds a comet that appears to be singing.

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Curse of the Gas Giant
star
7.44
70 votes

#14 - Curse of the Gas Giant

Season 5 - Episode 2 - Aired 4/19/2017

Scientists wonder why Jupiter is hotter than it should be; the Curiosity Rover finds something strange on Mars; detectives turn to NASA for help with a murder cold case.

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Secrets  of the Alien Signals
star
7.46
24 votes

#15 - Secrets of the Alien Signals

Season 6 - Episode 6 - Aired 5/16/2019

When NASA begins a strange experiment to communicate with dolphins, experts investigate if it's a prelude to making alien contact. But some fear that such a discovery could have apocalyptic consequences.

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CIA's Secret Revenge
star
7.47
19 votes

#16 - CIA's Secret Revenge

Season 5 - Episode 6 - Aired 1/27/2018

When the Soviet Union unveils its own space shuttle, the CIA hatches a secret revenge plot. Recent discoveries shed new light on the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. A missing nuclear weapon could threaten a NASA base in the Arctic.

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The Black Hole Next Door
star
7.50
24 votes

#17 - The Black Hole Next Door

Season 6 - Episode 3 - Aired 4/25/2019

When astronomers discover a rogue black hole speeding through the Milky Way, they investigate how much danger this cosmic monster poses to Earth, and what would happen if it ever entered our solar system.

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Shadow Deathstar
star
7.54
129 votes

#18 - Shadow Deathstar

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 3/2/2014

Astronaut Leroy Chao’s spacewalk is interrupted by bright lights flying past. A flying saucer photographed from the Apollo capsule, dark shapes caught on camera shadowing the shuttle. The ideas are science fiction, but the incidents are science fact. 43 min | TV-PG | Premiered 03/02/2014 ISS Illumination: March 28, 2005 - Astronaut Dr. Leroy Chiao is on a space walk working on the ISS and sees an echelon formation of lights fly between the station and Earth. Life on Europa: The Galileo probe explores Jupiter and its moon Europa. The red streaks seen on the moon's surface appear to show signs of microbial life. Apollo 16 Incident: A camera filming outside of the lunar lander sees a classic UFO image, that wasn't explained for 30 years. NASA vs The Russians: The Chelyabinsk meteor event in February 2013 sparks fears that someone has attacked the city. Did someone shoot meteor and make it explode? Deathstar Refuels: In March 2012 solar scientists see a dark round spot the size of 10 Earths hovering near the Sun. The Sphere has planet size tendrils reaching down to the Sun's surface. Telepathic Aliens: Astronauts often see flashes of light that are not seen on camera. Is space the perfect medium for telepathic communication. Invaders From Mars: Does NASA already have evidence of life on Mars? The meteor from Mars that seems to have fossilized worm like life forms. Columbia Triangle: Triangular UFOs had only been seen from Earth until 1986 when Space Shuttle Columbia sees one right after it enters orbit.

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The Sun's Evil Twin
star
7.55
22 votes

#19 - The Sun's Evil Twin

Season 5 - Episode 3 - Aired 4/26/2017

Neil Armstrong enters an unexplained spin; an Apollo 17 photo seems to show a US military outpost on the Moon; possible alien life swimming in the oceans of Jupiter's moons.

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JFK UFO Conspiracy
star
7.55
49 votes

#20 - JFK UFO Conspiracy

Season 5 - Episode 1 - Aired 4/12/2017

A declassified letter written by President Kennedy demands the CIA share its UFO data with NASA. A bizarre pattern on the surface of Mars could be a coded alien message. Investigators are shocked to find a rocket crash-landed in a crater on the Moon.

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Planet  of the Metal Aliens
star
7.62
21 votes

#21 - Planet of the Metal Aliens

Season 6 - Episode 7 - Aired 5/23/2019

Experts investigate if a nearby exoplanet could be the home to a alien civilization of strange, metallic monsters, after a new discovery confirms that life can thrive on such a strange world.

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Did We Nuke Jupiter?
star
7.64
36 votes

#22 - Did We Nuke Jupiter?

Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired 5/6/2015

Could NASA be responsible for a nuclear explosion on Jupiter? Could new evidence finally solve the mystery of the iconic face on Mars? What unknown force crashed a spacecraft from the Apollo program into the lunar surface?

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The Moon's Strange Secret
star
7.64
14 votes

#23 - The Moon's Strange Secret

Season 5 - Episode 7 - Aired 2/3/2018

The last humans to walk on the Moon discover something strange on the surface. A NASA scientist investigates a strange phenomenon responsible for horrific mass deaths. A landmark NASA mission threatens to destroy the reputation of an American hero.

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The Moon that Disappeared
star
7.68
62 votes

#24 - The Moon that Disappeared

Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 3/22/2016

Recently discovered documents reveal NASA's secret plan B for failure of the first moon landing, a Soyuz capsule carrying astronaut Peggy Whitson back to Earth vanishes without explanation and NASA’s Cassini mission unravels a three hundred year old.

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Did Aliens Nuke Mars?
star
7.71
35 votes

#25 - Did Aliens Nuke Mars?

Season 6 - Episode 8 - Aired 5/30/2019

A strange discovery by NASA's Mars Curiosity rover suggests the Red Planet was home to an alien nuclear war 300 million years ago, and experts investigate if an extraterrestrial Armageddon transformed an earth-like world into the wasteland we know today.

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