Sanskrit Writings Reveal UFOs Visited India More than 6000 Years Ago.

30-11-2015 om 21:14 geschreven door peter  

Black hole observed devouring a star

An international team of astronomers has witnessed an "extremely rare" event: a black hole eating a star then ejecting a near light-speed flare.

Any star that wanders too close to a black hole can be shredded and consumed by the immense gravitational force. Usually, astronomers only observe the devastation after the fact. Catching a black hole in the act is far rarer.

An international team of astronomers has made a new observation of a black hole getting its lunch on. The event the astronomers describe in a paper published in the journal Science is spectacular. They observed not just a star's demise, but a black hole then ejecting a flare of matter at very close to light speed.

"These events are extremely rare," lead author Sjoert van Velzen, a Hubble fellow at Johns Hopkins University, said Thursday in a statement. "It's the first time we see everything from the stellar destruction followed by the launch of a conical outflow, also called a jet, and we watched it unfold over several months."

The star, about the same size as the sun, was first observed slipping from its trajectory into the gravitational field of the black hole by a team of researchers from Ohio State University, who announced their discovery in December of last year. When van Velzen read about it, he knew he had only a very small window in which to work to capture the jets in action.

"Previous efforts to find evidence for these jets, including my own, were late to the game," he said.

Van Velzen's team was just in time. He coordinated a team of 13 other astronomers from the US, the Netherlands, Great Britain and Australia, using an array of ground-based telescopes to gather radio, X-ray and optical data to put together a multi-wavelength portrait of the event.

Black holes are difficult to study because we can't actually see them. Their gravitational pull is so strong that not even light can escape. They only way astronomers can study black holes is by studying their effect on the space around them, including what they consume and what they emit.

Related articles

• Collision on the black hole superhighway
• Black hole storm in a Teacup (Galaxy)
• Chandra Observatory reveals the awesome might of the black hole
• NASA video illustrates 'X-ray wind' blasting from a black hole

A large "meal" like a star will result in jets of material and plasma shooting from the black hole's poles. It's not really known how these jets are formed, but according to one hypothesis, as material falls toward the black hole, it is super-heated and ejected along the black hole's spin axis, confined to a narrow, conical jet by strong magnetic fields.

Black holes can also be orbited by matter called accretion disks. By ruling out the possibility that the sudden spike in light was from the black hole's accretion disk, the team confirmed that a star was being devoured.

"The destruction of a star by a black hole is beautifully complicated, and far from understood," van Velzen said. "From our observations, we learn the streams of stellar debris can organize and make a jet rather quickly, which is valuable input for constructing a complete theory of these events."

30-11-2015 om 18:59 geschreven door peter  

Russian General: “We’ve Been Summoning UFOs for Over 30 Years”

Russia is said to have knowledge about extraterrestrial beings for more than 20 years, and many respected former high ranking officials have been trying to disclose certain aspects for some time, but face a lot of adversity from the media, who either ignore them or cite them as untrustworthy sources.

 

 During the Soviet era, the Defense Ministry worked on engineering a human with superpowers. In the course of these experiments, a team of scientists was somehow able to communicate with alien life forms. The man in charge of this classified assignment later talked to journalists.

 

Also a member of the Natural Sciences Academy, and now lieutenant-general in reserve Alexey Savin tells us that in the late 80s, a team of Russian scientists were able to get in touch with a similar delegation representing a foreign civilization.

 

Former major-general Vasily Yeremenko was the first to inform the press of his duty during the Soviet era, which was the retrieval of evidence and intelligence from UFO encounters. He says the amount of such information back then was vast beyond modern comprehension.

 

 

The main objective was to stop any opportunities of war from arising between mankind, or at least Russia, and extraterrestrial civilizations. The KGB conducted an ample study of unexplained phenomena near Vladimirovska in 1984. The location wasn’t picked randomly, as most documented UFO encounters took place at sites where weapons or dangerous technology were tested.

 

"We can say that we learned to summon UFOs in Vladimirovka. To do this, we dramatically increased the number of military flights and movement of the equipment. If the intensity on our side increased, UFOs appeared with the probability of 100 percent.”

  

After more than half a year of such tests, the authorities stopped in order to count the results. They concluded that science, at least as it was back then, couldn’t visibly see any peculiar phenomena and even if anyone did, any aircraft spotted was more probably coming from enemies like the United States or Japan.

 

Yeremenko added: “The UFO topic today is ubiquitous. Precisely because of its scandalous nature serious scientists are not willing to identify their position on this issue. Pilots often see such objects, but they have a veto on this topic, so do astronauts. In confidential conversations they talk about their experiences meeting with UFOs, but they are afraid to speak publicly about this.”

 

He says this topic should be taken seriously because it’s a matter of security at a global level.

 

 

Then Alexey Savin spoke of the government and the KGB’s attempts to manipulate an individual’s brain, which is capable of supernatural powers, in order to spawn a superhuman, the ultimate weapon.

 

"In the process of research, we came to the conclusion that a human was an energy and information system that receives information from outside. This is precisely why a human can manifest paranormal abilities.”

 

People working on the project were either military staff or scientists, but there was also a group assembled solely out of women, and it was them who made the most important research.

 

Savin explains how they had mastered a way to make the human brain function like a radio and contact other civilizations. “We wanted to make a contact with representatives of other civilizations. And we did it. We had to tune energy-contour of the human brain to a particular wave, like a radio.”

 

No chemicals or drugs were used on subjects during testing, and the scientists also came up with a way to tell if individuals were making progress or just hallucinating. What happened next was amazing. Six individuals were able to actually touch extraterrestrial life forms and one was even invited to visit a ship.

 

 

The aliens did give away some information about the structure of their society, but left out important parts like any military details. They supposedly also left knowledge of medical procedures that could cure most diseases. Savin told journalists that the human race is so precariously evolved that they would compare us to infants.

 

"Our civilization is too young to be of interest to them as a subject for a dialogue. Because we are also a part of the universe, we may harm ourselves and other civilizations with our foolish actions, so they are looking out for us. “

 

In 1993, politics came in the way, the whole project was abandoned and the team disbanded, but the brain manipulation method remained in use at the Gagarin Academy, where a core team of scientist continued to work.

 

Savin says “Four years ago we tried to repeat the experiment, and we were successful. Brains and talented people are still present in the defense industry.” He then asks “Why hide something from people? Instead, they need to prepare for new challenges.”

 

But if the aliens were so peaceful and even revealing, why does Savin think we should all prepare for a new challenge or treat UFOs like a global security issue?!

 

http://ufoholic.com/

{ http://7tales.net/index.php }

30-11-2015 om 18:52 geschreven door peter  

(VIDEO) An Entire Fleet of UFOs Was Filmed While Flying Below a Jet Plane

30-11-2015 om 18:46 geschreven door peter  

The MUFON New Mexico Gig – Reviewed

This past weekend I spoke at the annual MUFON New Mexico gig, which was held at the Cleveland High School, Albuquerque. It was an excellent event, for which around 350 people turned up. The speakers were myself, Nick Pope, and John Alexander. The conference theme was: ” What Does the Government Really Know?” As many of you may be aware, between 1991 and 1994, Nick Pope worked in an office of the British Ministry of Defense that handled UFO reports – chiefly from the British public and with a much smaller percentage originating with the military, airline pilots, and the police.

John Alexander’s bio, in part, reads as follows: “Dr. John Alexander has a long history of traveling a fine line between traditional science and studying various phenomena. He has been judicious in applying a scientifically-trained, critical eye while personally encountering many situations that defy conventional explanations. While in the military he formed an ad hoc inter-agency group to study aerial phenomena (UFOs). This is a little known aspect of his work as the group insured no paper trail existed that could be traced by outsiders.”

Things began in fine fashion on the Friday night, with an excellent dinner – all thanks to John and Susan LeMaster. As is often the case at such dinners, new friendships were made, old friendships were rekindled, and a lot of fascinating chatter went on. As for the event itself, it went down very well. In addition to the 300-plus crowd that came to attend the conference, the Albuquerque Journal was there to cover it. And a lot of people who were completely new to the subject, but who wanted to learn more about it, came along.

John Alexander

John Alexander was the first speaker and he gave a fascinating presentation that covered some intriguing areas. He’s a man with a notable background, as his Wikipedia page notes: “He enlisted in the Army as a private in 1956, and retired as a Colonel in 1988. He graduated from the University of Nebraska (BGS, Sociology) in 1971; from Pepperdine University (MA, Education) in 1975; and from Walden University (PhD, Education) in 1980. Commander, Army Special Forces Teams, US Army, Thailand, Vietnam, 1966-69. Chief of human resources division, US Army, Ft. McPherson, GA, 1977-79. Inspector general, Department of Army, Washington, 1980-82. Chief of human technology, Army Intelligence Command, US Army, Arlington, VA 1982-83. Manager of tech. integration, Army Materiel Command, US Army, Alexandria, VA, 1983-85. Director, advanced concepts US Army Lab. Command, Aldelphi, MD 1985-88.”

John made it clear that during the course of his career he came across more than a few people in the world of military, government, and intelligence who had personalinterests in the UFO phenomenon. He never, however, came across any evidence for the existence of a deeply hidden, super-secret group along the lines of the so-called “Majestic 12″ or “MJ12.” It should be noted, though, that John is not skeptical about the existence of UFOs. It’s the matter of what the government knows – or doesn’t know – that he takes issue with. In the Q&A after the presentations, John and I were in agreement that the UFO phenomenon appears to have the ability to manifest according to the perceptions, beliefs, and pop-culture imagery of the people of different eras. We’re talking about 19th century phantom airships; 20th century Foo Fighters, Ghost Rockets and Flying Saucers; and 20th and 21st century Flying Triangles.

Nick Pope

As for Nick Pope, he gave an overview of the British Ministry of Defense’s role in the UFO subject, its UFO history, and its reasons for looking at UFO reports. Some of the more notable and thought-provoking cases were discussed – including various reports of the aforementioned “Flying Triangles,” a subject taken very seriously during the time Pope was handling UFO reports for the MoD. Echoing John Alexander with his views on UFOs and the US Government, Pope does not believe that any arm of the British Government, MoD, or military is sitting on a crashed UFO or several. He does admit, however, that the MoD has received more than a few notable reports over the years and decades. Pope also revealed the MoD has found another 18 UFO files that should be coming up for declassification in the near future.

My lecture on the Men in Black was, in part, on the history of the phenomenon – dating back to the likes of Albert Bender and Gray Barker. But, it was also based around showing the audience how and why the truly weird MIB have nothing to do with anygovernment. They are far stranger. As I told the audience, real-life equivalents of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are the very last things the MIB are. “Non-human” would be far better terminology.

There was a lively Q&A session, too. It followed the lectures and covered such issues as SETI, UFO Disclosure, alien-human hybrids, synchronicities, Bigfoot, and more. And then there was the day after. Definitely one of the stand-out events was a Sunday morning visit to the home of UFO researcher/author, David Marler – which all of the speakers, organizers, and helpers attended. David has a massive (and I do meanmassive) collection of UFO books, magazines, periodicals, memorabilia, UFO collections from various old-timers from Ufology, and an incredible body of material on the Contactee movement, and much much more, too – including a garage full of filing-cabinets filled with things like old newspaper clippings, rare journals and way more. First issues of both Fate and Gray Barker’s Saucerian are on display, too.

David also has a couple of items of note for those interested in the “Flatwoods Monster” saga of 1952 – including one publication which has a 3-page hand-written statement from Kathleen May, one of the original witnesses to the monstrous thing. Then there is an old “gate clearance” card for access to the Roswell base way back when, and which is contained in David’s collection. The signature on the card is that ofMajor Edwin Easley. As Provost Marshal, he was one of the central figures in the Roswell crash saga and who gave a very carefully worded statement on the incident to Roswell researcher Kevin Randle more than a few years back. And then it was all over, and all too soon. As is so often the case with such events! But, there will be a 2016 gig, and so if you missed this one, I would urge you to go along next year. You won’t be disappointed.

 TAGS: David Marler, Dewey Fournet, mufon, ufo

{ http://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

30-11-2015 om 18:38 geschreven door peter  

30-11-2015 om 18:31 geschreven door peter  

Blue moon - in pictures

A blue moon is an additional full moon that appears in a subdivision of a year: either the third of four full moons in a season, or a second full moon in a month of the common calendar.

The moon rises over people gathered on Glastonbury Tor [Getty Images]

The full moon rises over the illuminated Kazan Kremlin with the Qol Sharif mosque illuminated in Kazan

A blue moon rises behind the torch of the Statue of Liberty

An American Airlines passenger airplane from Miami crosses the blue moon in California

A full moon, known as the Blue Moon, is seen over north London

The moon over the Beatles statues on Penny Lane, Liverpool

The moon rises over a statue on the Whitley Bay Dome, on Tyneside

Blue Moon over the U.S. Capitol

The moon rises over people gathered on Glastonbury Tor

Blue moon over Massachusetts

Blue moon seen through the clouds in the sky over Skopje, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

A full moon, known as the Blue Moon, is seen over the Staten Island Ferry in New York

{ http://www.express.co.uk/ }

30-11-2015 om 18:22 geschreven door peter  

PICTURED: Does this picture prove aliens in a UFO watched the Moon landings?

ALIEN hunters hope a newly found anomaly in pictures taken during the Apollo 15 moon landings could be the proof they were looking for that NASA astronauts were not alone during the mission.

30-11-2015 om 18:07 geschreven door peter  

Fargo: Epic Crime Show or Unexpected UFO Documentary?

The enigmatic UFOs in the show that won multiple Emmy Awards are all references to real events.

 

As many of you know Fargo was a Coen brothers directed movie from 1996, which recently got made into a well-known, critically acclaimed TV series.

 

The first season caught the eye of cult, crime based movie lovers but the second isn’t yet over and already has everybody hanging on the edge of their seats. This is a good thing from an UFOlogic point of view, because people are, and will continue asking questions about the short sequences in which different characters encounter either UFOs, bright lights or strange drawings.

 

 

While the first season was your classic one man murder spree, the second is an all out war between, very well chosen, organized crime, represented by the Kansas City Mob, and a local criminal family from Minnesota. The story, in its entirety, is real and only the names have been changed.

 

The show also references the infamous encounter of deputy Val Johnson from 1979, who claims a bright UFO first observed him for a short time before quickly accelerating in his direction and making contact, leaving him unconscious for almost 40 minutes. When he woke up, he also realized his watch had at one point stopped for a quarter of an hour, but was now running perfectly.

 

But this particular incident hasn’t yet come to light in the show. Instead, we were all left jaw hanging, just like Rye, who, at the end of the first episode of season 2, after leaving a body trail at a diner, encounters bright and strange flying lights just before being run over by Peggy.

 

Keep in mind that, at the beginning of each episode, there’s a disclaimer saying that the story we are watching is entirely real and only the names have been changed. So if the piles of bodies and acres of grave digging are historically accurate, so must be these alien encounters, which were also reported at the time by some local papers and news agencies.

 

 

Then, in a later episode, when the Native American tracker named Hanzee goes to the diner in order to investigate the murder scene and possibly find out what happened to Rye, he also encounters an alien ship, probably the same one.

 

This time, we are given a fast glimpse holding many mysterious details, because the scene only lasts, on screen, for a few seconds. However, in these short seconds we can clearly see Hanzee closing his eyes and acknowledging the UFO presence. Then, after we see the tree line shadow move from one side of the road to another in a 2 hour time lapse, he opens his eyes and immediately finds the piece of head light that helps him identify the hit and run car.

 

The Iroquois confederation tribes are known to hold alien communication knowledge or to have at least developed a mental defensive mechanism against UFOs. Some people concluded that Hanzee was somehow helped by the aliens in finding the broken piece of glass, while other believe he just took a mental defensive stance, for two hours, until the UFO left.

 

The second theory is also backed by the fact that Rye stared directly into the mysterious bright lights and, well, died. Some people on Reddit have also observed that the clock in the diner only had one hand.

 

Just as we were trying to make sense of these scenes and preparing for more encounters, we got another short puzzle on our hands in episode 7, when Lou’s wife went into a room up stairs at her father’s house and found a wall full of strange drawings. We haven’t got a clue what happened to her mother, who is absent from the story, so she might’ve been abducted. Others think it was the Sheriff himself who was the architect.

 

 

The series’ writers could also be trying to subtly show people that the late 70s and early 80s were the period when UFO encounters were so common and the problem got so serious that the governing forces decided to take it into the Sci-Fi area by making blockbuster movies.

 

The first scene in episode one depicts an actual shooting of such a movie, while during the cinema murders scene later in the series, a UFO movie was playing.

 

If you watch Fargo and noticed something we didn’t please leave it in the comments.

 

IF you haven’t watched Fargo yet, we suggest you do so, immediately. It’s on Mondays at 10 eastern on FX. 

 

http://ufoholic.com/

{ http://7tales.net/index.php }

30-11-2015 om 17:58 geschreven door peter  

Levitating Cars, Policeman Stalked By UFO And Andy Kaufman’s Death

(Before It's News)

The Fortean Slip 98 The Andy Kaufman Is Still Alive Episode. This week Chris, Steve and Matt talk about whether or not Andy Kaufman hoaxed his own death. They also discuss paranormal investigators on the search for evidence, levitating cars (which we explain) and a police officer who claims he was stalked by a UFO.

THIS WEBCAST IS UNCENSORED. If you enjoy this, please check out http://theforteanslip.blogspot.com/

30-11-2015 om 17:45 geschreven door peter  

Possible Missing Time Affects Military Man’s Career

(Before It's News)

30-11-2015 om 17:40 geschreven door peter  

Vreemde UFO boven DEN BOSCH, Nederland ( VIDEO )

{ www.NIBURU.nl }

30-11-2015 om 17:32 geschreven door peter  

Alien Craft Sits Watching During Apollo 15 Walk On Moon, Nov 2015, Video, UFO Sighting News

Date of sighting: November 29, 2015
Location of sighting: Mt Hadley, Earths moon
Source photo: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/a15/AS15-85-11453HR.jpg

This UFO was found in an old Apollo 15 image during their moon walk. The UFO has two wings that bend downward. A perfectly balanced ship on both sides and its center is directly aimed at the astronauts walking on the moon. Watching them. Awesome discovery by Streetcap1 of Youtube.
Scott C. Waring
www.ufosightingsdaily.com

{  http://www.ufosightingsdaily.com/ }

30-11-2015 om 17:23 geschreven door peter  

UFO Cloud Over Greensboro, North Carolina On Nov 29, 2015, Photos, UFO Sighting News

Above photo has added shadows only. You can even see the bottom of the ship, the dome top and the thin dome bottom.

Date of sighting: November 29, 2015
Location of sighting: Greensboro, North Carolina, USA
News source:  http://myfox8.com/2015/11/29/ufo-cloud-spotted-in-greensboro/

I wanted to see the detail of the cloud so I added some shadow to it and I began to see a domed bottom area of the UFO. The UFO itself looks gold but is covered in thick layer of cloud. The shading cut through it about 80%. Its a well known fact among UFO researches that UFOs frequently create a thin layer of cloud around their ships in order to observe humans closer without frightening them. 
Scott C. Waring
www.ufosightingsdaily.com

Myfox8.com News states:
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Has a “UFO cloud” been spotted in Greensboro? Check out this photo that was sent to FOX8’s Chad Tucker that features a cloud that bears a striking resemblance to a UFO. Joseph Stewart‎ sent the photo on Sunday and said the “flying saucer-looking cloud” was spotted near Brassfield Shopping Center on Battleground Avenue in Greensboro. “It may not make the news, but I thought it would bring a smile,” Stewart‎ said on Facebook. “Have a blessed Sunday.”

Above screenshot has added shadows only.

{ http://www.ufosightingsdaily.com/ }

30-11-2015 om 17:19 geschreven door peter  

Crop Formation Found In Small Farming Community of Victoria, Honduras On Nov 28, 2015, Photos, UFO Sighting News.

Date of sighting: November 28, 2015
Location of sighting: Victoria, Honduras
Source: http://www.inexplicata.blogspot.ca

UFOs that land often land in tall fields of grass because it offers the aliens a way of hiding while they look around. This way they are not attacked or seen. They take a lot of precautions...and very few risks, since their life span is thousands of years or more. The field does not look like they were trying to leave a message. Just doing scientific studies.
Scott C. Waring
www.ufosightingsdaily.com

News states:
Source: El Tiempo (Honduras) and Planeta UFO (Argentina) Date: 11.28.2015 

Residents of Yoro Alarmed by Alleged UFO HONDURAS. Residents of the town of Victoria, Yoro, are alarmed by an alleged flying object that supposedly landed in the vicinity. According to reports, the area was completely destroyed, which could be due to the power of the "phenomenon." Following the event, local residents are on high alert to the presence of an alleged UFO, an event which -- according to them - had never occured in that area. At the moment, the nature of what could have caused such damage to the area remains unknown. [Translation (c) 2015 S.Corrales, IHU with thanks to Guillermo Giménez, Planeta UFO]

{ http://www.ufosightingsdaily.com/ } 

30-11-2015 om 17:10 geschreven door peter  

British Police Officer Claimed UFO Stalked and Abducted Him

A former officer of West Yorkshire Police, Alan Godfry, still believes he may have been a victim of alien abduction as he nears the 35th anniversary of the traumatising series of events.
While on a patrol in Todmorden in the early hours on November 28, 1980, to search for missing cattle, Mr Godfrey claimed a huge UFO spotted him.

It was a fuzzy oval that rotated at such speed and hovered so low over the road that it was causing the bushes on the side to shake.

He was on the outskirts of the town in Burnley Road looking for the farm animals that were reportedly missing. He was about to give up finding the reported missing animals when he claimed to have noticed what he thought a bus approaching from a few hundred metres away.

But as he got closer, he came to a realisation that it was not the commuter bus scheduled to pass at around 5 a.m. Instead, he saw what he described “a large mass.”

He said, “It was a fuzzy oval that rotated at such speed and hovered so low over the road that it was causing the bushes on the side to shake.”

He reported that he stopped to make a sketch of the UFO on his note pad. However, a burst of light overcame him.

The next thing he knew was that he drove his car again further up on the same road and the UFO was now gone. He turned around to see the area where he believed it took place. He found out that the area was wet due to rain in the night and there was a circular path of the dry road in a swirled pattern.

Godfry also noticed his police boots were split at the sole – like he had been dragged along. When he got back to the police station, he realised that he had lost around 15 minutes.

Mr Godfrey initially decided not to report the encounter because of fear to be ridiculed, but on the same day, he heard a lorry driver three miles further out on Burnley Road at Cliviger reported to police spotting “a brilliant white” object at about the same time.

Moreover, neighbouring Halifax police officers also received reports about a “brilliant blue-white glow” coming down Todmorden, also at the same time.

The coming out of other witnesses made Godfry file an official report. Since then, UFO investigators have been looking into his case. The case has eventually become one of the country’s most famous alien abduction cases.

His superiors sent Mr Godfrey for mental health and medical assessments but was found to be fine. British UFOlogist Jenny Randles, who had a chance to get an interview with him, said that he was “refreshingly honest.”

30-11-2015 om 17:01 geschreven door peter  

Alien Hunters Find The Mother Of All UFOs Nearby

A mysterious unidentified flying object (UFO) on NASA’s images has created speculation among UFO hunters.

UFO chasers believe that the object is flying very close to the Sun, which nothing has been invented so far by humans that could fly that close. They suggest that it’s impossible this object could be some spacecraft from Earth.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) special telescopic cameras took the images to monitor activities around the Sun.

If this object is a kind of alien spacecraft, then it would be about the size of a planet or even bigger. Some UFO hunters suggest the large space object is an alien mothership.

The odd symmetrical object looks like the famous Tyne and Wear landmark, the Angel of the North. Based on human technological standards, such distance from the sun is extremely dangerous.

{ http://www.latest-ufo-sightings.net/ }

30-11-2015 om 16:58 geschreven door peter  

Are Photographers Telling Lies about the Aurora Borealis?

The increasing popularity of aurora photography in recent years has produced some stunning imagery from unlikely latitudes. However all is not as it seems.There are implications for the wider integrity of photography.

We’ve all seen those images over the past few years (popping up in our Facebook feeds or in the media) depicting spectacular displays of the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights from Great Britain, Ireland or the lower 48 in the US. Regardless of the location, they’re pretty amazing images. But beneath the wow-factor and thousands of ‘likes’ and ‘shares’ lurks a nasty little integrity issue. These aurora images may be photographic eye-candy, but many of them are pure high fructose corn syrup.

The extraordinary progress in digital photography has galvanised a revolution in night-time photography. Only ten or 15 years ago, really good photos of the Aurora Borealis or Milky Way were pretty scarce. A majority of photographers were still using expensive, low-ISO slide film, and the guesswork of long exposures, reciprocity failure and using the bulb setting were enough to scare many enthusiasts away. The development of digital sensors with high usable ISO made it much easier to experiment with this previously dark art (pardon the pun). Results are now much easier to achieve, and invariably of higher quality and impact. The ability to predict auroral displays and disseminate this information on the internet has also vastly increased the numbers of photographers ‘in-the-know’ about upcoming displays.

I’ve been fortunate enough to see the Northern Lights twice from Ireland. The first time I saw them in 2004 was in all likelihood a once-in-a-lifetime display, so powerful that at its peak the aurora was directly overhead, and not in the north at all. Auroras from that storm were visible as far south as the Mediterranean, and Ireland was at the heart of the activity, rather than at its southern fringe as normal. The display was intense, bright and constantly moving, with all the colour and vibrancy you would associate with a classic high-latitude event. After a couple of hours of shooting, I spent another hour just lying on my back and gazing into the sky, mesmerised by the natural lightshow going off overhead. Later I found that my images, shot on ISO400 slide film, had captured the scene pretty much as I remembered it.

The second time I saw an Irish aurora was in March of this year. The St. Patrick’s Day event produced vivid and memorable auroras at higher latitudes, but at lower latitudes like northern Britain and Ireland, the display was very faint, at least to the naked eye.

When I drove out from my home on the northwest coast of Ireland for a look, the NOAA Ovation computer model was telling me we were well inside the view line.

Yet I could see nothing. I drove out to the coast, well away from street lighting, killed the car lights, and peered into the inky blackness of the northern sky. After a minute or two I began to wonder if I could discern a faint discrepancy in the sky. Or was it just some cloud? I couldn’t tell for sure. So I set up my camera on a tripod, jacked up the ISO and made a 30 second exposure. And there they were, rendered unmistakeably on the camera LCD as a band of luminous green with upper pillars of delicate magenta. Yet the display was still barely visible to my eyes.

So what was going on? Was the camera sensor somehow embellishing what was there, or were my eyes at fault? The answer harks back to basic school biology lessons on the structure of the human eye. In simple terms, our sight relies on two different types of receptor cell. The first type, cones, respond to bright light conditions and are responsible for giving us colour information. The second type, rods, are used in low-light, but don’t transmit colour. At night we see a largely monochromatic world, unless there is a light source bright enough to kick off our cone cells. So the sensor was recording what was actually there, but the colour was just not visible to my eyes.

I continued shooting, enjoying a half-hour spell just after midnight when the auroras intensified. While still not the stuff of a Discovery Channel documentary, the lights had become much more obvious to the naked eye, containing recognisable structure and faintly discernible colour. Again though, the images on my LCD were much stronger and more colourful than what I was observing directly.

The following day the world of social media was awash with aurora images, including my own. The treatment of most images was not sympathetic. Invariably saturation had been added to the point that some images, taken in a geographically similar location, depicted auroras of lurid brilliance and intensity.

I had posted my own images as they came out of the camera, yet over the following days I felt more and more uncomfortable with them. I fielded many expressions of disappointment from Irish people who felt they had missed out on a rare and spectacular display. I had to tell most of them not to worry because the human experience had been pretty underwhelming.

Like most photographers, I routinely use adjustments in Photoshop (including increases in saturation) to render daylight images that replicate the visual and emotional impact of the original scene. This process always throws up issues of truth and integrity, especially in situations of strong and unusual lighting, where genuinely magical light may be interpreted as too much Photoshop. But this was an entirely unfamiliar situation. Here I was making no adjustments at all, yet feeling as though my image still lacked integrity.

The disparity between eye and camera was exacerbated by the faintness of the display. On delving into the subject a bit more, it turns out that aurora displays with colours visible to the eye are quite rare at lower latitudes. More intense aurora have sufficient brightness to kick our cones into operation and allow us to perceive a great deal more of their colour. Compare the image I shot in 2004 on ISO400 slide film, to those from March 2015, shot at ISO3200 on a Canon 5dmk2: that’s a three-stop difference in brightness. To further complicate matters, anecdotal evidence suggests that while some people may perceive a weak aurora as monochromatic, others viewing from the same location may still be able to discern colour.

So where does that leave us? There are plenty of photographic techniques that allow the camera to see the world in an way that our eyes cannot. Infrared is a good example. Infrared images could never be accused of lacking integrity because the viewer is in no doubt that what they are seeing is a rendition of reality that the eye cannot replicate. Similarly, many modern images of the Milky Way are so clearly removed from what we experience with our own eyes when we look up into the night sky, that they couldn’t be accused of trying to dupe the viewer. Such images can therefore be judged entirely on their own merit.

Perhaps integrity stems from the perspective of the viewer. If aurora images are shared between enthusiasts specialising in astro photography, who recognise the technicalities of what the camera records, there is hardly an issue. But if these images are used as documentary evidence in the media, to illustrate a particular event on a particular night, a problem arises. In this context, the vast majority of viewers will look at these images and infer that this is what they would have seen had they been standing beside the photographer. This may well be untrue, in which case the viewer has been deceived. I’d argue that the majority of images of lower-latitude auroral displays from the last few years would fall into this category, including those used by the most respected mainstream media outlets.

Does it matter? Well I think it does. Great photographs are not simply a rendition of what the camera is able to record. They need creative human input, but equally they must be rooted in the human experience. As a species we are blessed to have evolved the capacity for awe and wonder, which is why images of aurora, and more general photos of landscape and nature, are so popular. However the power of these images relies on the viewer’s sense of its integrity.

Like an undisclosed double exposure, or an unrealistic use of post-processing, misleading aurora images stand to benefit from a short-term popularity, because despite the cynicism of modern discourse, there is a still a balance of credulity in the general audience for photography. But eventually an understanding of this particular gulf between the eye and the camera, and the way it can be abused, will become more widely understood by the general public. The result? A further erosion of society’s trust in the integrity of photography.

Personally I’ve decided I would rather come clean about this kind of aurora photography. Especially at low latitudes, vivid auroral displays remain a rare occurrence, and we only diminish their wonder by pretending to our audience that every faint glow is a wondrous spectacle.

About Gareth

Gareth McCormack is an Irish photographer specialising in landscape, travel and adventure imagery. His images have been used by many of the world’s most prominent magazines and newspapers, including Time, National Geographic and the New York Times. He has also supplied images to many, including Tourism Ireland, Air New Zealand, Microsoft and Warner Bros.

Gareth’s style is characterised by bold and dynamic compositions, galvanised by the use of striking natural light. Visit Gareth’s website.

{ http://phogotraphy.com/ }

30-11-2015 om 00:41 geschreven door peter  

Moon-like orb floating over the skies of Hull in 1801 is the first recorded sighting of a UFO on earth

• The first recorded sighting of a UFO has been found by a Hull historian
• An orb appeared in the sky in June 1801 which looked like a 'moon' 
• It was described as bathing the city's streets in blue light

By PHOEBE JACKSON-EDWARDS FOR MAILONLINE

A blue orb seen floating across the city of Hull in 1801 is believed by UFO spotters to be the first sighting of its kind.

The object was seen flying over the city and documented in newspaper reports from the time.

It was midnight on June 19 when witnesses saw 'an immense moon with a black bar across it' loom over the Humber from the South West.

A historian has discovered the first recorded UFO sighting from 1801 which was senn flying over Hull, pictured another possible sighting

Hull historian and author Mike Covell, 37, discovered the reference to the moon-like orb after trawling through archived newspapers from the early 1800s. 

Mr Covell told the Express: 'This looked more like a Death Star. It bathed the entire city in blue light, which must have been terrifying.

'It is the oldest sighting we have managed to track down so far.'

Although there are other examples much earlier, Mr Covell said these were open to interpretation, whereas this sighting had evidence.

After its initial disappearance, the UFO then reappeared 'looking like the face of the moon', before splitting into five circular balls of light, according to a report in the Hull Packet newspaper. 

The Northampton Mercury report from the time described how the object 'seemed then to form itself into seven small distinct moons or globes of fire which disappeared for the space of a few seconds'.

At the time, Hull's first port had only been built in 1788 and the city was home to just 27,000 people

Many UFO spotters previously believed the first recorded example of a sighting was in 1947 when Kenneth Arnold saw unidentified objects flying over the Cascade Mountains in North America.

At the time, Hull's first port had only been built in 1788 and the city was home to just 27,000 people.

Although it is unclear why aliens would have visited the city, there were many sightings over the region in the following years.

Mr Covell has built up an extensive collection of UFO clippings, from the 19th century to the present day. 

Mysterious activity in the sky has always intrigued people and just this month, two more believed UFO spots have been seen

One of the strangest cases was reported in 1967, when a UFO was said to have landed in a park on the Longhill estate in Hull. 

In the past month there have been two sightings of possible UFOs, a 'scary but beautiful' UFO was spotted buzzing above an IKEA branch in Siberia, leaving many Russians puzzled by the strange sighting.

The streaking fireball cut through the sky, witnessed over a vast area including Kazakhstan, provoking social media claims about an alien visit.

Footage of the mystery object taken from a car shows it flying over a branch of furniture giant IKEA in the city of Omsk, western Siberia.

A father and son also spotted white orb-like shapes over the sky in Texas and posted the evidence on YouTube. 

Although some commenters argued they were military flares. 

{ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

30-11-2015 om 00:28 geschreven door peter  

King Tutankhamun tomb scans suggest '90 per cent chance' of hidden chamber

Experts say there is a 90 per cent chance the young King's tomb is also the resting place of Queen Nefereti

A British archaeologist has said there is a 90 per cent chance the tomb of famous Egyptian king Tutankhamun has a hidden chamber also containing the remains of Queen Nefereti.

Dr Nicholas Reeves believes Tutankhamun may have been rushed into an outer chamber of what was originally Nefertiti's tomb when he died at age 19.

Experts had previously said there was a 60 per cent chance the ancient Queen's resting place was in the tomb but are now even more confident after scans suggested the existence of a secret chamber.

Read More: Space experts say Mars has acid fog which eats away rocks and is caused by volcanic eruptions

The announcement came at a press conference in Egypt with Egyptian Antiquities Minister Mamdouh al-Damaty.

Speaking of the development, he said: "We said earlier there was a 60% chance there is something behind the walls.

"But now after the initial reading of the scans, we are saying now its 90% percent likely."

Further investigations are now needed and the new evidence will go to Japan for analysis.

Getty

"There is, in fact, an empty space behind the wall based on radar, which is very accurate, there is no doubt.

"We cannot say at this point however the size of the space behind the wall," Japanese radar specialist Hirokatsu Watanabe told the conference.

Discovery of Nefertiti, who is believed to be Tutankhamun's step-mother, would shed light on what remains a relatively mysterious period of Egyptian history.

Read More: Ancient Britons mummified their dead just like the Egyptians

King Tut, as he is affectionately known, died around 1323 BC.

His tomb was discovered in 1922 by another British Egyptologist, Howard Carter.

But Egyptologists remain uncertain over where Nefertiti died and was buried.

30-11-2015 om 00:13 geschreven door peter