Since 1 November 2000, the International Space Station has been manned continuously. Expedition 11 (April to October 2005) consists of (Commander and Soyuz Pilot) Sergei Krikalev, and (Science Officer and Flight Engineer) John Phillips. In the third seat aboard Soyuz was ESA Astronaut, Italian born Roberto Vittori. He spent a week aboard ISS conducting a series of experiement. Soyuz TMA-6 lifted off atop a Starsem booster from Baykonur Cosmodrome on 14 April 2005 at 7:46 PM CDT (00:46 15 April GMT). Orbit was achieved some eitght minutes later.

TMA-6 docked to the station at 9:19 PM CDT on 16 April 2005 (2:19 17 April GMT), prepared for a six month stay. The three men were greeted by Leroy Chiao, and Salizan Sharipov of the 10th Expedition Crew, who had occupied the station since the previous October.

Following a week of joint operations, and handover of command, Expedition 10 along with Vittori, undocked Soyuz TMA-5 and returned home on 24 April.

The Expedition 11 crew hosted the first Space Shuttle flight to ISS since the STS-107/Columbia disaster. STS-114 arrived on 28 July 2005, delivering supplies, effecting repairs and making upgrades. Conducting three EVAs, unloading the Raphaello MPLM, and removing trash and uneeded equipment, STS-114 was a welcome change of pace for the 11 crew. Discovery undocked from ISS for her return home on 6 August, leaving Expedition 11 on their own again.

One EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity or spacewalk) was carried out by Expedition 11. This on 18 August 2005, it was mounted from the PIRS docking and airlock compartment in Russian Orlan spacesuits.

A week after the arrival of the Expedition 12 crew aboard ISSy, Expedition 11 undocked and departed ISS in their Soyuz TMA-6 vehicle. They landed safely, along with space tourist Greg Olsen, back in Kazakhstan on 10 October 2005 at 8:09 PM CDT (1:09 11 October GMT). It had been a highly successful six month mission in space.

On Monday 9 May, 2005, NASA Select TV was offering up the usual daily coverage and commentary on the flight of Expedition 11. During the program, one of the exterior cameras aboard ISS was activated, and we were treated to live downlink TV.

ISS was flying through a strange region of the Earth, known as the SAA (South Atlantic Anomaly), at just after Noon local surface time. Odd happenings have occured in this place before, and we have caught them. Mr. Martyn Stubbs of Canada did a study on this sort of phenomena several years back. He dubbed it "The Second Phenomena". I've observed it numerous times myself over the years, but this case is the first time in daylight.

Previous instances of this phenomenon were captured during the flight of Soyuz TMA-4, and TMA-5. Yet another example comes from STS-114 in summer 2005. In all of these cases, the spacecraft were again flying directly throught the SAA, but at NIGHT.

The phenomenon appears to be something natural. What makes it so strangely mysterious is that NASA doesn't acknowledge this phenomenon, and seems to take measures to cover it up. If it is just something related to the Earth itself, WHY try to hide it? Go ask NASA...that is if they will bother to answer you.

Now we can move ahead, and examine the frames captured with these odd "flashes" which are usually green, blue, or red, and often look like little comets.

There were numerous other flashes, "comets", and "lightning bolts", but they were not as easy to see as those chosen for this presentation.

I selected only frames which illustrated the flashes (and the zooming in and out by the camera) to best advantage. None of the bright blue flashes were observed this time, but they may not show up well in daylight. We don't know the reasons behind any of this, really. This phenomenon is unexplained, and unacknowledged. WHY it is deliberately ignored and even covered up is quite intrigueing, especially in light of visual evidence that the source is natural rather than "paranormal".

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At all times during this event, the camera was under the direct remote control of the CATO.

(INCO - INstrument & Communication Officer - The man in Houston Mission Control Center who is responsible for operating the Shuttle payload bay, and robotic arm, cameras. He also remotely operates the helmet cameras in space suits. 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