[FreedomCalls]

That is simply the out of focus image of the bright spot where Columbia is. It is not in any way a close-up of the shuttle. It is extremely out of focus. What you are seeing is the outline of the iris diaphram in the lens of the video camera. Anything you see resembling a "shuttle" is your imagination running wild.

[PokeyJoe]

I dunno. Looks like swamp gas to me.

[Alberta's Child]

It's important to note here that this image was taken before a single debris contrail appeared. In fact, as soon as the camera zoomed out you saw a single point of light below this image and to the right, traveling at the same speed in a right-to-left direction. It was then that the contrails started to appear.

My first reaction when I saw this thing live was that it was a sideways view of the shuttle. I'm not sure exactly where this fits in terms of the sequence of events detailed in NASA's description, but I'll bet that all the "loss of data" and "loss of contact" occurred a good many seconds before this first image even appeared.

[July 4th]

I'll have to agree with that. I don't think this is the shuttle sideways, but something really bright playing tricks on the camcorder.

If the shuttle were turned sideways, I think it would have disintegrated in a fraction of a second in a huge ball of fire. The airframe was not designed to travel 90 degrees off-axis on reentry.

[PokeyJoe]

Actually, the shuttle was in a 57 degree left bank in a decellerating turn. I think that the picture is consistent with a left wing failure, leading to departure from controlled flight, and resulted in an uncontrollable tumble and disintergration of the spacecraft.

Thanks to GRRRRRRR for taking the screenshots and trying to post them.

[Redcloak]

You've called it correctly FreedomCalls. This is simply out-of-focus light. The odd, but symetrical, shape is a combination of pixel saturation from the brightest parts of the image and features in the camera's entrance pupil. (such as pick-offs for the exposure sensor and the auto-focus sensor)

And no, I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn last night; I'm an optical engineer.