The launch of the International Space Station in November 1998 provided mankind with the opportunity to be permanently in space. Just a few decades ago, this was only possible in science fiction. The amount of information and knowledge that we can get from the orbit of our planet is priceless. However, we have received not only invaluable scientific knowledge, we have become witnesses of many very mysterious stories, discoveries and phenomena. Today we'll talk about them.
STS 114 Boomerang Incident
The STS 114 space mission of the shuttle Discovery was the first mission of its kind since the disaster of the shuttle Columbia two and a half years earlier in 2003. Since that tragedy, the aerospace agency NASA has further tightened procedures related to safety audits of space flights. Perhaps it was thanks to them that before the launch of the shuttle "Discovery" it was discovered that some incomprehensible piece that looked like foam had separated (or flew off) from the spacecraft.
Discovery's mission was to dock with the International Space Station and change the crew on board the shuttle. Before docking, the commander of the spacecraft, Eileen Collins, carried out a maneuver, as a result of which the shuttle was belly up, so that from the ISS it was possible to check the condition of the ship's hull for damage and take several photos of the beautiful views of our planet. Later the photographs were printed and studied. One of them captures Steve Robinson, an astronaut who has gone into outer space to carry out some repair work. However, in addition to Robinson, who went to repair the shuttle, something else got into the NASA camera frame.
White strange object against the general dark background of space. The object moved at a distance from the shuttle, after which it stopped for a short time and, having changed direction, left. This strange behavior of the object has led to the emergence of the nickname "boomerang". After examining the film, NASA stated that this object is nothing more than space debris. However, many then refused to believe in this theory and claimed that the behavior of the object and the change in motion is clear evidence that this object was artificially controlled.
Cherry trees grew 6 years faster than expected
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In November 2008, 250 cherry tree seeds were delivered to the ISS. Since they arrived on board, they have circled the planet 4,000 times, and then returned back to Earth in July 2009. The seeds were planted in 14 different places, one of which was the Japanese temple of Ganjoji.
By 2014, actually 6 years ahead of schedule, the height of the seedlings was already 4 meters. Flowers appeared on some branches. But what was even weirder was that the flowers had 5 petals, instead of 30, as expected. Similar observations were made in other places where the same bones were planted.
And although scientists cannot yet say for sure whether the finding of the bones in Earth's orbit influenced their growth, there is no other probable reason yet. One explanation could be that the bones were exposed to stronger cosmic ray radiation, which somehow triggered their growth triggers. However, until further research is carried out, scientists are not yet able to answer what exactly caused such an intense and ahead of schedule growth and whether it was not an ordinary coincidence.
Scott Kelly and the "apparent UFO" photograph
In July 2015, astronaut Scott Kelly posted on his Twitter page a photo taken from the International Space Station. Kelly, who set the record for being in space among American astronauts, posted an image in the upper right of which UFO enthusiasts spotted a strange oblong "spaceship."
A video was created and published on the basis of the photo, which garnered almost a million views. The person who uploaded the video insists it is “hard to believe” that Kelly didn’t notice the object before he decided to post the photo to his Twitter page.
From a distance, it really seems that in front of us is a real oblong UFO. However, when the photographs added contrast, it turned out that this object is nothing more than part of the antenna of the International Space Station itself. This not only solved the mystery of the subject's true nature, it also explains why Kelly did not notice it when he took the photo.
Experiment "Gemini"
In addition to posting photographs of alleged flying saucers, Scott Kelly was engaged in more pressing tasks and experiments on behalf of NASA. With an eye on a future manned mission to Mars, NASA needed to find out the effects on the human body that can manifest itself during a long stay in space. Since Kelly has a twin brother, the astronaut was an ideal candidate for this mission and further test the changes that might be observed between him and his twin brother Mark on Earth.
And although all tests did not reveal any changes - the tests will have to be repeated more than one hundred times - NASA seems to have already figured out what to expect from long space travel. Since the twins are genetically identical, this allows scientists to study the issue of the impact of the environment on genetics and, possibly, make more or less scientific assumptions and conclusions about what to expect when sending a person to the Red Planet.
The necessary experiments and tests will continue over the next six months from the time Kelly returned to Earth in March 2016. Monitoring and sampling will be done with the participation of two brothers. After that, it will already be possible to draw some more specific conclusions.
Object in the form of the Millennium Falcon live from the ISS
More recently, in April 2016, 20-year-old Englishman Jadon Beeson from Worcestershire watched a live broadcast from the International Space Station through his mobile phone when he was suddenly dumbfounded by what he saw on the screen.
The video clearly showed how some incomprehensible object was moving from the MSC at high speed. Beeson states that the object looked like a "metal ship" and resembled the Millennium Falcon, the famous ship of Han Solo from Star Wars. The guy states that the subject was in the frame for about two minutes and was engulfed in a "blue glow". Beeson admits to being a UFO fan, but cannot explain what he actually saw on that tape.
Jadon says he sent a screenshot of the subject straight to NASA in hopes of getting an explanation of what he saw. However, by now he is still awaiting an answer. It should be noted that in most such cases, such objects immediately fall into the category of "space debris", which is really a lot in the Earth's orbit.
NASA cuts live broadcasts from the ISS
Live broadcasts from the International Space Station take place quite often and allow enthusiasts from all over the world to look at space through cameras that are installed on the ISS. Within the framework of such broadcasts, many cases have been recorded when incomprehensible objects get into the frame, which in certain circles are immediately considered as extraterrestrial visitors. But as you might have guessed, in the vast majority of cases, these objects turn out to be space debris. However, it should be noted that there were several cases when NASA intentionally interrupted the live broadcast as soon as another strange object got into the frame. This behavior, in turn, not only created a wave of suspicion among already suspicious UFO hunters and enthusiasts, but also hinted that NASA really had the prerequisites to hide something from the public.
More recently, in March of this year, NASA interrupted the live broadcast from the ISS as soon as an incomprehensible "horseshoe" object appeared in the frame. Alien hunter Tyler Glockner, who uploaded this video (above) to YouTube, stated that NASA “has been doing this trick for years,” and such videos appear on his channel from time to time. Glockner says that sometimes people just do not have time to follow the broadcast and in some cases it is possible to see UFOs in the video until the broadcast is abruptly interrupted.
In January 2015, the live broadcast was also interrupted for a few seconds, as soon as a small gray object was caught in the camera, leaving the Earth's atmosphere. The aforementioned Glockner claims to have witnessed a similar event in June 2014. He shot a video and uploaded it to his channel. The video consists of freeze frames showing how a huge triangular object appears from the darkness of space and approaches the Earth. Six months before this event, another video with an interrupted broadcast appeared on the Web, in which a strange yellow object is visible. In this case, the video was interrupted after only 2 minutes from the start of the broadcast.
STS 115 Triangle Incident
In August 2006, the crew of the space shuttle Atlantis, heading for the International Space Station, broadcast a message that they were "watched" or "followed" by several obscure triangular-shaped glowing lights. This is not in the official documents, but many UFO hunters talk about it. Whether these lights belonged to a spacecraft or whether they were independent objects is not indicated. However, as is usually the case, NASA said that enthusiasts have witnessed nothing more than space debris … again.
As noted later, NASA has conducted its own investigation of these "lights." It was found that they appeared for only 30 seconds at the time of launch. At that time, the tragic disaster of the shuttle Columbia in 2003 was still remembered, so the agency really wanted to find out if these lights were evidence of any damage to the Atlantis.
Ultimately NASA stated that the appearance of such debris, in fact, already at the end of the launch is a little belated, but there is no conspiracy here. Debris and debris can appear, for example, when the restraint mechanism is undocked from the shuttle doors. Another explanation for these lights could be the icing of the skin and the play of light from the floodlights illuminating the launch pad. Hearing these explanations, Atlantis commander Brent Jett later stated that these objects were unlike anything he could see outside the shuttle, and it was unlikely that it was some kind of space debris.
Living organisms outside the ISS
As part of the next spacewalk in August 2014, one Russian cosmonaut announced that he had discovered living organisms that quite comfortably exist outside the International Space Station. On closer inspection, it turned out that these organisms are plankton, most likely, which fell on the casing of the station from the Earth. The ISS crew did not fully understand how the plankton got there, as well as how it managed to survive in such conditions.
Scientists have put forward a theory according to which plankton made it to the ISS on one of the spaceships. However, it was later revealed that none of the launch sites on Earth have any plankton populations. According to another explanation, atmospheric currents, which picked up living organisms and sent them on a journey to the space station, are to blame for everything. If this theory turns out to be correct, it will become clear that these atmospheric currents are capable of rising much higher than previously thought.
Of course, living organisms have already been found at altitudes from 16 to 32 kilometers above the Earth's surface, but this cannot be compared with the orbital altitude of the space station, which at that time was 322 kilometers. In addition, this find proves that such living organisms are able to survive in the complete vacuum of outer space.
The case of "bright lights"
During his service as the ISS commander in 2005, astronaut Leroy Chiao witnessed a bright line of light that quickly swept past him as the astronaut was in outer space on a routine mission.
Moving at a speed of 27,000 kilometers per hour and being at an altitude of 322 kilometers above the surface of the Earth, Chiao was initially not sure what he saw, but immediately realized that something strange had happened, and immediately reported it to the center flights. Despite the fact that Chiao is a man of open views, the commander could not find an explanation for what he witnessed. However, later an explanation was found. Further investigation revealed that at that very moment, Chiao and the ISS were above a water region very popular with fishermen. Large fishing boats often use very powerful lanterns to illuminate the catch at night. On this very day, several boats were next to each other. When they turned on their spotlights, the light from them was so bright that Chiao could see it,which at that very moment flew over this place.
Mysterious clouds and strange lightning
In October 2013, the International Space Station team witnessed a very strange jellyfish-shaped cloud above the Earth. On that day, no space launches were planned in that region, and therefore what he saw caused some confusion.
But soon after the report of the Russian military, everything became clear. The fact is that the cloud observed by the ISS crew was a trace of a Russian rocket, which was tested that day in Kazakhstan. The Russian side indicated that the purpose of the tests was "to confirm the characteristics of the Topol rocket."
However, this is not the only observation of strange clouds that the ISS crews witnessed. One of the cases, for example, involved very strange lightning strikes that appeared above the clouds. In this case, lightning struck not into the Earth, but, on the contrary, into space. Scientists have not yet figured out whether these lightning bolts are associated with ordinary ones that we are used to seeing from Earth, or whether it is a completely independent phenomenon.
Through further observation, the researchers hope to find a more convincing explanation for the propagation of energy in such events. In particular, scientists want to find out how gamma rays are formed and as a result of which lightning discharges this occurs. Our current knowledge suggests that gamma rays form in the hottest parts of the universe. However, they are observed inside our atmosphere, so modern science certainly wants to understand this issue.
NIKOLAY KHIZHNYAK
