Astronaut Reports ‘Strange Noises’ from Starliner That Carried Sunita Williams to Space

Astronauts Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore have been aboard the International Space Station (ISS) for three months, and recently, a “strange noise” was reported coming from the Starliner spacecraft that brought them to space.

On Saturday, August 31, astronaut Butch Wilmore contacted Mission Control at Johnson Space Center to report the unusual sounds he was hearing.

Eerie Sounds in Space
“I have a question about Starliner,” Wilmore said as he reached out to Mission Control. He described hearing a “strange noise coming through the speaker,” but was unsure of its source. The former military test pilot speculated that it might be due to an issue with the connection between the spacecraft and mission control, or possibly something else entirely.

Wilmore then asked the flight controllers in Houston to listen to the audio. After doing so, Mission Control responded via the “hardline” to confirm they heard the strange noises as well.

“It was kind of like a pulsing noise, almost like a sonar ping,” acknowledged Mission Control in a recording that has since circulated widely on social media platforms, including X.

“I’ll play it one more time, and let you guys puzzle over it to see if you can figure out what’s going on,” Wilmore said before repeating the sound.

As the mysterious sonar-like noise echoed again, Butch wrapped up the call by saying, “Alright, it’s over to you. Let us know if you figure it out.”

Mission Control then asked if the sound was only coming from the speaker and whether there were any other “weird noises” coming from inside the spacecraft.