Since 1 November 2000, the International Space Station has been manned continuously. At 11:04 PM CDT 30 September 2005 (04:04 1 October GMT), Soyuz. TMA-7 lifted off atop a Starsem rocket booster from Baykonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. After nine minutes of powered flight, ISS Expedition 12 reached orbit and was on its way toward rendezvous and docking with the space station some two days later. Aboard were Soyuz Commander and Expedition 12 Flight Engineer Valery Tokarev, Expedition 12 Commander Bill McArthur, and the world's third space tourist Gregory Olsen.

Docking with ISSy took place on 3 October at 12:27 AM CDT (05:27 GMT). Following routine safety checks, hatches between the two spacecraft were opened at 3:36 AM CDT (08:36 GMT). Expedition 11 crewmen Sergei Krikalev and John Phillips offered the traditional Russian welcoming ceremony of bread and salt to the new arrivals.

For eight days, the two crews and Greg Olsen worked together. Olsen carried out his own list of scientific experiments during his time aboard. After the transition week was over, 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 (01:09 11 October GMT).

During their six month stay on ISSy, McArthur and Tokarev carried out two EVAs (Extra-Vehicular Activity or spacewalk), a wide variety of science experiments, and managed ongoing maintenance of the orbiting complex.

The first EVA of the flight was conducted in US spacesuits from the Quest airlock on 7 November 2005. The second Expedition 12 EVA was carried out in Russian Orlan suits from the PIRS docking and airlock compartment on 3 February 2006. Both spacewalks were considered a success.

The 13th Expedition Crew to ISS lifted off in their TMA-8 .Soyuz Vehicle, atop the venerable Starsem booster, from Baykonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on 29 March 2006 at 8:39 PM CST (02:39 30 March GMT). The crew of the Soyuz consisted of Russian Commander Pavel Vinogradov, US Flight Engineer Jeffrey Williams, and Brazil's first Astronaut Marcos Pontes.

For eight days, the two crews and Marcos Pontes worked together. Pontes carried out his own list of scientific experiments during his time aboard. After the transition week was over, Expedition 12 undocked and departed ISS in their Soyuz TMA-7 vehicle. They landed safely, along with Brazilian Marcos Pontes, back in Kazakhstan on 8 April 2006 at 5:47 PM CDT (23:47 GMT). The 12th Main Expedition to ISSy was completely successful, reaching every goal set for it. One aspect which set this mission apart was the openness of its crew. Commander McArthur and Engineer Tokarev gave tours of the station, explained how systems functioned, and allowed the public to view their holiday celebrations.

During the re-entry phase of the flight of TMA-7, Jeffrey Williams, US Astronaut and member of the Expedition 13 crew, filmed Soyuz with a hand held camera as it descended through the atmosphere.

I had my VCR running, but was not at home, and didn't view the tape at that time. Sharp eyed Brad in Los Angeles California saw the live broadcast, and recorded it. He noticed something in the re-entry video which caught his attention. He contacted me to ask if I'd seen

the event. I must admit being caught totally unawares. To put it all in a nutshell, with Brad's kind help, the video was located in my archive and finally posted to the web. Thanks to Brad in L.A., the film and its anomalies were not lost and forgotten.

In the sequence, we can see the two modules which were jettisoned by the crew before they went into the final phase of re-entry. These are the "Orbital" and "Instrument" modules. They can actually be seen to burn up in the atmosphere. We also observed the "Descent" module continue on its journey through the atmosphere as it braked its speed. (See These Fascinating Events HERE) Later on, it deployed its parachute, and retro rockets, for a soft landing northeast of Arkalyk Kazakhstan.

After the discarded modules burned up, the descent module could be seen as a small glowing dot which was flying alone. Suddently, from the EAST, came another much brighter object traveling to the WEST! .It could NOT have been a satellite, as they NEVER orbit to the west. NEVER! .This object, and another which made a very brief appearance at the upper left corner of the field of view, had to also be self-luminous. The Sun had not yet risen on the scene, and would not for almost a minute after the anomalies left the area. Also, any satellite or other man-made device moving through the upper atmosphere at this altitude would necessarily burn up just like the jettisoned modules of the Soyuz vehicle. It takes a heat shield to survive plunging through the air at thousands of miles/km per hour.

In addition, the two anomalies could be seen to be moving in exact formation together. Some might quip that they must have been the NOSS Triplets, a trio of US Navy satellites which are known to orbit in formation. This cannot be the case for two very good reasons. First, ALL man-made satellites, other than those in Polar Orbits, travel from west to east. And second, the NOSS Triplets orbit at an altitude of some 750 miles (1200 km). ISSy is currently (May 2006) orbiting at an altitude of 189 miles (302 km), and Soyuz was much lower than that. So it is patently impossible for the Navy's triplets to be the culprits here.

There is also no way that the objects might have been meteors. They were moving far too slow for meteors, which streak into the atmosphere at 40,000 to 120,000 miles per hour! (64,000 to 192,000 km/h) These velocities are several times FASTER than any man-made craft in low Earth orbit. One must also remember that the view was looking DOWN toward the surface of the Earth at night, so any other form of astronomical body is also quite out of the question.

There also appears to have been some danger to the Soyuz craft and crew as well. The object which came closest seems to have been on a COLLISION COURSE with TMA-7, diverting slightly for a near miss at the very last second! Could the three men inside have seen the object as it passed so nearby? That would be doubtful, since at the time the descent module was enveloped in a cloud of seething hot plasma, and the men were pinned in their seats by the high gee forces of rapid deceleration.

Let's now get oriented to the situation, then proceed to the visual presentation of the anomalous event itself, shall we?

The words below are a direct quote from the NASA commentator's description of the re-entry of Soyuz TMA-7. This description was broadcast live on 8 April 2006 as the actual re-entry was in progress. Hesitations and grammatical errors are left in just as they were originally spoken.

Transcript of NASA Commentator's Words

NASA Commentator: "As The plasma builds up around the descent module, during the...during the entry phase, typically there is a tough period of time to communicate with the crew. The module is, uh, beginning to feel the effects of the err, upper reaches of the Earth's atmosphere as it makes its descent toward landing. The maximum G-force is felt in about six minutes or so, are between four and five gees just before the parachutes begin to systematically deploy to slow the vehicle significantly. The main 'chute will orient the spacecraft into a landing position, and just prior to touchdown, the retrograde rockets will fire to soften the landing even further."

End Transcript

This is a still frame from the video tape showing the display at the front of Russian Mission Control (TsUP) in Korylev, a suburb of Moscow.

The orange star shows where the encounter took place, and the yellow star the final landing site several minutes later.

This is the full screen version of the event. We are looking down toward the Earth, whose surface is still in the dark of night.

See how the object comes in from the EAST, nears Soyuz, comes very close to colliding, and slips aside at the last moment. Man-made spacecraft NEVER orbit east to west, but always west to east.

Also please note the synchronicity of the flight patterns of the two anomalies.

This animated GIF is zoomed 175%, and slowed down to really show how close the object came to actually hitting TMA-7.

You can see for yourself how it "jumped" aside at the last instant to avoid a collision!

Based on the evidence presented above, I think we can now come to a conclusion. Not as to WHAT those anomalous objects were, but that one of them came very near to colliding with the Soyuz TMA-7 descent module as it went though re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. At the last possible second, it diverted its course just enough to effect a near miss event. NOTHING man-made can fly at the observed speed and altitude at which these happenings took place. So we have an Unidentified Flying Object.

Such incidents have been reported around the world in relation to aircraft in flight, where an U.F.O. came close to colliding. This is the very first such event I'm aware of in which an U.F.O. just missed hitting a manned spacecraft in flight.

This is a frightening one indeed!

For those interested, another page on Soyuz re-entry is available at Project P.R.O.V.E. This is the descent of Soyuz TMA-4.

Once again, I simply MUST thank "Brad from L.A." for his sterling contribution in discovering this event. Had it not been for his eagle eye, none of us would have ever seen it. We all owe him a round of applause for his great work.

THANKS BRAD!!

***

These docking videos were recorded by ISS Expedition 13 Flight Engineer Jeffrey Williams, operating a hand-held camera through a window of ISSy. It is rare that Astronauts and Cosmonauts operate the video equipment, but it does happen on occasion. The video recording was broadcast six days after the fact (14 April 2006) by NASA Select TV under the supervision of the CATO 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. 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.

© 2006 Jeff Challender