Shuttle Astronaut Photographed Strange Object
The latest Pentagon UAP files reveal an anonymous astronaut imaged an anomalous object in 1996 while in orbit during STS-80 mission.
For 64 years, some of the more interesting things to occur during America’s manned space missions have gone unmentioned by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This missing history includes sightings of unidentified objects and phenomena made by astronauts while in space and on the moon. A number of these astronaut UFO reports were made public for the first time in the official Pentagon UAP files, released over the past three months.
The following images are details from stills taken by a crew member aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia. The long-duration STS-80 mission launched from Kennedy Space Center on November 17, 1996. Its five-person crew returned safely to earth December 7, 1996, on its 279th orbit.
The close-ups above were manipulated in PhotoShop to better render the unidentified object. Specifically, I reduced exposure in the far right image by about an f-stop and a half. Plus, I boosted the contrast in each photo to help the object pop out from background.
NASA or the Pentagon have not released details of the photographs. The series likely was recorded on 35 mm film, possibly by a Nikon camera equipped with a telephoto zoom lens.
The complete images of each released by the Pentagon are below. They are unretouched, with the exception of the circle I made around the object in the third image.
The STS-80 mission crew: from the left, astronauts Kent V. Rominger, pilot; Tamara E. Jernigan, Story Musgrave and Thomas D. Jones, all mission specialists; and Kenneth D. Cockrell, mission commander. Click here for details on the mission from NASA.
Details from the Pentagon: During STS-80, between November 19 and December 7, 1996, astronauts aboard Space Shuttle Columbia captured a series of three images of an unidentified object in low-Earth orbit. In the first photograph, the object is visible near the center of the frame, to the right of the limb of the Earth.
Details from the Pentagon: ...In the second photograph, the object is visible near the center of the frame, to the right of the limb of the Earth. It appears to have rotated or tumbled about its major axis, which is consistent with the behavior of a free-floating object.
Details from the Pentagon: In the third photograph, the object is visible near the center of the frame, superimposed against the Earth. It appears to have continued along a trajectory passing between Columbia and the Earth.
The STS-80 photographs and files are Tranche 4, Page 1 of the Pentagon UAP files. Click here to access them.
Interesting pictures
Unfortunately by accident, design of plausible deniability, no accompanying eyewitness testimony was released to accompany these just-released photographs. There is no context in the form of official UFO/UAP sighting reports. Nor are there transcripts of astronaut debriefings about what he, she or they just saw and photographed. We don’t even have hearsay of what made the astronaut notice the object initially.
We know not how it seemed to move and tumble in space, or if maneuvered near Columbia. We also have no information on what else happened to the object as it was observed and photographed in the just-released Pentagon files.
There also is no “metadata,” or data about the acquired data, such as when and where an image was made, who took the photographs, nor even information describing the camera, lens and exposure settings used. All that information might be useful if trying to determine the nature of the phenomenon in the photos.
But, we do have the pictures, which is nice.
Most Importantly
Today, none of the original Mercury 7 astronauts are alive. Many of the Gemini and Apollo astronauts also have passed on. We also have lost two complete 7-person crews who manned the Space Shuttles Challenger, lost during launch, and Columbia, lost during re-entry. These irreplacable individuals never had the opportunity to go on the record publicly about the “impossible things” they saw in space and we only now are learning the government has long known are real.
Like all our national heroes, the nation must preserve the memories of our astronauts and build on their accomplishments. It also is important, I believe, to discover, chronicle and preserve the unusual moments they experienced in space, in the air, and on the ground.
Due to Uncle Sam’s long official policy of secrecy in regard to UFOs, we have missed the opportunities to hear many of our space pioneers describe their most surreal experiences in their own words. That is a real loss for all mankind.
A last thing thought
While a photograph doesn’t prove the existence of flying saucers or non-human intelligences, these do present a disturbing picture of NASA. The civilian agency chartered to explore the domains of air and space in peace has long-hidden its interest in things they seem to have found out there that may come from out of this world.
Can you imagine how much more we would know and ask about UFOs and whatever is behind the phenomenon if we had based the past two-thirds of a century on a democratic foundation of scientific inquiry rather than debunking and ridicule?
Personally, I believe All of us — We the People of the United States and We the People of planet earth — have a right to know if there are other intelligences visiting earth from space or some other dimension or reality. That’s why I now wish NASA had anticipatorially formed the UFO disclosure bandwagon way back when John Glenn and the Mercury astronauts were reporting “John’s Fireflies” in Tranche 2, Page 5 this might be a very different world today.
Just with what we have learned from the Pentagon UAP files, we may need to study new concepts in physics. We also may need to reconsider what we know in psychology, politics, theology and philosophy. Questions we may want to consider also may need to include: “With whom do we share our existence?” “Why does our universe exist?” And, “Why we are here?”
Can you imagine how much more we would know and ask about UFOs and whatever is behind the phenomenon if we had based the past two-thirds of a century on a democratic foundation of scientific inquiry rather than debunking and ridicule? Ours today would be a different world. Compared to what we got, it likely would be better.