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posted by janrinok on Thursday August 16 2018, @04:14PM   Printer-friendly
from the what's-that-up-there? dept.

A mysterious Russian satellite displaying "very abnormal behaviour" has raised alarm in the US, according to a State Department official. "We don't know for certain what it is and there is no way to verify it," said assistant secretary Yleem Poblete at a conference in Switzerland on 14 August.

She voiced fears that it was impossible to say if the object may be a weapon.

Russia has dismissed the comments as "unfounded, slanderous accusations based on suspicious" [sic].

The satellite in question was launched in October last year. "[The satellite's] behaviour on-orbit was inconsistent with anything seen before from on-orbit inspection or space situational awareness capabilities, including other Russian inspection satellite activities," Ms Poblete told the conference on disarmament in Switzerland.

"Russian intentions with respect to this satellite are unclear and are obviously a very troubling development," she added, citing recent comments made by the commander of Russia's Space Forces, who said adopting "new prototypes of weapons" was a key objective for the force. Ms Poblete said that the US had "serious concerns" that Russia was developing anti-satellite weapons.

[...] [Ms Stickings (Royal United Services Institute - RUSI) said] "The narrative coming from the US is, 'space was really peaceful, now look at what the Russians and Chinese are doing' - ignoring the fact that the US has developed its own capabilities."


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  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 16 2018, @08:34PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 16 2018, @08:34PM (#722492)

    too bad that wikipedia can't contain articles on our espionage elsewhere.
    if it would, it might crack your conception of how we're just like the news would present us.

    at the least, do you not find it odd how we as a superpower keep playing the victim?
    that's not a sign of health anywhere; the panik'd screaming rather points to war and/or a systemic collapse ahead. no?

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 16 2018, @09:58PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 16 2018, @09:58PM (#722542)

    keep playing the victim?

    This is mostly recent. To the extent it is currently hyped. Before it was mainly fodder for movies and tv shows. Of course hyping it is also part of propaganda. To keep people fighting amongst themselves. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlHSD6uo7Mk [youtube.com]

  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday August 17 2018, @03:55AM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 17 2018, @03:55AM (#722686) Journal

    at the least, do you not find it odd how we as a superpower keep playing the victim?

    Not given the high profile of the victimhood industry in the US over the past few decades. It's no surprise that the scope of its considerable abuse has been enlarged to traditional government propaganda. Plus, there's always been some advantage to portraying oneself as an underdog.

    that's not a sign of health anywhere; the panik'd screaming rather points to war and/or a systemic collapse ahead. no?

    Probably no. It's just an exploitation of an existing psychological gimmick that's been around for a while.