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Within Hale Bopp

The Photo That Started the Rumour

A misidentified light near Hale-Bopp shows how one image and a software gap helped launch a spacecraft rumour.

On this page

  • What Shramek photographed
  • Why the software failed to identify it
  • How the image changed meaning in UFO circles
Preview for The Photo That Started the Rumour

Introduction

Chuck Shramek’s Hale–Bopp photograph mattered because it turned a routine astronomical identification problem into the seed of a UFO prediction. On 14 November 1996, Shramek imaged Comet Hale–Bopp and noticed a nearby point of light that looked odd in his CCD photograph. His sky-atlas software did not show the object, so he reported a “Saturn-like object” near the comet on Art Bell’s Coast to Coast AM. Astronomers soon identified it as the ordinary background star SAO 141894, not a companion craft. The crucial error was not that software “proved” the object was unknown, but that its display settings could hide or misclassify catalogue entries. That gap gave the image a false mystery and helped UFO circles treat a background star as evidence of an approaching spacecraft. [ESO+2MIRA]eso.orgHale-Bopp companions?!?Hale-Bopp companions?!?…

Shramek Photo illustration 1

What Shramek Photographed

Shramek’s image was a CCD photograph of Hale–Bopp taken while the comet was still approaching its bright 1997 apparition. The contentious feature was a light near the comet, later nicknamed the “Saturn-like object” because diffraction spikes and image artefacts made it look more structured than a normal point of light. Olivier Hainaut’s Hale–Bopp companion page compared Shramek’s image with the Digital Sky Survey and identified the supposed anomaly as SAO 141894, also catalogued as PPM 180171 and GSC 5086 361. [ESO]eso.orgHale-Bopp companions?!?Hale-Bopp companions?!?…

That identification matters because the object was not moving with Hale–Bopp. It was a background star that happened to lie near the comet’s apparent path from Earth. Hainaut also noted that the close approach between the comet and this star had been predictable from ordinary star-position data, rather than being a surprise detection of a new body. [ESO]eso.orgHale-Bopp companions?!?Hale-Bopp companions?!?…

The star’s appearance in the photograph added to the confusion. Hainaut explained that SAO 141894 is a cool M-type star, which emits strongly in red and infrared light. A CCD camera can be more sensitive to that light than older photographic survey plates, so the star could look brighter in Shramek’s image than it did in the Palomar comparison image. This helped make an ordinary star look more impressive than expected. [ESO]eso.orgHale-Bopp companions?!?Hale-Bopp companions?!?…

Comet Hale-Bopp - Deep Sky Videos

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Why the Software Missed It

The key software problem was a display or configuration issue, not the absence of the star from astronomical data. A review of MegaStar, the sky-atlas program associated with the episode, explained that the star was not missing from the underlying catalogue. The likely issue was that the software had been configured so that objects of SAO 141894’s catalogue type were not displayed. [MIRA]mira.orgMega Star ReviewMegaStar Review - MIRA Quarterly Newsletter - Summer 97…

The technical wrinkle was the Hubble Guide Star Catalog’s classification. MegaStar could use catalogue data in which SAO 141894 was labelled as a “nonstar” for guide-star purposes. That did not mean it was not physically a star; it meant the catalogue regarded it as unsuitable for Hubble’s precise pointing needs. MegaStar allowed users to show, specially mark, or hide such entries. If those entries were turned off, the CCD image would show a real star while the software chart appeared blank at the same position. [MIRA]mira.orgMega Star ReviewMegaStar Review - MIRA Quarterly Newsletter - Summer 97…

This is the central lesson of the Shramek case: a planetarium program is not an oracle. It is a tool built from catalogues, filters, magnitude limits and user choices. A mismatch between an image and a software chart can mean “check the settings”, not “new object discovered”. In this case, other observers using catalogue comparisons and sky-survey images could identify the light as SAO 141894. [ESO]eso.orgHale-Bopp companions?!?Hale-Bopp companions?!?…

Optical Astronomy by Perry Vlahos

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Shramek Photo illustration 3

Shramek Photo illustration 2

How the Image Changed Meaning in UFO Circles

Once the image moved from an amateur observing problem into talk radio and early internet discussion, its meaning changed. On Coast to Coast AM, Shramek’s “Saturn-like object” became a dramatic anomaly attached to one of the decade’s most visible comets. TIME reported that the programme reached a very large late-night audience and that Shramek’s call was followed by stronger claims from Courtney Brown, who framed the object as a spacecraft. [Time]time.comtollbit.time.com…

The image worked especially well as UFO evidence because it seemed to offer three things at once: a photograph, a named astronomical event, and a software failure. For believers, the missing software entry could be read as confirmation that the object was outside ordinary knowledge. For astronomers, it was a warning sign that the claim had not yet passed basic catalogue checking.

The failed prediction followed from that shift in interpretation. A light near Hale–Bopp became a companion object; the companion object became a spacecraft; the spacecraft became part of a larger expectation that something extraordinary was approaching Earth. The original evidence did not support that chain. It was a star, made strange by image artefacts, catalogue labelling and premature interpretation.

Cometa Hale-Bopp pode revelar as origens da vida na Terra (e fora dela)

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Endnotes

  1. Source: eso.org
    Title: Hale-Bopp companions?!?
    Link: https://www.eso.org/~ohainaut/Hale_Bopp/hb_ufo_shramek.html
    Source snippet

    Hale-Bopp companions?!?...

  2. Source: mira.org
    Title: Mega Star Review
    Link: https://www.mira.org/newsletr/nlfall97/megastar.htm
    Source snippet

    MegaStar Review - MIRA Quarterly Newsletter - Summer 97...

  3. Source: time.com
    Link: https://time.com/archive/6730620/the-man-who-spread-the-myth/
    Source snippet

    tollbit.time.com...

  4. Source: eso.org
    Title: hb ufo
    Link: https://www.eso.org/~ohainaut/Hale_Bopp/hb_ufo.html
    Source snippet

    Hale-Bopp companions?!?The original image is compared to the Palomar Sky Survey, and the SLO is identified as star SAO 141894.... Januar...

  5. Source: eso.org
    Link: https://www.eso.org/~ohainaut/Hale_Bopp/hb_ufo_list.html

  6. Source: eso.org
    Title: hb ufo tholen
    Link: https://www.eso.org/~ohainaut/Hale_Bopp/hb_ufo_tholen.html

  7. Source: mira.org
    Link: https://www.mira.org/newsletr/web/NL_1997_3_Fal_Web.pdf

  8. Source: cloudynights.com
    Link: https://www.cloudynights.com/forums/topic/790865-1996-hale-bopp-comet/page/2/

  9. Source: cloudynights.com
    Link: https://www.cloudynights.com/forums/topic/790865-1996-hale-bopp-comet/page/3/

  10. Source: Wikipedia
    Title: Comet Hale–Bopp
    Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Hale%E2%80%93Bopp

  11. Source: pages.jh.edu
    Link: https://pages.jh.edu/gazette/aprjun97/apr0797/comet.html

Additional References

  1. Source: youtube.com
    Title: Optical Astronomy by Perry Vlahos
    Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9I2INT3wSs
    Source snippet

    This analysis of the Hale-Bopp anomaly details how Chuck Shramek's photo misidentification fueled widespread UFO companion theories...

  2. Source: astropix.com
    Link: https://www.astropix.com/html/comet_images/comet_hale-bopp.html

  3. Source: sacred-texts.com
    Link: https://sacred-texts.com/ufo/halbopp2.htm

  4. Source: sacred-texts.com
    Link: https://sacred-texts.com/ufo/halbopp3.htm

  5. Source: reddit.com
    Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/ArtBell/comments/106tp8g/hale_bopp_saga_super_cut/

  6. Source: facebook.com
    Link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ASIAIR/posts/3538942962935568/

  7. Source: castfvg.it
    Link: https://www.castfvg.it/zzzz/software/skymap8.htm

  8. Source: reddit.com
    Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/ufo/comments/1ogwe8a/the_3iatlas_may_be_our_generations_halebopp_event/

  9. Source: bibliotecapleyades.net
    Link: https://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/valdamar_valerian/esp_valdamar_valerian_9c.htm

  10. Source: issp.ac.ru
    Link: https://www.issp.ac.ru/univer/astro/comets/hbguide.html

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