China makes First Contact...sort of.
- February 21, 2007 2:31 PM |
- By Paul Jay
by Paul Jay, CBC News Online
A rash of UFO sightings in Australia turns out to have a decidedly terrestrial origin: debris from a Chinese satellite.
Remember the furor China caused when it blew up one of its own satellites? Some world leaders raised concerns the missile launch was a show of force on the part of the nation, while a spokesman for British Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed concern about the creation of debris in space.
Score one for Mr. Blair — or the spokesman. ABC News Online said a number of people reported sightings of a distinct circular glow in the early morning sky earlier this week.
Gavin Dinsdale of the Latrobe Valley Astronomical Society told ABC News Online the debris was from the satellite:
"Around 35,000 small bits of junk [float] around in that particular orbit [... and] now we've got lots of tiny little ones," he said.
For those wishing to resume their ceaseless search for alien life, we apologize for the false alarm.
For those concerned about satellite debris falling from the sky and landing on your toe, you may resume your ceaseless worry.
About the Authors
- Tara Kimura
is a multimedia producer for CBCNews.ca.
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Comments (2)
Wow, im honestly appalled! The world doesn’t have the money (or at least don’t want to spend it) to end world hunger, find a cure for cancer, or even repair the damages done to the planet itself, but we have the cash to send a satellite into space (which is not cheap) and then blow it up! Lets all take after China and throw our most valued possessions out our windows then, then shoot them with our guns. Because that my friends, will make us tough! And apparently being the tough guy in the world is more important then ending the mass disease crisis in your own back yard.
So lets all take a moment of silence and mourn for those who could have been saved if China were to spend there money on something more useful then being that twenty-eight year old guy in the high school parking lot with a Camero and a leather jacket. See now even that moment of silence was making more progress in the helping the world than China’s pyromaniac tactics.
If you think you can justify China’s decision to blow stuff up then hit me with an e-mail.
littlerouski@hotmail.com
It is only clear when you look at things through history!
When China shot down a satellite, the whole world is boiled over. Everyone condemned the act as a world-ending, anti-human behavior and the only solution seemed to be eliminating China from the earth.
Later, when U.S shot down another satellite, people became civilized, understandable, forgiving. It is perfectly ok! Everyone has his right to shot down their satellite and U.S. actually did a good thing for saving millions lives from the derailed decommissioned satellite.
Andy, what would you say if you post another comment on the same event two and half years later?