‘Ancient alien UFO’ tracked by conspiracy theorists was ‘just a blanket’ says NASA
It’s been 65 years this week since humans launched the first satellite into orbit with the USSR’s Sputnik.
While many astronomy fans are celebrating the anniversary of this huge leap for mankind, others aren’t convinced.
Conspiracy theorists have for years claimed that an alien UFO called the ‘Black Knight’ has orbited the Earth for around 12,000 years, and that NASA is involved in a huge cover-up.
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Proponents of the wild-eyed theory even claim to have photographic proof that the satellite exists—but NASA has insisted for years that they are just looking at a picture of space debris in the form of a thermal blanket lost on a previous mission.
(Image: Getty Images)
The ‘Black Knight’ theory claims that an alien satellite orbited Earth for around 12,000 years, observing humanity for millennia before being discovered 120 years ago and covered up.
The theory dates back the 1950s at the height of UFO fever, with conspiracists claiming that radio signals from the ‘Black Knight’ had been picked up during experiments by legendary scientist Nikola Tesla.
The theory has risen and fallen in popularity over the years when seemingly inexplicable events occurred, such as when astronaut Gordon Cooper claimed to see a UFO during the Mercury 9 mission in 1963.
(Image: Getty Images/Science Photo Library RF)
However, the Black Knight myth burst into the mainstream again in 1998 when NASA captured an image of a mysterious black mass in orbit of the Earth from the STS-88 mission to the ISS.
While conspiracists claim this was irrefutable evidence that the theory was true, the explanation was a lot more boring: one of the astronauts dropped a thermal blanket that floated off into space.
Astronaut Jerry Ross, who was involved in constructing the ISS at the time, reportedly dropped a thermal cover while on a space walk. It was given the catalogue number 025570 by NASA, floated around for a few days, then burned up in orbit.
Despite being comprehensively debunked, the conspiracy refuses to die. In 2017, UFO theorists claimed the ‘Black Knight’ satellite was shot down by an Illuminati war plane. There’s just no convincing some people.
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