UFO Sightings: International Space Station Red Laser Photo Could Be of New Instrument

An OPALS artists rendition operating from the ISS NASA/JPL-CALTECH

Some enthusiasts have claimed that an object firing a red beam over the Earth captured on video by the International Space Station is a UFO.

The footage was captured a few days ago at 9:20 a.m. GMT on Dec. 5. There’s been suggestions that its a satellite, an astronaut using a laser pointer, or it was an optical illusion.

The video was recorded on the same date that the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope fired a laser into the sky to create an artifical star. The ESO issued an update on Dec. 5, showing a “laser in the sky.” The photo it links to is Oct. 1, 2014.

But, as OpenMinds.tv notes, a “more likely explanation for the unusual laser in the video is an instrument attached to the ISS called the Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science (OPALS).” It is part of a new communications system that uses lasers.

UFO enthusiasts pouring over International Space Station footage seemingly have found a "massive red sphere" shooting a "laser beam."
NASA via YouTube screenshot