American spy satellite downed in Peru as US nuclear attack on Iran thwarted

[hedgetrimmer]

Source: PRAVDA.Ru

Russian Military Intelligence Analysts are reporting today that one of the United States most secretive spy satellites, the KH-13, targeting Iran was 'destroyed in its orbit' with its main power generator powered by the radioactive isotope Pu-238 surviving re-entry and crashing in a remote region of the South American Nation of Peru, and where hundreds are reported to be ill from radiation poisoning.

http://english.pravda.ru/photo/report/meteorite-2550 (to see photos of crash site)

Western media reports are stating that the US spy satellite debris hitting Peru was caused by a meteor, but which, according to these reports, would be 'impossible' as the size of 30-meter crater, if caused by a meteorite, would have hit the ground with about as much energy as 1 kiloton tactical nuclear weapon, and which would have been recorded by the seismic stations around the World.

Most astonishing about these reports, however, are that they state that it was the Americans themselves who destroyed their own spy satellite with the attack upon it being made by the United States Air Forces' 30th Space Wing located at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. This incident further fuels the intrigue involving the United States War Leaders plans to attack Iran in their attempt to engulf the entire Middle East in Total War, but, against which, according to Russian Military Intelligence Analysts, a 'high ranking and significant' faction of the American Military Establishment is opposed to.

This can be further evidenced by this past few weeks unprecedented announcement by the United States Air Force that 6 nuclear armed cruise missiles were removed, without authorization, from their secure holding facility, located in North Dakota at the Minot Air Force Base, and flown to Barksdale Air Force Base, located in Louisiana, where they were left 'unattended' for 'nearly 10 hours'.



Read more: http://english.pravda.ru/opinion/feedback/97410-0/

---

This article is so awesome, you just have to read it. It raises a lot of questions, I'm sure you'll think of a few.

[peacetheonlyway]

1. wow this is huge information

thanks for the posts.. you can always count on the russian sites to tell the truth about world events, something american newspapers have no clue.

when 9/11 happened I had more up to date news on russian newspaper sites than on US sites.


this is very disturbing. but if you have paid attention the last week, the war on iran has officially started when on 9/4 Israel bombed syrian 'alleged' nuclear sites. the 3rd world war is well begun!

how long do you think we have till serious bomb lobbing starts? and who do you think really took out US satellite? my bet is on the chinese.. smart little boogers.. don't want to see their major weapons buyers nuked to hell and back.

[seriousstan]

2. .

[Teaser]

3. Can you post a pravda article about UFOs and alien ghosts too?

.

[hedgetrimmer]

4. Yeah, and much more stuff too... it's important to get a well rounded news base.

[Recursion]

39. I had to chuckle at seeing Pravda quoted too, however, here are other links about it

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/09/20/in-peru-a-crater-and-questions/?hp
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gDC5TNcMdGoRuHqJTzPpeyU8ZJ2Q
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7001897.stm
http://www.inthenews.co.uk/news/science/science/meteor-crater-leaves-peruvians-sick-$1136729.htm

and, a pretty heated thread on /. about whether or not this could be a meteor:
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/09/18/1625224

[gate of the sun]

5. I'd like an update on the peruvians illness

but yes we need to consider this as possible "news". Certainly we are not getting accurate news here and who can deny that? So why dismiss this out of hand. I found the article interesting and I can only speculate to the accuracy but also knowing the inaccuracy and lies of our media and government I have to consider this as truth.

[hvn_nbr_2]

12. Well, I don't think I'll consider it as truth, but I will consider it as...

at least as plausible as most of what CorpoPravda's talking heads and Puke Congresscritters say.

[madrchsod]

6. what about this story

http://www.weeklyworldnews.com/top_story/27
this happened right here in the usa and no msm has reported it

[lapfog_1]

7. Ahh... so they finally found the famous statue

of Eccentrica Gallumbits, the Triple Breasted Whore of Eroticon 6.





I guess I'll toast the finding with a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster!

[TheMadMonk]

14. Polish Pure Spirits. Lemon Chatruse & a dash of Muratic Acid. nt

[Sin]

18. Well at least they Didn't use.

The world Belgium. then again if they did I'm quite sure they could have been up for an award of some sort.

[daninthemoon]

8. Don't know why so many here justwant to completely dismiss these

stories. For weeks we've heard the drums bangin for Iran, even from the French. Israel bombed Syria, but bushler refuses to talk about it. Nukes were illegaly moved here in the US, and something crashed in Peru and sickened people. Meteorites don't usually do that, (unless the Blob is inside) Who really knows what is happening in Iraq, or why we invaded in the first place? There is no way these guys thought there were really wmd's there. Why did the guy who lied and told us he found some just testify in front of congress as the very epitome of truth? There may not be any dots to connect here, but let's not just blindly accept the msm or our government.

[hedgetrimmer]

11. Here here moon! Questions arise from obvious oversights.

We don't know who's on first.... every news agency has a bias. We need to explore the intricate stated "facts" that are pumped out for our minds to consume and then attempt to reason between the lines. There is reason between the lines in this article.

These are the points that had me post this article, not for mermaids and ufo's.

[Emit]

58. Because this story was written by Sorcha Faal. n/t

[PATRICK]

72. Imagination or tidbits?

One could only imagine US forces shooting down a satellite for one reason. WH authorization. the reason would almost have to be compromised security and programming, interference from a "hostile" party. Then a guess would answer very easily how the cover was actually blown on the movement of the nukes if the position of the satellite at that time was over the US. Trying to splash down a satellite in the Pacific is probably not a sure thing, I don't know.

This is the stuff of great fiction writing if not supercool investigative scooping. The auspicious provenance of stories, such as Perle's mag spreading the Saddam anthrax connection is important, but still leaves one largely in the dark concerning reality.

[Flagrante]

9. Wow, one hell of an article, Pravda as a unique take on the US power elite

[Nutmegger]

10. R&K

Interesting...

[Forkboy]

13. Video of the site, plus a brief Yahoo story about the sickness.

Mystery illness strikes after meteorite hits Peruvian village

LIMA (AFP) - Villagers in southern Peru were struck by a mysterious illness after a meteorite made a fiery crash to Earth in their area, regional authorities said Monday.
ADVERTISEMENT

Around midday Saturday, villagers were startled by an explosion and a fireball that many were convinced was an airplane crashing near their remote village, located in the high Andes department of Puno in the Desaguadero region, near the border with Bolivia.

Residents complained of headaches and vomiting brought on by a "strange odor," local health department official Jorge Lopez told Peruvian radio RPP.

Seven policemen who went to check on the reports also became ill and had to be given oxygen before being hospitalized, Lopez said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070918/sc_afp/peruhealthoffbeat

Video;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WABwQ3EOHTU&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ecyberspaceorbit%2Ecom%2F

[Thothmes]

43. A geiger counter will resolve this issue quickly

[HuffleClaw]

15. certainly an interesting interpretation

many have speculated the military wouldn't permit georgie-boy a chance to play with nukes. and i remember all sorts of speculation about his whereabouts on 911.

[Hulk]

16. WTF is going on here????

And to think we were afraid of the Soviet Union.

[melody]

17. Pravda isn't known for its journalistic integrity, however it fits a lot of facts

It would also mean we're in the midst of a military coup against Bush. Scary stuff.

[Delphinus]

25. Unfortunately,

neither are we (we being the US M$M) anymore.

[melody]

27. No, of course not, but we were discussing Pravda here n/t

[moodforaday]

71. Permit me to humbly interject

since the thread already has The Blob, Aliens and what-not, that some people think 9-11 was a (corporate? military?) coup against Bush. That Bush was the intended audience, if you will, of 9-11. That all he's ever done afterwards has been to fulfill the blueprint which was not his (yes, he *is* too dumb, and too uncurious, to even think in the terms required) but somebody else's.

It seems to me that all that's known as 9-11 conspiracy theories, this one fits most of the known facts and explains Bush's behavior best.

[Dover]

19. Another Pravda story: Iran and Syria work together developing deadly WMDs to wipe out USA

Also true?

http://english.pravda.ru/world/americas/19-09-2007/97351-iran_syria_wmd-0

[comtec]

20. Grains of salt

Mind you a few need to be the size of mt Rushmore... but buried are possibly facts.
If you had a single fact - a satellite crashed, and this satellite had a nuclear power supply, and that was all you had to go on, you could spin a pretty interesting tale. Truth is always more interesting than fiction.. always - an a hell of a lot scarier!

We like to disregard the Russians since the fall of the Soviet Union, and that is a serious mistake. It is obvious that unlike us, the Russians have NOT given up on their space program. (we are going to retire the space fleet with no replacement!)

So one of two things happened, either a sat did fall out of orbit (for whatever reason) and that's what crashed, or a meteor hit, either way people are sick in Peru. What we need to find out now, is why!

[cali]

21. This should be locked

No, I won't alert. DUers want to be total idiots, they can go for it by buying into this swill. Even the most cursory reading of Pravda would tell you it makes 'The Inquirer' look sober sided and responible.

Pathetic.

[madrchsod]

29. it`s the only time we can have some fun

esp. on the latest breaking news...after battling out over hillary`s health care plan for the last few days a bit of humor won`t hurt. yes the moderator was sleeping tonight

[flyarm]

36. no this should not be locked..go read elsewhere..if you don't want to look

into info coming out about this story..if everything i read before * started this war of lies was locked and blocked and not investigated..my files would be empty..in fact though they are full and not all the info was correct ..but a damn lot was and still is..

its called investigating and research...some info will be correct and some will not be..and history and time will tell ...

i have posted many many articles that people called bogus before this war or involving 9/11 that today have been pr oven 100% correct but others poo pooed them in the past...

so i say..if you have no interest..you move on..

i think there are some around here that will do everything in their power to stop research and looking into things going on that make no sense.

or could be highly dangerous to our own soverignity..

so if you don't give a shit..you move on..let others make their own decisions on the info that is posted..let others decide what they want to file and keep for future info that may come out..that isn't avail at this time.

who the hell is anyone to decide what info is important today ..or might be valuable later on?????????

if we all felt like we should lock ..what they believe is nonsence..well we would have nothing in our files about this war or 9/11..or the lord pissy pants administration.

i think those who don't care or want to look into these things..should just go read OJ stories..or britney stories..and leave the other stuff to the rest of us!

i don't tell others what should be intersting to them..so don't do it to me.

i look back and i remember after 9/11 people were making statements about Payne Stewarts plane crash and decompression..what others were posting did not make sense to me..so i read through the NTSB reports..and i went through them with a fine tooth comb..as i was a life long flight crew ( now retired post 9/11) ...i contacted the NTSB investigator..and i pointed out a problem with his report..and low and behold..he said i was right and his Federal Report ..of the accident was wrong...and he had to update it and corrrect the report.

well that would not have happened..had someone not posted the info that i saw and saw was incorrect.

what is insignificant to you, may not be to someone else..is my point.


so you move on...and leave info you have no interest in to someone else who does have interest in it.


fly

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

44. "its called investigating and research"

No, actually it's called bullshit. Pravda runs stories about children with the heads of aliens. It's not a reputable source for anything.

By the way, capitalization and proper sentence structure are your friends.

[SayWhatYo]

63. capitalistic pig...

you said capitalization is your friend, so I called you a capitalistic pig... blah nevermind, I fail again.

[Pavulon]

65. Maybe the result will be a learning experience...

about how the US uses its resources and some of the pieces on the board.

kh-11 class is a imaging satellite that has probably been eclipsed by more advances systems we have no knowledge of. It just takes pictures, and probably video, from space.

This is a degraded image, I would assume it to be better than any image you will find on google earth by a factor of 10.



satellites can be shot down or disabled in a number of ways.
kinetic strike
chemical laser
intentional change of orbit (unauthorized)
or any method that destroys the ability for 2 way communication

any nation taking this action would expect a massive retaliation on their assets in space or on the ground. It is an act of war.

The National Command Authority is the process that is used to release nuclear weapons from civilian control to the control of the military.

The military has a plan, SIOP, that dictates how these weapons are used based on the scenario. They, one would guess, range from a single tactical strike, to a massive launch of the ENTIRE arsenal.

Nuclear weapons are not like standard ordinance. A weapon can not be armed fused and fired without a fixed procedure. They have physical safeguards. These were agreed to and implemented by all declared nuclear powers.

This is a fascinating topic and is worth reading up on.

[Retired AF Dem]

22. I dont think a small spy satellite could survive re-entry

and what little that could be left would never leave the size of the crater that was left behind.

[Downtown Hound]

23. Pravda is not exactly known for their truth telling in reporting

So I would take this story with a grain of salt. But always keep an open mind, there are things that go on in this world that would make people's hair stand up if they ever knew the truth. That much I do KNOW for certain.

[Snazzy]

24. Nice lead photo

The wide angle Peruvian meteor tracking cam nailed this one--money well spent!

[Algorem]

26. Bat Boy was caught nearby,but escaped.

http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index1034.htm

[Vinca]

28. Paging Tom Clancy - although nothing would surprise me. Even this.nt

[ohio2007]

30. Pravda, any other source?

debka didn't run this story did they

[Peace Patriot]

31. If the story is NOT true, you have to wonder why Russian military intel analysts would

make it up and promulgate it. Russia DOESN'T WANT Iran to be attacked. So why would Russians expose an insider U.S. military action to PREVENT it?

It doesn't make sense. Of course, Russia is a big country, with people with a variety motives for what they do, just as here. So maybe these particular analysts are promoting an attack on Iran, for their own reasons.

But, on its face--if it has an official provenance--it doesn't make sense for them to tell this tale out of school.

Could be an internal struggle between "hawks and doves," like goes on here. Somebody knows that somebody else in the Russia military--perhaps with government backing--is talking to U.S. military who are trying to stop an attack on Iran, or even cooperating with them. So these somebodies--say, the Military Intelligence Analysts mentioned--who WANT conflict with the U.S. over Iran (like some of our crazies) are RATTING ON the U.S. military peaceniks, and are trying to harm the Russians who are cooperating with them. Also a possibility, the ratting could be in code, but still an alert to the Bushites, perhaps containing info on WHO is trying to undermine Cheney's wet dream of Armageddon.

We have to not just question facts, but also WHY some story is put out there in the press. One thing I'm pretty sure of--true or not, this is no innocent story, or just rumor-mongering. There is purpose in it, but I'm not sure what it is.

Why would someone expose a U.S. military effort toward peace? And is Russian "military intelligence analysts" the true source of the story? Who are they anyway? Official? Non-official? (Whose military intel analysts are they?) Whistleblower-types? Anonymous? Outfront? The source is awfully vague.

[cali]

32. This is from Pravda

Pravda=National Inquirer. There doesn't necessarily have to be a real purpose to publishing it.

[Peace Patriot]

35. Whoa! I just read the rest of the story...fascinating...

"This can be further evidenced by this past few weeks unprecedented announcement by the United States Air Force that 6 nuclear armed cruise missiles were removed, without authorization, from their secure holding facility, located in North Dakota at the Minot Air Force Base, and flown to Barksdale Air Force Base, located in Louisiana, where they were left 'unattended' for 'nearly 10 hours'.

"It is interesting to note, too, that Barksdale Air Force Base is where the United States President was 'ordered' to report to on September 11, 2001 by the United States Air Force Strategic Command prior to his being 'transferred' under 'armed escort' to Offutt Air Force Base Strategic Command Center near Omaha, Nebraska, where the first 'truce' between Americas War Leaders and its Military Forces was 'negotiated' by billionaire Warren Buffett as intermediary between the rival power blocs.

"Though the rival American power blocs do seem to have maintained their uneasy truce, and which have, to date, prevented further attacks within the United States itself, these latest events, according to these reports, appear to show that this truce is now breaking down over threats and planning by the American War Leaders to attack Iran, and which Russia has warned would be 'catastrophic'.

"What remains unknown to us, at this time, is what counter-planning the American War Leaders have in store for furthering their war aims against Iran as the United States Military have 'clearly signaled' that it will not allow nuclear weapons to be used, even to the extent of denying to their War Leaders one of their most prized spy satellites used to guide their nuclear cruise missiles to their intended Iranian targets." (MORE)

http://english.pravda.ru/opinion/feedback/97410-0

---------------------------------

No, I don't think this article is mere rumor-mongering or sensationalism. It is too carefully worded for that. It's fascinating that "Russian military intelligence analysts" (who are never named or further identified) thought that there was a big fracas between the Bushites and the military on 9/11, that things were smoothed over (by Warren Buffet, at Offutt Air Force base!), which is why we haven't had further attacks, and that the split between the Bushites and the military has re-surfaced. OR they are putting this story out there, for some reason.

This is the first I've heard of a split as far back as 9/11, although I have always thought that a faction of the military with Rumsfeld's leadership was responsible for the NORAD standdown--and such a thing would definitely not sit well with most of the professionals in the military, if they suspected it. For one thing, the Air Force looked inept and foolish. They can't even scramble jets for standard procedures in hijackings--let alone protect the east coast and our nation's capitol? What damned good are they? (There is simply no excuse for them not getting AF jets up into the air to accompany the final two hijacked planes.) Is that the kind of split these Russians are hinting at? Traitors claiming incompetence or confusion, when everybody knows that was virtually impossible without somebody's collusion--and "white hat" AF generals and others having it out with Rumsfeld and/or Cheney? IF someone suspected collusion, I can imagine tempers getting very hot, indeed. And I also think that that--9/11 - NORAD--or possibly torture for fun and profit, or some other horror (the real story behind Plamegate?)--is why Rumsfeld is gone (--someone in the Pentagon or the military finally got the goods on him and forced him out).

Well, I don't often read Pravda, so I'm not all that familiar with their content and style. My impression of it in the past has been superficiality, and of course they have a rep as a government propaganda organ under the Communists. But this article does not seem superficial. It's more a commentary than a news article. But it does seem studied, and purposeful. It's hard to judge what its purpose might be. But I keep coming back to, why would the Russians want to expose, embarrass or hinder a faction within the U.S. military that had the same goal as Russia: no attack on Iran? Is this a "hawk" faction in the Russian military, that we're hearing this from? (The article has a tone and express statements seemingly against an attack on Iran--which seem more like the author's opinion than that of the "analysts," but is promoting peace really the purpose of the article writer, or the "analysts"?)

[Pavulon]

61. This is GARBAGE

nuclear weapons are not guided by imaging satellites. They do not need GPS. They predate gps. They are specifically designed to operate on independent navigation.

Inertial navigation is quite capable of guiding the re-entry vehicles from a trident D5 or MX or peacekeeper missile.

That weapon can be armed fused and fired without any input from this type of satellite.

Bottom line, given a legal order and NCA authorization the military WILL use nuclear weapons as per the options layed out in the siop plan.

This is one of the most studied and preplanned events that exists.

That outcome is as firm as death and taxes.

That system is the reason that if you plot out human death in warfare, in 1945 there is a massive drop.

[Ian David]

33. Uhm... Pravda.ru is like Weekly World News. Not a credible source.nt

[lse7581011]

34. BBC is Reporting Similar Story Now

should that be considered credible?

[Zywiec]

37. Can you please provide the link? Thanks n/t

[lse7581011]

40. Here Ya Go!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7001897.stm

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

41. That is NOT a similar story.

That is the original story that Pravda has warped into its own weird little fairy tale.

[flyarm]

45. oh and our media never tells any fairy tales?????????? excuse me while i

:puke: :puke: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

and surely our government never ever uses propaganda world wide???????

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

sometimes..between fairy tales and news stories..we can find some sense of truth ..ya think??????????

but we all know how truthful our government is and this administration has been right???????

:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

fly

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

46. What in the hell are you talking about?

Are you saying that the BBC piece is propoganda, or the Pravda piece? You're not making any sense.

[Zywiec]

42. Thanks - BBC article says no radiation or evidence of satellite

"An engineer from the Peruvian Nuclear Energy Institute told AFP news agency that no radiation had been detected from the crater. He ruled out any possibility that the fallen object might be a satellite."

[KoKo]

51. Does anyone know if Spy Satellites are radioactive? I wouldn't think

they would emit radiation if they fell...but then I don't know what goes into making them.

[Pavulon]

54. Yes - but this article is "factually challenged"

they can use plutonium as a power source. They have fallen to earth before and the scenario presented here does not match real incidents.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmos_954

kh-xx



the absolute stupidity of this article is astounding...

[krispos42]

69. It's a good question

Satellites that orbit Earth usually use solar panels to power themselves. Deep space probes sent out past Mars use plutonium batteries because they are too far from the Sun for solar panels to power them.

However... solar cells are vulnerable to attack by, for example, a laser. I wonder if the KH recon satellites use the plutonium batteries to eliminate this vulerability?

[flyarm]

38. do you have the bbc link?? ..oh but we wouldn't want to know..lets not read anything and use our

cognitive thinking skills..and lets not look into anything with this whole story..lets just keep blinders on...and watch OJ stories...nothing to see here..6 nuclear war heads get moved and no one knows why ..or how they were allowed to fly over the USA without the pilots knowing their were loaded on their aircraft..but ..nothing to see here..lets lock it all ...and move on..shall we??????:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :rant: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

oh and my former boyfriend is a fighter pilot..and he says something is really really weird going on..but put those blinders on folks..lets not look too deeply at any of this..

there must be a good OJ story we can sink our little minds into..don't you think??????????:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

fly

[klyon]

47. kick

nt

[klyon]

48. This sounds like a James Bond sort of thing. The war is on.

Syp vs Spy
This is mad
We need to get someone on the ground to check for radiation.
Probably couldn't even get close

[Zywiec]

50. Did you read the BBC piece??

There is no radiation there! Loosen the tinfoil a little.

[bemildred]

49. Ha ha, Pravda still has a sense of humor.

I'm sure this is payback for all that asinine blather about Iran and Syria etc.

[Pavulon]

52. Umm---no

set aside the past events where a satalite has re entered and caused a known type of damage and radiological profile...

destroying a keyhole satalite in orbit would require technology held by only a few nations. Iran is not one of those nations. But the bullshit factor here is enormous.

There are multiple KH platforms in space. Not just one.

There are only a few nations who could shoot one down. Those nations would not want the response to taking that action.

That act would at MINIMUM cause US to systematically destroy the attackers communication and intelligence assets in space.

It could provoke a war.

But this is bullshit. All it would take to prove is a sample of the material. The radioactive fingerprint from the fuel would prove its origin.

How it ties into minot is also bullshit. We have tens of thousands of nuclear weapons. Plenty are already in the middle east. I would bet that they run drills targeting iran for a second strike.

[dbonds]

53. Got grain of salt, but still some questions.

Did the 'meteorite' crash on or right after the sept 14 stand down of all AF planes? Does the fact that the pilot that flew the nukes across the US got killed a few days ago mean anything in this? The meteor report had water boiling in the crater, what would do that? Not wholesale buying the pravda story, but also it does fit a plausible story around the mystery, and there is a mystery here. In fact there is lots of strange stuff going on. One of my AF friends, who says he can't tell me anything, but wishes like crazy the press would find out the things they are doing. There are other possible explanations, but this one isn't all that out there.

[Pavulon]

55. The pilot is not dead

some person from minot afb (20 - 30,000 people live there) was shot in virgina while on leave.

A kh satellite would not cause a 30m crater. it would be mostly destroyed in re-entry if intact. If struck by some weapon, it would not be intact.

The only reasonable explanation for a satellite like that re-entering would be human intervention in its guidance. We do not need to shoot down our own satellites. We can just push them into orbit and make them crash into the ocean.

This is one of the worst articles I have ever read.

[dbonds]

59. The article I read was it was THE pilot that flew the nuke plane.

Was that corrected somewhere? Haven't had my coffee yet, so too fuzzy to research that yet. The article says it was destroyed, but that can easily just mean they told it to crash. And if it had heavy metals aboard the could have survived even a shoot down - but I didn't get the shoot down impression from the article. It would be much easier from a control center to tell it to crash.

[Pavulon]

62. It was a sp

who was shot while on leave in virginia. I am sure after this event the pilot wishes he was dead. Even though he probably (certainly) never knew he had weapons with physics packages installed.

Just because the weapons were under the wing does not mean the crew had the ability to arm, fuse, and fire the weapons.

The worst outcome from this could have been a radiological disaster in the event of a crash. This would have been compounded because the responders would not have known that they were dealing with a radioactive incident.

[murloc]

56. LOL. You don't "shoot down" a satellite

at least not in the sense described.

Sure you could blow it up with a missile or energy weapon, but then what? - You'll then have thousands of little satellites that would then takes weeks, months or more likely, years to reenter.

This article makes it sound like it was shot down, followed my a crash like that of an aircraft. That just doesn't happen. Satellites keep flying because of the energy imparted to them at launch and on-board engines only make very minor orientation adjustments. Shutdown or destroy those engines and the result is pretty boring - You just lose 2 way contact.

[Emit]

57. Puhlease. It's Sorcha Faal. Need I say more? n/t

[dbonds]

60. Yes, please, who is that?

[Emit]

66. Start by Googling "Sorcha Faal and the Sisters" n/t

[Junkdrawer]

64. Pu-238....or a cache of rocket fuel and/or fuel cell stuff...

The plutonium on satellites is contained in enclosures designed to survive launch mishaps. But spy satellites do have caches of propellant so that their orbits can be changed. The residents complained of a sulfur smell...

[Xenotime]

67. This is so typical of the fucking US.

[hedgetrimmer]

68. The reactions pro and con ultimately leaves us not really knowing...

what is going on. The source may be questionable, however there are some verifiable facts in the article. If I felt like it I would source all of those for you so it can be painted in black and white. I do not feel like it so do some of your own researching.

I've enjoyed reading the discourse on this thread. I am displeased to see it re-directed into GD, but I have a long standing disagreement with the moderators, administration and the idealistic outlines laid down as arbitrary rules on this board. All in all, the response so far to this article has me thinking there may be hope for this binary world called DU.

[dave123williams]

70. Pravda? Are you thick, or something?