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."
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Thursday August 16 2018, @04:26PM (9 children)
That quote grates across every nerve I have. It's worse than typical meaningless nonsense.
WTF does that mean? At face value, it something like, "We don't know anything, but we can't verify that we don't know anything."
I will note that the quote was in Switzerland. OK, so, maybe the speaker isn't a native English speaker. Perhaps the quote was poorly translated. But, holy shit - the sentence is worse than meaningless as it appears here.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 16 2018, @04:58PM
maybe try reading the article
a declared “space apparatus inspector.”
well we dont know wtf a "space apparatus inspector" is and we cant walk up to it to check
maybe our swiss pal is fine at english and ur not
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 16 2018, @05:00PM
> "We don't know for certain what it is and there is no way to verify it,"
...but all that quote was supposed to do was make/keep you scared. Did it have the desired effect?
(Score: 4, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 16 2018, @05:45PM
WTF does that mean?
Weasel words. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weasel_word [wikipedia.org]
Now you know
(Score: 4, Interesting) by AthanasiusKircher on Thursday August 16 2018, @06:04PM (4 children)
Reminds me of the classic: "There are known knowns..." [wikipedia.org]
Sounds like, according to that characterization, this is mostly an "unknown unknown" with a slight tinge of "known unknown." :)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 16 2018, @07:52PM (1 child)
err, you should get things straight. This is a known unknown. We know something that we don't know. Yeah? Simple?
(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Friday August 17 2018, @05:46PM
Reading comprehension. Try it.
I said "according to that characterization," i.e. the quoted text. I wasn't addressing the actual state of things in TFA as a rational person would understand them, only the ludicrous quotation.
The clue is also in the smiley I appended to my post. In case you don't know, that's often a symbol of a joke/sarcasm/quip, rather than serious analysis.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 16 2018, @08:28PM (1 child)
Hey, did you know that the phrase(s) would seem to originate from "The Kybalion" a text on Hermetic Philosophy (C) 1912. That's not in wikipedia, but you can find the text of the book online. The original is better than the lame quotes on wp etc. Anyway, just a fact that some of us know these things -- go, google for more :)
and no, the news thing seemed to just be hysterical fear mongering to me. too bad that the propaganda spin is a lot like the stuff that led up to prior world-wars.
(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Friday August 17 2018, @05:53PM
Well, I'm pretty sure Rumsfeld wasn't quoting an old obscure Hermetic text. And the concept goes back to the foundations of epistemology, at least to ancient Greece, even if the phrasing may be modern.
(Score: 2) by bradley13 on Thursday August 16 2018, @06:42PM
From TFA: "What would be enough information to prove what the purpose of an object is? We have pointed out Russian satellite behavior that is inconsistent with what Russia claims it is – a so-called inspector satellite not acting in a manner consistent with a satellite designed to conduct safe and responsible inspection operations."
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 16 2018, @04:55PM (35 children)
Will the continuous 5 minute hates ever stop? I guess when Trump is no longer president.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 16 2018, @04:59PM (8 children)
Will the continuous 5 minute hates ever stop? I guess when Trump is no longer president.
It will stop when Russia stops fucking with our elections. Until the, fuck Russia and all who support them (Republicans, Tories, apologists on this site, Assange, etc. I'm looking at you. And in case it wasn't clear: fuck you and the horse you rode in on).
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 16 2018, @05:51PM (3 children)
It will never stop and has been going on for 80+ years. They interfered with obama, bushes 1&2, clinton, reagan, carter, nixon, etc. It wasn't as newsworthy back then. Just as the US interferes with everyone else's.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_espionage_in_the_United_States [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 16 2018, @08:34PM (2 children)
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?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 16 2018, @09:58PM
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
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.
Probably no. It's just an exploitation of an existing psychological gimmick that's been around for a while.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Gaaark on Thursday August 16 2018, @11:20PM (2 children)
And when will AMERICA stop fucking in foreign elections?
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Friday August 17 2018, @03:06PM (1 child)
And when will AMERICA stop fucking in foreign elections?
When was the last time that actually happened? Before I was born?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 17 2018, @03:46PM
Were you born yesterday? If you were born before yesterday then yes, it happened after you were born. A source for you [nytimes.com] which has positive confirmation to 2009 in Afghanistan. We just know more about the ones in which information is now declassified.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 17 2018, @11:04AM
Perhaps you should have a critical look at agencies such as USAID, funded for 5.1 billion $. The russians kicked them out of their country for meddling in Russian politics to much. (e.g. funding political parties friendly to the US, which is considerably worse than whatever the US has accused Russia of in the last election)
(Score: 5, Insightful) by ikanreed on Thursday August 16 2018, @04:59PM (10 children)
This is one of trump's appointees, if anything, this probably some bullshit to panic "sensible centrists" into backing the idea of a space force.
2018 is so goddamn dumb and stupid and I hate everything.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday August 16 2018, @06:18PM (8 children)
Even since November 2016, the rate of Russian "scary stuff" in the media has spiked up sharply - super nukes, unstoppable missiles, etc.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by ikanreed on Thursday August 16 2018, @06:38PM (7 children)
Maybe my commitment to never watching 24 hour news channels is at fault, but I cannot share your sentiment at all.
(Score: 3, Informative) by JoeMerchant on Thursday August 16 2018, @08:26PM (6 children)
Prior to November 2016, I don't recall ever hearing of the 20MT submarine base destroying torpedo that will incidentally make any cities within 60 miles basically uninhabitable.
Neither do I recall the sabre rattling of Russian "Star Wars" style missiles and countermeasures being so prominently featured in the news - even when Reagan was lording that crap over the Soviets, our news seemed to shield us from their rebuttals.
Frankly, it struck me much like the gasoline price spikes as W was being re-elected - his buddies playing up for maximum profit as soon as they can. The Trump Russia connection was clear long before the election, and as soon as he was elected the amount of "Russia is SCARY" shit hitting our news spiked to 11, relative to what used to reach me.
Granted, I don't "watch the news" either, so I'm not the best sampling judge, but this stuff was loud and long enough to come across FM radio news bites, hallway conversations, etc.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 3, Informative) by DeathMonkey on Thursday August 16 2018, @09:07PM (5 children)
Yeah, turns out foreign interference in the world's most powerful democracy is rather newsworthy.
And, the complete lack of a response to it is also newsworthy.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday August 16 2018, @09:15PM (2 children)
I'm (not) sorry if I'm just ignorant, but isn't Meliana or whatever her name is basically a Soviet Bloc mail-order-bride for the wealthy set?
I guess that's better than niggers and wetbacks that are destroying us from within /s - at least to the 49% of voters who got him in office.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 16 2018, @10:42PM
Voter turnout was low, so 48/49% of the actual votes sure, but of the total US population I'd say Trump would only have gotten 25%. Maybe more because so many people are stupid enough to only vote party lines.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 16 2018, @11:39PM
Look in a mirror if you want to see what's really destroying us from within. You're a shit-stain on america.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 16 2018, @09:16PM
Alright! DeathMonkey chomping at the bit to go fight Russia for American Democracy and Hillary Clinton! Have a rifle and this cool cell phone. We'll drop you in over Novaya Zemlya.
(Score: 2) by ikanreed on Thursday August 16 2018, @09:23PM
Be that as it may, if the op's claim is correct, it's not an appropriate media response. A far more appropriate media response would focus on "how else is our democracy easily threatened by outside(or corrupt inside) manipulation"?
(Score: 3, Funny) by fritsd on Thursday August 16 2018, @07:51PM
It's too warm for your head.
"But mr president! We cannot afford a mysterious satellite gap!"
Here: (maybe off-topic)
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/14/vote-now-for-your-favourite-space-force-logo [theguardian.com]
(Score: -1, Troll) by VLM on Thursday August 16 2018, @05:35PM (14 children)
The communists were mostly Jewish, and the modern interpretation of the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union and end of the cold war is it was an inherently antisemitic act for the Russians to get rid of the commies.
So, kinda like you're not going to see "Holocaust Education" end anytime soon, you're not going to see rabid Anti-Russian sentiment end anytime soon... Not with the current people remaining in charge, anyway.
"How dare those people escape from the rule of Jewish Communists? How Dare They? We should tell our servants in the USA to invade and teach them a lesson!"
Essentially its the same as a teen girl getting real pissed off at rejection. A lot of "How dare they?" and entitlement. Which actually meshes pretty well with the same mindset for "Hillary was destined to win"
In reality a maritime global trade empire on the other side of the planet would be well advised to ally with a land empire on a continent on the other side of the planet. Its hard to find a match of major powers with less overlapping spheres of influence and we'd make great trading partners. There's really nothing wrong with Russia other than they got rid of their leftist leadership and we haven't ... yet. That, crazy as it sounds, is literally the only burr in the relationship between the USA and Russia.
More or less is boils down to we still have some shitty legacy leadership in the same party the Russians overthrew back in '91 and our shitty legacy leaders are STILL butthurt over the Russian's rejection of them.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 16 2018, @07:10PM
Jewish communists?
Your rhetoric becomes more and more stilted as time goes on. Truly you are the rabid dog birthed from the unholy union of Limbaugh and Hillary, the unloved bastard child.
(Score: 5, Informative) by DeathMonkey on Thursday August 16 2018, @07:40PM (12 children)
The communists were mostly Jewish, and the modern interpretation of the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union and end of the cold war is it was an inherently antisemitic act for the Russians to get rid of the commies.
VLM is a liar. [wikipedia.org]
Russian Orthodox 20%, Muslim 15%, Protestant, Georgian Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, and Roman Catholic 7%, Jewish less than 1%, atheist 60% (1990 est.).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 16 2018, @08:10PM
VLM a lying alt-righter? NOOOOOOO say it isn't sooooooo.
(Score: 5, Informative) by shortscreen on Thursday August 16 2018, @08:34PM (5 children)
There is a myth that persists in some circles that the Bolsheviks were Jews or were financed by Jews as part of some scheme (which is never explained). AFAICT this idea originated with the Nazis who hated both the Soviets and Jews and tried to lump them together in their propaganda.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 17 2018, @02:03AM (3 children)
http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v14/v14n1p-4_Weber.html [ihr.org]
It is undeniable that jews were behind the Bolshevik revolution. Everyone should learn history.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 17 2018, @09:07AM (2 children)
that's a nazi website https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute_for_Historical_Review [wikipedia.org]
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 17 2018, @12:04PM (1 child)
What does that have to do with the quote from Winston Churchill about jews?
Are you jewish yourself? If yes then die.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 17 2018, @12:22PM
A quote taken out of context is often meant to deceive. This looks like a more complete picture of Churchill's position -- a scan of the original article:
https://archive.org/details/ZionismVsBolshevismByWinstonChurchill [archive.org]
(Score: 2) by VLM on Sunday August 19 2018, @01:12PM
A cousin of "evolution is just a theory"
(Score: 1, Troll) by realDonaldTrump on Thursday August 16 2018, @11:51PM (2 children)
I'm from New York. Where, for a little while, our alt-left was a very big deal -- until Obama's people cracked down on them. They called themselves Occupy, they were always talking about how "the 1%" run our Country. And tey were right. Except, frankly, it's less than 1% that really run it. Much less. Believe me, I know -- I'm the top top guy. And I think it's the same in many many Countries. Definitely in the Soviet Union. Which I visited in 1987. I wanted to build beautiful hotels, luxurious hotels like nothing they'd ever seen. And I didn't need to talk to thousands of people. Or millions of people. There were millions in the Communist Party, very few at the top. I talked to a few guys, very powerful guys. I wouldn't say Jewish, they didn't look Jewish to me. And I know Jewish, I'm from New York. I've had a lot of Jewish lawyers. My son-in-law is Jewish. My daughter. So trust me, I know. And I wanted to talk to Mikhail G., I invited him to Trump Tower. He told me "yes" but he flaked. So, no hotels. And by the way, I had some ideas about how we could have ended that terrible Cold War VERY QUICKLY. His loss!!!!
(Score: 2) by turgid on Saturday August 18 2018, @10:27PM (1 child)
You may be from New York but your mother was from the isle of Lewis.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Sunday August 19 2018, @03:46AM
My mother, why are you bringing my mother into this? She was from Scotland, from the Isle of Lewis. As you said. And, not many Jews there. But I didn't say she was Jewish. And I didn't say I'm Jewish. I'm not Jewish, I never said I'm Jewish. But I'm from New York. Where there are more Jews than anyplace. And like I said, Jewish daughter. Jewish son-in-law. Jewish lawyers. Also, Jewish doctor. So I know Jewish. And those Soviet guys, I don't think they were Jewish.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 17 2018, @01:51AM (1 child)
http://www.vho.org/tr/2004/3/Rudolf325-327.html [vho.org]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NKVD_prisoner_massacres [wikipedia.org]
http://www.fpp.co.uk/ActionReport/AR15/KGB_Jewish.html [fpp.co.uk]
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/jan/25/russia.books [theguardian.com]
Jews are murderous criminals of the sleaziest kind.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday August 17 2018, @05:13PM
Yeah, Al Capone was a Jew. And, Charles Manson. Ted Kaczynski. Tom Horn. Adam Lanza. Andie Kehoe. John Wayne Gacy. Ted Bundy is a nice Jewish name. Timothy McVeigh. Jim Jones. And, the Son of Sam, David Berkowitz. Oh, wait, that one sounds like he could have been Jewish. I'll bet you already know which ones are Jewish. Well - to be more accurate, you probably have a catalogue of low-life criminals who are Jewish, and simply neglect any who are not Jewish.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 16 2018, @05:08PM (2 children)
This is a special satellite that is supposed to track a specific asset in the US. This explains why it's usually situated above Washington DC.
(Score: 3, Informative) by ikanreed on Thursday August 16 2018, @05:27PM (1 child)
I see the joke you're going for here, but also, wouldn't most spies be in DC anyways? Or at least DC, Arlington, and Langley? Like those are the things to spy on?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 16 2018, @06:13PM
You mean, wouldn't they be staying at the primary asset's residence, or possibly his hotel? Yes.
(Score: 2) by requerdanos on Thursday August 16 2018, @05:24PM (1 child)
And indeed, the U.S. is instituting its own actual space-militarizing "Space Force" threat [srnnews.com], while complaining about a wobbly Russian satellite and accusing it of some unspecified but 'obviously' nefarious intentions.
Look, as a US-ian, I love Russia, and I love the U.S.
But both their governments have aspects that are distasteful in a dedicated, evil way, such that I don't associate either government as representative of either country.
(Score: 2) by arslan on Thursday August 16 2018, @10:40PM
Nahh.. I think the comment is to the fact that the US already have guns stashed up there, now the Ruskies are doing it. It is peaceful if you're the only one with guns since there's no one to oppose you
(Score: 5, Informative) by turgid on Thursday August 16 2018, @05:28PM (3 children)
A few years back, the USA launched the X-37B for the first time, a small autonomous spaceplane able to change orbits, stay on orbit for hundreds of days and to land autonomously. It has a payload bay. Perhaps the Russians have developed their own equivalent?
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 3, Insightful) by bob_super on Thursday August 16 2018, @05:55PM
Beat me to it.
"Waaah, these guys are doing something shady with their secret satellites doing weird stuff!!!" says the government controlling the most secret satellites doing weird stuff shadily.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 16 2018, @08:04PM (1 child)
Strike equivalent, it's probably a copy.
They want to create a "Space Force" so they can create all kinds of new technologies, to leak to the Russians, so they have to create new even better technology.... to leak to the Russians. Ad infinitum. Really the should just invite the general staff to moscow to the pentagon and set up an in house strip club. It would be cheaper for the taxpayer to just pay for the blowjobs for the general staff, than pay the vendors to supply them. I'm sure the GOA would agree.
(Score: 2) by turgid on Friday August 17 2018, @07:59PM
Maybe it is the X-37B. Perhaps they launched it when Obama was in office and Trump fired all the people who knew anything about it?
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 4, Disagree) by hemocyanin on Thursday August 16 2018, @07:46PM (4 children)
If a story contains the word "russia", it should receive some sort of negative score making it less likely to be posted unless it has some real content to offset the probable level of total horseshit contained therein. In the same way you can safely assume that any email with the word "erectile" in it is spam, you can pretty much bet any article with the word "russia" in it is designed to fan the flames of global nuclear war by some crybaby Democrats who can't fathom that warpig Hillary could have lost.
Under such a system of demerits for "russia" articles, this particular one would have never seen the light of day because it amounts to a pile of FUD based on the assertion that a satellite is acting strangely WITHOUT ever explaining what the strange behavior is and comparing that to normal behavior. Out of that vague and meaningless claim, is concocted an entire screed of fearmongering which is then extended to discussion forums. As a result the same types of people who would display vials of yellowcake to the UN to start a war based on lies and misinformation, are whistling and giggling while the pass our future graveyards. Fuck those people. Quit giving them bandwidth to spout their deadly lies. Ignore them into the oblivion where they belong.
(Score: 2) by EvilSS on Thursday August 16 2018, @08:26PM (2 children)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 17 2018, @05:57AM (1 child)
I'm... pretty certain that those are two separate groups of people.
(Score: 2) by EvilSS on Friday August 17 2018, @01:29PM
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday August 16 2018, @09:58PM
But, what if a spy needs to get across an encoded message in ENGORGE! spam?
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 4, Insightful) by shortscreen on Thursday August 16 2018, @08:39PM
What exactly is the expected behavior of an "inspection" satellite and how has this particular satellite deviated from that?
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 17 2018, @06:12AM
It's erratic, unpredictable, confounds the experts, and generates random static.
Wait, wrong headline, that's the President.
(Score: 2) by Rivenaleem on Friday August 17 2018, @09:34AM (1 child)
One of these days I'd just love for Russia to reply, "Yeah, Maybe it is a new sophisticated weapon."
I'd be more shocked to hear that any of the major sovereign nations are NOT building new weapons. The day the US says (with complete honesty), "Hey world, we haven't made any advancements in weapons technology for the past 2 decades, and yes, we've decommissioned all our nuclear arsenal," is the day the rest of the world invades them.
There's no way the Russians are NOT developing "troubling" new weapons. Just how much time and effort has the US put into that flop of a fighter?
(Score: 2) by pvanhoof on Friday August 17 2018, @05:42PM
I'm sure there are all sorts of crazy weapons hanging over our heads.
Meanwhile here in Europe we are just silently hoping that when this Russia v. US conflict breaks out in a hot way, you guys will fight it on your own lands and seas. Bomb each other to shit. But stay out of Europe with that WOIII stuff. Whatever you do, not here please.
Meanwhile, give us moar pipelines and gas. Moar!