Rare things that have been documented much better than UFOs

This could also be considered a rare thing that was captured much better than UFOs, video of the outer layer apparently loose and flapping about during launch:
It looks too flexible to be steel, which I think would have broken off quickly after a few bends. Is there any rubberized layer, perhaps connecting a booster that is to be detached?
 
It looks too flexible to be steel, which I think would have broken off quickly after a few bends. Is there any rubberized layer, perhaps connecting a booster that is to be detached?
Duct tape? It holds everything else together, after all.
 
The flapping bit of metal (it looks like paper flapping like that but that's steel! It's flapping close to "max Q" when the aerodynamic forces on the rocket are at their peak. Less powerful rockets than Starship have had metal deform and even been torn apart by these forces) is just a thin cover over the lift/catch hardware and bump plate. It's not a structural component (I'm honestly not sure what purpose it serves, prior flights and the first stage just have those little lift pegs sticking out the whole time. I's also a long distance from where the leak was. That was at the aft, a fuel line leaked into the space between the engine plate and the bottom of the tank.

Scott Manley has a pretty deep dive into the flight and explosion:


Source: https://youtu.be/vfVm4DTv6lM


Biggest highlight is that somebody was able to match exif data from pictures of the explosion to the timeline. The rocket coasted for over three minutes after losing telemetry before what was probably the flight termination explosives destroyed it. This was done while the craft was dropping and close to reentry, if it had been fired immediately debris would have showered a much larger area. Scott Manley questions if it was even best for the FTS to fire at all, since Starship was heading well out into the Atlantic and a single object is likely less dangerous than a shower. He also notes a number of planes in the risk zone changed their routes in an abundance of caution.



Edit: also, if you've been following the test campaign since the Starhopper tests, a Starship exploding is not a particularly rare event.
 
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Duct tape? It holds everything else together, after all.
Ooh, I remember "green tape" circa 1965, six inches wide and very difficult to peel off a roll, that was used to hold guided missiles together. We had a roll that we ripped into narrower strips for household repairs, and many years later celebrated the fact that our marriage had lasted longer than that roll of green tape.
 
Ooh, I remember "green tape" circa 1965, six inches wide and very difficult to peel off a roll, that was used to hold guided missiles together.
Don't tell the Apollo deniers, who get all in a tizzy because tape was used in holding the kapton on the Lunar Module together, under the assumption that tape is an inferior way to hold things together in all circumstances, that all tape is cellophane adhesive tape, and that taping parts on a high-tech flying machine is just a silly idea that would never happen.

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Being "swallowed" by a humpback whale, along with your kayak, must be quite rare.

External Quote:

A humpback whale briefly trapped a kayaker in its mouth off Chilean Patagonia before quickly releasing him unharmed.

Adrián Simancas was kayaking with his father, Dell Simancas, when the massive whale suddenly surfaced, trapping the young man and his yellow kayak in its mouth for a few seconds before letting him go.

Dell, just meters away, captured the moment on video while encouraging his son to stay calm.

"I thought it had eaten me and swallowed me", Adrián said.
BBC News, Latin America, 13 February 2025 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/c2k5e14vwx4o;

Fox News video on YouTube

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OZj1MJM9_U
 
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