Edwin Starr once asked the musical question: “War – what is it good for?” and provided the musical answer: “Absolutely nothing.” You could “say it again” about black holes. While all of their negative qualities are well known – sucking up everything within their gravitational pull, including light – no one seems to have figured out what they might be good for … until now. An astrophysicist at New York’s Columbia University claims their energy can be harvested and used to power anything that needs massive amounts of fuel – and that is the best way for us to discover black-hole-sucking extraterrestrials. If they can do that, do we really want to meet them?

“Black holes are commonly surrounded by a hot ‘soup’ of plasma particles that carry a magnetic field. Our theory shows that when magnetic field lines disconnect and reconnect, in just the right way, they can accelerate plasma particles to negative energies and large amounts of black hole energy can be extracted.”

Physicists Luca Comisso from Columbia University and partner Felipe Asenjo from Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez in Chile explain in a university press release the essence of their new paper, published in the journal Physical Review D. They theorize that this “hot soup of plasma” is generating energy just outside the event horizon of the black hole where it can be collected in a theoretical giant receptacle by a civilization intelligent enough to pull it off. Knowing we’re not that civilization, Comisso sticks with food to explain in simpler terms how this all works.

“It is like a person could lose weight by eating candy with negative calories. This might sound weird, but it can happen in a region called the ergosphere, where the spacetime continuum rotates so fast that every object spins in the same direction as the black hole.”

You heard what he said — negative calories!

It certainly does sound weird, but Asenjo further explains that it’s the high velocity between captured and escaping plasma particles that shoots out the stream of energy-charged – a process that beats the efficiency of any power plant on Earth.

“We calculated that the process of plasma energization can reach an efficiency of 150 percent, much higher than any power plant operating on Earth. Achieving an efficiency greater than 100 percent is possible because black holes leak energy, which is given away for free to the plasma escaping from the black hole.”

And it’s FREE! No wonder the smart aliens are pumping it into the galactic spaceships or fueling their death stars or whatever they might be using it for. We pitiful humans obviously can’t do this, even if we were less than 1,000 light years from the nearest black hole. However, we’re smart enough to figure out what this black hole energy extraction process might look like from far away, and that is what Comisso says will lead us to that superior alien civilization.

And maybe them to us?

We would LOVE to meet you pitiful humans.

Perhaps the words of Edwin Starr apply here too:

“What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing.
Say it again.”

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Every once in a while there is a case in the field that really raises eyebrows. These are the cases in which even the most open-minded and willing to believe are sometimes left speechless and wondering what to think. Such stories have become almost legendary within the field, and one of these is certainly the time a supposed Venusian emissary was a guest at the Pentagon.

In the winter of 1967, Harley Andrew Byrd, nephew to the late Rear Admiral Richard R.E. Byrd of the United States Navy, who was a high ranking official at the Pentagon in Washington D.C. and a part of Project Blue Book, got a harried and panicked call from the Police Department in Alexandria, Virginia. According to him, two policemen reported that they had seen a UFO had landed in a field, and a that tall man dressed in white had emerged, claiming to be from “The High Council” and calling himself “Valiant Thor.” This being was then purportedly picked up and taken to the Pentagon, where he was introduced to the Under Secretary of Defense, as well as Secretary of Defense Neil H McElroy, and then given VIP status and hurried off to see the president of the United States himself, Dwight D. Eisenhower, as well as the vice-president at the time, Richard Nixon. According to Byrd, Valiant Thor was from Venus, and spent some amount of time at the Pentagon speaking to the president about the world’s problems, and Byrd would say:

Commander James was on duty at the Security Clearance and Review for the branch officer of the Project Blue Book. He oversaw the meeting through official channels and reported the landing and meeting of the “space emissary”, as he was labeled by the Department of Defense, to a governing group of high military officials including Secretary of Defense F.F. Forestall and other scientific men of which there were twelve. They in turn made recommendations to the President and Cabinet members, the CIA, FBI, NSA, and so on. The landing of Valiant Thor was perhaps the first documented landing of a human-type alien by military officials. He contacted an individual in the Pentagon who was an advocate of the UFO alien situation. “Nancy Warren” in turn contacted a minister, who was also a private investigator and theologian, a Dr. Frank E. Stranges, who then met with this individual. Dr. Stranges had been a guest speaker at the National Evangelistic Center for two weeks.

Val Thor landed in Alexandria and met with the President to discuss the world’s problems and offer advice and counsel on how to deal with and eliminate them. He indicated to Mr. Eisenhower that the world was in a precarious situation and that if the world continued to proceed on a war footing – it would cause an economic imbalance throughout the world. He indicated that his race of people lived and dwelled underground and that many of the planets throughout the universe sustain life in this same manner. He also mentioned the waves of aliens who would land around the world to help with the Earth’s seemingly insurmountable problems. He stated that a group from a distant planetary system would be coming to give aid and data to help the Earth’s progress.

Alleged photo of Valiant Thor

Richard Nixon was apparently fascinated by Val Thor, and allegedly said to him:

You have certainly caused a stir… for an out-of-Towner. Of course, we are not totally convinced of anything just yet. But suffice it to say we are checking and double checking everything you say and do. When Sergeant Young from Alexandria radioed in and stated that you had just landed in a flying saucer, we thought Sergeant Young had flipped. Say, were you in on that UFO flap over Washington? You certainly had us all in a dither, if you were.

Frank E. Stranges would have a personal meeting with the entity and give much information of these interactions between Valiant Thor and the government in his book on the matter, the 1967 Stranger at the Pentagon, and would also go into depth about the alien’s appearance and behaviors. Stranges said that Val Thor looked like a perfectly normal human being, except that he had six fingers on each hand and could live for 500 years, and it also turned out that he wasn’t alone, having actually arrived with three companions, called Donn, Jill, and Taniya. Val Thor supposedly told him that they had been watching humanity closely since the atomic bombs in World War II, and sought to “begin a new era in knowledge, wisdom and understanding on our planet.” Curiously, Stranges would also claim that Valiant Thor had a deep interest in Christianity, even going as far as to say that Jesus was in fact an alien from outer space, and had spread His word across the galaxy. This might not be so surprising since Stranges just happened to be a travelling Evangelical preacher, and he would say:

He told me that his purpose in coming was to help mankind return to the Lord. He spoke in positive terms…always with a smile on his face. He said that man was further away from God than ever before, but there was still a good chance if man looks in the right place.

Apparently, Valiant Thor stayed there in Washington D.C. for a full 3 years on his mysterious mission, before suddenly dematerializing in 1960 to return to his home planet. The story was published in Stranges’ book and went on to become firmly entrenched in UFO lore as one of the most completely bizarre accounts on record, going on to be much discussed and debated, and even appearing on TV shows and in the media. However, if you have been paying attention so far you may perhaps see why it has all drawn skeptics to it like moths to a flame. The list of gripes against this outlandish tale is long. For one, Venus is far from what one would consider a traditionally habitable planet, so why would it produce a race of beings nearly indistinguishable from humans? Also, where is all of the evidence? He was here for 3 years, yet the only evidence that has been offered are some photographs of a man in a suit said to be him and one of a group of some clean-cut young people who Stranges claims to be Val, Donn, Jill, and Tanyia, but who seriously could be anyone at all. it is all pretty flimsy at best.

Valiant Thor and his Venusian friends

Another is that the credentials of Stranges and others involved in this case have been seriously called into question. There is no independent verification that Stranges ever had top security clearance at the Pentagon, and his self-proclaimed credentials have also been challenged, such as his assertion that he has Ph.Ds. in psychology, philosophy, and criminology, as there is no evidence that he ever earned such diplomas. It is curious, as he often calls himself Dr. Stranges despite being unable to prove that this actually fits. Indeed, there is no real corroboration on any of the people involved in any way. There is no evidence that a Harley Andrew Byrd ever had such top clearance at the Pentagon, or even that he had any relation to Admiral Byrd at all. Brian Dunning at the site Skeptoid would say of him:

“Harley Andrew Byrd” is probably not who he says he is. Records on Ancestry.com can’t really confirm or disprove the possibility that Admiral Byrd had a nephew by this name, but his story requires that he would have held a senior role at Project Blue Book with top security clearance and over a year of training behind him, all by the age of 18. When he went on Art Bell’s Coast to Coast AM radio show in 1995 it went south very quickly. He told ridiculous stories of Admiral Byrd’s adventures, including that the admiral entrusted him as a young boy with secret diaries telling of his contacts with aliens and Nazis. One listener wrote:

“[Harley Byrd] talks nonsense, makes all manner of bizarre claims about greys, sasquatch, Aryans, and other alien types, and assiduously commercializes the whole for profit… Harley Byrd is actually a huckster [who] merely poses as Byrd’s grandson to sell these bogus diaries.”

It certainly is all pretty out-there, and is likely to be scoffed at by most in the general mainstream. There are plenty of inconsistencies and red flags in the story, and yet it has become a pretty indelible mainstay within the field. For some it is one of those persistent stories we like to brush under the carpet and pretend doesn’t exist. For others it is a point of debate and discussion. For others still it is enough to make one just shrug their shoulders and wonder. Was Stranges telling the truth or is this all complete woo woo nonsense? Whichever side you fall on, the story of Valiant Thor has become fairly legendary, and at the very least is another one of the many other truly bizarre cases that inevitably pop up from time to time.

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If you live in Ireland, you may want to look up towards the sky as the country has the most UFO sightings in all of Europe. According to data collected by Psychic World from the National UFO Reporting Center State Report Index, Ireland has the most UFO sightings, followed by France and then Spain.

A total of 105 recorded UFO sightings have occurred in Ireland with the encounters lasting an average of 13 minutes each. Most of the sightings in Ireland consist of mysterious bright lights. However, bright lights are the second most common form of sightings in all of Europe (the lights are usually red, blue, or white) while unidentified flying disks are the most common occurrences in the entire continent.

Northern Ireland reported a total of 6 UFO sightings last year in 2020 (two more than the previous year) which may have been partly because of the pandemic where so many people were staying home and spending time outside.

As for the Northern Ireland sightings in 2020, the first one was reported on March 13^th of a UFO “with many flashing lights making no noise” in Dunmurry which lasted about half an hour. Six days later, a “flying object” that looked like solar panels in Bangor was reported. Then there was a “UFO going down the Springfield Road” on April 3^rd.

The most interesting report came in on May 12^th when a man claimed to have been dropped off at Bangor Marina by a UFO. The last two reports consisted of one sighting on August 22^nd where three UFOs were witnessed flying over Belfast, and then on September 26^th when a man in the Ballygomartin area claimed to have seen six UFOs flying over his house.

David Moore, who is the editor of Astronomy Ireland Magazine, stated that more people were stargazing during the lockdown. He went on to say, “About 90% of all reports end up having a straightforward explanation,” adding, “It’s the few that don’t that are really intriguing. But the guy claiming to be dropped off at Bangor Marina, that’s very difficult to explain.”

Chris McMurray, who is a chairperson of the Northern Ireland UFO Society, weighed in by stating that the majority of the increased sightings of “unknown aerial phenomena” have occurred around the Cavehill and Black Mountain area in addition to the Mourne region. “A common theme that we notice is that sightings of anomalous lights tend to be seen near certain geographical features, such as the granite mountains and other areas of a crystalline nature,” he noted, adding, “This could be because, as widely accepted by ufologists and paranormal investigators alike, these can help amplify the natural energies of the Earth.”

France came in second place with a total of 71 sightings, but their encounters only lasted an average of 6 minutes. Spain is a close third with 70 sightings lasting an average of 12 minutes, but their encounters consisted mostly of diamond-shaped objects in the sky.

As for the longest sightings in all of Europe, they occurred in Monaco where the estimated time lasted 45 minutes. And if you don’t want to see a UFO, your best bet is to move to San Marino where they hadn’t had any official encounters or Georgia where there were only two short sightings of mysterious fireballs that each lasted about 15 seconds.

In the entire continent of Europe, there were a total of 994 UFO sightings with an average duration of 12 minutes each.

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4

Although the intelligence communities, military and government agencies of numerous nations have undertaken countless official (and off-the-record, too) projects pertaining to both mind-control and mind-manipulation, without any doubt whatsoever, the most notorious of all was Project MKUltra: a clandestine operation that operated out of the CIA’s Office of Scientific Intelligence, and that had its beginnings in the Cold War era of the early 1950s. It was, I believe, MK-Ultra that created the fabricated “alien encounters” of 1950s-era “UFO Contactee” Orfeo Angelucci. The date of the project’s actual termination is a somewhat hazy one; however, it is known that it was definitely in operation as late as the latter part of the 1960s – and, not surprisingly and regretfully, has since been replaced by far more controversial and deeply hidden projects.

To demonstrate the level of secrecy that surrounded Project MKUltra, even though it had kicked off at the dawn of the fifties, its existence was largely unknown outside of the intelligence world until 1975 – when the Church Committee and the Rockefeller Commission began making their own investigations of the CIA’s mind-control-related activities – in part to determine if (a) the CIA had engaged in illegal activity, (b) the personal rights of citizens had been violated, and (c) if the projects at issue had resulted in fatalities – which they most assuredly and unfortunately did. Rather conveniently, and highly suspiciously, too, it was asserted at the height of the inquires in 1975 that two years earlier, in 1973, CIA Director, Richard Helms had ordered the destruction of the Agency’s MKUltra files. Fortunately, this did not stop the Church Committee or the Rockefeller Commission – both of whom had the courage and tenacity to forge ahead with their investigations, relying on sworn testimony from players in MKUltra, where documentation was no longer available for scrutiny, study and evaluation.

The story that unfolded was both dark and disturbing –in equal degrees. Indeed, the scope of the project – and allied operations, too – was spelled out in an August 1977 document titled The Senate MK-Ultra Hearings that was prepared by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the Committee on Human Resources, as a result of its probing into the secret world of the CIA. As the document explained: “Research and development programs to find materials which could be used to alter human behavior were initiated in the late 1940s and early 1950s. These experimental programs originally included testing of drugs involving witting human subjects, and culminated in tests using unwitting, non-volunteer human subjects. These tests were designed to determine the potential effects of chemical or biological agents when used operationally against individuals unaware that they had received a drug.”

The Committee then turned its attention to the overwhelming secrecy that surrounded these early 1940s/1950s projects: “The testing programs were considered highly sensitive by the intelligence agencies administering them. Few people, even within the agencies, knew of the programs and there is no evidence that either the Executive Branch or Congress were ever informed of them. The highly compartmentalized nature of these programs may be explained in part by an observation made by the CIA Inspector General that, ‘the knowledge that the Agency is engaging in unethical and illicit activities would have serious repercussions in political and diplomatic circles and would be detrimental to the accomplishment of its missions.'”

The research and development programs, and particularly the covert testing programs, resulted in massive abridgments of the rights of American citizens, and sometimes with tragic consequences, too. As prime evidence of this, the Committee uncovered details on the deaths of two Americans that were firmly attributed to the programs at issue; while other participants in the testing programs were said to still be suffering from the residual effects of the tests as late as the mid-1970s. And as the Committee starkly noted: “While some controlled testing of these substances might be defended, the nature of the tests, their scale, and the fact that they were continued for years after the danger of surreptitious administration of LSD to unwitting individuals was known, demonstrate a fundamental disregard for the value of human life.”

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The stories of people within the government or military coming forth with tales of encounters with UFOs or alien beings are numerous. They always seem to come from someone who claims to be in the know, and a first hand witness to what the government is up to behind closed doors, making them seem to be the best witnesses there are. Yet many times such reports go off to derail into the truly outlandish, to the point that even the most open-minded individual might take pause, and one of these must certainly be the story of an ex-Air Force man who tells of the mysterious entities he calls the “Tall Whites.”

One of the stranger stories to come from a supposed insider revolves around an ex-U.S. Air Force personnel by the name of Charles Hall, who says that in 1964 he was stationed at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada when he first became aware that the government had had ongoing contact with extraterrestrials since the 1950s. He says that there were three main types of aliens on Earth talking with the military and meeting with them at a top secret base. According to him there are the Greys, some of which actually have yellow or orange skin, the Nordics, who look completely human and have 24 teeth, and then there are the very mysterious entities he calls the “Tall Whites.” It is the latter that Hall has spent much of his time talking about, and he says of his first acquaintance with them:

In 1964, when I was a weather observer at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, I witnessed interactions between the military and a group of mysterious tall, white, human-like extra-terrestrials. Their craft are capable of traveling faster than the speed of light because Einstein was wrong about relativity. When you encounter the ‘tall whites’ it’s such a shock, you are not sure if you are looking at a ghost or an angel, or if you are dreaming.

They are described as being 7 feet tall or over, very slender and with alabaster white skin, thin, straight blond hair, and large piecing blue eyes that gradually turn pink as they grow older, which can take a long time as they are claimed to live for up to 800 years. Despite their freakish height, Hall claims that they can more or less blend into human society with the right disguises, and although they communicate with each other with barking or whistling sounds, they are able to emulate human speech. They are so more or less human-looking in fact, they Hall has claimed that the Tall Whites would often head into Las Vegas to go to Casinos along with a CIA entourage, with the Stardust being their favorite place to go. One suspects they’d fit right in in Vegas.

Hall claims that the Tall Whites are from the star system called Arcturus, which is about 100 light-years from Earth, and that they gave the U.S. military much technology. In exchange for this, the U.S. built bases for the aliens, specifically designed for their height and with very precise environmental settings in order to make them as comfortable on our world as possible. Hall even says that there were play areas made for the Tall Whites’ children. However, according to Hall, the aliens only ever really spoke to higher level officials, and were very wary and nervous around human beings in general. He says that they were paranoid, and all carried with them a pencil-like device that could “influence ions in the human body” to stun or kill a person, mesmerize them, cause pain, or control their muscular responses, although they thankfully rarely used them. He would say of his experience living with them and trying to communicate with them:

You can’t go hunting for them or approach them. They have to come to you and the children are especially curious by nature. It was a traumatic experience being isolated in the desert, alone with someone so different and obviously more advanced than us. At first I thought I was going insane. But I learned over time how to communicate, how to approach them and to never try and force them to do anything. Their nervous systems operate very quickly and they are very protective, very suspicious of our intentions.

Hall claims he had some rather weird and often frightening incidents with the Tall Whites. He says that they would sometimes hypnotize him for reasons he couldn’t understand, and that they would often berate him, calling him a lesser being and a “teacher’s pet.” The most terrifying experience he had with them was the time he claims a group of Tall Whites jumped him in the desert and physically assaulted him. The aliens allegedly injured him very badly, explaining later that they had merely wanted to observe a human being in the midst of fighting for his life. In general, the Tall Whites seem to be rather indifferent to the humans, merely trying to maintain a peaceful, symbiotic relationship so that they may continue to use our planet as a stopover base and strategic location.

It all sounds like pure, science fiction mumbo jumbo, and indeed Hall originally wrote of the Tall Whites as fiction in his series of science fiction novels Millennial Hospitality, but according to him this is all real and he merely wrote the story under the guise of fiction because he had feared coming forward with his experiences. He has said that he has not seen the Tall Whites since he went off for a tour of duty in Vietnam, and that he did not feel truly safe to come forward with his information until his children had grown up and moved out. Hall, who also claims to be a nuclear physicist, has continued to give talks on his experiences with the Tall Whites and we are left to puzzle over what to make of all of this. It all seems so absurd, and to many it is, but there have been others who have held on to it as a genuine case. Is there anything to this at all, or is it just delusional ranting? No matter what one might think, the story of the Tall Whites has remained impressed upon the landscape of ufology, and will probably not go away any time soon.

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