Chuck Shramek

Chuck Shramek (1950–2000) was an amateur astronomer recognized for his observations of Comet Hale-Bopp and his controversial claim of photographing a "companion object" near the comet, which ignited one of the most heated astronomical debates of the 1990s. As a guest on late-night radio, his photographs and his assertions about the companion object generated enormous public interest and became a defining moment in the intersection of amateur astronomy and conspiracy culture.