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Footage in the Sky: The Truth Behind NASA's UFO Videos

A batch of raw footage from decades-old NASA missions shows zipping lights and strange objects in the sky.

Recently posted on YouTube, the clips are renewing UFO conspiracy theories that the government is hiding knowledge about its interactions with intelligent life.

But two astronauts dispute that — and talk about NASA's supposed cover-up and what the clips really show.

The scenario goes like this: It's 1996; you're an astronaut and you're looking at a UFO. This is quite possibly the biggest, most game-changing scientific discovery in the history of mankind.

And here you are, gliding through space in low Earth orbit, watching this alien craft dance around your video camera's viewfinder. You are not alone — there are other astronauts onboard the space shuttle, and Mission Control is watching the live feed from Houston.

Yet not a single raised voice or mention of ETs or UFOs can be heard on the audio of this recording. Apparently, it's just another routine brush with extraterrestrial life, and another day in the life of a massive, decades-long, multi-agency cover-up.

This is the claim behind the recent posting of a batch of NASA-related clips on YouTube, presented as evidence that extraterrestrials are among us.

The footage covers a number of missions, and a range of mysterious objects — in a clip featured on the science fiction blog io9, a bizarre object rotates within the frame, seeming to morph from one shape to another as the cameraman casually tracks it.

If that weren't mysterious enough, at one point, a light drifts by. The post's headline poses the question: "Will the US Government Finally Admit There Are Aliens?"

Whether or not the government has anything to fess up about aliens, the astronaut who shot that particular piece of footage has nothing to hide.

Mario Runco was a mission specialist on board STS-77, a space shuttle mission that launched in May of 1996. One of the crew's objectives was to deploy an experimental satellite, the Passive Aerodynamically Stabilized Magnetically Damped Satellite Test Unit (PAM-STU).

The PAM-STU was roughly the size of a trash can, and was designed to test a new approach to satellite maneuverability, using the planet's magnetic field to perform attitude adjustments (instead of firing thrusters).

The crew filmed the spinning satellite for days, but in the clip posted on YouTube by Martyn Stubb, the PAM-STU appears in grainy, low-light-enhanced black and white.

Its two Stimsonite reflectors — the same materials used on road and bicycle reflectors — catch the ambient light, and at one point appear to merge into a single bright spot as the satellite turns head-on.

"The lights moving by in the background are either isolated lights on the ground or stars, I think likely the latter," Runco says.

In another of Stubb's posted clips, a view through the window of a space shuttle shows lights drifting along in space, then reversing direction and darting away with a flash. The title of that clip: "UFOs quickly take off on NASA video."

Again, the reality is less dramatic. Thomas Jones, a former shuttle mission specialist and payload commander and co-author of "Planetology: Unlocking the Secrets of the Solar System," was on that mission — STS-80, which also took place in 1996 — and provided this description of the footage.

"A few ice crystals or flakes of thruster residue in the near field are floating by, get hit by a thruster exhaust plume and zip out of the scene."

UFO proponents tend to dismiss official responses from members of NASA, the Pentagon or any other government agency, but Runco says that even if there was an active cover-up, no amount of coercion could prevent an astronaut — himself included — from laying claim to a confirmed sighting of an alien spaceship.

"If I thought it was an intelligent craft, I'd be the first one to speak up," says Runco. "I'd want the credit: 'Mario Runco was the first person in history to conclusively document the existence of an extraterrestrial civilization.' Why would I ever want to keep it secret?"

Neither Runco nor Jones have any illusions about the likelihood of dispelling NASA-related UFO myths, particularly when Stubb and others are able to collect and repurpose an ever-growing catalog of footage.

"There's no way to keep people from using public domain footage for silly purposes," Jones says. "If a shuttle beams back 10 hours of Earth views each day, there are bound to be images and scenes that are misunderstood or taken out of context."

If anything, it's the lack of context that many UFO theories and proponents rely on. The clips posted by Stubb and others, whether they originate with NASA or a less credible source, tend to be framed only by a short title, with little or no attempt at reporting.

Runco notes that anyone could have simply e-mailed or called him to ask for his side of the story, instead of simply posting a 13-year-old video and jumping to extraterrestrial conclusions.

Specificity might be the currency of the conspiracy theory set, with seemingly random images or snippets of data woven into a matrix of sinister intent, but even a casual investigation of each of those facts can punch holes in the larger plotline.

Bloggers continue to reference an interview with Buzz Aldrin in 2005 about seeing a UFO while on Apollo 11, while brushing off his claims that television producers blatantly quoted him out of context.

And although UFO proponents have welcomed recent public statements from former astronaut Edgar Mitchell about his belief in an extraterrestrial cover-up dating back to Roswell, Mitchell has never said he witnessed anything alien with his own eyes.

Lacking quality in their evidence, UFO believers are left with quantity, a rambling collection of indistinct imagery and allegations that now includes a batch of space-shuttle mission video clips that were never buried or classified in the first place.

Runco points out that astronauts, in general, are excited by the notion of intelligent species on other worlds.

"Many of them use SETI@Home [a distributed computing application that picks through radio telescope data for incoming messages] as their screensavers, because they think it's a possibility," he says.

But it's one thing to believe that alien life is a statistical likelihood, and another to interpret lights in the sky as intergalactic contact.

"People see unexplained things," Jones says. "I used to believe UFOs were spaceships — when I was 14."

Click here for links to videos mentioned in the article.

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Next year I have booked a flight to Las Vegas and am then travelling up to Rachel and am going to do the Area 51 tour, see some of the sights and do a little hiking... I am not a believer in the UFO's seen over the skies being of alien origin, but do believe in black op engines for aerospace being developed there hence the size of the no fly zone, and am keen to see if I can spot anything while I am there.

What do you think exsists behind the gates of Area 51???

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"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein
Vextor Homepage | Vextor Blog

What do you think exsists behind the gates of Area 51???

A testing ground for experimental aircraft for the US Military.

John.

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A testing ground for experimental aircraft for the US Military.

Exactly what I think.

What types of experimental aircrafts do you think they are testing??

eg. Possibly Hypersonic pulsejet technology.

What about exotic forms of energy and technology??

Gravity manipulation anyone think that the technology exists yet??

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"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein
Vextor Homepage | Vextor Blog

A testing ground for experimental aircraft for the US Military.

Exactly what I think.

What types of experimental aircrafts do you think they are testing??

eg. Possibly Hypersonic pulsejet technology.

What about exotic forms of energy and technology??

Gravity manipulation anyone think that the technology exists yet??

If they are giving tours, thee will be nothing current to see.

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BOINC WIKI

If they are giving tours, thee will be nothing current to see.

The tour takes you to the outskirt permeter of the base to the Restricted Access Signs and no further obviously... I just wanted peoples views on the subject what sorts of technology they think is in development etc.

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"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein
Vextor Homepage | Vextor Blog

Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.
Me I think scram jet propulsion and maybe anti gravity. I saw something here in NY one winter a few years ago that was big slow and silent. It had 3 white running lights so It wasnt a ufo , Out line thru my binoculars against the background of stars was like a wedge. like that wedge that has been seen down in Phoenix AZ.
Our Government has 1500 dollar hammers for a reason. Thats an appropriate line for this 4th of july weekend:)

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[/quote]

Old James

Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.
Me I think scram jet propulsion and maybe anti gravity. I saw something here in NY one winter a few years ago that was big slow and silent. It had 3 white running lights so It wasnt a ufo , Out line thru my binoculars against the background of stars was like a wedge. like that wedge that has been seen down in Phoenix AZ.
Our Government has 1500 dollar hammers for a reason. Thats an appropriate line for this 4th of july weekend:)

Our money has no ends..........
Just no truth.

It died with JFK.........

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"Time is simply the mechanism that keeps everything from happening all at once."

Our money has no ends..........
Just no truth.

It died with JFK.........

Nicely said!!!!

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"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein
Vextor Homepage | Vextor Blog

A testing ground for experimental aircraft for the US Military.

Exactly what I think.

What types of experimental aircrafts do you think they are testing??

eg. Possibly Hypersonic pulsejet technology.

What about exotic forms of energy and technology??

Gravity manipulation anyone think that the technology exists yet??

I'm a realist!, science fiction is nice for things like movies, but thats where it stops.

The US Military are not testing anything that is not already out there in the main stream physics and engineering circles. Yes, they might well be testing the next generation of advanced fighter or spy planes, but they are certainly not building and testing any advanced technology that is not in the public domain.

Physics and the laws of gravity are the same for you, me and the US Military, no matter how much money is in their budget.

John.

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The US Military are not testing anything that is not already out there in the main stream physics and engineering circles. Yes, they might well be testing the next generation of advanced fighter or spy planes, but they are certainly not building and testing any advanced technology that is not in the public domain.

Physics and the laws of gravity are the same for you, me and the US Military, no matter how much money is in their budget.

I agree with you, I require facts, documented evidence and testing to accept that something exists. However the stealth bomber wasn't mainstream knowledge but was researched and developed in secret by the US military and also low orbital spy planes. Hypersonic aircrafts already exist, and there have been photographs of vapour clouds leaving a pulse like configuration. I do not in anyway believe that they are working with anything in the realm of fantasy ie. Warp drive/Wormholes etc.


Best Regards

Kai

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"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein
Vextor Homepage | Vextor Blog

The US Military are not testing anything that is not already out there in the main stream physics and engineering circles. Yes, they might well be testing the next generation of advanced fighter or spy planes, but they are certainly not building and testing any advanced technology that is not in the public domain.

Physics and the laws of gravity are the same for you, me and the US Military, no matter how much money is in their budget.

I agree with you, I require facts, documented evidence and testing to accept that something exists. However the stealth bomber wasn't mainstream knowledge but was researched and developed in secret by the US military and also low orbital spy planes. Hypersonic aircrafts already exist, and there have been photographs of vapour clouds leaving a pulse like configuration. I do not in anyway believe that they are working with anything in the realm of fantasy ie. Warp drive/Wormholes etc.


Best Regards

Kai

And here I thought you might have an in to get inside the fence...

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BOINC WIKI

And here I thought you might have an in to get inside the fence...

I wish!!!

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"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein
Vextor Homepage | Vextor Blog

Google Maps lets you look over the fence at Area 51

John :)

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If they are giving tours, thee will be nothing current to see.

The tour takes you to the outskirt permeter of the base to the Restricted Access Signs and no further obviously... I just wanted peoples views on the subject what sorts of technology they think is in development etc.

Went to area 51 back in May. Drove to both the front gate and back gate. Nothing much to see. Heavily guarded, camera's on hill tops observing the approaching tracks. It's a long drive off the main road down dirt tracks so make sure you have a full tank of gas as the nearest fuel station is 60 miles in one direction and over a hundred in the other!

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Google Maps lets you look over the fence at Area 51

John :)

And if it is like another high security area that I know a bit better, the images are fairly low resolution, and are years out of date.

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BOINC WIKI

It is in fact a top-secret research facility run by Kentucky Fried Chicken. They are developing the next generation of fast food -- really fast -- to be called Nevada Baked Road-runner.

It is in fact a top-secret research facility run by Kentucky Fried Chicken. They are developing the next generation of fast food -- really fast -- to be called Nevada Baked Road-runner.

Nice!!! I like the link...

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"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein
Vextor Homepage | Vextor Blog

Methinks there is NOTHING at Area 51! It's actually a smoke screen for the GOOD STUFF at Area 50 (Which also doesn't exist)!

It is in fact a top-secret research facility run by Kentucky Fried Chicken. They are developing the next generation of fast food -- really fast -- to be called Nevada Baked Road-runner.

I'm just glad KFC got there before McDonald's!

I'd hate to think the poor Aliens would be left waiting in the Que at the McDonald's drive thru.

John.