The Black Knight Satellite
A dark, ragged object photographed in orbit became, online, a 13,000-year-old alien satellite.
What was reported
In December 1998, astronauts on the Space Shuttle Endeavour, launched from Kennedy Space Center to begin building the International Space Station, photographed a dark, irregular object tumbling in orbit. NASA described it as debris.
Online, the photos were joined to older stories: Nikola Tesla's report of strange radio signals in 1899, 1950s newspaper reports of mysterious satellites, and claims of an alien probe that had circled Earth for thousands of years, nicknamed the Black Knight.
Explanations offered
NASA says the object was a thermal blanket that astronauts lost during a spacewalk on that mission. The other stories aren't connected to it or to each other. The Black Knight is a modern myth stitched together from unrelated events.
- When
- Photographed in December 1998
- Where
- Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA
- Witnesses
- Astronauts on the Space Shuttle Endeavour
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.