4th tranche PURSUE · Notable piece Published on July 10, 2026
Published document Fact checked Origin not established

NASA STS-80 (1996): the declassified image integrated into the 4th PURSUE tranche

November 1996. The shuttle Columbia has been orbiting Earth for seventeen days — the longest shuttle mission in history. Somewhere in the recordings of this flight, an image. For thirty years it remained in the archives. On July 10, 2026, the Department of War made it public in the 4th PURSUE tranche. Why this one? What the image documents, what it doesn't prove, and how to read it.

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NASA STS-80 (1996) — declassified image integrated into the 4th PURSUE tranche — UFO VIDEO
Published document

The published pieces: three images, three references

These are not one but three photographs that the Department of War has filed on WAR.GOV/UFO on July 10, 2026, under the official references NASA-UAP-D030, NASA-UAP-D031 and NASA-UAP-D032. The official description is identical for all three: "photograph of an unidentified object in low orbit, taken from the space shuttle Columbia in 1996." STS-80 is the 80th mission of NASA's shuttle program, carried out by Columbia from November 19 to December 7, 1996 — the longest shuttle mission ever carried out: approximately 17 days and 15 hours in orbit.

Official photograph of an unidentified object in low orbit, taken from the shuttle Columbia in 1996 — item NASA-UAP-D030
Part NASA-UAP-D030 (image 1/3) — the unidentified object photographed from Columbia, as published in Release 04. Source: NASA via Department of War, WAR.GOV/UFO (public domain).
Second official photograph of the unidentified object in low orbit — NASA-UAP-D031
Part NASA-UAP-D031 (image 2/3) — second shot of the same object. Source: NASA via Department of War, WAR.GOV/UFO (public domain).
Third official photograph of the unidentified object in low orbit — NASA-UAP-D032
Part NASA-UAP-D032 (image 3/3) — third shot. Three images of the same object pave the way for trajectory estimation. Source: NASA via Department of War, WAR.GOV/UFO (public domain).

Part Markers

MissionSTS-80 (Columbia shuttle)
Flight periodNov. 19 – Dec. 7 1996
Original agencyNASA
PURSUE PublicationJuly 10, 2026
ReferencesNASA-UAP-D030 · D031 · D032
Support3 pictures
Origin of the phenomenonNot established
Official statement

What the Department of War press release says

The press release refers to this image as an example of a declassified “historical piece”. He does not formulate any conclusions about the nature of what appears in the image. The Department of War also recalls, for the entire 4th tranche, that no published file shows any interaction of the American government with beings from other planets, nor any reason to believe that they have visited Earth. This precision applies to STS-80 as well as to all the other pieces in the lot.

Not establishedHypothesis

What an STS-80 image can — and cannot — say

The cameras on board during the shuttle missions were of two types: cinema/video cameras used during the operational phases, and scientific instruments. Without the full context — original media, timestamp, camera orientation, exact orbit at time of capture, current payload activity — an STS-80 archive image does not, by itself, prove either a natural phenomenon or a manipulated object. The classic hypotheses remain open: orbital debris, sensor artifacts, particles illuminated by the sun in the field, internal reflections, or unidentified object.

The UFO VIDEO rule is strict: we do not present an image as proof of non-human origin. We document what was published, by whom, when, and under what reference.

What remains to come out

To go further, several technical documents are required: the original NASA reference of the file (inventory number), the shooting metadata (support, cadence, exposure), the orbital position, the aiming point at the timestamp, and the possible correlation with a contemporary report. VIDEO UFO will incorporate these items as they are released or confirmed by NASA or AARO.

Sources used

  1. Department of War / Pentagon — WAR.GOV/UFO. Official portal: https://www.war.gov/ufo/
  2. Official press release of July 10, 2026 — “Department of War Publishes Fourth Release of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Files on WAR.GOV/UFO”: war.gov · item 4539898.
  3. NASA — STS-80 mission sheet (Columbia, Nov. 19 – Dec. 7, 1996): history and official duration.
  4. Secondary media in addition: CBS News, ABC News, NewsNation, MilitarySpot, Newsroom America.

UFO VIDEO editorial rule: official source first, secondary media in addition. No extraordinary statement without attached documentation.

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