Can “UFO Sightings” Help ISS?

Alleged UFOs near ISS (Credits:danielofdoriaa/Youtube).

Unidentified flying objects (UFO) are always tickling the imaginations of many people. Now,  alleged sightings are taking place not only on Earth, but also on the International Space Station (ISS).

“Spacecraft-generated ‘dandruff’ has been seen since the very first human spaceflights,” said James Oberg, former NASA engineer specialized in Space Shuttle operations, “when the non-intuitive relative motions and impossible-to-judge distances in the earthly environment of outer space tricked observers into misinterpreting visual stimuli.”

Many videos taken from NASA cameras aboard ISS and shared on YouTube, show objects of various shapes and speed crossing the sky around the space station. YouTube poster Streetcap1 recorded videos from different perspectives of a silvery object, moving slowly near the curvature of Earth on December 25, 2012. The same poster also recorded 2 disc-shaped objects, outside the ISS on January 1, 2013 and his/her channel has other similar videos.

The majority of people watching and commenting on these videos are persuaded that UFOs from an alien civilization are flying above Earth near ISS. However, perhaps there are much simpler explanations, ranging from footage’s modification and reflection from windows to meteors and space debris.

Experts, as well as NASA, have never given much credence to UFO speculation, although sometimes they debunk conspiracy theories explaining the sightings with scientific facts instead. However, according to Oberg, it is important for people to keep looking at ISS camera feeds because one of them may happen to spot a potential technical issue for the space station. Scanning videos from space  and quickly reporting anomalies may result in finding a genuine anomaly, either a spacecraft malfunction or other threats to the station.

Joining anomaly hunting around ISS is easy and quick. The NASA website offers instant live camera feed from the ISS. A simple screen recorder completes the necessary equipment.

Below, the ISS outside camera catches alleged unidentified objects.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecrYzdFlARk]