Episode 67: The Black Knight Satellite Conspiracy

Have you ever heard of "The Black Knight Satellite Conspiracy"? As we all know, the first satellite to be successfully launched into space was Sputnik 1 in 1957…or was it? In 1954 an odd newspaper article ran in the New York Times citing claims by several American astronomers that two unknown satellites were circling the Earth. Fearing the Russians had beaten them to space, the Pentagon funded a Duke University study of the two objects. While publicly the U.S. declared the objects to be asteroids, private conversations between well-known scientists of the time begged to differ. If the objects were indeed satellites, who could have launched them? This question would lead to the discovery of a series of mysterious satellite sightings, beginning all the way back in 1899 with Nikola Tesla and ending as recently as February of last year. So what do YOU think of the Black Knight Satellite Conspiracy Theory? Is it a "Bracewell Probe" sent by extraterrestrials in hopes of finding intelligent life on other planets? Or is it simply a series of strange coincidences with no real meaning? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices