STS-80: Columbia crew photographs an unidentified object in orbit
During shuttle mission STS-80 between 19 November and 7 December 1996 the crew of Columbia captured three images of an unidentified object in low-Earth orbit. The NASA description notes that its tumbling is consistent with a free-floating object.
Background
The three images
Between 19 November and 7 December 1996, during mission STS-80, the crew of Space Shuttle Columbia photographed the same unidentified object in low-Earth orbit three times.
In the first frame the object sits near the centre, to the right of the limb of the Earth. In the second it appears in the same region but has visibly rotated or tumbled about its major axis. In the third it has continued along its trajectory and is superimposed against the Earth — it passed through the space between Columbia and the planet.
Assessment
The official NASA description calls the object "unidentified" but notes, for the second image, that the tumbling about its major axis is consistent with the behavior of a free-floating object. The records contain no conclusive determination.
The images belong to the fourth PURSUE tranche. These details are reproduced from the official description and are not an independent From Beyond Space determination.