Investigating Historical UFO Cases

David is a UFO researcher and author. He’s had a lifelong interest in the subject of UFOs and joined the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) as a field investigator trainee in 1990. Since then he held several positions within MUFON before becoming an independent researcher. Since then he has written a highly regarded book on triangle shaped UFOs, Triangular UFOs: An Estimate of the Situation, and has been featured on several television programs. David has one of the most extensive personal libraries of UFO books, journals, magazines, newspapers, and case files from around the world that covers the last 65 years.

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

18-09-2018 om 20:55 geschreven door peter  

This Week's Top Space Stories!

Photo Credit: Robert Simmon (Terre), NASA/JPL (Neptune)/NASA Goddard

Photo Credit: NOAA

Photo Credit: Alexander Vasenin/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 4.0

2. Spot Comet 21P this month!

This September, set your gaze skyward and look for a bright comet whose orbit Jupiter captured. Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner will be visible by binoculars, but it will be easier to enjoy with a small telescope.

[Full Story: A Bright Green Comet Will Grace September's Skies]

Photo Credit: NASA

Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Photo Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona

Photo Credit: NASA/SDO

Photo Credit: CSIS/YouTube

Photo Credit: Pallava Bagla/Corbis/Getty

Photo Credit: Robert Simmon (Terre), NASA/JPL (Neptune)/NASA Goddard

Photo Credit: SpaceX

Photo Credit: collectSPACE.com

13. Last Delta II Rocket Soars

We ended the week on a bittersweet note: After nearly 30 years and 155 launches, the final Delta II rocket - a workhorse of satellite space exploration mission launches - lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base on Saturday (Sept. 15). The Delta II carried NASA's ICESat-2 satellite into orbit to measure Earth's changing ice levels. Here's a look at the rockets that make up the Delta family operated by United Launch Alliance. And here's a handy primer on why the Delta II was blue. (Primer, get it? A space paint joke.)

18-09-2018 om 18:24 geschreven door peter  

Come on, universe, what’s a guy gotta do to get just one little shred of evidence of extraterrestrial life? It doesn’t need to be anything too extraordinary. No antennaed green humanoids, no crawling masses of purple ooze, no silicon-based crystal creatures. At this point I’d be content with a single dead microbe clinging to the side of a meteor. I’m not picky – I just need to know: are we alone?

Of course, I’m not alone in my need to know. The search for alien life currently involves some of the most sophisticated astronomical equipment and laboratories on Earth, but has still yet to find conclusive proof of anything else out there in space crawling around eating and farting and dying like us. NASA has identified loads of planets which might support life, but the problem is they’re all so far away that we’ll likely never be able to reach and analyze them – in our lifetimes, anyway. Unless we hurry up and get that immortality thing together.

In more promising news, a team of NASA scientists has just published a study claiming that the closest known exoplanet, Proxima Centauri b, just might possibly be able to support life. The planet, also called Proxima b or Alpha Centauri Cb, lies just 4.2 light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Centaurus. That’s only 40 trillion kilometers, or 25 trillion miles, the cosmic equivalent of a stone’s throw.

Alpha Centauri, left, Beta Centauri, right, and Proxima Centauri, circled in red.

Proxima b orbits the star Proxima Centauri and is roughly the size of Earth. For some time, astronomers have thought the planet to be uninhabitable due to the fact that it experiences extreme solar flares and radiation from its nearby star. However, the scientists behind this most recent study believe there could be scenarios in which Proxima b could still support life.

For example, if the planet happens to be tidally locked, meaning the same side faces its host star as it orbits, then surface water could allow for enough heat exchange between the hot and cold sides to support life throughout the whole planet. “An ocean-covered Proxima b could have a much broader area of surface liquid water but at much colder temperatures than previously suggested,” the authors write, adding that “Proxima b could be an inhabited, mostly open ocean planet with halophilic life.”

Another scenario could be that the planet formed much farther away from Proxima Centauri and has been slowly getting closer throughout its history, meaning some of the planet may still be habitable. UniverseToday has a good breakdown of all of these hypothetical scenarios and an interview with Anthony D. Del Genio of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies concerning this new research. 

It’s important to note, though, that all of these scenarios are hypothetical and were produced through a new type of planetary simulation software used by NASA in their hunt for exoplanets. Could our nearest neighbor support life? How convenient would that be? Let’s hope we get that EM Driveworked out soon. I need to know.

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

18-09-2018 om 17:16 geschreven door peter  

The Sunspot Solar Observatory in Mexico reopened on Monday, Sep 17, 2018 but people are dissatisfied with the official explanation as it offers a few new but vague details about the circumstances surrounding the evacuation.

Even the local Sheriff, who was kept in the dark about the investigation throughout, was skeptical. ”But for the FBI to get involved that quick and be so secretive about it, there was a lot of stuff going on up there,” Otero County Sheriff Benny House said, as quoted by Alamogordo News. “There was a Blackhawk helicopter, a bunch of people around antennas, and work crews on towers but nobody would tell us anything.”

Press release:

1972 photo of a Viking space probe at White Sands Missile Range, near the Sunspot Observatory.

USAF/Reuters

To make it even more mysterious on Sep 12, 2018 the New Mexico State Police found a mystery manwho died not too far away from the solar observatory.

According to the NPS release, while closing WSNM, park rangers discovered an unattended vehicle in the Alkali Flat Trail parking lot.

After searching the immediate area, park rangers expanded their search to the Alkali Flat Trail where they discovered an unresponsive man about a half mile from the trailhead between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m., the release states.

“Any car park in an area needs to have a reason for being there,” Sauter said. “For example, our back-country campers, they need to have a permit on their dash and back in our back-country camping trails which they have their water and camping gear.”

NPS will be coordinating with NMSP to investigate the incident and.. of course no further information is being released due to the ongoing investigation they stated.

See also our articles:

• What’s going on? National Solar Observatory in New Mexico evacuated for 'safety reasons'!
• 6 More Solar Observatories closed and This could be the reason!
• Man infiltrates Solar Observatory and finds X-files Unrestricted Access DVD in a building!

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

18-09-2018 om 16:41 geschreven door peter  

Multiple UFOs Fly Across Moon – Shot by Amateur Astronomer – Rome, Italy – July 29, 2018

Case File Information

• TBV Investigations Case Number: 257854
• Date of Event / Case File: 07/29/2018
• Name of Witness: Alessio

Case File Status: Unidentified

• Background

The following case was submitted to The Black Vault / TBV Investigations on August 1, 2018. It was shot by an amateur astronomer / photographer taking a video of the moon. The video was submitted for analysis, and due to the nature of the video, it was assigned to multiple investigators for multiple perspectives.

• Lead Case Investigator: Monica Salazar
  
• Additional Analysis done by: Jim Kerr, Michael Glenn and Paul Wright

Witness Testimony

The following was the original testimony, as submitted by the witness. It was sent to John Greenewald, Jr. of The Black Vault through a mutual friend, and the identifying name has been removed.  The witness is not a “UFO enthusiast” nor a “UFO Hunter” but captured the video by chance. It has been edited slightly for clarity.

“Hello I am a friend of ___________ and I want to report a sighting. 

It was the day after the Red Moon (or Blood Moon) and the weather was clear. To record the passage of the Moon I used the follow equipment:

-Sky-Watcher Maksutov SkyMax 127/1500 OTA
-T2 ring
-Pentax HD DA AF 1.4x rear converter
-Pentax K-70

Thank you for your attention, best regards.

Alessio”

The Evidence

The following high resolution video was submitted for analysis.

Original / Uncut Video

Cropped to Highlight “Anomalies”

The Analysis

by Monica Salazar, TBV Investigations

The video was recorded on July 29th, 2018, at 1.08 AM. 

In the beginning of the video you can see a zoomed in image of the moon. The clear details of the moon show that it was obviously a high powered camera with an adequate zoom lens. As mentioned by the witness, the specs of the camera are as follows:

-Sky-Watcher Maksutov SkyMax 127/1500 OTA
-T2 ring
-Pentax HD DA AF 1.4x rear converter
-Pentax K-70

(ALL meta data is listed below, for reference)

You can clearly see all the craters and detailed lining of the moon showing a good camera focus. At about 2:52 (of the “original” video) you can see a dark object cross in front of the moon. Taking the zoom into consideration, it appears that the anomaly is flying at a high altitude. If these were bugs, birds or bats flying much lower to the ground, most likely they would be out of focus and not appear in the video, or if they do, be largely out of focus given the focal length of the lens in conjunction with the clarity of the moon.  Objects nearer to the lens would largely be invisible or drastically out of focus.

The height is very hard to determine, since there are no reference objects in the frame, other than the moon. We know the moon is 252,088 miles away from Earth, but to properly give some kind of calculation, another “reference object” needs to be in the frame to compare. Since there is none, it is highly speculative to try and pinpoint an exact altitude.

Later in the video at about 3:10 a greater wave of objects pass through the same view. I was able to count at least 38 objects in total. The objects seem to travel at a relatively fast speed. Judging by the speed the earth is rotating (1600km/hr) and the way the moon moves across the screen I would have to say the anomalies are traveling faster than any commercial jet plane (about 740-930 kph or 500 knots) in my best estimation.

This case was reviewed by other investigators and their opinions vary on what the objects might be.  However, everyone, including myself, is in agreement that there is no evidence in the raw video that it has been tampered with, manipulated or is a CGI hoax. 

Additional analyses are as follows:

Jim Kerr, TBV Investigations

“I am not only an amateur astronomer but a ufologist as well. Since approx 2011, I have followed and researched videos and photos of unidentified objects traversing the moon. There are many good examples on the internet, but there are also those that are migrating flocks of birds. In all the footage I have analyzed, I have never seen the large number of objects as depicted in TBV case # 257854.

On 08-08-2018 I downloaded the video from case # 257854 to Sony Vegas video editing software. In this edited version, I shortened the length of the video. There is no sound in this edited version as I didn’t want to voice my opinions in the video. There are repeating clips with several different video effects along with cropped footage in an attempt to identify these objects. I sent the video to John Greenewald for distribution to the assigned investigators.

Keep in mind; this footage is not in sharp focus which is no fault of the camera or operator. Due to the earth atmosphere, video footage and objects will appear to slightly shift, morphing, pulsate and slightly go in and out of focus. With that said, the objects also appear slightly out of focus appearing to change shape slightly and morph in size. Is this because these objects were close to the lunar surface or outside earth’s atmosphere at an unknown distance from the moon? That, of course, is a possibility but let’s talk about the flight characteristics of these objects. Some of the objects are traveling faster and slower than others. Also, some change course slightly coming closer to one another.

In my opinion, these objects are a flock of migratory birds, but of course, I could be wrong. From what I have observed even with these objects being slightly out of focus, they behave like migratory birds. My recommendation to investigators is, research the geographical location of this sighting for migratory bird activity along with their flight characteristics.”

The bird theory is addressed in detail below.

Michael Glenn, TBV Investigations

“I used Adobe Premier to check out the video as well. The objects definitely exist in the image based on simple analysis using inverted imaging, and the way they warp the edges of the moon image when they leave the lighted areas. Slow moving compared to bugs, bats, or satellites. A plane would have definition, wings etc. in their silhouette. Birds would be moving about as fast as the bats, perhaps a bit slower. I think this is upper atmosphere based on the slowness of some of them, and the lack of formation that birds might have. They also sway in an odd way, negotiating for space with each other in intelligent ways.”

Possible Explanations

I followed Mr. Kerr’s advice and I was able to find flocks of one kind of bird that does migrate in the area of Rome which are the Starlings, however their pattern of flight does not seem to mirror that of the video. If you look at starlings’ migration pattern they actually form a giant cloud in the sky and they travel in the hundreds, not in just a few like depicted in the video.

This photograph shows what starlings look like, as they migrate over the moon. Starlings fly in a much more dense concentration of birds, andtherefore, look nothing like the anomalies above.

Official Caption: Starlings migrating from northern Europe fly in the sky of Rome with the moon in the background on Nov. 3, 2014. About one-million starlings migrate in Rome during autumn and winter time and draw beautiful patterns in the sky before spending the nights in the trees by the Tiber river, creating chaos in the neighborhood with their droppings. (AFP Photo/Gabriel Bouys)

Example of a full moon, with birds on how they appear. This example shows much less of a zoom/focal length of the lens, but offers a reference point to compare what birds would look like. Zoom in to get the details on the lunar surface like the video above, these birds would most likely be out of focus and not appear as sharp as the anomalies do above. Official caption: The moon provides the perfect backdrop for watching birds migrate at night. Observers with spotting scopes and small telescopes can watch the show anytime the moon is at or near full. Photo illustration: Bob King

Another migratory bird of the region is the Honey Buzzard. Here is a video of a migration of the Honey Buzzard, also not even close to resembling the anomaly movements, density, number of “birds” etc.

The movement of the objects seem to not mimic the flight of birds when comparing to other videos of bird migrations, not only those above, but other videos found online.  There are also very few birds that can get tens of thousand of feet into the air.  Given the detail on the moon and the size within the frame, if these were birds, they would have to be at a very high altitude to move that slow within the video. If they were fairly low to the ground, even for migratory birds, they would likely be seen going very fast through the video, and caught on very few frames of video.  These appear to be very high, but the exact altitude can not be determined.  In addition, birds migrate in much larger numbers, and even if only a small “group” of the larger migratory group was capture in front of the moon, the density of the birds do not match migratory patterns by most birds referenced for the region. 

I would assume that the anomalies shown on the video are most likely not birds of any kind, at least, any birds that I could find. Any additional feedback from Italian/European bird experts is welcomed.

Based on the evidence, a flock of birds seems unlikely at this time.

Bats Flying In Front of Moon

You can see with this video, when objects (in this case bats) are much lower to the camera, they go through the frame very quickly. One example above is at 0:46 of the video, and it is very quick as the bat flies by. Another occurs at approximately 1:32. 

Based on the evidence, bats flying across the frame seems unlikely.

Satellites Flying By

This is probably the closest match to the anomalies caught above. However, there are key differences.  First, the anomalies above seemingly do not move in a straight line, and seem to even interact with each other.  Satellites will traverse across a camera’s field of view in a straight or slightly curved line, but do not change speed or adjust course.  In addition, investigator Jim Kerr assisted me in checking Stellarium to see if there were any satellites in the area that were possibly captured by the witness’ camera, and there were not.  When I asked him to verify what was in the sky, he said:

“A search of Stellarium (equatorial view) showed nothing unusual with the moon from a view point in Rome, Italy on July 29, 2018 @ 1:08am. No satellites or asteroids were noted crossing the moon at that time.” 

Below, you will find Stellarium screen shots for Rome Italy, July 29, 2018 @ 1:08am.

Balloons Caught on Video

There is a possibility that the objects could be balloons, but it is fairly unlikely. Given the assumed high altitude, for so many “toy” balloons (standard helium filled party balloons) to be released from the surface of Earth from a party or major event, and for them to reach such heights and maintain a relative “formation” by sticking together, is too coincidental. In addition, there is a case where a larger “Google Balloon” was captured by an amateur astronomer while photographing the moon. Although it is hard to discern the movement from the photograph, you can see that it does not appear to be a similar type object. In addition, weather balloon or “Google Balloons” never are launched together in such a quantity, so I think a type of weather balloon (or Google Balloon) is safely ruled out.

Amateur astronomer Luis Verdiales, from Puerto Rico, spotted the ‘small black disc’ flying across the face of the moon during a rare celestial event when the planets aligned together – and aviation experts managed to work out it was one of Google’s balloons.

Based on the evidence, balloons seem unlikely.

Digital Manipulation

Many of us all considered a hoax, but there is no sign or evidence of any digital manipulation. TBV Investigations’ Paul Wright also looked at the video, and sees exact characteristics when he views the moon through his high powered lens, including the “hazing” effect around it. He extracted the “meta data” of the video, and everything matches what the witness reported, in regards to the technical specs of the camera. It also appears to be the raw file, and not edited.

Meta Data

Conclusion

I do not believe this is some kind of bird migration, and although there are similarities to satellites crossing the sky, Stellarium does rule out such an explanation.  Balloons are also highly unlikely and we find no evidence of a hoax or digital manipulation. Therefore, I rule out all plausible explanations at this time, with no other reasonable explanation to explore.  

For now, I would close this case and I will classify it as Unidentified, however, I am always open to feedback or other angles to explore.  

Other Videos

{ http://www.theblackvault.com/casefiles/ }

18-09-2018 om 01:44 geschreven door peter  

Astronomer Have Spotted A Mysterious Object, Which Is 570 Billion Times Brighter than the Sun

So bright that it pushes the energy limit of physics. Billions of light years away, there is a giant ball of hot gas that is brighter than hundreds of billions of suns.  It is hard to imagine something so bright.  So what is it?  Astronomers are not really sure, but they have a couple theories.

They think it may be a very rare type of supernova — called a magnetar — but one so powerful that it pushes the energy limits of physics, or in other words, the most powerful supernova ever seen as of today.

This object is so luminous that astronomers are having a really difficult time finding a way to describe it.  “If it really is a magnetar, it's as if nature took everything we know about magnetars and turned it up to 11,” said Krzysztof Stanek, professor of astronomy at Ohio State University and the team's co-principal investigator, comedically implying it is off the charts on a scale of 1 to 10.

The object was first spotted by the All Sky Automated Survey of Supernovae (ASAS-SN or “assassin”), which is a small network of telescopes used to detect bright objects in the universe.  
Although this object is ridiculously bright, it still can’t be seen by the naked eye because it is 3.8 billion light years away. ASAS-SN, since it began in 2014, has discovered nearly 250 supernovae, however this discovery, ASASSN-15lh, stands out because of its sheer magnitude.  It is 200 times more powerful than the average supernova, 570 billion times brighter than the sun, and 20 times brighter than all the stars in the Milky Way Galaxy combined.

“We have to ask, how is that even possible?” said Stanek.  “It takes a lot of energy to shine that bright, and that energy has to come from somewhere.”
Todd Thompson, professor of astronomy at Ohio State, has one possible explanation.  The supernova could have generated an extremely rare type of star called a millisecond magnetar — a rapidly spinning and very dense star with a crazy strong magnetic field.

This is how crazy magnetars are: to shine as bright as it does, this magnetar would have to spin at least 1,000 times a second, and convert all of that rotational energy to light with pretty much 100 percent efficiency — making it the most extreme example of a magnetar that is physically possible.

“Given those constraints,” Thompson said, “will we ever see anything more luminous than this? If it truly is a magnetar, then the answer is basically no.”

Over the coming months, the Hubble Space Telescope will try to solve this mystery by giving astronomers time to see the host galaxy surrounding this object.  The team may find that this bright object lies in the very center of a large galaxy — meaning the object is not a magnetar at all — and the gas around it is actually evidence of a supermassive black hole.

If that is the case, then the bright light could be explained by a new kind of event, said study co-author Christopher Kochanek, professor of astronomy at Ohio State.  It would be something that has never, ever been seen before at the center of a galaxy.

Whether it is a magnetar, a supermassive black hole, or something else entirely, the results are probably going to lead to new thinking about how objects form in the universe.

{ http://www.physics-astronomy.org/ }

18-09-2018 om 01:14 geschreven door peter  

A congressionally-mandated report recommends that NASA lead efforts to directly image possibly Earth-like exoplanets, using upcoming technologies. A major goal is finding habitable – maybe even inhabited – worlds.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) in Washington, D.C., just released a new congressionally mandated report that aims to guide scientists’ study of exoplanets in the years to come. Among other things, the report urges NASA to lead a comprehensive direct imaging mission – using a new advanced space telescope – to study Earth-like exoplanets orbiting stars similar to our sun. The report is called Exoplanet Science Strategy.

The past several years have seen an explosion in the number of known exoplanets, or planets orbiting distant suns. At the moment, there are 3,779 confirmed planets, plus an additional 2,737 candidates awaiting verification. How many have been directly imaged? Fewer than two dozen, according to Wikipedia’s list of directly imaged exoplanets.

Many of the discovered exoplanets orbit close to their stars, and thus images are exceedingly difficult to image. Many are gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn, but others are smaller and rocky, like Earth. These rocky worlds would be the most difficult to image, but they’re of particular interest to astronomers and scientists, since at least some of them have the potential to be habitable and maybe even host life of some sort.

When scientists speak of Earth-like exoplanets, they’re basically referring to rocky planets of a similar size to Earth. With the limited information we currently have about these worlds, it’s still unknown how many of them have actual similarities to Earth, in terms of water, atmosphere, composition, habitability and so on. Obtaining that information is the next step in exoplanet research.

From the report:

The past decade has delivered remarkable discoveries in the study of exoplanets. Hand-in-hand with these advances, a theoretical understanding of the myriad of processes that dictate the formation and evolution of planets has matured, spurred on by the avalanche of unexpected discoveries. Appreciation of the factors that make a planet hospitable to life has grown in sophistication, as has understanding of the context for biosignatures, the remotely detectable aspects of a planet’s atmosphere or surface that reveal the presence of life.

The cover of the new report, Exoplanet Science Strategy 2018, by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.

There are two main goals as outlined in the report:

To understand the formation and evolution of planetary systems as products of star formation and characterize the diversity of their architectures, composition, and environments.

To learn enough about exoplanets to identify potentially habitable environments and search for scientific evidence of life on worlds orbiting other stars.

The overall objective is to use both theory and observations to search for evidence of past and present life elsewhere in the universe. Rocky planets like Earth are the primary focus, given what we know about how life evolved here. A growing number of such worlds have been discovered by various missions and telescopes such as the Kepler Space Telescope, including ones in their stars’ habitable zones, although most are quite distant. The new TESS mission, which just launched a few months ago, is currently looking for similar planets closer to our own solar system.

A key aspect of that objective is to directly image these planets, which will require funding and long-term monitoring to see results. The report recommends using instruments that can directly image an exoplanet by blocking the light emitted by the parent stars – such as with a coronagraph or starshade.

Being able to determine what conditions are actually like on some of these rocky worlds – or even detect possible biosignatures – would open an exciting new chapter in exoplanet research. Other recent studies have shown that even planets covered completely in water – as some water worlds are thought to be – could potentially support life (both water and geologically active land masses are thought to have been necessary for life on Earth). Such discoveries increase the possibility of many worlds being able to support life, not just ones that are more “Earth-like.”

Artist’s concept of one of the Earth-sized exoplanets orbiting the star TRAPPIST-1. A growing number of such worlds are now being discovered. How many of them could support life?

Image via ESO/M. Kornmesser.

In addition to the new direct imaging capabilities, the report also notes that other ground-based observations will be essential. This would include the future Giant Magellan Telescope and the proposed Thirty Meter Telescope. These telescopes could not only provide advanced imaging and spectroscopic abilities of entire planetary systems, they could also detect molecular oxygen – a potential biomarker – in the atmospheres of rocky planets. The report further recommends that the National Science Foundation should invest in both telescopes to provide all-sky access.

The Kepler Space Telescope, now nearing its end of its mission, looked at stars relatively close by, while TESS will focus on stars even closer, in our sun’s immediate neighborhood. Another space telescope, however, the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), would look at stars much further out, for which we still have little information as to planets, and enable a large direct imaging mission. WFIRST received the Academies’ highest priority in the 2010 Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey.

In addition, the report recommends that the James Webb Space Telescope should be used to systematically collect data on exoplanet atmospheres early in its mission.

The model of NASA’s interdisciplinary collaboration initiative – the Nexus for Exoplanet System Science – should also be expanded by supporting a cross-divisional research effort inviting proposals for interdisciplinary research. The report also calls on NASA to support a robust individual investigator program – including grants for theoretical, laboratory, and ground-based telescopic investigations to fully realize the scientific payoff of exoplanet missions.

The Planetary Habitability Laboratory currently lists 55 known exoplanets as potentially habitable, including these “top” ones.

Image via PHL @ UPR Arecibo (pal.upr.edu) July 2, 2018.

The report goes even further however, and is not limited to just scientific interest. It also acknowledges another very important issue – the discrimination and harassment that exist in the scientific workforce and how that can affect the exoplanet research community by posing barriers to the participation of people from certain demographic groups:

To maximize scientific potential and opportunities for excellence, institutions and organizations should take concrete steps to eliminate discrimination and harassment and to proactively recruit and retain scientists from underrepresented groups.

View image on Twitter

National Academies

✔@theNASEM

Interested in reading our new report, Exoplanet Science Strategy? Download the full report for free here:

http://ow.ly/dMoU30lGszs  #ExoplanetScience

7:43 PM - Sep 5, 2018

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Bottom line:

• The discovery of a growing number of Earth-sized exoplanets, some potentially habitable, is one of the most exciting developments in space science. The new report from NASEM urges NASA to make more detailed observations of these worlds a priority, which is great news. Such near-future studies may well lead to one of the most important discoveries in history – another inhabited world.

Source: Exoplanet Science Strategy 2018

Via The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine

{ http://earthsky.org/ }

18-09-2018 om 01:04 geschreven door peter  

{ https://www.disclose.tv/ }

18-09-2018 om 00:52 geschreven door peter  

Video of UFO – Orb While Filming Moon With Nikon P900 – 18 Aug 2018

{https://www.disclose.tv/ }

18-09-2018 om 00:35 geschreven door peter  

Alien Invasion? Strange Glowing UFOs sighted in San Bernardino, CA.

Are the aliens heading toward Earth? Strange glowing UFOs near the Sun sighted in San Bernardino, California

READ NEXT

• E.T. Gets Roasted on a Spit, NOT Phoning Home Ever Again

{https://www.disclose.tv/ }

18-09-2018 om 00:31 geschreven door peter  

{ https://www.disclose.tv/ }

18-09-2018 om 00:25 geschreven door peter  

These strange lights were filmed from 3 separate locations in New Jersey - Ocean city, Somers Point and Margate.
The witnesses claim the lights where part of one huge object.

READ NEXT

• E.T. Gets Roasted on a Spit, NOT Phoning Home Ever Again

{ https://www.disclose.tv/ }

18-09-2018 om 00:20 geschreven door peter  

Sondes de la NASA et de SpaceX : Une affirmation explosive suggère que les missions ont été “sabotées par des OVNI”

Les OVNI ont délibérément saboté trois grandes missions spatiales, selon des affirmations farfelues en ligne.

Des théoriciens du complot sont convaincus que les extra-terrestres ont piraté et détruit des sondes conçues pour explorer la galaxie en guise d’avertissement aux humains.

Ils ont mis en lumière des événements aussi bizarres que l’explosion d’un OVNI quelques secondes avant l’explosion de la fusée SpaceX en 2016 et avant la disparition de la sonde russe Phobos II en orbite autour de Mars.

Ces événements étranges, aussi farfelus qu’ils puissent paraître, ont déclenché des théories selon lesquelles des formes de vie intelligentes suivent de près nos missions galactiques.

La Fusée de SpaceX

Une fusée SpaceX Falcon-9 transportant un satellite Amos-6, qui devait étendre le haut débit de Facebook dans le monde entier, a explosé trois minutes avant un lancement d’essai programmé.

La compagnie d’Elon Musk a accusé une anomalie dans la quantité d’oxygène absorbée alors qu’elle chargeait le propergol dans la fusée.

Cependant, les théoriciens du complot aux yeux de faucon ont un point de vue différent.

Ils ont repéré un objet étrange – décrit comme un “globe gris” – qui apparaît une seconde avant que la fusée n’explose en une boule de feu.

Et ils sont convaincus que c’est un OVNI ou même un drone.

Certains ont prétendu que le Pentagone avait tiré quelque chose à côté de la fusée parce que SpaceX devient un sérieux concurrent pour le déploiement de satellites militaires.

Les sceptiques ont dit que l’OVNI était simplement un oiseau qui semblait beaucoup plus grand de loin.

Lorsque Musk a été interrogé sur la vie extra-terrestre, il a répondu sur Twitter : “On ne sait pas si nous sommes la seule civilisation actuellement vivante dans l’univers observable, mais il y a des chances que nous soyons est une impulsion supplémentaire pour étendre la vie au-delà de la Terre.”

Dans une autre réponse sur le média social, l’entrepreneur sud-africain a déclaré : “Il n’y a pas d’extraterrestres, du moins officiellement.”

La sonde Voyager 2 de la NASA

La sonde Voyager 2 de la NASA, lancée en août 1977 pour étudier les planètes les plus éloignées, est le seul vaisseau spatial à avoir visité les mastodontes de glace Uranus et Neptune.

C’est le troisième objet le plus éloigné de la Terre et il reste en contact avec le quartier général de l’agence spatiale.

En 2010, quelque chose de très étrange s’est produit.

Voyager 2 a commencé à transmettre des données illisibles pendant plusieurs semaines, ce qui a donné lieu à des suppositions selon lesquelles la sonde avait été piratée.

Un auteur pseudo-scientifique allemand, Hartwig Hausdorf, a laissé entendre que des extraterrestres avaient manipulé l’équipement dans l’espace lointain.

“On dirait presque que quelqu’un a reprogrammé ou détourné la sonde – nous ne connaissons donc peut-être pas encore toute la vérité”, a-t-il dit.

Cependant, la NASA a une explication plus simple, imputant le dysfonctionnement à la mémoire d’un ordinateur de bord qui, en quelques semaines, était à nouveau pleinement opérationnel.

Même si les données scientifiques étaient inintelligibles, ils ont insisté sur le fait que la sonde n’avait été ni piratée ni reprogrammée.

On pense qu’un vent cosmique d’une tempête solaire a pu frapper l’engin spatial.

La sonde russe Phobos II

La Russie a lancé les sondes Phobos 1 et 2 pour explorer la lune martienne du même nom en 1988.

L’un d’eux aurait été perdu à cause d’une erreur de commande radio.

Mais la deuxième sonde a atteint la lune martienne et a commencé à renvoyer des images de l’atmosphère de Mars et des environs.

L’image incroyable montre des objets très étranges, y compris ce qui semble être une forme d’éclipse très mince à la surface de la lune.

Peu de temps avant que la sonde ne disparaisse pour toujours, elle a renvoyé une photo montrant un énorme objet entre le vaisseau spatial et Mars.

Les conspirationnistes prétendent que l’OVNI était un vaisseau spatial cylindrique géant qui, selon eux, projetait l’ombre à la surface de Mars.

Ils croyaient qu’il s’agissait de la “première fuite d’un vaisseau mère extraterrestre dans le système solaire”.

• Source: Daily Star, le 16 septembre 2018 
• Traduction Nouvelordremondial.cc

{ https://www.nouvelordremondial.cc/ }

18-09-2018 om 00:12 geschreven door peter  

New Mexico Solar Observatory Re-Opening Monday After Criminal Investigation

17-09-2018 om 23:48 geschreven door peter  

Thawing arctic lakes are bubbling methane, amplifying global warming

BY TIBI PUIU 

A NASA study of certain bubbling lakes in the Arctic suggests that methane deposits are being released due to an understudied phenomenon called ‘abrupt thawing’. Methane — which is 30 times more potent at trapping heat than carbon dioxide — has been frozen for potentially thousands of years and its sudden release could significantly impact the climate by the end of the century.

Methane bubbles up from the thawed permafrost at the bottom of the thermokarst lake through the ice at its surface.

Credits: Katey Walter Anthony/ University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Methane and carbon dioxide are both produced in thawing permafrost as animal and plant remains decompose. As long as this organic matter remains frozen, it will stay in the permafrost. However, if it thaws, it starts decaying, releasing carbon dioxide or methane into the atmosphere — which is why scientists are deeply concerned with the present development.

Right now, Earth’s atmosphere contains roughly 850 gigatons of carbon (a gigaton is about the weight of 100,000 school buses). Scientists estimate that there is about twice as much carbon frozen in permafrost than present in the atmosphere today.

That doesn’t mean that all of the carbon will end up in the atmosphere. The trick is to find out how much of the frozen carbon is going to decay, how fast, and where. The full picture seems to be even more complex than previously thought. In a new study, scientists have discovered a new source of methane that hasn’t been accounted for by climate models — methane emissions from ‘thermokarst‘ lakes.

Such lakes form when permafrost taws at a faster rate and deeper levels than usually happens. This sudden thawing creates a depression which fills up with rainwater, ice, and snow melt. The water’s presence then leads to even more thawing at the shores of the lake, speeding up the rate of methane release into the atmosphere.

“The mechanism of abrupt thaw and thermokarst lake formation matters a lot for the permafrost-carbon feedback this century,” said first author Katey Walter Anthony at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. “We don’t have to wait 200 or 300 years to get these large releases of permafrost carbon. Within my lifetime, my children’s lifetime, it should be ramping up. It’s already happening but it’s not happening at a really fast rate right now, but within a few decades, it should peak.”

Walter Anthony and colleagues used a combination of computer models and field measurements to reach the conclusion that abrupt thawing more than doubles previous estimates of permafrost-derived greenhouse warming.

“Within decades you can get very deep thaw-holes, meters to tens of meters of vertical thaw,” Walter Anthony said. “So you’re flash thawing the permafrost under these lakes. And we have very easily measured ancient greenhouse gases coming out.”

Current models estimate carbon emission from thawing permafrost as a gradual process. These new results suggest that in reality, the Arctic’s thawing feedback loops are more complex than we suspected. It’s all especially concerning considering that the IPCC — the leading international body for the assessment of climate change — did not incorporate any permafrost carbon emissions and the resulting amplification of climate change in its most recent climate projections.

This means that it will be even more challenging to keep global temperatures below the 1.5- or 2- degrees Celsius target set by the international community under the Paris Agreement. 

Even so, methane emissions from thawing permafrost pale in comparison to the amount of human fossil fuel emissions. According to the researchers, permafrost methane emissions account for only 1% of the global methane budget. So the best thing we can do is to transition as fast as possible to a carbon-neutral society.

 “But by the middle to end of the century the permafrost-carbon feedback should be about equivalent to the second strongest anthropogenic source of greenhouse gases, which is land use change,” Walter Anthony said.

• The findings were reported in the journal Nature Communications.

{ https://www.zmescience.com/ }

17-09-2018 om 23:07 geschreven door peter  

It Is Possible Jupiter Could Support Life, Scientists Say

BY JOHN TUTTLE

A new factor has been added to the debate on whether or not living organisms could exist on Jupiter. You probably know Jupiter is a Jovian planet, a giant formed primarily out of gases. So how could alien life be able to exist in an environment where most of the phases of matter are absent? The answer is simply found in the element of water.

Within the rotating, turbulent Great Red Spot, perhaps Jupiter’s most distinguishable characteristic, are water clouds. Many of the other clouds in this enormous perpetual storm are comprised of ammonia and/or sulfur. Life theoretically cannot be sustained in water vapor alone; it thrives in liquid water. But according to some researchers, the fact alone that water exists in any form on the planet is a good first step.

The Great Red Spot is still a planetary feature which stumps much of the scientific community today. As it has been observed for the past century and a half, the Great Red Spot has been noticeably shrinking. The discovery of water clouds may lead to a deeper understanding of the planet’s past, including whether or not it might have sustained life, as well as weather-related information.

Some scientists have pondered the possibility that, due to the hydrogen and helium content in its atmosphere, Jupiter could be a diamond-producing“factory.” They have further speculated that these diamonds could enter into a liquid state and a rainfall of liquid diamonds would be in the Jovian’s weather forecast.

Likewise, the presence of water clouds means that water rain (a liquid) is not entirely impossible. Máté Ádámkovics, an astrophysicist at Clemson University in South Carolina, had this to say on the matter:

“…where there’s the potential for liquid water, the possibility of life cannot be completely ruled out. So, though it appears very unlikely, life on Jupiter is not beyond the range of our imaginations.”

Scientists are acting accordingly, researching the part which water plays in the atmosphere and other natural systems on Jupiter. They remain skeptical but eager to follow up on the new discovery. They shall also strive to find out just how much water the planet really holds.

{ https://www.zmescience.com/ }

17-09-2018 om 22:46 geschreven door peter  

{ https://www.inverse.com/ }

17-09-2018 om 22:29 geschreven door peter  

They’re ba-ack!

The FBI and the Blackhawk helicopters are gone and the employees of the Sunspot Solar Observatory on Sacramento Peak in New Mexico are slowly coming back after the facility was mysteriously evacuated and closed on September 6thwithout explanation, causing rumors and conspiracy theories of all sizes and flavors to flourish. While the reason given for the closure seems to make sense in hindsight, the stress it caused local residents (some of whom were also evacuated) and law enforcement officials makes many wonder if it wasn’t overkill … or if there’s still some things they’re not being told.

“However, our desire to provide additional information had to be balanced against the risk that, if spread at the time, the news would alert the suspect and impede the law enforcement investigation. That was a risk we could not take.”

The Richard B. Dunn Solar Telescope

A spokesperson for AURA, the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy which runs the 71-year-old solar observatory in Sunspot, New Mexico, finally revealed on September 16th that the investigation was criminal in nature, but gave no details on the crime itself.

“AURA has been cooperating with an ongoing law enforcement investigation of criminal activity that occurred at Sacramento Peak. During this time, we became concerned that a suspect in the investigation potentially posed a threat to the safety of local staff and residents. For this reason, AURA temporarily vacated the facility and ceased science activities at this location.”

Temporarily? Eleven days of evacuation plus a total news blackout at a facility whose main feature is a telescope makes one say more than “Hmm.” The observatory is near Holloman Air Force Base, the White Sands Missile Range and, of course, Roswell. The investigation was done by the FBI and the owners of the Blackhawk helicopters, not members of local law enforcement, who were asked to leave and kept in the dark.

As of this writing, there is no news of arrests being made or criminal charges being filed as a result of the alleged criminal investigation. The nine employees are back on the job and the facility is again open for tourists. How long will it take before they’re tired of being asked the same questions that have nothing to do with the Dunn Solar Telescope or the sun?

While the sun continues to shine everywhere else, Sunspot seems to be under a dome covered with an SPF 100 suncreen.

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

17-09-2018 om 22:11 geschreven door peter  

EXCLUSIVE

By Emma Parry, Digital US Correspondent

THE two men involved in one of the most bizarre ‘alien’ encounters on record recalled seeing "creatures with slit-like mouths and crab pincers" while under hypnosis, top secret files obtained by Sun Online reveal.

Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker claim they were captured by three alien creatures and taken into a UFO while they were fishing in Pascagoula, Mississippi, on October 11, 1973.

PHILIP MANTLE

Now never-seen-before handwritten notes of a secret interview conducted on them under hypnosis reveal how they both described strange creatures looking like robots with unusual eyes, grey skin and crab pincers for arms.

The interview was conducted in 1973 by case investigators Professor J Allen Hynek and Dr James Harder - and the terrified men’s account was enough to convince the pair that they were telling the truth. 

Dr Harder’s files include notes from the interview and other information he gathered - and offer a unique insight into the infamous sighting almost 45 years ago.

On one handwritten page Dr Harder writes: “I asked what the ‘creatures’ looked like and got a description which included 1. No neck, no helmet 2. crab-like hands, two digits … 3. slit-like ‘mouth’.

JONNY DILLON

Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker, pictured, were left traumatised by the 1973 encounter

PHILIP MANTLE

The strange notes were taken during an interview conducted with the men under hypnosis

The beings did not communicate and had a “robot businesslike attitude”, the men recalled during the hypnosis session.

Charles, 42, and Calvin 19, were sat on the banks of the Pascagoula River, when they claim they heard a whizzing sound overhead.

They said that an oval shaped "craft", some 8ft across, suddenly appeared near them and seemed to levitate about 2ft above the ground.

A door opened and three creatures - who were "humanoid" in shape and about 5ft tall - emerged and seized the men, "floating" them into the UFO, they later told police.

Both men reported being paralysed and numb - while Calvin claimed that he had fainted due to fright.

JONNY DILLON

A sketch of the creatures which allegedly "abducted" by Calvin and Charles

PHILIP MANTLE

This page describes how the "craft" never touched the ground and three creatures came out

The men said the creatures had claws at the ends of their arms, "carrot-like" growths for their nose and ears, and only one leg.

One page of Dr Harder’s handwritten notes states: “Key novel features - 1. Cessation of sensation upon contact. 2. “floating” them along one foot from the ground. 3. Crab-like arm appendages. Two ‘pincers’ of equal size.”

There was a “possible suggestion” they were “robot” due to their “lack of usual eye structure, pincers on arms and “possible fused lower ‘limbs’” according to the notes.

JONNY DILLON

The creatures allegedly had no neck, slit-like mouths and carrot-like nose and ears

PHILIP MANTLE

Dr Harder and Professor Hynek were sent to study the case but most of their research files - except these notes - have vanished

JONNY DILLON

We reported on the bizarre Pascagoula 'alien abduction' in 1973

JONNY DILLON

A sketch of the UFO which the men claim they were taken onboard by the "alien creatures"

“After they touched them they felt nothing but weightlessness,” the doctors’ notes read. 

On the ship, Charles claimed that he was examined by what looked like a large football-shaped mechanical eye, about 6 to 8  inches in diameter, that seemed to scan his body.

Calvin claimed that he could not recall what had happened to him inside the craft.

GETTY

The men said they were released after about 15-20 minutes and the creatures levitated them, with Charles's feet dragging along the ground, back to their original positions on the river bank.

In another page of the notes, Dr Harder said attorney Joe Colingo described the men as looking "scared to death" and "as frightened as any two adult human beings as I've ever seen."

Philip Mantle, a former director of investigations for the British UFO Research Association, managed to obtain the file containing the handwritten notes during his research. 

PHILIP MANTLE

Many of Dr Harder and Prof Hynek's files relating to the case have mysteriously vanished

JONNY DILLON

Ufologist Philip Mantle is calling for anyone who knows where the other files are to get in touch

However - in a bizarre twist - he says that many of Prof Hynek’s and Dr Harder’s other notes and tapes from the case are mysteriously missing.

Hynek was a consultant to top secret UFO studies by the US Air Force including Project Blue Book (1952–1969). He initially started as a skeptic but went on to found the Centre for UFO Studies in 1973.

The astronomer also coined the phrase 'Close Enounters of the Third Kind' which was used as the title of Steve Spielberg's $20million blockbuster about UFOs in 1977.

His files were spread out between Northwestern University, the Centre for UFO Studies while Dr Harder's were kept at private facilities.

But Philip claims that dozens of boxes related to the case have vanished. 

Philip, who has published the book Pascagoula - The Closest Encounter written by Calvin Parker, said: "No one knows who took these files.

{ https://www.thesun.co.uk/ }

17-09-2018 om 17:25 geschreven door peter  

RUIMTESCHIP HANGT VIER MINUTEN BOVEN WEG...

Het zal je gebeuren dat als je ’s avonds naar huis rijdt er opeens een enorm "iets" boven de weg hangt. 

Dat is exact wat er enkele dagen geleden gebeurde toen een man samen met zijn vriendin naar huis reed en gelukkig kon hij een aantal foto’s maken. 

De getuige is er absoluut van overtuigd dat het geen weerspiegeling of iets dergelijks is omdat nadat dit object een minuut of vier boven de weg had gehangen, dit opeens met grote snelheid wegvloog. Iets dat door hem en zijn vriendin beiden is gezien. 

Ufoloog Scott Waring is heel benieuwd of er die avond ergens in de buurt mensen zijn vermist of tijdelijk zoek geweest zijn. Hij denkt namelijk dat wanneer een ruimteschip zo dichtbij de weg komt er een reden voor moet zijn. En die reden zou heel goed kunnen zijn dat ze van plan waren om één of meerdere mensen te ontvoeren. 

{ http://niburu.co/ }

17-09-2018 om 16:27 geschreven door peter