The STS-48 'Zigzag' Video
A camera in Discovery's payload bay recorded several small lights drifting near the Earth's horizon. After a flash, one of the dots appears to change direction sharply and others speed away. The clip spread widely on television in the 1990s as proof of craft maneuvering near the shuttle.
The ledger
What the record shows, what people say, and the best explanation available so far.
What's documented
- NASA's downlinked video and the shuttle's flight records.
What's claimed
- Craft dodging a weapon or reacting to the shuttle.
Best explanation so far
James Oberg matched the flash to a steering jet firing as the autopilot corrected a slow drift. The dots are small pieces of debris and ice near the shuttle, lit as it came out of Earth's shadow, and the jet's exhaust pushed them in new directions.
Check the sources
Go to the originals. Every link opens the archive or record in a new tab.
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