Dit is ons nieuw hondje Kira, een kruising van een waterhond en een Podenko. Ze is sinds 7 februari 2024 bij ons en druk bezig ons hart te veroveren. Het is een lief, aanhankelijk hondje, dat zich op een week snel aan ons heeft aangepast. Ze is heel vinnig en nieuwsgierig, een heel ander hondje dan Noleke.
This is our new dog Kira, a cross between a water dog and a Podenko. She has been with us since February 7, 2024 and is busy winning our hearts. She is a sweet, affectionate dog who quickly adapted to us within a week. She is very quick and curious, a very different dog than Noleke.
DEAR VISITOR,
MY BLOG EXISTS ALREADY 12 YEARS AND 10 MONTHS.
ON 06/04/2024 MORE THAN 1.951.050
VISITORS FROM 134 DIFFERENT NATIONS ALREADY FOUND THEIR WAY TO MY BLOG.
THAT IS AN AVERAGE OF 400GUESTS PER DAY.
THANK YOU FOR VISITING MY BLOG AND HOPE YOU ENJOY EACH TIME.
The purpose of this blog is the creation of an open, international, independent and free forum, where every UFO-researcher can publish the results of his/her research. The languagues, used for this blog, are Dutch, English and French.You can find the articles of a collegue by selecting his category. Each author stays resposable for the continue of his articles. As blogmaster I have the right to refuse an addition or an article, when it attacks other collegues or UFO-groupes.
Druk op onderstaande knop om te reageren in mijn forum
Zoeken in blog
Deze blog is opgedragen aan mijn overleden echtgenote Lucienne.
In 2012 verloor ze haar moedige strijd tegen kanker!
In 2011 startte ik deze blog, omdat ik niet mocht stoppen met mijn UFO-onderzoek.
BEDANKT!!!
Een interessant adres?
UFO'S of UAP'S, ASTRONOMIE, RUIMTEVAART, ARCHEOLOGIE, OUDHEIDKUNDE, SF-SNUFJES EN ANDERE ESOTERISCHE WETENSCHAPPEN - DE ALLERLAATSTE NIEUWTJES
UFO's of UAP'S in België en de rest van de wereld In België had je vooral BUFON of het Belgisch UFO-Netwerk, dat zich met UFO's bezighoudt. BEZOEK DUS ZEKER VOOR ALLE OBJECTIEVE INFORMATIE , enkel nog beschikbaar via Facebook en deze blog.
Verder heb je ook het Belgisch-Ufo-meldpunt en Caelestia, die prachtig, doch ZEER kritisch werk leveren, ja soms zelfs héél sceptisch...
Voor Nederland kan je de mooie site www.ufowijzer.nl bezoeken van Paul Harmans. Een mooie site met veel informatie en artikels.
MUFON of het Mutual UFO Network Inc is een Amerikaanse UFO-vereniging met afdelingen in alle USA-staten en diverse landen.
MUFON's mission is the analytical and scientific investigation of the UFO- Phenomenon for the benefit of humanity...
Je kan ook hun site bekijken onder www.mufon.com.
Ze geven een maandelijks tijdschrift uit, namelijk The MUFON UFO-Journal.
Since 02/01/2020 is Pieter ex-president (=voorzitter) of BUFON, but also ex-National Director MUFON / Flanders and the Netherlands. We work together with the French MUFON Reseau MUFON/EUROP.
ER IS EEN NIEUWE GROEPERING DIE ZICH BUFON NOEMT, MAAR DIE HEBBEN NIETS MET ONZE GROEP TE MAKEN. DEZE COLLEGA'S GEBRUIKEN DE NAAM BUFON VOOR HUN SITE... Ik wens hen veel succes met de verdere uitbouw van hun groep. Zij kunnen de naam BUFON wel geregistreerd hebben, maar het rijke verleden van BUFON kunnen ze niet wegnemen...
08-10-2018
Strange Object Washes Ashore in South Carolina and is Quickly Taken Away
Strange Object Washes Ashore in South Carolina and is Quickly Taken Away
A large, strange object washes up on a beach in South Carolina. It looks like concrete but feels like foam. A few photographs were taken but, before anyone could conduct a detailed inspection, it was quickly taken away by local officials. Four days later, the speculation on what it is runs rampant while an official announcement is non-existent. And they wonder why conspiracy theories abound!
“Look at this mysterious object that washed ashore on Seabrook Island today! What do you think it is?”
On October 4, this mysterious thing (picture here) appeared on a beach on Seabrook Island, a barrier island near Charleston bordered by the North Edisto River, Bohicket Creek and the Atlantic Ocean, which spit out the strange object. The Lowcountry Marine Mammal Network, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing awareness and education about the marine mammals of South Carolina, was the first to be notified. After determining it wasn’t a marine mammal, it posted a picture on its Facebook page and asked for help identifying it.
Did you see it?
“Check out this mystery item that washed ashore on Seabrook.”
Other than its own Facebook post, it got no help from the Kiawah Conservancy, a similar group on nearby Kiawah Island, nor from the news item in the Charlotte Observer. However, ‘someone’ noticed the postings. The object disappeared almost as quickly as it arrived, reportedly taken away by local government workers, leaving nothing behind but a few photos, a mystery and plenty of room for wild worldwide wondering.
After moving past the usual “aliens” and “alien spaceship” screams, many suggested it was a shielding or insulating part of a rocket, although the idea from some that it came from the space shuttle Challenger disaster 30 years ago is unlikely due to its relatively good condition. Other saw it as part of a marine object such as a buoy, an oil rig, a donut fender used to protect pilings or a pipeline floater. All of these, especially the last one, seem plausible
However, no one seems to have any ideas about why the object was taken away so quickly, especially if it was something as common as a foam fender or floater. Moreover, if it was an ordinary object, why has there been no announcement by any officials – government, military, marine or otherwise?
Is it something dangerous? Terrorism-related? Alien? Why such secrecy?
Will we ever find out? It’s been four days. We’ll keep watching … and wondering.
Saturnus' ringen veroorzaken flinke stortbuien op de gasreus
Saturnus' ringen veroorzaken flinke stortbuien op de gasreus
Caroline Kraaijvanger
Waterijs, maar ook organische verbindingen vallen continu vanuit de ringen in Saturnus’ atmosfeer.
Dat blijkt uit enkele van de laatste metingen die verricht zijn door ruimtesonde Cassini. “Tijdens zijn laatste avontuur dook Cassini in het onbekende gebied tussen Saturnus’ ringen en zijn atmosfeer,” aldus onderzoeker Kelly Miller. “Afgaand op eerdere studies verwachtten onderzoekers dat er water vanuit de ringen in Saturnus atmosfeer viel, dus de ruimtesonde gebruikte zijn radio-antenne als een paraplu om zich te beschermen tegen puin.” En dat was maar goed ook. “Wat blijkt: regen vanuit de ringen is meer een stortbui,” aldus onderzoeker Hunter Waite.
Butaan en propaan Onderzoekers zetten Cassini’s Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS) in om meer over de samenstelling van die stortbuien te weten te komen. “Hoewel INMS ontworpen is om gassen te onderzoeken, waren we toch in staat om de ringdeeltjes te meten, omdat ze het ruimtevaartuig met zulke hoge snelheden raakten dat ze verdampten. Waterijs blijkt – samen met de nieuw ontdekte organische verbindingen – veel sneller uit de ringen te vallen dan iedereen dacht.” Al met al blijkt er per seconde tot wel 10.000 kilogram aan materiaal uit de ringen te komen zetten en in de bovenste regionen van Saturnus’ atmosfeer te belanden. “Moleculair waterstof was – zoals verwacht – het meest overvloedig voorkomende atmosferische bestanddeel,” stelt Miller. “Maar de stortbuiten bevatten zowel heel veel water als moleculen zoals butaan en propaan: het type chemicaliën dat je zou gebruiken voor een grill of kampeerfornuis.”
Over Cassini De ruimtesonde werd in 1997 gelanceerd en arriveerde in 2004 bij Saturnus. Daar heeft de sonde zo’n dertien jaar onderzoek gedaan naar de gasreus, zijn ringen en manen. De missie van Cassini kwam in 2017 ten einde toen NASA deze opdracht gaf om zich in de atmosfeer van Saturnus te boren. Nieuwsgierig naar de belangrijkste ontdekkingen van Cassini? Je vindt ze hier. Of bekijk hierde mooiste foto’s die de sonde maakte.
Variaties In totaal dook Cassini 22 keer in het gebied tussen Saturnus en zijn ringen. Hoeveel ringmateriaal de sonde tijdens die duik opving, bleek van tijd tot tijd te verschillen. Het wijst erop dat er sprake is van variaties als het gaat om het materiaal in de binnenste D-ring van Saturnus. Die variaties kunnen plaats- of tijdgebonden zijn. Dat weten de onderzoekers niet goed.
Het feit dat de ring zoveel materiaal verliest, wijst er verder op dat deze regelmatig wordt bijgevuld, Mogelijk door de naastgelegen C-ring. Verder valt er zodanig veel ringmateriaal op Saturnus dat de onderzoekers het aannemelijk achten dat de ringen van invloed zijn op de samenstelling van Saturnus’ atmosfeer.
Verre ruimtereizen leveren mogelijk grote problemen op voor maag-darmstelsel
Verre ruimtereizen leveren mogelijk grote problemen op voor maag-darmstelsel
Caroline Kraaijvanger
Kosmische straling zorgt ervoor dat het maag-darmstelsel minder goed functioneert.
Ook lijken astronauten een grotere kans te hebben op maag- en darmkanker. Dat concluderen Amerikaanse onderzoekers in het blad PNAS.
Galactische kosmische straling De beschadigingen zijn het resultaat van galactische kosmische straling (GCR). Deze straling is afkomstig van buiten ons zonnestelsel en bestaat met name uit atomen die hun elektronen verloren hebben (ioniserende straling). GCR bestaat voornamelijk uit protonen, maar ook voor een klein deel uit de kernen van zware elementen. En die laatste zijn de grootste boosdoeners voor astronauten, zo blijkt ook uit dit onderzoek. “Zware ionen zoals ijzer en silicium zijn schadelijk, omdat ze in vergelijking met fotonen zoals röntgen- en gammastraling een veel grotere massa hebben,” vertelt onderzoeker Kamal Datta. “Met de huidige technologie op het gebied van beschermende schilden is het lastig om astronauten tegen de nadelige effecten van straling met daarin zware ionen te beschermen. Hoewel het misschien wel mogelijk is om medicijnen in te zetten om deze effecten tegen te gaan, is er nog niet zo’n medicijn ontwikkeld.” Tot op heden was dat ook niet echt nodig. Tijdens korte ruimtereizen – bijvoorbeeld naar de maan – worden astronauten namelijk niet aan gevaarlijk hoge doses GCR blootgesteld. Anders wordt dat echter als we naar Mars of andere verre bestemmingen gaan.
Muizen Eerder onderzoek van dezelfde onderzoeksgroep wees al uit dat zware ionen tijdens dergelijke verre ruimtereizen een gevaar kunnen vormen voor hersenweefsel. Maar nu kunnen we daar het weefsel in het maag-darmstelsel aan toevoegen. Datta en collega’s trekken die conclusie op basis van experimenten met muizen. Deze muizen werden in drie groepen ingedeeld. De ene groep werd blootgesteld aan zware ionen zoals we die in GCR aantreffen. De andere groep werd blootgesteld aan gammastraling. En de derde groep muizen deed dienst als controlegroep en werd niet aan straling blootgesteld.
Gevolgen Het onderzoek wijst uit dat cellen in de darmen van muizen die aan zware ionen waren blootgesteld niet goed in staat waren om voedingsstoffen op te nemen. Tevens bleken in de darmen van deze muizen veel vaker kwaadaardige poliepen te ontstaan dan in de darmen van muizen die aan gammastraling of helemaal niet aan straling waren blootgesteld. Ook zijn er aanwijzingen dat de zware ionen DNA-beschadigingen veroorzaakten waardoor het aantal senescente cellen – cellen die niet in staat zijn tot een normale celding – toenam. “Deze cellen genereren oxidatieve stress en ontstekingsmoleculen die nog meer schade veroorzaken. Dit is van grote invloed op de migratie van cellen die nodig zijn om de bekleding van de maag en darmen te vervangen en zorgt ervoor dat het maag-darmstelsel trager functioneert,” aldus Datta. Het maag-darmstelsel is bekleed met weefsel dat zeer regelmatig vervangen wordt. De bovenste laag cellen wordt zelfs elke drie tot vijf dagen vervangen. “Elke verstoring van dit vervangingsmechanisme leidt tot een verslechtering van de fysiologische functies, zoals de opname van voedingsstoffen en ligt ten grondslag aan ziekmakende processen, zoals kanker,” vertelt onderzoeker Albert Fornace Jr.
Hoewel de muizen die aan zware ionen werden blootgesteld maar een kleine dosis zware ionen te verteren kregen, lijken de gevolgen daarvan permanent te zijn. En waarschijnlijk beperken ze zich ook zeker niet tot de hersenen, maag en darmen. “Wij geloven dat vergelijkbare schade optreedt in veel organen,” vertelt Datta. “Het is belangrijk om deze effecten van tevoren te begrijpen, zodat we er alles aan kunnen doen om onze toekomstige ruimtereizigers te beschermen.”
Ook Voyager 2 lijkt binnenkort de interstellaire ruimte in te vliegen
Ook Voyager 2 lijkt binnenkort de interstellaire ruimte in te vliegen
Vivian Lammerse
Voyager 2 is – na Voyager 1 – de tweede door mensen gebouwde ruimtesonde die het zonnestelsel verlaat.
Het is slechts een kwestie van tijd voordat ruimtevaartuig Voyager 2 achter zijn broer aan de interstellaire ruimte in vliegt. Al elf jaar lang reist de sonde door de buitenste laag van de heliosfeer (een enorme bubbel rond de zon en de planeten waarin de zonnewind de overheersende stroom van deeltjes is). En nu lijkt het erop dat ook Voyager 2 het diepe onbekende in duikt.
Over de Voyager-missie Ruimtesonde Voyager 2 werd in 1977 gelanceerd, een paar weekjes eerder dan zijn broer Voyager 1. Beide sondes vliegen nu al 40 jaar rond. Daarmee zijn het niet alleen de langst werkende ruimtesonde ooit, ze breken bovendien alle records al het gaat over de afstand die ze tot op heden hebben afgelegd. Geen enkel ruimtevaartuig heeft het zo ver geschopt als Voyager 1 en Voyager 2. Eerstgenoemde sonde bevindt zich inmiddels op een slordige 21 miljard kilometer afstand van de aarde. En Voyager 2 is bijna 18 miljard kilometer van ons verwijderd. Op die enorme afstand van de aarde snellen beide sondes met een onvoorstelbare snelheid van zo’n 48.280 kilometer per uur voort, in een omgeving waar nog geen enkele door mensen gebouwde sonde ooit geweest is.
Kosmische straling Eind augustus detecteerde een van de instrumenten aan boord van Voyager 2 een toename van vijf procent van kosmische straling. Kosmische stralen zijn snel bewegende deeltjes die ontstaan buiten het zonnestelsel. Met dit gegeven, en het feit dat de ruimtesonde al bijna 17,7 miljard kilometer van huis is, gaan wetenschappers ervan uit hij dicht bij de grens van het zonnestelsel is.
Toename Sommige kosmische straling wordt geblokkeerd door de heliosfeer. Maar naarmate de grens naar de interstellaire ruimte dichterbij komt, verwachten wetenschappers dat de kosmische straling alsmaar zal toenemen. In mei 2012 ondervond ook Voyager 1 een toename van kosmische straling. Dat was ongeveer drie maanden voordat de sonde de heliopauze (de buitenste grens van de heliosfeer) passeerde en de interstellaire ruimte in dook.
De afbeelding toont de positie van Voyager 1 en Voyager 2 ten opzicht van de heliosfeer.
Afbeelding: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Vergelijken Nu ook Voyager 2 in de buurt van de heliopauze komt, zijn de onderzoekers voor het eerst in staat om de reis van het ene vaartuig met de ander te vergelijken. Echter merken de onderzoekers nuchter op dat elke interstellaire reis uniek is. Voyager 2 bevindt zich daarnaast op een heel andere locatie in de buitenste regio van de heliosfeer dan zijn broer.
Al met al zijn de verwachtingen hoog gespannen en kijken de onderzoekers uit naar het moment dat de sonde het zonnestelsel verlaat. Wanneer dit precies gaat gebeuren, weten de onderzoekers nog niet. “We zien een verandering in de omgeving rond Voyager 2, daar bestaat geen twijfel over,” zegt onderzoeker Ed Stone. “We gaan de komende maanden hoe dan ook veel leren.”
Nieuwe aanwijzing dat we de allereerste exomaan op het spoor zijn
Nieuwe aanwijzing dat we de allereerste exomaan op het spoor zijn
Caroline Kraaijvanger
Ruimtetelescoop Hubble heeft verschillende aanwijzingen gevonden dat rond Kepler-1625b een maantje draait.
Al in 2017 vonden astronomen met behulp van ruimtetelescoop Kepler een eerste aanwijzing dat Kepler-1625b een maantje bezit. Maar overtuigend was het bewijs niet. “De Kepler-data volstaan niet als we zeker willen zijn van het bestaan van deze exomaan,” zo stelden de onderzoekers. “Pas nadat de observaties met de Hubble Space Telescope hebben plaatsgevonden, zou elke bewering omtrent het bestaan van deze maan geloofwaardiger kunnen worden.”
Nieuwe observaties Die observaties met Hubble hebben inmiddels plaatsgevonden, zo melden onderzoekers in het blad Science Advances. En hoewel we op basis van die observaties het bestaan van de maan niet met zekerheid kunnen bevestigen, wijzen ze er wel sterk op dat er een maantje rond Kepler-1625b draait.
Twee signalen Onderzoekers observeerden het systeem waar de exoplaneet deel van uitmaakt gedurende 40 uur met de Hubble-telescoop. Deze telescoop is zo’n vier keer nauwkeuriger dan Kepler. De onderzoekers zagen hoe de planeet voor zijn moederster langs bewoog en waren daarbij met name op zoek naar twee signalen die op de aanwezigheid van een maantje konden wijzen: een afname in de helderheid van de moederster, veroorzaakt doordat de exomaan er voor langs beweegt. En een aanwijzing dat de exomaan met zijn zwaartekracht van invloed is op Kepler-1625b waardoor deze bijvoorbeeld wat eerder aan zijn overgang – de periode waarin de planeet voor de ster langs beweegt – begint.
Nieuwe aanwijzingen En jawel, beide signalen doken op in de door Hubble verzamelde data. Zo’n 3,5 uur nadat de overgang van Kepler-1625b erop zat, werd bijvoorbeeld een tweede, veel kleinere afname in de helderheid van de moederster gezien. Deze afname kan weleens veroorzaakt zijn door de maan die – terwijl deze achter zijn planeet aanhobbelt – ook een heel klein deel van het sterlicht tegenhoudt. Daarnaast ontdekten de onderzoekers dat Kepler-1625b wat eerder aan zijn overgang begon dan verwacht. Het suggereert dat er sprake is van zogenoemde ‘transit timing variations‘ oftewel TTV’s. En TTV’s worden gezien als een sterke aanwijzing voor de aanwezigheid van een exomaan. Ze kunnen echter ook veroorzaakt worden doordat in het systeem nog een planeet verstopt zit, die met zijn zwaartekracht van invloed is op Kepler-1625b. De onderzoekers benadrukken echter dat Kepler geen enkele aanwijzing heeft gevonden dat dit systeem nog een planeet telt.
Toch houden de onderzoekers een slag om de arm; er zijn meer waarnemingen nodig om het bestaan van de exomaan te bevestigen. Maar Kepler-1625b kan zomaar de plek zijn waar we uiteindelijk – en misschien binnenkort al – de allereerste exomaan gaan aantreffen.
Astronomers might have observed the first moon around an exoplanet, the United Nations displayed a special structure called "Black Marble" Earth and a South African radio telescope array will search a million stars for alien signals. These are just some of this week's top stories on Space.com.
NASA's Parker Solar Probe passed another prominent member of our solar system as it continued onto its ultimate destination, the sun. The probe zoomed within 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) of Venus on Oct. 3.
Astronomers may have found the first evidence of an exomoon, or moon orbiting a planet outside the solar system. NASA's Kepler and Hubble space telescopes, according to new study, provide evidence that a massive moon the size of Neptune may be orbiting a gas giant planet 8,000 light-years from Earth.
Methane is a greenhouse gas that contributes to warming planets, and not a lot was known about how much short-wavelength solar radiation it absorbs. Researchers studied the methane in the atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn's moon Titan to learn more about its effect.
A student at Emory University is the lead researcher of an alien-hunting galactic scan. This project, which looks for light beams from alien civilizations, is called the Trillion Planet Survey, and it's observing the Andromeda and Milky Way galaxies.
On Aug. 30, astronauts noticed a drop in pressure aboard the International Space Station and then found a 0.08-inch-wide (2 millimeters) hole in a Soyuz capsule that docked up there in June. Since then, NASA has conducted an ongoing investigation, and according to Russian media, this was an isolated issue and should not affect future production.
Aerospace and military contractor Lockheed Martin revealed a new moon lander design on Oct. 3. The concept for a reusable spaceship is intended to transport four astronauts between lunar orbit and that moon's surface.
A newly-spotted object in a region far beyond Pluto's orbit may be a sign of Planet Nine, also known as Planet X. Researchers dubbed the object "The Goblin," and they first spotted it using Japan's Subaru telescope atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii.
When asteroid TB 145 first passed Earth in 2015, scientists took photographs and noticed the angle and indentations on the rock made it look like a solemn skull. This Fall, the "Halloween asteroid" will fly near our planet again, but not in time for Jack-O-Lantern season. It will whiz by on Nov. 11.
The MeerKAT radio-telescope array in South Africa is now partnered with the $100 million Breakthrough Listen Project, significantly expanding its reach. MeerKAT will search for alien signals by searching 1 million stars.
A large, inflatable globe called "Black Marble" Earth was displayed for world leaders at the "Space2030: Space as a Driver for Peace" Sept. 25 gathering within United Nations Headquarters. The Space Trust commissioned the structure, which measured 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) in diameter.
After 41 Years, NASA's Voyager 2 Is Close To Enter Interstellar Space
After 41 Years, NASA's Voyager 2 Is Close To Enter Interstellar Space
No one can hear you scream in space but Voyager 1 changed that and here comes Voyager 2.
Once Voyager 2 exits the outermost layer of the heliosphere, it will become the second human-made object, after Voyager 1, to enter interstellar space.
This video is a stunning presentation concerning Voyager 2's close proximity to leaving our solar system's Heliopause to enter "Interstellar space." Voyager 1 reached Interstellar space a couple of years ago with Voyager 2 slated to reach a similar "exit point" very soon.
There was a very interesting discussion back in 2014 when someone at NASA "leaked" info about Voyager 1's detection of a "WAVE" of energy that was concerning. This sparked several spin-off theories that there was some kind of "COSMIC WAVE" about to reach Earth and give human beings an "upgrade" in their DNA.
6 Things You Should Know About UFOs and the X-Files
6 Things You Should Know About UFOs and the X-Files
The X-Files Revival is still Going Strong
“They’re here, aren’t they?” said Fox Mulder, to his secret informant, known only to viewers as Deep Throat.
“Mr. Mulder,” began the old man, in a reprimanding tone, “They have been here for a long, long time.”
As many of you know, the X-Files came back in 2016 for a tenth season (approximtely 13 years after it went off the air); the revival was so successful that they did an eleventh season and plans are in the work for a season 12.
For those of you who don’t know, the X-Files was one of the most popular US TV series in the 1990s, at its height averaging 20 million viewers per episode. This September marked the 25 year anniversary of the premiere of the show!
The main protagonist Fox Mulder, is an FBI agent whose sister was taken from their room when he was a kid, in what Mulder believed was an alien abduction. This fueled his lifelong obsession with the paranormal and uncovering the truth about UFOs, Extraterrestrials, and a global conspiracy.
I watched the show religiously with friends, staying in on Friday nights when it first came on, before it got really popular and moved to Sunday nights. Years later, when I became an executive producer on the documentary Thrive: What On Earth Will It Take, made by Foster Gamble and Kimberly Carter Gamble (which involved UFOs), I started to do a little research on this subject on my own.
I originally collected this list for friends who knew about the X-File but didn’t know much about the UFO phenomenon that inspired the show. Since then, there has been quite a bit of activity in this field and the mainstream media with a news story in the New York Times (see item #5 below).
1. The X-Files wasn’t purely science fiction, according to Chris Carter.
Like many others fans, I took the X-Files to be “simply” an original work of science fiction from the show’s creator, Chris Carter. While the series is fiction, Carter himself will tell you that that many of the elements are based on real-life accounts.
When I started to investigate on my own, I started to meet people in the UFO community and started asking questions. The stories I heard sounded a lot like what I had seen in the X-files: bright unexplainable lights, triangular craft, missing time, even implants.
In fact, I was told by a mutual friend that Chris Carter discouraged his actors from attending science fiction conventions because the X-Files wasn’t purely science fiction. This is particularly true of the early episodes that involve UFO sightings: If you re-watch the very first X-files episode, Pilot, you’ll see that it says, “The following story is inspired by actual documented accounts” at the beginning of the episode.
I actually met Chris Carter a few years ago, just before they started filming the new season, at a UFO-related conference, and it was clear that he was continuing to research what people had to say on this subject. It turns out a lot of what was discussed at the conference actually made it into the new season.
2.Myth: Only people who wear tinfoil hats and tabloid reporters take UFOs seriously.
One of the persistent myths about UFOs is that people who believe in them are a “fringe” group who “live off the grid” and wear “tinfoil hats”. After having been to a dozen UFO events and meeting hundreds of UFO witnesses, I haven’t seen a single tinfoil hat (OK I saw one but that was for the benefit of reporters who wanted to take a photo of “weird UFO people”).
In fact, I have met intelligent people from all walks of life — scientists, engineers, people who worked for NASA, to independently wealthy businessmen and women. The only commonality I could find was confidence in what they’ve seen and experienced, and a strong belief that the “truth is out there” and that it should be investigated more seriously.
There are many well-known people who have had UFO sightings, and many who support finding out the truth. In Los Angeles, Dan Akroyd is a well known proponent of UFO research. (See Dan Akroyd Unplugged on UFOs).
John Podesta, who served as an advisor to President Obama and Chief of Staff to Bill Clinton, has been very vocal about his interest in the subject and his desire to get the truth out, a process known to UFO enthusiasts as “Disclosure”. John Podesta tweeted in 2014 that his biggest regret in working for the Obama White House was that he was unable to secure disclosure of top secret UFO files.
Hillary Clinton, was asked about UFOs by a reporter in Conway, New Hampshire while campaigning there in 2016. Mrs. Clinton said she believed we might have been visited by aliens in the past, and that if elected president, she would get to the bottom of it.
And UFOs are not just for tabloids. Leslie Kean, a serious investigative reporter, received a copy of a report from retired French generals that said that they believed the UFO phenomena was real and should be investigated seriously (called the “COMETA” report). Kean’s book, UFOs: General, Pilots ,and Government Officials Go On the Record, is a great book for those who know nothing about the phenomenon or are inclined to dismiss it out of hand. There have been many pilots, many members of the military, and many other government officials who have been willing to speak on and off the record and Ms Kean does a great job of presenting about this phenomenon. It’s a shame that this myth is so prevalent that many “serious” scientists and engineers won’t even take the time to read books like Ms Kean’s.
3.Myth: There is no evidence of UFOs.
Many skeptics say there is no evidence that UFOs exist. They’re not quite right.
First of all, let’s start with the tons of photographic evidence — photos of odd “unidentified” objects flying over both rural and urban landscapes. The next argument skeptics make is that these pictures are all photoshopped — a charge that doesn’t hold up when the photos are from the 60’s and 70’s — I’ve seen some of these older photos, some taken by the members of the military, and they are very convincing. Moreover, when there are multiple witnesses that corroborate the photographic evidence (like in the Phoenix lights incident — more on this one below), the skeptic’s view that they must all be doctored doesn’t really hold-up.
And then there are literally thousands of eyewitness reports –ranging from places like O’Hare airport to Rendlesham Forest in the UK (in a famous military sighting).
If that isn’t enough evidence for you, Emeritus Professor of applied physics at Stanford, Peter Sturrock has studied reports and asserts there is “physical evidence”: “radar”, Professor Sturrock tell us, counts as physical evidence of UFOs.
One such well-known incident over Alaska in 1986, where a Japan Air Lines pilot, Kenju Terauchi, was flying near Mt. McKinley when he reported seeing a UFO that was “dazzlingly bright, which stopped in mid air, followed them, and otherwise shot around them …”. Terauchi said there was no way an airplane could have done that.
John Callahan, the FAA Division Chief of the Accidents and Investigations branch, had the data from this incident, which covered more than a half hour. Callahan has testified many times about what he saw, “As far as I’m concerned, I saw a UFO chase a Japanese 747 across the sky for over half an hour on radar.”
If that’s still not enough to convince you that there is “some” evidence, in the abduction area, there have been physical objects (known as “implants”) that have been pulled out of abductees bodies. X-rays also count as physical evidence too. In some cases where doctors surgically extracted the implants, the metallic objects somehow evaporated; in other cases they were able to preserve them and found that they have unique “anomalous” structure, some were meant to be housed inside the human body and were only stable when implanted!
Whether you believe in aliens or not, these implants had to have been placed there by someone. The question is who? It’s unlikely abductees would have the surgical skill to put them there themselves — so who put them into their bodies? This question remains unanswered. In the original X-files, implants were a not insubstantial part of the story. Whenever the government got ahold of one, as at the end of the first episode of the X-Files, in a scene reminiscent of Raiders of the Lost Ark (or Warehouse 13 for younger syfy fans), they put it away in the midst of a giant government warehouse, to be lost forever in bureaucracy.
4.Myth: Sightings only happen in the countryside, only in the US, and only since we started flying airplanes.
Again, these are myths. There have been anomalous objects reported in the sky well before the modern era of airplanes, going back to the 1500s and beyond. In their wonderful book, “Wonders in the Sky”, Jacque Vallee ad Chris Aubeck have catalogued these sightings. Jacquee Vallee, a long time French UFO researcher, was in part the inspiration for the French scientist in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, made by another UFO believer, Stephen Spielberg. In one of the most famous pre-airplane incidents, in 1561 a number of spheres and disks, which were red, blue, and back, were seen to come out of two vertical cylinders over Nuremberg, Germany. The residents of the town reported that these objects seemed to be fighting each other — there’s even a well-known drawing of this image.
In recent times, one of the most famous mass sightings was the Phoenix Lights. In 1997, an estimated more than 10,000 people saw a set of triangularly arranged lights not just hovering but moving over the Phoenix metro area from North to South. There were numerous photographs of the incident, and a great book (along with a documentary) by Lynne Kitei, M.D., called called The Phoenix Lights.
At first, Arizona Governor Fife Symington III made fun of the sighting and the military tried to dismiss the lights as “military flares”. But this theory didn’t hold water — the lights stayed equidistance apart, as if they were part of a single, large craft. Later, the Governor admitted that he was lying, and that he too had seen some kind of large anomalous craft in the sky that night. You don’t have to take my word for it — you can go interview people who were living in Phoenix in 1997. One witness told me she looked up, and the stars dimmed and then weren’t visible — it was definitely some type of large craft and not individual flares.
There have been other mass sightings, in Mexico City, in Russia, in South America, and elsewhere. UFO sightings are not a modern phenomenon, they are not a US-only phenomenon. UFOs are a global phenomenon, and as his secret informant told Agent Mulder at the end of the second episode of the X-Files, “They have been here … for a long long time.”
5. The Pentagon and the US Government No Longer Take UFO sightings seriously.
After a wave of UFO sightings in the 1950s and 1960s, the government and DOD put together several high profile projects to collect and investigate sightings. Since project Blue Book was shut down in 1969, the official US government and Department of Defense lines on UFOs has been: We no longer collect or investigate UFO sightings.
Just last December, the New York Times, Glowing Auras and Black Money: The Pentagon’s Mysterious UFO Program , which was covered by media internationally, was the first acknowledgement by the Pentagon since the 1960’s that they were taking UFOs seriously. Luis Elisandro, who was in charge of the program says that they took sightings, particvularly military sightings quite seriously — the Advanced Aerospace Threat Detection Program. They even released some footage and eyewitness accounts of, among other things, a Tic Tac Toe shaped UFO that military pilots were baffled by. This effort was linked to Tom De Long, the former lead singer of the rock group Blink182, who is now a major proponent of UFO Disclosure.
6. Are UFOs top secret military craft that defy gravity?
In the second episode of the X-Files, Deep Throat, and in many episodes later in the series, witnesses at the edge of military bases see UFOs at night performing maneuvers that seem to defy the laws of inertia and gravity.
These scenes are actually based on many eyewitness reports of objects and lights that hold stationary in the sky, have no apparent sound, then “jump” horizontally or vertically to a new position in the blink of an eye. The fact that these sightings have occurred often near military bases has led many, particularly in the skeptic and scientific community, to assert that UFOs are really top secret military craft that the public does not know about.
This of course, begs the question, do we have top secret military craft that can defy the known laws of physics and gravity? If so, why doesn’t the so called “scientific community” know about the science between how these craft work, why are they being hidden, and why aren’t they more curious about them?
A respected NASA scientist, Paul Hill, decided to collect reports from eyewitnesses during his 25 years working for the space agency. He wrote a book (which he wasn’t allow to publish while working for NASA), called “Unconventional Flying Objects: A Scientific Analysis” that was later published by his daughter, in which he categorized these maneuvers (“sudden reversal of direction”, “acute angle turn”, etc.)
If these are top secret military vehicles, where did they get the basic design and aeronautic principles from? This “top secret” military craft has been reported to be disc-shaped, and can seemingly defy both inertia and gravity. This has led the UFO community to say these top-secret craft have “anti-gravity” technology. Where did it come from?
Mark McCandlish, an accomplished aerospace illustrator, was baffled when a friend in the military told McCandlish that he’d stumbled into a hanger that had a round, bell shaped craft that was hovering over the ground. It sounds like a scene out of Independence Day, not just the X-Files. McCandlish, who has illustrated top secret military aircraft based on descriptions for the covers of magazines like Popular Science, drew the components of the ARV, or Alien Reproduction Vehicle, as it’s been called, and his drawings are readily available on-line. It resembles many reports of UFOs, including rumors of the Nazi Bell — new type of bell-shaped flying craft that the Nazis were supposedly working on at the end of World War II.
Is The Truth Out There?
As in the X-Files series, many of these facts are unknown to the general public, or they are ridiculed by so-called “experts”. In fact, the entire premise of the TV series was that a scientist, a medical doctor, Dana Scully, was brought in to de-bunk Mulder’s “unscientific” theories. As she became more involved in the investigations, she came upon more and more items that could only be classified as “unexplained” and was forced to question her own views about science and the universe.
Professor Sturrock of Stanford, who did research on the attitudes of astronomers and members of the American Institute of Aeronautic and Astronautics (AIAA) found that the more time people spent reading this subject, the more they would come to the conclusion that there needs to be more serious scientific study of UFOs. Even many members of the AIAA had seen anomalous “unidentified flying objects” but would only admit this if they were kept anonymous. Why? Because it’s not a “fashionable” area for university research to get funding, and simply telling what you saw truthfully is not acceptable in most academic and scientific circles these days.
Similarly, too many of my friends in the scientific and engineering circles, tend to dismiss UFO lore and stories as simple “crazy stories by crazy people” without having done any research of their own. The less research they’ve done, the more likely they are to dismiss UFOs out of hand. It’s very easy to ridicule or demean a group of people on the internet — but if you take the time to get to know the people that are making these claims, like Dana Scully in the X-Files, you might just find that The Truth is Out There!
While we wait for the new episodes of the X-Files revival on January 24th, I’ll leave you with another great quote from the second episode of the X-Files:
“Mr. Mulder, why are those like yourself, who believe in the existence of extraterrestrial life on this earth, not dissuaded by all the evidence to the contrary?” asked the secret informant.
“Because,” began Fox Mulder, pausing for a second, “ … all the evidence to the contrary … is not entirely dissuasive.”
The old man nodded to Mulder in acknowledgement, and walked away quietly.
People have had UFO encounters since the dawn of recorded history (if not before), but with the advent of airplanes, cars, cameras and binoculars, sightings became much more common. Here are some of the most remarkable sightings of the modern era.
1. KENNETH ARNOLD, WASHINGTON STATE
Kenneth Arnold’s UFO Sighting Was Widely Reported
It started as a normal day for Kenneth Arnold in 1947. He was a private pilot, flying himself to Yakima, Washington for business. He took a small side trip, buzzing by Mt. Rainier to see if he could spot a U.S. Marine transport plane that had crashed recently—there was a $5,000 reward.
He didn’t find the plane, but what he did discover changed the world of ufology. During the flight, he saw several bright flashes. At first he thought they might just be reflections, but the “reflections” grew closer and larger, and he realized he was looking at flying objects. Geese? No, geese don’t fly at 1,200 MPH. A new type of jet? There were no contrails.
And, they were the wrong shape—they were, as Arnold put it, thin and convex. He later told reporters that the objects’ movement reminded him of saucers skipping across water, and thus was born the familiar term “flying saucers”.
2. THE BATTLE OF LOS ANGELES
The Large Triangular Craft That Frightened Los Angeles in 1942
It was 1942 and the United States was plunged into World War II. In February, only two months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, anti-aircraft guns started firing over the city of Los Angeles. Lights had appeared in the sky, witnessed by thousands, and everyone’s first assumption was that the Japanese were staging another attack.
Strangely, the anti-aircraft fire brought nothing down, even though radar showed an “unidentifiable aerial target” over the city. Some witnesses said they saw a large object hovering in the air. Later, a journalist’s photo of the battle scene (at right) sparked controversy among UFO skeptics and only deepened the mystery—it appears to show a large black triangular craft.
3. UFO CRASH AT ROSWELL
Sure, you’ve heard of the Roswell Incident. Skeptics like to say it’s the “most thoroughly debunked UFO claim” in the world. We disagree. You can’t “debunk” something by making up explanations.
The Story Made Headlines, But The Air Force Quickly Tried to Cover Up the Incident
It was a hot day in July 1947 when New Mexico rancher Mac Brazel was out on a remote part of the Foster ranch, and when he came across strange wreckage, he wasn’t sure what to think of it. Maybe the guys at the local military base, the 509th airfield, would know something about it. When Brazel took some officers, including Intelligence Officer Jesse Marcel, to see for themselves, the military men were stunned. It was clear to them that this was indeed a crashed vehicle—and that it wasn’t from this planet.
The story hit the news wires, and calls came in from around the world. General Roger Ramey rushed to the 509th base and concocted a story about a downed weather balloon. The story stuck—”General Ramey Empties Roswell Saucer” read the headlines—and those involved were warned to never reveal what they actually saw.
Later, in old age, Jesse Marcel felt compelled to reveal the truth, and the story became the stuff of legend.
4. UFOS BUZZ D.C.
It’s alarming enough for an air traffic controller to spot seven unknown objects on radar. But when Ed Nugent spotted them in Washington D.C. in July 1952, he realized they were headed toward the White House and the U.S. Capitol building—so he raised an alert. His radar unit checked out, not malfunctioning, and the blips showed up on other radar units as well. Then the objects were sighted by pilots in the area, moving at “an unbelievable speed”.
The objects vanished within 15 minutes, but a few days later, they were back. This time, strange flying lights were noticed by the flight crew on a commercial jet over D.C. They appeared yet again the next day. President Harry Truman was so shaken up by these events that he called the head of Project Blue Book, demanding an explanation. Soon after, a standing shoot-down order was given to Air Force pilots: if you see a UFO, fire on it immediately.
You may also be interested in Part One of this two-part UFO series, where we cover other striking encounters with UFOs that landed, crashed, and buzzed by Earth landmarks.
1. UFO LANDING IN RENDLESHAM FOREST, UK
“I’ve gone on record saying Rendlesham might be the turning point in history that leads to the explanation of the UFO phenomenon.” —Nick Pope, UK Ministry of Defense
It was December 1980, and on a US military base in England, a security patrol observed a strange light descending into nearby Rendlesham Forest, and assumed one of their aircraft must have gone down.
Re-creation of the Craft that Landed in Rendlesham Forest
Sergeants John Burroughs and James Penniston were dispatched to investigate, and instead of a downed plane, they discovered a strange craft with glowing yellow and blue lights, approximately nine by six feet in size. Static electricity seemed to be emanating from it. The men stood and stared at the object for about 10 minutes, finally deciding that it did not appear to be a threat. They moved closer and observed strange hieroglyphic markings on the side of the craft.
Suddenly, an explosion of light from the ship knocked both men down; “I thought I was going to die that night,” Penniston said later. Penniston got up and touched the craft; it felt smooth and warm.
The men stayed near the UFO for 45 minutes until it began to rise through the trees, then shot into the night so quickly that Penniston later wrote in his log book, “Speed: Impossible!”
The next morning, investigators found deep, triangle-shaped impressions in the ground where the craft had been sighted. Tests showed high levels of radiation.
The ship returned for two consecutive nights; on the final night, it was witnessed by nearly 60 people.
2. THE KECKSBURG UFO CRASH
At first, they thought it was some kind of crazy meteor. The fireball that streaked across skies over Ontario, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania in 1965 dropped metal debris and caused sonic booms. Eyewitnesses in the small town of Kecksburg, Pennsylvania saw the UFO crash into a forest, followed by blue smoke that rose from amongst the trees. They called authorities.
Reproduction of What Witnesses Saw Near Kecksburg, PA
Meanwhile, a few brave individuals ventured into the woods to see what had crash-landed. They found the object partially buried in the ground; it was bronze in color and metallic, about the size of a car, shaped like an acorn. The witnesses noticed strange markings on its surface that resembled Egyptian hieroglyphs. Jim Romanesky, one of the observers, said that the UFO was completely seamless, almost as if it had been made of liquid metal that was poured into a mold.
When the military arrived, they cordoned off the area, detaining and removing everyone from the forest. Witnesses saw them load the object onto a flatbed truck and remove it; when an official report was issued, it said that “absolutely nothing” had been found—case closed.
3.PHOENIX LIGHTS
Phones at the police station were ringing off the hook, UFO reporting agencies were inundated with calls, the news media were receiving a flurry of reports, people were standing in the streets and pointing at the sky: there were strange lights hovering over the city of Phoenix! Thousands of people saw the Phoenix Lights that March day in 1997, including police offers, military personnel, and Arizona governor Fife Symington; eye-witnesses said that the lights appeared to be part of a massive black V-shaped craft that moved slowly and silently as it passed over their rooftops.
The first reports of the UFO came from Henderson, Nevada, where witnesses said the craft was drifting along in a southeasterly direction; it passed over other towns until it appeared over Phoenix. Air traffic controllers at Phoenix’s Sky Harbor International Airport could see the lights through their window but registered no sign of anything on radar.
The local Air Force base denied that any activity had taken place that night—then later changed the story and said that the lights had been aircraft flares they’d dropped between 9:00 and 10:00 PM that night. Problem is, the UFO lights had appeared over Henderson, Nevada just before 8:00 PM and over Phoenix just after 8:30 PM.
4. UFO OVER O’HARE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
“I am still in absolute wonder and amazement at what I saw that afternoon.”
—Eye-witness to the O’Hare UFO
It had been a normal afternoon at busy O’Hare International when airport employees began to notice something strange in the sky.
A Strange Disc Hovers Over O’Hare International Airport
On November 7, 2006, a metallic, saucer-like craft appeared above the airport and hovered over Gate C-17. A ramp employee was the first to see it as he helped a jet, flight 446 bound for North Carolina, push back to prepare for takeoff. Chatter on two-way radios alerted a dozen other employees, ranging from pilots to supervisors, who all ran to see the disc hovering in the sky.
The UFO lingered over the airport for about two minutes, then, as witnesses described, shot straight up at an incredible velocity and vanished, leaving a clear, sky-blue hole in the clouds.
The Federal Aviation Administration first denied they had any evidence of the matter. When a local reporter discovered a recording of an FAA official discussing the sighting with a United Airlines employee, the FAA changed the story: it was just a weather phenomenon, and there was no need for further investigation.
Signs of Plant Life May Be Easier to Spot on Older Planets, Scientists Find
Signs of Plant Life May Be Easier to Spot on Older Planets, Scientists Find
By Meghan Bartels, Space.com Senior Writer
NASA and NOAA satellites measure vegetation on Earth from space to produce images like this one of plant life between April 2012 and April 2013.
Credit: NASA/NOAA
The rise of plants was crucial in turning Earth from a watery rock into a world where humans could thrive — and our home may not be the only planet where that process has played out.
So scientists decided to investigate Earth's own vegetative history to think through how it could guide our search for habitable exoplanets. The result is a new paper that focuses on what scientists call the vegetation red edge, which just means that Earth happens to reflect back a relatively high amount of near infrared light.
"We use Earth's history as a key for finding life in the universe," research co-author Lisa Kaltenegger, an astronomer at Cornell University, said in a statement. "Looking at how life altered Earth's biosignatures over time helps us to figure out which planets are most likely to show the strongest signs of life, ultimately giving us the best chances of successfully pinpointing life, if it is there." [Earth's Plant Life from Space in Photos: NASA Satellite Images]
The pair of scientists behind the new research looked at how Earth's vegetation red edge as viewed by an alien would change over time as plant life evolved and changed. The first green plants, like mosses, produced a very weak vegetation red edge signal. But now, 400 or 500 million years later, modern plants and trees produce a signal that's about twice as strong. They also feed, house and clothe humans and plenty of other life-forms.
"Our work shows that as plants evolved on Earth, the vegetation signal that reveals their presence became stronger, making older exoplanets really interesting places to look for vegetation," Kaltenegger said in the statement.
And the researchers estimate that the signal will become even more noticeable if Earth continues to become warmer and drier, since cactuses are particularly reflective of this near infrared light. For hopeful astrobiologists, that's not all bad news, since even today, Earth's vegetation red edge would be difficult to catch a glimpse of.
But even taking into account different types of plants and partial cloud cover, the scientists found that Earth looks reliably different from other planets in the solar system — a promising sign for using the technique.
"Observing an exoplanet is more challenging, but telescope technology is getting better at spotting tiny signals," co-author Jack O’Malley-James, also an astronomer at Cornell University, said in the statement. "And factoring Earth's changing landscapes into our models will make it easier to detect vegetation in the future on other worlds."
The research is described in a paper published Sept. 12 in the journal Astrobiology.
Hopes of colonizing Mars rest on the premise that we could terraform the red planet, making it habitable for humans with a breathable atmosphere and clement temperatures. However, a recent study cast doubt on the idea, concluding that terraforming is impossible with present technology.
With colonizing Mars on hold, it's a good time to reevaluate the relationship we have with our nearest cosmic neighbour, the moon. The first successful lander on the moon was the Russian spacecraft Luna 9 in 1966. This mission revealed the barren lunar landscape in fine detail for the first time.
The first close-up images of the moon’s surface, from 1966.
Since the dawn of the space age, there have been over 60 successful missions to the moon, including eight that were manned. The most famous being Apollo 11 in July 1969 which resulted in the first human presence on the moon.
These space pioneers broadened our understanding of Earth and the universe. The Apollo 15 mission of 1971, for example, recovered the so-called "Genesis Rock," one of the oldest rock samples ever found from a crater on the moon. Analysis of other surface samples supported the "giant impact hypothesis," a now predominant view that the moon formed from a giant impact on the Earth some 4.5 billion years ago.
Since then, however, our gaze has shifted away from the moon and onto Mars. In the 1990s, after a string of failures, Mars Pathfinder delivered the first rover onto the surface of Mars. This was the first successful landing on Mars since the Viking probes of the late 1970s. The pictures that the probe returned set the public's imagination aflame, stoking interest in new missions to the red planet.
Rather than mourning the immediate prospect of a manned Martian mission today, we present five reasons why the moon deserves another look – and more than just a flying visit.
The Genesis Rock was formed at least four billion years ago, during the birth of our solar system.
Credit: NASA/Wikimedia Commons
We've only scratched the surface of our moon's potential interest to humanity.
Credit: NASA
1. A staging post in space
To overcome the pull of gravity and reach another body in space you need to achieve a certain speed. A journey to Mars from Earth's surface requires a minimum total speed of nearly 30,000mph (approximately 13.1km/s). This requires large rockets, tonnes of fuel, and complex orbital manoeuvring. Due to the moon's weaker gravitational field, the same journey from the lunar surface would "only" require a speed of 6,500mph (2.9km/s). This is roughly one third of that necessary to reach the International Space Station from Earth.
The mineral troilite, an iron-sulphur compound rare on Earth, is also present in the lunar crust. The sulphur from troilite can be extracted and combined with lunar soil to produce a building material stronger than Portland Cement, meaning a settlement could be constructed on the moon using locally sourced material.
Establishing a lunar base from which to launch deep space missions would massively increase the payload to fuel ratio, allowing us to explore the solar system at a fraction of the current cost and effort.
2. Fuelling the future
Nuclear fusion, the process that fuels stars, could provide our future energy supply. Fusion reactors of the future will use Helium-3, a lighter version of the helium used in party balloons. This isotope is rare on Earth but abundant on the moon where it could be mined, something which has already attracted interest from a number of businesses and governments willing to ship it to Earth.
The core of a nuclear fusion reactor.
Credit: Shutterstock
This initial burst of commercial interest could provide the incentive and finance needed for our first forays into establishing a permanent human presence on the moon.
3. Rock of ages
The moon is an inactive world – no major geological changes have occurred in the last three billion years. On Earth, surface features are weathered by rain, tides, wind or plant growth. The lunar landscape proudly displays a record of its violent past in the form of impact features, offering a preserved history of the solar system which is ready for us to explore.
4. Observing the universe
The atmospheric density of the moon is thin, a ten trillionth of that on Earth. This absence provides the perfect conditions for astronomical observatories across the full breadth of the electromagnetic spectrum. A radio observatory on the far side of the moon would be completely shielded from the radio chatter of Earth.
The low-density atmosphere also makes a ground-based X-ray or gamma ray telescope possible, unlike on Earth where short wavelength light from space is blocked. Such observatories could be maintained and upgraded by a human presence on the moon far more easily than an orbiting telescope.
The lunar observatory could search deeper into space than an Earth-bound equivalent.
Credit: es Bossinas/NASA
5. Humans in space
One of the major hurdles for a Mars mission is understanding how human health is affected by a long-term voyage into space. If anything unexpected occurs, resupply or rescue is over two years away. By testing human tolerances on the moon first and developing technology and experience, further exploration of Mars or beyond will be far more practical. If an emergency occurs on a lunar base, Earth is only three days away.
Another major concern about going to Mars is the inadvertent contaminationof the pristine martian environment by earthly organisms. The Moon is almost certainly sterile, so such concerns are moot.
While the first scientific research conducted on the moon was performed in the late 1960s, in the subsequent half century we have come no closer to a sustained human presence there. This is despite an ever-increasing technological capability which far surpasses what was available to the Apollo missions. Before we can take another giant leap into space, it might be worth taking some small steps closer to home.
Pyramid UFO Caught Over Mexico On Live Internet Cam On Oct 2018, Video, UFO Sighting News.
Pyramid UFO Caught Over Mexico On Live Internet Cam On Oct 2018, Video, UFO Sighting News.
Date of sighting: October 2018 Location of sighting: Mexico City, Mexico Source: Live Mexico Cam
This video was made by a UFO researcher in Australia watching the live Mexico City cam. He is famous for his hard work in the field and this time he caught an amazing Pyramid UFO that is semi cloaked moving through the clouds. I have heard of pyramid clouds, but very few legit reports come in like this one. As you see the cam takes a photo every few seconds so there is a jump in-between, but the UFO is seen in many still shots. Absolute proof that aliens are active in Mexico. Scott C. Waring
I have just received this UFO sighting video through a report form. This happened in Cape Town, South Africa on 24th September 2018.
Witness report:
I have attached part of the video which I had taken yesterday, (Monday, 24 September 2018) at 12:02 of strange activity which I noticed in the sky in the Belville and Brackenfell, Cape Town, South Africa area. It first seemed like flashing lights of possibly an aircraft or even star of some sort, but did it soon became clear that these seemingly flashing lights seemed to be at different places at different times within a fraction of a second, during which I decided to take a video of it with my smartphone. Only after playing the videos back in extremely slow motion, frame for frame, I were amazed to see that this seemed to be only one object but which moved with incredible speed within a fraction of a second! So fast that to the naked eye it will seem like flashing lights appearing at different spots. Please have a look in slow motion especially to see the phenomenal speed with which this thing moves! I could hardly believe my eyes what I had seen on the videos! On the other part of the video, it can clearly be seen that this light orb / flying object will dive at incredible speed after which it will ascent with the same lightning speed, after which it will do some sort of half a circular motion and then dive soon after this at the same incredible speed. I have more footage with even more amazing things which this flying object seemed to be capable of and of which I am sure no aircraft on earth are capable of but could unfortunately only email you this clip due to the size of the full video clip.I would like to know whether there are more people in the Belville area who saw this or if there were anything unusual reported in the skies yesterday at that time.
UFO INVESTIGATION: US officials 'hold SECRET ALIEN TESTS' at ranch - 'DISTURBING'
UFO INVESTIGATION: US officials 'hold SECRET ALIEN TESTS' at ranch - 'DISTURBING'
THE US Department for Defence has carried out a series of undercover tests at the highly controversial UFO sighting ground, the Skinwalker ranch in Utah, leaked documents have claimed.
The video was soon went viral across the web, with many giving their opinions on what it could be.
One person wrote: “In my opinion, its not a satellite, too big if I assume relative distances.
“Its not within the earths atmosphere as would appear to move across the field of view more rapidly and likely be a blur.
“Your focus is on the moon and the object remains in focus. It must also be large!”
UFO sighting: Massive ‘alien spaceship’ seen travelling across the Moon - shock video
(Image: GETTY)
Another person added: “It’s a mother ship!”
YouTuber Ryan Isaaks stated: “No doubt it's a UFO. I’m 100 percent sure.
“We are being watched and don't know how long the government is hiding this from the public.”
However, others believed their was a more natural explanation, with many claiming that it looks like a large rock orbiting the moon or travelling through space.
Which prompted the response: “Looks like a rock, the colour dark and it didn’t turn or change speed.”
Many people believe that there is an alien race living on the moon.
Just last month, conspiracy theorists were sent into a frenzy when a massive structure was spotted on the moon.
Many jumped to the conclusion that it was an alien base or monument, and believe the likes of NASA are covering something up.
The UFO is seen travelling across the moon
(Image: YOUTUBE)
The strange moon-pyramid was spotted using Google’s search tool Google Moon.
The coordinates to find the ‘monolith’ on Google Moon are 20 ° 48'45.54 "N 25 ° 59'50.89" W.
In a video uploaded to YouTube by Argentinian Marcelo Irazusta, the man-made-looking structure seems to be an anomaly on the surface on the moon.
A description from Mr Irazusta alongside the video reads: “A strange elevation of hundreds of meters in the middle of a plain of the Moon is a mystery that must be revealed.
“Everything seems to indicate that it could be a non-natural structure. It is really awesome.”
The huge round body was found on a beach on Seabrook Island, South Dakota, and featured in a Facebook post by Lowcountry Marine Mammal Network (LMMN)
It said: "Look at this mysterious object that washed ashore in Seabrook Island today! What do you think it is?"
The post was inundated with theories about what it is.
Jennifer Passantino posted: “I saw it this morning on my walk.
“I assume it was a buoy, but could also be the remains of an alien spaceship.”
“(It) could also be the remains of an alien spaceship”
Witness
Many said it looked like part of a space capsule or satellite debris, and some speculated it could be a rocket nozzle from the space shuttle Challenger that blew up about 30 years ago.
Many social media users said it looks like a piece of a mooring buoy or a dredge pipe float used in the removal of sediments and debris from the bottom of lakes and rivers.
One commenter said the object appears to be made of concrete, but the Lowcountry Marine Mammal Network said it is "foam-like" and "easily floated in".
The mystery was whisked away by town leaders, according to LMMN.
LMMN
This bizarre object was washed up on a South Dakota beach
THIS 3-MINUTE ANIMATION WILL CHANGE YOUR PERCEPTION OF TIME FOREVER
THIS 3-MINUTE ANIMATION WILL CHANGE YOUR PERCEPTION OF TIME FOREVER
We all know that Earth is old, but it’s hard to put into perspective just how old it is.
After all, what does 4.5 billion years really mean? How do you even comprehend that amount of time with our short-lived human brains?
Well, Business Insider has done a pretty incredible job of it in this 3-minute animation, by displaying the timeline of Earth if time was the distance from Los Angeles to New York. And, oh boy, our world-view will never be the same.
We start our journey in Los Angeles, back when Earth first formed 4.54 billion years ago. But we don’t get very far on our road trip through time and space before the Moon shows up after Earth is hit by a planetary body.
About halfway across the top of Arizona, the world’s largest rock forms 3.95 billion years ago, and then a few miles down the road – 3.8 billion years ago – the first evidence of life shows up, in the form of replicating molecules.
But it’s not until Kansas, 2.7 billion years ago, when oxygen-producing cyanobacteria first emerge, and then 200 million years later that significant amounts of oxygen build up in Earth’s atmosphere.
And then, believe it or not, it’s not until Pennsylvania – halfway across the country – that multicellular organisms evolve, just 600 million years ago.
A lot happens in Pennsylvania, like plants colonising the land and amphibians evolving. And by the time dinosaurs become extinct we’re already in New York State.
So where do humans fit in?
Well we’ll let you watch the video below to find that out, and let’s just say that it will blow your freaking mind. Especially when you see how much we’ve done in just 5.6 feet (1.7 metres) of time.
The Earth is really, really old. Over four and a half billion years old, in fact. How do we begin to comprehend a number that large? It helps to put it on a more fathomable scale. Watch to see where Earth’s major events would fall on a timeline stretching across the US.
Did John Glenn Tell Us the Truth About UFOs & Aliens in a Frasier Episode???
Did John Glenn Tell Us the Truth About UFOs & Aliens in a Frasier Episode???
In a 2001 episode of Frasier, the late senator and astronaut John Glenn had an interesting guest appearance and I think the script had him basically spill the beans about UFOs and aliens to the American people! Glenn was later depicted by Senator Harry Reid has having an interest in UFOs and aliens and the truth about him. What do you think --- was Glenn a believer and was he trying to aid in Disclosure?
Yuri Milner’s Breakthrough Listen program said it has added the MeerKAT telescope in South Africa to its global effort to listen for signals from an alien intelligence
First announced in 2015, Breakthrough Listen is an unprecedented $100 million program – backed by Russian high-tech billionaire Yuri Milner – to listen for signals from an alien intelligence. This massive SETI project is already listening via the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia and Parkes Telescope in Australia. On October 2, 2018, Breakthrough Listen announced it will also begin listening via the 64 radio dishes of South Africa’s brand new MeerKAT telescope. It made the announcement at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Bremen, Germany, saying it planned to:
… examine a million individual stars – 1,000 times the number of targets in any previous search – in the quietest part of the radio spectrum, monitoring for signs of extraterrestrial technology. With the addition of MeerKAT’s observations to its existing surveys, Listen will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Yuri Milner commented:
Collaborating with MeerKAT will significantly enhance the capabilities of Breakthrough Listen. This is now a truly global project.
Artist’s concept of an extraterrestrial, via Shutterstock.
Yuri Milner funds Breakthrough Listen. He was an early investor in Facebook and Twitter and has funded other large endeavors. For example, he has established the largest award in the world in the field of biomedicine and life sciences, called the Breakthrough Prize.
The South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) spent part of this year verifying the 64 radio antennas, each 13.5 meters (44 feet) in diameter, of the MeerKAT telescope. SARAO officially inaugurated the telescope in July 2018.
Breakthrough Listen said its involvement:
… adds the capability to search for technosignatures – signals that indicate the presence of technology on an alien world, and hence provide evidence that intelligent life exists elsewhere.
The MeerKAT telescope of the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory is a radio telescope consisting of 64 antennas, located in the remote Karoo Desert of South Africa.
Scientists and engineers from the University of California, Berkeley SETI Research Center have already installed Breakthrough Listen’s special digital instrumentation (much like that installed at Green Bank) at the MeerKAT telescope. The Breakthrough Listen team said its observations will:
… occur in a commensal mode – at the same time as other astrophysics programs. Using sophisticated processing, Breakthrough Listen scientists will digitally point the telescope at targets of interest.
This means that the Breakthrough Listen instrument at MeerKAT will be operating almost continuously, scanning the skies for signs of intelligent life.
The Green Bank telescope in Green Bank, West Virginia, is another one of the observatories attempting to eavesdrop on aliens with the help of Breakthrough Listen. Using the Breakthrough Listen digital instrumentation at this telescope, astronomers 3 weeks ago announced they’d found 72 more fast radio bursts from a distant galaxy. Photo via NRAO.
Bottom line: Yuri Milner’s Breakthrough Listen program has added the new MeerKAT telescope of the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory to its global SETI effort.
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Over mijzelf
Ik ben Pieter, en gebruik soms ook wel de schuilnaam Peter2011.
Ik ben een man en woon in Linter (België) en mijn beroep is Ik ben op rust..
Ik ben geboren op 18/10/1950 en ben nu dus 73 jaar jong.
Mijn hobby's zijn: Ufologie en andere esoterische onderwerpen.
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