Thanks.

I checked with personnel at the base and they told me that they do not test aircraft on Sunday, and would NEVER do so during a Space Shuttle landing. As to your bird theory, it appears to be too long to be a bird and/or flying rods.

Originally posted by David Skylar

I checked with personnel at the base and they told me that they do not test aircraft on Sunday, and would NEVER do so during a Space Shuttle landing. As to your bird theory, it appears to be too long to be a bird and/or flying rods.

Good find!

I was going to say a plane, but it seems that’s not an option. I agree, it’s too long to be a bird.
No idea what it is, but definitely a good find.

Mikey

My first impression of it was that it was an airliner passing above and behind the shuttle.

Don't know though. can't really tell much from the video. The res is pretty low.

My immediate thought when I saw that was commercial airliner. I would like to hear what the FAA says, though.

To Chadwickus:

I highly doubt military personnel would lie to me about whether there was a jet in the air at the time of the landing. Also i've checked records and no aircraft were launched or piloted at that time. However it is entirely possible that once the Endeavour landed a jet took off, although while it was in the air that is INCREDIBLY unlikely.

To Lunarminer:

The video is a CNN video. And also commercial airliners are restricted over Edwards airspace. Also an airliner wouldn't be moving at that speed that close to the ground.

@ Jay-in-AR:

I've attempted to contact the FAA but have they have not responded.

So you checked with Edwards already and they say everything was grounded?

That IS a good find, in that case. Very good find. I wonder if it would be possible to find that clip in the CNN archives and view it in its original format?... I'll have a look.

I can't get the video to work. Something about network connectivity. I'm sure it is probably on my end, but I have to get to sleep very soon and I don't want to mess with it right now. I'll get to it later.

I suppose Phage's idea could be pretty close. I'll have to look at the clip in better resolution to form an opinion.

PS: I just accessed the youtube link instead. It looks better when you watch it from youtube. The bigger screensize is better.
I don't buy the flock of birds idea. Whatever that is looks to be quite large. Bigger than the shuttle itself and it looks to crisp and solid to be birds.

[edit on 4-1-2009 by Jay-in-AR]

@ easynow:

Your bird theory could be possible, I am just stating that it is unlikely. Because as we know distance distorts perception of time. For example an commercial airliner is going at speeds of 500 MPH but it seems much slower when it is higher up in the sky. The Space Shuttle is also moving at incredibly high speeds, however the CNN camera is zoomed out to capture the entire shuttle in the shot. At this distance the Shuttle seems to be moving slowly. Yet the object moves at incredible speeds, indicating high velocity that could not be obtained by a common bird.

I'll stick my neck out.

It looks like a bug all blurred and out of focus up close to the camera.

IMHO

It appears to pass behind the top portion of the tail section, but I could be wrong. I'm not sure how to cut it up into individual frames and see if it actually does pass behind it, though. It would be easy to tell, though, considering the tail section is bright white.

Originally posted by David Skylar
@ easynow:

Your bird theory could be possible, I am just stating that it is unlikely. Because as we know distance distorts perception of time. For example an commercial airliner is going at speeds of 500 MPH but it seems much slower when it is higher up in the sky. The Space Shuttle is also moving at incredibly high speeds, however the CNN camera is zoomed out to capture the entire shuttle in the shot. At this distance the Shuttle seems to be moving slowly. Yet the object moves at incredible speeds, indicating high velocity that could not be obtained by a common bird.

The shuttle lands at about 215 mph.

The object (or objects) pass above the vertical stabilizer so we cannot tell if it is beyond or in front of the shuttle however, because it (they) are out of focus it is reasonable to assume it (they) is somewhat closer to the camera than the shuttle. That being the case (out of focus) a group of objects could appear to be a single object. A bird (or birds) close to the camera will move across the field of view very quickly.