Did the South rise again... all the way into orbit? Well, it depends on who you listen to... but eBay recently ran an auction claiming that, indeed, several Confederate flags -- and all the historical baggage they bear -- apparently flew into orbit aboard a 2004 mission to the International Space Station.

The original auction listing said the 4-by-6-inch flags were brought aboard the space station by Russian cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov in 2004... and another photo (above) even shows a sample flag with what looks like Sharipov’s signature on it, as well as that of Leroy Chiao, his NASA colleague on the station.

Problem is, Chiao says he doesn't recall ever seeing the flags... much less signing one of them... and that he believes the whole thing to be a hoax.

For that matter, the man who put the items up for bid, Alex Panchenko, now believes the same thing -- and he has since withdrawn the auction. He says he now thinks the items, and associated authentication documents, are forgeries.

It is common practice for Russian cosmonauts to bring items into orbit, and then resell them later... but no one knows for sure if the flags ever actually made it into orbit.

Still, there are several collectors who believe the flags are authentic... and, in the words of one NASA watcher, an example of "bad judgment on the ISS."

Chiao also stressed that he would never have knowingly signed such a flag, with its connotations of slavery.

FMI: See The Original eBay Auction (Since Ended)