-Caveat Lector- (This is an interesting eyewitness report that if true, supports the previous news report regarding mysterious flash near the shuttle before the breakup. .--SW)
------- Forwarded message follows ------- Date sent: Wed, 5 Feb 2003 12:15:37 -0800 Send reply to: Discussions about UFOs and research for CURRENT ENCOUNTERS <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> From: Peter Davenport <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: NASA Gets Strange Shuttle Photos To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] NUFORC has a seemingly credible report from a grandfather in Texas, who, together with his three grandchildren, allegedly witnessed a distinctly green object pursue and approach the Shuttle just seconds before it began to show overt signs of distress. I copy the text of the report below; it will be posted to the NUFORC website later today. I have no way of knowing whether the report is true and accurate. We have requested reports from the grandchildren, as well, if they are old enough to generate a report. Peter -- Peter B. Davenport, Director National UFO Reporting Center P. O. Box 45623 University Station Seattle, WA 98145 E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: www.UFOCENTER.com Reporting Hotline: (206) 722-3000 ((BEGIN COPIED REPORT)) Telephoned Report: A man called from the vicinity of Atkins, TX, to report that both he and his grandchildren had witnessed a green, self-luminous object move toward the Space Shuttle very quickly, seemingly from the southwest, as the Shuttle streaked across the Texas sky. He estimated that the witnesses first noticed the object an estimated two seconds after they had first witnessed the Shuttle in the sky to the northwest. The grandfather reported that, at first, he did not trust his eyes, and said nothing. However, a second or two later, his grandson asked what the "green thing" in the sky was. NUFORC hasn't received their written report, yet, but we include below the grandfather's e-mail, which we received February 4th, 2003. ((FOLLOW-UP E-MAIL FROM WITNESS)) Peter… I spoke with you just minutes after the shuttle disaster on Saturday. You were kind enough to listen ((to me)) regarding the bright green light I saw running parallel with the shuttle prior to the shuttle's explosion. I was there with my grandchildren watching for Columbia's re-entry....we watched it from horizon to horizon and I can't imagine having a better overall vantage point than the spot where we stood. I told you that I would send a detailed description of what I saw...green light, explosion, sonic boom, etc. But before I do that I ask that you "hear me out" so to speak. It'll take about a paragraph and then, if you still want me to, I'll send the detailed story. Actually I suppose that I'm asking what you would do if you were in my position: On May 23'rd, 1959 I had a very "up close and personal" encounter with two UFOs. Since that time I've had sort of a "been there, done that" attitude regarding UFO's. I don't try to convince anyone one way or the other, but I'm always very irritated when, through someone's stupidity, the idea that we are being visited by extarestrals is "debunked." Which brings me to the green light and the shuttle. We now know that pieces of tile were being ripped off Columbia over the west coast, and of course that would be most people's explanation for the green light. I wish I could rationalize the light away with the tile theory. I've tried. But I can't get my mind around this thing for several reasons. Why was it at such a great distance from Columbia? Why was it closing the gap between itself and the shuttle? What could have come off Columbia at that point that would burn such a bright, unremitting green? And most importantly, why wasn't the green object leaving a smoke trail? My eight year old grandson said it all when he asked, "Grandpa what's that green light following the shuttle?" In any case you probably see where I'm going with this. This is a terrible tragedy for a lot of people and the world as a whole. People are not in the mood for, what they would no doubt consider a quack, coming out of the woodwork. So my question to you Peter is...do we say a whole lot about this now? Or anything at all for that matter? It could cause emotional pain to many people and badly damage ufology. It occurs to me at this exact moment that you yourself might think I'm a nut case. So for the "unofficial" record I'll tell you this: Although I don't have a clue what the green object was, I don't believe for a second that it was anything from the shuttle. With that little bit of bravado I'll close. Let me know what you want me to do now. Let me know too if anyone else has reported anything similar to what I've told you. Misery likes company you know. God bless you and yours. ((name deleted)) ((END FOLLOW-UP COMMUNICATION)) ((END REPORT)) -----Original Message----- From: Discussions about UFOs and research for CURRENT ENCOUNTERS [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Chaz Stuart Sent: Wednesday, February 05, 2003 11:30 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: NASA Gets Strange Shuttle Photos Note: Wouldn't a camera "jiggle" blur everything in the image including the contrail and the shuttle? --Chaz ×××××××××××× S.F. man's astounding photo Mysterious purple streak is shown hitting Columbia 7 minutes before it disintegrated Sabin Russell, Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, February 5, 2003 ©2003 San Francisco Chronicle | Feedback URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/02/05/MN192153.DTL Top investigators of the Columbia space shuttle disaster are analyzing a startling photograph -- snapped by an amateur astronomer from a San Francisco hillside -- that appears to show a purplish electrical bolt striking the craft as it streaked across the California sky. The digital image is one of five snapped by the shuttle buff at roughly 5: 53 a.m. Saturday as sensors on the doomed orbiter began showing the first indications of trouble. Seven minutes later, the craft broke up in flames over Texas. The photographer requested that his name not be used and said he would not release the image to the public until NASA experts had time to examine it. Although there are several possible benign explanations for the image -- such as a barely perceptable jiggle of the camera as it took the time exposure -- NASA's zeal to examine the photo demonstrates the lengths at which the agency is going to tap the resources of ordinary Americans in solving the puzzle. Late Tuesday, NASA dispatched former shuttle astronaut Tammy Jernigan, now a manager at Lawrence Livermore Laboratories, to the San Francisco home of the astronomer to examine his digital images and to take the camera itself to Mountain View, where it was to be transported by a NASA T-38 jet to Houston this morning. A Chronicle reporter was present when the astronaut arrived. First seeing the image on a large computer screen, she had one word: "Wow." Jernigan, who is no longer working for NASA, quizzed the photographer on the aperture of the camera, the direction he faced and the estimated exposure time -- about four to six seconds on the automatic Nikon 880 camera. It was mounted on a tripod, and the shutter was triggered manually. In the critical shot, a glowing purple rope of light corkscrews down toward the plasma trail, appears to pass behind it, then cuts sharply toward it from below. As it merges with the plasma trail, the streak itself brightens for a distance, then fades. "It certainly appears very anomalous," said Jernigan. "We sure will be very interested in taking a very hard look at this." Jernigan flew five shuttle missions herself during the 1990s, including three on Columbia. On her last flight, the pilot of the craft was Rick Husband, who was at the controls when Columbia perished. "He was one of the finest people I could ever hope to know," said Jernigan. It was an astounding day for the San Francisco photographer, who said he had not had any success in reaching NASA through its published telephone hot lines. He ultimately reached investigators through a connection with a relative who attends the same church as former astronaut Jack Lousma, who flew 24 million miles in the Skylab 3 mission in 1973. Lousma put him in direct touch with Ralph Roe Jr., chief engineer for the shuttle program at Johnson Space Flight Center in Houston. After a series of telephone conversations Tuesday afternoon, the photographer had a veteran shuttle mission specialist knocking at his door by dinnertime. Within hours, he was left with a receipt, and his camera was on its way to Houston. E-mail Sabin Russell at [EMAIL PROTECTED] ©2003 San Francisco Chronicle | Feedback Page A - 1 ------- End of forwarded message ------- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. 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