Foreign colleague of Michael C recalled (5)
I believe the answer is:
alien
'foreign' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'colleague of michael c recalled' is the wordplay.
'colleague of michael c' becomes 'Neil A' (Neil Armstrong, colleague of Michael Collins).
'recalled' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'neila' in reverse letter order is 'ALIEN'.
(Other definitions for alien that I've seen before include "Foreign (from outer space?)" , "Martian, say" , "Someone from outer space?" , "Unfamiliar; foreign" , "Foreign, strange" .)