SCARLETT JOHANSSON AND GWYNETH PALTROW HELPS THE AVENGERS FIGHT CRIME IN CLEVELAND, OHIO

Meanwhile, in Sandusky, Ohio, Hollywood filmmakers were busy using the 6,400-acre NASA facility at Plum Brook for scenes that involve Samuel L. Jackson and the fictional United States Government super-hero branch of the CIA called SHIELD. Normally, off limits to non-NASA outsiders, the cash strapped NASA allowed Hollywood to film scenes from a super-hero film involving Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye and the Hulk in their facility. Among the portions of the Plum Brook NASA facility that were used were a spacecraft test chamber used to create the airless conditions of outer space.

I'm not sure if Scarlett Johansson and Gwyneth Paltrow actually got to step foot inside this top secret high security United States Government facility.  Anyway, this is going to be part of next years comic book super-hero film The Avengers.

No, this isn't a scene from Afghanistan.  Rather, this is the intersection of Euclid Avenue and Nineth Street in Downtown Cleveland.  I saw portions of this film shoot.  First, phony building walls of certain buildings were placed over the actual building walls.  Then explosives were detonated and the phoney building walls fell down onto the intersection of Euclid Avenue and Nineth Street.  Actually, it was the giant size film set for the intersection of Madison Avenue and 120th Street in New York City.  Then there were scenes of extras pretending to be New York City citizens running for their lives from exploding cars.  Then there were shots of Captain America standing on a car, punching two men wearing motion capture suits before running away (or towards, I didn't get a clear view of this) from bullets before running towards (or away from, I didn't get a clear view of this) a monster growl (The Hulk or something employed by Loki).

Next week, the Tower City Center Shopping Mall which houses a luxury hotel and the Regional Transit Authority train station becomes Stuttgart, Germany.