'UFO' Flies Past ISS: Space Junk or Tribble Invasion?

Monday morning, NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy took a look out of the International Space Station’s window to see something awry — a mysterious object was floating by! Of course, being the professional that he is, Cassidy asked mission control what it could be.

At first glance, to me, it reminded me of a yellow Tribble from the classic Star Trek episode “The Trouble With Tribbles.” As it continued its flight, it looked more like an old space capsule from the Soviet era. However, it was much smaller (and a lot more mundane) than that.

“Earlier this morning (Aug. 19), Chris Cassidy had noted an object that was floating past the station near the station’s Progress 52 cargo ship,” said the NASA TV narrator. “That object has been identified by Russian flight controllers as an antenna cover from the Zvezda service module.”

Oh. So it’s just space junk then? Bummer. My money was on a Tribble invasion.

BONUS: Cassidy’s footage reminded me of a great 2010 interview by Discovery News’ James Williams with UFO hoaxer/CGI genius “The Faking Hoaxer”, watch it.(Aug 20, 2013 01:03 PM ET // by Ian O'Neill)