Black Knight satellite conspiracy theory
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The Black Knight satellite is claimed by some conspiracy theorists[2] to be an object approximately 13,000 years old of extraterrestrial origin orbiting Earth in near-polar orbit. Critics and mainstream academics have called it a conspiracy theory and myth that combines several unrelated stories.[3][4] A 1998 NASA photo believed by some to show the Black Knight satellite is thought by experts to be of a thermal blanket lost during an EVA mission.
History
According to UFO conspiracy theorists, the Black Knight is an alien satellite which has orbited Earth for approximately 13,000 years; however, the mythical object is most likely a conflation of several disconnected stories,[2][3] all of them well documented independently and none using the term "Black Knight" upon their first publication.[4] According to senior education support officer Martina Redpath of Armagh Planetarium in Northern Ireland:
Black Knight is a jumble of completely unrelated stories; reports of unusual science observations, authors promoting fringe ideas, classified spy satellites and people over-interpreting photos. These ingredients have been chopped up, stirred together and stewed on the internet to one rambling and inconsistent dollop of myth.[3]
The origin of the Black Knight legend is often "retrospectively dated" back to natural extraterrestrial repeating sources heard during the 1899 radio experiments of Nikola Tesla[5][6] and long delayed echos first heard by amateur radio operator Jorgen Hals in Oslo, Norway in 1928.[7] According to the Daily Express, "the noises from 1899 and 1928 remain a mystery, but the possible causes do not so far include an alien satellite, according to scientists."[2] Brian Dunning of the Skeptoid podcast attributes Tesla's 1899 radio signals to pulsars, which were not discovered until 1968.[4]
In 1954, newspapers stories citing a statement by UFO researcher Donald Keyhoe that the U.S. Air Force had reported that two satellites orbiting Earth had been detected. At this time, no country had the technology to launch a satellite. Skeptics have noted that Keyhoe had been promoting a UFO book at the time, and the news stories were likely written "tongue-in-cheek" and not intended to be taken seriously.[2][3][4]
A British rocket called the Black Knight rocket was used in conjunction with the Blue Streak missile program between 1958 and 1965, to test re-entry vehicles. The program never put anything into orbit,[4] and it is unrelated to the Black Knight satellite legend.[3]
In February 1960, TIME reported that the U.S. Navy had detected a dark object thought to be a Soviet spy satellite in orbit, however a follow-up article confirmed that the object was "the remains of an Air Force Discoverer VIII satellite that had gone astray".[2][4][8]
In 1963, astronaut Gordon Cooper supposedly reported a UFO sighting during his 15th orbit in Mercury 9 that was confirmed by tracking stations, but there is no evidence that this actually happened.[2][3] Neither NASA's mission transcripts nor Cooper's personal copies show any such report being made during the orbit.[4]
In 1973, Scottish author Duncan Lunan analyzed the long delayed radio echoes received by Hals and others and speculated that they could possibly originate from a 13,000 year old alien probe located in an orbit around the earth's moon. He suggested that the probe may have originated from a planet located in the solar system of star Epsilon Boötis. Lunan later retracted his conclusions, admitting that he had made "outright errors" and that his methods had been "unscientific".[2][3][4]
An object photographed in 1998 during the STS-88 mission has been widely claimed to be the Black Knight satellite. Space journalist James Oberg considers it probable that the photographs are of a thermal blanket that was confirmed as lost during an EVA by Jerry L. Ross and James H. Newman.[3][9]
Popular culture
In November 2015, Pepsi released a promotional video entitled "Black Knight Decoded" which "imagines a rich fictional narrative around what some people believe is a very real entity: the Black Knight satellite". The video features appearances by David Oyelowo and Freida Pinto, production by James Frey, and music by Usher.[10]
The 2016 album of the American alternative metal band Gemini Syndrome, Memento Mori, contains a track named after the Black Knight Satellite.
The 2016 album of the Swedish project band Pain, Coming Home, Also features a track called "Black Knight Satellite".
References
- ^ "Display Photos Database Record". Retrieved 13 June 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f g Austin, John (August 26, 2015). "Now UFO conspiracists claim 'alien Black Knight satellite has visited Earth'". The Daily Express. Express.co. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Redpath, Martina. "The Truth About the Black Knight Satellite Mystery". Armagh Planetarium. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Dunning, Brian. "The Black Knight Satellite". Skeptoid.com. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
- ^ "Alien Hunters Spent the Last Century Looking for the Black Knight Satellite". vice.com.
- ^ "This Quarter in Physics History February 1968: The discovery of pulsars announced". APS Physics. American Physical Society. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
- ^ Alv Egeland; William J. Burke (20 October 2012). Carl Størmer: Auroral Pioneer. Springer Science & Business Media. pp. 103–. ISBN 978-3-642-31457-5.
- ^ Editors (7 March 1960). "Science: Space Watch's First Catch". TIME Magazine. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
{{cite news}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ Oberg, James. "STS-88 and the Black Knight" (PDF). Retrieved 27 July 2015.
- ^ Obenson, Tambay. "Trailer: David Oyelowo, Freida Pinto Star in Epic New Short Film, 'Black Knight Decoded'". Indiewire. Indiewire. Retrieved 24 November 2015.