[Grut]

In fact, the Federal Aviation Administration did have an explanation. Its radar operators in New York had seen on their screens an unknown object "merging" with TWA 800 in the seconds before the crash...

Sorry, but I strongly doubt that Air Traffic Control radars would have noted the position of anything that wasn't transmitting a transponder code. To avoid clutter, 'skin paints' are supressed on ATC radars, or at least they were the last time I looked.

[endthematrix]

[Indie]

Wrong. Not always. Operator discretion. Primary targets are frequently allowed to paint by Center controllers since their traffic is less dense than TRACON.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

I have heard the same thing, but I know from 100's of hours on PPI (plan position indicator) on ATC radar that most of the time more than a few miles from the radar, you can get a pretty good picture with with primary returns alone.

Typically, returns are thresholded at one square meter effective radar cross section, smaller targets are rejected. I know of at least one occasion on which we got more than 10,000 returns/scan from Canada Geese. (I see wise cracks in my crystal ball.) A stinger is probably comparable in size to a Canada Goose.

[coloradan]

Sorry, but I strongly doubt that Air Traffic Control radars would have noted the position of anything that wasn't transmitting a transponder code. To avoid clutter, 'skin paints' are supressed on ATC radars, or at least they were the last time I looked.

You can suspect what you want, but the ATC radar tapes were leaked from the investigation (by an insider ... WHY?) and they clearly show a fleeting return that lasts only a few seconds before vanishing, right at the time TWA 800 broke up. Right after the loss of electrical power to the plane, primary radar returns were recorded that had an average velocity of Mach 2. Read more.