Respect (Score 3, Interesting)

I have a great deal of respect for Jim O , but he knows that he and I differ in our opinions regarding the destruction of 193. As one of those observers who followed this bird through 2007 and as the unfortunate soul who was , seemingly , the only person to obtain high power images of it on a number of occassions , I formed my own opinion , based on what I saw and the fact that there was no way the Pentagon was going to allow this satellite to fall any lower , let alone , re -enter. Its quite simple , at 300 km I could see the basic outline of the satellite using back yard equipment.At 200 km I would have seen "much" more detail had I had the opportunity. If I could do that , then the opposition , using much more expensive kit , and adaptive optics would have been able to discriminate the exact shape and proportions of the spacecraft , from which it could then glean a great deal of intelligence. ( See my recent images of Persona ) As I stated back in mid December 2007 "The Pentagon will not allow this bird to come much lower and will probably destroy it on orbit." Those words were , at the time , met with derision but proved to be correct. The chances of the tank making ground in tact in a densly populated area were infinitesimal. We will probably never know the truth , but for my part , I'm convinced that the toxic ice cube theory was simply fabricated to mask the real reasons for the satellite's destruction. More details on both Persona and USA 193 at http://satcom.website.orange.co.uk/