Thread by @gbrumfiel

NEW: President Trump Tweets Sensitive Surveillance Image of Iran
npr.org/2019/08/30/755…

(with comments from @nktpnd and @mhanham )

@nktpnd @mhanham To recap, earlier today, President Trump tweeted a REALLY clear picture of an accident at Iran's space launch facility. The picture is far better quality than what the best commercial satellites (like those operated by @Maxar) can produce. See for yourself.

@nktpnd @mhanham @Maxar Experts like @nktpnd and @mhanham have never seen anything like it. They firmly believe it came from a classified source. Both the White House and the @ODNIgov declined to comment.

@nktpnd @mhanham @Maxar @ODNIgov Of course, the President is allowed to declassify anything he wants. A small redaction in the upper-left-hand-corner of the image suggests it was cleared for release by the intelligence community.

@nktpnd @mhanham @Maxar @ODNIgov Historically, the U.S. has been VERY skittish about revealing sources and methods. @nktpnd and @mhanham agree that adversaries such as China, Russia and North Korea, as well as Iran, can learn from looking at this image.

@nktpnd @mhanham @Maxar @ODNIgov It's still not clear how the image was taken. It might be from a super-hi-resolution satellite. But it could also be from a drone or a spy plane. Experts like @Marco_Langbroek will, I'm sure, be taking a look to see if any U.S. Govt. satellites were flying overhead at the time.

@nktpnd @mhanham @Maxar @ODNIgov @Marco_Langbroek Regardless, it is a very impressive image. You can practically see the gas cap on the truck used to set up the rocket!

@nktpnd @mhanham @Maxar @ODNIgov @Marco_Langbroek P.S. @NPR broke the news of the Iranian failure yesterday... using way blurrier imagery.

npr.org/2019/08/29/755…