Vol. 06 · Misquoted ·Speech ·122 of 348
"Houston, we have a problem."
They never said that.
What people say
"Houston, we have a problem."
What was actually said
"Houston, we've had a problem." Jack Swigert / Jim Lovell — Apollo 13 transmission, 1970
Why it stuck
The film Apollo 13 (1995) shifts the tense to present — more dramatic. The real transmission was past tense because the failure had already happened.
Know another line by heart?
Play the duel and see how many you can spot. Or browse the whole shelf.