Grey Object Seen, NASA HD Cam Shuts Off Quickly: Facts

Story:

NASA camera shuts off as mysterious grey object appears.

Other Versions

1. Mysterious grey object can be seen from NASA live feed camera before it is quickly shut off…

2. UFO Sighting: NASA Cuts ISS Live Stream When Grey Object Appears on Earth’s Horizon.

Analysis:

A video in wide circulation online claims to show a mysterious Grey Object (UFO, i.e. Unidentified Flying Object) seen from NASA live feed camera before it was quickly shut off, hinting that NASA is hiding many such extra-terrestrial discoveries from people. Let us analyze the facts about the present claim.

About the Video

According to the YouTube user Streetcap1 who uploaded the video in question on 15 Jan. 2015, the NASA HD camera footage shows a Grey Object, but NASA cuts it off quickly from viewers displaying a technical error message. After the video became popular online, UFO watchers said that this is not the first time NASA suddenly dumps a video feed just after a UFO appears on screen. Some skeptics suggested the ‘grey object’ seen in the video could simply be the Earth’s moon, but the user Streetcap1 ruled out that possibility saying Moon would appear white in color.

It is to be noted that the user Streetcap1 is a UFOlogist, who has been posting lot of UFO stuff about aliens, humanoids, starships, and other space anomalies in his YouTube channel.

ISS HD Earth Viewing Experiment

The International Space Station Earth Viewing Experiment uses many commercial HD video cameras enclosed in a pressurized and temperature controlled housing. The viewers on earth will typically see the sequence of recording through different cameras, and between camera switches, a grey and then black color slate will appear briefly on screen. Moreover, the live transmission (note that if the screen is black, the space station is likely on Earth’s night side) also suffers from frequent video interruptions due to technical reasons. The error message seen in the video is shown in this perspective:

Please stand by.
The High Definition Earth Viewing experiment is either switching cameras, or we are experiencing a temporary loss of signal with the International Space Station.

The High Definition Earth Viewing (HDEV) experiment was in fact started in an effort to find and develop better camera equipment for future missions.

Not Grey Object

It should be noted that the footage is taken from a live stream of earth view and the video editor has zoomed in on the object significantly, lowering the quality of its appearance. Unlike what the user Streetcap1 suggested, Earth’s Moon need not always appear white, it can also appear grey in color, when viewed from space. That is because of various minerals on Moon’s surface, and also due to the earth’s atmosphere. The second video, suggested by Streetcap1, shows Moon – from a different angle when compared to the view of the ‘grey object’. A close observation of both the videos suggests that the size and moving speeds of the moon and the so called grey object are similar; the coordinates seen at the bottom left of the screen are also similar (considering the different angle of view). Moreover, the live stream was interrupted in Moon case as well, showing up the same technical error message.

Taking into account the aforementioned facts, the object seen in the NASA HD camera could simply be the earth’s Moon, or a dead satellite, or even some space debris that hit the lens of the cam. So the claim that NASA camera shuts off as the mysterious grey object appears is hoax.