textfiles/ufo/UFOBBS/1000/1594.ufo

SUBJECT: STRANGE OBJECTS SEEN ON SHUTTLE FLIGHT              FILE: UFO1594

PART 1

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The Anomalous Events of STS-48
by Vince Johnson


The anomalous events during the shuttle Discovery mission  
STS-48 (launched September 12, 1991) were originally revealed 
by space enthusiasts who had set their VCRs to record NASA 
Select TV, which at the time was downlinked live from each 
shuttle mission and distributed on cable and satellite TV. 
To record as much as possible, VCRs were set to record at 
slow speed (six hour recordings) which resulted in less than 
optimal recordings. When the recordings were reviewed, 
anomalous objects were seen at several points in the 
mission.

Although the existence of these recordings have been known 
to MUFON and FUFOR since the fall of 1991, surprisingly, 
they were not made public until Don Ecker appeared on 
"HardCopy," and later, "Larry King Live" with a poor copy of 
what has been termed Event 2 in June of this year.

After personally reviewing the video of Events 1,2,3,4 and 
6, some of which were obtained from the official NASA video 
archive, I can only surmise that the events are indeed 
anomalous and unexplained. The official NASA explanation of 
ice and debris seems unlikely due to the different 
directions and speeds the objects appear to be traveling. 

The following is a chronology of the anomalous events of 
STS-48:

EVENT 1 (9-13-91 / between 03:49 - 04:10 GMT)
The camera shows a beautiful view from the forward cabin 
looking back through the cargo bay at the tail section with 
the Earth filling the top of the screen. One-by-one, a 
series of five lights travel radially from behind the tail 
section, comprising an arc. Then an extremely bright 
blinking light appears, traveling up from behind the left 
engine. This bright light occupies the focus of the arc 
composed of the five smaller lights. 

Then the camera inexplicably pans down into the cargo bay, 
focusing on a piece of equipment there. After a minute, the 
ground controller requests that she be given control of the 
camera. After a short pause, the astronaut complies. The 
camera then pans back up into the tail area. The lights that 
were there just moments before are now gone.

EVENT 2 (9-15-91 / between 20:30 - 20:45 GMT)
This scene shows the nightside Earth filling most of the 
frame with the horizon extending from the upper left of 
screen to the lower right. Black space is seen above the 
horizon at the screen's upper right. Clouds, bright city 
lights on the surface, and an intense lightning storm can be 
seen. The atmosphere is slightly luminescent at the limb and 
is clearly discernible. Against this background, several 
lighted objects can be seen traveling slowly, apparently 
above the atmosphere.  One of the larger objects (2A - see 
Event2a.GIF) appears and slowly moves across the sky below. 
Another large object (2F) appears near the center of the 
screen, either traveling up through the atmosphere from 
below, or through it at the limb and traveling towards the 
shuttle. This object travels slowly, parallel to the 
horizon, from lower right to upper left.

Suddenly, a bright flash of light fills the screen. As the 
flash diminishes, two odd streaks of light emanate from the 
left. The object traveling parallel to the horizon executes 
an acute (less than 90 degree) turn and shoots off into 
space, dimming as it recedes. The upper of the two streaks 
would have intercepted the object traveling along the 
horizon if it had stayed on its course without making its 
sudden turn. The bottom streak shoots off towards the right 
of the screen. Throughout Event 2, other lighted objects 
move across the field of view at varying speeds and 
headings.

Note: The official NASA explanation for this event is that 
ice crystals are being propelled by a shuttle attitude 
thruster being fired. The fact that the Earth does not 
appear to shift in the frame indicates that the shuttle's 
attitude is not changed and therefore, no thruster is being 
fired during this event.

EVENT 3 (9-16-91 / 08:40 -09:10 GMT)
This scene shows the sunlit Earth filling the screen. Other 
than cloud formations, no surface details are discernible. 
This clip can only be described as chaotic. There are dozens 
of objects streaking in every direction. Although sizes and 
distances cannot be calculated from the video alone, many of 
these objects appear to be descending into, and flying 
through the atmosphere. There is a similar streak as in 
Event 2 that intercepts one of the objects. After about 30-
45 seconds of this, a larger elliptical white object appears 
in the extreme upper left corner of the frame. This object 
is visible for only 5-6 frames before another camera is 
switched on showing the side of the shuttle with empty black 
space in the background.

Note: Again, there is no apparent change in the shuttle's 
orientation during this event, indicating that no thruster 
is being fired. Chronologically, Event 3 occurs after Event 
4. The numbering system developed before all video was 
available to researchers.

EVENT 4 (9-15-91 / between 19:00 - 19:10 GMT)
While few details of the objects were apparent to me, 
researcher Vince DiPietro reports that a large bell-shaped 
object appears, and that other objects move from the bottom 
to the top of the screen. His analysis allegedly reveals 
that several of these objects have an oblong shape, with 
sections of the objects appearing to rotate at high speed. 

EVENT 5 (Video, date and time unavailable)
According to Vince DiPietro, a large "tubular shaped" object 
moves from right to left. Also, DiPietro reports that a 
pulsating light is seen at the top of the screen

Note: HUFON Report has not seen video of Event 5. According 
to our source, Ron Madeley, this event has been expunged 
from the official NASA STS-48 video archive, leaving a 14 
minute gap in the video's time code. If this is true, it 
would be irrefutable evidence of a NASA cover-up.

EVENT 6 (Date and time unavailable)
The sunlit Earth fills the screen, with no surface details 
(other than clouds) discernible. A bright object enters the 
frame at left center and zips across the screen at high 
speed. When played in normal mode, the object seems to be a 
white light traveling in a smooth trajectory. When advanced 
frame-by-frame, the object changes color from red to green 
to white. Instead of a smooth trajectory, the object can be 
seen to travel in short, discrete steps, with the 
aforementioned color changes cycling during each step. The 
object seems to disappear while actually moving between each 
step.

As a lifelong supporter of our space exploration efforts I 
have observed many hours of NASA footage. Never have I seen 
events such as those recorded by STS-48. Lighted objects 
could most certainly be debris or ice crystals illuminated 
by the sun, however, I can conceive of no possible scenario 
that could explain the objects that are travelling in 
opposite directions. Presumably, thruster plumes should 
propel debris in one direction only. Another potential 
explanation would be meteor storms or space debris from 
previous launches. But again, these explanations cannot 
account for the observed trajectories .

According to our source, NASA no longer distributes a live 
downlink from shuttle missions, instead using a delay 
similar to that used by talk radio stations to censor 
offensive remarks. Sanitizing video downlink from shuttle 
missions, and deleting sections of the official archives is 
not in the interest of the taxpayers who fund NASA. The need 
for further official scientific inquiry is obvious.

In the meantime, the anomalous events recorded by Discovery 
astronauts during STS-48 can only be classified as UFOs, in 
the strict sense of the term.

Note: Vince DiPietro's report to FUFOR (the Fund For UFO 
Research) provided the descriptions of events for which 
video was unavailable to HUFON Report. Interestingly, 
DiPietro, a NASA employee at the Goddard Space Flight Center 
now publicly endorses the "ice crystal" explanation.


Copyright 1992 by Houston UFO Network / Vince Johnson

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