STS-48: Space Shuttle Discovery Films Objects Performing Abrupt Maneuvers, Apparent Weapon Fired

On September 15, 1991, during the NASA Space Shuttle Discovery mission STS-48, a truly bizarre event is captured on video. The shuttle is 355 miles above Earth, its camera trained on the planet's outline, when a bright object enters the frame from the top right, seemingly from deeper space, moving steadily toward Earth's atmosphere. Within seconds, a flash appears from the lower left portion of the screen and the object performs an about-face. As this occurs, another object shoots out from the lower left, looking like a projectile, and seems to just miss hitting the original object. The camera ceases broadcasting about 65 seconds after the encounter. Dr. Jack Kasher, a physics professor at the University of Nebraska and NASA consultant, performs a detailed analysis and finds at least a dozen distinct events. He demonstrates five proofs that discount NASA's ice particle theory. Kasher concludes: 'It's hard not to think that the objects were some kind of spaceship at a considerable distance from the shuttle.' Depending on distance assumptions, the velocity of the second object would have been between 250 mph and 430,000 mph. Jeff Challender concludes the object 'must be independently propelled.' Harry Jordan, a former radar operator on the USS Roosevelt, claims he heard astronauts on ham radio say they had a 'UFO' — 'the alien spacecraft' — under observation. NASA subsequently decides to delay all broadcasts of its missions, ending live coverage.