Cosmic ray flashes in the eye.

Abstract

THE observations by Apollo astronauts of light flashes in the eye during lunar flights have been interpreted by Fazio et al.1 as Cerenkov radiation. These authors have also considered the possibility of direct stimulation of the retinal cells by the passage of cosmic rays. I wish to show that the observed effects can also be interpreted as scintillations produced in the eye lens by the passage of multiply charged cosmic rays.