Six hours before airtime（播出之前）/bɪˈfɔː ˈeətaɪm/, Meridian Observatory began a publicity blitz（集中宣传攻势）/blɪts/ for an image that ostensibly（表面上）/ɒ'stensɪblɪ/ showed a new planetary（行星的）/'plænɪt(ə)rɪ/ body beside Jupiter（木星）/'dʒuːpɪtə/. A brilliant aura（光晕）/'ɔːrə/ surrounded the object, and an asterisk（星号）/'æstərɪsk/ in the caption called the detection provisional. Staff began to bicker（争论）/'bɪkə/ over whether the observatory should announce it. Image analyst Mira Sol instead requested the raw frame in question（所涉及的）/ɪn ˈkwestʃən/. Acting in light of（鉴于）/ɪn laɪt əv/ the public claim, she set aside（暂时搁置）/set əˈsaɪd/ the edited picture and required an aboveboard（公开透明地）/ə,bʌv'bɔːd/ review before the broadcast.
Sky conditions eliminated several explanations. A downpour（倾盆大雨）/'daʊnpɔː/ had ended before exposure, but drizzle（毛毛雨）/'drɪz(ə)l/ left one raindrop（雨滴）/'reɪndrɒp/ on the outer window. Beyond the conurbation（大都市区）/ˌkɒnɜːˈbeɪʃn/, darkness（黑暗程度）/'dɑrknəs/ was sufficient and the starry（布满星星的）/'stɑːrɪ/ field was not unusually gloomy（昏暗的）/'gluːmɪ/. Venus（金星）/'viːnəs/ lay outside the frame, the expected constellation（星座）/,kɒnstə'leɪʃ(ə)n/ aligned correctly, and no meteor（流星）/'miːtɪə; -tɪɔː/ crossed the exposure. A nearby skyrocket（升空烟花）/'skaɪrɒkɪt/ appeared in a later frame only. Atmospheric scintillation（星光闪烁）/sɪntɪ'leɪʃ(ə)n/ made ordinary stars twinkle（闪烁）/'twɪŋk(ə)l/ in sporadic（零星的）/spə'rædɪk/ flashes, whereas the disputed light did not move with them.
The optical path supplied the decisive evidence. A translucent（半透明的）/træns'luːs(ə)nt; trɑːns-; -nz-/ filter and a prism（棱镜）/'prɪz(ə)m/ sat before a glossy（光滑的）/'glɒsɪ/ sensor cover. A glint（闪光点）/glɪnt/ from the filter tracked the operator's cursor（光标）/'kɜːsə/ and became a glimmer（微光）/'glɪmə/ when the image was dimmed. The sensor cover's sheen（表面光泽）/ʃiːn/ and luster（光泽）/'lʌstə/ produced a second reflection（反射影像）/rɪ'flekʃ(ə)n/ with the same hue（色调）/hjuː/ and tint（色彩偏移）/tɪnt/ as a shiny（有光泽的）/'ʃaɪnɪ/ status lamp. A raindrop added a ripple（波纹）/'rɪp(ə)l/ and shimmer（微微闪光）/'ʃɪmə/, while corrugated（波纹状的）/'kɒrəɡeɪtɪd/ shutter edges created a faint halo（光环）/'heɪləʊ/. None of these effects required a new object or supported the discovery claim. Mira found no basis for（没有……的依据）/nəʊ ˈbeɪsɪs fɔː/ treating any of them as astral（星体的）/'æstr(ə)l/ evidence.
Mira then audited the public display. Its hologram（全息图）/'hɒləgræm/ made the false planet look resplendent（光彩夺目的）/rɪ'splend(ə)nt/, and a panel called the picture glorious（辉煌的）/'glɔːrɪəs/ and illuminating（启发性的）/ɪ'ljuːmɪneɪtɪŋ/. Designers had used software to brighten（调亮）/'braɪt(ə)n/ it handsomely（醒目地）/'hænsəmli/ and placed a slick（精心包装的）/slɪk/ caption beneath it; another editor said the layout had been done nicely（漂亮地）/'naɪslɪ/. Nearby gift-shop text mixed astronomy with astrology（占星术）/ə'strɒlədʒɪ/ and a horoscope（星象预测）/'hɒrəskəʊp/. That wording could bring the institution into disrepute（声誉受损）/,dɪsrɪ'pjuːt/ because it gave marketing gloss（粉饰性光彩）/glɒs/ to an unverified claim. Mira removed the ignoble（不体面的）/ɪg'nəʊb(ə)l/ headline rather than（而不是）/ˈrɑːðə ðæn/ let it deface（损害）/dɪ'feɪs/ the scientific record.
Witness accounts did not rescue the announcement. One visitor wearing bifocals（双焦眼镜）/baɪ'fəʊkəlz/ had seen a flicker（闪烁）/'flɪkə/ through an eyeglass（眼镜镜片）/'aɪglɑːs/, but a reflex（反射动作）/'riːfleks/ adjustment of the lens reproduced it. Another described a brief glisten（反光）/'glɪs(ə)n/ on the dome, not an object in space. The image's apparent brilliance（亮度）/'brɪlj(ə)ns/ rose whenever staff increased the screen setting. Mira rejected the shortsighted（目光短浅的）/'ʃɔː'saɪtɪd/ proposal to keep the claim for publicity. She told the director, 女“We can show how a reflection fooled us, but we cannot present it as a discovery.”
On that basis（据此）/ɒn ðæt ˈbeɪsɪs/, the observatory replaced the segment with an explanation of internal reflection in accordance with（按照）/ɪn əˈkɔːdəns wɪð/ its raw frames. The revised graphic no longer（不再）/nəʊ ˈlɒŋɡə/ labelled the light as a planet. The verification result was concrete: rotating the filter moved the false object by exactly the predicted angle, so the team traced it to the status lamp. Beyond that（除此之外）/bɪˈjɒnd ðæt/, the broadcast published every source frame and recorded no unsupported discovery.