NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 mission (OCO-2) launch
NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 mission (OCO-2) launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base, in California July 2, 2014. Reuters

The "tether incident" took place on Feb. 25, 1996, which was the fourth day of a 15-day mission by a joint National Aeronautics and Space Administration-Italian Tethered Satellite System. NASA made a statement the mission was to investigate the new sources of spacecraft power.

According to Chron.com, on Feb. 25, the crew had started deploying the satellite along with 12 miles of "tether," which is a cable used to conduct electricity. Based on NASA's summary of the highlights of that day, the world watched as the satellite was gently lifted from its cradle that had been extended to about 11.3 metres from the cargo bay in Columbia, and the crew was continuing to unreel the satellite on the tether.

But at about 7:30 p.m., things started going wrong. A few hours after the experiment began, the tether broke which led to the satellite floating away. YouTube has a video of it which that to date is generating lots of comments.

Video Source: YouTube/xXPersianxAlienXx

On Sep. 12, Stargazer Nation put up a high-definition version of the original NASA footage that shows UFOs coming towards the tether. In the video, the tether looks like a stick surrounded by bright dots.

Watch the footage in Stargazer Nation's webpage: Video

When the incident took place, Franklin Chang-Diaz, an astronaut, said the objects near the tether were little bits of debris, which was illuminated by the sun. He added the debris flew with them.

Experts and true alien believers who viewed both footages have said the videos not only show a UFO but also confirms the existence of aliens as well, reports Examiner.com. True believers of UFO feel NASA hasn't made a comment yet and charges the agency of a cover up. John Tindall from The History Channel said the telephoto lens of the camera, which has a circular mirror with a hole in its centre, resulted in the images and that the mirror left an artifact on the video.

There have been no mentions of any UFOs in the NASA archives. NASA talks about the failed mission and has done so in a descriptive manner. The debate about extra-terrestrial life has been a never-ending one.