{ https://futurism.com/ }

11-03-2018 om 20:46 geschreven door peter  

We have no idea what’s behind these weird incidents because we’re not investigating.

By Christopher Mellon 

Christopher Mellon served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for intelligence in the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations. He is a private equity investor and an adviser to the To the Stars Academy for Arts and Science.

US Government releases footage of Super fast UFO captured by Navy Jet

In December, the Defense Department declassified two videos documenting encounters between U.S. Navy F-18 fighters and unidentified aircraft. The first video captures multiple pilots observing and discussing a strange, hovering, egg-shaped craft, apparently one of a “fleet” of such objects, according to cockpit audio. The second shows a similar incident involving an F-18 attached to the USS Nimitz carrier battle group in 2004.  

The videos, along with observations by pilots and radar operators, appear to provide evidence of the existence of aircraft far superior to anything possessed by the United States or its allies. Defense Department officials who analyze the relevant intelligence confirm more than a dozen such incidents off the East Coast alone since 2015. In another recent case, the Air Force launched F-15 fighters last October in a failed attempt to intercept an unidentified high-speed aircraft looping over the Pacific Northwest .

A third declassified video, released by To the Stars Academy of Arts and Science , a privately owned media and scientific research company to which I’m an adviser, reveals a previously undisclosed Navy encounter that occurred off the East Coast in 2015.

Watch: Military jet video tracks high-speed UFO

(To the Stars Academy of Arts & Science)

Is it possible that America has been technologically leap-frogged by Russia or China? Or, as many people wondered after the videos were first published by the New York Times in December, might they be evidence of some alien civilization? 

Unfortunately, we have no idea, because we aren’t even seeking answers.

I served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for intelligence for the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations and as staff director for the Senate Intelligence Committee, and I know from numerous discussions with Pentagon officials over the past two years that military departments and agencies treat such incidents as isolated events rather than as part of a pattern requiring serious attention and investigation. A colleague of mine at To the Stars Academy, Luis Elizondo, used to run a Pentagon intelligence program that examined evidence of “anomalous” aircraft, but he resigned last fall to protest government inattention to the growing body of empirical data. 

Meanwhile, reports from different services and agencies remain largely ignored and unevaluated inside their respective bureaucratic stovepipes. There is no Pentagon process for synthesizing all the observations the military is making. The current approach is equivalent to having the Army conduct a submarine search without the Navy. It is also reminiscent of the counterterrorism efforts of the CIA and the FBI before Sept. 11, 2001, when each had information on the hijackers that they kept to themselves. In this instance, the truth may ultimately prove benign, but why leave it to chance? 

(A Pentagon spokesman did not respond to requests from The Washington Post for comment, but in December, the military confirmed the existence of a program to investigate UFOs and said it had stopped funding the research in 2012.)

The military personnel who are encountering these phenomena tell remarkable stories. In one example, over the course of two weeks in November 2004, the USS Princeton, a guided-missile cruiser operating advanced naval radar, repeatedly detected unidentified aircraft operating in and around the Nimitz carrier battle group, which it was guarding off the coast of San Diego. In some cases, according to incident reports and interviews with military personnel, these vehicles descended from altitudes higher than 60,000 feet at supersonic speeds, only to suddenly stop and hover as low as 50 feet above the ocean. The United States possesses nothing capable of such feats.

On at least two occasions, F-18 fighters were guided to intercept these vehicles and were able to verify their location, appearance and performance. Notably, these encounters occurred in broad daylight and were independently monitored by radars aboard multiple ships and aircraft. According to naval aviators I have spoken with at length, the vehicles were roughly 45 feet long and white. Yet these mysterious aircraft easily sped away from and outmaneuvered America’s front-line fighters without a discernible means of propulsion. 

From my work with To the Stars Academy, which seeks to raise private funds to investigate incidents like the 2004 Nimitz encounter, I know they continue to occur, because we are being approached by military personnel who are concerned about national security and frustrated by how the Defense Department is handling such reports. I am also familiar with the evidence as a former Pentagon intelligence official and a consultant who began researching the issue after the Nimitz incident was brought to my attention. On several occasions, I have met with senior Pentagon officials, and at least one followed up and obtained briefings confirming incidents such as the Nimitz case. But nobody wants to be “the alien guy” in the national security bureaucracy; nobody wants to be ridiculed or sidelined for drawing attention to the issue. This is true up and down the chain of command, and it is a serious and recurring impediment to progress. 

If the origin of these aircraft is a mystery, so is the paralysis of the U.S. government in the face of such evidence. Sixty years ago, when the Soviet Union put the first manmade satellite in orbit, Americans recoiled at the idea of being technologically surpassed by a dangerous rival, and the furor over Sputnik ultimately produced the space race. Americans responded vigorously, and a little more than a decade later, Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. If these craft mean that Russia, China or some other nation is concealing an astonishing technological breakthrough to quietly extend its lead, surely we should respond as we did then. Perhaps Russian President Vladi­mir Putin’s recent chest-thumping claims about propulsion breakthroughs are not pure braggadocio. Or, if these craft really aren’t from Earth, then the need to figure out what they are is even more urgent.

Lately, media coverage of the issue of unidentified aerial vehicles has focused on an expired $22 million congressional earmark for Bigelow Aerospace, a contractor with ties to former Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid (Nev.). The money mostly funded research and analysis by that contractor, without participation from the Air Force, NORAD or other key military organizations. The real issue, though, is not a long-gone earmark, helpful though it may have been, but numerous recent incidents involving the military and violations of U.S. airspace. It is time to set aside taboos regarding “UFOs” and instead listen to our pilots and radar operators. 

Within a roughly $50 billion annual intelligence budget, money is not the issue. Existing funds would easily cover what’s needed to look into the incidents. What we lack above all is recognition that this issue warrants a serious collection and analysis effort. To make headway, the task needs to be assigned to an official with the clout to compel collaboration among disparate and often quarrelsome national security bureaucracies. A truly serious effort would involve, among other things, analysts able to review infrared satellite data, NORAD radar databases, and signals and human intelligence reporting. Congress should require an all-source study by the secretary of defense while promoting research into new forms of propulsion that might explain how these vehicles achieve such extraordinary power and maneuverability.

As with Sputnik, the national security implications of these incidents are concerning — but the scientific opportunities are thrilling. Who knows what perils we may avoid or opportunities we might identify if we follow the data? We cannot afford to avert our eyes, given the risk of strategic surprise. The future belongs to not only the physically brave but also the intellectually agile.

Read more from Outlook and follow our updates on Facebook and Twitter. 

{ https://www.washingtonpost.com/ }

11-03-2018 om 20:30 geschreven door peter  

On February 28 of this year, the FBI posted to its website, The Vault, its now-declassified file on Stanley Kubrick. He was the director of numerous movies, including 2001: A Space Odyssey, Dr. Strangelove, A Clockwork Orange, and Eyes Wide Shut. The file only amounts to four pages, so there isn’t that much said about him. We are told, however, that “…Kubrick was an old chess-playing friend of [Deleted] who has been the subject of a security-type investigation conducted by this Bureau. [Deleted] reportedly had a large circle of communist associates.”

What’s more intriguing, though, are the references in the file to a controversial movie of 1964, Seven Days in May. It’s an absorbing, thought-provoking story that tells of an attempted military coup to take control of the U.S. Government. The authors of the novel that the movie was based on were Charles W. Bailey II (who died in 2012 at the age of eighty-two) and Fletcher Knebel who, in 1960, wrote a chapter on JFK for a book titled Candidate 1960.

Seven Days in May starred a number of major movie-stars of that era, including Kirk Douglas, Ava Gardner, Burt Lancaster, Fredric March, Martin Balsam, and Edmond O’Brien. In the story, Lancaster’s character of General James Mattoon Scott secretly initiates a plan to take over the elected U.S. Government (run by President Jordan Lyman and played by March). General Scott sees President Lyman’s plans to enter into a nuclear treaty with the Soviet Union as weak and ineffectual and a danger to U.S. national security and to the American people. The battle is then on, with General Scott trying to ensure the coup succeeds and President Lyman doing his utmost to stop it. But, why is Seven Days in May referenced in the Kubrick file? Let’s see.

On March 20, 1964, the FBI recorded the following in a Confidential-level memo: “Admiral [Arleigh A.] Burke, U.S. Navy (Ret.), good friend of Bureau, has contacted Assistant Director Sullivan to state that movie ‘Seven Days in May,’ which tells of abortive plot of military clique to seize control of U.S. Government. Burke is in receipt of letters concerning recent attacks on military. One letter alleges communist connections of movie’s cast, namely, Fredric March, Burt Lancaster [deleted] and Ava Gardner.”

The document continues: “Another letter cites two new books, ‘The Passion of the Hawks,’ by Tristram Coffin, and ‘The Military Establishment,’ by John Swomley, and another new movie, ‘Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb,’ produced by Stanley Kubrick, all of which derogate military.” That’s how Seven Days in May came to be referenced in the Kubrick file. And, although there is little more on Kubrick, there is certainly more on Seven Days in May.

The FBI’s memo continues: “Fletcher Knebel, one of co-authors of ‘Seven Days of May,’ criticized Director in ‘Look’ magazine in 1955. Fredrick March and wife were subjects of closed security cases alleging them to have been Communist Party members and active in communist fronts in past…Burke stated that he had seen the film, which portrays every military and civilian leader in it as a man of great weakness, and he feels that the picture is detrimental to the Nation. His appraisal of the picture has appeared in the press, and, as a result, he said, he has received several letters.” The document also refers to one of Admiral Burke’s correspondents as stating that Burt Lancaster was a “zealous Moscow stalwart.”

The FBI concluded with these words: “It is entirely understandable why a military leader of Admiral Burke’s stature would find the theme of ‘Seven Days in May’ — even though it is pure fiction — offensive because it does tarnish the image of the American military.”

In some ways, at least, this kind of reminds me of how the military wasn’t too happy when Area 51 was portrayed in 1996’s Independence Day. This new file provides some interesting insight into the connection between Hollywood and government agencies.

{ http://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

11-03-2018 om 20:07 geschreven door peter  

“What the f— is that thing?”

That’s not something you’d expect to hear a highly-trained Navy pilot say.

“Oh my gosh dude!”

That doesn’t quite sound like the vernacular of another military officer responding as he viewed what the pilot saw. Yet both of those quotes come from a newly-released Pentagon video of an encounter in 2015 between a US Navy F/A 18 jet and an unidentified flying object off the east coast of the U.S. What’s even more shocking is that the video was not released by the Pentagon but in an opinion piece in the Washington Post by a member of Tom DeLonge’s To the Stars Academy.

“Oh my gosh dude!”

That’s the edited-for-family-publications reaction by almost everyone after reading the op-ed written by Christopher Mellon, a well-heeled (member of the Mellon family of Gulf Oil and Mellon Bank fame), former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and of the Security and Information Operations. Mellon wrote the opinion and exposed the video (see the video here) as an advisor to the To the Stars media company chartered in part to pressure governments to release what secret information they allegedly have on UFO and extraterrestrial encounters.

“If the origin of these aircraft is a mystery, so is the paralysis of the U.S. government in the face of such evidence.”

The purpose of Mellon’s essay is not just to expose the video but to shame the Pentagon and the U.S. government for not even investigating this and “more than a dozen such incidents off the East Coast alone since 2015.” Mellon laments that these incidents could be encounters with military aircraft (Russian or from another country) far sophisticated to ours or they could be alien spacecrafts. However, he warns not to hold your breath waiting for a conclusive answer on which one it is because …

“Unfortunately, we have no idea, because we aren’t even seeking answers.”

Mellon blames the problem not on money (he says there’s roughly $50 billion in the annual intelligence budget) but on government bureaucracy …

“Meanwhile, reports from different services and agencies remain largely ignored and unevaluated inside their respective bureaucratic stovepipes. There is no Pentagon process for synthesizing all the observations the military is making.”

… and on attitudes.

“But nobody wants to be “the alien guy” in the national security bureaucracy; nobody wants to be ridiculed or sidelined for drawing attention to the issue. This is true up and down the chain of command, and it is a serious and recurring impediment to progress.”

To get past the second impediment, Mellon thinks we need to combine the military fears and scientific excitement of the early space program.

“As with Sputnik, the national security implications of these incidents are concerning — but the scientific opportunities are thrilling. Who knows what perils we may avoid or opportunities we might identify if we follow the data? We cannot afford to avert our eyes, given the risk of strategic surprise. The future belongs to not only the physically brave but also the intellectually agile.”

Does our current government have people who are “physically brave but also the intellectually agile”? Should these investigations – and the data associated with them – be turned over to the private sector instead? Or to To The Stars? Does Mellon have enough money to fund it himself? How much do you need to answer the question …

“What the f— is that thing?”

{ http://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

11-03-2018 om 19:56 geschreven door peter  

Either space is weirder than we thought, or NASA ripped off The Fantastic Four. According to a study published by the space agency, space travel can permanently alter your DNA. Identical twin astronauts Scott and Mark Kelly were observed over the course of a year after Scott touched down on Earth after a yearlong stay on the International Space Station. The Twins Study is part of an ongoing NASA effort called the Human Research Project which studies the effects of space on the human body in preparation for eventual manned missions to Mars and other prolonged trips through the void.

Identical twins have almost identical DNA, which makes them ideal candidates for studying the mental and physical health effects of space: any changes in the space-faring twin’s physical health would have to be caused by an outside force and not due to natural variation. Identical twins are rare, and astronauts even rarer; luckily NASA has plenty of the latter and two of the former. It was Scott Kelly himself who suggested NASA use him and his brother Mark as test subjects.

What they found is quite strange. While many of the changes to Scott’s physiology returned to normal soon after returning to Earth, they found permanent changes as well. It seems that 7% of Scott Kelly’s DNA has been altered permanently. NASA has speculated on the existence of a “space gene,” which might be activated by conditions in space, causing changes in DNA. NASA says the changes to Scott’s DNA “related to his immune system, DNA repair, bone formation networks, hypoxia, and hypercapnia.” Whether these changes were seen as positive or negative were not said. We may have an answer if the retired astronaut suddenly begins a career as a vigilante superhero, or if it turns out he’s the mothman.

NASA, don’t tell this guy about space genes.

Predictions for the Twins Study were also proven wrong. Telomeres are components of chromosomes that shorten with age, and NASA expected the radiation of space to accelerate that shortening. They found, however, that Scott’s telomeres actually lengthened during his stay on the ISS. They returned to normal within two hours of his return to Earth, however, squashing any hope there might have been for finding the space-fountain of youth.

There were other findings, too. While on the ISS, Scott’s gut bacteria changed dramatically. It returned to normal once back on solid ground, and scientists do not know whether it was differences in the food he ate or environmental factors, such as gravity and radiation, which were responsible. NASA also studied Scott’s mental abilities. Being in space had no effect on his cognition, yet after returning to Earth his mental speed and accuracy began showing slight decreases. Perhaps this is due to returning from a year of peace and quiet in space to a life of medical tests and interviews on terra firma.

Scott Kelly went from looking at this every day to being constantly asked about his space genes.

While NASA may be furthering the goals of the human species and finding us a way off this rock, they apparently don’t have the best bedside manners. Scott says that he found out about the results of the study the same way as everyone else.

“I did read in the newspaper the other day… that 7 percent of my DNA had changed permanently,” Kelly said. “And I’m reading that, I’m like, ‘Huh, well that’s weird.’”

The full results of the study will be released later in 2018.

{ http://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

11-03-2018 om 19:43 geschreven door peter  

Mysterieuze ufobeelden slaan Amerikaanse legerpiloten met verstomming: “WTF is dat ding?” - HLN.be

Bron: Washington Post, New York Times

De clip duurt twee minuten en is sensationeel. Legerpiloten filmden een ufo vanuit een F-18 van de US Navy, die op een hoogte van 25.000 voet vloog. “What the fuck is dat ding?” roept een piloot. De video werd online gepost door de To the Stars Academy of Arts and Science, een privaat onderzoeksbedrijf. 

De vrijgegeven beelden werden in 2015 geschoten aan de Amerikaanse Oostkust. Hoe het onderzoekscentrum eraan geraakte, zei het niet. Maar iedereen zou ze kunnen opvragen. Vorig jaar werden twee gelijkaardige video’s openbaar gemaakt.

Volgens Christopher Mellon vormen de video’s “het bewijs voor het bestaan van vliegtuigen die ver boven alles staan waar de VS of haar bondgenoten over beschikken”. Mellon is adviseur bij de To the Stars Acacemy en werkte voor de geheime dienst onder Bill Clinton en George W. Bush. Hij vindt dat de overheid te weinig onderzoek doet naar dat soort bewijsmateriaal: “Als het een mysterie is waar die vliegtuigen vandaan komen, dan is de passiviteit van de overheid tegenover zulke bewijzen dat ook”. 

Hij verwijt het leger en de overheid dat ze “dat soort incidenten beschouwen als geïsoleerde feiten en niet als onderdeel van een patroon dat op een ernstige manier aandacht en onderzoek vraagt”. Hij vergelijkt die houding in de Washington Post met de inspanningen van de CIA en de FBI tegen terrorisme vóór 9/11, toen beide diensten wel informatie hadden over de kapers maar die voor zich hielden en niet met elkaar deelden.

Mellon vraagt zich af of “Rusland of China technologisch haasje-over doen met de VS” dan wel dat de beelden “het bewijs kunnen zijn van een buitenaardse beschaving”. Hij schrijft dat Poetins recente gepoch over een Russische doorbraak in voortstuwingstechnieken misschien wel niet zomaar bluf is. Mellons besluit: “Helaas hebben we geen idee, omdat we zelfs geen antwoorden zoeken.”

{ https://www.hln.be/ }

11-03-2018 om 19:22 geschreven door peter  

US Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet Records UFO Over East Coast Waters, 2015, Newly Released! UFO Sighting News.

Date of sighting: 2015

Location of sighting: East Coast of USA

 

Here is another great military report that contains some raw footages of a NAVY Super Hornet recording a UFO moving at high speed over the water. It had no wings, no blades and no known method of propulsion. It was diamond shaped, having four sides. Its a welcome sight for me to see raw US military footage. Absolutely 100% evidence that aliens exist and are monitoring everything and anything on this planet. However, I have noticed that UFOs frequent aircraft more than other objects. The tech or the people are more easily accessible to them. 

Scott C. Waring

Video states: 

GO FAST is the third of three official USG videos selected for release after official review by multiple government organizations. While To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science was the first to obtain a copy, it should be available to any member of the press or public via the Freedom of Information Act. This footage was captured by a U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet using the Raytheon ATFLIR Pod that was being operated by a highly trained aerial observer and weapons system operator whom the government has spent millions of dollars to train. Go Fast reveals a Navy encounter that occurred off the East Coast of the United States in 2015 and the object in view remains unidentified. Read further analysis of what is being observed in Go Fast by our team of experts including additional videos and reports on our community of interest: coi.tothestarsacademy.com. It is the mission of To The Stars Academy to support underfunded areas of research that could lead to a better understanding of scientific anomalies and breakthrough discoveries in technology.

UFO with three green lights UFO sightings 2017 over the city UFO 2017 mp4 (Video)

{ http://www.ufosightingsdaily.com/ }

11-03-2018 om 18:51 geschreven door peter  

Hong Kong Taxi hit by Supernatural Being

A video of what appears to be an apparition hitting a Hong Kong taxi has gone viral on the social media

The video, posted by Hung Leung on his Facebook page, was captured by a dashboard cam of a car following the taxi on a narrow road and shows a blast of fog for a split-second before it blown into the left side of the taxi, reports thesundaily.my

Then the taxi swerves off the road to the right and nearly collides with a tree.

The driver in the vehicle behind the taxi can be heard freaking out in the 23-sec clip.

Screenshots from the video clearly show the blast of fog that looks like a supernatural being that collided with the car. Below the video of the very strange phenomenon.

  

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

11-03-2018 om 18:37 geschreven door peter  

Live Fox News Broadcast Shows Cluster Of UFOs Dashing Around

A live news broadcast in the United States has become a controversial one after a cluster of UFOs were spotted, which has let some alien enthusiasts believe aliens have arrived on Earth.

Many viewers, who tuned in at 4:43 am, on Fox 6 News noticed a bizarre astronomical display on February 28. They were treated with the appearance of series of bright lights dashing around a live feed of Milwaukee.

At least ten bright dots were moving in the distance, glowing, and then disappearing before shining a light again.

The viewers were not the only one who got surprised as even the man, and woman presenters of the show appeared to be equally surprised of the strange activity.

The female broadcaster initially thought of fireworks but later confirmed they were not. She then asked if those were aliens.

The male counterpart said that he also saw the strange activity and added that it kept getting weirder by the second. He explained that it looked like they were sticking around.

Authorities later claimed that seagulls were responsible for the mysterious darting formation of lights. They explained that they were just seagulls reflecting light.

However, many viewers of the video were not buying that excuse. In a video uploaded to YouTube channel Suspect Sky, one viewer said that they watched it 500 times and those were not seagulls.

Another user said that tiny seagulls at that distance could only be seen with binoculars and even then it would be challenging with the limited light.

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

11-03-2018 om 18:26 geschreven door peter  

British Popular Singer Robbie Williams Recalls Bizarre UFO Sighting

British pop star Robbie Williams has experienced an exciting ride of his life and often shared details of his alcoholic and drug addictions in the past. And the world-renown star, 44, has recently shared his bizarre experiences that he referred to as phenomena that can’t be explained.

He revealed they had taken place in America and the United Kingdom. He described them as intriguing and powerful.

On one UFO sighting, the Let Me Entertain You hit-maker said that he had seen one right over him and he could have hit the mysterious thing with a tennis ball if he has it at that time.

The Take That boy band member’s admission has shocked everybody who follows the singer. Robbie confidently said that no substance was involved at all.

Last year, he also spoke the experience saying that he has seen stuff that he can’t explain and he had a UFO right over his head hovering less than 150 feet.

Robbie is married to American actress Ayda Field, and they have two children.

Robbie had a terrifying health issue late last year.

The singer was found with abnormalities in his brain, prompting him to cancel his final two European tour dates in September 2017 after spending seven days in intensive care.

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

11-03-2018 om 18:18 geschreven door peter  

Footage of mysterious object above ocean stuns military personnel

By Dean Balsamini

SEE ALSO

Pentagon’s UFO program revealed

Newly-released video of a mysterious object streaking over the Atlantic Ocean shows the Pentagon needs to take UFOs seriously, a researcher says.

The sensational two-minute clip captured by a camera aboard a US Navy F/A 18 jet flying at 25,000 feet wowed military personnel.

“What the f— is that thing?” shouted the pilot in the video posted online by the To the Stars Academy of Arts and Science, a private research company.

“Oh my gosh dude!” exclaimed the jet’s weapons systems officer

The video was shot off the East Coast in 2015. To the Stars Academy did not say how it obtained the declassified footage, but said others could obtain it through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Three videos showing similar incidents became public last year in reports of $22 million in Pentagon spending on UFO research.

The videos, along with observations by pilots and radar operators, “appear to provide evidence of the existence of aircraft far superior to anything possessed by the United States or its allies,” writes Christopher Mellon, a former defense official in the George W. Bush and Clinton administrations and an adviser to To the Stars Academy.

In a Washington Post op-ed, Mellon reasoned that if the origin of these aircraft is a mystery, “so is the paralysis of the US government in the face of such evidence.”

Mellon, who served as an intelligence official for the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations, charged that military and department agencies “treat such incidents as isolated events rather than as part of a pattern requiring serious attention and investigation.”

Mellon compared the government’s current approach to UFOs to the counterterrorism efforts of the CIA and the FBI prior to 9/11.

He wondered if the US has been “technologically leap-frogged by Russia or China” or might these videos “be evidence of some alien civilization. Unfortunately, we have no idea, because we aren’t even seeking answers.”

{https://nypost.com/ }

11-03-2018 om 02:06 geschreven door peter  

Antarctica’s secrets EXPOSED? Google Earth images show 'hidden camps, UFOs and Nazi bases'

ANTARCTICA is one of the remotest regions on the planet and could hide some incredible secrets if these Google Earth images are anything to go by.

11-03-2018 om 01:57 geschreven door peter  

{ http://www.ladbible.com/ }

11-03-2018 om 01:45 geschreven door peter  

“There have been 10,000 Generations Before Us --Ours Could be the First to Discover Extraterrestrial Life” --NASA

In 1960, the astrophysicist Francis Drake pointed a radio telescope situated in Green Bank, West Virginia, in the direction of two Sun-like stars 11 light years away. His faith: to pick up a signal that would verify gifted life might be out there. Fifty years have departed by since Drake’s pioneering SETI experiment, and we’ve yet to perceive the aliens. But because of a host of discoveries, the idea that life might survive outside Earth now appears more believable than ever. For one, we now know that life can flourish in the most extreme surroundings here on Earth — from deep-sea methane seep and Antarctic sea ice to acidic rivers and our thirstiest deserts.

We’ve also discovered that liquid water isn’t exclusive to our planet. Saturn’s moon “Enceladus” and Jupiter’s moons “Ganymede” and “Europa” have large oceans underneath their icy surfaces. Even Saturn’s largest moon “Titan” could seed some kind of life in its lakes and rivers of methane-ethane. And then there’s the finding of exo-planets, with more than 1800 alien worlds outside our Solar System recognized so far. In fact, astrophysicists think there may be a million and millions of planets in our galaxy alone, one-fifth of which may be like Earth. As Carl Sagan excellently said: “The Universe is a pretty big place. If it’s just us, seems like an awful waste of space.”

Now some researchers trust the hunt for life outside Earth may well repay in our lifespan. “There have been 10K generations of humans before us. Ours could be the first to know,” said SETI astrophysicist Seth Shostak.

But what can occur once we do? How would we deal with the discovery? And what would be its influence on humanity? This overwhelming question was the focus of a meeting organized last September by the NASA Astrobiology Institute and the Library of Congress. For two days, a group of researchers, historians, philosophers and theologians from round the world discussed how we might prepare for the preordained discovery of life — microbial or intelligent — somewhere else in our Universe. The conference was hosted by Steven J. Dick, the 2nd yearly Chair in Astrobiology at the Library of Congress.

Of course, the influence of discovery will rest on on the specific situation. In a talk titled “Current Approaches to Finding Life Beyond Earth, and What Happens If We Do,” Shostak proposed three ways — or three “horse races” — for discovering life in space. First, we could discover it close, in our Solar System. NASA’s Curiosity Rover is at present studying the Martian surface for clues of past or present life. And “Europa Clipper”, a mission to Jupiter’s icy moon, is now under attention. Second, we could “discover it out” of the atmosphere of an exo-planet, using telescopes to look for gases such as methane and oxygen that might clue at a biosphere. The James Webb Space Telescope, to be launched in 2018, will be able to carry out that kind of work.

Discovering life in our Solar System, which possibly would be microbial, might not have as great an impression as hearing from an intellectual civilization far away. We’d have to worry about matters like contamination. We might also find some different biochemistry, maybe exposing new visions about the nature of life. But that type of finding wouldn’t affect us as much as the view of communicating with intellectual life.

Then again it would take hundreds, if not thousands of years for a signal to mobile from side to side, Shostak mentioned. So that third situation would only show us a very few things immediately, such as their locality or what type of star they orbit. However, picking a signal might have other tempting implications about the nature of alien intellect.

Several scientists, including Shostak, put forward the following proposition: “That once a society creates the technology that could put them in touch with the cosmos, they are only a few hundred years away from changing their paradigm from biology to artificial intelligence.” The knowledge is based on the so-called “time scale argument” or “short window observation.” Many scientists forecast we’ll have industrialized a strong A.I by 2050 here on Earth — about a hundred years after the creation of computers, or a hundred and fifty years after the creation of radio connectio. “The point is that, going from creating radios to devising thinking machines is very short — a few centuries at most,” Shostak said. “The leading intelligence in the cosmos may well be non-biological.”

In a talk titled “Alien Minds,” Susan Schneider, a philosophy professor at the University of Connecticut, explained that idea further. The idea of “whole brain emulation” is becoming gradually general among certain scientists, she explained. So are other unbelievable sounding ideas like “mind uploading” and “immortally.” So, to her, a civilization able to radio communicate would probably be “super-intelligent” by the time we hear from them.

According to the "short window observation" concept, a civilization talented of radio communication would possibly have established artificial intelligence by the time we hear from them. She also claimed that alien super-intelligence would be sensible in principle, since the neural code is similar to a computational code, and thoughts could well be inserted in a silicon-based substrate. A silicon-based intelligence would also have wonderful effects for long distance space travel. But again, a repeated theme throughout the conference was to be alert of our anthropocentric tendencies. There’s been a vast gap between microbial life and intelligent life on Earth, and even intelligent life has even progressed on a spectrum.

Lori Marino, a neuroscientist and current director of the Kimela Center for Animal Advocacy, debated as such in a talked titled “The Landscape of Intelligence.” We have a lot to study from other intelligent beings here on Earth (such as dolphins) before even thinking about contacting aliens.

Eventually, the utmost implications might be philosophical. Whether it turns out to be microbial, compound or intelligent, finding life somewhere else will increase fascinating questions about our place in the cosmos. A couple of presentations, by theologian Robin Lovin and Vatican astronomer Guy Consolmagno, even spoke the potential influence on the world’s religions. But what if we don’t find anything soon, or even at all?

The hunt itself can give us a sense of direction, and help us furnace a planetary characteristics, argued the philosopher Clement Vidal in a talk titled “Silent Impact.” And if we’re really alone, then we should start taking good care of life here on Earth, and consider our duty of colonization, he added. The hunt itself can help us forge a planetary identity, said philosopher Clement Vidal. In the interim, astrobiology can help thin the gap among the sciences and humanities, as many presenters highlighted. And it can be a step to incorporating our knowledge across a wide range of disciplines.

So, how do we get ready for something we know so little about? We do so “by on-going to do good science, but also by understanding that science is not metaphysically n }eutral,” finished the conference host Steven Dick. “We get ready by continuing to question our suppositions about the nature of life and intelligence.”

Via Astrobio.net

{http://www.thesci-community.com/ }

11-03-2018 om 00:07 geschreven door peter  

A demonic robo-wolf is now protecting Japanese farmlands

 BY TIBI PUIU 

Credit: YouTube.

Honshu wolves were abundant in Japan until 1732, when rabies reached the island’s shores. Alongside widescale deforestation and a state-funded culling, the disease ultimately led to wolve’s complete extinction. The last specimen was officially killed in 1905 in Nara prefecture.

Now, in the farmlands near Kisarazu City, they are making a comeback. However, these aren’t the living, breathing wolves we all know (and fear). Rather, it’s a solar-powered robot that’s meant to look like a wolf. And instead of terrorizing Japanese rice farmers, this big, bad wolf is designed to scare off deer, wild boars and other ‘pests’ that have bred uncontrollably ever since wolves disappeared.

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21st-century scarecrow

The mechanized wolf, officially called “Super Monster Wolf” (SMW), was loaned to the cooperative association JA Kisarazu-shi for the last eight months. Reportedly, the trial has been a resounding success with local farmers happy with the results.

SMW measures 65 centimeters (2.2 feet) in length, which makes it about the size of a real wolf. It’s been adorned with fur, but also with a really weird and menacing-looking face, with angry blood-shot eyes. And I’m sorry to break it to you, but this version doesn’t prance around farms, shrieking and howling. Instead, it’s immobile, much like a scarecrow.

However, it’s infrared sensors alert the bot of any wildlife that comes within a one kilometer (0.6 miles) radius. When it does, it goes full nuclear, emitting a wide range of sounds from classic wolf howls to gunshots — anything to ward off wild boars. Any humans scared to death by SMW can be classed as collateral damage.

Since SMW was installed on July 11, Japanese news outlet The Asahi Shimbun reports that there have been no more signs of wild animals or birds nearby. So, it seems to be working quite nicely. If you’re interested in one for your farm (or evil lair), the Super Monster Wolf will become commercially available in late September for ¥200,000, or $1,810 USD. Quite the price to pay for a high-tech scarecrow, but imagine what an icebreaker this will make at parties.

{https://www.zmescience.com/}

10-03-2018 om 23:58 geschreven door peter  

'HAMMER' Time? Spacecraft Could Nuke Dangerous Asteroid to Defend Earth

10-03-2018 om 23:50 geschreven door peter  

Giant Alien Planet May Lurk Inside Star's Lopsided Dust Structure

10-03-2018 om 23:39 geschreven door peter  

Brilliant Fireball Lights Up the Sky Over Washington

10-03-2018 om 23:22 geschreven door peter  

10 Of The Most Mysterious Discoveries Made On Earth

The history of our planet is full of incredible mysteries. The more we search and research, the more mysteries we uncover. And despite the fact that archaeologists and scientists work hard to figure everything out, we know very little about our past.

As Best Selling author Graham Hancock has said, we are a species with amnesia.

Proof of this are the countless discoveries that have been made throughout the years, which question our beliefs, the4 fundaments of society, and capabilities of ancient civilizations.

Here, in this article, we bring you some of the most inexplicable, and history-challenging discoveries that have been made on Earth.

Aerial view of Sacsayhuaman.

1. Sacsayhuamán

Sacsayhuamán is without a doubt one of the most incredible ancient sites ever discovered on the planet. Why? Not only because of the history of this ancient city but because of the supermassive stones used in its construction.

The ceremonial complex is well-known for its impeccable masonry that is so precise that engineers today have no clue how it was made.

Some of the stones at Sacsayhuamán are so perfectly fitted that not a single sheet of paper can fit in between.

The Gate of the Sun.

Image credit: Shutterstock.

2. The Gate of The Sun ( Puerta del Sol)

The Gate of the Sun is a megalithic solid stone arch or gateway located in Tiwanaku, an ancient mysterious city located in Bolivia.

Archaeologists believe this ancient city was the center of a vast empire during the first millennium AD.

And despite the fact that we know a lot about South American ancient civilizations, researchers are still not able to figure out the meaning of some of the drawings that are enshrined in the monuments of the ancient city.

Some experts believe these depictions have a great astrological and astronomical value, while other authors believe it is a gateway to another world.

The interior of the Longyou caves.

3. The Longyou Caves

The Longyou Caves are out of this world. This incredible set of caves is little talked about.

The Longyou Caves are a set of artificial caves that are believed to be at least 2000 years old and happen to be one of the largest structures ever excavated by man.

Researchers have been baffled by the size and precision of the caves.

Archaeologists, engineers, architects, and geologists from around the world have tried to figure out how, why and when were these artificial caves were built, but no one has offered a single solution to the many mysteries surrounding the caves.

Some argue that this ancient complex is a natural wonder.

4. The underwater city of Yonaguni – Japan

Referred to as Japans Atlantis, some authors argue the Yonaguni complex is an ancient monument left behind by an ancient civilization that existed on Earth before the last Ice Age.

These alleged ancient remains were discovered accidentally by scuba instructor Khachiro Arataki.

Some underwater archaeologists, as well as many authors, refer to this ancient complex as one of the most important underwater discoveries in recent years.

The discovery of the Yonaguni complex has questioned several scientific theories.

The incredibly carved rock sank is believed to have sunken more than 12,000 years ago, much before the Ancient Egyptians built the Pyramids.

Mainstream archaeology and science argue that no advanced civilizations existed on Earth before the last Ice Age and that ancient mankind was not able to carve such a complex structure.

Mohenjo-Daro archaeological site.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

5. Mohenjo-Daro

The archaeological site of Mohenjo Daro is considered by many ancient astronaut theorists as one of the best examples of ancient alien contact.

The destruction of this once great city has been a mystery for archaeologists and experts for decades.

Ancient Astronaut theorists claim that thousands of years ago, advanced alien civilizations visited Earth, and nuclear bombs were used to destroy this city.

The city was discovered in 1992 when Indian archaeologist R. Banardzhi found the ancient ruins on the banks of the Indus River.

Questions such as the cause of the destruction and the fate of its inhabitants remain a mystery to scholars.

Some researchers have postulated theories that this city was destroyed by the gods, with “advanced nuclear weapons.”

The underground city of Derinkuyu.

Image Credit: Shutterstock.

6. The underground city of Derinkuyu

Another incredible feat of ancient engineering. Thousands of years ago, ancient people excavated hundreds of meters into the Earth, building one of the greatest ancient underground cities on Earth.

This incredible underground city has challenged the views and theories of archaeologists and engineers ever since its discovery.

Many mysteries engulf this underground city. No one has been able to understand why and how it was built.

While some authors indicate it was created to protect its inhabitants from climate change, extreme temperatures or even war, there are others who believe that its purpose is far more mysterious.

The elaboration of the spheres began around 300 AD.

7. Giant Stone Spheres

These giant stone spheres have been present from Costa Rica to Bosnia & Herzegovina, they come in all sorts of sizes. They were first found in South America in the 1930’s by workers who were clearing jungle to make way for a plantation of bananas.

South American legends say that hidden within the rocks are unimaginable treasures. This has led to the destruction of many of these spheres by people who did not recognize their historical value. Despite the fact that many of these spheres were destroyed, no one has ever found anything inside them. Similar spheres can be found in Europe in Bosnia & Herzegovina near Visoko.

No one can explain what these giant stone spheres are made for.

Many researchers believe that there are several pieces of evidence pointing towards the existence of highly advanced ancient civilizations that existed on Earth millions of years ago.

8. 14 million-year-old vehicle tracks

According to a researcher called Dr. Koltypin, millions of years ago advanced technologies existed on Earth, and the traces we see in the above image were left behind by vehicles 14 million years ago

As noted by Russian Geologists, these mysterious traces are at least 14 million old and were left behind by “vehicles” that belonged to a currently “unknown ancient civilization” that inhabited our planet in the past.

Many researchers believe that we are not the first society to rule over this planet. In fact, a number of authors have claimed that many other advanced civilizations called this planet home in the past.

According to Dr. Koltypin and many other archaeologists, which have adopted new ways of thinking, these ancient “car tracks” are one of the best-preserved pieces of evidence which undoubtedly prove the existence of highly advanced ancient civilizations that inhabited our planet in the distant past.

The mysterious Natural Nuclear Reactor.

9. 2 billion-year-old Natural Nuclear Reactor

In 1972, researchers confirmed the discovery of a set of Natural Nuclear Reactors in Gabon. Ever since, scientists have scratched their heads trying to understand how it is possible that these nuclear reactors developed in Gabon two billion years ago, and did not come into existence at any other place on the Planet.

As claimed by experts, more than two billion years ago, parts of the African uranium deposit spontaneously underwent nuclear fission. According to scientists, this mysterious “natural” nuclear reactor had the ability to produce modest energy. Scientists estimate the Oklo reactors would have had samples with roughly 3.6% uranium-235 — that’s close to the enrichment threshold of modern nuclear reactors.

10. A Massive knife discovered underwater

Not much can be found about this mysterious image.

We see a massive knife, held by three scuba drivers somewhere on Earth’s ocean.

The image has been widely sharde among people on social networks, and many consider it evidnece that, before written history, perhaps tens of thousands of years ago, giants walked on Earth.

{ https://www.ancient-code.com/ }

10-03-2018 om 22:05 geschreven door peter  

By Karl Glazebrook, Swinburne University of Technology

A signal caused by the very first stars to form in the universe has been picked up by a tiny but highly specialised radio telescope in the remote Western Australian desert.

Details of the detection are revealed in a paper published February 28, 2018, in Nature, and tell us these stars formed only 180 million years after the Big Bang.

It’s potentially one of the most exciting astronomical discoveries of the decade. A second Nature paper, also published February 28, links the finding to possibly the first detected evidence that dark matter, thought to make up much of the universe, might interact with ordinary atoms.

Tuning in to the signal

This discovery was made by a small radio antenna operating in the band of 50-100 Mhz, which overlaps some well known FM radio stations (which is why the telescope is located in the remote WA desert).

What has been detected is the absorption of light by neutral atomic hydrogen gas, which filled the early universe after it cooled down from the hot plasma of the Big Bang.

At this time (180 million years after the Big Bang) the early universe was expanding, but the densest regions of the universe were collapsing under gravity to make the first stars.

A timeline of the universe, updated to show when the first stars emerged emerged by 180 million years after the Big Bang.

Image via N.R. Fuller, National Science Foundation.

The formation of the first stars had a dramatic effect on the rest of the universe. Ultraviolet radiation from them changed the electron spin in the hydrogen atoms, causing it to absorb the background radio emission of the universe at a natural resonant frequency of 1,420 MHz, casting a shadow so to speak.

Now, 13 billion years later, that shadow would be expected at a much lower frequency because the universe has expanded nearly 18-fold in that time.

An early result

Astronomers had been predicting this phenomenon for nearly 20 years and searching for it for 10 years. No one quite knew how strong the signal would be or at what frequency to search.

Most expected it would take quite a few more years post 2018.

But the shadow was detected at 78 MHz by a team led by astronomer Judd Bowman from Arizona State University.

Amazingly this radio signal detection in 2015-2016 was done by a small aerial (the EDGES experiment), only a few meters in size, coupled to a very clever radio receiver and signal processing system. It’s only been published now after rigorous checking.

The EDGES ground-based radio spectrometer, CSIRO’s Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory in Western Australia.

Image via CSIRO.

This is the most important astronomical discovery since the detection of gravitational waves in 2015. The first stars represent the start of everything complex in the universe, the beginning of the long journey to galaxies, solar systems, planets, life and brains.

Detecting their signature is a milestone and pinning down the exact time of their formation is an important measurement for cosmology.

This is an amazing result. But it gets better and even more mysterious and exciting.

An artist’s rendering of how the first stars in the universe may have looked.

Image via N.R. Fuller, National Science Foundation.

Evidence of dark matter?

The signal is twice as strong as expected, which is why it has been detected so early. In the second Nature paper, astronomer Rennan Barkana, from Tel Aviv University, said it is quite hard to explain why the signal is so strong, as it tells us the hydrogen gas at this time is significantly colder than expected in the standard model of cosmic evolution.

Astronomers like to introduce new kinds of exotic objects to explain things (e.g. super massive stars, black holes) but these generally produce radiation that makes things hotter instead.

How do you make the atoms colder? You have to put them in thermal contact with something even colder, and the most viable suspect is what is known as cold dark matter.

Cold dark matter is the bedrock of modern cosmology. It was introduced in the 1980s to explain how galaxies rotate – they seemed to spin much faster than could be explained by the visible stars and an extra gravitational force was needed.

We now think that dark matter has to be made of a new kind of fundamental particle. There is about six times more dark matter than ordinary matter and if it was made of normal atoms the Big Bang would have looked quite different to what is observed.

As for the nature of this particle, and its mass, we can only guess.

So if cold dark matter is indeed colliding with hydrogen atoms in the early universe and cooling them, this is a major advance and could lead us to pin down its true nature. This would be the first time dark matter has demonstrated any interaction other than gravity.

Here comes the ‘but’

A note of caution is warranted. This hydrogen signal is very difficult to detect: it is thousands of times fainter than the background radio noise even for the remote location in Western Australia.

The authors of the first Nature paper have spent more than a year doing a multitude of tests and checks to make sure they have not made a mistake. The sensitivity of their aerial needs to be exquisitely calibrated all across the bandpass. The detection is an impressive technical achievement but astronomers worldwide will be holding their breath until the result is confirmed by an independent experiment.

If it is confirmed then this will open the door to a new window on the early universe and potentially a new understanding of the nature of dark matter by providing a new observational window in to it.

This signal has been detected coming from the whole sky, but in the future it can be mapped on the sky, and the details of the structures in the maps would then give us even more information on the physical properties of the dark matter.

More desert observations

Today’s publications are exciting news for Australia in particular. Western Australia is the most radio quiet zone in the world, and will be the prime location for future mapping observations. The Murchison Widefield Array is in operation right now, and future upgrades could provide exactly such a map.

One of 128 tiles of the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) telescope.

Image via Flickr/Australian SKA Office/WA Department of Commerce.

This is also a major science goal of the multi-billion dollar Square Kilometre Array, located in Western Australia, that should be able to provide much greater fidelity pictures of this epoch.

It is extremely exciting to look forward to a time when we will be able to reveal the nature of the first stars and to have a new approach via radio astronomy to tackle dark matter, which has so far proved intractable.

Let’s hope the governments of the world, or at least Australia, can keep the frequency of 78 MHz clean of pop music and talk shows so we can continue to observe the birth of the universe.

• Karl Glazebrook, Director & Distinguished Professor, Centre for Astrophysics & Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology
• This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Bottom line: Astronomers have detected a signal from the first stars to form in the universe.

{ http://earthsky.org/ }

10-03-2018 om 21:46 geschreven door peter