A picture is worth a thousands words so goes that old cliche, and this is a story that is no different.  Yesterday, I posted an image about an unidentified flying object that appeared to be hovering over the Earth that was found on the NASA website.  I asked the question whether or not NASA made a mistake in releasing this image to the public.  Several people have asked me questions about the picture causing me to investigate the image further.  Before I begin with a further description of this picture, I am reminded of remarks made by President Reagan to the 42nd General Assembly of the United Nations on September 21, 1987: 

"In our obsession with antagonisms of the moment, we often forget how much unites all the members of humanity. Perhaps we need some outside, universal threat to make us realize this common bond. I occasionally think how quickly our differences would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world. And yet, I ask you, IS NOT AN ALIEN FORCE ALREADY AMONG US."

Yesterday's Post:

It is going around and I imagine will go viral real soon. A friend of mine who is a member of the group, ACIO (Alien Contact Intelligence Organization) sent me the NASA link to a picture that appears to have in it what can be called a "UFO". 

Apparently, someone has found on the NASA website a photo taken of what appears to be a flying object hovering over the Earth.  Is it a UFO or is it a high altitude military aircraft or a satellite of some type? Well, you can decide for yourself.  The following is the picture with a close up on the object itself.  The close up is an image I produced by zooming in on the object in the picture.  You can download the original picture yourself from NASA by going to the following webpage:

What can be said about this picture is this for sure: 1) It is definitely an object hovering over the Earth and 2) It appears to have a metal quality to it from the reflection off what it appears to be a "wing". Is it an "UFO"? I am not sure if it is but it is definitely an interesting picture. 

Some New Discoveries About the Photo: 

This image was taken during one of the space shuttle missions.  More specifically, the above image was part of a collection of about five images taken during the Shuttle Endeavour Mission STS-088.  Five NASA astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut flew on the STS-88 mission. Sergei K. Krikalev, a mission specialist represented the Russian Space Agency (RSA). Astronaut Robert D. Cabana was mission commander; Frederick W. Sturckow, pilot; and James H. Newman, mission specialist. This particular space shuttle mission is of particular importance because if you recall, it was the first International Space Station flight . The mission began with Endeavour launching on December 4, 1998 and ended with its landing on December 15, 1998 at 10:53 pm.  So, it was between these dates that images of this unidentified object hovering over the Earth were taken from the space shuttle Endeavour.  The following images are the collection of pictures taken during that mission.  According to NASA, the images are cataloged as coming from the roll of film identified at 724 and are numbered pictures 65-70. Following are the pictures: 

NASA's official statement with regard to this object is that the object is nothing more than space debris.  However, some critics of this official statement state that the problem with this description is that no body on Earth has made anything that resembles the object that can be seen in these photos. 

Photo STS088-724-65:

Photo STS088-724-66:

Photo STS088-724-67:

Photo STS088-724-68:

Photo STS088-724-69:

Photo STS088-724-70:

I did not include any interpretations or descriptions of the photos except for the official NASA designation of each photo.  This is because I want you to look at these pictures with your own interpretations and ask yourself questions with regard to these photos. 

Now I will discuss the photos in a little more detail.  Looking at these images some more I have come to the personal conclusion that they could be of an object that can be absolutely anything.  Yes, it could be a decommissioned satellite, but I would agree with some of the critics that it does not look like any satellite that I have ever seen.  However, I have not seen all of them and only God knows what we really have put up there.  With that said, I strongly question whether or not this is a satellite. As for space junk or objects orbiting the Earth goes, there are approximately 26,000 satellites orbiting the Earth.  With regard to space debris, there is about 11,000 pieces of space junk that is larger than 5 inches orbiting the earth.  The object in the pictures according to my calculations using photographic analysis tools is that it is at least bigger than 5 inches.  Actually, it is way bigger than 5 inches and very well can be the size of a space craft.  

Now here goes the more weird: 

Apparently this object was known about as far back as 1953 and was dubbed "The Black Knight". This was definitely before the first satellite, Sputnik I, was launched.  In 1953, four years before the U.S.S.R. (Soviet Union) launched Sputnik, it was discovered by Dr. Lincoln La Paz of the University of New Mexico.  As reports of this object began to come in after this discovery from other scientists seeing the object, the Department of Defense apparently appointed astronomer Clyde W. Tombaugh to run a search for the object. Then in 1957, Dr. Luis Corralos of the Communications Ministry in Venezuela photographed it while taking pictures of Sputnik II as it passed over Caracas.  

I further discovered that this object may have been around also as far back as 1927 because there were reports of radio transmissions being reflected back from space seconds to minutes after they were first sent.  Sometime after the "Black Knight" was discovered, several ham operators reported receiving messages from the object.  One of these apparent messages was decoded as a star map of sorts centered around Epsilon Bootis as seen from the Earth 13,000 years ago.  

This was followed up again in the 1970's by a Scottish astronomer, Duncan Lunan, who analyzed the signals being sent from this object.  He confirmed that the message does appear to be a star map of Epsilon Bootis.  

Duncan Lunan 

Well, could this be an ancient alien space craft left in orbit or an alien satellite spying on us?  

My question is this and it is really basic: Why would NASA take pictures of this object if it was just space debris?  Further, is NASA's apparent intentional act of taking these pictures of this object proof confirming that this object was indeed known as far back as the 1950's?  Well, your guess is as good as mine but it makes for an interesting little story. 

For your personal enjoyment and interest, here is a star map of Epsilon Bootis.  It is NOT the star map that comes from the "Black Knight". 

Well, I am not sure what it is but it is an interesting collection of photos from NASA.  That is all I can really say about this in the end. 

Check out my website www.fredpirone.com for more information about me.  Thank you for reading my post.