In early December, 2018, SpaceX successfully ferried 2.5 tonnes of supplies to the the orbiting laboratory, including materials to support 250 experiments on its Dragon spaceship. However, while Dragon was latching onto the ISS to deliver the supplies, eagle-eyed viewers believe they spotted something in the distance. As seen on a NASA live feed from the ISS, what looks like three red lights in a triangular formation appear to slowly move by in the background.
Conspiracy theorists had a field day, with some categorically stating it is evidence of an alien spaceship.
According to alien hunters UFO Today, the sighting is evidence that extraterrestrials were observing the mission.
UFO Today said: “At the beginning of the video we suddenly see a large triangular object flying behind the dragon capsule.
“This object was triangular in shape and it was emitting light in several places, probably it’s propulsion system. This UFO could investigating the dragon capsule in space.
“Could this be first contact in space?”
However, others have offered a more logical explanation.
One user on Reddit wrote: “That’s just moonlight reflecting off the camera’s internal lenses.”
Wirmish wrote on YouTube: “It’s a piece of gold foil used to protect satellite hardware from the heat.
“Russian astronauts worked outside the space station three days before.”
Scientists who have worked for NASA in the past have a much simpler explanation for all of the bizarre UFO sightings reported.
According to former NASA engineer James Oberg, most UFO sightings are nothing more than “space dandruff” floating in front of cameras.
These specks of dandruff can be anything from bits of chipped paint drifting aimlessly in zero gravity, flakes of ice or ISS insulation that has broken off.
He said: “I’ve had enough experience with real spaceflight to realise that what’s being seen in many videos is nothing beyond the ‘norm’ from fully mundane phenomena occurring in unearthly settings.”
Mr Oberg argued the human brain is not wired to make sense of these tiny objects floating above Earth.