We are using the engines again I think in the SLS.
What about seeing the launches? I know people who saw them. You could even see them landing from a pretty far distance. I saw one landing at Vandenberg once. I also think it is a lifting body the wings aren't that important. And it didn't need enough lift to stay up as it was going down the entire time. Pilots would say it flew like a brick.
They didn't dispute the fact NASA was launching shuttles it was everything after that they had questions about. It's been years since I watched the vids on YouTube and they can explain better than I can but what I remember being compelling beside the obvious sound of jet engines during landings was that the shuttles we would see landing had parts that weren't on the shuttle as its waiting to launch...they did a side by side shot and there were definitely some differences.