The flight of STS-96 began with the liftoff of Space Shuttle Discovery from Launch Complex 39B, Kennedy Space Center, on 27 May 1999 at 6:50 AM EDT (10:50 GMT).

The mission to the new International Space Station was named ISS Flight 2A.1. It was devoted to stocking supplies aboard, and an EVA ( Extra Vehicular Activity or spacewalk ) installing a Russian made exterior crane known as "Strela" ( Russian for "Arrow" ).

The Crew did a fine job, meeting all the goals set for them. The flight lasted just over nine and a half days, landing safely back at Kennedy Space Center, on Runway 15, at 2:03 AM EDT (6:03 GMT) on 6 June 1999.

At this time, ISS was uninhabited, and would remain so for well over another year, the First Expedition Crew arriving 1 November 2000. In Spring 1999, ISS consisted of just two modules, the Russian Zarya (FGB Russian acronym for Functional Cargo Block - top module at right), and the American Unity Node (lower module at right).

By 4 June 1999, the STS-96 resupply mission to the ISS was in it's last days. The Shuttle Discovery had undocked from the International Space Station the day before. The Crew was enjoying some much deserved rest, and were in their sleep period during this incident.

Outside the ship, the payload bay video cameras were being employed extensively to provide views of the Earth below. By day and by night, orbit after orbit, the onboard cameras were bringing back wonderful live shots from space.

One orbit, and an hour and a half after the Florida sequence (In 5 Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5), Space Shuttle Discovery was cruising over Mexico. This time she was headed straight for America's heartland. The date was still 4 June 1999. The payload bay camera was pointed down for a night time view of the lands beneath.

As Discovery flew past Houston Texas, a NASA announcer informed viewers that the city below was the home of the Mission Control Center. The camera zoomed in for a close-up. Suddenly, something shot by at extreme speed, followed by a much larger, and brighter object. This object came in from the upper right, heading past Houston, out over the Gulf of Mexico. The object visibly DECELERATED, came to a halt, and winked out. Immediately a small object, which seemed to originate from the vanishing point of the large object, traveled due west in a straight line. It soon disappeared as well. Neither of these objects appeared to be Meteors. During this event, The CREW were sound asleep. The animated GIF below illustrates the behaviour of the larger, brighter object. The small object is too faint to be seen in the GIF. It is very fine, and difficult to see, and was nearly missed in the original VHS tape.

Now we can see The Houston Object seen moving across Texas out over the Gulf of Mexico. Please note that it "goes out" for a brief period, then reappears again at a much slower speed. Meteors do not do this. Re-entering space junk moves at a much slower rate, and would usually show signs of breaking up. More than anything, it is the visible deceleration which makes this anomaly stand out. The milky rings are caused by orbital sunrise. Because the Shuttle was at approximately 220 miles ( 350 km ) altitude, the Sun rises long before it does for ground locations below. The animation above slows the action of the event to around 4 times slower than real time speed.

There were several other objects seen during the Houston Sequence. These will be presented on other pages here at Project P.R.O.V.E. in the future.

Just prior to the entrance of the anomaly, the announcer at Houston Mission Control made some remarks about the scene below Shuttle Discovery.

C = NASA Commentator

All Orange italics mine for emphasis. Hesitations and grammatical errors are left in as originally spoken. JC.

TRANSCRIPT OF NASA COMMENTS

C: "These low-light television camera pictures...from the payload bay...showing cities...along the Gulf Coast. The large, uh, ...assortment of lights, just entering the screen from the right...is city of Houston Texas, where...Mission Control resides."

END TRANSCRIPT

Optional Download: The actual words of the NASA commentator as this event was taking place are available below:

NASA Commentator On Houston (MP3 file 346 kb © 2005 Jeff Challender)

All things considered, the early morning of 4 June 1999 was an interesting and perplexing one. We had the amazing Florida Sequence followed by the Houston Sequence. What these objects were remains a mystery. They are true unknowns.

***

At all times during this incident, the camera was under the control of the INCO in Houston Mission Control.

(INCO - INstrument & Communication Officer - The man in Houston Mission Control Center who is responsible for operating the Shuttle payload bay, and robotic arm, cameras. In the case of ISS, this officer is referred to as the CATO - Communications And Tracking Officer. In both cases, these persons CONTROL everything which is PERMITTED to go out on broadcast to the public. It is a commonly believed falacy that the cameras are operated by Astronauts & Cosmonauts on the Shuttles, and Space Station. Very little camera work is done by the crews. They're way too busy for that.)

At the end of the day, it's up to YOU to draw your own conclusions.

© 2005 Jeff Challender