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...
25-01-2023
LATEST UFO SIGHTINGS AND VIDEOS - 25/01/2023
LATEST UFO SIGHTINGS AND VIDEOS - 25/01/2023
Mars helicopter Ingenuity flies for 40th time, sees rover tracks
NASA's Ingenuity helicopter flew for the 40th time on Jan. 19, 2023. See black & white and color footage along with statistics from the flight. Perseverance rover tracks can be seen.
Finally! SpaceX Ships Starship Deluge System to Texas
How SpaceX Crew Dragon DESTROYED Soyuz and Starliner?
How SpaceX Crew Dragon DESTROYED Soyuz and Starliner? Nearly a decade ago, the business of space changed. Exactly in 2014, NASA tapped SpaceX and Boeing to build two new human-rated spacecraft, the Crew Dragon and Starliner, respectively. this was intended to end dependence on Russia's Soyuz. Each company would first prove its ship capable of safe flight, then perform as many as six crewed missions to the International Space Station. From that moment onward, Soyuz, Boeing Starliner, and Crew Dragon capsules have been put on the scale together. The result? SpaceX Crew Dragon completely destroy the others. You ask me why? Let’s explain:
We can't deny that so far, the International Space Station is still one of the greatest engineering feats humans have designed due to its support for almost every space mission that leaves earth. It is one of a kind for it is one of the few times humanity has come together to build and use an item or station without any fracas. Since it was launched, hundreds of laboratory researches that have led to understanding space and how humans may survive on other planets have been done.
After all, it’s a football field sized floating laboratory traveling 10 times faster than a bullet, circling the Earth every 90 minutes. It’s taken 33 launches to put all of its pieces into orbit and has been home in space to astronauts from almost 20 countries.
The ISS typically has 6 astronauts onboard. Crews are sent in groups of 3 and usually reside at the station for 6 months. There is typically a 3-month overlap for the existing crew and the newly arriving crew. Since the Space Shuttle program ended in 2011, there’s only been a single ride to the ISS. Russia’s Soyuz vehicle.
Since NASA ended its space-shuttle program in 2011, the agency has relied exclusively on Russia to ferry its astronauts to and from orbit in Soyuz spacecraft. But those seats have gotten increasingly expensive, and the world's space agencies have had no alternative for launching and returning astronauts, even when technical glitches have arisen. How SpaceX Crew Dragon DESTROYED Soyuz and Starliner?
NASA and DARPA-developed nuclear thermal rocket engine could be tested in few years
NASA administrator Bill Nelson announces that NASA and DARPA will collaborate to develop and demonstrate the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) spacecraft, which will employ a nuclear thermal rocket engine.
Credit: NASA
Children In Space, Dark Forest, Mars Lava Tubes | Q&A 208
What if two black holes with opposing spin merge? Can we use the Moon's L2 Lagrange point? How habitable are Mars's lava tubes? Can Starships compensate for satellite light pollution? All this and more in this week's episode Q&A with Fraser Cain.
Today's we're looking at the popular myth of Planet X and seeing if there could be any truth behind the claims of there being a ninth planet.
Did Life on Mars Self-Destruct?
An overview of the possibilities of life on Mars and recent science that suggests that it may have gone extinct by its own doing.
An exploration of time scales and time passage and its relation to the Fermi Paradox as a straightforwards solution.
Very Rare Collision Witnessed 840 Years Ago Created a Super Unusual Nebula
New Discovery That Changed Physics! Gravity Is Not a Force!
In his 1915 General Theory of Relativity, Albert Einstein defined gravity as the bending of space and time. This was the prevailing idea of gravity for the following century. But now, a new theory has been proposed that could change everything we know about gravity. The Digital Gravity Theory proposes that gravity is not a force but rather the product of the topology of space and time. If this new theory is correct, it could mean a complete overhaul of our understanding of physics. So far, it has been met with a lot of skepticism, but the scientists who proposed it are convinced that it is the right answer. Watch, like and comment on New Discovery That Changed Physics! Gravity Is Not a Force!What do you think? Is this new theory correct, or is it just another crackpot idea?
Credit:NASA, ESA, ESO, SpaceX, Wikipedia, Shutterstock, ...
The technologies that China has are shocking foreign scientists.
The technologies that China has are shocking foreign scientists.
Het duo is te zien op deze fascinerende ruimtefoto van de week.
Het duo – Arp-Madore 417-391 – is aan de rechterkant te zien. De twee sterrenstelsels zijn 670 miljoen lichtjaar van de aarde verwijderd. Zoals je ziet zijn de sterrenstelsels vervormd door zwaartekracht, waardoor ze nu een soort ring vormen. De twee heldere kernen van het duo liggen inmiddels naast elkaar en zullen over niet al te lange tijd samensmelten en één kern vormen.
De Arp-Madore-catalogus bestaat uit circa 6.000 ongebruikelijke sterrenstelsels, gefotografeerd door de Australische UK Schmidt-telescoop. De catalogus is samengesteld door astronomen Barry Madore en Halton Arp. Hubble fotografeert wel vaker bijzondere Arp-Madore-objecten, zoals Arp-Madore 2026-424 in 2019.
Op de ruimtefoto van de week zijn meer sterrenstelsels te zien. Links naast Arp-Madore 417-391 zien we twee spiraalstelsels. Het bovenste spiraalstelsel zien we vanaf de zijkant. Als je goed gaat inzoomen zie je nog tientallen andere sterrenstelsels. Fascinerend om te weten dat ieder sterrenstelsel vele miljarden sterren en nog meer planeten huisvest.
De afgelopen decennia hebben ruimtetelescopen en satellieten prachtige foto’s gemaakt van nevels, sterrenstelsels, stellaire kraamkamers en planeten. Ieder weekend halen we één of meerdere indrukwekkende ruimtefoto uit het archief. Genieten van alle foto’s? Bekijk ze op deze pagina.
The otherwise unremarkable double asteroid of Didymos and Dimorphos made headlines as the target of NASA’s successful Double Asteroid Redirect Test (DART) mission. With new details about the system emerging, astronomers have put together a hypothesis of how this strange double asteroid came to be.
It starts with spin. Any solid body if it spins fast enough will lose pieces of itself as the centrifugal force overwhelms gravity. This is especially true of asteroids, which aren’t very big to begin with and are only loosely held together. Recently a team of astronomers have used this fact to propose a plausible formation mechanism for Didymos and Dimorphos.
In this scenario long ago Didymos spun up far too quickly. It could have been from a glancing collision or just from too many gravitational interactions with neighbors. Once it spun up it began losing mass, which formed a ring surrounding it. Initially this ring would be in what is called the Roche limit of the asteroid. The Roche limit is where the gravitational tidal force from a parent body is stronger than the ability for material orbiting it to hold itself together. So within the Roche limit Dimorphos couldn’t form .
But through many interactions some of the material can migrate away from the ring and go beyond the Roche limit where it would eventually coalesce. That material that escaped would eventually become the little moon Dimorphos.
The astronomers estimate that Didymos had to lose at least 25% of its mass in order to form Dimorphos in this manner. This model also predicts that Dimorphos will have a very irregular shape because it was built up from the slow accumulation of many smaller objects, which is in line with what we observe.
While NASA’s DART mission was an overall success, showing that we can conclusively nudge the orbit of an asteroid if we need to, the mission has another side benefit. It helps us explore the complicated, intricate lives of some of the smallest, and most often ignored, objects in the solar system.
Earth’s inner core is made mostly of solid iron, and can rotate separately from the outer parts of the planet.
Credit: Johan Swanepoel/SPL
Thousands of kilometres beneath your feet, Earth’s interior might be doing something very weird. Many scientists think that the inner core spins faster than the rest of the planet — but sometime in the past decade, according to a study, it apparently stopped doing so.
“We were quite surprised,” say Yi Yang and Xiaodong Song, seismologists at Peking University in Beijing who reported the findings today in Nature Geoscience1.
The results could help to shine light on the many mysteries of the deep Earth, including what part the inner core plays in maintaining the planet’s magnetic field and in affecting the speed of the whole planet’s rotation — and thus the length of a day. But they are just the latest instalment in a long-running effort to explain the inner core’s unusual rotation, and might not be the final word on the matter.
“I keep thinking we’re on the verge of figuring this out,” says John Vidale, a seismologist at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. “But I’m not sure.”
Mysteries of the deep
Researchers discovered the inner core in 1936, after studying how seismic waves from earthquakes travel through the planet. Changes in the speed of the waves revealed that the planet’s core, which is about 7,000 kilometres wide, consists of a solid centre, made mostly of iron, inside a shell of liquid iron and other elements. As iron from the outer core crystallizes on the surface of the inner core, it changes the density of the outer liquid, driving churning motions that maintain Earth’s magnetic field.
Researchers have learnt about the inner core’s rotation by studying earthquakes that originated in the same region, such as the Kuril Islands (shown here), over decades.
Credit: Getty
The liquid outer core essentially decouples the 2,400-kilometre-wide inner core from the rest of the planet, so the inner core can spin at its own pace. In 1996, Song and another researcher reported2 studying earthquakes that originated in the same region over three decades, and whose energy was detected by the same monitoring station thousands of kilometres away. Since the 1960s, the scientists said, the travel time of seismic waves emanating from those earthquakes had changed, indicating that the inner core rotates faster than the planet’s mantle, the layer just beyond the outer core.
Later studies refined estimates of the rate of that ‘super-rotation’, to conclude that the inner core rotates faster than the mantle by about one-tenth of a degree per year. But not everyone agrees. Other work has suggested that super-rotation happens mostly in distinct periods, such as in the early 2000s, rather than being a continuous, steady phenomenon3. Some scientists even argue that super-rotation does not exist, and that the differences in earthquake travel times are instead caused by physical changes on the surface of the inner core4.
Last June, Vidale and Wei Wang, an Earth scientist also at the University of Southern California, threw another spanner into the works. Using data on seismic waves generated by US nuclear test blasts in 1969 and 1971, they reported that between those years, Earth’s inner core had ‘subrotated’, or rotated more slowly than the mantle5. Only after 1971, they say, did it speed up and begin to super-rotate.
A rotational shift
Now, Yang and Song say that the inner core has halted its spin relative to the mantle. They studied earthquakes mostly from between 1995 and 2021, and found that the inner core’s super-rotation had stopped around 2009. They observed the change at various points around the globe, which the researchers say confirms it is a true planet-wide phenomenon related to core rotation, and not just a local change on the inner core’s surface.
The data hint that the inner core might even be in the process of shifting back towards subrotation. If so, something is probably happening to the magnetic and gravitational forces that drive the inner core’s rotation. Such changes might link the inner core to broader geophysical phenomena such as increases or decreases in the length of a day on Earth.
Still, many questions remain, such as how to reconcile the slow pace of the changes that Yang and Song report with some of the faster changes reported by others. The only way out of the morass is to wait for more earthquakes to happen. A “long history of continuous recording of seismic data is critical for monitoring the motion of the heart of the planet”, say Yang and Song.
“We just have to wait,” Vidale adds.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-00167-1
References
Yang, Y. & Song, X. Nature Geosci. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-01112-z (2023).
In the 1970s, astronomers discovered that the persistent radio source at the center of our galaxy was a supermassive black hole (SMBH). Today, this gravitational behemoth is known as Sagittarius A* and has a mass roughly 4 million times that of the Sun. Since then, surveys have shown that SMBHs reside at the center of most massive galaxies and play a vital role in star formation and galactic evolution. In addition, the way these black holes consume gas and dust causes their respective galaxies to emit a tremendous amount of radiation from their Galactic Centers.
These are what astronomers refer to as Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), or quasars, which can become so bright that they temporarily outshine all the stars in their disks. In fact, AGNs are the most powerful compact steady sources of energy in the Universe, which is why astronomers are always trying to get a closer look at them. For instance, a new study led by the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) indicates that scientists have substantially underestimated the amount of energy emitted by AGN by not recognizing the extent to which their light is dimmed by dust.
Artist’s impression of a powerful young quasar. Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser
The research was led by Dr. Martin Gaskell, a research associate and lecturer at UCSC’s Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics. He was joined by a team of engineers, mathematicians, astronomers, and astrophysicists from Harvey Mudd College, Princeton University, and the University of California Berkeley. For their study, the team examined NGC 5548, a Type I Seyfert galaxy located about 244.6 million light-years away. This galaxy has a bright AGN, resulting from a central SMBH of roughly 65 million Solar masses.
The amount of dust is measured by the way it causes light from the AGN to shift toward the red end of the spectrum. This effect is known as “reddening,” and the amount of reddening corresponds directly to the amount of dimming. Although scientists have long recognized the possibility that dust dims the light from AGNs, the amount was widely considered negligible. The issue stemmed from the fact that astronomers predicted the amount of reddening based on theories regarding the intrinsic, unreddened colors astronomers should be seeing.
According to the results from this latest research, the amount of obscuring dust may be underestimated, much like the overall brightness of AGNs. The team reached this conclusion by studying the reddening effect of dust in the most well-studied AGN (NGC 5548) using seven different indicators. These included a mean AGN reddening curve, a standard reddening curve of the Milky Way, and the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) curve. In all cases, they found that the reddening of NGC 5548 was about 14 times greater than what is observed in the solar neighborhood due to the small amount of dust.
As Dr. Gaskell explained in a Royal Astronomical Society press release:
“When there are intervening small particles along our line of sight, this makes things behind them look dimmer. We see this at sunset on any clear day when the sun looks fainter. The good agreement between the different indicators of the amount of reddening was a pleasant surprise. It strongly supports simple theories of emission from active galactic nuclei. Exotic explanations of colors are not needed. This makes life simpler for researchers and is speeding up our understanding of what happens as black holes swallow material.”
Artist’s impression of a supermassive black hole and accretion disk.
Credit: ESA/Hubble, ESO, M. Kornmesse
These results show that In the ultraviolet wavelength, where most of their energy is radiated, a typical AGN puts out an order of magnitude more energy than previously thought. Another takeaway is that AGNs are very similar, and what was thought to be fundamental differences in brightness and energy output are actually the result of different amounts of dust. This could have drastic implications for our understanding of galactic formation, evolution, and the role played by SMBHs in both.
A Novel Propulsion System Would Hurl Hypervelocity Pellets at a Spacecraft to Speed it up
Today, multiple space agencies are investigating cutting-edge propulsion ideas that will allow for rapid transits to other bodies in the Solar System. These include NASA’s Nuclear-Thermal or Nuclear-Electric Propulsion (NTP/NEP) concepts that could enable transit times to Mars in 100 days (or even 45) and a nuclear-powered Chinese spacecraft that could explore Neptune and its largest moon, Triton. While these and other ideas could allow for interplanetary exploration, getting beyond the Solar System presents some major challenges.
As we explored in a previous article, it would take spacecraft using conventional propulsion anywhere from 19,000 to 81,000 years to reach even the nearest star, Proxima Centauri (4.25 light-years from Earth). To this end, engineers have been researching proposals for uncrewed spacecraft that rely on beams of directed energy (lasers) to accelerate light sails to a fraction of the speed of light. A new idea proposed by researchers from UCLA envisions a twist on the beam-sail idea: a pellet-beam concept that could accelerate a 1-ton spacecraft to the edge of the Solar System in less than 20 years.
The concept, titled “Pellet-Beam Propulsion for Breakthrough Space Exploration,” was proposed by Artur Davoyan, an Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The proposal was one of fourteen proposals chosen by the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program as part of their 2023 selections, which awarded a total of $175,000 in grants to develop the technologies further. Davoyan’s proposal builds on recent work with directed-energy propulsion (DEP) and light sail technology to realize a Solar Gravitational Lens.
Image of a gravitationally-lensing galaxy creating an Einstein Ring. Credit: NASA/ESA/Hubble
As Prof. Davoyan told Universe Today via email, the problem with spacecraft is that they are still beholden to the Rocket Equation:
“All current spacecraft and rockets fly by expanding fuel. The faster the fuel is thrown away, the more efficient is the rocket. However, there is a limited amount fuel that we can carried on board. As a result, the velocity a spacecraft can be accelerated to is limited. This fundamental limit is dictated by the Rocket Equation. The limitations of Rocket Equation translate into a relatively slow and costly space exploration. Such missions as Solar Gravitational Lens are not feasible with current spacecraft.”
The Solar Gravitational Lens (SGL) is a revolutionary proposal that would be the most powerful telescope ever conceived. Examples include the Solar Gravity Lens, which was selected in 2020 for NIAC Phase III development. The concept relies on a phenomenon predicted by Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity known as Gravitational Lensing, where massive objects alter the curvature of spacetime, amplifying the light from objects in the background. This technique allows astronomers to study distant objects with greater resolution and precision.
By positioning a spacecraft at the heliopause (~500 AU from the Sun), astronomers could study exoplanets and distant objects with the resolution of a primary mirror measuring around 100 km (62 mi) in diameter. The challenge is developing a propulsion system that could get the spacecraft to this distance in a reasonable amount of time. To date, the only spacecraft to reach interstellar space have been the Voyager 1 and 2 probes, which launched in 1977 and are currently about 159 and 132 AUs from the Sun (respectively).
When it left the Solar System, the Voyager 1 probe was traveling at a record-breaking velocity of about 17 km/s (38,028 mph), or 3.6 AU a year. Nevertheless, this probe still took 35 years to reach the boundary between the Sun’s solar wind and the interstellar medium (the heliopause). At its current speed, it will take over 40,000 years for Voyager 1 to fly past another star system – AC+79 3888, an obscure star in the constellation Ursa Minor. For this reason, scientists are investigating directed energy (DE) propulsion to accelerate light sails, which could reach another star system in a matter of decades.
Project Starshot, an initiative sponsored by the Breakthrough Foundation, is intended to be humanity’s first interstellar voyage. Credit: breakthroughinitiatives.org
As Prof. Davoyan explained, this method offers some distinct advantages but also has its share of drawbacks:
“Laser sailing, unlike conventional spacecraft and rockets, does not require fuel on board to accelerate. Here acceleration comes from a laser pushing the spacecraft by radiation pressure. In principle, near-speed-of-light velocities can be reached with this method. However, laser beams diverge at long distances, meaning that there is only a limited distance range over which a spacecraft can be accelerated. This limitation of laser sailing leads to a need of having exorbitantly high laser powers, gigawatts, and in some proposals, terawatts, or puts a constraint on spacecraft mass.”
Examples of the laser-beam concept include Project Dragonfly, a feasibility study by the Institute for Interstellar Studies (i4is) for a mission that could reach a nearby star system within a century. Then there’s Breakthrough Starshot, which proposes a 100-gigawatt (Gw) laser array that would accelerate gram-scale nanocraft (Starchip). At a maximum velocity of 161 million km (100 million mi) or 20% of the speed of light, Starshot will be able to reach Alpha Centauri in about 20 years. Inspired by these concepts, Prof. Davoyan and his colleagues propose a novel twist on the idea: a pellet-beam concept.
This mission concept could serve as a fast-transit interstellar precursor mission, like Starshot and Dragonfly. But for their purposes, Davoyan and his team examine a pellet-beam system that would propel a ~900 kg (1 U.S. ton) payload to a distance of 500 AU in less than 20 years. Said Davoyan:
“In our case, the beam pushing the spacecraft is made of tiny pellets, hence [we call it] the pellet beam. Each pellet is accelerated to very high velocities by laser ablation, and then the pellets carry their momentum to push the spacecraft. Unlike a laser beam, pellets do not diverge as quickly, allowing us to accelerate a heavier spacecraft. The pellets, being much heavier than photons, carry more momentum and can transfer a higher force to a spacecraft.”
Image of a simulated Earth at the distance of Proxima Centauri as projected by the SGL to an image plane at 650 AU from the Sun. Credit: Toth H. & Turyshev, S.G.
In addition, the small size and low mass of the pellets mean that they can be propelled by relatively low-power laser beams. Overall, Davoyan and his colleagues estimate that a 1-ton spacecraft could be accelerated to velocities of up to ~30 AU a year using a 10-megawatt (Mw) laser beam. For the Phase I effort, they will demonstrate the feasibility of the pellet-beam concept through detailed modeling of the different subsystems and proof-of-concept experiments. They will also explore the utility of the pellet-beam system for interstellar missions that could explore neighboring stars in our lifetimes.
“The pellet beam aims to transform the way deep space is explored by enabling fast transit missions to far-away destinations,” said Davoyan. “With the pellet beam, outer planets can be reached in less than a year, 100 AU in about three years, and solar gravity lens at 500 AU in about 15 years. Importantly, unlike other concepts, the pellet-beam can propel heavy spacecraft (~1 ton), which substantially increases the scope of possible missions.”
If realized, an SGL spacecraft would allow astronomers to directly image neighboring exoplanets (like Proxima b) with multipixel resolution and obtain spectra from their atmospheres. These observations would offer direct evidence of atmospheres, biosignatures, and possibly even technosignatures. In this way, the same technology that lets astronomers directly image exoplanets and study them in extensive detail would also enable interstellar missions to explore them directly.
A New Survey of the Milky Way Reveals Billions of Objects, Helping to Map Our Surroundings in Three Dimensions
This image, which is brimming with stars and dark dust clouds, is a small extract — a mere pinprick — of the full Dark Energy Camera Plane Survey (DECaPS2) of the Milky Way. The new dataset contains a staggering 3.32 billion celestial objects — arguably the largest such catalog so far.
DECaPS2/DOE/FNAL/DECam/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA Image processing: M. Zamani & D. de Martin (NSF’s NOIRLab)
A New Survey of the Milky Way Reveals Billions of Objects, Helping to Map Our Surroundings in Three Dimensions
The Dark Energy Camera Plane Survey 2 (DECaPS2) is out. This is the second data release from DECaPS, and the survey contains over 3 billion objects in the Milky Way. As the leading image shows, there are so many stars it appears as if there’s no space between them.
Throughout most of human history, the nature of the Milky Way has confounded us. Aristotle thought that it resulted from the ignition of Earth’s upper atmosphere, similar to how comets produce tails. The famous Persian scholar Al-Biruni thought the Milky Way was made up of countless fragments of nebulous stars. There are countless other ideas of what the Milky Way might have been.
Our modern understanding of the Milky Way is exquisitely detailed. Large-scale surveys of the galaxy have played a huge role in our growing understanding of the Milky Way. The ESA’s Gaia mission, an ongoing survey of the Milky Way, has collected detailed data on over one billion stars, including their ages, masses, chemical compositions, colours, temperatures, and metal content.
Will DECaPS2 make a similar contribution? It might, based on raw data alone.
“When combined with images from Pan-STARRS 1, DECaPS2 completes a 360-degree panoramic view of the Milky Way’s disk…”
Edward Schlafly, paper co-author, Space Telescope Science Institute.
DECaPS2 contains 3.32 billion objects built from 34 billion detections. The detections are in 21,400 exposures which added up to 260 hours of open shutter time with the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) at the Cerro Tololo observatory. Of the 3.32 billion objects, about 2 billion are stars. It took two years and produced over 10 terabytes of data. The first data set was released in 2017, and it contained 2 billion objects, most of which were also stars.
The survey focuses on the galactic disk, where most of the galaxy’s stars and dust are located. But the high density makes the region difficult to observe. The DECam Plane Survey overcomes this by performing “deep photometric surveys spanning a broad wavelength range (optical to NIR).”
Astronomers have released a gargantuan survey of the galactic plane of the Milky Way. The new dataset contains a staggering 3.32 billion celestial objects — arguably the largest such catalogue so far. The survey is here reproduced in 4000-pixel resolution to be accessible on smaller devices. Credit: DECaPS2/DOE/FNAL/DECam/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/E. Slawik Image processing: M. Zamani & D. de Martin (NSF’s NOIRLab)
“One of the main reasons for the success of DECaPS2 is that we simply pointed at a region with an extraordinarily high density of stars and were careful about identifying sources that appear nearly on top of each other,” said Saydjari. “Doing so allowed us to produce the largest catalogue ever from a single camera, in terms of the number of objects observed.”
The two data releases combined cover 6.5 percent of the night sky and span 130 degrees in length. That’s 13,000 times larger than the area of the full Moon. While 6.5 percent might not sound like a lot, it is. It’s even more impressive when combined with other sky surveys.
“When combined with images from Pan-STARRS 1, DECaPS2 completes a 360-degree panoramic view of the Milky Way’s disk and additionally reaches much fainter stars,” says Edward Schlafly, a researcher at the AURA-managed Space Telescope Science Institute and a co-author of the paper. “With this new survey, we can map the three-dimensional structure of the Milky Way’s stars and dust in unprecedented detail.”
“Astronomers will be poring over this detailed portrait of more than three billion stars in the Milky Way for decades to come.”
Debra Fischer, division director of Astronomical Sciences at NSF.
The galactic plane is difficult to observe. We’re embedded in it, and when we look toward the center, we’re looking through our arm of the Milky Way, through the central disk and beyond, into the spiral arms on the other side. It’s not just that there are hundreds of millions of stars—maybe way more—in this view. This is where most of the dust is located, too.
The image shows how beautiful and intriguing the dark lanes of dust are, but they’re also problematic. They absorb light from stars and can even block out faint stars entirely. There are many diffuse nebulae as well, and their light interferes with measurements of light from individual stars. The vast number of stars is also a challenge since they can overlap one another.
But understanding the central disk is critical to understanding the Milky Way. Observing in infrared helps overcome some of the challenges of observing the disk. Innovative data processing also helps. The team behind the survey came up with a way of predicting the background of each star. That made it easier to minimize the effects of overlapping stars and diffuse nebulae in the images.
“This is quite a technical feat. Imagine a group photo of over three billion people, and every single individual is recognizable!” says Debra Fischer, division director of Astronomical Sciences at NSF, one of the agencies that operates DECam. “Astronomers will be poring over this detailed portrait of more than three billion stars in the Milky Way for decades to come. This is a fantastic example of what partnerships across federal agencies can achieve.”
“Since my work on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey two decades ago, I have been looking for a way to make better measurements on top of complex backgrounds,” said Douglas Finkbeiner, a professor at the Center for Astrophysics, co-author of the paper, and principal investigator behind the project. “This work has achieved that and more!”
You can explore the DECaPS data and images at the Legacy Survey Viewer <Click on image>. Image Credit: legacysurvey.org
A century ago, we didn’t even know there were other galaxies. When astronomers saw the Andromeda galaxy and other spiral galaxies, they thought they were part of the Milky Way. They called them spiral nebula. Now we know better. We also know that the Milky Way is 90% dark matter and that the galaxy isn’t flat; it’s warped due to the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds tugging on it. We know that there’s a behemoth black hole lurking in the galactic center called Sagittarius A-star. We also know that galaxies grow so large by consuming and merging with other galaxies.
Large-scale astronomical surveys of the sky helped astronomers make some of these discoveries, and DECaPS promises to propel us to similar advancements. The first data release helped lead to some very interesting findings. One example is a 2018 paper that identified an old, metal-poor globular cluster in the galactic bulge. That was unusual since most globular clusters are in the galactic halo. Now, thanks to DECaPS and others, we know of many more globulars in the bulge.
The second data release will no doubt lead to many more discoveries and a filling-out of our knowledge about the galactic plane. “Combined with PS1, this completes comparable imaging of the entire Galactic plane essential for probing our Galaxy’s stars, gas, and dust,” the authors write. All of the data products from the survey “…should provide a rich, adaptable resource for the community, facilitating a variety of studies of the Milky Way,” they explain.
Another screenshot from the Legacy Survey Viewer. <Click Image to Visit> Image Credit: legacysurvey.org
We’re fortunate because our galaxy, the Milky Way, is a good model for understanding galaxies in general. About half of the stars in the Universe are in galaxies that are quite similar to ours. While nothing can be assumed, it’s a reasonable assertion that much of what DECaPS tells us about the Milky Way will have some bearing on other galaxies.
Astronomers have strived to understand galaxies and how they formed and evolved. The most comprehensive way to study them is to perform large surveys of stars like this one. Who knows what researchers will find in all of this data?
Here are some things on Mars, that the NASA rover just passes by without even a second look. The most significant evidence of an intelligent alien species is not a book, not mathematics, not alien technology. Its the actual faces of the aliens we speak about. Here I show you three great detailed faces. Two of them, are side by side, showing statues. One has no hat, the other has a huge crown like hat, showing its importance. This person with the hat, clearly a leader of great importance to this Mars culture.
“Volledige Romeinse stad” ontdekt bij opgravingen in Luxor
In de Egyptische stad Luxor zijn de resten ontdekt van “een volledige Romeinse stad” uit de eerste eeuwen na Christus. Dat heeft het ministerie van Oudheden bekendgemaakt.
Luxor was in de oudheid gekend als Thebe en was de belangrijkste stad van Opper-Egypte. Volgens het ministerie is nu “een volledige residentiële stad” uit de tweede en derde eeuw ontdekt “op de oostelijke oever van de Nijl, in de buurt van de Luxortempel”.
Eerder werden ook al metaalateliers met tal van werktuigen en Romeinse koperen en bronzen munten opgegraven, zegt Mostafa Waziri (het hoofd van de Egyptische Raad voor Oudheden; nvdr) “En de opgravingen gaan door.”
0
1
2
3
4
5
- Gemiddelde waardering: 0/5 - (0 Stemmen) Categorie:HLN.be - Het Laatste Nieuws ( NL)
EXCLUSIVE: Metallic-looking orb is seen flying over Iraqi city of Mosul in 2016 - first ever publicly revealed UFO footage taken by US spy plane in a conflict zone - as expert warns of 'significant risk' to troops overseas
EXCLUSIVE:Metallic-looking orb is seen flying over Iraqi city of Mosul in 2016 - first ever publicly revealed UFO footage taken by US spy plane in a conflict zone - as expert warns of 'significant risk' to troops overseas
DailyMail.com has exclusively obtained an image of a 'metallic' orb flying over Mosul, Iraq in April 2016, from footage taken by a US intelligence-recon plane
It was obtained by journalists Jeremy Corbell and George Knapp, who have released the image on their new UFO podcast, 'Weaponized'
The sighting in a conflict zone where the US military is operating has sparked security and safety concerns at the Department of Defense
DailyMail.com obtained an exclusive image of a metallic-looking orb flying over an Iraqi city, caught on video by a US spy plane.
The image, captured in April 2016 by an intelligence-reconnaissance plane, was included in a classified briefing video on UFOs shown to multiple US government agencies.
The briefing video describes it as a 'short clip of an unidentified flying orb that appears to have a metallic shine on its surface', and shows the strange object flying over the city of Mosul in northern Iraq with the background of the shot showing the streets below.
It is the first publicly revealed image from the US government's ongoing UFO investigation showing an unidentified craft over a conflict zone.
A UFO flying around where the US military is operating has sparked security and safety concerns at the Department of Defense, with military officials worried it could endanger pilots and ground troops.
An image obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com of what appears to be a metallic-looking orb flying over Mosul, Iraq in April 2016, was included in a classified briefing video on UFOs shown to multiple US government agencies
(image credit: DoD/Jeremy Corbell)
One intelligence source said the video was sent to the Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia, where imagery and electronic signals intelligence experts studied it for United States Central Command (CENTCOM)
Although the image itself is not classified, footage from which the image was captured was part of a classified briefing produced by the Pentagon's Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF), a unit tasked with investigating UFO incidents, which has now been replaced by another office in the Department of Defense.
The briefing describes and shows the UFO as moving from south to north, adding that it does not appear to descend.
In a four-second video titled 'Mosul Orb' included in the briefing, the UFO appears for one second as it flies alongside the MC-12 spy plane.
The photo was obtained by documentary filmmaker and investigative journalist Jeremy Corbell (pictured) and journalist George Knapp
Intriguingly, the object appears to have no apparent flight surfaces like wings, or discernible propulsion.
An intelligence source with operational knowledge of the footage said it was filmed using 'FMV [full motion video] by DGS-1' – implying that the plane sensors captured infra-red and other data when it filmed the UFO.
DailyMail.com understands that officials who assembled the briefing video believe the 'orb' was under intelligent control.
One intelligence source said the video was sent to the Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia, where imagery and electronic signals intelligence experts studied it for United States Central Command (CENTCOM).
Despite being analyzed and studied by intelligence experts for over six years, the incident remains unexplained.
DailyMail.com can now reveal that the case formed part of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) Preliminary Assessment on UFOs, a report published in May 2021 which analyzed 144 cases and found an explanation for just one.
It comes a few months after the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) published a second UFO report this month, which said it has analyzed 510 cases up to August 30, 2022
The ODNI published a second report this month, which said it has analyzed 510 cases up to August 30, 2022.
One source who had seen the report described dozens of videos on classified servers showing metallic-looking orbs captured by US spy planes or drones in the Middle East – similar to the image released today.
'These drones operate 20-25,000 feet up in the air and they're flying around. We're keeping an eye on bad guys all over the world,' the source said.
'An operator will be zoomed in looking at a town in Syria. And all of a sudden, a little orb will go flying through the viewfinder.
'The operator's like, ''What the hell?'' And so he starts focusing on it and he just watches the orb for a while. We might get it for 30 seconds, we might watch it for 10 minutes. And then it will do something remarkable, like suddenly bolt off the screen.'
The image obtained by DailyMail.com was taken at 9:47am Coordinated Universal Time on April 16, 2016, according to its timestamp.
There were also precise coordinates of where the image was taken in northern Iraq, but Corbell told DailyMail.com he removed them out of an abundance of caution to avoid the release of sensitive information.
CENTCOM forces have been deployed in the Middle East since 2014 to conduct military operations against ISIS.
DailyMail.com understands that Congressional intelligence and defense committees have seen the image and footage, as part of a briefing given by the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF), a previous incarnation of the government's UFO office.
In May 2021, Corbell published videos from the warship incidents that set social media ablaze
Still images and briefing slides from a video show a spherical object diving into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California in 2019. Jeremy Corbell told DailyMail.com last June that the video shows 'FLIR [forward looking infrared] data' that is complimented by the radar footage
Corbell and Knapp said they will be releasing information, photos and videos in the podcast that they have been holding for 'years'
Corbell said that the briefing presentation was updated on shared classified intelligence servers on November 4, 2021, to encourage and inform reporting of UFOs by armed forces personnel – and that it has been shared with the wider intelligence community to keep them updated about UFO incursions into sensitive airspace.
He said the spherical shape of the object captured in Iraq is reminiscent of similar UFOs encountered by naval aviators operating on the US east and west coast every day, but is more complicated since it is occurring in an active conflict zone.
'For the first time, we are releasing a military-filmed image of a UAP over an active conflict zone,' Corbell said. 'This is an entirely different scenario to the east and west Coast incursions over training ranges.
'UAP [unidentified anomalous phenomena] pose significant risk to our service men and women, and this case highlights this – and is unfortunately not unique.
'This is not just about safety concerns to pilots and ground troops. Its potential consequences are far deeper. And the scope is now proven to be global.'
A source close to the military's current UFO investigations office, the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), said there are 'more cases like this one'.
'We have investigated a lot of UAP cases over the years and there are many more cases like this one. And this one was indeed part of the official UAP investigations by the UAPTF and now DoD's AARO. And it is still unresolved.'
Corbell added: 'No matter where UFOs are from, it is now openly admitted by our Department of Defense that they are appearing with an increased frequency worldwide.
'UAP, at minimum, pose a fundamental intelligence and combat identification problem that must be addressed.
'It's time to acknowledge the UFO problem, and I am hopeful that ARRO and its stakeholders will dedicate robust resources to this enduring mystery on behalf of the American and global public.'
This case has emerged following the approval by President Joe Biden of the Fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, which contains provisions relating to UFOs.
The House Intelligence Committee held its first public hearing on UFOs in 54 years where panel members grilled Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence Scott Bray (left) and Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security Ronald Moultrie (right)
One clip shown at the historic congressional hearing was taken from a Navy cockpit in a training area and shows a spherical object floating by the aircraft
This file video grab image obtained April 28, 2020 courtesy of the US Department of Defense shows part of an unclassified video taken by Navy pilots that have circulated for years showing interactions with 'unidentified anomalous phenomena'
One clause in the new law offers protections for any whistleblowers coming forward to congress in classified briefings to disclose any previously hidden programs on 'unidentified anomalous phenomena' involving 'material retrieval, material analysis' and even 'reverse engineering' and 'developmental or operational testing'.
In May last year Congress held its first hearing on UFOs in 50 years.
He gained notoriety after producing a popular Netflix documentary on Bob Lazar, who claims to have worked at the infamous Area 51 in Nevada on recovered alien spacecraft.
George Knapp, who reports for Las Vegas CBS affiliate KLAS-TV, became a noted figure among UFO enthusiasts after his first interview with Lazar in 1989, and has written books on the government's UFO programs. He has won two Peabody awards and other gongs for his reporting.
Corbell and Knapp said they will be releasing information, photos and videos in the podcast that they have been holding for 'years'.
The first episode, released today, includes audio of an interview with a naval officer from the USS Paul Hamilton who witnessed alleged UFOs swarming the ship in July 2019.
'It was actually coming from the west,' the officer told Corbell in the recording. 'Over water away from land, I mean like, the only thing we have over there is Hawaii, which is probably the closest thing west of us.'
Other witnesses say the alleged UFOs 'shot down beams of light', and swarmed several other ships that were also conducting exercises in the Pacific Ocean off the US west coast that month.
Last year the Pentagon said they had identified the craft as drones, but could not confirm where they came from or who operated them. Corbell's witness was skeptical of the drone theory.
'They would depart on different bearings that they would come in from,' the officer said.
'Pretty constantly, it would be a different bearing, which is weird right, like so if you deploy a drone to check something out, it would come. So that was something significant enough for us.'
The first ever publicly revealed UFO footage taken by US spy plane in a conflict zone: “Metallic-looking orb seen flying over Mosul, Iraq”
The first ever publicly revealed UFO footage taken by US spy plane in a conflict zone: “Metallic-looking orb seen flying over Mosul, Iraq”
An image of a metallic-looking orb flying over Mosul, Iraq in April 2016, was included in a classified briefing video on UFOs shown to multiple US government agencies.
DailyMail.com has obtained an exclusive image of a metallic-looking orb flying over Mosul, Iraq in April 2016, from footage taken by a US intelligence-recon plane.
The recent release of an exclusive image of a metallic-looking orb flying over Mosul, Iraq in April 2016, captured by a US intelligence-reconnaissance plane, has caused a stir among both the public and government officials. The image, which was included in a classified briefing video on UFOs shown to multiple US government agencies, is being considered as the first publicly revealed image from the US government’s ongoing UFO investigation showing an unidentified craft over a conflict zone.
A briefing video released by journalists George Knapp and Jeremy Corbell describes an unidentified flying object that has a metallic shine on it’s surface. It shows an unusual image of an object flying over Mosul in Iraq. The object, which has no apparent flight surfaces, has raised suspicion about its capabilities and origin.
The sighting in a conflict zone where the US military is operating has sparked security and safety concerns at the Department of Defense. Military officials are worried that the object could endanger pilots and ground troops, as it is not known whether it is a hostile or friendly aircraft. One intelligence source said the video was sent to the Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia, where imagery and electronic signals intelligence experts studied it for the United States Central Command (CENTCOM).
The release of the image has reignited the debate about UFOs and their existence, with many experts and researchers calling for more transparency and investigation into the phenomenon. The image also raises questions about the capabilities and technologies of other nations and non-state actors, as the object does not seem to be of any known design or origin.
The US government has had a long-standing interest in UFOs and their potential threats to national security. In 1947, the Air Force created Project Sign to investigate the numerous UFO sightings that were being reported. The project concluded that the majority of UFO sightings could be explained by natural phenomena or human error, but some remained unexplained. In 1953, the Air Force created Project Grudge to investigate UFOs, but it was shut down in 1955 due to lack of funding and resources.
In 1969, the Air Force created the Office of Special Investigations (OSI) to investigate UFOs. The OSI closed in 1974 due to budget constraints, but the Air Force continued to investigate UFOs through its Foreign Technology Division. In 1977, the Air Force closed its UFO investigation program, stating that there was no evidence of a threat to national security.
The image was obtained by investigative journalist Jeremy Corbell and journalist George Knapp, both of whom are documentary filmmakers.
In 2019, the US government started investigating reports of unidentified flying objects. The Navy then formed a task force to look into these reports. The Pentagon also established a similar organization to look into these reports. The UAPTF was replaced by another agency within the Department of Defense.
The release of the image from Mosul raises questions about the capabilities of the UAPTF, and whether it has been able to provide any answers or explanations about the object. The image also raises concerns about the government’s ability to protect national security, as the object seems to be able to fly over a conflict zone without being detected or intercepted.
The image also raises questions about the government’s ability to protect national security, as the object seems to be able to fly over a conflict zone without being detected or intercepted. The object’s speed, altitude, and maneuverability are not known, but it seems to be able to fly in the vicinity of a US military operation without being detected or intercepted.
This raises concerns about the ability of the US military to protect national security, as it suggests that there may be other unidentified objects that are able to fly over US military operations without detection. This could potentially have serious implications for the safety and security of US military personnel and assets.
The image also raises questions about the government’s ability to protect national security in the face of new and emerging technologies. The object in the image appears to have advanced capabilities, such as the ability to fly at high speeds and altitudes, and maneuver in ways that are not possible with current technology. This suggests that there may be other nations or non-state actors that have access to similar or even more advanced technologies.
This incident has raised concerns about the US military’s ability to defend against threats from other nations. It also highlights the government’s vulnerability to technological changes, and it shows how quickly technological advances can be made.
The release of the image from Mosul also highlights the need for more transparency and investigation into UFOs and their potential implications for national security. The image raises questions about the government’s ability to protect national security, and it is important that the government provides answers and explanations about the object and its capabilities.
The government should be transparent regarding its investigations into reports of unidentified flying vehicles. It should also provide the public with the necessary information to understand the potential implications of these phenomena for national security. Doing so will help build public trust and confidence in its ability to protect the country.
In conclusion, the release of the image of a metallic-looking orb flying over Mosul, Iraq in April 2016 has raised serious concerns about the government’s ability to protect national security. The object’s advanced capabilities and the fact that it was able to fly over a conflict zone without being detected or intercepted suggest that there may be other unidentified objects with similar capabilities. This highlights the need for more transparency and investigation into UFOs and their potential implications for national security. It is crucial for the government to provide answers and explanations about the object and its capabilities, and to be transparent about its investigations into UFOs to address the concerns of the public.
The first episode of Weaponized, hosted by Jeremy Corbell and George Knapp, can be viewed here:
The Credible Encounter: The 1954 Cennina UFO Landing and Encounter with Humanoids
The Credible Encounter: The 1954 Cennina UFO Landing and Encounter with Humanoids
Cover of “La Domenica del Corriere” November 14, 1954
The Cennina landing of 1954 is one of the most extraordinary UFO landing and contact cases ever recorded. On November 1, 1954, a woman named Rosa Lotti was walking into the small town of Cennina, Italy when she came across an unusual sight. In front of her stood a vertical spindle-like object, which she described as being “like 2 cones joined at their bases.” From behind the craft emerged two little men, who were only about 3 feet tall. The men approached Lotti with friendly expressions, with one of them even laughing. They spoke in a language that sounded like Chinese and proceeded to snatch the carnations and one of Lotti’s stockings from her. Lotti, understandably frightened, ran away.
After the encounter, a deep hole was found in the ground at the site. The men were described as wearing grey overalls, short cloaks, and helmets. They were no taller than a five-year-old child, but their bodies were in proportion. The object was described as a double cone, about 2 meters high and 1 meter wide in the middle. It was made of a shiny metal and had a glass door on the lower cone with two small seats inside. Lotti reported that she did not hear any sound coming from the object.
This incident is classified as a CE-III (Close Encounter III) by Dr. J. Allen Hynek, meaning that there was a close observation of animate beings associated with the object. Multiple witnesses reported the encounter, and physical evidence in the form of the hole in the ground was found. The Cennina landing of 1954 is considered one of the most extraordinary UFO landing and contact cases ever recorded, and has been mentioned by prominent UFO researcher Jacques Vallee as case No. 24 in his “Century of Landings.”
The Cennina landing is considered to be one of the most credible UFO cases on record due to the multiple witnesses and physical evidence. Rosa Lotti’s account of the incident is particularly detailed and consistent. She described the little men as being about 1 meter in height and wearing a sort of grey overall that covered their entire bodies, including their feet. They also wore short cloaks of a grey material, and over the one-piece overall they wore a sort of doublet, fastened with little buttons that looked like shining stars. Their trousers were tightly-fitting, “like the long underpants that our men wear in the winter.” Their faces were normal, but small, and they were no taller than a five-year-old infant.
The object they saw was described as a double cone, which was over 2 meters high. Its outside appeared to be made of polished light metal, and its lower cone had an open glass door. In the center of the spindle, which was the widest part of the object, there was a roundish glass, which closely followed the mysterious machine’s round shape.
The sighting was reported by multiple witnesses, and the physical evidence of the deep hole found at the site added credibility to the incident. The Cennina landing is also significant because it is one of the few cases where the occupants of the UFO were described as being human-like, rather than the more common descriptions of beings with large eyes and small mouths.
Despite the credibility of the Cennina landing, some skeptics have attempted to explain the incident as a misidentification or hoax. Some have suggested that Lotti may have mistaken a weather balloon or other man-made object for a UFO. However, Lotti’s detailed and consistent description of the object, as well as the fact that multiple witnesses reported seeing the object, make this explanation unlikely.
Some skeptics also believe that Lotti and her group staged the incident to make it look like a hoax. However, this theory is not supported by any credible evidence. The fact that the hole in the ground that was discovered at the site was almost a meter deep, and it was hard to fake, makes the incident more believable.
Article on the weekly “Tutti” of November 14, 1954. Title: Do stockings and carnations attract Martians?
In conclusion, the Cennina landing of 1954 is considered one of the most extraordinary and credible UFO landing and contact cases on record. The detailed and consistent account provided by Rosa Lotti, multiple witness reports, and physical evidence all lend credibility to the incident. While some skeptics may attempt to explain the incident as a misidentification or hoax, there is no evidence to support these claims. The Cennina landing remains one of the most intriguing and unexplained UFO encounters in history.
0
1
2
3
4
5
- Gemiddelde waardering: 0/5 - (0 Stemmen) Categorie:ALIEN LIFE, UFO- CRASHES, ABDUCTIONS, MEN IN BLACK, ed ( FR. , NL; E )
The alleged 1945 alien encounter at the Trinity Nuclear Test Site in New Mexico before Roswell
The alleged 1945 alien encounter at the Trinity Nuclear Test Site in New Mexico before Roswell
The Trinity Test Site in New Mexico was the location of the world's first nuclear explosion in July 1945. The test, code-named "Trinity," involved detonating a plutonium implosion device on a 100-foot tower. The explosion released 18.6 kilotons of power, instantly vaporizing the tower and turning the surrounding area into green glass. The Pentagon reportedly tried to keep the test quiet, but in recent years, information about it has become more widely known.
There are also reports of a separate incident involving an alleged UFO crash near the Trinity test site in 1945. On August 16, 1945, just a month after the Trinity nuclear test two boys, Jose Padilla and Reme Baca, heard a crash. They reportedly saw an avocado-shaped craft, inside of which were two mantis-like occupants, one of whom was in pain. The object reportedly struck a communications tower during its descent, and the two boys witnessed the US Army trying to remove it.
A third witness, bomber pilot Lt. Col William Brothy, was coming in for a landing at the nearby Alamogordo air base when air traffic controllers asked him to investigate the sudden loss of signal from a communications tower. Brothy’s report describes the damage to the tower, as well as the egg-shaped object and the two boys huddled around it
There have been reports of UFO sightings near nuclear sites and facilities throughout history, There does seem to be some sort of intersection between UFOs and humans nuclear technology. There were incidents that nuclear missiles shutting down unexpectedly at the same time UFOs appear above an Air Force base.
In the next video, former UK Ministry of Defense official Nick Pope discusses a bill that would require the Department of Defense to review historical documents related to the alleged UFO sighting near the Trinity test site in 1945 on 'Tucker Carlson Tonight.'
James Webb Space Telescope detects 'coldest ices measured to date in a molecular cloud' - 4K
The James Webb Space Telescope captured amazing imagery of the Chameleon I dark molecular cloud. It harbors the "deepest, coldest ices measured to date in a molecular cloud," according to ESA.
Credit: Space.com | footage courtesy: ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, STScI, M. K. McClure, F. Sun, Z. Smith, the Ice Age ERS team, N. Bartmann (ESA/Webb) and M. Zamani (ESA/Webb) | edited by Steve Spaleta (https://twitter.com/stevespaleta)
Black Holes Aren’t Black or Even Holes. What Are They?
Voyager Just Sent This Terrifying Message to the Scientists from Space!
No matter how deep the Mariana Trench extends, or how much Mount Everest scrapes the clouds: Compared to the entire universe, we are infinitely small. In order to decode the mysteries of the cosmos and to understand the universe more precisely than ever before, unmanned space probes and complex space telescopes have been used for some time. But what overwhelming insights should these technical feats already give us? And why did the data that Voyager 1 recently sent tous caus sheer horror in the ranks of experts? Let's set off together into the gigantic expanses of space and look for answers!
New Solution to the Fermi Paradox Found! Scientists Hope They're Wrong.
This NASA Astronaut Accidentally Captured This While On The Moon
China's Yutu-2 rover captures new images of moon's far side
China's Yutu-2 rover recently beamed back new imagery of the lunar surface. See rover tracks and more in the new views from the far side of the moon.
Credit: Space.com | footage courtesy: China Central Television (CCTV) | edited by Steve Spaleta (https://twitter.com/stevespaleta)
The Stickiest Non-Sticky Substance
Adhesives based on gecko skin can hold huge weights – without sticking to anything.
Apollo 11: The Complete Descent
A detailed account of every second of the Apollo 11 descent and landing. The video combines data from the onboard computer for altitude and pitch angle, 16mm film that was shot throughout the descent at 6 frames per second. The audio recording is from two sources. The air/ground transmissions are on the left stereo channel and the mission control flight director loop is on the right channel. Subtitles are included to aid comprehension.
As well as Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Mike Collins, the video includes the following people from the mission control team:
Flight - Gene Kranz CapCom - Charlie Duke GNC - Buck Willoughby EECOM - John Aaron FIDO - Jay Greene RETRO - Chuck Deiterich Guidance - Steve Bales Control - Bob Carlton TELCOM - Don Puddy Surgeon - John Zieglschmid
This is part of the Apollo Flight Journal, Apollo 11 collection.
Maand na winterslaap nog geen teken van leven van Chinese robotjeep op Mars
Een maand nadat verwacht werd dat de Chinese robotjeep Zhurong uit zijn winterslaap zou komen, is er nog geen teken van leven gekomen vanop Mars. Experts willen de hoop nog niet opgeven dat de rover toch weer actief wordt.
Het Chinese ruimtevaartagentschap sprak zich nog niet uit over de status van Zhurong, maar in de staatsmedia worden berichten over problemen met de rover afgedaan als “opgeklopt”. De negatieve berichtgeving zou politiek gemotiveerd zijn, en zou een manier zijn om de vooruitgang van het Chinese ruimtevaartprogramma “te ondermijnen”.
De Marsjeep rolde op 22 mei 2021 van het landingsplatform op de rode planeet. China was hiermee het eerste land dat erin slaagde om, in zijn allereerste Marsmissie, in een baan rond Mars te komen, er te landen en een landvoertuig te ontplooien.
Zware zandstorm
Maar nu wordt gevreesd dat Zhurong de zware zandstormen niet heeft overleefd, omdat er te veel zand op de zonnezeilen terecht is gekomen. “Het zou niet verrassend zijn als de rover niet uit zijn slaapstand geraakt. Hij werkt namelijk op zonne-energie, en er is een lange geschiedenis van landers en rovers op Mars die op zonne-energie werken en geen energie meer hadden”, legt David Flannery, van de Queensland University of Technology, uit aan het vakblad Nature. Flannery maakt deel uit van het team achter de Amerikaanse Marsjeep Perseverance.
Andere experten blijven optimistisch en verwachten dat de temperaturen toch nog stijgen en de zonnecellen zo alsnog genoeg zon zouden kunnen opnemen. “Het is te vroeg om nu al te zeggen dat er iets niet werkt”, aldus Baptiste Chide, wetenschapper bij het Los Alamos National Laboratory. Ook hij werkt mee aan Perseverance.
Dat het Chinese ruimtevaartprogramma zich niet uitspreekt, is echter “merkwaardig”, zegt een medewerker van het Zhurong-team, die anoniem wil blijven.
Toch succesvol
Nu al geldt de Chinese missie als een succes, aangezien alle geplande projecten zijn uitgevoerd. De rover reed bijna 2 km over het Marsoppervlak en verzamelde vele wetenschappelijke bevindingen, vond sporen van vroegere waterafzettingen en was al drie maanden langer in werking dan gepland.
China is het derde land dat erin slaagt een ruimtetuig gecontroleerd te laten landen op de Rode Planeet. Dat lukte eerder alleen de Sovjet-Unie en de Verenigde Staten. Enkel de Amerikanen slaagden er ook al in om een voertuigje rond te laten rijden op Mars.
Kijk. James Webb heeft meest afgelegen sterrenstelsel gespot
0
1
2
3
4
5
- Gemiddelde waardering: 0/5 - (0 Stemmen) Categorie:HLN.be - Het Laatste Nieuws ( NL)
Best UFO Sightings of the 1990s with Randall Nickerson
Best UFO Sightings of the 1990s with Randall Nickerson
In recent years, the topic of UFOs and alien abductions has gained renewed interest among the public and researchers alike. One of the most prominent figures in this field of study is the late Dr. John Mack, a Pulitzer Prize-winning psychiatrist and professor at Harvard University. Mack was a pioneer in the field of alien abduction research, conducting extensive investigations and interviews with those who claimed to have had encounters with extraterrestrial beings
The topic of alien abductions is a controversial one, with many skeptics arguing that the experiences are simply hallucinations or the result of mass hysteria. However, Mack believed that these experiences were real and that they deserved to be taken seriously. He faced significant resistance from the scientific community, as well as from some of his colleagues and friends, who thought that he had gone too far in his research. Despite this, Mack stood by his findings, even as his reputation was tarnished and he faced criticism from many quarters.
One of the cases that Mack investigated was that of a school in Zimbabwe where several students claimed to have had encounters with UFOs and alien beings. The school was located in an area surrounded by ancient burial sites, and the local people had a long history of belief in spiritual beings associated with certain locations in the area. The students’ descriptions of the alien beings were similar to those reported in other parts of the world, and they were convinced that their experiences were real
The topic of UFOs and alien abductions has also been explored by other researchers, such as Jacques Vallée. Vallée has focused on the connection between UFOs and nuclear weapons, noting that there is a significant amount of evidence to suggest that UFOs have a keen interest in what we are doing with nuclear weapons. Some experts believe that this could be because UFOs are from a civilization that is far more advanced than our own, and that they have been visiting Earth for a long time.
The film “Abduction in Zimbabwe” by Randall Nickerson is an exploration of the case of the school in Zimbabwe, as well as other cases of alien abductions. The film is based on years of research and interviews with those who have had encounters with extraterrestrial beings. Nickerson’s film provides a window into the complex and often controversial world of alien abduction research and offers a compelling case for the reality of these experiences.
It’s worth mentioning that the topic of alien abductions is a controversial one, and there are many skeptics who argue that the experiences are simply hallucinations or the result of mass hysteria. However, many people who have had encounters with extraterrestrial beings are convinced that their experiences were real. It’s important to remember that the question of whether or not alien abductions are real is ultimately a question of belief. Each person must decide for themselves what they believe to be true based on the evidence available to them.
In conclusion, Dr. John Mack’s pioneering research on alien abductions has brought attention to the topic of UFOs and alien encounters, and his work has been an important contribution to the field of ufology. The case of the school in Zimbabwe, as well as other cases of alien abductions, highlights the complexity of the issue and the importance of further research. The film “Abduction in Zimbabwe” by Randall Nickerson is an important contribution to the field, providing a window into the often-controversial world of alien abduction research and offering a compelling case for the reality of these experiences.
In recent years, there have been a number of strange sightings and discoveries in Russia that have sparked discussions about the possibility of extraterrestrial life. From a mysterious creature found in the wilderness to a strange light seen in a lake, these incidents have left many people wondering if they could be proof of alien activity in Russia.
In 1996, a local woman discovered a strange creature in the wilderness, which was dubbed Alyoshenka by the media. According to the woman, the creature was still alive when she discovered it. Some experts believe it could be a primate, like a squirrel monkey, but the fact that it was found in Siberia, where squirrel monkeys are not native, raises questions about its origin. Forensic investigator Chase Kloetzke also pointed out that there were no signs of gore or fluids, which would be expected if the creature had just survived a crash.
In 2011, a farmer in a small village in Russia reported that his home was shaken by a large explosion nearby. While looking for the source of the explosion, the farmer stumbled upon some remains that looked nothing like the usual local wildlife. The creature had a strange head and an even stranger torso and limbs, and appeared to be petrified. The fact that the remains were found in a state of mummification raised questions about whether it could be an undiscovered dinosaur or even a creature from Slavic folklore, such as Baba Yaga, a witch who lives in the woods and eats children.
In 2013, a video surfaced of a bright light seen in Lake Baikal, the oldest and deepest lake in the world. The light appeared to be coming from beneath the surface of the lake, but experts were unable to explain what it could be. Some theories suggested it could be a search light from another unseen boat or aircraft, but the way the light rippled on the surface of the water ruled that out. Others suggested it could be bioluminescent marine life, but there are no known bioluminescent animals in the lake.
In 2019, a photographer in Moscow captured footage of a cluster of circular objects flying in front of the moon. The objects appeared to be orbiting the moon, but their size, estimated to be 2-3 miles wide, would make them almost 40 times larger than the International Space Station, the largest craft in Earth’s orbit. Some experts suggested they could be satellites, but the fact that they were not in the same orbit as other spacecrafts raised questions about their origin.
Overall, it’s clear that there are a number of strange sightings and discoveries in Russia that have yet to be fully explained. While some experts have offered possible explanations, such as the creature found in the wilderness being a malformed primate or the light in the lake being a search light, there are still many unanswered questions and lingering doubts about the true nature of these incidents. Whether or not they are proof of alien activity in Russia remains to be seen, but they are certainly intriguing and worth further investigation.
Please take a moment to watch the video provided by the History Channel to learn more about this topic.
30 years ago, on a 5 p.m newscast, a live interview aired with a man named Dennis who made shocking allegations about flying saucers of extraterrestrial origin. He claimed that there were nine of them and that they were being kept at a top secret location known as Area 51. This interview caught the attention of the entire world and sparked a lot of curiosity and speculation. Predict
The story is about Bob Lazar, a man who said he was involved in a secret U.S government cover-up reverse engineering alien spacecraft at the now notorious Area 51. Some believe that Bob Lazar is a sociopath who has harnessed people’s curiosity into aliens to mess with them, while others believe he is a courageous whistleblower whose life has been destroyed by trying to reveal the truth.
The story of Bob Lazar is still captivating to people today, but his background is hard to nail down. He claims to have a Masters of Science degree in physics in 1982 from MIT, and a further master’s in South Korean electronic tech in 1985. He wrote his thesis on magnetohydrodynamics. Bob Lazar’s story has many consistencies and inconsistencies, so it is hard to know what to believe.
Bob Lazar’s story takes an even more intriguing turn when he claims to have worked with an element known as muscovium, or element 115, on the periodic table. He says that this element was used to fuel the extraterrestrial spacecraft he was working on at Area 51. However, many people argue that Lazar couldn’t have known about this element in the 1980s, decades before its official discovery.
The difference, according to Lazar, is that the fuel he worked on was stable, whereas the element 115 synthesized decades later was unstable. He even claims to have smuggled some of the element out of the S4 facility to conduct his own private experiments, but footage of these experiments has never been found.
Skeptics argue that the story is a classic hoax, and there is also critique into the concept that muscovium is the element 115 that Lazar discussed. Lazar also claims that the S4 facility wasn’t just studying the craft in the lab, they were also flying them. He witnessed these test flights and says that the source of the craft was able to lift off the ground, hover silently, move all over the place, and then land without being seen. He claims that the entire vehicle was an impossibility.
Bob’s work at S4 lasted roughly six months and as part of his work contract, he agreed to having his phones tapped and that he wouldn’t discuss his work with anyone, not even his wife. However, it became apparent through the surveillance that Bob’s wife was having an affair and he knew nothing about it.
Because a stable home life was a requirement for this position, Bob was told not to come into work. He also started noticing people following him in his daily routine and thinking he was being kicked out of the program and not knowing why. He revealed all to his friends and explained to them the reality of the work he was doing.
He promised to show them proof and took his friends out into the desert on a Wednesday night with a clear view of a flight test. The video that he filmed that night is the only evidence that exists of Bob’s claims. However, after the third occasion, he was caught and released, but quickly became aware that he was in serious trouble.
At this point, he contacted George Knapp as an insurance policy. The story hit the public sphere when Dennis, the man interviewed on the 5 p.m newscast, contacted Knapp and revealed the truth about Bob Lazar’s claims. However, the repercussions of coming forward with this information were severe. Lazar claims that he was physically threatened and that his life was destroyed for trying to reveal the truth.
Videocompilatie van de UFO-beelden die in 2022 bij het Belgisch UFO-meldpunt (www.ufomeldpunt.be) binnenkwamen.
SpaceX Starship on Static Fire Pad, Full Stack Fuelling, Falcon Heavy, Two Falcon 9s, Neutron News
At Starbase, Ship 25's static fire campaign is about to start, as it has now been mounted on Suborbital Pad B! Meanwhile, the full stack Booster 7 and Ship 24 continue to undergo propellant loading tests ahead of the Starship orbital flight test wet dress rehearsal! Over at the build site, it's curtains for Ship 22 and Booster 8; both vehicles were cut up for scrap. In non-Starship news, SpaceX launched the USSF 67 Falcon Heavy mission, as well as another Starlink Launch and the GPS III Amelia Earhart mission! On the ISS, Koichi Wakata and Nicole Mann performed a spacewalk to update the station's power systems, and at Cape Canaveral a very special recovered booster arrives for the first time 57 years after it was first launched! All of this and more to look forward to, I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I enjoyed making it!
Elon Musk just revealed how Starship will land on Mars "LEGS requirement"...
Elon Musk just revealed how Starship will land on Mars "LEGS requirement"..
NASA's New Airliner Experiment To Make Flying Less Expensive
This week NASA signed onto a Space Act Agreement with Boeing on a project to build a full size version of the Transonic Truss Braced Wing design with a goal of demonstrating significant improvements in efficiency that will directly translate to improved fuel consumption and lower costs.
This may be a blueprint for a future airliner, fuel cost is one of the major considerations to aircraft operators and technologies which provide even small improvements can pay off handsome rewards over the lifetime of the aircraft.
Or maybe the technology developed will end up being used in some completely different form....
Neil deGrasse Tyson Explains Faster Than Light Interstellar Travel
In this video, renowned astrophysicist and science communicator Neil DeGrasse Tyson explores the concept of faster than light interstellar travel.
Drawing on his extensive knowledge of physics and the universe, Tyson delves into the theories and possibilities of traveling at speeds faster than the speed of light.
He discusses the impact of time dilation, the limitations of current technology, and the potential of futuristic technologies like warp drive and hyperspace.
Tyson also touches on the concept of wormholes as a possible route for faster than light travel and the impact of quantum mechanics on this field.
He also talks about the influence of popular culture, such as Star Trek and the impact of these shows on public perception of faster than light travel.
This video is a must-watch for anyone interested in space exploration, the physics of the universe, and the possibilities of futuristic technology.
Neil DeGrasse Tyson's engaging and accessible teaching style makes complex scientific concepts easy to understand, and his enthusiasm for the subject is contagious.
Whether you're a science enthusiast or just curious about the possibilities of faster than light travel, this video has something to offer.
Don't miss out on this opportunity to gain insight from one of the world's leading experts in astrophysics and space exploration.
Tune in now to learn more about the science behind faster than light travel and the potential for humanity to one day reach the stars.
Asteroid 2023 BU to buzz Earth on January 26 | Orbit animation
Bill Whitaker's 2017 reports on the spectacular revelations courtesy of the Hubble Space Telescope, efforts to track down a ninth planet in our solar system, and the Mars rover Curiosity. And from 2013, Anderson Cooper's report on the dangers posed by asteroids falling from space.
Hubble Space Telescope, Planet 9, Curiosity Mars Rover, Cosmic Roulette | 60 Minutes Full Episodes
Bill Whitaker's 2017 reports on the spectacular revelations courtesy of the Hubble Space Telescope, efforts to track down a ninth planet in our solar system, and the Mars rover Curiosity. And from 2013, Anderson Cooper's report on the dangers posed by asteroids falling from space.
Loch Ness Monster | History's Greatest Mysteries with Laurence Fishburne Returns Jan. 30 | History
Despite centuries of sightings and searches, one of the most infamous deep-sea monsters remains unidentified. As evidence continues to mount, the mystery endures: does the Loch Ness Monster really exist? And if so, what could it be?
Watch all new episodes of History's Greatest Mysteries, returning Monday, January 30 at 9/8c, and stay up to date on all of your favorite The HISTORY Channel shows at history.com/schedule.
RELATED VIDEOS
Scientists Have Just Found an Unbelievable Civilization in the Amazon Jungle!
With a gigantic area of six million square kilometers, the Amazon rainforest embodies the largest jungle on earth. As the so-called crown of nature, the huge forest area impresses with an overwhelming variety of species that is unique in the world. However, the jungle still hides countless secrets, the decoding of which will help to understand the development of human history more precisely than ever. You want to know how the experts recently managed to uncover the breathtaking traces of a mysterious civilization in the jungle? Then stay tuned until the end and make up your own mind!
Latvia’s Enigmatic Virtaka Cliff and Mysterious Gauja River Petroglyphs
Latvia’s Enigmatic Virtaka Cliff and Mysterious Gauja River Petroglyphs
Petroglyphs,cave paintings , and different rock carvings are some of the earliest forms of expression of early man. In the Baltic, Pomeranian, and Scandinavian regions of Europe, petroglyphs have been utilized for various purposes for thousands of years in the lives of its inhabitants. Popular in the Paleolithic, Neolithic, and well into the Bronze and even Iron Age, petroglyphs became a unique heritage of Europe. Today we will examine one of the most intricate and intriguing petroglyph examples in the Baltic region, known as the Virtaka Cliff in Latvia.
But what are petroglyphs? Petroglyphs are elaborate incisions in prominent rocks, boulders, and cliff walls that served a religious or similar purpose for the various cultures and tribes that lived a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. They often depicted mythical creatures or the hunting of game. All the various symbols are still a subject of a lot of study to decipher and understand their purpose and meaning.
The Virtaka Cliff petroglyphs are located on sandstone cliffs along the Gauja River Basin in Latvia. (BirdsEyeLV / CC BY-SA 3.0 )
Belated Discovery of the Virtaka Cliff
The Krimulda parish and municipality is located close to the shores of the Baltic Sea in Latvia. This is the home of the Virtaka Cliff, a remote sandstone cliff that boasts a dense grouping of petroglyphs, one of the richest such collections of markings in the whole Baltic region. Latvia is the second largest of the three Baltic nations, and boasts a rich and lengthy history, seeped in the traditions and heritage of the Balts, and the Virtaka Cliff is a crucial insight into its oldest historical periods.
As it is situated in the so-called East European Plain, prominent rock outcrops and rock faces are somewhat of a rarity across the nation. Nevertheless, certain regions of Latvia still have suitable rocky canvases that the ancient peoples discovered and utilized for their enigmatic expressions. The Gauja River Basin is a critical example of this. The only truly Latvian river - emerging and ending entirely in Latvia – it carved out a deep river valley, with steep red rock cliffs all around its banks – a perfect canvas for some petroglyphs!
Natural caves are also in abundance in the region, many of them showing signs of ancient habitation. Many have been studied extensively and classed as sacred caves. There are roughly fifty of these in Latvia today. These are all important aspects of northeast European ancient cultures. But what is interesting is their geological background. These caves are formed through the same geological process as were the many cliffs in Latvia. Formed from sandstone, and relatively easy to work, they often show ancient carvings and symbols.
Sadly, visitors, travelers, wanderers, and tourists often exploited the softness of the sandstone by carving their names or goofy messages in the walls they chanced upon. Many of the ancient cliff faces and sacred caves have been thus defiled by “modern” writings. The rock faces of the popular Gutman Ala or Gutman’s cave have been extensively studied, but are also filled with tourist writings. The earliest of these dates to 1521!
The first discovery made by prominent cave researcher, Guntis Eniņš, was of mysterious carvings on the walls of the Lībiešu Upurala cave in 1971.
The very first ancient rock carvings in Latvia were discovered surprisingly recently. With centuries of outside interference and occupation from major regional powers, Latvia received its independence truly and formally around 1991. These occupations and internal struggles probably also influenced its scholarly world, limiting the extent of the archaeological studies until later decades of the 20th century.
In 1971, Latvia’s petroglyphs and rock carvings were discovered in earnest by a prominent cave researcher, Guntis Eniņš. His earliest discoveries were made in the Lībiešu Upurala cave. He discovered ritual remains in the cave, which were also corresponding to the mysterious carving on its walls. His next major discovery was made in 1986, on the face of the so-called Virtaka Rock. This prominent sandstone cliff face is located on the banks of the River Brasla.
The Virtaka Rock is one of the most stunning, primeval rivers of the Baltic region, with wild nature within its rugged valleys, and a truly heathenish ambience to it. The Virtaka Cliff is situated on its right bank, and its height is between 10 to 15 meters (32-50 feet), and length is roughly a 100 meters (~329 feet). At its base, secluded from sight, is a small niche cave, with a ceiling height of 2.5 meters (8.2 feet).
Upon close inspection, Guntis Eniņš was astounded by the majestic discovery he had made. The face of the sandstone cliff was covered with an intricate and dense grouping of ancient petroglyphs, covering a surface of 2 by 3.5 meters (6.5 by 11 feet). It was at once certain that this grouping of carvings was by far the largest and most significant such discovery in Latvia up to that point, and it made a big echo in the archaeological and historical scientific circles.
Discovered in 1986, the Virtaka Cliff petroglyphs in Latvia.
The carvings on Virtaka Cliff are very dense and very numerous, perhaps indicating a long period of “worship” or use by ancient inhabitants of the region. While the meaning, the role, and the symbolism behind the carvings remains largely a subject of debate, we can nevertheless spot some of the widely used symbols of the ancient times.
Some of them are various basic symbols used throughout Europe in the neolithic and the later ages, such as swastikas, sun crosses, circles, zig-zag lines, animal shapes and human shaped motifs. Important to note are the use of swastikas - which are ancient symbols of the sun in Old European cultures and civilizations. Some of them are arrayed in combined groups of four, while others are solitary. Sun crosses and similar shapes are also very old and very widespread in Ancient Europe.
The petroglyph carvings on Virtaka Cliff are very dense and numerous and were discovered in 1986 by Guntis Eniņš.
But more important to note are several symbols that are very recognizable in the later Balto-Slavic cultures. Many of them are best described as angular geometric symbols, and as such they are commonly observed in later Baltic andSlavic (Balto-Slavs diverged into these two distinct cultural groups) embroidery, carvings, and religious symbolism. The Hands of God (Slavic: Ręce Boga ) are one such symbol on the Virtaka Cliff, as are the numerous linear triangular formations that are identified as Slavic symbols of fertility, the tree of life, or the Sun.
As such, Virtaka Cliff could be an important indication into the traces of earliest Balto-Slavic cultural groups in the region, a remnant of the crucial amalgamation of the Proto and Indo Europeans. Alas, archaeological excavations at the foot of the cliff yielded no considerable finds that could help determine the age or the extent of its use in history. The uncertainty of the age of the carvings led to a lot of scholarly debate and a concentrated effort that could determine their age with certainty.
Eniņš, with the help of a prominent Latvian geologist, Vilma Venska, deduced that the carvings are between 500 and 1000 years old at most. This could place them into a time period of “late” Early Medieval Period, when some of Europe’s last pagans still held to their fate in the Baltic and Pomeranian region. As such, this dating by Eniņš does make sense. However, it could be even older than this.
Several key Latvian scholars offered their interpretations of these carvings, most of them largely agreeing as to their origins. However, it is the age that is subject to debate. The influential linguist Konstantīns Karulis offered his suggestion in 1988, saying that the Virtaka Cliff petroglyphs are motifs left behind by the early Balts, corresponding to their mythology and ancient world view. Several world tree symbols are clear suggestions of this.
The date the Virtaka cliff petroglyph were created has been a subject of debate.
But, surprisingly, Karulis somewhat shockingly suggested that the age of the carvings was no older than 200-300 yeas, which seems to be an almost impossible suggestion. Most other scholars across Latvia and Europe agree that the carvings are quite archaic, with a millennium of age being the lowest possibility. They also agree that these carvings can be easily connected to the Proto Indo-European symbolism and world view as it was commonly depicted through similar motifs thousands of years ago.
Guntis Eniņš devoted his efforts to further research and went on to discover several similar places in Latvia, especially in the Gauja River basin and Gauja National Park. In 1987, merely 50 meters (~165 feet) from the Virtaka Cliff, Eniņš discovered another smaller group of rock carvings. These were much simpler, consisting mainly of groups of vertical lines arranged in groups of nine. Eniņš deduced that it was a form of an ancient lunar calendar, and thus named this new site Kalendāra klints (Calendar Rock).
After this flurry of activity, interest in Virtaka Cliff quickly subsided after that - mainly due to inability for scholars to agree on its age. Meanwhile enthusiasts kept up their devoted explorations. Eniņš was at the head of a group of amateur explorers, and they went on to make several important discoveries. Some other local historians also made discoveries in this region, such as Ansis Opmanis, Imants Jurģītis, and Sarmīte Ansberga.
The inspector of the Gauja National Park also discovered petroglyphs in his rounds. Guntis Eniņš conducted thorough cleaning and excavations at these sites, notably at Krusti Rock and Re¸ģi Rock, copying the petroglyphs for preservation. However, it is interesting to not that Eniņš refrained from publicly announcing the exact locations of these new petroglyphs, in order to protect them from tourists and desecration.
After the discovery of the Virtaka cliff petroglyphs, Guntis Eniņš refrained from publicly announcing the exact locations of these new petroglyphs, in order to protect them from tourists and desecration, as you can see at the bottom in a carving from 2004.
Most - if not all - of Latvia’s discovered rock carvings and petroglyphs are situated in the area of Gauja River, where Brasla and Amata Rivers flow into it. Some of these locations have up to 300 symbols carved. However, dating these carvings has proved to be a very difficult task. One of Latvia’s leading archaeologists, Juris Urtāns, helped determine their age after his critical 2001 academic study.
This work was centered on the then-recently discovered petroglyphs on the so-called Raksti Cliff on the banks of the Rakstupīte river. The majority of those carvings were depictions of ships, and as such their discovery was a sensation. Urtāns’ academic publication was thus the first such work regarding the discussion of rock carvings in Latvia as a cultural and historical source. By a careful and complex analysis of the ship carvings, Urtāns managed to compare them to some later church graffiti and medieval symbols, dating the petroglyphs at Raksti Cliff to 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries AD.
This pointed that at least a part of petroglyphs discovered in the region are dated positively to the medieval period, showing that the custom of rock carving was preserved in the region of Latvia much longer than elsewhere. But then again, the Baltic nations were the last in Europe to be Christianized, and thus their pagan customs survived for much longer than elsewhere. Lithuania was Christianized around 1387 through severely violent means.
One of the proposed theories of the meaning of the carvings placed them in relation to the so-called “cross tree” tradition. This old custom had funerary origins. Inhabitants of Latvia would carve crosses in trees, usually pine, which was selected for that purpose. When the deceased was laid to rest, a cross was carved in the cross-tree, so his soul would not go past the spot marked with the cross.
It is proposed that the numerous markings on Virtaka Cliff had the same purpose, and were left there by mourners over the ages. The custom of cross-trees died out in the early 20th century with the onset of Russian rule over Latvia. Virtaka Cliff could thus be an important insight into the regional funerary traditions that date far back in time.
The Virtaka petroglyphs are an important part of Latvia's history. In 2016 the National Library of Latvia opened a lecture room called the Virtaka classroom, named in honor of the Virtaka rock on the Brasla River. The rock patterns have been replicated with an image on the wall in the room.
The European pagan heritage is undoubtedly an important aspect of our collective history. The period of Old Europe, and the emerging of later cultures as shaped by the Indo European touches, both showcase a complex world view and a far-reaching mythology. And although much of it is still shrouded in mystery, ancient caves and sites such as the Virtaka Cliff can help us greatly in piecing the numerous puzzles of our past.
Top image: Discovered in 1986, the Virtaka Cliff petroglyphs in Latvia
Beste bezoeker, Heb je zelf al ooit een vreemde waarneming gedaan, laat dit dan even weten via email aan Frederick Delaere opwww.ufomeldpunt.be. Deze onderzoekers behandelen jouw melding in volledige anonimiteit en met alle respect voor jouw privacy. Ze zijn kritisch, objectief maar open minded aangelegd en zullen jou steeds een verklaring geven voor jouw waarneming! DUS AARZEL NIET, ALS JE EEN ANTWOORD OP JOUW VRAGEN WENST, CONTACTEER FREDERICK. BIJ VOORBAAT DANK...
Druk op onderstaande knop om je bestand , jouw artikel naar mij te verzenden. INDIEN HET DE MOEITE WAARD IS, PLAATS IK HET OP DE BLOG ONDER DIVERSEN MET JOUW NAAM...
Druk op onderstaande knop om een berichtje achter te laten in mijn gastenboek
Alvast bedankt voor al jouw bezoekjes en jouw reacties. Nog een prettige dag verder!!!
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 74 jaar jong.
Mijn hobby's zijn: Ufologie en andere esoterische onderwerpen.
Op deze blog vind je onder artikels, werk van mezelf. Mijn dank gaat ook naar André, Ingrid, Oliver, Paul, Vincent, Georges Filer en MUFON voor de bijdragen voor de verschillende categorieën...
Veel leesplezier en geef je mening over deze blog.
![Still images and briefing slides from a video show a spherical object diving into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California in 2019. Jeremy Corbell told DailyMail.com last June that the video shows 'FLIR [forward looking infrared] data' that is complimented by the radar footage](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/01/23/20/59433721-11666549-image-a-42_1674504295014.jpg)
.png){kind=spacer}
.jpg){kind=link}
