If the resolution of the Starfire is truly 1' at 600 miles, then at 300,000' (a very rough guess of Colombia's height over New Mexico) it should be able to resolve details of .95 inches. So it looks to me -- and the precise calculations would be easy enough to do -- that the released image was scaled down an even order of magnitude.

Why would they do this? If the location and technical specs of Starfire are already known, then what harm is there in showing off its capabilities? If the image is blurry, then why not release the source image (which would show a gaussian-type blur) rather than a scaled-down and pixelated version?

Nathan.