STS-80 Unidentified Object Image 1, 1996
- Date
- 1996
- Place
- Low-Earth Orbit
- Record
- Pentagon file
- Assessment
- Not assessed
- Evidence strength
What was reported
First of a series of three images taken by astronauts aboard Space Shuttle Columbia during STS-80 (November 19-December 7, 1996), showing an unidentified object near the center of the frame, to the right of Earth's limb. Part of a three-frame sequence (paired with NASA-UAP-D031 and NASA-UAP-D032) tracking the same object across consecutive exposures.
What officials concluded
Unresolved
The file gives no official explanation.
- Agency
- NASA
- Released in
- 123456
Evidence profile
- Yes: Visual
- No: Infrared
- No: Radar
- No: Video
- Yes: Photo
- No: Film
- No: Audio
- No: Night vision
- No: Other sensor
- No: Civilian
- Yes: Military aircrew
- No: Military ground
- No: Airline crew
- No: Sensor operator
- No: Law enforcement
- No: Scientist
- No: Astronaut
- No: Intelligence official
- No: Other
- Yes: Light only
- No: Orb or sphere
- No: Disc
- No: Triangle
- No: Cylinder
- No: Cube
- No: Other shape
- Yes: Physiological
- No: Physical trace
- No: Electromagnetic
- No: Sound
- No: Silent
Why this rating A single still-camera sequence of an unresolved point object with no scale reference, no radar or other independent sensor corroboration, and no reported unusual performance; STS-80-era "UFO" sightings from shuttle windows have commonly been attributed by outside observers to ice particles, debris, or reflective material shed from the orbiter, though the manifest blurb here offers no explanation of its own.
As described in the file
- Witnesses
- Space Shuttle Columbia crew (unnamed in blurb), photographic capture
- Sensors
- Visual, still camera
- Shape
- Unresolved point/blob object, no described shape
- Motion
- Part of a 3-frame sequence; see NASA-UAP-D031 for described tumbling motion
- Altitude or range
- Low-Earth orbit, near Earth's limb in frame
Pentagon files
STS-80 Unidentified Object Image 1, 1996
Open the original on war.govSTS-80 Unidentified Object Image 2, 1996
Second of the three STS-80 images. The object again appears near the center of the frame, to the right of Earth's limb, and per the blurb appears to have rotated or tumbled about its major axis between exposures, which the blurb itself notes is "consistent with the behavior of a free-floating object."
Open the original on war.govSTS-80 Unidentified Object Image 3, 1996
Third of the three STS-80 images. The object appears superimposed against the Earth, having apparently continued along a trajectory passing between Columbia and the Earth, per the blurb.
Open the original on war.govApollo 17 Crew Medical Debriefing, 1972
Segment 1 of 2 of the Apollo 17 post-mission medical debriefing at the Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston. Crew members discuss the light-flash phenomena (cosmic rays striking the retina); two of the three crew members reported observing these flashes at various points during the mission, including in lunar orbit and on the lunar surface. Continues in NASA-UAP-D029.
Open the original on dvidshub.netApollo 17 Crew Medical Debriefing (Continued), 1972
Segment 2 of 2 of the Apollo 17 post-mission medical debriefing, continuing discussion of the light-flash phenomena: two of the three crew members reported observing flashes at various points during the mission, including in lunar orbit and on the lunar surface, attributed to cosmic rays striking the retina.
Open the original on dvidshub.net
What the file claims
- Unverified
STS-80 astronauts photographed an unidentified object near Earth's limb in a three-image sequence.