  
The Anomalous Events of STS-48  
by Vince Johnson  
  
  
The anomalous events during the shuttle Discovery mission  
STS-48 (launched September 12, 1991) were originally revealed  
by space enthusiasts who had set their VCRs to record NASA  
Select TV, which at the time was downlinked live from each  
shuttle mission and distributed on cable and satellite TV.  
To record as much as possible, VCRs were set to record at  
slow speed (six hour recordings) which resulted in less than  
optimal recordings. When the recordings were reviewed,  
anomalous objects were seen at several points in the  
mission.  
  
Although the existence of these recordings have been known  
to MUFON and FUFOR since the fall of 1991, surprisingly,  
they were not made public until Don Ecker appeared on  
"HardCopy," and later, "Larry King Live" with a poor copy of  
what has been termed Event 2 in June of this year.  
  
After personally reviewing the video of Events 1,2,3,4 and  
6, some of which were obtained from the official NASA video  
archive, I can only surmise that the events are indeed  
anomalous and unexplained. The official NASA explanation of  
ice and debris seems unlikely due to the different  
directions and speeds the objects appear to be traveling.  
  
The following is a chronology of the anomalous events of  
STS-48:  
  
EVENT 1 (9-13-91 / between 03:49 - 04:10 GMT)  
The camera shows a beautiful view from the forward cabin  
looking back through the cargo bay at the tail section with  
the Earth filling the top of the screen. One-by-one, a  
series of five lights travel radially from behind the tail  
section, comprising an arc. Then an extremely bright  
blinking light appears, traveling up from behind the left  
engine. This bright light occupies the focus of the arc  
composed of the five smaller lights.  
  
Then the camera inexplicably pans down into the cargo bay,  
focusing on a piece of equipment there. After a minute, the  
ground controller requests that she be given control of the  
camera. After a short pause, the astronaut complies. The  
camera then pans back up into the tail area. The lights that  
were there just moments before are now gone.  
  
EVENT 2 (9-15-91 / between 20:30 - 20:45 GMT)  
This scene shows the nightside Earth filling most of the  
frame with the horizon extending from the upper left of  
screen to the lower right. Black space is seen above the  
horizon at the screen's upper right. Clouds, bright city  
lights on the surface, and an intense lightning storm can be  
seen. The atmosphere is slightly luminescent at the limb and  
is clearly discernible. Against this background, several  
lighted objects can be seen traveling slowly, apparently  
above the atmosphere.  One of the larger objects (2A - see  
Event2a.GIF) appears and slowly moves across the sky below.  
Another large object (2F) appears near the center of the  
screen, either traveling up through the atmosphere from  
below, or through it at the limb and traveling towards the  
shuttle. This object travels slowly, parallel to the  
horizon, from lower right to upper left.  
  
Suddenly, a bright flash of light fills the screen. As the  
flash diminishes, two odd streaks of light emanate from the  
left. The object traveling parallel to the horizon executes  
an acute (less than 90 degree) turn and shoots off into  
space, dimming as it recedes. The upper of the two streaks  
would have intercepted the object traveling along the  
horizon if it had stayed on its course without making its  
sudden turn. The bottom streak shoots off towards the right  
of the screen. Throughout Event 2, other lighted objects  
move across the field of view at varying speeds and  
headings.  
  
Note: The official NASA explanation for this event is that  
ice crystals are being propelled by a shuttle attitude  
thruster being fired. The fact that the Earth does not  
appear to shift in the frame indicates that the shuttle's  
attitude is not changed and therefore, no thruster is being  
fired during this event.  
  
EVENT 3 (9-16-91 / 08:40 -09:10 GMT)  
This scene shows the sunlit Earth filling the screen. Other  
than cloud formations, no surface details are discernible.  
This clip can only be described as chaotic. There are dozens  
of objects streaking in every direction. Although sizes and  
distances cannot be calculated from the video alone, many of  
these objects appear to be descending into, and flying  
through the atmosphere. There is a similar streak as in  
Event 2 that intercepts one of the objects. After about 30-  
45 seconds of this, a larger elliptical white object appears  
in the extreme upper left corner of the frame. This object  
is visible for only 5-6 frames before another camera is  
switched on showing the side of the shuttle with empty black  
space in the background.  
  
Note: Again, there is no apparent change in the shuttle's  
orientation during this event, indicating that no thruster  
is being fired. Chronologically, Event 3 occurs after Event  
4. The numbering system developed before all video was  
available to researchers.  
  
EVENT 4 (9-15-91 / between 19:00 - 19:10 GMT)  
While few details of the objects were apparent to me,  
researcher Vince DiPietro reports that a large bell-shaped  
object appears, and that other objects move from the bottom  
to the top of the screen. His analysis allegedly reveals  
that several of these objects have an oblong shape, with  
sections of the objects appearing to rotate at high speed.  
  
EVENT 5 (Video, date and time unavailable)  
According to Vince DiPietro, a large "tubular shaped" object  
moves from right to left. Also, DiPietro reports that a  
pulsating light is seen at the top of the screen  
  
Note: HUFON Report has not seen video of Event 5. According  
to our source, Ron Madeley, this event has been expunged  
from the official NASA STS-48 video archive, leaving a 14  
minute gap in the video's time code. If this is true, it  
would be irrefutable evidence of a NASA cover-up.  
  
EVENT 6 (Date and time unavailable)  
The sunlit Earth fills the screen, with no surface details  
(other than clouds) discernible. A bright object enters the  
frame at left center and zips across the screen at high  
speed. When played in normal mode, the object seems to be a  
white light traveling in a smooth trajectory. When advanced  
frame-by-frame, the object changes color from red to green  
to white. Instead of a smooth trajectory, the object can be  
seen to travel in short, discrete steps, with the  
aforementioned color changes cycling during each step. The  
object seems to disappear while actually moving between each  
step.  
