Berwyn Mountains UFO Crash: 40 years on, it’s still a mystery

On January 23, 1974, people reported hearing a huge bang, felt earth tremors and saw a brilliant light in the sky above the Berwyn Mountains. Families in the villages of Llandderfel and Llandrillo were settling down to watch TV when an explosion was heard and the ground shook. It measured 3.5 on the Richter scale. As people ran from their homes fearing another tremor, they saw a blaze of light on the mountainside.

A nurse who believed an aircraft had crashed drove to the site and saw a pulsating orange and red glow on the hillside and other lights.

Police converged on the area and emergency services were put on standby. Although searches were undertaken, officially nothing was found – leading to claims of a cover-up.

In the four decades since there has been a huge debate as to what exactly happened that night, with TV documentaries made and books written on the subject.

Some researchers have claimed a UFO crashed, with further claims “bodies” were retrieved and taken away by soldiers. Other theories suggest it was a meteor shower combined with an earthquake – the epicentre of which was at Bala Lake – and the misperception of poachers on the hillside carrying lamps.

Over the years more information has surfaced which has added to the enigma. In 2008 the Daily Post acquired official documents showing how Gwynedd Police were bombarded with calls and eye witness accounts of the strange event, with some convinced they had seen a UFO. They gave a fascinating insight into what was going on that night.

 Gwynedd Police Constabulary Major Incident Log – explosion – 21.10pm PC receiving 999 calls of UFO.

A witness who saw an object on the hillside said in a statement: “Saw bright red light, like coal fire red. Large perfect circle. Like a big bonfire. Could see lights above and to the right and white lights moving to bottom. Light changed colour to yellowish white and back again.”

A message in a police log said: “There’s been a large explosion in the area and there is a large fire in the mountainside. I can see the fire where I am.”

Telex message to chief constable Gwynedd constabulary. 22.00pm approx 23/1/74: Saw bright green lights, object with tail – travelling west. Saw about Bangor direction – dropped down.

At approx 10pm on 23/1/74: Saw a circular light in the sky at an estimated height of 1,500 feet. This object exploded and pieces fell to the ground. Mr …… estimates the pieces would have fallen into the sea between Rhyl and Liverpool.

In 2010 key witness, retired nurse Pat Evans, insisted she saw something strange on the mountainside. At the time she said: “It (the object) couldn’t have got there any other way apart from being flown there, so it had to be a UFO of some sort. I’m talking about something that could only have got there by flying and landing.”

Ms Evans, who was living in Llandderfel, near Bala, added: “We just saw this huge ball glowing and pulsating on the mountain. Some lights seemed to be scattered around it and I just wish we’d stayed to see what the end result was – whether it would just disappear or fly away.

“We didn’t see anybody on the road even though there were various reports that we were told to go away by armed police and military etc, which was all totally untrue.

“We’d heard an almighty bang and we live at the foot of the mountain. I thought it might have been a plane crash. Me being a nurse and my girls being in St John (Ambulance), I thought we could help.”

She told how the object glowed orange, red and yellow and was “moon like, but without windows or doors”. Mrs Evans added: “I’ve never seen anything like it before or since. I have no idea what it was.”

A document from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency revealed a military operation, codenamed Photoflash, was scheduled for that evening. It involved about 10 military aircraft and a series of powerful flashes across the North Wales coast and Liverpool Bay.

The MCA letter said: “During the late afternoon and early evening of 23rd January 1974 there was an exercise from Jerby Range on the Isle of Man. The exercise was called ‘Photoflash’ and coastguards were advised to expect at least 10 aircraft taking part and at least 80 flashes around the Liverpool Bay area and the North Wales coastline.”

There was no more information from official sources on that specific exercise and if it was connected to Berwyn. A spokesman at the RAF Museum Research Department suggested photoflash operations were used for training exercises to illuminate the ground below.

But the mystery still remains. Researcher Russ Kellett still believes the answer is out there: “I have been researching this for years and I am convinced there was more than one UFO involved that night,” he said. “All the evidence that we have uncovered over the years has consistently pointed that way.”

Source www.dailypost.co.uk

{ http://alien-ufo-sightings.com/ }

14-06-2017 om 22:53 geschreven door peter  

THE INEVITABLE IS ALMOST HERE: WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN WHEN THE WHOLE WORLD FINDS OUT?

Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) have been a topic of interest for decades, and with the recent release of thousands of previously classified government documents, we now know without question that government, military, and other defence agencies have had a high level of interest in this topic for a very long time.

These files indicate that objects are commonly tracked on both air and ground radar, as well as visually confirmed by the pilots who are sent out to intercept them.

Everything is in a process of investigation both in the United States and in Spain, as well as the rest of the world. The nations of the world are currently working together in the investigation of the UFO phenomenon. There is an international exchange of data. – General Carlos Castro Cavero (1979). From UFOs and the National Security State, Volume 2, written by Richard Dolan.

For instance, here is an excellent example of a defence intelligence agency report detailing what commonly happens when a UFO is tracked on radar, and pilots attempt to intercept it (one of thousands). Apart from traveling at tremendous speeds and performing impossible maneuvers that no known aircraft can perform, when military jets enter the object’s vicinity, they usually experience critical instrumentation failure.

When President Truman made the statement that they discuss this issue at every conference that the government has held with the military, many people took notice. Peter Andrew Sturrock, a British scientist and an Emeritus Professor of Applied Physics at Stanford University, reminded us decades ago that we need to move forward with UFO research; this was in the 1960s. He stated that:

If it does indeed turn out that there is relevant physical evidence, if this evidence is carefully collected and analyzed, and if this analysis leads to the identification of several facts concerning the UFO phenomenon, then will be the time for scientists to step back and ask, What are these facts trying to tell us? (source)

After that, we had scientists like Dr. Jacques Vallee, notable for co-developing the first computerized mapping of Mars for NASA, and for his work at SRI International on the network information centre for ARPANET, a precursor to the modern Internet, publishing work in peer-reviewed scientific journals. For example, a study published in Scientific Exploration titled “Estimates of Optical Power Output in Six Cases Of Unexplained Aeriel Objects With Defined Luminosity Characteristics.” Apart from performing impossible maneuvers, the files also indicate some sort of electromagnetic effect when craft enter the vicinity of some of these UFOs. Critical weapons and electronic systems completely shut down. You can read about a classic example of that from two Canadian military pilots here.

To read about more examples, you can read this article we published on the topic a few years back. These are truly astonishing cases.

Above is just a tidbit of information regarding the UFO phenomenon. This field is littered with information ranging from declassified documents, from video footage, to statements from some of the ‘highest-ranking’ military and political people in the world.

So, ask yourself, why has it taken so long to accustom people to the fact that these objects are real, do exist, and have possibly existed well before the existence of modern day humans? Former head of the CIA, Roscoe Hillenoketter told the NY times in 1960 that:

Behind the scenes, high ranking Air Force officers are soberly concerned about UFOs. But through official secrecy and ridicule, many citizens are led to believe the unknown flying objects are nonsense.

Here is an excellent video summarizing the UFO problem up in 10 minutes, give by UFO researcher Richard Dolan, given at the citizens hearing on disclosure organized by Steven Basset. It was a conference that gathered academicians, high ranking military and political personnel from around the world. I’ve used it multiple times in my articles so forgive me if you’ve already seen it.

Do UFOs = Extraterrestrial Craft?

Intelligent beings from other star systems have been and are visiting our planet Earth. They are variously referred to as Visitors, Others, Star People, ETs, etc. . . . They are visiting Earth NOW; this is not a matter of conjecture or wishful thinking. – Theodore C. Loder III, Phd, Professor Emeritus of Earth Sciences, University of New Hampshire (source)

UFO doesn’t necessarily mean extraterrestrial, but, as with all of the evidence that presented itself prior to the disclosure of their existence, we have similar evidence and a great deal of information to believe that the extraterrestrial hypothesis is a possible explanation for some of these UFOs. A few years ago, you were branded a ‘conspiracy theorist’ for believing that UFOs are real. Today, more than half of the American population believes in their existence, and this was before dozens of governments decided to disclose their existence. A simple google search of the latest polls will show you this statistic.

This thing has gotten so highly-classified… it is just impossible to get anything on it. I have no idea who controls the flow of need-to-know because, frankly, I was told in such an emphatic way that it was none of my business that I’ve never tried to make it to be my business since. I have been interested in this subject for a long time and I do know that whatever the Air Force has on the subject is going to remain highly classified. – Senator Barry Goldwater, Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee (source)

Both NASA astronauts and high-ranking military personnel have told us that we are not alone, and that governments are aware of several different extraterrestrial races. It wasn’t long ago when Paul Hellyer, former Canadian Defence Minister stated that the government knows of at least four, or the Edgar Mitchell, the 6th man to walk on the moon told us that he has been privileged enough to be in on the fact that we are not alone, and that ‘they’ have been visiting us for years. (source)

There is a serious possibility that we are being visited and have been visited for many years by people from outer space, by other civilizations. Who they are, where they are from, and what they want should be the subject of rigorous scientific investigation and not be the subject of ‘rubishing’ by tabloid newspapers.– Lord Admiral Hill-Norton, Former Chief of Defence Staff, 5 Star Admiral of the Royal Navy, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee (source)

Perhaps it’s stories like the one that came out of Zimbabwe decades ago, where Harvard professor John Mack, heavily sponsored by Lawrence Rockefeller, uncovered a case of more than 60 school children witnessing a large craft landing with alien beings emerging from it. Perhaps it’s the fact that hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people have reported supposed encounters with extraterrestrial beings, either forced, friendly, or ‘unfriendly,’ or perhaps it’s the implant phenomenon.

The list as to why the extraterrestrial hypothesis is plausible is a very long one, just as with the UFO phenomenon and the validity of it before it became mainstream, the reality of the extraterrestrial hypothesis is also very plausible, and based on my 10 + years of research, 100% definite. As former NASA astronaut and Princeton Physics professor Brian O’leary told the world, “there is abundant evidence that we are being contacted, that civilizations have been visiting us for a very long time.” (source)

It is my thesis that flying saucers are real and that they are space ships from another solar system. I think that they possibly are manned by intelligent observers who are members of a race that may have been investigating our Earth for centuries. -Herman Oberth, one of the founding fathers of rocketry and astronautics (source)

Even in the mainstream, scientists have told the world that we are not alone, that the probability for that possibility is next to zero, and that extraterrestrial life will most likely be discovered within the next couple of years.

Here is another video that I’ve used dozens of times, but I just want to get the point across that there is strong evidence for the extraterrestrial hypothesis, despite the fact that some believe it is weak.

What Will Happen When The World Finds Out We Are Not Alone?

The question is not if, it’s when.

We’ve been bombarded with alien propaganda for decades, and now, the topic is being taken more seriously by the mainstream, and people within the public eye. Hilary Clinton is a great example, as she is getting mainstream coverageregarding her willingness to ‘find out the truth.’ Even the head of her current presidential campaign, Jon Podesta, is a big advocate for UFO disclosure.

But this is confusing, given the fact that a number of government and military officials worldwide have been telling us the truth for decades. Why is truth only truth when mainstream media, or a person of extreme popularity within the public eye brings it up? This is a problem. When a big event happens, like 9/11, or, let’s say, an official announcement about the extraterrestrial presence, the worldwide population will be glued to the TV screen awaiting an explanation, without questioning it. I would be cautious of any information we receive from western governments that comes in the form of a major announcement.

We’ve seen deception on a number of different topics, from the ‘war on drugs’ to the ‘war on terror,’ so don’t expect something like this to be any different. Mainstream media like sot take real events and twist our perception regarding what’s going on behind them.

That being said, when we do find out, en masse, that we are not alone, there are so many questions to ask. The mere existence of these UFOs without the alien hypothesis even being contemplated brings up questions of science. How are they moving the way they do? They perform maneuvers that no known aircraft can. They tend to stop on a dime and hover, what type of propulsion systems are they using?

It’s certainly not the burning of fossil fuels. Who are they? Where do they come from? What else do they know? How do they get here? What about religion? What about panic? What about all of the years of secrecy and the questions that have been asked and answered by those keeping secrets? As you can imagine, there will be multiple questions, and you can bet that the world will come to a standstill in search of answers to their questions. It’s a topic that will touch all aspects of humanity, and humanity would be changed forever.

There is another way, whether it’s wormholes or warping space, there’s got to be a way to generate energy so that you can pull it out of the vacuum, and the fact that they’re here shows us that they found a way. – Jack Kasher, Ph.D, Professor Emeritus of physics, University of Nebraska. (source)

Perhaps the realization that we are not alone, and eventual open contact with extraterrestrials can help us answer questions about ourselves. Of course, contact is already happening, just not on a massive scale.

Yes, it’s both. It’s both literally, physically happening to a degree; and it’s also some kind of psychological, spiritual experience occurring and originating perhaps in another dimension. And so the phenomenon stretches us, or it asks us to stretch to open to realities that are not simply the literal physical world, but to extend to the possibility that there are other unseen realities from which our consciousness, our, if you will, learning processes over the past several hundred years have closed us off. – John Mack (source)

It seems to me that we are beyond the ‘panic’ point. I personally believe that we’ve been visited for a very long time, and if anything like that was to ever happen, it would have already taken place.

To really learn more about this topic, one has to be interested in it. To find out the why, whats, and the where, one can do the research and come up with educated guesses without ever being sure. It’s a deep topic that has branched into so many other areas of our existence: to faith, to health, and technology, all the way to our socio-economic structure and the way we decide to do things here on our planet.

The main point here is that people are going to have questions, and we are going to need teachers other than those who have been using mainstream media to dish out lies to the masses in order to fulfill some sort of agenda.

It will no doubt be interesting to see, in fact, it’s already taking place on an individual level. Slowly but surely.

Some of what people report as UFOs are extraterrestrial (ET) vehicles. Some of those extraterrestrial vehicles actually have ET crews, and some of those ET crews catch and release humans. — Dr. Don Donderi, a retired McGill University Professor of 40 years in the Department of Psychology (source)

Source www.collective-evolution.com

{ http://alien-ufo-sightings.com/ }

14-06-2017 om 22:32 geschreven door peter  

“In August 1949, in order to test the updated air defences of England against attack, Operation Bulldog was launched. Operation Bulldog’s attacking forces consisted of aircraft of the Benelux countries supported by U.S. air squadrons based on the continent. Flying from various airfields in Holland, France, Belgium and Germany, their objective was to attack London and other prime targets in southern and midland England, without being officially ‘downed’ by fighter aircraft brought into action by the defensive network of Fighter Command.

“The radar defense chain extended from Land’s End, along the south coast and up to the north of Scotland, overlapping at all heights from sea level to about 100,000 feet. Even so long ago, it was almost impossible to fly a glider across the Channel without it being plotted. The exercise ran for fifteen days and was structured in such a way that the technical resources and personnel of the defensive screen were stretched to the limit.”

Oliver continued as follows: “I was, at the time, a radar operator AC1, stationed at RAF Sandwich in Kent, a Ground Control Interception station, used to verbally direct fighter aircraft onto target aircraft by means of radar guidance and radio transmission. In conjunction with neighbouring radar stations, our function, especially during Bulldog, was a busy one. As can be appreciated, air and sea traffic in the vicinity of the Channel tended to be heavier than in other areas of the UK and this reflected in the general high performance of radar stations in that area. All personnel at RAF Sandwich were fully skilled and right on top of their job. Two watches were kept, A and B, on alternate twelve-hour shifts for the duration of Bulldog. About a week into the exercise, after a few hours of being busy, we were stood down, about midnight. Things had gone slack and ‘Group’ had advised is that we could take a break. This was in the normal run of things during the exercise and except for one radar operator to keep general watch and one other to man the PBX, there was a general move into the small canteen across the corridor.”

Type 14 Radar at RAF Sandwich

(credit: Subterranea Britannica)

It wasn’t long at all before something very weird occurred (and that’s putting it mildly, to say the least…) as Oliver noted in his letter: “Within about fifteen minutes, the PBX operator came in, approached the Duty Controller and advised him that Bethe first to see the contact and my plot was the first to go on the plot board. As other operators took their positions, more plots were called out concerning position of the object and its height. The object was flying roughly parallel with the south coast, from west to east. Reaching a point out to see off the ‘heel’ of Kent, it abruptly turned north and as it approached the Thames estuary we passed it on to Martlesham radar, with whom we had been in contact via the PBX link, and whose radar area impinged on our own. Shortly after, we lost contact with it, due to the limit of our own radar range.”

The Happidrome at Sandwich, Type 14 radar base to the left of the two huts.

(credit: Subterranea Britannica)

Oliver then noted something even more incredible: “It was a simple matter to assess the speed of the object from the times and distances between plots and its height was directly read from our Type 13 radar, designed specifically to read the height of any aircraft within its range. Flying at close to 50,000 feet, the air speed of the object we had observed and plotted in accordance with RAF standard procedures was assessed at very nearly 3,000 miles per hour [italics mine].”

What was the true nature of the object tracked by multiple military installations back in 1949? Could it have been a brazen penetration of British airspace by the Russians? A glitch on numerous radar screens? Or something even stranger? In part-2 of this article – “The Mother Of All UFOs?” – you will see how and why the “something even stranger” angle is almost certainly the correct one…

{ http://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

14-06-2017 om 22:06 geschreven door peter  

The Mother Of All UFOs? Part-2

Nick Redfern

Part-1 of this article introduced you to the incredible story of the late J.R. Oliver. He was a man who, in 1949, was involved in a sensational UFO encounter at the height of a U.K. military exercise code-named Operation Bulldog. In a letter sent to UFO researcher Tim Good in 1991 (and which Tim copied to me, and that Oliver’s widow generously let me publish), Oliver revealed that at the height of the operation a definitive UFO was tracked on radar by the staff of multiple military installations in the U.,K. It was a UFO that was estimated to have been flying close to 3,000 miles per hour. With that said, let’s now continue with what else Oliver had to say about the UFO encounter and the UFO itself:

“The general consensus regarding its size, among the very experienced radar personnel engaged in the operations, was that the object offered an echo similar to that of a large passenger or freighter surface vessel, something in the region of 15,000 or 20,00 tons [italics mine]. Word filtered down that on approaching Bempton radar in Yorkshire, the object suddenly increased speed and headed directly upwards, vanished off-screen at about 100,000 feet.” That was hardly the end of the story, however. In fact, there was more to come. Much more.

Back to Oliver: “Naturally, there was quite a bit of a buzz about this, especially as at that time speeds in excess of the speed of sound were just not on. Neither were aircraft the size of liners. The airspeed record at that time stood at 606.36 mph and the largest aircraft in general use was probably the USAAF Superfortress, which lumbered along at about 350 mph. At our usual relief time ‘B’ Watch stood down and went to breakfast and bed at the domestic site at Stonar House. We were awakened from our watch slumbers by Sergeant Platt and assembled in front of Stonar House, with our Sergeant Belcher, Sergeant Hatter, and various minor NCOs [Non-Commissioned Officers] in attendance, for an address by Squadron Leader Mundy.”

Oliver went on to reveal what, exactly, Squadron Leader Mundy had to say about this extraordinary situation: “He reminded us of our duties as serving members of the RAF and the requirements of the OSA [Official Secrets Act] and to forget especially the odd circumstances of the past night and not to mention same to anyone not connected to the RAF. Going on watch that evening we found that the Duty Watch Book, normally only replaced when completely full, which recorded every air engagement, every PBX message, every official order by the watch-keeping officer, made during every official part of previous watches, including the previous night’s activities, as an official Watch Book is required to do…had gone [italics mine]. Replaced by a brand new shining Duty Watch Book. I wonder why? Removing a half empty Watch Book was unheard of, during exercises such as Bulldog especially.”

Oliver continued with his account: “The rest of the exercise took its natural course and about a month later my service with the RAF ended. Whether there were any further developments regarding this incident I do not know but it seems likely that evidence of its happening must be on file somewhere. This incident was observed by such a large and highly trained audience, its progress so well documented and meticulously recorded and, no doubt, the technical aspects so well scrutinized by top-ranking experts that the official documentation of its occurrence would settle the UFO controversy permanently.”

Oliver’s final words: “All aspects of Operation Bulldog were due to be analysed in great depth in order to bring our defence against possible nuclear attack to the highest level. There is no doubt that the incident I have described, totally beyond the expectations of the organizing authorities as it must have been, would receive the closest scrutiny and that many opinions must have been placed on record. In addition to the personnel directly involved in the tracking of the object, it is highly likely that a good many people must have gained knowledge of this occurrence and thereof proof of it happening may not be too far in hiding.”

Despite Mr. Oliver’s hope that records on the affair were preserved and might one day surface, such a thing has not happened. At least, not yet it hasn’t. Back in 1995, I spent a few days at the U.K.’s National Archives, and, while I did find some records on Operation Bulldog – some declassified and others withheld – the records on that massive craft that penetrated British airspace and prompted a hasty cover-up of the evidence were nowhere to be found. Perhaps, now – in light of all the data provided in parts 1 and 2 of this article – it’s time for someone else to try and dig out the truth (and the files) of the Operation Bulldog-UFO affair of 1949. Just maybe they will finally surface and we may gain more insight into the early years of the UFO phenomenon.

{ http://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

14-06-2017 om 21:54 geschreven door peter  

IN RUSSIA A MAN REPORTS TO THE POLICE A HUGE SPACESHIP LANDED WITH 7 METERS HIGH ALIENS

Resident of Vodniki village situated on the outskirts of Krasnodar, went to the police and reported the landing of an alien landing. The police officer said that the terms of current police legislation have to make a report. They went to the scene and found no trace of beings in the local.

"We are required to respond to all calls coming from residents of Krasnodar Yes, I was there, but the details can not disclose before the end of the test." - quoted a divisional commissioner portal Alexei Grechishkina senior "Kuban news". Meanwhile, the journalists edition managed to read the text of the service report that was directed to the head of the district of Prikubansky County police department Ivan Bondarev. The newspaper reported that a resident of the village Vodniki was on the road in the district of Krasnodar Vitaminkombinata about 4:00 on June 2 and in the forest belt near the spacecraft where he made an alien landing- "7 beings in silver with height of about 7 meters. "  

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{ http://www.disclose.tv/ }

14-06-2017 om 21:46 geschreven door peter  

MYSTERIOUS: ‘WOW! SIGNAL’ CASE BACK OPEN AS SCIENTISTS RULE OUT COMET THEORY!

The universe is filled with mysteries and as the curious humans that we are, we must seek answers about the nature of our vast cosmos, which will eventually tell us who we really are and why do we even exist.

One mystery that is raising countless questions among space enthusiasts is the famous Wow! signal. The signal was picked up on August 15 1977, by astronomer Jerry R Ehman using SETI’s Big Ear radio telescope. 

This Wow! signal mystery was said to have been solved recently as scientists checked the high possibility of it having originated from the collision of two comets, the 266P/Christensen and P/2008 Y2.

But the other half isn't to convinced of that claim, even the author of this find suspects that it's something else entirely ruling out the Comet theory.

What triggered the mysterious Wow! signal? Was is the work of extraterrestrial entities?

Watch the following video to know more!  

Originally published by:

http://www.express.co.uk/news/science/817143/Wow-Signal-ccomets-alien-contact

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14-06-2017 om 21:38 geschreven door peter  

UFO RECORDED AT BASEBALL GAME SPLITS INTO SIX UFOS AND HOVERS

The background chatter sells me, the people are clearly reacting to what's apparently being shown on camera. What a trip! Those can't be flares, they move up at some points? Wild video. What do you think? What kind of object is that?

{  http://www.disclose.tv/ }

14-06-2017 om 21:29 geschreven door peter  

A New 3D Printed Bionic Hand Could Help Two Million Worldwide

OpenBionics

14-06-2017 om 18:31 geschreven door peter  

Researchers advocate statistical approach to search for Earth-like planets

The lighter green indicates optimistic regions of the habitable zone and the darker green denotes more conservative limits.

Credit: University of Oklahoma

"The nature of proof should not be: 'Can we point at a planet and say, yes or no, that's the planet hosting alien life," said Jacob Bean, associate professor of astronomy and astrophysics at UChicago. "It's a statisical exercise. What can we say for an ensemble of planets about the frequency of the existence of habitable environments, or the frequency of the existence of life on those planets?"

The standard approach of researching exoplanets, or planets that orbit distant stars, has entailed studying small numbers of objects to determine if they have the right gases in the appropriate quantities and ratios to indicate the existence of life. But in a recent paper with co-authors Dorian Abbot and Eliza Kempton in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, Bean describes the need "to think about the techniques and approaches of astronomy in this game—not as planetary scientists studying exoplanets."

"Nature has provided us with huge numbers of planetary systems," said Kempton, an assistant professor of physics at Grinnell College in Iowa. "If we survey a large number of planets with less detailed measurements, we can still get a statistical sense for how prevalent habitable environments are in our galaxy. This would give us a basis for future, more detailed surveys."

Kempton and Bean attest to the challenges of making detailed observations of a potentially Earth-like planet. Together they have previously studied the super-Earth known as GJ 1214b, an exoplanet with a mass greater than Earth's but less than gas giants such as Neptune and Uranus. GJ 1214b turned out to be quite cloudy, which prevented them from determining the composition of its atmosphere.

"A large statistical study will allow us to look at many planets," Kempton said. "If any single object proves to be particularly challenging to observe, like GJ 1214b, that won't be a major loss to the observing program on the whole."

Kepler observatory a game-changer

The inspiration for the paper stemmed from Bean's membership on the Science and Technology Definition Team that is assessing the potential for a new space telescope, NASA's proposed Large UV/Optical/Infrared Survey (LUVOIR).

One of LUVOIR's scientific priorities is the search for Earth-like planets. During one team meeting, Bean and his colleagues listed all the properties of a potentially habitable exoplanet that they need to measure and how they would go about obtaining the data. Given the current state of technology, Bean concluded that it's unlikely scientists will be able to confirm an individual exoplanet as suitable for life or whether life is actually there.

Nevertheless, astronomers have gathered an impressive haul of exoplanetary data from NASA's Kepler space observatory, which has operated since 2009.

"Kepler completely changed the game," Bean said. "Instead of talking about a few planets or a few tens of planets, all of a sudden we had a few thousand planet candidates. They were planet candidates because Kepler couldn't definitely prove that the signal it was seeing was due to planets."

The standard approach has been to take additional observations for each candidate to rule out possible false positive scenarios, or to detect the planet with a second technique.

"That's very slow going. One planet at a time, a lot of different observations," Bean noted. But an alternative is to make statistical calculations for the probability of false positives among these thousands of exoplanet candidates. That new approach led directly to a good understanding of the frequency of exoplanets of different sizes. For example, scientists now can say that the frequency of super-Earth-type planets is 15 percent, plus or minus 5 percent.

Role of spectroscopy

Spectroscopic studies play a key role in characterizing exoplanets. This involves determining the composition of a planetary atmosphere by measuring its spectra, the distinctive radiation that gases absorb at their own particular wavelengths. Bean and his co-authors suggest focusing on what can be learned from measuring the spectra of a large ensemble of terrestrial exoplanets.

Spectroscopy may, for example, help exoplanetary researchers verify a phenomenon called the silicate weathering feedback, which acts as a planetary thermostat. Through silicate weathering, the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide varies according to geologic processes. Volcanoes emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, but rain and chemical reactions that occur in rocks and sediments also remove the gas from the atmosphere.

Rising temperatures would put more water vapor into the atmosphere, which then rains out, increasing the amount of dissolved carbon dioxide that chemically interacts with the rocks. This loss of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere has a cooling effect. But as a planet begins to cool, rock weathering slows and the amount of carbon dioxide gradually builds from its volcanic sources, which causes rising temperatures.

Global-scale observations suggest that Earth has experienced silicate-weathering feedback. But attempts to verify that the process is operating today on the scale of individual river basins has proven difficult.

"The results are very noisy. There's no clear signal," Abbot said. "It would be great to have another independent confirmation from exoplanets."

All three co-authors are interested in fleshing out the details of experiments they proposed in their paper. Abbot plans to calculate how much carbon dioxide would be necessary to keep a planet habitable at a range of stellar radiation intensities while changing various planetary parameters. He also will assess how well a future instrument would be able to measure the gas.

"Then we will put this together to see how many planets we would need to observe to detect the trend indicating a silicate-weathering feedback," Abbot explained.

Bean and Kempton, meanwhile, are interested in detailing what a statistical census of biologically significant gases such as oxygen, carbon dioxide and ozone could reveal about planetary habitability.

"I'd like to get a better understanding of how some of the next-generation telescopes will be able to distinguish statistical trends that indicate habitable—or inhabited—planets," Kempton said.

 Explore further: Astrophysicists identify composition of earth-size planets in TRAPPIST-1 system

More information: Jacob L. Bean et al. A Statistical Comparative Planetology Approach to the Hunt for Habitable Exoplanets and Life Beyond the Solar System, The Astrophysical Journal (2017). DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/aa738a 

{ https://phys.org/ }

14-06-2017 om 18:12 geschreven door peter  

An alleged photo of a flying saucer landing on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier is genuine, according to William Tompkins, a retired aerospace engineer who had a four decade career with leading U.S. corporations up until 1984.

Tompkins career began with service as a Naval Intelligence operative, from 1942 to 1946, where he provided intelligence briefings to select U.S. aerospace corporations about antigravity spacecraft being secretly developed in Nazi Germany.He has supplied several documentssupporting his claims that he was assigned such a covert mission and operated out of Naval Air Station, San Diego.

Tompkins discussed the photo in a radio interview on May 4, and claimed that it was taken from one of what were regular incidents on U.S. Navy aircraft carriers – landings by friendly “Nordic extraterrestrial UFOs”:

It’s one of quite a number of Nordic extraterrestrial UFOs that have landed on US Navy aircraft carriers. And what you’re looking at . . . You’re looking at it from the bottom of the bridge of the carrier because those older ones were much further forward than the photographs you’ve got later on.

Tompkins explains how the extraterrestrial craft would land, and transport the admiral of the naval battle group up to the mothership in space to hold discussions with commanders of a “Nordic Space Navy”.

It’s a long story. They came from one of their starships. So they came down to talk to the admiral that’s the commander on that particular battle group. And they did their other program and their meetings and our admiral left with the captain taking over the ship and some other people and they took off in that vehicle and they went back out to the mothership. And, of course, they brought them back later.

Tompkins emphasized the regularity of such landings due to the small chance they could be witnessed while the ships were at sea:

Like I’m just saying, there’s a whole story of all of these . . . because . . . The UFOs landed on our aircraft carriers many times. Okay? It’s nice because nobody can see them doing it.

On the right side of the photo are the words “Official U.S. Navy Photo” suggesting that someone linked to the Navy had arranged for its release into the public arena.

Another one of the May 4 radio guests, Frank Chille, described how he got first got a copy of the photo, and what he knew about it belonging to the U.S. Navy:

There’s a little bit of a side story on the disk that landed on the aircraft carrier. Believe it or not, that original photograph was shown to me by Graham Bethune more than 15 years ago… And I held it in my hands. He allowed me to make a copy of it. It was on very think paper and on the flip side it said, “U.S. Navy, top-secret, eyes only, 1955”.

More photos here

Graham Bethune was a U.S. Navy Commander, now deceased, who had after his retirement, released some of the most famous photographs in UFOlogy. His photographs from the 1989 Nashville, Tennessee sighting, for example, are among the best ever released of actual flying saucer craft.

Bethune gained access to many Navy photographs during his distinguished military career which included 12 years as “VIP Transport Plane Commander” and six years with the Naval Bureau of Aeronautics.

He subsequently worked for years to help disclose UFO related information, and there is no reason to believe he would fabricate the photo of a UFO landing on an aircraft carrier.

Chille described the circumstances under which Bethune allowed him to make a copy 15 years ago, and what happened when he first shared it with Tompkins in May 2016:

And Graham always had some incredible photographs, but he let me make a photograph of that, but he never told me the background on it. When I told Bill [Tompkins] about it, he said, “Frank.” He says, “can you get the photograph to me?” He says, “I think I know the story behind it.” And he got the photograph today and he said this dovetails right into his book, starting on page two.

On pages two to three of his book, Selected by Extraterrestrials, which was published in December 2015, Tompkins describes an incident very similar to that depicted in the photo.

A large flying saucer hovered over the aircraft carrier group led by the USS Coral Sea. 5000 Navy personnel saw the hovering flying saucer according to Tompkins. He next described telepathic communications being established between the commanding officers of the aircraft carrier battle group and the hovering flying saucer, before ending his story.

In the May 4 radio interview, Tompkins confirmed that the photo was of the USS Coral Sea (CV-43), similar to what he had described in Selected by Extraterrestrials, prior to him seeing Bethune’s photo:

Actually, the aircraft you’re seeing there on the flight deck, those are A-6s, which are an attack-type of aircraft… And that ship is the USS Coral Sea.

The Grumman A-6 Intruder fighter aircraft came into Naval service in 1963, which suggests the photo was taken on or after 1963. The 1955 date Chille recalled on the back of the photo, as an astute reader pointed out in a comment to an earlier version of this article, “would not refer to the date of the photo, but would refer to the date of the classification guide which established the level of the document being stamped.”  

Tompkins confirmation that the photo released by Commander Bethune to Chille is genuine is highly significant. It reveals that the U.S. Navy was actively cooperating with a Nordic extraterrestrial race as early as 1963.

Furthermore, Tompkins claims that during his work from 1951 to 1963 at a secretive think tank at Douglas Aircraft Company called Advanced Design, he was being assisted by two Nordic female extraterrestrials who were posing as ordinary secretaries. They were covertly assisting him in designing kilometer long space craft that would be later built for the Solar Warden space program in the 1980’s.

Consequently, during the decades it took for the design and construction of secret space battle groups, it appears that the U.S. Navy was working closely in gathering intelligence on the operations and missions of Nordic extraterrestrial space battle groups.

Tompkins also says that the Nordics were in locked in a galaxy wide conflict with Reptilian extraterrestrials, who had allied themselves with Nazi Germany during World War II, and assisted the Germans in building a secret space program in Antarctica.

The photo of a flying saucer landing on an aircraft carrier, if based on a genuine incident, would be hard evidence that the U.S. Navy has since the 1960’s, been actively cooperating with a group of friendly “Nordic” extraterrestrials which had identified the Navy as allies in a wider galactic conflict.

© Michael E. Salla, Ph.D. Copyright Notice

[Update 5/1916 – Further research has shown the flying saucer landing on aircraft carrier photo is a doctored version of an April 1975 photo of the USS Roosevelt. While the photo is doctored, it may be based on a genuine incident. More details here. Article has been revised accordingly.]

[Update 5/13/16 – A reader has provided a comment that answers the apparent discrepancy between the date on the back of the photo (1955) and the naval service of the A-6 aircraft (1963-1997). The date refers to the Navy classification guide used to classify the photo, not when the photo was taken. Article has been revised accordingly.]

Further Reading

• Top Aerospace Designer Blows Whistle on Secret US Navy Space Battle Fleets
• US Navy Spies Learned of Nazi Alliance with Reptilian Extraterrestrials during WWII
• US Navy Spies Learned Secrets of Nazi Anti-gravity Spacecraft
• Did US Navy battle UFOs protecting Nazi Antarctic sanctuary in 1947?
• William Tompkins & US Navy Secret Space Program

{ http://exopolitics.org/ }

14-06-2017 om 17:40 geschreven door peter  

Filers Files by George Filer

{ https://www.youtube.com/ }

{ https://www.youtube.com/user/MUFONHQ}

14-06-2017 om 13:32 geschreven door peter  

Extraterrestrial, History, SETI

WHAT IS THE DRAKE EQUATION?

  Article Updated: 13 Jun , 2017

by Matt Williams

Is there life out there in the Universe? That is a question that has plagued humanity long before we knew just how vast the Universe was – i.e. before the advent of modern astronomy. Within the 20th century – thanks to the development of modern telescopes, radio astronomy, and space observatories – multiple efforts have been made in the hopes of finding extra-terrestrial intelligence (ETI).

And yet, humanity is still only aware of one intelligent civilization in the Universe – our own. And until we actually discover an alien civilization, the best we can do is conjecture about the likelihood of their existence. That’s where the famous Drake Equation – named after astronomer Dr. Frank Drake – comes into play. Developed in the 1960s, this equation estimates the number of possible civilizations out there based on a number of factors.

Background:

During the 1950s, the concept of using radio astronomy to search for signals that were extra-terrestrial in origin was becoming widely-accepted within the scientific community. The idea of listening for extra-terrestrial radio communications had been suggested as far back as the late 19th century (by Nikolai Tesla), but these efforts were concerned with looking for signs of life on Mars.

Frank Drake standing before his famous equation on a white board. Credit: SETI.org

Then, in September of 1959, Giuseppe Cocconi and Philip Morrison (who were both physics professors at Cornell University at the time) published an article in the journal Nature with the title “Searching for Interstellar Communications.” In it, they argued that radio telescopes had become sensitive enough that they could pick up transmissions being broadcast from other star systems.

Specifically, they argued that these messages might be transmitted at a wavelength of 21 cm (1420.4 MHz), the same wavelength of radio emissions by neutral hydrogen. As the most common element in the universe, they argued that extra-terrestrial civilizations would see this as a logical frequency at which to make radio broadcasts that could be picked up by other civilizations.

Seven months later, Frank Drake made the first systematic SETI survey at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia. Known as Project Ozma, this survey relied on the observatory’s 25-meter dish to monitor Epsilon Eridani and Tau Ceti – two nearby Sun-like stars – at frequencies close to 21 cm for six hours a day, between April and July of 1960.

Though unsuccessful, the survey piqued the interest of the scientific and SETI communities. It was followed shortly thereafter by a meeting at the Green Bank facility in 1961, where the subjects of SETI and searching for radio signals of extra-terrestrial origin were discussed. In preparation for this meeting, Drake prepared the equation that would come to bear his name. As he said of the equation’s creation:

“As I planned the meeting, I realized a few day[s] ahead of time we needed an agenda. And so I wrote down all the things you needed to know to predict how hard it’s going to be to detect extraterrestrial life. And looking at them it became pretty evident that if you multiplied all these together, you got a number, N, which is the number of detectable civilizations in our galaxy. This was aimed at the radio search, and not to search for primordial or primitive life forms.”

The meeting, which included such luminaries as Carl Sagan, was commemorated with a commemorative plaque that is still in the hall of the Green Bank Observatory today.

The 85-foot (26 m) Howard E. Tatel Radio Telescope at NRAO used in Project Ozma. Credit: Z22/WIkipedia Commons

The Formula:

The formula for the Drake Equation is as follows:

N = R^* x f_p x n_e x f_l x f_i x f_c x L

Whereas N is the number of civilizations in our galaxy that we might able to communicate with, R^* is the average rate of star formation in our galaxy, f_p is the fraction of those stars which have planets, n_e is the number of planets that can actually support life, f_l is the number of planets that will develop life, f_i is the number of planets that develop intelligent life, fc is the number civilizations that would develop transmission technologies, and L is the length of time that these civilizations would have to transmit their signals into space.

Limits and Criticism:

Naturally, the Drake Equation has been subject to some criticism over the years, largely because a lot of the values it contains are assumed. Granted, some of the values it takes into account are easy enough to calculate, like the rate of star formation in the Milky Way. There are an estimated 200 – 400 billion stars within our Milky Way, and modern estimates say that there between 1.65 ± 0.19 and 3 new star form every year.

Assuming that our galaxy represents the average, and given that that there are as many as 2 trillion galaxies in the observable Universe (current estimates based on Hubble data), that means that there are as many as 1.5 to 6 trillion new stars being added to the Universe with every passing year! However, some of the other values are subject to a great deal of guess work.

For example, estimates on how many stars will have a system of planets has changed over time. Currently, it is estimated that the Milky Way contains 100 billion planets, which works out to about 50% of its stars having a planet of their own. Furthermore, those stars that have multiple planets will likely have one or two that lies within their habitable zone (aka. “Goldilocks Zone”) – where liquid water can exist on their surfaces.

Now let’s assume that 100% of planets located within a habitable zone will be able develop life in some form, that at least 1% of those life-supporting planets will be able to give rise to intelligent species, that 1% of these will be able to communicate, and that they will able to do so for a period of about 10,000 years. If we run those numbers through the Drake Equation, we end up with a value of 10.

In other words, there are possibly 10 civilizations in the Milky Way at any time capable of sending out signals that we could detect. But of course, the values used for four parameters there – f_l, f_i, f_c and L – were entirely assumed. Without any real data to go by, there’s no real way to know how many alien civilizations could really be out there. There could just be 1 in the entire Universe (us), or millions in every galaxy!

The Fermi Paradox:

Beyond the issue of assumed values, the most pointed criticism of the Drake Equation tend to emphasize the argument put forth by physicist Enrico Fermi, known as the Fermi Paradox. This argument arose in 1950 as a result of conversation between Fermi and some colleagues while he was working at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. When the subject of UFOs and ETI came up, Fermi famously asked, “Where is everybody?”

This simple question summarized the conflict that existed between arguments that emphasized scale and the high probability of life emerging in the Universe with the complete lack of evidence that any such life exists. While Fermi was not the first scientists to ask the question, his name came to be associated with it due to his many writings on the subject.

In short, the Fermi Paradox states that, given the sheer number of stars in the Universe (many of which are billions of years older than our own), the high-probability that even a small fraction would have planets capable of giving rise to intelligent species, the likelihood that some of them would develop interstellar travel, and the time it would take to travel from one side of our galaxy to other (even allowing for sub-luminous speeds), humanity should have found some evidence of intelligent civilizations by now.

Naturally, this has given rise to many hypotheses as to how advanced civilizations could exist within our Universe but remain undetected. They include the possibility that intelligent life is extremely rare, that humanity is an early arrival to the Universe, that they do not exist (aka. the Hart-Tipler Conjecture), that they are in a state of slumber, or that we are simply looking in the wrong places.

The “Great Filter” Hypothesis:

But perhaps the best known explanation for why no signs of intelligence life have been found yet is the “Great Filter” hypothesis. This states that since that no extraterrestrial civilizations have been so far, despite the vast number of stars, then some step in the process – between life emerging and becomes technologically advanced – must be acting as a filter to reduce the final value.

According to this view, either it is very hard for intelligent life to arise, the lifetime of such civilizations is short, or the time they have to reveal their existence is short. Here too, various explanations have been offered to explain what the form the filter could take, which include Extinction Level Events (ELEs), the inability of life to create a stable environment in time, environmental destruction. and/or technology running amok (some of which we fear might happen to us!)

Alas, the Drake Equation has endured for decades for the very same reason that if often comes under fire. Until such time that humanity can find evidence of intelligent life in the Universe, or has ruled out the possibility based on countless surveys that actually inspect other star systems up close, we won’t be able to answer the question, “Where is everybody?”

As with many other cosmological mysteries, we’ll be forced to guess about what we don’t know based on what we do (or think we do). As astronomers study stars and planets with newer instruments, they might eventually be able to work out just how accurate the Drake Equation really is. And if our recent cosmological and exoplanet-hunting efforts have shown us anything, it is that we are just beginning to scratch the surface of the Universe at large!

In the coming years and decades, our efforts to learn more about extra-solar planets will expand to include research of their atmospheres – which will rely on next-generation instruments like the James Webb Space Telescope and the European Extremely-Large Telescope array. These will go a long way towards refining our estimates on how common potentially habitable worlds are.

In the meantime, all we can do is look, listen, wait and see…

We have written many articles about the Drake Equation for Universe Today. Here’s Inside the Drake Equation: A Chat with Frank Drake, The Odds of Intelligent Life in the Universe, A New Drake Equation? Other Life Not Likely to be Intelligent, A New Drake Equation for Potential of Life, Bayesian Analysis Rains on Exoplanet Life Parade, and Where are all the Aliens? The Fermi Paradox?

There are some great resources out there on the Internet. Check out this Drake Equation calculator.

We have recorded an entire episode of Astronomy Cast about the Drake Equation. Check it out here, Episode 23 – Counting Aliens with the Drake Equation.

Sources:

• SETI – Drake Equation
• Wikipedia – Drake Equation
• PBS NOVA – The Drake Equation

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

14-06-2017 om 13:26 geschreven door peter  

Has NASA found ALIENS? Shock space reveal NEXT WEEK in hunt for life

NASA could be on the verge of an alien breakthrough as will reveal a new discovery next week.

{ http://www.dailystar.co.uk/ }

14-06-2017 om 13:15 geschreven door peter  

UFO emerges from strange looking cloud over Colorado

A UFO arrived via a portal from a parallel universe? Or there is an explanation for the event happened in the sky over Colorado when out of a clear sky suddenly a UFO appears leaving a strange looking cloud.

Witness states: I went outside to relax and saw a strange cloud shape in the sky. It was unusual so I took a couple of quick pictures with my camera phone.

I do not recall hearing a sonic boom however, it is possible that is why I was drawn to look up. It would not be unreasonable to think this was a plane breaking the sound barrier.

Later when looking at one of the photos I noticed a brown looking object above the cloud. It was either the object that made the cloud or it kinda looks like something may have flown through the cloud in pursuit of what ever made the cloud.

Insect, bird, UFO? I can't tell what it is. Maybe you all can make something of it. Let me know. Mufon case 84360.

Original large sized image - cloud only:
https://www.mufoncms.com/files_jeud8334j/84360_submitter_file1__Oct292014UFO1.jpg

Original large sized image - cloud and UFO:
https://www.mufoncms.com/files_jeud8334j/84360_submitter_file2__Oct292014UFO2.jpg

{ http://ufosightingshotspot.blogspot.be/ }

14-06-2017 om 12:42 geschreven door peter  

Flightradar24 shows NASA’s SOFIA monitoring Yellowstone Super Volcano!

Currently NASA put’s their SOFIA every day in the air. SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) is built into a converted Boeing 747SP.

SOFIA’s 2.5-meter (8.2-foot)-diameter infrared telescope will make it the world’s largest and most sensitive airborne observatory. Flying at 39,000 to 45,000 feet, it will enable scientific observations that are impossible for even the largest and highest of Earth-based telescopes.

Already four days during sunrise/sunset NASA is monitoring the sun but yesterday, June 12, 2017 flightradar24 shows that they monitoring Yellowstone National Park too.

Remember the Massive Lake of Molten Carbon the size of Mexico recently found under Yellowstone?

The molten carbonate sits beneath Yellowstone National Park, which in and of itself is a super volcano with the power of a massive eruption. The last major eruption was 640,000 years ago at Yellowstone, however if the super volcano did erupt it could cause the US to go into a volcanic winter.

If NASA puts its SOFIA in the air it's important. This Bird of Prey doesn't go 'hunting' unless there is something TO hunt, they watching something, bet on it!

  

{ http://ufosightingshotspot.blogspot.be/ }

14-06-2017 om 12:38 geschreven door peter  

14-06-2017 om 12:33 geschreven door peter  

The International Space Station (ISS) is a constant source of conspiracy theories and UFO conjectures. NASA operates a live feed of cameras aboard the ISS, and it seems like a new video appears on YouTube every week purporting to show proof UFOs or a NASA coverup. While most of these turn out to be baseless conjectures or doctored footage, the ISS seems to be the source of some recent somewhat verifiable strangeness. NASA recently detected unknown microbial colonies growing on the walls of the ISS. While some level of biological contamination should be expected on the inside where astronauts’ disgusting human bodies float around stinkin’ up the joint, finding possible life on the outside of the space station is much more unexpected – yet that’s exactly what Russia’s state space agency, Roscosmos, is reporting.

“Definitive proof of alien contact!” says every YouTube UFO channel any time orbital debris or lens flares are seen on ISS live streams.

In 2014, Roscosmos cosmonauts collected cosmic dust samples from the outside of the ISS and analyzed them for any signs of extraterrestrial life. According to Russian state-owned news agency Tass, Roscosmos scientists now believe the samples may contain “biomaterial” that is not of this planet:

The micrometeorites and comet dust that settle on the ISS surface may contain biogenic substance of extra-terrestrial origin in its natural form,. The ISS surface is possibly a unique and easily available collector and keeper of comet substance and, possibly, of biomaterial of extra-terrestrial origin.

Tass explains that the ISS spends much of its time orbiting in the wake of dust streams and other “substance flows” trailing off of the backs of comets, which have been claimed to spread organic and biological material throughout the universe. NASA has yet to issue a comment on the reports. Most likely, any microbial life on the exterior of the space station could be terrestrial in origin and could have come into contact with the space station through incidental means. Still, it’s worth looking into – if Roscosmos actually has found organic material on the exterior of the ISS, that is. Strangely though, another development this week hints that something odd might indeed be going on at the International Space Station.

The ISS had a close encounter this week.

On May 1st this year, commercial aerospace firm SpaceX launched a mysterious spy satellite into orbit on behalf of the National Reconnaissance Office. The exact nature and purpose of satellite NROL-76 is unknown, and SpaceX cut the live feed of the satellite’s launch just as the rocket entered its second stage. Sure, spy satellites and commercial rockets launches are relatively commonplace today, but it’s the satellite’s behavior that has skywatchers befuddled.

Looks like SpaceX got itself a cushy defense contract.

According to satellite tracking blog SatTrackCam, the NROL-76 passed within just a few kilometers of the ISS on June 3rd, just outside of its collision avoidance zone. The satellite then circled the ISS before entering its own orbit.

Satellites rarely pass this close to other objects or craft in orbit – especially so soon after their launch.

SatTrackCam’s Marco Langbroek claims that this type of activity is an anomaly, and should certainly attract some suspicion in the international aerospace community:

I am struggling to understand why the NRO allowed this close approach to happen, if it was not intentional. This event was bound to attract attention and that harms the classified character of the mission. It is also an extremely sloppy thing to do because this close an approach to a high profile object like ISS is politically risky. As the ISS is an international cooperation which includes two parties (the United States and the Russian Federation) that are currently geopolitically on an uneasy footing, sending your military payload so close to the ISS as one party is eyebrow raising.

On another satellite tracking site, SatObs.org, Ted Molczan writes that “I am inclined to believe that the close conjunctions between USA 276 and ISS are intentional, but this remains unproven.” The announcement by Roscosmos of possible alien life on the outside of the ISS is unusual given the timing of this satellite fly-by. Could the two be related? Who knows. But put this mysterious development alongside the unexplained nuclear activity being detected in the Arctic and the anomalous “killer” satellite activity seen in Russian satellites, and it’s possible that Cold War 2.0 is already getting interesting.

14-06-2017 om 12:15 geschreven door peter  

On April 11, 2017 a UFO sighting was reported in York County. It is under investigation by the Mutual UFO Network. Sean Heisey, York Daily Record

The universe is a big place. 

It is vast beyond our imagination – at least if your imagination is somewhat less active than that wheelchair guy – and it is ever expanding, creating new space for new planets and solar systems and galaxies and strip malls, a kind of cosmic sprawl. 

It would be solipsistic of us to believe that we are the only beings in the universe who have built great cities, tamed and then destroyed our environment and domesticated the dog to the point where we exist as a support system for canines. (If aliens ever visit, they will immediately try to talk to our dogs to learn about our culture. The dogs are clearly in charge. I mean, we follow them around and pick up their poop.) 

There has to be intelligent life out there somewhere because, as Monty Python once opined, "there's bugger all down here on Earth." 

These are notions to ponder as we delve into the news, kind of, of a close encounter of some kind that may have occurred somewhere around here.  

More: Here's why the hellbender should be our state amphibian

It happened April 11 at about 10 p.m.  

According to a report received by the Mutual UFO Network, called MUFON, for short, the person who witnessed it was inside watching TV when the person, who was not identified, saw two bright lights in the distance.  

At first, the witness believed it was a new cell tower, but it wasn't. The witness reported to MUFON that the lights did not move for a while, and after a few moments, a smaller light detached from the larger one and hovered below it.  

The witness then reported that the larger of two objects, described as a large craft, moved toward the witness and passed, low, over the witness's house. "It was diamond shaped and had a rectangular light underneath it," the witness was quoted as saying. "In that rectangle was a red light, then a white light, and then a green light. The lights were not flashing. The UFO was humongous and made a humming noise." 

It hovered and then both things began to move, the witness reported. "When it took off, the small thing that came out of it went straight up," the report continued. "When the light came out of the right corner or what would have been the right corner (the only thing I could see at that point were the two huge lights) it seemed that the small thing came off that light. Almost like it was poured out of that light." 

The witness reported, "Anyway, it scared me a lot, and I have looked for a hovering jet picture on the net, but did not see any that looked like it. And why would a hovering jet be spitting out a small craft like that? Before it took off, it had stayed unmoving for at least 10 minutes, maybe longer, before I noticed it. In relationship to its size, it was huge. I watch planes in the distance from my backyard and the little thing that came out of the big UFO would have been the size a commercial airplane like I see all the time going toward Harrisburg airport. So the big UFO was really, really big." 

More: Wrightsville Rottweiler is a movie star

So, aliens? Little green men? Are they the kind of docile, kind aliens of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"? Or are they huge tentacled insects bent on world domination and killing off the human race as in "Independence Day"? Or are they the really tall mutes who want to eat us, as featured on "The Twilight Zone"? 

Or are these craft part of a fleet of intergalactic airliners that took a wrong turn around Albuquerque?  

Who knows? 

Well, Bill Weber might know. 

Bill Weber is MUFON's chief investigator for Pennsylvania and Delaware, and as such, the report from York was funneled to him. Weber declined to release either the name of the witness or the location of the sighting, saying the organization maintains confidentiality with those who report things like this. The closest city was York was all he would say about it. 

He said he has assigned an investigator and will await the results of whatever he comes up with. 

Typically, he said, the investigators interview the witness, search the area for corroborating witnesses, review any photographs or video, stuff like that. In some cases, they file Freedom of Information Act requests with the Federal Aviation Administration for radar data and analyze that. 

In many cases, he said, there is an explanation for whatever witnesses think they saw. It could be a terrestrial aircraft – as opposed to an extraterrestrial aircraft – or it could be birds or bats, or it could be something else entirely, maybe a drone or something. Some reports are hoaxes and MUFON's investigators can easily debunk them, he said. 

Weber estimates that between 80 and 85 percent of the cases the organization investigates conclude with a logical explanation. "It's only about 15 percent that we tend to classify as unknown," he said. That doesn't mean it's an alien craft, only that "we can't figure out what it is." 

More: Russia and the Y? Just more of the same.

Among those reports investigators apparently figured out was another from Pennsylvania, reported in 1997 and published on MUFON's website. 

It reads: "It was like a spinning top but the bottom was not pointed, lots of multicolored lights, lots of see-through window at top. At least 15 or 20 aliens unlike the standard look, they were half human and half standard look, full bodies, beautiful looking creatures all moving about and communicating whatever. All had the same colored outfits and all the lights constantly moving. All windows seem to be moving or turning separately from the bottom. The bottom then had a long yellow light dropping to the ground and a small stepside Ford or Chevy pickup lowered slowly to the ground and disappeared over the hill ahead and then the UFO disappeared. I followed to find it and could not find it, but at the bottom of the hill daylight stunned me and it was 6:30 a.m. I don’t know where the night went." 

Aliens in a pickup truck? Were these some kind of interstellar migrant workers? Are we going to have to build a bigger wall? And what's "standard look"? 

Well, we may never know. 

Confirmation: The Hard Evidence of Aliens Among Us? is a rarely seen 1999 documentary on the UFO phenomena.

Reach Mike Argento at 717-771-2046 or at mike@ydr.com. 

 { http://www.ydr.com/ }

14-06-2017 om 11:30 geschreven door peter  

UFO Disappears Into Portal Above Colorado?

A video that has been viewed millions of times on social media appears to be fake.

CLAIM

A UFO was seen disappearing into a portal over Colorado.

RATING

 UNPROVEN

ORIGIN

On 17 April 2017, a video was posted to the Facebook page “I’m From Denver”, showing what appears to be an unidentified flying object. The video, which came with a claim that it was spotted over southern Colorado, was shared more millions of times:

Because the page doesn’t say exactly where in southern Colorado the video was allegedly filmed, we can’t check with local authorities to verify whether residents actually saw something that looked extraterrestrial in the night sky and caused alarm. However because the video shows something rather outlandish happening, one would expect it to have been covered by the local news media — and there are no reports in Colorado matching the description of such a sighting (although the southern Colorado region known as San Luis Valley is an apparent hotspot for UFO sightings).

This video, in fact, didn’t originate in Colorado, but was initially reported in March 2017 with people claiming they had seen it somewhere over Sonora, a Mexican state that touches the United States border:

Humans have no known contact with extraterrestrials; however, we aren’t sure whether the video was computer generated or the result of a light trick. There are tabloid media reports out of Mexico that claim residents saw the object and were frightened by it, but they don’t quote any sources.  Meanwhile the use of drones using LEDs to create light shows (or troll the credulous) is a well-known pastime.

Gabe Hash, a Spanish-language YouTube personality who delves into unexplained phenomena, claimed he could explain the video with the help of two computer-savvy volunteers who were able to recreate the effect in less than a day using a program called Adobe After Effects:

In the video, Hash casts doubt on the idea that the lights seen in the video were real as opposed to computer generated. He says (in Spanish):

The post says that the object was seen by residents. But that’s not true, since there is no other proof besides this video and no official mention of the event. Secondly, the video is only 30 seconds long and nobody is talking while the person is recording it, meaning that it meets all the characteristics of an animation. Most of the video is blurry and as I’ve said below, this is done to camouflage the animation… In conclusion, in our opinion the video is fake and just an animation rendered via computer. Judge for yourselves.

However, since this video is impossible to prove or disprove without knowing more about what and where it is supposed to be, we can only rate it as Unproven.

Filed Under:Colorado Hoax Mexico +2 More

Fact Checker:Bethania Palma

Featured Image:YouTube screen capture

Published:Jun 12th, 2017

{ http://www.snopes.com/ }

14-06-2017 om 00:50 geschreven door peter  

Alien Life Could Easily Planet Hop in This Tantalizing Solar System

By Carl Engelking

An artist’s conception of TRAPPIST-1. (Credit: ESO)

If we detect alien life on a planet in the TRAPPIST solar system, there’s a chance they’ve already spread to one or more of the other six planets orbiting this ultra-cool, ultra-tiny star some 40 light-years away.

In May 2016, scientists made headlines when they discovered three, Earth-size, rocky planets (in February scientists announced they found four more) orbiting a red dwarf star that’s roughly the size of Jupiter. Planets in this system huddle around their home star in tightly packed orbits—TRAPPIST-1b circles its star once per day. And since red dwarfs are cooler than our sun, it’s thought that several of these planets could be habitable, despite close proximity to their star.

This tightly packed solar system begs a tantalizing question: Are these planets exchanging life via space rocks? There are theories that life on Earth may have come from Martian rocks. And if that’s the case, Harvard University researchers Mansavi Ligam and Abraham Loeb argue that the odds of the same thing occurring in the TRAPPIST-1 system are magnitudes higher.

Sowing Seeds

The panspermia hypothesis, credited to Big Bang skeptic Fred Hoyle, underlies all of this life-exchanging talk. Basically, it states that asteroids, comets and meteorites laden with microbes crash into virgin planets, and the surviving microbes sow new life. A few years ago, scientist Steven Benner threw out a provocative idea during a geochemistry conference: Perhaps life on Earth began with organisms clinging to rocks from Mars.

Billions of years ago, conditions on Earth were far too hellish for life to take root. But perhaps a major impact sent Martian rocks flying into space on a course toward Earth. The rest, as they say, is history. It’s still a theory, but there are organisms that can survive the ravages of space—ahem, tardigrades.

In a study published Tuesday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Ligam and Loeb built a mathematical model, borrowing from theoretical ecology, to see how the panspermia hypothesis might play out in the TRAPPIST-1 system. Based on their analysis, if Mars could send life to Earth, it’s far more likely that the same thing would happen at TRAPPIST-1.

If you boil down the math, their results are intuitive: The distance between two planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system is tens of times less than the distance between Earth and Mars, which increases the efficiency of material exchanges. Thus, there’s a higher chance TRAPPIST planets are throwing life-seeds back and forth.

An Exciting Theory, But a Theory Nonetheless

Of course, there’s no telling what kind of organisms, if any, would be hitching a ride on TRAPPIST-1 rocks, so it isn’t possible to know if TRAPPIST organisms would survive the trip. Their model is also very simplified, because we just don’t know much about TRAPPIST-1. When did the planets settle into their orbits? Are there a sufficient number of meteorites slamming into planets to launch life-seeding rocks through space (a.k.a. cause spallation)? These are just a few Ligam and Loeb raise in their work.

Looking forward, we first need to determine if life indeed exists in TRAPPIST-1. Telescopes that will be launched in the coming years will be able to probe planets’ atmospheres in the system to detect biosignatures associated with life as we know it on Earth. Scientists could also search for “red edge” spectral signals that hint at the presence of vegetation.

If life exists, researchers could then theoretically verify the panspermia hypothesis, as well. If “red edge” signals are the same on various TRAPPIST-1 planets, that would indicate life sprung forth from a singular source.

Life as we know it relies on “left-handed” amino acids and right-handed sugars, for example. If organisms on TRAPPIST-1 planets all adhere to the same chirality rules, that’s a good sign that life hopped from planet to planet. But if the rules were different on each planet, it would be an indication that life evolved in isolation.

Extraterrestrial life will always capture even the most casual stargazer’s imagination, and these theories about TRAPPIST-1 are certainly titillating. Unfortunately, patience will be the mantra for years to come, as we’ll need to wait for new, technologically advanced telescopes to come online before putting hypotheses to the test.

{ http://discovermagazine.com/ }

14-06-2017 om 00:26 geschreven door peter