Declassified UAP

NASA-UAP-D032

STS-80 Unidentified Object Image 3, 1996

Agency
NASA
Format
Photograph
Incident date
1996
Released
Release 04, July 10, 2026
Source
war.gov
Topics
Photos & film, Spaceflight

Description from war.gov

During STS-80, between November 19 and December 7, 1996, astronauts aboard Space Shuttle Columbia captured a series of three images of an unidentified object in low-Earth orbit. In the third photograph, the object is visible near the center of the frame, superimposed against the Earth. It appears to have continued along a trajectory passing between Columbia and the Earth.
NASA-UAP-D032, STS-80 Unidentified Object Image 3, 1996, as released by war.gov
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File metadata (EXIF)

Read from the file as published on war.gov. Nothing added, nothing interpreted.

Dimensions
3568 × 2245 px
X Resolution
960000/10000
Y Resolution
960000/10000
Software
Adobe Photoshop 27.7 (Windows)
Date Time
2026:07:02 09:16:33
Color Space
65535
Download the photograph Open on war.gov

Machine summary

Written by Claude Sonnet 4.6 (Anthropic) on July 13, 2026, from the record's text and war.gov's description. It is not part of the record and can contain errors; check it against the document.

NASA-UAP-D032 is a photograph taken during Space Shuttle Columbia's STS-80 mission, which ran from November 19 to December 7, 1996. The image is the third in a series of three captured by astronauts in low-Earth orbit depicting an unidentified object. In this frame, the object appears near the center of the image, positioned against the Earth's surface below, consistent with a trajectory passing between Columbia and the Earth.

This record is part of a three-image sequence, suggesting the object was tracked across multiple frames rather than captured in a single incidental shot. No OCR text is available, meaning the image has no accompanying written analysis or metadata within the released file. The object's characteristics — size, distance, and nature — cannot be assessed from the description alone. STS-80 is a mission previously noted in UAP literature in connection with on-orbit anomalous observations, and this release formally places the imagery within the PURSUE declassification record.

Most frequent words

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earth between columbia object november december astronauts aboard space shuttle captured series images unidentified orbit third photograph visible near center frame superimposed appears continued along trajectory passing

Records war.gov itself pairs with this one.

  1. NASA-UAP-D029 Apollo 17 Crew Medical Debriefing (Continued), 1972 NASA Audio 12/21/72
  2. NASA-UAP-D030 STS-80 Unidentified Object Image 1, 1996 NASA Photograph 1996
  3. NASA-UAP-D031 STS-80 Unidentified Object Image 2, 1996 NASA Photograph 1996

Closest matches by the text of the documents.

  1. NASA-UAP-VM003 Apollo 12, 1969 NASA Photograph 1969
  2. NASA-UAP-VM004 Apollo 12, 1969 NASA Photograph 1969
  3. NASA-UAP-VM006 Apollo 17, 1972 NASA Photograph 1972
  4. NASA-UAP-VM005 Apollo 12, 1969 NASA Photograph 1969
  5. NASA-UAP-D018 Gemini 4 Experiment Debriefing, 1967  NASA Document June 3-7, 1965
  6. NASA-UAP-VM002 Apollo 12, 1969 NASA Photograph 1969