by
Michael E. Salla
There is sufficient evidence to suggest that
NASA has deliberately tampered with satellite imagery
depicting a comet changing its flight path after interacting
with the sun on February 18. Comet NEAT (C/2002 V1)
was first observed by astronomers in November 2002 and was initially
described as a ’small’ comet that would come closest to the Earth on
December 24, 2002, when it would be at 0.8 AU (note: 1 AU equals 93
million miles the distance between the Earth and the sun).
Astronomers suggested that NEAT would brighten
considerably as it approached its perihelion ( approach to the sun)
of 0.1 AU.
By the time of its eventual arrival in the
sun’s vicinity, the precise size of the comet had become a
matter of controversy as evident in a February 19,
BBC report that described the comet as "unusual in
that it is very large and very bright. In fact, it is the
brightest comet ever observed by one of Soho’s instruments."
According to
NASA flight projections, the comet would flyby the sun
and continue its orbit without having an appreciable impact on
either the sun or the Earth.
Real time
photographs of the comet by the
SOHO satellite positioned between the Sun and
Earth showed the comet’s passage around the sun (for NASA’s
projected passage -
click image left).
As predicted, the
comet appeared very large, with some estimates of its coma
(gases, ice, etc., surrounding the core) up to four times the
size of Jupiter while having a planet sized core up to the size
of Mercury.
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On its passage past
the sun on Feb 18, an enormous solar flame moves towards the
comet as though to strike it in the fashion of a lightning
bolt (image time-dated 2002/2/18 06:54).
(click image right)
Just before what
appears to be a critical impact, the images from SOHO’s
LASCO 3 corona graph, stop for a critical seven hours,
when they resume, the next image (time dated one hour later),
shows that the solar flame has disappeared, and what appears to
be the remains of a
crude cut and paste effort involving the comet.
Subsequent images
released by
NASA
showed the comet continuing its flight path without any
significant interaction with the sun (image time-dated 2003/2/18
09:54)
(see NASA’s animated
sequence)
At this point,
amateur astronomers on Web discussion boards began crying foul
and were accusing NASA of image tampering. It
should be pointed out that the processing of SOHO images
occurs at the NASA Goddard Flight Center making it
plausible that image tampering could occur using popular
software packages such as Paint Brush
(click image left).
The period from
when the comet reportedly exited the range SOHO’s LASCO
corona graphs, showed the sun resuming intense solar flare
activity in the region where the comet had earlier been. The
entire sequence of NEAT’s passage appeared as in the following
set of images released by NASA:
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Discussion
about
comet NEAT would most likely have soon ended were
it not for the following image (time-dated 2003/02/20 23:42)
released by SOHO on Feb 20, more than two days after the first
’tampered’ image and when NEAT
should have left the view of SOHO’s LASCO corona
graphs. The image showed what appeared to be the comet
NEAT in an unanticipated position suggesting that it had
changed direction and continued to be interacting with the sun.
The next image (time-dated 2003/02/20 23:42)
(click image right)
was delayed by 12 hours, but time dated 36 minutes later, showed
no sign of the comet.
Some astronomers suggested that the image
depicting NEAT was still in the vicinity was an
anomaly caused by such explainable factors as the SOHO
satellite recording part of its own equipment discharge.
For amateur astronomers, this was the smoking gun they had
been looking for. Website discussion boards suddenly began
to be systematically hacked making it difficult for news to get
out and raising suspicion of
NASA faking the fly by.
Surprisingly, a
second set of images appeared almost two days later on Feb 22,
that showed comet NEAT
was still in the sun’s vicinity and continuing to interact with
it.
The images came from SOHO’s LASCO 2 corona
graph which focuses on the vicinity much closer to the sun.
These images showed an object, perhaps NEAT’s core
or segments of it, being ejected out of the sun
(click
image left)
Amateur
astronomers participating in a number of web page discussion
boards again began to experience a high degree of hacking with
boards going offline. This only added to growing accusations of
foul play and suspicions about a
NASA conspiracy to suppress the true nature of
comet NEAT’s precise location and interaction with
the sun.
Only to compound matters further, the critical
LASCO instruments for recording the activities around
the sun’s corona, were closed down for the 4-day period from
24-27 February for repositioning the SOHO satellite.
The cause was either routine ’Spacecraft Thruster Firing’
as NASA claimed, or NASA was trying to prevent
further leaks on NEAT’s actual position.
(click image right)
The strongest
evidence of image tampering are the images provided by the
SOHO satellite which show what appears to be either the
comet itself or its remnants in a variety of positions around
the sun after NEAT should have left the sun’s
vicinity. Some have suggested that the released images were
deliberately leaked by sympathetic NASA officials
who wanted the general public to learn about the true nature of
the comet’s interaction with the sun.
Another
significant piece of information is a set of images that showed
what looked like an eye to the right of the comet just before
the comet was apparently struck by a solar flare (image
time-dated 2003/02/18 08:54).
For those familiar with the Great
Seal of the US (see reverse of one dollar bill), this was
strikingly familiar with the Eye of Horus
signifying Providence is watching over human affairs.
There are
three explanations for this mysterious eye.
One the eye is just a fortuitous natural event captured
on camera. Two, the eye was contrived by
sympathetic NASA officials wanting to communicate
that they are helping get information out.
(click image left)
Or three,
some ’external’ intervention from a ’non-human’ agency or
intelligence has indeed occurred. Given that a significant
number of individuals, groups, and organizations have been
waiting for a cosmic event to signify ’divine intervention’ in
human affairs, then arguably, Comet Neat and the
eye signifies that this has indeed occurred. If either of the
latter two explanations is accurate,
NASA may be expected to continue encountering
difficulty in keeping news of comet NEAT’s
interaction with the sun from becoming public knowledge.
Did NASA Fake Comet NEAT’s Flyby of the Sun?
In summary, the primary evidence that NASA has
faked the flyby of comet Neat lies in analysis
of three sets images released by the SOHO satellite. The first
is the February 18 image ( time-dated 2003/2/18 06:54) which
shows evidence of tampering. The second is the February 20 image
(time-dated 2003/02/20 23:42) which is the smoking gun
that NEAT did not leave the sun’s vicinity in the
path predicted by NASA. The third are the February
22 images that show an object, possibly NEAT,
being expelled from the sun (time-dated 2003/02/22
19:31). Circumstantial evidence is the following. Firstly,
delays in release of images that depicted NEAT at
critical stages in its passage. And second, hacking of amateur
astronomer discussion boards that were attempting to analyze the
data as it was emerging. When the evidence is analyzed, one is
forced to choose between one of two choices. Either NASA
is correct and nothing extraordinary has occurred other than the
routine passage of a small but bright comet that will return
again in 37,000 years. In this case, all the anomalous images
and delays have plausible explanations. Alternatively,
deliberate tampering of satellite imagery by NASA
has occurred in order to suppress from public attention the true
passage of Comet NEAT and its significance for
humanity.
What strengthens the case for the latter explanation, is
that some extraordinary weather patterns began to appear on
February 24 that would be consistent with the intense solar
activities beginning from February 18. For instance, it takes
approximately about five days for coronal mass ejections from
the sun to reach the earth. Aside from the snow and icy
conditions that surprisingly appeared in the USA on February 24,
a foot of snow has fallen in Jerusalem and elsewhere in the
Middle East on February 25. Children and police in the GAZA
strip, and elsewhere in Israel/Palestine were having snowball
fights! Such bizarre weather might be simply welcomed as a
respite from the turmoil of the Middle East or may signify
something extraordinary has occurred.
What is even more troubling for NASA’s account of
the
NEAT comet, is that on February 28,
NASA
released a space weather report that said the "Earth is
approaching a cometary debris stream that might trigger an
unusual Antarctic meteor show this weekend"
The disturbing
thing is that when one investigates the meteor showers and
associated cometary debris predicted for 2003, there is no
mention of the comet Bradfield. According to a comprehensive
list of meteor showers and associated comets scheduled to pass
the Earth in 2003, the last meteor shower was the Quadrantids
between January 1-6, and the next are the Virginids in late
March and Early April. If indeed, the comet’s interaction with
the sun did have an effect on recent weather patterns, and the
’surprise’ cometary debris which the Earth is passing into on
March 1 is associated with
NEAT, then it is plausible to suggest that
NASA’s depiction of NEAT’s passage is contrived.
Based on the evidence, it may be concluded that Comet NEAT
was diverted in its interaction with the sun over the period
February 18-22. The reopening of the LASCO corona graphs on the
SOHO observatory on February 27, signified that the comet NEAT
had moved out of the vicinity of the sun into a flight path
known only to NASA. The cometary debris which NASA
claims is associated with the comet Bradfield, is in most
likelihood, the first physical manifestation of the comet NEAT’s
break up and/or changed flight pattern. The meteor shower
predicted for March 1 is possibly part of the tail of NEAT which
has been widely dispersed and may continue to cross the Earth’s
orbit for some time yet. More significantly, it is not clear
where the major portions of comet NEAT are, and
how they will interact with the Earth or affect weather patterns
when they cross the Earth’s orbit. There continues to be
uncertainty over where exactly comet NEAT’s flight
path will take it, and the amount of cometary debris it will
bring in its wake. Comet Neat’s fly by of the sun has truly been
an extraordinary event and despite the uncertainty over its
significance, we might take comfort from the cosmic eye seen to
be overseeing NEAT in the SOHO satellite image of February 18,
that perhaps Providence is indeed watching over humanity.