NASA/JPL Claim 'Artificial Object' Detected

dailygalaxy - NASA authorities report that an unknown object approaching the Earth from deep space is almost certainly artificial in origin rather than being an asteroid. Object 2010 KQ was detected by the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona earlier this month, and subsequently tracked by NASA's asteroid-watching service, the Near-Earth Object Program headquartered at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.

Observations by astronomer S J Bus, using the NASA-sponsored Infrared Telescope Facility in Mauna Kea, Hawaii, indicate that 2010 KQ's spectral characteristics do not match any of the known asteroid types, and the object's absolute magnitude (28.9) suggests it is only a few meters in size.

The mysterious artificial object has apparently made a close pass by the Earth, coming in almost to the distance of the Moon's orbit, and is now headed away again into the interplanetary void. The object has used no propulsion during the time NASA has had it under observation. However the spacewatch experts believe that it must have moved under its own power at some point, given its position and velocity.

"The orbit of this object is very similar to that of the Earth, and one would not expect a object to remain in this type of orbit for very long," said Paul Chodas, at JPL.

The experts believe that the object must be a spacecraft, or part of one - likely to be a booster stage from an interplanetary mission of the past, now drifting back in to Earth and out again. The next visit will probably be 2036, at which time there's a small chance that 2010 KQ will crash into the atmosphere and burn up.

The NASA graphic above shows the trajectory of the near-Earth object known as 2010 KQ, which the space agency said is likely a spent rocket stage that escaped the Earth-moon system years ago, and not an asteroid.
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Don Yeomans, Paul Chodas and Steve Chesley
NASA/JPL Near-Earth Object Program Office
May 27, 2010

A small asteroid-like object has been discovered in an orbit about the Sun that is so similar to the Earth's orbit that scientists strongly suspect it to be a rocket stage that escaped years ago from the Earth-Moon system. The object was discovered on May 16, 2010 by Richard Kowalski at the Catalina Sky Survey, and has subsequently been observed by many observers, including Bill Ryan (Magdalena Ridge Observatory) and Peter Birtwhistle (England). It was given the asteroid designation 2010 KQ by the Minor Planet Center in Cambridge Massachusetts, who identified its orbit as being very similar to that of the Earth. Orbit refinements by JPL's Paul Chodas and amateur astronomer Bill Gray have shown that this object was very close to the Earth in early 1975, but the trajectory is not known with enough accuracy to associate the object with any particular launch. Nevertheless, scientists do not expect that a natural object could remain in this type of orbit for very long because of its relatively high impact probability with the Earth. In fact, an analysis carried out by Paul Chodas suggests that 2010 KQ has a 6% chance of impacting the Earth over a 30-year period starting in 2036.

Near-infrared spectral measurements of this object carried out by S.J. Bus (University of Hawaii) using the NASA IRTF telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, indicate that its spectral characteristics do not match those of any of the known asteroid types, and in fact are similar to those of a rocket body. The object's absolute magnitude (28.9) also suggests that it is only a few meters in size, about the size of a upper stage. Additional observations over the coming months should allow scientists to discern how strongly solar radiation pressure affects the object's motion, a result that could help distinguish a solid, rocky asteroid from a lighter man-made object.

Even in the unlikely event that this object is headed for impact with the Earth, whether it is an asteroid or rocket body, it is so small that it would disintegrate in the atmosphere and not cause harm on the ground.

NOTE: I was under the impression that NASA tracked all the space junk. As well, rocket sections are supposed to re-enter the atmosphere and burn up. So, if this is the case, why did it not remain in orbit if it is an earth made object? Lon

NASA/JPL Claim 'Artificial Object' Detected

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UFO Disinformation: Whose Truthiness Can We Trust? by Amelia Crater

When Ben and Aaron recently interviewed abduction experiencer Dave Eckhart in MU Plus+ Episode 123, he told them that if the government knew an eighth of what he did about the alien agenda, there would never be disclosure.

If he could prove that frog-ape aliens carried him from his bed to off-world medical facilities where Reptilian doctors operated on him alongside many other men, women and children, it would be a real PR nightmare for the government.

Unfortunately, Dave lacks physical evidence to back up his story, and since everyone knows extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, his alien visitations will be dismissed as lies or delusions and anyone who doubts that conclusion will risk public ridicule. Click to continue at Mysterious Universe