James Oberg wrote:
The best guess now is that the object departing columbia on flight day 2 was
a hunk out of the left RCC panel 8, maybe half a foot across or more.

Suppose it had shown up on an exterior PLB camera view, flashing off near
the horizon.

Would it have looked really different from 'ordinary' debris, different
enough to be a recognizable symptom of something worth worrying about?

It would have been obvious after a few seconds that it was in a similar
orbit to columbia.
A prompt request for some radar tracking might confirm that it had originated
near/came past shuttle.
It would not be obvious what it was.
What is procedure on strange stuff floating near shuttle?

Combined with the foam-strike video, if someone with a clue was aware of
both events, then two and two might be put together.
What you get when you add two and two is a whole nother question.

--
http://inquisitor.i.am/ | | Ian Stirling.
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Among a mans many good possessions, A good command of speech has no equal.