Dit is ons nieuw hondje Kira, een kruising van een waterhond en een Podenko. Ze is sinds 7 februari 2024 bij ons en druk bezig ons hart te veroveren. Het is een lief, aanhankelijk hondje, dat zich op een week snel aan ons heeft aangepast. Ze is heel vinnig en nieuwsgierig, een heel ander hondje dan Noleke.
This is our new dog Kira, a cross between a water dog and a Podenko. She has been with us since February 7, 2024 and is busy winning our hearts. She is a sweet, affectionate dog who quickly adapted to us within a week. She is very quick and curious, a very different dog than Noleke.
DEAR VISITOR,
MY BLOG EXISTS NEARLY 13 YEARS AND 4 MONTH.
ON /30/09/2024 MORE THAN 2.230.520
VISITORS FROM 135 DIFFERENT NATIONS ALREADY FOUND THEIR WAY TO MY BLOG.
THAT IS AN AVERAGE OF 400GUESTS PER DAY.
THANK YOU FOR VISITING MY BLOG AND HOPE YOU ENJOY EACH TIME.
The purpose of this blog is the creation of an open, international, independent and free forum, where every UFO-researcher can publish the results of his/her research. The languagues, used for this blog, are Dutch, English and French.You can find the articles of a collegue by selecting his category. Each author stays resposable for the continue of his articles. As blogmaster I have the right to refuse an addition or an article, when it attacks other collegues or UFO-groupes.
Druk op onderstaande knop om te reageren in mijn forum
Zoeken in blog
Deze blog is opgedragen aan mijn overleden echtgenote Lucienne.
In 2012 verloor ze haar moedige strijd tegen kanker!
In 2011 startte ik deze blog, omdat ik niet mocht stoppen met mijn UFO-onderzoek.
BEDANKT!!!
Een interessant adres?
UFO'S of UAP'S, ASTRONOMIE, RUIMTEVAART, ARCHEOLOGIE, OUDHEIDKUNDE, SF-SNUFJES EN ANDERE ESOTERISCHE WETENSCHAPPEN - DE ALLERLAATSTE NIEUWTJES
UFO's of UAP'S in België en de rest van de wereld In België had je vooral BUFON of het Belgisch UFO-Netwerk, dat zich met UFO's bezighoudt. BEZOEK DUS ZEKER VOOR ALLE OBJECTIEVE INFORMATIE , enkel nog beschikbaar via Facebook en deze blog.
Verder heb je ook het Belgisch-Ufo-meldpunt en Caelestia, die prachtig, doch ZEER kritisch werk leveren, ja soms zelfs héél sceptisch...
Voor Nederland kan je de mooie site www.ufowijzer.nl bezoeken van Paul Harmans. Een mooie site met veel informatie en artikels.
MUFON of het Mutual UFO Network Inc is een Amerikaanse UFO-vereniging met afdelingen in alle USA-staten en diverse landen.
MUFON's mission is the analytical and scientific investigation of the UFO- Phenomenon for the benefit of humanity...
Je kan ook hun site bekijken onder www.mufon.com.
Ze geven een maandelijks tijdschrift uit, namelijk The MUFON UFO-Journal.
Since 02/01/2020 is Pieter ex-president (=voorzitter) of BUFON, but also ex-National Director MUFON / Flanders and the Netherlands. We work together with the French MUFON Reseau MUFON/EUROP.
ER IS EEN NIEUWE GROEPERING DIE ZICH BUFON NOEMT, MAAR DIE HEBBEN NIETS MET ONZE GROEP TE MAKEN. DEZE COLLEGA'S GEBRUIKEN DE NAAM BUFON VOOR HUN SITE... Ik wens hen veel succes met de verdere uitbouw van hun groep. Zij kunnen de naam BUFON wel geregistreerd hebben, maar het rijke verleden van BUFON kunnen ze niet wegnemen...
A Florida witness at Fort Lauderdale driving southbound along I-95 reported photographing a fast-moving UFO about 10:30 a.m. on September 15, 2014, according to testimony in Case 59886 from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) witness reporting database.
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“I noticed a double rainbow in the sky,” the witness stated. “I got out my Smartphone to photograph the rainbow and took four pictures in succession.”
The witness included one photo with the MUFON report, which was filed on September 17, 2014.
Witness photo. (Credit: MUFON)
“On the fourth photograph I captured what appears to be a UFO flying really fast next to the rainbow. As quickly as it appeared, it was gone.”
Florida MUFON is investigating. Fort Lauderdale is a city in Broward County, Florida, population 165,521. Florida has a current UFO Alert Rating of 3 with a high number of recent reports nationally. Florida had 26 UFO reports in August 2014 – the 5th highest reporting state – while California had 99 reports as the highest reporting state. The above quotes were edited for clarity. Please report UFO activity to MUFON.com.
The UFO Alert Rating System is based on five levels – 1 through 5 – where states with 150 or more reports for the month are rated an Alert 1; states with 100 or more reports are rated an Alert 2; 25 reports or more for the month are rated an Alert 3; 13 or more reports are rated an Alert 4; and those states with less than 13 reports for the month are an Alert 5.
Missouri witnesses in Joplin reported watching a silent, boxy object “bigger than a house” traveling about 300 feet off of the ground about 9:15 p.m. on July 8, 2014, according to testimony in Case 57853 from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) witness reporting database.
The husband and wife reporting witnesses were traveling home when they noticed a man in the street trying to flag them down and pointing to the sky.
“He was walking his dog who was barking wildly at the object and jumping high into the air,” the witness stated. “It had approached from the northeast. As we watched, it crossed directly overhead. It looked to be about 300 feet off of the ground.”
The witness described the object.
Three witnesses in Joplin, MO, watched a silent, boxy-shaped object ‘larger than a house’ move under 300 feet on July 8, 2014. Pictured: A street in Joplin. (Credit:google)
“It was off-white in color appearing to be illuminated by a yellowish light coming from within it. It was as big or bigger than a house and was completely silent.”
The object’s shape was not aerodynamic.
“It was boxy-shaped with multiple angles kind of like on a stealth airplane. It looked like it had darkened square windows in parts of it. It was flat on the bottom with round orange and red randomly flashing lights all around the bottom edge. The lights were round with a dark center – like donuts. They were the size of stop signs.”
The object moved southwest and then south of their location and appeared to be traveling at about 100 mph. They then noticed a change in the lighting.
“It suddenly turned off its lights. All of them went off like they were quickly dimmed and not just cut off. Two lights on the back, one orange and one red, stayed on slightly longer than the others – about half a second. These lights seemed to have a burnt look to the dark centers as if maybe exhaust or flames had at one time come out of there.”
The object then appeared to be descending like it was going to land or possibly crash.
“It stayed perfectly level as it descended behind the trees on the horizon. It seemed to form a light mist or fog around it as it descended.”
The witnesses also noticed the strange behavior of animals in the area.
“I noticed that along its flight path every dog was going crazy, barking and howling.”
Three witnesses said the object appeared to land or was about to crash. They attempted to follow the UFO across Joplin, MO, and experienced odd disturbances to the vehicle they were driving on July 8, 2014. On May 22, 2011, Joplin was struck by a powerful EF-5 tornado which resulted in at least 158 deaths and more than 900 injuries. Pictured: A street in Joplin. (Credit: Google)
The three witnesses then decided to follow the object in the couple’s vehicle.
“We were using a spotlight that plugs into the cigarette lighter to search the fields next to the roads. After driving about a mile, the spotlight suddenly went very dim and the seat belt warning beeper started sounding repeatedly and quickly. Also the Jeep’s automatic transmission would not change gears. When I tried to go into reverse it would not go into gear without a struggle. All of this continued for about five minutes and then suddenly everything went back to normal. It is a newer model Jeep Wrangler and has never done anything like this before.”
The group then became nervous, but decided to keep looking.
“We continued searching nearby roads and fields but didn’t find anything unusual. On our way back home, as we passed the same location as before, our spotlight again dimmed and the beeping alarms in the Jeep began again.”
Despite the vehicle’s problems they again continued to search for the object.
“Shortly after, we turned around and passed this spot a third time, but this time nothing happened. We finally gave up our search and went home. By then the spotlight was working at full power and the Jeep was working properly and nothing else occurred. The man that flagged us down turned out to be a neighbor who lives about a block away. He is a retired commercial airline pilot from England. He said he had never seen anything like this before.”
No images or videos were included with the MUFON report, which was filed on July 9, 2014. Missouri MUFON is investigating. Joplin is a city in southern Jasper County and northern Newton County in the southwestern corner of Missouri, population 50,150.
Missouri has a current UFO Alert Rating of 3 with a high number of recent reports nationally. Missouri had 29 UFO reports in June 2014 – the 4th highest reporting state – while California had 107 reports as the highest reporting state. The above quotes were edited for clarity. Please report UFO activity to MUFON.com.
The UFO Alert Rating System is based on five levels – 1 through 5 – where states with 150 or more reports for the month are rated an Alert 1; states with 100 or more reports are rated an Alert 2; 25 reports or more for the month are rated an Alert 3; 13 or more reports are rated an Alert 4; and those states with less than 13 reports for the month are an Alert 5.
It was a calm morning in Antarctica’s remote Ross Sea, during the season when the sun never sets, when Capt. John Bennett and his crew hauled up a creature with tentacles like fire hoses and eyes like dinner plates from a mile (1.6 km) below the surface.
The monster from the deeps was a colossal squid, one of the sea’s most elusive species, weighing 350 kilograms (770 pounds) and as long as a minibus. The maximum estimated length of colossal squid is 14 meters (46 feet), a meter longer than even the giant squid, which is rarely found in polar waters.
They froze the squid, and it stayed on ice for eight months until Tuesday, when scientists in New Zealand got a long-anticipated chance to thaw out the animal and inspect it — once they maneuvered it with a forklift into a tank.
The squid is a female. Its eight arms are each well over a meter (3.3 feet) long. Its two tentacles would have been perhaps double that length if they had not been damaged.
Kat Bolstad, a squid scientist from the Auckland University of Technology who was leading a team examining the creature, described it as “very big, very beautiful.”
“This is essentially an intact specimen, which is almost an unparalleled opportunity for us to examine,” she said. “This is a spectacular opportunity.”
Many people around the world agreed. About 142,000 people from 180 countries watched streaming footage of the squid examination on the Internet.
Colossal squid sometimes inhabit the world of fiction and imagination but have rarely been seen in daylight. Remarkably, Bennett and his crew on the toothfish boat San Aspiring have caught two of them. Their first, hauled in seven years ago, is on display in New Zealand’s national museum, Te Papa.
Bennett said there was so much excitement about his previous catch, he thought he had better save the latest one for research.
“It was partly alive; it was still hanging onto the fish,” Bennett recalled, “just a big bulk in the water. They’re huge, and the mantle’s all filled with water. It’s quite an awesome sight.”
Susan Waugh, a senior curator at Te Papa, said scientists hope to find out more about where the creature fits in the food chain, how much genetic variation there is among different squid types, and basic facts about how the colossal squid lives and dies.
She said scientists plan to further assess the condition of the squid before determining whether to preserve it for public display.
Bolstad said it is possible that ancient sightings of the species gave rise to tales of the kraken, or giant sea-monster squid. She said sperm whales often eat colossal squid and are known to play with their food, and sailors may have mistaken that for epic battles.
“On the other hand, we don’t really know what the grog rations were like at that time at sea, either,” she said. “So it may be that we’ve got a bit of a fisherman’s story going on there, too.” – Japan Times
2/28/2014 – I was driving to Ohio from Va. and was less then 10min from home when I noticed to my left “south” in a field a red turned white light ascending @2:00 and went out. This is an open corn field with Nothing around. I drove another half mile then turned south and then noticed an emensely bright white light going same direction a quater mile to my left then I turned West and looked back and it was still visible. I drove another two miles before turning left “south” again and seen the light heading south west. I continue driving a quarter before turning into my driveway and as I backed up to my garage “facing south” I noticed the light “floating” as it seemed to slowly come my direction. I watched it for 2-3 min before remembering I’d purchased a camcorder that arrived while I was in Va. and went and grabbed it and recorded it for quite somd time. This was thee Brightest white light I’d Ever seen in the sky and was amazed when I zoomed in and started to record. I’ve attached 4 stills off the flip out screen from my phone cam, so a pic from a pic. I apologize on not uploading the video as Im in transistion of moving and havent transferred the video. – MUFON CMS
The USS Hornet is a real aircraft carrier that was used in WWII. The following experiences are entirely true, and are still creepy as I think about them.
When I was about 9 years old, 7 years ago, I was in Boy Scouts. We went on a small, say field trip, to go see the USS Hornet, which as they said was haunted, I found out later they weren’t just trying to scare us. Anyway, we went around the ship with a guide learning about it, hearing there had been deaths on the ship after it was hit with a torpedo. After the whole tour, our group was going to stay the night and live out the next day exactly how the crew did back during the war. The cafeteria etc.
That night I went to sleep in a top bunk in the barracks. During the middle of the night, I woke up to go to the bathrooms, Now the ship is almost completely dark, being that the only lights on are the red emergency lights, so people can find their way to the bathrooms. So as I’m walking down the hall I hear stomping above me (now I was tired and didn’t think about the fact that you wouldn’t even be able to hear a gunshot from the floor above, being that the floors are 3 layers of titanium.) and I thought it was a few kids running around, so I turn around and go towards the stairs as I’m still hearing the stomping. So as I get up to the next floor I walk down the hall, I couldn’t see all the way down because of the lighting, I still hear stomping in the darkness. I walk all the way to the end, which is a dead end and the sound stops. I was tired, so I wasn’t alarmed, I returned to go to the bathroom, and I hear the noise again. I check another time, same thing happened again, and I started to worry. I ignore the noise the third time and go straight to the bathroom, as I’m walking to the bathroom I pass the prison cells they have in the ship, and the pillows that are meant to be on the beds are all on the middle of the floor. I run into the bathroom and every sink and toilet are just rushing water, so I think forget this if I piss myself it’s better than going in here. I go back into the barracks and climb into the bunk.
I wake up the next morning before everyone else and I’m laying on the cold floor under the other bunks, and there’s no way I could have fell, they were like hammocks, and if it were a prank, I’m a very light sleeper and it wouldn’t have worked. To this day, I still don’t understand the events that occurred that night. Look at this through a 9 year old’s eyes. – Reddit.com
The case of the London mermaid is classic folklore. Here was an alleged creature, brought to the capital by a Captain Eades, who purchased the specimen in 1822 from fisherman in Holland, who claimed they’d obtained it from Japanese anglers. Eades illegally sold his one-eighth ownership of a vessel to fund his purchase. At the time the mermaid certainly looked real, a leathery chimera with a head like a baboon, the lower half of a large fish, the nose, breasts, fingers, nails and eyes of a human, and a body measuring over three feet in length.
Eades decided to take his mermaid on tour after docking at several harbours and making a quick profit from locals eager to observe the monstrosity. From here, the devious captain would take to London and see his creature exhibited at the Turf Coffeehouse in St James Street, where he rented a room from a Mr Watson.
Many naturalists and the like who saw the creature all agreed it was in fact a real mermaid.
A MERMAID!! – A wonder of the world, the admiration of all ages, the theme of the Philosopher, the Historian, the Poet…may be seen at number 59 St James Street, every day, Sundays excepted from ten in the morning until five in the afternoon. Admittance one shilling.
…so read the sign which attracted thousands of curious people.
Despite making a lot of money from the specimen, the bubble would soon burst. A Mr Pickering who owned a majority of the ship that Eades sold was on the rampage, and soon showed the captain up for what he was, a fraud. Meanwhile, a Mr Clift, expert anatomist, was quick to pour cold water on the authenticity of the beast. The mermaid was simply a clever construction of fish, human bone, artificial material, and monkey!
The public had been ripped off. Chaos ensued. Eades attempted to flog a dead horse for the next few months until the coffeehouse shut down in 1823. No-one really knows what happened to the fraudulent creature but London had never seen anything quite like it. – Londonist
Is this mystery rock a dinosaur or just a hoax? Experts divided by discovery of ‘150 million-year-old fossil’ in Siberia. Fisherman in Siberia claim to have found remarkably intact remains of an ancient lizard. They supposedly found the crocodile-like head while on a fishing trip and when they sent photos to experts they were told it was likely a lizard or dinosaur from 150 million years ago.
According to Daily Mail “The discovery was made by fisherman from the Wild North Fishing Club were travelling by boat down the Ruta-Ru River in the Yamal Peninsula of northern Russia. Their boat struck something that they initially thought was a boulder, but on closer examination had a somewhat more familiar appearance. Paleontologists are now heading to the river in Siberia to verify the potentially significant discovery.”
Scientists took one more step closer to confirming that the possibility of life on Mars. The Nakla meteorite which fell to Earth over a century ago revealed to a team of scientists “a fossilized biological cell”. Its structure resembles biological cells on Earth.
The cell brings more news that life on Mars existed. Another fact revealed that water existed within this cell from Mars. Water is a key ingredient for life. We are discovering that water is more common in the universe than we thought. In fact we discovered water on Titan, Ceres, Moon, and Mars just to name a few. Water vapor cloud is whirling around a black hole. Step by step the discoveries emerge and we get closer and closer to the announcement that life exists beyond Earth.
Plankton discovered on the ISS survives the freezing temperatures of space, antigravity, and lack of oxygen. According to this meteorite, other cells can too. Streptococcus mitis found on a camera left on the moon brought back by Apollo 12 in 2007 declared from contamination of NASA labs. We now know that plankton and other biological cells may survive the harsh conditions of space. We need to ask were we to hasty in declaring the sample contaminated. One man opposed the idea of contamination and Lieutenant Colonel Fred Mitchell made a point that delayed growth indicated only one specific species instead of a variety. Who knows Mitchell may have been right but the government didn’t continue research in that line because the sample was destroyed. Americans were not ready for life existing on the Moon or anywhere else. It appears the governments are inching toward the reality that life can exist outside of Earth. I’m hoping in our life time the announcement will be made. We sure are close.
(N.Morgan) There are many people who believe the Bible contradicts itself, but when you dig into the languages involved and the archaeology behind it, you will see it doesn’t contradict itself at all, but is proven to be fact. The interpretation of the Bible has been skewed and changed over the years, so I have chosen to go by the manuscripts and when you can either read the languages yourself or have a wonderful translators, you will see too, that archaeology indeed fits along with the verses of the Bible. The biggest misconception is that the earth is only 6,000 years old. Many preachers and pastors teach that and it is incorrect. We have the archaeological proof that isn’t true. When the Bible mentions this, it is referring to this dispensation (Point in time) or Earth Age.
In the intriguing video below goes over some of the finer points of this and much more in regards to the prophesies in the BIble.
Is het heelal een hologram, een computerprogramma, een zwart gat of een bubbel?
Is het heelal een hologram, een computerprogramma, een zwart gat of een bubbel?
Onze kennis over het heelal is beperkt en wat we weten is misschien niet eens juist. Wetenschappers zeggen dat het universum een hologram, een computerprogramma, een zwart gat of een bubbel is, en dat er manieren zijn om dat te testen.
Het Amerikaanse ministerie van Energie is gestart met een uniek experiment, de Holometer, dat duidelijkheid moet scheppen over bepaalde theorieën over onze wereld. Zo wordt onder meer onderzocht of we in een hologram leven. Net zoals personages op tv niet zouden weten dat hun 3D-wereld alleen bestaat op een 2D-scherm, zou het kunnen dat wij niet weten dat onze 3D-wereld alleen maar een illusie is.
Het idee is vergelijkbaar met een televisie, waarbij de pixels minder samenhang vertonen wanneer je te dicht bij het scherm zit. Die minuscule stukjes data vormen op een grotere afstand samen echter een herkenbaar beeld. De wetenschappers denken dat ons universum mogelijk op dezelfde manier is opgebouwd, met deeltjes die biljoenen keren kleiner zijn dan een atoom.
Computersimulatie
Een goede computersimulatie kan de werkelijkheid inmiddels indrukwekkend dicht benaderen. Maar misschien is het eigenlijk wel andersom en leven wij zélf in een computersimulatie. In een cruciale scène uit kaskraker The Matrix uit 1999 ziet hoofdpersoon Neo twee keer dezelfde kat voorbijkomen. Dat déjà vu, het vreemde gevoel dat je iets al eens eerder hebt meegemaakt, is een teken dat er gerommeld is met de simulatie waarin hij leeft.
Theoretisch natuurkundigen Silas Beane, Zoreh Davoudi en Martin Savage stellen dat we mogelijk in een computersimulatie leven zonder het te weten. Ze zeggen dat we in de toekomst kunnen vaststellen of we al dan niet in een Matrix leven.
Zwart gat
Er zijn ook natuurkundigen die beweren dat het universum tot stand is gekomen nadat een vierdimensionale ster in elkaar klapte en veranderde in een zwart gat dat materiaal uitspuwde. Wetenschappers van de Universiteit van Waterloo in Canada wijzen erop dat enkele zaken in het heelal niet in het oerknalmodel passen, zoals het horizonprobleem. Het universum heeft een vrijwel uniforme temperatuur, wat vreemd is na een gewelddadige gebeurtenis als de Big Bang.
Een ander probleem is dat we in het huidige heelal geen magnetische monopolen (deeltjes met één magnetische pool) kunnen vinden, terwijl die – als het universum uit de oerknal is ontstaan – in groten getale zouden moeten voorkomen.
Multiversum
De kosmische inflatie, dat het heelal honderden miljarden keren uitbreidde in een fractie van een seconde, voedt het idee van een multiversum, het concept dat er naast het zichtbare universum waar we in leven nog veel (volgens sommigen oneindig veel) andere universa zijn, net zoals ‘bubbels in een glas champagne’.
De kosmische inflatie kan betekenen dat het universum slechts een klein hoekje van de ruimte inneemt waar de inflatie gestopt is en materie gecondenseerd is met de vorming van sterrenstelsels en leven tot gevolg. Voorbij het zichtbare universum dijt de ruimte mogelijk nog steeds uit en worden er – wanneer ook daar de inflatie op een bepaalde plaats ophoudt – nieuwe ‘bubbels’ gevormd.
Human Spaceflight Launches Will Return to the United States
Human Spaceflight Launches Will Return to the United States
Photo credit: SpaceX's Dragon v2 spacecraft and Boeing's CST-100 (not pictured) will begin to bring humans into LEO in 2017. Image credit: SpaceX
NASA has just announced that Boeing and SpaceX have been selected to lead the Commercial Crew Program, founded in 2010. Boeing’s CST-100 and SpaceX’s Dragon V2 will be used to launch humans into Low Earth Orbit and to the International Space Station from Cape Canaveral beginning in 2017. This will be the first human spaceflight launch on American soil since the space shuttle program retired in 2011.
Since the end of the shuttle program, American astronauts headed to the ISS have had to bum a ride from Russia at a rate of $71 million per seat. However, the desire to be in charge of their own launches has been highlighted in recent months due to strained relations with Russia over the invasion of Ukraine. The United States government put sanctions on Russia and severed most of its ties back in April, except for its dealings with the ISS. In retaliation, Russia has threatened to stop providing transportation for American astronauts.
A key difference between the space shuttle program and this new venture is that the spacecraft will be provided by privately-owned corporations, and the government will be contracting out those services. This allows for companies to compete for contracts, driving down the cost and boosting innovative designs.
It is a modified version of the Dragon spacecraft that SpaceX has been using to bring cargo to the ISS since 2010. A major feature of the seven-seated spacecraft is the ability for controlled landings. This means that in addition to going to the ISS, the spacecraft could be used to bring humans to the moon or other worlds. The advanced landing system also means the spacecraft can be collected and reused quickly. This cuts down on wasted materials, which subsequently reduces the expense of each launch. The Dragon V2 will launch using SpaceX's own Falcon 9 rocket.
Image credit: SpaceX
Image credit: Boeing
Boeing was the heavy favorite going into today’s announcement, with its CST-100 spacecraft.
The body design is unique as it does not include any welded junctions. This makes the vessel lighter, more structurally sound, and easier to produce. Each vessel, which seats seven, can be used 10 times. Upon returning to Earth, the spacecraft will land using parachutes and airbags. Additionally, struts within the seat will provide added cushioning, reducing the stress of impact on the astronauts. The CST-100 will launch using an Atlas V rocket, produced by United Launch Alliance. ULA is a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
NASA has been using private companies to bring cargo to the ISS over the last few years. The ability to contract human transportation to and from the ISS frees NASA up to focus on human ventures deeper into space (such as Mars). NASA’s Space Launch System will launch an unmanned Orion spacecraft in 2017, with the goal of the first manned mission in 2021.
A plane has been in space for 600 days, and no one knows why
A plane has been in space for 600 days, and no one knows why
EDITOR by Tristan Rayner in Exhale on Wednesday 30 April 2014
The X-37B is a kind of robotic space plane, built by the US. It’s been in Earth’s orbit for more than 500 days. And its real purpose is a complete mystery. Intrigued?
Here’s what we do know about X-37B Constructed in California, the Boeing-built X-37B Orbital Space Vehicle was built for the US Air Force as a test vehicle; not intended to reach production. It is a quarter the size of the Endeavour Space Shuttle. It is equipped with heat-shield protection for re-entry to Earth’s atmosphere.
Currently the X-37B is orbiting at 28,044km/h, at a distance of around 350km in the sky. It can land, but no one will say when that will be.
“I’ll give you my standard line on X-37,” General William Shelton, commander of the Air Force Space Command told Space.com in May. “X-37 is doing great. I can’t tell you what it’s doing, but it’s doing great.”
It’s been in the sky before, after being launched on April 22, 2010, on a rocket. It then landed on December 3, 2010 – blowing a tire and suffering minor damage to its underbelly.
It took off again from Cape Canaveral on December 11, 2012 – now reaching 500 days in orbit.
The Air Force also launched a second model of X-37B on March 5, 2011. Described by the U.S.
military as an “effort to test new space technologies”, it landed safely at Vandenberg Air Force Base on June 16, 2012, after 469 days in space. This third mission has now smashed this previous record. X-37B’s actual functions are still heavily classified.
As you’d imagine, conspiracy theorists are having a field day, and here’s why:
Powered by a solar panel that unfurls once in orbit, X-37B can open with small, shuttle-like payload bay in its middle – think of a clamshell opening from underneath. There’s room for more than just a solar panel too. Exactly what items it carries, and why they need to be in space so long, has proved elusive for analysts, the space community, and the media.
To add further intrigue, the plane is classified as a secret project, yet maker Boeing has released pictures and more than two pages of details on the X-37B. That’s not how secrets are usually dealt with. By contrast, the secretLockheed SR-71 Blackbird was not declassified until decades after it had been flown in the Vietnam War.
The X-37 started life way back in 1999 when NASA asked Boeing’s Phantom Works division to develop an orbital test vehicle. This was a civilian project, and the X-37 was originally spec’d as an unmanned, robotic spacecraft that would rendezvous with satellites to refuel, repair them, or crash them back to Earth once their lifecycle was complete. But in 2004 the project was transferred to DARPA and since then, it has been highly classified.
The amateur skywatching community that documents satellites say it’s orbiting between 43.5 degrees north latitude to 43.5 degrees south latitude. That’s a band around the middle of Earth that takes in much of the US, Middle East, and Asia, but is away from Russia, and Europe. Spotters suggest that at the altitude of 350km, it is ideal altitude for spying, but too low to refuel or fix other satellites.
It’s versatile, and has worked well enough that Boeing is contracted to create the next model, the X-37C. It will be at least 65 per cent larger and have the ability to carry up to six astronauts, while operating unmanned.
The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle in the encapsulation cell at the Astrotech facility April 13, 2010 (via US Air Force).
What we can guess The two most popular theories suggest the vehicle is simply running an extended duration test – a marathon in space. The other theory is that the two previous missions prove the testing phase is complete, and it is now on an extended operation running a mission, or multiple missions. The long endurance run theory has credit; proving that new, experimental critical components can work reliably for a long-duration in space, close to Earth.
The running-mission has credit too – with two previous missions complete, X-37B can now operate at length. And perhaps it is – observing, spying, experimenting, hosting space-weapons, or collecting data for the NSA. We just don’t know.
Both theories are plausible. Joan Johnson-Freese, a professor of National Security Affairs at the U.S. Naval War College, told Space.com, “While the classified nature of the X-37B has raised some concerns about its intended operational purposes, technically, the program must be commended for doing something new… and successfully.”
She speculated X-37′s payload would include new sensors and satellite hardware to be tested.
What it isn’t Plenty of conspiracy theorist have posed the question of X-37B carrying a nuclear payload, to guarantee a ‘first strike’ opportunity (or to have a counter-option in place).
If you have any hope for humanity, that can’t be right. The US is a signatory to The Space Treaty, which is no joke. Space-based weapons of mass destruction are banned.
(One curious example of a space-based weapon that isn’t banned is a Kinetic strike, where objects whizzing around the Earth at great speed are intentionally sent to the ground, causing a meteorite-like impact and widespread damage. This type of attack is also known as ‘Rods from God’.)
An artist’s conception of the X-37 Advanced Technology Demonstrator as it glides to a landing on earth. (Via NASA)
General characteristics Crew: None Length: 8.9m Wingspan: 4.5m Height: 2.9m Loaded weight: 4,990kg Powerplant: 1 × Aerojet AR2-3 rocket engine (hydrazine) Power: Gallium arsenide solar cells with lithium-ion batteries
[Update: As of August 3rd, X-37B remains in orbit, and has now been in space for 600 days. We first reported this at the 500 day mark. We are very keenly paying attention to this story, yet at this stage, there has been no further news. We're watching this one and will update with any information we receive.]
Amazing UFO sighting over Baltic Sea, Poland on 9th September 2014
Amazing UFO sighting over Baltic Sea, Poland on 9th September 2014
New amazing video footage of a huge bright UFO sighting recorded in the sky above Baltic Sea, Poland on 9th September 2014.
Witness said: Waiting for your comments . Surely this is not a giveaway in the wind … I would add that this phenomenon of light appeared twice. First, there is one cluster of lights, and after a few minutes of the second . In all three films are connected. The date is 9-09-2014 around 18:17.
For the first time, astronomers have detected water ice clouds, like the ones that shroud Earth, around a dim celestial body outside of our solar system.
"Ice clouds are predicted to be very important in the atmospheres of planets beyond our solar system, but they've never been observed outside of it before now," study leader Jacqueline Faherty, who is a fellow at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C., said in a statement.
Astronomers have detected traces of water ice clouds in the atmosphere of the brown dwarf WISE 0855, a misfit failed star about 7.2 light-years from Earth. The discovery is the first time water ice clouds have been found beyond the solar system, scientists say. Credit: Rob Gizis (CUNY BMCC) via Carnegie Institution/YouTube
Ice water has been found around gas giants in our solar system. NASA's Cassini spacecraft recently detected water ice crystals on Saturn that had been churned up from deep inside the ringed planet's thick atmosphere during a huge storm. Water ice clouds are also hidden underneath Jupiter's stormy ammonia ice clouds.
Now, scientists found faint signatures of such clouds around the brown dwarf WISE J085510.83-071442.5, or W0855 for short. The object is the coldest brown dwarf ever observed by scientists. It lurks 7.2 light-years away from Earth and was first seen by NASA's Wide-Field Infrared Explorer.
Brown dwarfs are often referred to as failed stars that resemble planets. These objects start out as clouds of collapsing gas and dust much like their main-sequence star cousins. But brown dwarfs never get hot enough for hydrogen fusion to start at the core, and the close-packed stellar material reaches a stable state. Sometimes, these objects are confused with freestanding planets because they look so much like gas giants; many of them are even cold enough to maintain their own atmospheres.
Faherty and colleagues used the FourStar near infrared camera at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile to take 151 images of W0855 over three nights. Scientists had previously predicted how thick water clouds around such a chilly brown dwarf would scatter light. This telltale pattern was observed around W0855. The team also detected evidence of sulfide ice clouds in the atmosphere.
"This object is so faint and it's exciting to be the first people to detect it with a telescope on the ground," study researcher Chris Tinney, an astronomer at the Australian Centre for Astrobiology, at the University of New South Wales, said in a statement.
The findings were published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters on Tuesday (Sept. 9). A draft version of the paper can be read online at the preprint service arxiv.org.
A hedge fund manager is the latest to embark on one of the most ancient of human quests: immortality.
Joon Yun, president of $1 billion health care-focused Palo Alto Investors, announced a new prize last week that will award $1 million to researchers who can “hack the code of life and cure aging.”
“The current health care system is doing a remarkable job addressing the diseases of aging,” Yun, also a trained doctor, said in a statement. “However, doing so without solving the underlying process of aging produces escalating effects on health care spending. We need a paradigmatic revolution. The aim of the prize is to catalyze that revolution.”
Yun, 46, doesn’t lack pedigree. He’s board-certified in radiology and served on the clinical staff at Stanford Hospital from 2000 to 2006. Yun received his bachelor of arts in biology from Harvard University and his doctorate from Duke University School of Medicine.
The $1 million “Palo Alto Longevity Prize” will be split in two, but teams can try for both. One $500,000 award will go to the first team to show, using a mammal for testing, that it can restore a youthful heart rate to an aging adult. The second $500,000 pot will be awarded to the first group that can extend lifespan by 50 percent.
Eleven teams have already signed up to compete and more can apply. They include researchers from Stanford, George Washington University and Washington University in St. Louis who will experiment with gene modification and the hormone oxytocin.
“Now is the time to launch this prize because we have reached the point in science where we really do have the opportunity to solve aging,” Dr. Doris Taylor, director of the regenerative medicine research at Texas Heart Institute, said in a statement. Taylor is a leader of an initial team competing for the prize using a stem cell approach.
Prize organizers are also working with private investors and foundations to provide access to additional money to the teams. The effort’s advisory board includes Eric Weinstein of Thiel Capital, Graham Spencer of Google Ventures and Steve Jurvetson of Draper Fisher Jurvetson. – CNBC
Gresham, OR – March 6th is when I saw these things coming through my front door. They’ve been doing this since 3/6/14. I was woke up from white noise cranked through my stereo, which was on an odd am station, which I never use. all my electronics were on the blink so I reset it all. then out of the corner of my eye I saw the first one flying about 4 ft off the ground and cruising up the walkway straight into my front door and into my house. I have it on video, outside and inside as they come and go. they’re very strange behaving entities.
I have hours of video. Its freaked me out. these things are real. – MUFON CMS
NOTE: Very similar to Paul Cochrane’s case, which I investigated in 2009 in Perth, Western Australia. Here is a brief synopsis of that case:
In June 2009, I received an email from Paul Cochrane of Perth, Western Australia in reference to persistent paranormal activity in his home. The content of the letter exhibited frustration and a plea to help find an individual or group in his general area to investigate. He explained that the entities have been present for 14 years and have followed him to each new home, a total of three different locations. Paul had started to document the events on videotape then placing these on YouTube.
At the time, I was involved in a few other projects so I didn’t initially get started until a few days had passed. To be honest, I receive a multitude of emails daily from my readers and Paul’s email was in the queue. Eventually, I went to his YouTube channel and started to watch the clips. Well, I shot off an email to Paul within a few minutes and offered my help.
Immediately, I posted a notice on the Phantoms and Monsters wiki and the IPAA site asking for assistance. I knew that this would require the effort of several people who had experience in different facets of the paranormal. The response was slow at first, but as time went on and Paul started to post more videos of the activity, my friends and associates came to the call.
For approximately three weeks, there was a steady discussion on our wiki threads. It seemed that each day, Paul would post a more compelling video and state that the entities had faces and animate shapes, as well as making a rudimentary effort to communicate with him. To bolster his claim, his young son also acknowledged the activity. Each new video displayed orbs of various shapes and sizes. Occasionally, hundreds of these orbs would move in and out of walls and furniture in all directions and speeds within minutes. I and others tried to enhance screen captures on a daily basis hoping something tangible would appear. Then it happened.
I received a hurried email from Paul titled ‘got a face’. I had just awakened and hadn’t had a chance to start the coffee maker, so I was still a bit groggy. I went over to his YouTube channel and looked at one of the two new videos. Early on in the first video I brought up (#70 at 0.11 as a matter of fact) was an orb traveling across the screen that had visible structure to it. Paul had inscribed on the screen ‘this is the face orb now she’s posing 4 me’. I took a screen capture, enlarged the image and enhanced the contrast. My God! It’s a face! Right away, I uploaded the image to the wiki and directly to several associates as well as posting it on Phantoms and Monsters.
As you can imagine, I have conversed with many people in the paranormal field since the beginning of my involvement in this sojourn. Let me state that my theory does not directly reflect the opinion of anybody connected to this incident. This includes Paul, my associates and others who have helped in this matter. I make these statements solely as my personal assessment.
OK…here we go. I believe this entity, in particular ‘The Face in the Orb’, to be a spirit of a young female hybrid being. As to other entities, apparitions, etc. that are present at this location…I cannot state or determine what these are until further study is done. When I refer to ‘hybrid’, I mean a mixing of DNA of an alien or non-human species and humans. As to where this hybrid came from, I have no solid evidence. The reference ‘spirit’ simply means that this being died at some point and released some type of life force or energy that presents itself on our plane of existence. The fact that the orbs in the videos seem to effortlessly move in and out of sight tends to reinforce a theory that these spirits can crossover to other dimensions. I am convinced that these entities are attracted to Paul for a specific reason, if only to collect energy, and have no intention of moving on…at least for the time being.
Sean ‘The Forkchop’ Forker has asked me to post the following message:
Folks, I am looking for some pretty frightening tales for an upcoming episode of The ForkCAST. Looking for some genuinely scary moments! These will be shared on air, so use discretion when indulging information. Email submissions to frightmares@theforkchop.net – Thanks All! /SF
Homeowner Bill Michaud says, “It started with random beeping. One time it went off like the food was done, and when I looked over, the damn thing was still going and said 6:66.” Unfortunately for Michaud and his family, this spooky occurrence was just the beginning of a long, kitchen-appliance nightmare.
“We found [the microwave] in the attic when we moved in a few months back. Didn’t have one, so figured, ‘what the hell,’ might as well try it,” says Michaud. “I tell you, the thing heats up the food real nice. Sometimes it beeped or turned itself off in the middle of cooking, though. Then really weird things started happening. It zapped at food as if we were putting shards of metal in it. I couldn’t figure it out.”
His wife Betty adds, “It turns on by itself. It turns off by itself, too. It’s like it’s messing with me. No matter how many times I popped the door shut, the minute I leave the room it pops open again. One night, really late, I walk into the kitchen and I’m about to open the fridge, and the microwave door flies open, lighting the whole kitchen up in a horrible, scary lightning-blue color. It’s like it wanted to electrocute me.”
The Michauds contacted the Kansas Ghost Hunter group right away. Founder Kevin Young was eager to study both the microwave and the entire home in general.
“The Michauds didn’t want to go without a microwave, or risk upsetting the spirit by taking it out of the house. We obtained permission to stay the night and study the phenomena in its natural environment,” said Young. “My wife, who is also on my squad, is highly empathic. As we warmed up TV dinners in the microwave, she sensed a presence. As soon as she mentioned it, the microwave started beeping repeatedly. The door flung open, and my Hungry Man dinner went flying across the room. We pressed the off button. We unplugged it. It beeped several times after we cut off the power. Of course our digital recording became corrupted, which often happens when there is such strong energy.”
Young called in paranormal investigator, and self-proclaimed authority on mechanical-possession, Carl Richards. He believes it is not a ghost, but a poltergeist that takes possession of the microwave.
“I followed the situation that the Michauds were facing from the beginning, as they posted their disturbances on Facebook. I keep an eye on all local ghost-hunter hobbyists and groups,” said Richards. “The EMF readings confirmed this supernatural manifestation is a poltergeist. I have seen poltergeists occupy washers, TVs, electric heaters, but this is the first time I have seen microwave possession first-hand.”
When Richards was asked if the Michauds should get a new microwave , he advised, “It is important to remember, the malevolent presence does not strictly ‘live in’ the microwave. Getting rid of the machine will not solve the problem. It has the ability to travel throughout the electrical wiring in the house.”
“It is best not to engage the being,” continued Young. “Try not to be fearful. Always remain calm. If you’re facing a poltergeist in your kitchen devices, just ignore its outbursts, and it will not be able to feed off your energies.”
Betty Michaud agrees with Young’s advice. “I think he knows what he’s talking about. It didn’t start getting really bad until we paid attention to it. Now we just ignore it like we would ignore a child’s temper-tantrum, and it still randomly shuts off or zaps from time to time, but nothing really serious. It still heats up our leftovers like a champ, too.” – Empire News
Each March and September I ask the readers to show their appreciation for the work involved in bringing them Phantoms & Monsters. If you feel you can contribute, please use the button below or go directly to www.paypal.com and use my email lonstrickler@phantomsandmonsters as the payee. Thanks for you support and consideration! Lon
A giant man-eating catfish that has been terrorizing villagers of a region at the border of Burma, Laos and Thailand has finally been caught in the Mekong river and what they found in it’s belly will horrify you.
The beast that was caught by local Khmu tribe fishermen of the local Laotian village of Luang Pang near the convergence of the borders of Burma, Laos and Thailand, revealed to have within it’s stomach the human bone fragments of what experts have estimated to be between 12 and 22 people, children for the most part, a find that left villagers and scientists alike in a state of suspended horror.
“We estimate the beast weighted around 600 pounds or next to 300 kilos since it’s head, tail and fins had been chopped off by local villagers before biologists were aware of the catch and could examine the body” explains biologist Kalaina Maona, from the National University of Laos’s Natural Science Department.
Villagers were horrified when they found within the beast’s belly the remnants of what seemed to be a human baby carcass, recalls local fisherman Kuen Mohk, fighting to hold back his tears.
Dozens of childrens and a handful of elderly people have been reported missing in the past twenty years from the local area, leading some local authorities to claim the beast was behind the wave of disappearances. Rumors of a giant river monster capturing villagers were common amongst elder villagers but thought to be folklore, until recently, by local law enforcement.
“Legends of river creatures preying on local tribesmen have been part of Khmu culture for centuries” explains anthropologist Mary Stewart Hedger from McGill University in Montreal. “This terrible incident somewhat proves these folktales had some dramatic and traumatizing truth behind their origin” she adds. – WNDR
The Mekong giant catfish is a species of catfish in the shark catfish family. It is grey to white in colour and is distinguished by the near-total lack of barbels and the absence of teeth.
Size:
Length: 3m Weight: 300kg
Habitat and Ecology
The Mekong giant catfish is the world’s largest freshwater fish and is endemic to the Mekong River. It migrates huge distances to spawn.
Population and Distribution
It is now only found in the mainstream of the Lower Mekong in Myanmar, Lao PDR, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. It used to be relatively common further north along the Thai-Lao PDR border but is now extremely rare in this area.
Scientists estimate that the total number of Mekong giant catfish have decreased by around 90% in the last decade. No population figures are available, and estimates of the decline are based on the fall in the number of specimens caught, Some experts believe there may only be a few hundred Mekong giant catfish surviving.
What are the main threats?
Threats to the Mekong giant catfish, and several other giant migratory fish species in the Mekong, include infrastructure development such as dams that block migration routes and isolate some populations. Without the ability to move up and down rivers, the fish have fewer opportunities to breed.
A further major factor in the decline of the Mekong giant catfish is over-fishing. – WWF
A lunar-crescent-shaped stone monument that dates back around 5,000 years has been identified in Israel. Located about 8 miles (13 kilometers) northwest of the Sea of Galilee, the structure is massive — its volume is about 14,000 cubic meters (almost 500,000 cubic feet) and it has a length of about 150 meters (492 feet), making it longer than an American football field. Pottery excavated at the structure indicates the monument dates to between 3050 B.C. and 2650 B.C., meaning it is likely older than the pyramids of Egypt. It was also built before much of Stonehenge was constructed.
Several Florida witnesses at Ponce Inlet who were drawn into the street after hearing a loud humming sound about 10:15 p.m. on September 15, 2014, reported watching a low flying object with lights that hovered nearby, according to testimony in Case 59867 from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) witness reporting database.
The reporting witness heard the humming sound for five to eight seconds and first thought it might be someone’s garage door opening.
“But it was unusual, unlike anything we ever heard before,” the witness stated. “It was so loud it caused alarm. So we immediately went outside. Several neighbors went outside to express concern and alarm. The dogs in the neighborhood were barking and then they got very quiet.”
The witness looked north and saw an object hovering low in the sky. Pictured: Ponce Inlet, Florida. (Credit: Google)
Then the witness looked directly north of their home.
“I saw in the direct path of my home and my neighbor’s home some very low lights in the sky, amber in color, and changing color with some reds. We watched it for about one minute. It was stationary at this time, and then it started to move to the west very slowly without sound. It was about one-half mile away at this time.”
The witness then drove to a 7-11 convenience store about a half-mile away.
“I asked the attendant – did he hear any strange noise? He said, yes, and all the power went out just in the 7-11. This would put the object’s path directly over the 7-11 at the time of seeing the lights. The attendant said the computers all failed and nothing was working. After the lights dimmed the object could not be seen any longer.”
The witness later interviewed a clerk at a nearby 7-11 convenient store who said his store lost power as the object moved overhead. Pictured: Ponce Inlet, Florida. (Credit: Google)
The witness then heard a helicopter which seemed to be strange for the hour.
“I heard a helicopter about 15 minutes after the object was seen. I did not see the helicopter. I found this strange because in the beach community it is extremely quiet and we do not get air traffic so late.”
Ponce Inlet is a town in Volusia County, Florida, population 3,032. Florida MUFON is investigating. Florida has a current UFO Alert Rating of 3 with a high number of recent reports nationally. Florida had 26 UFO reports in August 2014 – the 5th highest reporting state – while California had 99 reports as the highest reporting state. The above quotes were edited for clarity. Please report UFO activity to MUFON.com.
The UFO Alert Rating System is based on five levels – 1 through 5 – where states with 150 or more reports for the month are rated an Alert 1; states with 100 or more reports are rated an Alert 2; 25 reports or more for the month are rated an Alert 3; 13 or more reports are rated an Alert 4; and those states with less than 13 reports for the month are an Alert 5.
They return every so often, especially when the weather grows cold and the media runs out of stuff to talk about, or the story runs afoul of a hungry editor starving for a juicy ration of paranormal ghoulishness.
The flaps of “cow mutilations” or cases involving “cattle mutilations” represent a branch phenomenon of popular ufology or the urge to find evidence of extraterrestrial activity on Earth. It is also kept alive, however, by other media-created mysteries, such as the Chupacabras, or it receives a dose of crafty explanations such as those built by conspiracy theorists (which should not be cast aside, despite their minimal diffusion, as these are often turned into successful sci-fi scripts).
On August 25 of this year, the La Nación newspaper published another news item. Last year another appeared in Tucumán, and if we keep searching, or google back even further, there isn’t a year that does not include a report on this mystery that proves hard to extinguish. Likewise, we find a more intensive presence in provinces such as Entre Rios, where local UFO groups – highly interested in the matter – publicize accounts that would otherwise go unnoticed.
In 2002, this phenomenon manifested itself in Argentina with unprecedented strength. Personally, its importance was such that a chapter based on the matter displaced another on the mysteries of Capilla del Monte in my book Invasores: Historias Reales de Extraterrestres en Argentina (Sudamericana, 2009).
The following is an abbreviated version of the most theoretical part of the chapter included in Invasores:
12 years ago, Argentina experienced its first ufological cow-icide. I started in April and reached its climax in June 2002, particularly in the province of Buenos Aires and the Pampean region. Farmhands, cattlemen and local residents woke up to find dead cows of all breeds and ages all over the place. Dozens of bovine carcasses rested near circles of flattened grass, near empty water tanks – drained by who knows what and for which reason – and others in unusual circumstances.
All of the animals presented as “proof” of the flap bore similar injuries: their edges were irregular, as though cauterized. According to farmhands and cattlemen, these incisions appeared to have a purpose. Their carcasses had been despoiled of their soft tissue (tongue, eyes, ears, nipples, genitals, udders) and sometimes they appeared exsanguinated. Locals would sink their knives into them and the blade would emerge dry, as if they had been plunged into a piece of pound cake.
The discovery of over two hundred mutilated animal carcasses was reported in less than three months, a ruthless and doubtful notion, but giving the impression that an intelligence had been at work and the deaths were not due to natural causes, such as the onset of the cold of winter or seasonal diseases followed by the instinct of certain predators looking for nourishment. Agreement between cattlemen, journalists, policemen and ufologists was overwhelming: the incisions looked artificial. These animals filled the ranks of the bizarre while predator activity was dismissed by some veterinarians in their homilies. The cult of the mutilated cow was confected by all of them, with or without an awareness of the subject.
The flap ended almost if by decree. On July 1, 2002, the National Food Safety and Quality Service (SENASA) blamed the weather and carrion animals. Presto: a mystery cauterized.
The official body stated that rodents belonging to the Oxymycterus rufus genus – among other vermin – had devoured the cattle in fine gourmet style while other victims lay dead as a result of ice storms, disease or natural causes. Bernardo Cané, the head of the organization, stated: “We are dismissing Martians, the Pombero and other rural Argentinean beliefs.” (1) The sentence would have been less odious if Cané had not ascribed the mutilations to “esoteric practices” a week earlier. (2) Forty-five days later he was dismissed from his position under suspicion of underhanded dealings. (3)
Other experts were also caught on the hop. Veterinarian Alejandro Martínez suspected “some sort of techno-cattle rustling” wielding the thermocauterizer (a pistol that fires darts) to underscore that the mysterious incisions could be caused by “any agency”. Pathologist Ernesto Odriozola supported “the actions of some madman”. Even the most experienced forensic pathologists stoked the mystery. Days later, SENASA disclosed the results of a necropsy performed on twenty animals collected from fifteen farms in different sections of Buenos Aires province. Cané presented his conclusions in a press conference: the cattle died “due to pneumonia, malnutrition, metabolic or infectious diseases that are highly prevalent during the winter season.” Thus, the mystery was halved: the mutilated cows…were already dead. The enigmatic incisions had been subsequently caused by various carrion animals, the red-muzzled mouse among them.
“Extraterrestrials Laugh at SENASA” proclaimed one of the screens of the Crónica TV channel. The mouse’s humorous moniker prompted the notion that it had all been a gag. It was around that time that I phoned Dr. Alejandro Soraci, one of the parties involved in the study conducted by Universidad Nacional del Centro (UNICEN). “Could you photocopy the report, and I’ll send for it?” But there was nothing to photocopy. The only material available, he explained, was the press release and the video of the mouse in action. SENASA results were simply two hastily drafted pages. The investigation could hardly be taken seriously with such apathy. “Why were mutilated cows found in places where the Oxymycterus isn’t found? And if it was the mouse, why didn’t SENASA undertake a campaign to control it?” wondered ufologist Quique Mario. To him, and to many other ufologist, the media oasis was deceitful. “Matters remain the same: nothing has changed. Two animals were found mutilated last Saturday, thirty kilometers from here. Last week there were five and seventeen down south, around Cuchillo Có,” he told me in mid-2003.
What factors were at play in unleashing the epidemic? Why now, and not before?
This is how SENASA – spokesman for official explanations – has belittled the human dimension of these experiences. Not everyone is willing to believe that cows are abducted by UFOs, or that a clandestine operation was set in motion to decimate the bovine population and attack those who came too close to the truth. It is also unfair that aliens should mock SENASA. The fact that the initial speculations of its experts should contradict the formal verdict speaks volumes about the fantasies that the mystery creates in all of them, scientists included. On the other hand, it doesn’t say as much about the quality of the study, which does not exempt SENASA from the mistake of making a pronouncement before the results were in hand.
The red-muzzled mouse’s leading role gave the matter an almost humorous cast: The scene-stealing and headline-grabbing mouse obscured the investigation’s credibility. It is possible that the media stressed the rodent’s involvement because there can be nothing better than a Supermouse to displace a Chupacabras. The irregular, serrated tooth marks of the Oxymycterus rufus appeared on the skin and bones of the analyzed animals. Those marks explained the origin of the strange incisions, some of them described as perfect circles. “Ever since Tom and Jerry, we know that a [mouse hole] has a circular opening. Rodents stand up and work from top to bottom,” explained Fernando Kravetz, full professor of Ecology in the School of Exact and Natural Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires. “The rodent population grew with the increase in the availability of dead animals due to classic diseases, changes in vegetation and pastures deteriorated by the ice storms. Crops are harvested in March and the weather changed abruptly in April.” (4)
The quantity and dispersion of dead animals did not startle the professor, considered the main expert in rural ecology. “If three hundred mutilations were reported, the existence of a total of two thousand carcasses could be estimated. A congruent number for that time of year.” SENASA also mentioned less photogenic predators, such as the Pampas fox, seagulls and armadillos. But the red-muzzled mouse was on the cover, because the cow mutilation wave resulted in the casual discovery of an unexpected mutation in it dietary habits. Up to 2002, it was believed to be an insectivore, but it feasted on beef when given the chance. Kravitz measured the marks appearing on the cattle’s toughest tissue (such as the base of the tongue) and found the same patterns as in “cattle mutilations”.
Nor was SENASA the only agency to reach a prosaic conclusion. The Animal Health Group of the National Livestock Technology Institute (INTA Balcarce) studied ten cases. “The incisions and absence of internal organs, ears and nipples are due to action by predators found in the region.” The causes behind these animal deaths – when they could be ascertained – were not mysterious either (intestinal parasites, mineral deficiencies, metabolic diseases, malnutrition) as well as the cold and ice storms that blanketed the southeastern region (5).
What SENASA neglected to do – never mind other official agencies that were unresponsive to the mystery – was to find a hypothesis able to answer a question that can be stated in three ways: Why did men experienced in cattle activities feel certain that those incisions were qualitatively different from those caused by other predators? How can the belief about the phenomenon’s novelty be justified? What changed so that some more or less ordinary deaths should turn into an epidemic? Perhaps the answers would offer no consolation to cattlemen and others impressed by direct experience, but it is better to try to answer tough questions that feel the breath of the Chupacabras on the nape of one’s neck again.
Part II continues tomorrow: Wednesday, September 17, 2014!
Extra information about the article:
[An interesting contrarian perspective on the cattle mutilation phenomenon by Alejandro Agostinelli - SC]
New research on a Martian meteorite supports the idea that Mars has the right conditions to support life.
Scientists from the UK and Greece found something interesting in a piece of the Nakhla meteorite, which fell to Earth in 1911 in Egypt. Dr Elias Chatzitheodoridis of the National Technical University of Athens first discovered the unusual feature embedded within the chunk of meteorite. He contacted his colleague, Professor Ian Lyon at the University of Manchester, to get his take on the odd structure.
“In many ways it resembled a fossilised biological cell from Earth but it was intriguing because it was undoubtedly from Mars,” explains Lyon. “Our research found that it probably wasn’t a cell but that it did once hold water – water that had been heated, probably as a result of an asteroid impact.”
Transmitted light photomicrographs of the odd structure. (Credit: Astrobiology)
The team’s discovery is significant because it adds more evidence to support the notion that Mars has, or had, the right conditions to support life beneath its surface. If large asteroids hit Mars in the past, as the evidence suggests, researchers believe it created long-lasting hydrothermal fields that warmed the subsurface of Mars, making it a habitable environment. “We have been able to show the setting is there to provide life,” Lyon explains. “It’s not too cold, it’s not too harsh. Life as we know it, in the form of bacteria, for example, could be there, although we haven’t found it yet. It’s about piecing together the case for life on Mars – it may have existed and in some form could exist still.”
Astrobiology.com reports that the team plans to investigate other materials in the meteorite sample in search of possible biological signatures that will provide scientific evidence of life on Mars, past or present.
The team’s recent findings are published in the journal Astrobiology in a paper titled, “A Conspicuous Clay Ovoid in Nakhla: Evidence for Subsurface Hydrothermal Alteration on Mars with Implications for Astrobiology.”
Other scientists, including former NASA astrobiologist Richard Hoover have published previous studies asserting the discovery of extraterrestrial life within Martian meteorites. Hoover even suspects that evidence of extraterrestrial life on Mars was intentionally destroyed.
Based on multiple studies, it’s becoming clearer that life once existed on Mars. The question remains: Is there life on Mars today? With data acquired by Curiosity and other Martian rovers, scientists believe the planet may still be habitable today. So it’s extremely likely that future studies will uncover additional evidence showing present-day life on Mars.
Beste bezoeker, Heb je zelf al ooit een vreemde waarneming gedaan, laat dit dan even weten via email aan Frederick Delaere opwww.ufomeldpunt.be. Deze onderzoekers behandelen jouw melding in volledige anonimiteit en met alle respect voor jouw privacy. Ze zijn kritisch, objectief maar open minded aangelegd en zullen jou steeds een verklaring geven voor jouw waarneming! DUS AARZEL NIET, ALS JE EEN ANTWOORD OP JOUW VRAGEN WENST, CONTACTEER FREDERICK. BIJ VOORBAAT DANK...
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Over mijzelf
Ik ben Pieter, en gebruik soms ook wel de schuilnaam Peter2011.
Ik ben een man en woon in Linter (België) en mijn beroep is Ik ben op rust..
Ik ben geboren op 18/10/1950 en ben nu dus 74 jaar jong.
Mijn hobby's zijn: Ufologie en andere esoterische onderwerpen.
Op deze blog vind je onder artikels, werk van mezelf. Mijn dank gaat ook naar André, Ingrid, Oliver, Paul, Vincent, Georges Filer en MUFON voor de bijdragen voor de verschillende categorieën...
Veel leesplezier en geef je mening over deze blog.
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