Bad Astronomy: Misconceptions and Misuses Revealed, from ...

MISIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS 209
Needless to say, I disagree with him.
So do a lot of other folks. These include Shuttle astronaut Ron
Parise and space program analyst James Oberg. Both have discussed
what really happened on STS 48. The specks of light are
actually bits of ice floating near the Shuttle. The particles of ice
form on the outside of the Shuttle on every mission, and can get
jolted loose when the rockets fire. Once separated, they tend to
float near the Shuttle. The flash of light seen was a vernier rocket,
a small rocket that controls the direction in which the Shuttle
points. It does not generate much thrust, which is why you don’t
suddenly see the Shuttle moving during the burst. (Kasher claimed
that a rocket firing would obviously move the Shuttle but neglected
to research just how much thrust the rocket gave off.) The
rocket burst hitting the first bit of ice is what suddenly changes its
course, and the second bit of light flashing by is simply another ice
particle accelerated by the rocket. If you look at the footage
closely, you can see it doesn’t actually get very close to the first
particle, making this a poor demonstration of Star Wars technology.
Kasher has made quite an industry of going on TV shows and
showing this footage, which he clearly does not understand. He
even sells a video of his analysis of the footage ($29.95 plus shipping
and handling). I’d save my money if I were you.
PPP
I am commonly asked if I believe in life in space, and if aliens are
visiting us. I always answer, “Yes, and no.” This confuses people.
How can I believe in aliens when I don’t believe in UFOs?
It’s actually easy. Space is vast, terribly vast. There are hundreds
of billions of stars in our Galaxy, and it’s becoming clear
that many—if not most—have planets. There are billions of galaxies
like ours in the universe. In my opinion, it’s silly to think that
in all the universe we are the only planet to have the right conditions
for life to arise.
But even if the Galaxy is humming with life, don’t expect ET
to come here to poke at us, draw funny patterns in our corn fields,