Throughout the UFO field there have long been certain figures who have served to flutter around to be much discussed and debated. These individuals have managed, for whatever reasons, to draw to them all manner of speculation and discussion, while remaining firmly past our ability to get to any true answers. One of these is certainly a humble man who would have a series of outlandish encounters that has managed to put both him and his city on the UFO map.

It all started in November of 1987, in the sleepy town of Gulf Breeze, Florida. On the evening of November 11, a local building contractor by the name of Ed Walters was at home when he allegedly was surprised by a bright light that seemed to be coming from right out in his front yard. Curious as to what this could be, he ventured outside and claims that he could see that whatever was creating the mysterious illumination seemed to be behind a stand of trees not too far away. He crept closer to the source of the light, and as he did, he could see that it was an enormous, top-shaped craft of some sort, with portholes and rectangular windows along its sides. On its bottom was a blue ring, and it was from this ring that the light was emanating like a giant neon light.

Ed Walters

Amazingly, Walters had the presence of mind to go get a camera from his house, after which he began snapping pictures of it. Whatever the strange craft was it did not seem to like having its picture taken, as it purportedly then approached the startled Walters and shot a blue beam at him, even as a voice boomed in his head that he would not be harmed. This telepathic presence then began beaming myriad images into his head, including those of dogs, a woman holding a baby, naked women, and all manner of other surreal scenes like something out of a twisted dream. Walters would then lose consciousness and wake up some time later with the UFO now gone. He had the impression that the blue beam had knocked him out, and luckily when he checked his camera he found that he had managed to capture some photos of it. He would take these photos to the local newspaper, The Gulf Breeze Sentinel, and when they hit the news the whole bizarre story was the talk of the town, all fueled by the paper’s sensationalist retelling of the tale. Walters then tried to put it behind him, but it seems the aliens were done with him by a long shot.

Walters began to have frequent sightings of UFOs, claiming that there were more than one of them, sometimes managing to take pictures of them, and he would also say that the blue beams would often hit him to send more baffling images into his mind and typically knock him down to leave him unconscious. On December 2, he claims that he finally saw the occupants of the craft, when in the early morning hours he spied a small, 4-foot high humanoid creature standing outside his house, dressed in what seemed to be metal plates and a helmet with a slit to look through, the whole of it akin to some sort of blocky, bulky armor, giving the entity a somewhat robotic look. Upon realizing it had been spotted, the strange being ran away with Walters in hot pursuit, but he would be stopped dead in his tracks by a blue beam that paralyzed him and sent him sprawling to the ground. When he regained control of his body, he saw another blue beam off in the distance and then one of the alien craft ascend over the trees to shoot off into the night. While he was able to get a picture of the UFO as it left, he unfortunately he was unable to get a picture of the being, although he would later make a sketch of it.

One of the Gulf Breeze photos

Over the course of the coming months, Walters claimed to be constantly followed around by the UFOs and those odd little robotic entities, which seemed to be harassing him and his family. Indeed, among the many photos he took of his ordeal, one of them shows his wife running away from one of the blue beams in terror. On another occasion he claimed that he had been nearly run off the road by one of the UFOs appearing and shooting its blue beam at his car. According to Walters, they would have at least 20 separate incidents involving either the UFOs or those aliens, and they apparently once even once landed on the lawn to leave a cone shaped impression and on another occasion one dropped some sort of liquid on the house for reasons unknown. In the meantime, there were reports from other locals who also claimed to have seen the UFOs, and it was becoming a bit of a minor hysteria at the time, propelled by numerous sensational headlines. In fact, during a six-month period, 135 people reported 80 different sightings in the area, quite a few of them reliable witnesses, such as pathologist Fenner McConnell and  city councilwoman Brenda Pollak. This would all go on until July of 1988, after which whatever these things were seem to have either finished their mission or gotten bored of terrorizing this little town, and they left.

Walters had taken quite a few photographs of the objects, a total of thirty seven clear, high-quality photographs, and he also was extensively interviewed by those who considered him to be a reliable witness, he passed two separate lie detector tests, and also passed a mental evaluation with flying colors, which only served to further boost the apparent credibility of the weird case. Before long it was being touted by many ufologists as one of the most amazing and important UFO cases in history, but Walters and his photographs were also the focus of much scrutiny and skepticism. One of the main blows to his believability came after Walters moved away and the new owner of the house found in the attic a model of a UFO made of Styrofoam, cardboard, paper and tinted plastic gel, measuring 9 inches long across the top and 5 inches deep. It also looked suspiciously like the UFO in Walters’ photographs. In fact, it looked so much like the alleged alien craft in Walters’ photos, that a reporter with Pensacola News Journal by the name of Craig Myers was able to nearly perfectly replicate the photos by using the model and double exposures. For his part, Walters would insist that the model UFO had been planted there to discredit him, and that he would have never left something like that behind at the house.

Another Gulf Breeze photo by Ed Walters

None of this was helped by the rumors from a local teenager who claimed that Walters had approached him to be the one to come forward with the photos and that it had all been staged and a practical joke that got out of hand. He even produced a photograph that looked nearly identical to the ones Walters had taken to back his story up. Walters of course denied it, and none of this stopped him from writing a book on his experiences at Gulf Breeze. The skeptics say that he did it all of this for money and fame and his book, that it is all an elaborate hoax, with the photographs created using models and photographic trickery such as double exposures and photographing the images as a reflection in glass. Others have said that it might have been experimental aircraft from the nearby military base. Yet, the fact remains that hundreds of people also claimed to have seen strange things during the same time period, and there are those who still believe that the photos are the real deal. UFO researcher and physicist Bruce Maccabee has said of this:

I think they’re real. I think the model is a hoax. Hoax squared. You had politicians reporting seeing objects. We still get reports of interesting stuff in the area. And in 1987, you had hundreds of people besides Walters reporting sightings. It’s always been an interesting area. There were so many sightings that you have to account for, unless you believe there was massive collusion on the part of the residents of Gulf Breeze and Pensacola.

Gulf Breeze has continued to be a hotbed of UFO activity, and we are left to wonder just what happened to Ed Walters. Was this something truly otherworldly? Or was it just a charlatan who sparked a huge urban legend that persists to this day? No matter what one may think, the Gulf Breeze incident has managed to be discussed and debated to this day, and has still not been conclusively resolved.

My previous article was on how and why I’m pretty confident that “UFO Disclosure” is not coming at anytime, anywhere soon. In that same article, I wrote: “The subject [of disclosure] is something I’m frequently asked about. But, people don’t often get the response from me they may be anticipating. I can understand why some ufologists might think that disclosure is on the horizon. After all, in the last few years we have had the AATIP revelations, the Nimitz/Tic Tac affair and more. Could it – collectively – be a plan to get us more and more acclimatized to the issues of extraterrestrials and UFOs? I guess so. That doesn’t mean, however, that it’s a certainty. I’ll tell you why. Over the years (in fact, decades) there have been more than a few claims that disclosure is/was coming. So far, though, it has never, ever happened.” That’s where the extract from the article ends. Now, onto the controversial theme of my new feature. I have to say that I would be both amazed and very pleased if disclosure does arrive one day. Right now, at least, however, I’m hardly holding my breath. There is, though, another aspect to all of this, an aspect that most people probably haven’t given much though to. If any.

I know from speaking to far more than a few ufologists on the matter of disclosure that – should the incredible secrets finally be revealed to one and all – those same ufologists are eagerly anticipating seeing a number of certain, key things in front of them, so to speak. They are waiting for the revealing of crashed UFOs, of dead aliens, of E.T. technology and science, of the Roswell bodies and the accompanying wreckage, and of the truth concerning what’s really going on out at Area 51 and much more. And, also, finally learning the real agendas surrounding (a) cattle-mutilations; (b) alien abductions; and (c) the Space Brothers. But, what if disclosure turns out to be something different to what so many UFO investigators are excitedly expecting? Extremely different, maybe. I’ll explain what I mean by that.

Let’s say that one day disclosure does arrive and the entire world learns that, yes, there is a real UFO phenomenon and aliens have visited our world – and people have been abducted against their wills by little, black-eyed creatures from another world. Ufologists would be totally overjoyed by the admittedly incredible news. But, what if the team in government – that is tasked with running the disclosure project – tells the people of Earth that, although aliens are real, they never did crash at Roswell? The Roswell legend, the U.S. government explains to everybody, was simply that: a legend. Not only that: how would it go down with ufologists if those in government said that “Yes, we’re absolutely certain that ETs have been watching us, but the only sensitive things held at Area 51 are secret aircraft that we built and flew”?

In light of all the above, I can very easily see how – and why, too – a significant number of ufologists would quickly say (or shout) that the disclosure they all anticipated for so long wasn’t really full disclosure, after all. Instead, it was a form of carefully sanitized disclosure, they’ll all inevitably scream. In other words, the field of Ufology – as a combined, largely like-minded community – will only accept disclosure as real and complete if it meets their preconceived expectations; I guarantee it. But, what if those same expectations of Ufology are actually way off course – and have always been off course? I can very easily see a situation in which angry ufologists will keep pushing  and demanding for more and more, simply because they just cannot bear to think that aliens didn’t crash at Roswell. Or, that there are no alien corpses secretly guarded 200-feet underground the Area 51 installation. It would be truly ironic if – after years and years of pushing for disclosure and on the famous day that all of the amazing secrets finally come tumbling out – entire swathes of ufologists flatly refuse to accept that it’s real disclosure.

While the rest of us look at the paintings and drawings of Leonardo da Vinci in awe, trying to figure out a smile or find a hidden message explaining everything, scientists are digging deeper and finding … bacteria? A new study reveals that researchers analyzing seven drawings by the master are covered with an unexpected amount of bacteria, fungus and human DNA. Human DNA! Does Dan Brown know about this?

“Seven emblematic Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings were investigated through third generation sequencing technology (Nanopore). In addition, SEM analyses were carried out to acquire photographic documentation and to infer the nature of the micro-objects removed from the surface of the drawings. The Nanopore generated microbiomes can be used as a “bio-archive” of the drawings, offering a kind of fingerprint for current and future biological comparisons.” 

“Results showed a relatively high contamination with human DNA and a surprising dominance of bacteria over fungi.”

The Man in Chalk

The study, published this week in the journal “Frontiers in Microbiology” and summarized in a press release, was conducted by researchers from the University of Natural Resources and Life Science and the University of Applied Science of Wien in Austria, and the Central Institute for the Pathology of Archives and Books (ICPAL) in Italy on seven 500-year-old sketches by Da Vinci, including ‘Portrait of a Man in Chalk’ and ‘Uomo della Bitta’ (Man of the Bitta). Dr. Guadalupe Pinar of the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences led the analysis of the drawings using an innovative new genomic approach called Nanopore to reveal their complete microbiome composition. Oxford Nanopore Technologies, creators of the tool, call it “the only technology that offers direct sequencing of native DNA/RNA, or sequencing amplified samples.” So, what did it find?

“Here, a high proportion of these bacteria are either typical of the human microbiome, certainly introduced by intensive handling of the drawings during restoration works, or correspond to insects microbiomes, which could have been introduced, a long time ago, through flies and their excrements.”

Bug poop! Most ancient documents of this age and older are covered primarily in fungus, which grows readily in the dark, damp environments they’re either found in or stored in. On the other hand, these Da Vinci sketches, befitting of the genius who drew them, have been handled and studied by untold numbers of humans, resulting in bacteria overcoming fungus to be their number two content (after the actual image). The insect excrement is there because, well, it’s everywhere.

Leonardo Da Vinci

How about the DNA? Does it belong to Da Vinci? Jesus? Mary? Mona Lisa? Dan Brown?

“Unfortunately, we cannot assume that this DNA comes from the master himself but it might rather have been introduced by the restoration workers over the years.”

After the first revelation, that was expected. These documents have obviously been handled a lot – and by people not wearing protective gloves in non-sterile environments. Nevertheless, Nanopore offers one feature that is crucial in determining the place of origin of ancient documents, helping determine if they’re real or forgeries.

“However, some similarities were observed that could be influenced by the geographical location of the drawings. Some taxa were only detected in the drawings stored in the Royal Library of Turin, while other taxa were only detected in the drawings stored in the Corsinian Library in Rome.”

In this case, it’s been long verified that the drawings were made by da Vinci. Their microbiomes instead help draw a map of where the sketches have been since Leonardo lifted the chalk after the last flourish. In other words, the kind of data that used to get art history majors all hot and bothered before colleges dropped art history as a degree program. That itself is sad, because this discovery of the invisible bacteria, fungi and human DNA on these drawing illustrates that art history is human history and we never have enough of that.

Your move, Dan Brown.

A few months ago I wrote an article about the closest asteroid that ever passed by without hitting us. The record-breaking event involved an asteroid named ZTF0DxQ (or 2020 QG) and it flew by us at a close distance of 1,830 miles away. What’s even more eerie was that fact that nobody saw it coming until six hours after it flew by us. (The article can be read here.)

And now, three months later, a similar event just took place. On Friday, November 13^th (coincidence…?), another asteroid narrowly missed us and scientists didn’t see this one coming either. The asteroid, that’s been named 2020 VT4, zipped by us at an incredibly close distance of just 240 miles which made it the second space rock of the year to break the record of the closest non-impact approach.

To put this into better perspective, the International Space Station orbits Earth from a distance of a little more than 200 miles above us.

And if that isn’t scary enough, it wasn’t noticed by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (or ATLAS) on Mauna Loa, Hawaii until the following day – 15 hours after it passed by. Since the space rock was somewhere between 16 and 33 feet in width, it would have just burnt up in our atmosphere over the South Pacific. But it still doesn’t give us much comfort as astronomers had no warning that it was even coming.

Experts have said that in order for there to be damage to the surface of our planet, an asteroid would need to be at least 82 feet in width and for there to be global damage it would have to be between 0.6 and 1.2 miles wide. And for the human population as well as plants and animals to all become extinct, the space rock would have to be around 60 miles in width.

For example, the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs around 66 million years ago was approximately 7.5 miles across. Another comparison was that the Chelyabinsk meteor that broke up over Russia in February of 2013 that caused a decent amount of damage with shattered windows and more than 110 people being hospitalized was about 30 times bigger than the 2020 VT4 asteroid that zipped by us last week.

And 2020 VT4 won’t be the only asteroid to fly past us on a Friday the 13^th as the much larger Apophis asteroid (around 984 feet wide) is suppose to do a close flyby on Friday, April 13, 2029. (A frame-by-frame image of 2020 VT4 traveling through space can be seen here.)

The asteroid- 2020 VT4 is estimated to be 5-10 meters (16-32 feet) across, about the size of a small house. Earth juuust missed occupying the same space as the perihelion point for the asteroid, which occurred just 20 hours prior to Earth passage.

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }