Dit is ons nieuw hondje Kira, een kruising van een waterhond en een Podenko. Ze is sinds 7 februari 2024 bij ons en druk bezig ons hart te veroveren. Het is een lief, aanhankelijk hondje, dat zich op een week snel aan ons heeft aangepast. Ze is heel vinnig en nieuwsgierig, een heel ander hondje dan Noleke.
This is our new dog Kira, a cross between a water dog and a Podenko. She has been with us since February 7, 2024 and is busy winning our hearts. She is a sweet, affectionate dog who quickly adapted to us within a week. She is very quick and curious, a very different dog than Noleke.
DEAR VISITOR,
MY BLOG EXISTS NEARLY 13 YEARS AND 4 MONTH.
ON /30/09/2024 MORE THAN 2.230.520
VISITORS FROM 135 DIFFERENT NATIONS ALREADY FOUND THEIR WAY TO MY BLOG.
THAT IS AN AVERAGE OF 400GUESTS PER DAY.
THANK YOU FOR VISITING MY BLOG AND HOPE YOU ENJOY EACH TIME.
The purpose of this blog is the creation of an open, international, independent and free forum, where every UFO-researcher can publish the results of his/her research. The languagues, used for this blog, are Dutch, English and French.You can find the articles of a collegue by selecting his category. Each author stays resposable for the continue of his articles. As blogmaster I have the right to refuse an addition or an article, when it attacks other collegues or UFO-groupes.
Druk op onderstaande knop om te reageren in mijn forum
Zoeken in blog
Deze blog is opgedragen aan mijn overleden echtgenote Lucienne.
In 2012 verloor ze haar moedige strijd tegen kanker!
In 2011 startte ik deze blog, omdat ik niet mocht stoppen met mijn UFO-onderzoek.
BEDANKT!!!
Een interessant adres?
UFO'S of UAP'S, ASTRONOMIE, RUIMTEVAART, ARCHEOLOGIE, OUDHEIDKUNDE, SF-SNUFJES EN ANDERE ESOTERISCHE WETENSCHAPPEN - DE ALLERLAATSTE NIEUWTJES
UFO's of UAP'S in België en de rest van de wereld In België had je vooral BUFON of het Belgisch UFO-Netwerk, dat zich met UFO's bezighoudt. BEZOEK DUS ZEKER VOOR ALLE OBJECTIEVE INFORMATIE , enkel nog beschikbaar via Facebook en deze blog.
Verder heb je ook het Belgisch-Ufo-meldpunt en Caelestia, die prachtig, doch ZEER kritisch werk leveren, ja soms zelfs héél sceptisch...
Voor Nederland kan je de mooie site www.ufowijzer.nl bezoeken van Paul Harmans. Een mooie site met veel informatie en artikels.
MUFON of het Mutual UFO Network Inc is een Amerikaanse UFO-vereniging met afdelingen in alle USA-staten en diverse landen.
MUFON's mission is the analytical and scientific investigation of the UFO- Phenomenon for the benefit of humanity...
Je kan ook hun site bekijken onder www.mufon.com.
Ze geven een maandelijks tijdschrift uit, namelijk The MUFON UFO-Journal.
Since 02/01/2020 is Pieter ex-president (=voorzitter) of BUFON, but also ex-National Director MUFON / Flanders and the Netherlands. We work together with the French MUFON Reseau MUFON/EUROP.
ER IS EEN NIEUWE GROEPERING DIE ZICH BUFON NOEMT, MAAR DIE HEBBEN NIETS MET ONZE GROEP TE MAKEN. DEZE COLLEGA'S GEBRUIKEN DE NAAM BUFON VOOR HUN SITE... Ik wens hen veel succes met de verdere uitbouw van hun groep. Zij kunnen de naam BUFON wel geregistreerd hebben, maar het rijke verleden van BUFON kunnen ze niet wegnemen...
06-04-2023
Mysterious Map Emerges at the Dawn of the Egyptian Civilization and Depicts Antarctica Without Ice – Who Made it?
Mysterious Map Emerges at the Dawn of the Egyptian Civilization and Depicts Antarctica Without Ice – Who Made it?
On a chilly winter day in 1929, Halil Edhem, the Director of Turkey's National Museum, was hunched over his solitary task of classifying documents. He pulled towards him a map drawn on Roe deer skin. As Halil opened the chart to its full dimensions (two feet by three feet wide or 60 X 90 cm) he was surprised by how much of the New World was depicted on a map which dated from 1513.
The document was the legacy of a pirate turned Turkish Admiral, Piri Reis ( circa 1470-1554). He was born in Gallipoli, a naval base on the Marmara Sea and was the nephew of Kemal Reis, a pirate who had reinvented himself as a Turkish Admiral adventurer who had made his name in naval warfare. At the time, the distinction between pirate and Admiral was more flexible than might be expected from looking back through a Hollywood lens.
Map of the world by Ottoman admiral Piri Reis, drawn in 1513.
Piri Reis sailed with his famous uncle from 1487 to 1493. During these voyages, he was introduced to the lucrative spoils of piracy. The fleet fought pirates and captured and plundered enemy ships. In 1495, Kemal Reis’ great skill in the art of battle earned him an invitation to join the Imperial Turkish Fleet. His nephew accompanied him to his new assignment. The pirates were transformed into respectable Admirals.
After Kemal was killed during a naval battle in 1502 Piri Reis turned his back on the seafaring life and began a second career as a map maker. A perfectionist - Piri Reis would not tolerate the slightest error in his drawings - he created his famous map in 1513 using older source maps; including charts captured from Christopher Columbus. The Turks had boarded one of Columbus’s ships before the crew had a chance to throw the charts into the sea; standard practice in a time when the contours of the planet remained veiled in mystery and maps held secrets that were invaluable to pirates, admirals, kings and queens.
‘Christopher Columbus on Santa Maria in 1492’ (1855) by Emanuel Leutze.
The general public first learned of the existence of the Piri Reis map in the 27 February 1932 issue of the Illustrated London News . Entitled, “A Columbus Controversy: America – And Two Atlantic Charts”, the article noted that: “... Columbus got little further than the mouth of the Orinoco, in Venezuela, in his voyage along the coast of South America in 1498, so that the stretches of the South American coast given in the Piri Reis's chart must have been copied from other sources.”
In the July 23rd edition of the magazine Akcura Yusuf, President of the Turkish Historical Research Society, wrote a more detailed account. The author pointed out a significant fact: “...the map in our possession is a fragment. If the Other fragments had not been lost, we should have had in our possession a Turkish chart drawn in 1513 representing the Old and New Worlds together.”
U.S. Navy's Hydrographic Office.
An amateur scientist by the name of Captain Arlington Mallery made it his mission to determine the age of the source maps used by Piri Reis. So radical were Mallery's conclusions that he hesitated to reveal them. In August 1956, he finally decided to reveal his findings on a radio show sponsored by Georgetown University. He explained that in June 1954 he was working in the map room of the Library of Congress when his friend "... the Chief Engineer of the Hydrographic Office handed me a copy of a map which had been sent to him by a Turkish naval officer. He suggested that I examine it in the light of the information we already had on the ancient maps. After making an analysis of it, I took it back to him and requested that the Officer check both the latitude and longitude and the projection. When they asked why, I said, 'There is something in this map that no one is going to believe coming from me, and I don't know whether they will believe it coming from you.' That was the fact that Columbus had with him a map that showed accurately the Palmer Peninsula in the Antarctic continent.”
1753 world map by the French cartographer Philippe Buache.
Mr. Warren, the host of the radio show, interviewed Mallery and M.I. Walters of the U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office:
“HOST: You say that these maps have been checked by the Hydrographic Office of the U.S. Navy? WALTERS: Yes. HOST: As far as you are concerned, are they accurate? WALTERS: Yes, they are. HOST: How old are the maps? WALTERS: These maps go back 5,000 years and even earlier. But they contain data that go back many thousands of years previous to that.”
Walters remarked on the comparisons between the Piri Reis Map and the newly (1954) discovered sub-glacial features of the Queen Maud region of Antarctica:
“We have taken the old charts and the new charts that the Hydrographic Office produces today and made comparisons of the soundings of salient peaks and mountains. We have found them to be in astounding agreement. In this way, we have checked the old work very closely. We put very much confidence in what Captain Mallery has disclosed.
Charnockitic rock needle, northern Holtedahlfjella (Kurze Mountains), Queen Maud Land, aerial photograph in SSE direction. (Wilfried Bauer/ CC BY SA 3.0 )
HOST: Mr. Mallery, this must then lead to the conclusion that there were competent explorers and map makers along the coast of the Atlantic long before Columbus.
MALLERY: Several thousand years before. Not only explorers, but they must also have had a very competent and far-flung hydrographic organization, because you cannot map as large a continent as Antarctica as we know they did - probably 5,000 years ago. It can't be done by any single individual or small group of explorers. It means an aggregation of skilled scientists who are familiar with astronomy as well as the methods required for topographic surveying.”
Hapgood and the US Air Force Cartographic Office
One of Charles Hapgood’s students told him about the radio broadcast. The Professor was immediately fascinated and decided to: “…investigate the map as thoroughly as I could… 4
Since Mallery had used the US Navy for his investigations Hapgood decided to get a second opinion from the Cartographic staff of the Strategic Air Command (SAC). The U.S. Air Force investigation came to the same conclusions as the US Navy. They determined that the southern part of the map did in fact depict portions of sub-glacial Antarctica.
Subglacial lakes identified beneath the Antarctic continent.
Conventional wisdom dictated that the island continent hadn’t been discovered until 1818.
USAF Lt. Colonel Harold Z. Ohlmeyer wrote to Hapgood on the 6th of July 1960.
“Dear Professor Hapgood, Your request for evaluating certain unusual features of the Piri Reis World Map of 1513 by this organization has been reviewed. The claim that the lower part of the map portrays the Princess Martha coast of Queen Maud Land, Antarctica, and the Palmer Peninsula is reasonable. We find this the most logical and in all probability the correct interpretation of the map. The geographic detail shown in the lower part of the map agrees very remarkably with the results of the seismic profile made across the top of the ice cap by the Swedish-British-Norwegian Expedition of 1949. This indicates the coast line had been mapped before it was covered by the ice cap. The ice cap in this region is now about a mile thick. We have no idea how the data on this map can be reconciled with the supposed state of geographic knowledge in 1513. (signed) HAROLD Z. OHLMEYER Lt. Colonel, USAF Commander”
Painting of James Weddell's second expedition to Antarctica in 1823, depicting the brig Jane and the cutter Beaufroy.
Our adventure with the study of ancient maps began in the summer of 1977 when Charles Hapgood replied to an article we wrote outlining our belief that Antarctica was once the site of Atlantis. We’d concluded that Hapgood's theory of earth crust displacement was the missing link that could unravel the mystery of the lost island continent. Charles replied:
“August 3 rd, 1977
Dear Rose and Rand,
I am astonished and delighted by your article which arrived here today. Believe it or not, it is the first truly scientific exploration of my work that has ever been done. You have found evidence for crust displacement that I did not find.
However, it would seem that you are not aware of a book I published in 1966 entitled Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings. Since you are considering presenting your article to the Royal Geographical Society (of which I was a member until I stopped paying my dues), you should examine this book, and I am mailing a copy of it to you.
Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings: Evidence of Advanced Civilization in the Ice Age.
What I found, after long research, was that many maps considered of medieval or Renaissance origin are in fact copies of copies of maps drawn in very remote antiquity, and among them is one showing a deglacial Antarctica. I was able to solve the projections of these maps with the help of a mathematician, and have them confirmed by the Cartographic staff of the Strategic Air Command at Westover Air Force Base in Massachusetts. …
A week later a copy of Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings arrived. Far from dampening our enthusiasm for the idea that Atlantis may have once been Antarctica, the book had the opposite effect. We concluded that the ancient maps of sub-glacial Antarctica provided stunning evidence in support of our theory.
After the publication of the first edition of When the Sky Fell in January 1995, we returned to the Piri Reis map to determine if there were grounds to support Mallery and Hapgood’s claim that the source maps used in the construction of the Piri Reis map were hundreds of years older than the 1513 date of its construction.
Sources for the Piri Reis Map: How old?
One of the oddities about the Piri Reis map was that it had been drawn using an extremely sophisticated projection. An “equidistant projection” depicts the features of the earth from a single point on its surface. This projection can be calculated from any spot on the globe. Perhaps the most familiar equidistant projection is the blue and white flag of the United Nations, centered on the North Pole.
The United Nations Flag is an equidistant projection as seen from the North Pole.
The equidistant projection was one that was very familiar to the cartographic staff of the Strategic Air Command at Westover Air Force Base in Massachusetts. It was used to target Soviet military and economic assets. For example, a map drawn using Moscow as its center allowed the military to calculate the quickest delivery time for a missile to travel from any NATO base to the Soviet capital. The closest NATO missile base to Moscow was in Turkey. In November 1962 when Soviet missiles were introduced to Cuba, an equidistant projection map centered on Castro’s island revealed in stark detail how much United States territory could be targeted. The “Cuban Missile Crisis” was only resolved when JFK (secretly) proposed a delayed withdraw of NATO missiles from Turkey in exchange for Khrushchev’s removal of the USSR missiles in Cuba.
Charles Hapgood explained to Arch C. Gerlach (Chief of the Map Division at the Library of Congress) that the Piri Reis map: “…required more astronomy than was known in the Renaissance. The mathematics require that whoever constructed it had to know the linear distance from Syene to the North Pole to within a degree of accuracy. Piri Reis did not know that, neither did Columbus…”
Syene or the Tropic of Cancer?
Hapgood and his students (notably Frank Ryan) spent months trying to determine the exact center of the Piri Reis Map. At first, Hapgood was convinced that it was the city of Syene where Eratosthenes, the librarian and father of geography, had made his famous calculations about the size of the earth. Hapgood submitted this suggestion to the cartographic crew at Westover Air Force Base. Captain Burroughs concurred. He wrote: “...Piri Reis' use of the portolano projection (centered on Syene, Egypt) was an excellent choice...”
We see below how the complete map must have looked based on the same projection used by Piri Reis in 1513. The chart Christopher Columbus carried on his voyage would have resembled this projection.
The 1513 Piri Reis projection is just a fragment of the secret map that Columbus may have possessed. If the lost map of is ever found it should depict the entire globe using an equidistance projection centered on the ancient Egyptian city of Syene.
(Author provided)
Despite the fact that professionals had verified Syene as the center of the map, Hapgood remained skeptical. He thought that the ancients would have been more likely to use the Tropic of Cancer which divides the tropical from the temperate climatic zones. Hapgood was certain that such an important global marker would have been highly significant to the ancient navigators.
Today, the Tropic of Cancer lies near Syene but not precisely over it. The difference in distance is small but Hapgood and his students wanted to be exact in their calculations. There was considerable debate whether or not to use the measurement from the ancient city or from the climatic marker. Hapgood mistakenly assumed that it had to be an either/or choice between Syene and the ‘Tropic of Cancer. It was a false choice because there was a time when the Tropic of Cancer lay directly over Syene. The clue to that synchronicity of time and place lies within the very projection of the Piri Reis Map. But first a critical question must be answered. When did the Tropic of Cancer and Syene last share the same latitude?
Astronomers have concluded that it takes a century for the Tropic of Cancer to drift 40 seconds of latitude. This gives us a formula for our calculations and enables us to bulls-eye the date when the original mapmakers were at work. Syene is 38 minutes and 30 seconds from today's Tropic of Cancer. This is 2280 (38 x 60 to convert minutes to seconds) plus the 30 seconds give us a total of 2310 seconds difference. We then divide these seconds by 40 to find that the Syene was last on the Tropic of Cancer some 57.75 centuries ago. By calculating the difference in distance from the latitude of today's Tropic of Cancer (23:27N) to that of Syene (24:05:30N) we discover the answer – about 5775 years ago –that is, circa 3760 BC. It’s noteworthy that the Jewish calendar begins on this date.
The projection of the Piri Reis points like an arrow at a pivotal turning point in human history. Archaeology teaches that Egyptian civilization dawned circa 3800 BC. Can it really be mere coincidence that the Piri Reis Map looks to date from the dawn of Egyptian civilization? Far more likely that the sophisticated source maps used by Piri Reis are remnants passed on by the survivors of a lost Ice Age civilization – a seafaring civilization that had mapped the world (including parts of Antarctica’s coastline when it was ice-free) long before the first Egyptian pyramids were built.
Rand Flem-Ath is a Canadian writer, librarian and independent scholar. He has co-authored several books with his wife, writer, Rose Flem-Ath. She is a novelist and two-time winner of the Canada Council grant for Fiction. They live in British Columbia, Canada. In 1995, Rand and Rose published the book ‘ When the Sky Fell: In Search of Atlantis ’, and in 2012 they co-authored ‘ Atlantis Beneath the Ice ’, which updated and expanded the seventeen years of research found in When the Sky Fell. http://www.flem-ath.com/
From Babylon to Christianity: Feeding into the Eucharist
From Babylon to Christianity: Feeding into the Eucharist
There can be no doubt that the Christian sacrament of the Eucharist was derived from Jewish, Babylonian, Assyrian and Egyptian traditions of sun veneration and sun baking methods.
The custom seems to have been widespread in the middle east, an example being the Babylonian practice of offering to their gods a number of different kinds of cakes/bread ( akalu). The Hebrew term for showbread, Lehem ha Panim , is exactly translated by the Assyrian phrase akal pânu , which refers to the Babylonian cake/bread offerings. The Israelites were of course prisoners in Babylon for many decades.
The immediate and obvious parent of the Christian Eucharist was the Israelite ritual of baking “showbread” in their temple.
Table of Showbread, in a full-size replica of the Israelite Tabernacle (Mishkan) in Timna valley, Israel.
On each sabbath day, twelve newly kneaded loaves made from ground sprouted grains were placed on a special table, decorated with gold in honor of the sun god, against the northern wall of the unroofed sanctuary where they would receive maximum heat from the sun’s rays. Gold cups and utensils were also used. The loaves were known as “Presence Bread” ( Leḥem ha Pānīm ) because they were required to be constantly in the presence of the solar deity. (Exodus 25:30).
Unsurprisingly the bread was described as always warm and sweet – warm because of the sun’s heat and sweet because dough made from sprouted grains develops nutritious enzymes and sugars in the malting process.
The loaves were stacked in two piles but separated from each other by a nest of 48 hollow golden tubes, which allowed warm air to circulate between them.
After a week of being thus slowly cooked the loaves were eaten by the priests on the next sabbath and replaced by new loaves.
The Jewish and Christian Incarnations of Showbread
The Torah gave detailed instructions:
“Take the finest grade of wheat flour and bake it into 12 loaves. Each loaf will be made from two-tenths of an eifah (2.7 liters; 1 gallon). Arrange these loaves in two stacks, six loaves to a stack, on the pure table, before God. Put pure frankincense beside these stacks. This will be the memorial portion, a fire-offering to God. Every Sabbath these loaves should be placed before God—it is an eternal covenant that this must come from the children of Israel. The bread will be given to Aaron and his descendants to eat in a holy place, since it is a most holy fire-offering to God. This is an eternal law.”
The Essene Gospel of John also describes a similar process:
“Let the angels of God prepare your bread. Moisten your wheat, that the angels of water may enter it. Then set it in the air, that the angel of air may embrace it. And leave it from morning to evening beneath the sun, that the angel of sunshine may descend upon it. And the blessings of the three angels will soon make the germ of life to sprout in your wheat. Then crush your grain, and make thin wafers, as did your forefathers when they departed out of Egypt, the house of bondage. Put them back again beneath the sun from its appearing, and when it is risen to its highest in the heavens, turn them over on the other side that they may be embraced there also by the angel of sunshine, and leave them there until the sun sets. For the angels of water, and air and of sunshine fed and ripened the wheat in the field, and they likewise must prepare also your bread. And the same sun which, with the fire of life, made the wheat to grow and ripen, must cook your bread with the same fire. For the fire of the sun gives life to the wheat, to the bread, and to the body. But the fire of death kills the wheat, the bread, and the body. And the living angels of the living God serve only living men. For God is the God of the living, and not the God of the dead.”
Like most ancient nations in the Middle East, the Jews worshipped the Sun as a god. The Bible is full of references to the Sun, such as “ Let his Light shine upon you”.
In the Hebrew text of Exodus 33:20, Moses was warned of the risk to eyesight of staring at the Sun when he was told: " You will not be able to see my face, for no human can see Me and live”.
Instructions in the old testament state that the Israelites’ mobile sanctuary was to be aligned east-west such that the sun’s light could enter, and Christian churches have continued to respect this orientation in the design of their churches. Traditionally there was a large circular window at the east end through which light from the rising sun could pour down upon the priest as he elevated the unleavened wafer which was miraculously re-animated to become “ the body of Christ .”
Jesus was perhaps acknowledging the solar deity when he prayed to “ Our Father which art in heaven ”.
St Matthew’s gospel suggests that he inaugurated the Christian eucharist at the springtime Jewish Passover festival. It is reported that:
“While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take and eat; this is my body.’
Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom. ”
A Tradition of the Egyptians?
The miracle whereby grain sprouts and comes back to life again has been celebrated almost universally and for thousands of years. Grain (still viable) has been found in the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs and the threshing flail combined with a shepherd’s crook comprised their royal insignia which were originally associated with Osiris who was a god of fertility and resurrection. Egyptian religion undoubtedly influenced Jewish traditions. It has even been plausibly suggested that Moses was actually the pharaoh Akhenaten who demoted all the Egyptian gods other than Ra – the Sun God.
The crook and flail on the coffinette of Tutankhamun.
The Green Man , who frequently adorned medieval churches, is also a widespread image in ancient folklore. Like Osiris, he was said to have been cut into pieces and resurrected in the springtime.
One ancient mystery cult involved a priest plastered with grains who would emerge from a cave when the seeds began to sprout, to the joy of his congregation.
In Greece the springtime resurrection of the goddess Persephone, daughter of Ceres, also celebrated the annual rebirth of nature in general and the sprouting of cereals in particular.
A Symbolic Eating of Flesh
In the Eucharist, Jesus equated his flesh with bread, and his blood with wine. Roman Catholics are required to believe that their communion wafers are actually converted into the flesh of Jesus which they are invited to consume.
Other denominations take a more symbolic interpretation of the words of Jesus. There would have been twelve loaves for the twelve disciples at the “last supper”. The number twelve also reflects the twelve signs of the zodiac which calibrated time for ancient peoples.
The reported words of Jesus make it clear that he was preparing for death as an act of atonement for the sins of his people. The Jewish god was a capricious god who could be jealous and angry if his commandments as communicated via Moses were disobeyed. He spoke in thunder and could inflict storms, lightning, floods, pestilence and death if he was displeased. But it was believed that his anger could be appeased by means of sacrifice, usually of animals, but occasionally of humans. In a biological sense all living creatures survive and thrive by consuming other living creatures. So this was reflected in God being thought of as a hungry god who needed to eat too.
Symbolism With Very Real Roots
Jesus was apparently anticipating his own imminent crucifixion and death at his last supper. Seasonal human sacrifice of community leaders – sometimes voluntary - was not unknown in ancient societies. The patriarch Abraham is said to have been preparing to sacrifice his own son until God told him to kill a ram instead.
The Indian Khonds continued to sacrifice their human meriahs (victims) until the nineteenth century in order to appease the earth goddess and induce a successful growing season.
In prehistoric Malta stone altars decorated with cereals were used to sprout grains that were moistened and exposed to the sun. Carved stone models of the cereal goddess were used by the priests to encourage the sprouting of grains .
(Author provided)
Some early Gnostic Christian groups may have practiced ritual cannibalism in blind obedience to an interpretation of the words of Jesus. The Carpocratians were a sect which were alleged to consume unwanted babies in underground catacombs. Circular stone altars known as agape tables carved perhaps for this very purpose may be seen underground in Maltese catacombs. They feature a rim to contain the blood of the sacrifice with a lip out of which the blood could have poured into a drinking vessel.
Images of cereal goddess and stone altar from Malta.
(Author provided)
In prehistoric Malta stone altars decorated with cereals were used to sprout grains that were moistened and exposed to the Sun. Carved stone models of the cereal goddess were used by the priests to encourage the sprouting of grains.
Top image: Hands of priest raise sacramental bread or the Eucharist under light.
Scientists have devised an exercise in which a hypothetical asteroid 2023 PDC strikes Earth, calculating the kind of devastation that could ensue from such an impact.
Engineers could stop an incoming asteroid if they knew about it well in advance.
(Image credit: Tobias Roetsch/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Scientists have explained what would happen if an asteroid was on a collision course with Earth to emphasize the need for planetary defense. The hypothetical asteroid scenario illustrates how an asteroid threat might evolve over several years and the potential devastation such a strike could cause.
The team led by the manager of NASA's Near Earth Object (NEO) Program Office Paul Chodas presented the exercise at the 8th Planetary Defence Conference(opens in new tab) in Vienna, Austria on Monday, April 4.
The hypothetical situation laid out by Chodas begins on January 10, 2023, with the discovery of a new asteroid that receives the name 2023 PDC. The object is initially designated a "potentially hazardous asteroid" (PHA), which NASA defines as any asteroid that intersects Earth's orbit at a distance from the planet of around 4.6 million miles (7.4 million kilometers) or less and that has a magnitude of 22.0 when discovered, which is only a little brighter than the faintest stars visible to the Hubble Space Telescope.
The impact probability of 2023 PDC is initially just 1-in-10,000, but Chodas explained that this steadily increases, as asteroid tracking facilities on Earth continue following the rock, better constraining its orbit around the sun. The scenario becomes serious on April 3, 2023, at a point designated "Epoch 1" by Chodas.
"Today is Epoch 1, the impact probability has now reached 1%," Chodas said. "The potential impact is 13 years from now, so it's not imminent, but we already can predict the date at which the impact is possible."
The potential impact date is calculated as October 22, 2036, and despite this decade-plus preparation time, the NEO program manager explains that important decisions have to be made now. But, there are still several uncertain aspects, some of which are characteristics of the 2023 PDC asteroid itself, that will be key to how humanity deals with the threat.
Assessing the size of the asteroid 2023 PDC problem
One of the first things astronomers will do with their 13-year lead time is to calculate the size of the asteroid better.NASA says(opens in new tab) that this is done by measuring the amount of light reflected by the asteroid back into space, a quality called the albedo. The more light reflected, then, in principle, the larger the asteroid is.
The difficulty with this measurement(opens in new tab) comes from the fact that the albedo is also determined by the reflectivity of the asteroid's surface. That means a small light-colored asteroid could have a greater albedo than a large darker one. As a result, there can be a large uncertainty in the size of asteroids.
The size of 2023 PDC is calculated as being between 720 and 2,200 feet (220 to 660 meters), but it could be as wwide as 1.3 miles (2 km) if the surface of the asteroid is dark.
The size of the asteroid is important because not only will it determine how much damage it does, but it will also determine what measures need to be taken to divert it, or whether this would be possible at all.
"When you have a huge object, even as large as 2 kilometers [1.2 miles], and there's a very, very small chance of that, then nuclear is really a primary method on the table," Chodas said. That means that for a large asteroid heading to Earth a kinetic impactor like that demonstrated by NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) recently wouldn't be a diversion option,
Chodas explains that 2023 PDC is too close to the sun to use infrared astronomy to help determine its size, as this light would be "washed out" by bright light from the sun. As a result, space-based telescopes that rely mainly on infrared observations like the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Hubble Space Telescope won't be much help observing this rock. Likewise, the asteroid will be too far away during the early stages of its approach to be measured with radar.
According to Chodas that means we will be initially limited to optical observations to determine the asteroid's size. This limits the amount of data that astronomers can collect regarding 2023 PDC, data that could better constrain the asteroid's size and orbit.
One option decision makers will have during the 13-year lead time would be to dispatch a reconnaissance spacecraft to 2023 PDC.
Not only would this help us better ascertain the size and mass of the asteroid, but such a mission would help better constrain another crucial aspect of the asteroid that is vital to mitigating its impact on Earth: its orbit.
At the time of its discovery in this hypothetical scenario, 2023 PDC is around 124 million miles (200 million km) from Earth, too far to properly assess its orbit.
"It's distant and faint, but it has a very similar orbital period to Earth, in fact, is slightly shorter, which means the asteroid will slowly catch up to Earth and in 13 years, there's a possibility that both will meet in a little red box [representing the intersection, of the orbit of Earth and 2023 PDC]," Chodas said. "There's great uncertainty in where the asteroid will be 13 years from now. As we continue to track the asteroid that uncertainty will shrink until it has actually become smaller than Earth."
The reduction of the red "hitbox" in the team's calculation to less than the size of the Earth means that 2023 PDC is going to hit the planet. Astronomers can then begin to predict exactly where on Earth the asteroid will make contact with the planet.
So… What's the damage?
NASA Advanced Supercomputing expert Lorien Wheeler explained that evaluating the potential damage of 2023 PDC involves building an asteroid impact risk assessment model and considering a lot of different factors, such as asteroid size and other properties, from limited observational data.
"There are three main types of impact hazards that we model. These include local ground damage due to an explosive blast or fireball," Wheeler said. "There's also tsunami potential for large ocean impacts, and for the very largest cases, there's a potential for global climate effects.
"We model all of these cases and then combine the results to look at the probabilities of different damage sizes and damage severities, how many people that damage could affect, and what regions could potentially be at risk."
For the potential sizes of 2023 PDC, the lower size estimation of around 1,000 feet (300 m) in diameter represents devastation on the scale of a continent with as much as 2,000 megatons of energy being released. That is equivalent to 133,000 times the estimated energy released by the bomb that demolished Hiroshima at the end of the Second World War. As the size of 2023 PDC increases, the potential disaster its impact triggers grows significantly. At 2,000 feet (600 m) in diameter, the impact would border on a global catastrophe scale. The strike of 2023 PDC of this size would release as much as 20,000 megatons of energy meaning a doubling in size has caused an increase in devastation power of around 10 times.
At 3,330 feet (1 km) wide, the 2023 PDC impact scenario becomes exceptionally grim. At this size, the team calculates that 2023 PDC is much more likely to trigger a global catastrophe. Such an impact would release around 100,000 megatons of energy, equivalent to 6.6 million Hiroshima nuclear detonations.
Wheeler explains that there are other factors other than size such as the asteroid's angle of entry to the atmosphere that contribute to uncertainty in the range of potential impact energies, and thus the resulting damage severity.
"The most likely hazard is going to be a large ground impact or low airburst causing a highly destructive blastwave and fireball," Wheeler added. "Given the size of the objects that we have on hand here, the damage severities are expected to reach unsurvivable levels with larger areas of damage extending to areas around it, experiencing fires structural damage and extending out to areas of shattered windows "
Wheeler continued that for smaller impacts, outer damage areas are a band that could extend to diameters of between 62 miles to 124 miles (100 to 200 km) outside the main impact zone. This extended damage zone could stretch out to diameters as great as 372 miles (600 kilometers) for scenarios in which the hypothetical asteroid approaches sizes of 2,000 feet (600 m).
"There is a potentially high number of people that could be affected all along the swath, mostly in the range of hundreds of thousands to millions of people," Wheeler said. "Impacts over land cause the most population damage with averages between 10,000 and 10 million people depending on the location. And if the impact is on the larger size, those ranges could go up to 10s of millions to the 100s of millions range."
She continued by explaining that should 2023 PDC hit any ocean it would trigger a tsunami, but the most harm to populations would come from the asteroid touching down in the Atlantic Ocean with such a strike carrying the greatest risk of triggering a tsunami that could reach populated areas. The eventual climate change effects of a larger 2023 PDC asteroid strike could eventually affect anywhere from millions to billions of people across the globe.
"So the bottom line here is that there's a very huge range of potential damage," Wheeler concluded. "If it impacts Earth, it could be extremely damaging because the potential consequences are so extreme."
How worried should we be?
It's important to stress that 2023 PDC is a purely hypothetical object and it isn't on course to impact Earth. In fact, currently, there are no large asteroids predicted to hit Earth for the next 100 years. The object with the highest probability of colliding with Earth was the 1,100 feet (340 m) wide asteroid 99942 Apophis, which was predicted to get dangerously close to Earth in 2068. NASA ruled out this impact in 2021, however, and 99942 Apophis will instead harmlessly pass the planet.
Of course, that doesn't mean there couldn't be an object out there waiting to be discovered that is on an orbit that intersects Earth's path around the sun. Even so, the scenario that Chondas and Wheeler describe for 2023 PDC is quite extreme. In fact, the European Space Agency's (ESA) Director of Operations Rolf Densing congratulated the scientists for developing a challenging and dramatically unfolding scenario for decision-makers to consider.
To consider how likely such a scenario is, the team laid out the probability of Earth being bombarded by objects from space of various sizes, suggesting impacts involving larger bodies should be rarer. The average time between impacts by objects with diameters of around 1,000 feet (300 m) is around 70,000 years, while asteroids with diameters of around 2,000 feet (600 m) are predicted to hit the planet roughly once every 200,000 years.
Massively devastating global catastrophe-causing asteroids with diameters of around 3,300 feet (1 km) are estimated to hit the planet around once every 700,000 years. Even larger 3-mile (5 km) wide asteroids are predicted to strike Earth around just once every 30 million years.
If you're concerned about asteroid impacts, NASA maintains a log of potential brushes with asteroids in the form of theSentry Risk Table. (opens in new tab)
The two black holes lie just 1,560 and 3,800 light-years from our planet, respectively.
An image of the Milky Way showing the location of two newly discovered black holes that are the closest to Earth yet found.
(Image credit: ESA/Gaia/DPAC; CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO)
Astronomers have discovered two new black holes that are the closest ones to Earth known, and also represent something that astronomers have never seen before.
The black holes, designated Gaia BH1 and Gaia BH2, were discovered in data collected by the European Space Agency's (ESA) Gaia spacecraft.
Gaia BH1 is located just 1,560 light-years away from Earth in the direction of the constellation Ophiuchus, while Gaia BH2 lies 3,800 light-years away in the constellation Centaurus. In cosmic terms, both black holes are therefore situated in Earth's backyard.
It isn't just the proximity of these black holes to Earth that makes them extraordinary, however. They are orbited by stars at much greater distances than has previously been observed in other black hole-companion star pairings.
"What sets this new group of black holes apart from the ones we already knew about is their wide separation from their companion stars," discovery team leader Kareem El-Badry, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Massachusetts and the Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy in Germany, said in a statement(opens in new tab).
"Normal" black hole-companion star systems are called X-ray binaries and are usually bright in high-energy X-ray and radio emissions. This makes them easier to find than black holes that aren't swallowing matter and thus aren't emitting powerful bursts of energy. Gaia BH1 and Gaia BH2 are completely dark and were detected via the gravitational effect they have on their companion stars.
"These black holes likely have a completely different formation history than X-ray binaries," El-Badry explained. "We suspected that there could exist black holes in wider systems, but we were not sure how they would have formed. Their discovery means that we must adapt our theories about the evolution of binary star systems, as it is not clear yet how these systems form."
Gaia is ideal for spotting 'invisible' black holes
Gaia is equipped to make such discoveries because it can accurately measure the position and motion of billions of stars against the background sky. Tracking this stellar movement so precisely hints at the gravitational influences exerted on these stars from other stars, orbiting planets and black holes, researchers said.
"The accuracy of Gaia's data was essential for this discovery," said ESA Gaia project scientist Timo Prusti. "The black holes were found by spotting the tiny wobble of its companion star while orbiting around it. No other instrument is capable of such measurements."
The Gaia observations were backed up by measurements of each companion star's motion made by other observatories. For example, follow-up investigations of Gaia BH2 with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the South African MeerKAT radio telescope on the ground revealed no detectable light coming from this black hole.
"Even though we detected nothing, this information is incredibly valuable because it tells us a lot about the environment around a black hole," said discovery team member Yvette Cendes, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
"There are a lot of particles coming off the companion star in the form of stellar wind," Cendes said. "But because we didn't see any radio light, that tells us the black hole isn't a great eater and not many particles are crossing its event horizon. We don't know why that is, but we want to find out!"
The team will now attempt to discover more widely separated black hole binary systems in the next data dump from Gaia, set to release in 2025. This new data will be based on 66 months of observations from the spacecraft and feature more detailed information on the movement of stars.
"This is very exciting, because it now implies that these black holes in wide orbits are actually common in space — more common than binaries where the black hole and star are closer. But the trouble is detecting them," Cendes concluded. "The good news is that Gaia is still taking data, and its next data release will contain many more of these stars with mystery black hole companions in it."
Schrijver en uitgever Julien Weverbergh overleden: "Heel rijk en gevarieerd leven gehad, ik heb nergens spijt van"
Schrijver en uitgever Julien Weverbergh overleden: "Heel rijk en gevarieerd leven gehad, ik heb nergens spijt van"
Schrijver en uitgever Julien Weverbergh is overleden op 92-jarige leeftijd. Hij werd begin jaren zeventig directeur van uitgeverij Manteau en richtte later ook uitgeverij Houtekiet op. Weverbergh werkte in zijn lange carrière samen met schrijvers als Jeroen Brouwers, Walter Van den Broeck en Louis Paul Boon.
Joris Vergeyle
Criticus, auteur, dichter, correspondent in Roemenië, ufo-deskundige, leerkracht: Julien Weverbergh was het allemaal. Maar het bekendst werd Weverbergh als uitgever.
Hij volgde begin jaren zeventig de legendarische Angèle Manteau op aan het hoofd van uitgeverij Manteau. Toen Weverbergh daar in 1986 werd ontslagen, richtte hij uitgeverij Houtekiet op. Die uitgeverij bestaat vandaag nog steeds, maar is ondertussen deel geworden van Veen Bosch & Keuning Uitgeversgroep.
Ik ben geen believer en ook geen disbeliever
In 1956 zette Julien Weverbergh de eerste stappen in de literaire wereld, hij was toen 26 en debuteerde als dichter. Het werd het begin van een lange carrière. Zo schreef hij zelf meer dan 20 boeken, zoals "De ufo-carrousel", over zijn fascinatie voor ufo's.
"Ik ben geen believer en ook geen disbeliever", vertelde hij daarover in De Parelduiker. "Ik geloof wel in het verschijnsel. Want wat is een ufo? Mij ging het vooral over deze vraagstelling: wat is waar(heid), wat niet?". Weverbergh schreef niet alleen boeken, maar ook heel wat literaire kritieken en hij was een van de eersten in de jaren zestig die de romans van Louis Paul Boon publiekelijk verdedigde. Voor zijn inzet voor het oeuvre van Boon ontving hij in 2011 nog de Isengrimusprijs.
“Ik heb nooit auteurs bestreden om persoonlijke redenen. Ik kon rustig over een boek van Ward Ruyslinck schrijven dat het zeer slecht was en de moeite van het uitgeven niet waard. Maar ik kon tegelijk toch een goede relatie hebben met de persoon Ruyslinck”, zo beschreef Julien Weverbergh zijn rol als criticus in "Het beste moet nog komen" op Radio 1.
Nochtans waren weinig schrijvers hem dankbaar voor zijn (zeer) kritische opmerkingen. Dat zorgde soms voor problemen, wanneer hij begin jaren zeventig "van kamp wisselde". Toen werd hij als directeur bij uitgeverij Manteau de uitgever van diezelfde auteurs die hij eerder bekritiseerde. Enkele jaren later werd een meningsverschil tussen Jeroen Brouwers en hem breed uitgesmeerd in vileine commentaren. Brouwers verliet de uitgeverij en de ruzie tussen de twee vrienden werd pas jaren later bijgelegd.
Enkele boeken van Jeroen Brouwers zijn zelfs langdradig
"Jeroen schrijft schitterend goed. Zijn taal zit vol fantastische vondsten. Er gaan geen tien regels voorbij of je lacht om een taalvirtuositeit. Ik heb wel altijd gevonden dat in het literaire werk van Brouwers een wereldbeeld ontbreekt. Enkele boeken zijn zelfs langdradig."
Julien Weverbergh in gesprek met auteur Walter Van den Broeck.
Liefde voor Roemenië
Julien Weverbergh was ook de schoonvader van dichter Jotie T’Hooft, de betreurde dichter was getrouwd met zijn dochter Ingrid. Zelf vond Weverbergh de liefde in Roemenië.
Weverbergh woonde in de jaren zestig een tijd in het land en werkte er ook kort als correspondent, voor Vrij Nederland en de krant Le Monde. Naar eigen zeggen schreef hij te kritisch over het communistisch regime toen, en werd hem het werken onmogelijk gemaakt. Hij schreef later ook enkele non-fictieboeken over Roemenië.
Julien Weverbergh samen met zijn vrouw, in 2022.
Hij hoopte in goede gezondheid 96 te mogen worden, zo verklaarde hij in 2006 bij Friedl’ Lesage op Radio 1. Dat laatste is hem niet gegund, Julien Weverbergh werd 92. “Maar ik heb nergens spijt van, ik heb een heel rijk en gevarieerd leven gehad.”
These local fishermen from Brazil were almost pulled downwards into a sinkhole
These local fishermen from Brazil were almost pulled downwards into a sinkhole
Two fishermen from Franca, Brazil had a frightening experience when a sinkhole suddenly opened up beneath their jon boat, pulling it down into the murky depths of the water. The incident was caught on video, showing the men struggling to keep their boat from sinking as everything around them was pulled downward.
Image credit: LPE360
Remarkably, the size of the boat proved to be just right, with the front and back staying on land and spanning the length of the sinkhole. After the boat became stuck in the mud and debris rescuers used a crane to lift the fishermen to safety.
These two men were lucky to survive, it could also have ended worse, like what happened to a 36 year-old Florida man who fell into a sinkhole that opened suddenly at night beneath the bedroom of his suburban Tampa home, in 2013, calling out to his brother for help as he fell and although the brother of the man, frantically tried to help his brother, he did not survived the fall into the sinkhole
Today in UFO history: the Mysterious Westall UFO Encounter
Today in UFO history: the Mysterious Westall UFO Encounter
On this day, April 6, 2023, we commemorate the 57th anniversary of one of Australia’s most puzzling and intriguing UFO encounters. The Westall UFO incident, which transpired on April 6, 1966, remains an enigma that has captivated enthusiasts and researchers for decades.
The Westall UFO encounter took place in the suburban area of Clayton South in Melbourne. What sets this event apart from other UFO sightings is the number of witnesses who claim to have seen the object. Over 200 students and teachers from Westall High School and Westall State School, along with other bystanders, reported observing an unusual, silvery object in the sky that morning.
According to witness accounts, the mysterious object appeared to descend into a nearby open paddock before taking off again. Some witnesses also reported seeing smaller objects in the vicinity, as well as the presence of unmarked aircraft that arrived shortly after the event. The object remained in sight for approximately 20 minutes, leaving everyone present bewildered and curious.
In the aftermath of the encounter, there were attempts to dismiss the sighting as a weather balloon or an experimental military aircraft. However, the sheer number of witnesses, the peculiar flight patterns of the object, and the lack of any concrete explanations continue to fuel speculation about the true nature of the incident.
Over the years, the Westall UFO encounter has been the subject of numerous investigations, documentaries, and media coverage. Yet, despite these efforts, the event remains shrouded in mystery, with no definitive answers to satisfy the curiosity of those who have followed the case.
As we mark the 57th anniversary of this enigmatic event, the Westall UFO encounter serves as a reminder of the enduring allure of unexplained phenomena. The incident continues to pique the interest of UFO enthusiasts, researchers, and the general public, sparking debates and discussions about the possibility of extraterrestrial life and the secrets that may still be waiting to be uncovered.
In a world where scientific discoveries and technological advancements are made daily, the Westall UFO encounter invites us to ponder the mysteries that persist beyond our current understanding. This 57th anniversary is an opportunity to reflect on the enduring fascination with the unknown and to appreciate the sense of wonder it evokes in us all.
Unveiling the Enigma: Whistleblowers Reveal Covert UFO Reverse Engineering Programs in Washington D.C.
Unveiling the Enigma: Whistleblowers Reveal Covert UFO Reverse Engineering Programs in Washington D.C.
The mysterious world of UFOs has captured the imagination of people for decades. In recent years, the U.S. government has shown a renewed interest in unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), leading to the creation of the Advanced Aerial and Anomalous Research Organization (AARO). Now, a series of whistleblowers have come forward, shedding light on covert reverse engineering programs happening right under our noses in Washington D.C. In this exclusive exposé, we delve into the astonishing claims made by these insiders.
The AARO Task Force
The bipartisan UAP legislation passed in late 2022 marked a significant step in addressing the UFO phenomenon. This legislation led to the establishment of the AARO task force, headed by Sean Kirkpatrick. The task force’s primary objective is to investigate and understand UAPs and their potential implications on national security. Notably, the legislation also explicitly acknowledges the existence of UFO crash material, indicating a growing willingness to investigate such incidents.
In a surprising twist, multiple whistleblowers have come forward to testify to the AARO. These individuals, some of whom are still actively employed in their respective programs, have chosen to remain anonymous for the time being. Their testimonies provide a rare glimpse into the highly secretive world of UFO reverse engineering programs, revealing the existence of such initiatives within the heart of Washington D.C.
The insiders claim to have first-hand knowledge of the programs, including their names, locations, and the individuals involved. If given the appropriate security clearance, they have offered to personally escort interested parties into the labs where this groundbreaking work is being conducted.
What Lies Ahead?
The revelations brought forth by these whistleblowers have left the public with a burning question: What will Sean Kirkpatrick do with this information? Will he share it with others or keep it under wraps?
As the situation unfolds, it is evident that we are standing at the precipice of a new era in UFO research and understanding. The testimonies from these whistleblowers could potentially unveil long-hidden secrets and lead to groundbreaking discoveries.
VIDEO:
James Fox on what’s going on behind the scenes in D.C “UFO reverse engineering programs exist!”
The unmasking of covert UFO reverse engineering programs in Washington D.C. is a game-changer for the UFO community and the world at large. With the support of the U.S. government and the courage of whistleblowers, we may finally be on the verge of unlocking the enigma that has fascinated and perplexed us for generations. As we continue to investigate these astonishing claims, we can only wonder what fascinating revelations lie ahead.
Steven Spielberg is among the few commercially successful movie directors who has a great interest in the UFO phenomenon. He probably knows something intriguing about aliens and UFOs, and that is why he did the 1982 blockbuster “E.T.” and the 1972 “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”
Spielberg expressed his thoughts on UFOs and extraterrestrials during a 2023 interview on “The Late Show with Steven Colbert.” While he admitted to never having seen a UFO himself, he stated his belief in those who have experienced unexplainable encounters:
“I think what has been coming up recently is fascinating, absolutely fascinating. And I think the secrecy that is shrouding all of these sightings and the lack of transparency… I think there is something going on that just needs extraordinary due diligence.”
When it comes to the possibility of extraterrestrial life, Spielberg firmly believes that we are not alone in the universe. He stated: “I don’t believe we’re alone in the universe. I think it’s mathematically impossible that we are the only intelligent species in the cosmos. I think that’s totally impossible.”
However, he is skeptical about the idea of interstellar travel: “At the same time, it also seems impossible that someone would visit us from 400 million lightyears from here — except in the movies, of course — unless it figures out some way of jumping the shark, so to speak, and getting here through wormholes.”
While he doubts that any beings have yet mastered faster-than-light travel, he believes that time travel may be a possibility for humans. Spielberg shared an engaging theory: “What if it’s us, 500,000 years in the future, that is coming back to document the second half of the 20th century and into the 21st century because they’re anthropologists? And they know something we don’t quite know yet that has occurred, and they’re trying to track the last hundred years of our history.”
Spielberg believes that the 1982 film had a valid point and suspects that the US government is hiding information about UFOs from the public. “I think the secrecy that is shrouding all of these sightings and the lack of transparency until the Freedom of Information Act compels certain materials to be released publicly, I think that there is something going on that simply needs extraordinary due diligence,” he said on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.”
In 2009, filmmaker James Fox, an advocate for government transparency on the subject of UFOs released a documentary titled “I Know What I Saw,” which explores reasons behind government secrecy and features credible witnesses from around the world testifying at the National Press Club event in November 2007. (Source)
Spielberg viewed the documentary and commented on it in a letter, but did not give permission for the comments to be made public at this time. Fox stated that Spielberg is an advocate of government transparency on the UFO phenomena. However, in 2013, Fox finally revealed the contents of a letter to Larry King regarding his UFO documentary.
With great curiosity, I watched the documentary you sent over and found it compelling. Personally, I would like to think we are not alone, and even though I have devoted a generous percentage of my movies to extraterrestrial related themes, I for one have never seen a UFO. That is so unfair! (sic)
I hope you will continue to pursue this topic on your program, and that some day our government will offer a total disclosure about what they know about unidentified flying objects and their true and natural origins.
I continue to enjoy watching you and all your guests.
All my best,
Signed: Steven
Fox expressed his disappointment in Spielberg’s lack of public endorsement for his film. According to him, Spielberg is someone who is aware of a cover-up and holds significant influence in the entertainment industry. In the movie “Close Encounters,” Spielberg included Dr. J. Allen Hynek as a nod to those familiar with the topic, suggesting that it was based on actual events. Despite this, Fox felt that Spielberg did not make a small effort to support an independent filmmaker like himself and help his movie succeed.
Very few people know about the secret conversation that happened between Spielberg and President Ronald Reagan about extraterrestrials and close encounters. According to Journalist Alejandro Rojas, during a special screening of ET at the White House in 1982, President Reagan did make a comment about everything in the movie being true.
Ronald and Nancy Reagan speaking with Spielberg after the screening of ET. image credit: Ronald Reagan Library
Reagan whispered to Spielberg that everything shown in the movie was real. It was confirmed by Spielberg while giving an interview to Quint (aka Eric Vespe).
Spielberg said:
“No, he wasn’t ushered out of the room. He was the President of the United States! Nobody could usher Ronald Reagan out of the room! It was in the White House screening room and Reagan got up to thank me for bringing the film to show the President, the First Lady, and all of their guests, which included Sandra Day O’Connor in her first week as a Justice of the Supreme Court, and it included some astronauts… I think Neil Armstrong was there, I’m not 100% certain, but it was an amazing, amazing evening.
He just stood up and he looked around the room, almost like he was doing a headcount, and he said, “I wanted to thank you for bringing E.T. to the White House. We really enjoyed your movie,” and then he looked around the room and said, “And there are a number of people in this room who know that everything on that screen is absolutely true.”
And he said it without smiling! But he said that and everybody laughed, by the way. The whole room laughed because he presented it like a joke, but he wasn’t smiling as he said it.
The room did laugh and then later on I’ll never forget my conversation with the President. He pulled me aside, he said… and I can’t do Reagan. I wish I could do that breathy, wonderful voice of his… And Nancy Reagan was standing right next to him and the President said to me, “I only have one criticism about your movie,” and I said “What’s that?” He said, “How long were the end credits?” I said, “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe three, three and a half minutes?” He said, “In my day, when I was an actor, our end credits were maybe 15 seconds long.”
He said, “Why don’t you let everybody get a credit… three and a half, four minutes, that’s fine, but only show that inside the industry, but throughout the rest of the country reduce your credits to 15 seconds at the end?” Nancy Reagan turned to him and said, “Oh, Ronny, they can’t do that. You know that.” And he went, “Oh, yes, yes. I suppose.” (laughs) That was the extent of my conversation about that. That was his only criticism, he felt the end credits were too long!
Spielberg was skeptical that President Reagan accidentally revealed anything important. He thought Reagan made a deliberate joke without any indication of humor. Although the joke was successful and garnered laughter from the audience, Spielberg, who called himself a UFOlogist, was hoping that there was a deeper meaning behind it. However, Spielberg ultimately concludes that Reagan was only trying to tell a joke.
The China National Space Agency (CNSA) has made considerable progress in recent years with the development of itsLong March 5 (CZ-5) rocket and the completion of its Tiangong-3 space station. The agency also turned heads when it announced plans in June 2021 to create an International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) that would rival the Artemis Program. On top of all that, China upped the ante when it announced later that month that it also had plans to send crewed missions to Mars by 2033, concurrent with NASA’s plans.
As part of their growing efforts to become a major power in space, which includes human exploration, China recently announced the completion of the first in-orbit test of a Stirling thermoelectric converter. The Shenzou-15 mission crew performed the test aboard Tiangong-3, and it was the first successful verification of the technology in space. This technology is also being investigated by NASA and is considered a technological solution to the challenges of space exploration, especially where long-duration stays and missions to locations in deep space are concerned.
Similar to how hydroelectric dams generate power, a Stirling unit converts heat into electrical energy through a series of piston-driven magnets. These pistons rely on a fuel source to generate heat, pushing the magnets back and forth through a coil of wire, generating electrical current. This process is known as the Stirling Cycle, which is more efficient than solar-powered systems and conventional batteries. Compared to other power systems, it is also lightweight, has a simple structure, a quick start-up cycle, and produces minor vibrations and low noise.
All of this makes the technology appealing to spacecraft engineers and mission planners, who see it as a more sustainable means for providing power to spacecraft and surface habitats. On the one hand, it can reduce their dependence on solar energy, which is limited by solar cell efficiency and is not always accessible in certain environments. Around the Moon’s South Pole-Aitken Basin, where multiple agencies plan to build research stations before the end of the decade (including China’s ILRS), a lunar night lasts fourteen days.
The Stirling power converter was developed by the Lanzhou Institute of Physics at the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST). It was transported aboard the space station by the Shenzou-15 crew and installed in the equipment cabinet in the Mengtian lab module. As the China Global Television Network (CGTN) reported, three in-orbit experiments were carried out in the lab module before the test run. The converter produced a stable power supply throughout, reportedly achieving a level of thermoelectric conversion efficiency that reached “an advanced international level under the same isothermal ratio.”
When paired with a nuclear reactor as a power source, Sterling engines could allow for long-duration stays on the Moon and Mars, augmenting solar power, batteries, fuel cells, and other conventional power sources. NASA is currently researching the technology as part of its Kilopower Reactor Using Sterling Technology (KRUSTY) experiment, which evolved from previous efforts to develop nuclear power applications for space exploration. NASA and DARPA recently announced a partnership to test a prototype nuclear thermal propulsion system in space (scheduled for 2027).
Artist’s impression of four KRUSTY generators providing power to an outpost on the surface of Mars. Credit: NASA/STMD
Shortly after that, the UK Space Agency (UKSA) announced they had contracted with Rolls-Royce to develop nuclear systems for space exploration, which could power a future lunar base. These and other attempts to realize next-generation power and propulsion systems are part of a growing effort to realize the next great leap in space exploration. They also reflect an undeniable truth about the modern space age: it’s an international affair characterized by competition and cooperation.
The capped device of Stirling thermoelectric converter. /China Manned Space Agency
The Stirling thermoelectric converter. /China Manned Space Agency
The uncapped Stirling thermoelectric converter. /China Manned Space Agency
We Now Have a Map of all 85,000 Volcanoes on Venus
A new map created with decades-old radar imagery from NASA’s 1990’s Magellan mission shows the locations of a whopping 85,000 volcanoes on Venus. The detailed map shows where the volcanoes are, how they’re clustered, and how their distributions compare with other geophysical properties of the planet such as crustal thickness.
This comprehensive study of Venus will help planetary scientists answer many outstanding questions about the planets’ geological history, such as why doesn’t it have plate tectonics like Earth? Was it ever habitable, and if so, for how long?
Sapas Mons, a large volcano on Venus, is about 400 km in diameter. It was imaged by the Magellan spacecraft, with a light source coming from the left side of the image. (Image courtesy of JGR Planets)
This is the second major finding from archival Magellan mission data, as just a few weeks ago scientists announced they found evidence of recent active volcanism on Venus. The authors of this new paper, graduate student Rebecca Hahn, and Paul Byrne, an associate professor of earth and planetary sciences, both from Washington University in St. Louis, say their new map can help locate the next active lava flow on Venus, and more.
“This paper provides researchers with an enormously valuable database for understanding volcanism on that planet — a key planetary process, but for Venus is something about which we know very little, even though it’s a world about the same size as our own,” said Byrne, in a press release.
It has long been known that volcanism has been a major, widespread process on Venus. And even if 85,000 volcanoes on Venus sounds like a large amount, Hahn said it is probably a conservative number. She believes there are hundreds of thousands of additional geologic features that have some volcanic properties lurking on the surface of Venus. However, they’re just too small to have been picked up by Magellan’s synthetic-aperture radar (SAR).
Building this global map was tedious work, as Hahn pored through planetary radar scans captured by Magellan. On Twitter, Byrne said this took years of work by Hahn. But she also took advantage of new technology.
“It was tedious, but I had experience using ArcGIS software, which is what I used to build the map,” Hahn said. “That tool wasn’t available when these data first became available back in the ’90s. We came up with this idea of putting together a global catalog because no one’s done it at this scale before.”
Image of “pancake volcanoes” located in the Eistla region, taken by the Magellan space probe. Credit: NASA/JPL
In building this global map, the researchers found that Venus is home to thousands of volcanic landforms, distributed across virtually the entire planet. The volcanoes range in size from much less than 5 km (3 miles) to well over 100 km (60 miles) in diameter. However, 99% of Venus’ volcanoes are smaller than 5 km (3 miles) in diameter.
“Although there are volcanoes across almost the entire surface of the planet, there seem to be relatively fewer volcanoes in the 20–100 km [12-60 mile] diameter range, which may be a function of magma availability and eruption rate,” the researchers wrote in their paper — (which is free to read online until early May 2023.)
While Venus is nearly the same size and composition of Earth, it doesn’t have plate tectonics so all Venus’ internal heat likely emerges through its volcanoes.
How does the amount of volcanoes on Venus compare with Earth? Right now, there are about 1,350 potentially active volcanoes on Earth, but the amount under the ocean is not well known. We also don’t know how many volcanoes have been active over Earth’s history. Of course, Venus is without oceans and without weathering to change planet’s surface. But we do know that more than 80 percent of the Earth’s surface–above and below sea level–is of volcanic origin.
“We’ve already heard from colleagues that they’ve downloaded the data and are starting to analyze it — which is exactly what we want,” Byrne said. “Other people will come up with questions we haven’t, about volcano shape, size, distribution, timing of activity in different parts of the planet, you name it. I’m excited to see what they can figure out with the new database!”
I found this pink and green plant growing from a rock on Mars, its one of the latest Mars Perseverance rover photos so its 100% news stuff. I have reported a white rose on Mars I found back in 2020, but this one being two colors and close up is just mind-blowing. Now you know why NASA puts most photos into false-color. To hide the truth from the public. 100% proof that life exists on planet Mars right now!
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- Gemiddelde waardering: 0/5 - (0 Stemmen) Categorie:Ruins, strange artifacts on other planets, moons, ed ( Fr, EN, NL )
Mysterious portal appears above the Arabian Sea
Mysterious portal appears above the Arabian Sea
Two days ago the ISS live stream captured an unknown object that suddenly appeared above the Arabian Sea.
The strange object not only turns into a what looks like a portal or planet but it rotates and it moves through space until it slowly disappears again.
Could this object be an interdimensional portal that gave a glimpse of a parallel universe or could it have been a UFO or a small celestial body that cloaked and uncloaked itself?
While is unknown what the object may have been, one commenter questioned: "Could the ISS be layering an image to block out any UFO we may see and that was a spot that the real view got thru?
Whatever it was, it remains a mystery what exactly happened above the Arabian Sea.
The Craziest Alien Theories That Will Blow Your Mind
The Craziest Alien Theories That Will Blow Your Mind
When it comes to the existence of extraterrestrial life, there’s no shortage of imaginative and wild theories. Some are grounded in scientific speculation, while others are purely the products of vivid imaginations. In this article, we explore some of the craziest alien theories that have intrigued and entertained UFO enthusiasts and conspiracy theorists alike. Fasten your seatbelts; we’re going on a journey to the outer limits of human imagination
The Reptilian Elite Theory
One of the most bizarre theories is that shape-shifting reptilian aliens control the world’s governments and major institutions. These extraterrestrial beings, known as the Reptilian Elite, are said to be able to take human form, infiltrating powerful organizations to manipulate global events and enslave humanity. Proponents of this theory often cite alleged sightings of prominent figures, such as politicians and celebrities, briefly revealing their reptilian nature.
The Ancient Astronaut Hypothesis
The ancient astronaut hypothesis posits that extraterrestrial beings visited Earth in the distant past and played a crucial role in the development of human civilization. Proponents of this theory argue that ancient structures like the pyramids of Egypt, Stonehenge, and the Moai statues on Easter Island are too advanced for the civilizations of that time, suggesting alien intervention or guidance. They also point to ancient texts and artwork depicting otherworldly beings and flying craft as evidence of these cosmic encounters.
The Hollow Earth TheoryThis theory proposes that the Earth is hollow, with an entire civilization of advanced beings living beneath our feet. These subterranean beings, sometimes referred to as “Agarthans” or “Lemurians,” are said to reside in a world lit by a central sun, complete with oceans, continents, and advanced technology. Some variations of the Hollow Earth theory claim that these inner-Earth inhabitants are actually extraterrestrial in origin, having retreated underground to escape surface cataclysms or hostile alien races.
The Moon as an Alien Base
Some conspiracy theorists propose that the Moon is not a natural satellite but an artificial construct or even a spacecraft, created by advanced extraterrestrial beings. This theory suggests that the Moon is hollow, and its dark side is home to alien bases and facilities. Proponents of this idea often point to alleged anomalies in lunar photographs, such as unexplained lights or structures, as evidence of extraterrestrial activity.
The Galactic Federation
This outlandish theory claims that Earth is part of a vast interstellar alliance called the Galactic Federation, comprising numerous extraterrestrial species that have banded together to maintain peace and order in the galaxy. According to this theory, Earth’s governments are aware of the existence of the Galactic Federation and maintain secret communications with its members. Some versions of the theory even assert that the Federation is actively involved in preventing catastrophic events on Earth, such as nuclear war or asteroid impacts.
The world of alien theories is filled with fascinating, outlandish, and sometimes downright bizarre ideas. While most of these theories lack concrete evidence or scientific support, they do offer a window into the boundless creativity of the human mind. As we continue to explore the cosmos and search for signs of extraterrestrial life, it’s important to keep an open mind while remaining grounded in the principles of critical thinking and scientific inquiry.
Meet the Four Astronauts Who’ll Fly Around the Moon for Artemis II
The four astronauts chosen for NASA’s Artemis II mission will check off a string of firsts during their flight around the moon, scheduled for next year. It’ll mark the first trip beyond Earth orbit for a woman, for a person of color and for a Canadian. Artemis II will represent yet another first for Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen: Based on the current crew schedule, it’ll be his first-ever space mission.
Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialist Christina Koch round out the first crew for NASA’s Artemis moon program, which picks up on the legacy of the Apollo moon program. If all goes according to plan, they’ll be the first humans to circle the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.
As NASA Administrator Bill Nelson geared up to introduce the crew, he echoed the moonshot vision that President John F. Kennedy laid out in 1962 in his famous “We Choose to Go to the Moon” speech.
“We choose to go to back to the moon, and on to Mars,” Nelson said. “And we’re going to do it together, because in the 21st century, NASA explores the cosmos with international partners. We will unlock new knowledge and understanding. We’ve always dreamed about what more is ahead. Why? Because it’s in our DNA. It’s part of us. It’s who we are, as adventurers, as explorers, as frontierspeople.”
Dozens of astronauts and scores of VIPs attended today’s big reveal at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Texas. Joe Acaba — the chief of the Astronaut Office — joked onstage about the secrecy that surrounded the selection of the four Artemis II crew members. “I’ll give you one hint: I am not one of them,” he said, drawing a laugh. “Don’t be so happy about that.”
Metaphorically speaking, the stage was set for Artemis II last fall when NASA’s Space Launch System sent an uncrewed Orion deep-space capsule on a weeks-long Artemis I mission around the moon and back. That flight was designed to test NASA’s hardware and procedures for Artemis II — and for the even more ambitious Artemis III mission, which currently aims to put astronauts on the lunar surface in late 2025.
The flight plan for the 10-day Artemis II mission, officially planned for November 2024, is analogous to the Apollo 8 round-the-moon mission in 1968. As was the case for Artemis I, the trip would begin with an SLS launch — but this time with people instead of test dummies inside the Orion capsule. After an initial systems checkout in high Earth orbit, the crew would fly past the moon and then make a gravity-assisted turnaround 6,400 miles beyond lunar orbit. The return to Earth would feature a 25,000 mph re-entry and an Apollo-style splashdown.
This NASA infographic lays out the flight plan for Artemis II. Click on the image for a larger version.
“Am I excited? Absolutely,” Christina Koch, who would become the first woman to see the moon’s far side with her own eyes, told today’s audience. “But my real question is, are you excited? I see you and I ask that, because the one thing I’m most excited about is that we are going to carry your excitement, your aspirations, your dreams with us on this mission.”
Jeremy Hansen, the only space rookie on the Artemis II crew, gave a shout-out to America’s leadership in space and Canada’s “can-do attitude.” His role on the mission recognizes Canadian contributions to NASA’s space effort, including the robotic arms for the space shuttle and the International Space Station as well as a lunar utility vehicle that Canadian companies are building for moon missions.
“For decades now, literally thousands upon thousands of Canadians have risen to that challenge to bring real value to the international partnership with respect to space exploration, to bring real solutions,” Hansen said.
“Human spaceflight is like a relay race,” Glover said. “And that baton has been passed from generation to generation, and from crew member to crew member, from Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Apollo-Soyuz, Skylab, Mir, the shuttle, International Space Station, commercial crew and now the Artemis missions. We understand our role in that. And when we have the privilege of having that baton, we’re going to do our best to run a good race, to make you proud.”
Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman closed out the ceremony with a round of thanks to NASA’s workforce, its international partners — and particularly to his fellow astronauts, including the International Space Station’s current crew.
“If any of you over there are looking for heroes, go Google these folks, because they’re our heroes,” Wiseman said.
Commander Reid Wiseman Hometown: Baltimore, Md. Born: 1975 Background: Naval aviator, test pilot, selected to become astronaut in 2009. Spaceflight experience: Expedition 40/41 on International Space Station, 2014.
Pilot Victor Glover Hometown: Pomona, Calif. Born: 1976 Background: Naval aviator, test pilot, selected as NASA astronaut in 2013. Spaceflight experience: SpaceX Crew-1 and Expedition 64 on International Space Station, 2020-2021.
Mission specialist Christina Hammock Koch Hometown: Grand Rapids, Mich. Born: 1979 Background: Engineer at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, research associate in U.S. Antarctic Program, electrical engineer at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, researcher at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, selected as NASA astronaut in 2013. Spaceflight experience: Expedition 59/60/61 on International Space Station, 2019-2020.
Mission specialist Jeremy Hansen (Canada) Hometown: London, Ontario Born: 1976 Background: Fighter pilot, selected as Canadian Space Agency astronaut in 2009. Training experience: Cave test subject with European Space Agency’s CAVES program in 2013, aquanaut with NEEMO 19 underwater test program in 2014.
And here are a few reactions from notables on Twitter:
Astronomers Think They've Found One of the Biggest Black Holes Ever Seen
In 1931, Indian-American physicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar proposed a resolution to Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity that postulated the existence of black holes. By 1972, astronomers obtained the first conclusive evidence that these objects existed in our Universe. Observations of quasars and the center of the Milky Way also revealed that most massive galaxies have supermassive black holes (SMBHs) at their cores. Since then, the study of black holes has revealed that these objects vary in size and mass, ranging from micro black holes (MBHs) and intermediate black holes (IMBHs) to SMBHs.
Using astronomical simulations and a technique known as Gravitational Lensing, an international team of astrophysicists detected what could be the largest black hole ever observed. This ultramassive black hole (UMBH) has a mass roughly 30 billion times that of our Sun and is located near the center of the Abell 1201 galaxy cluster, roughly 2.7 billion light-years from Earth. This is the first time a black hole has been found using Gravitational Lensing, and it could enable studies that look farther into space to find black holes and deepen our understanding of their size and scale.
This illustration shows how gravitational lensing works. The gravity of a large galaxy cluster is so strong it bends, brightens, and distorts the light of distant galaxies behind it.
Credit: NASA, ESA, L. Calcada
Gravitational Lensing (GL) refers to a phenomenon predicted by General Relativity, which describes how spacetime curvature is warped by the presence of massive objects. This technique involves astronomers using massive objects in the foreground (like galaxies or galaxy clusters) to amplify light from more distant objects. This enables astronomers to study objects that would otherwise be inaccessible to them, either because of distance or the presence of other objects along the same line of sight. This technique also allows astronomers to study distant objects in greater detail, such as the Abell 1201 cluster.
Dr. Nightingale and his associates began studying this cluster in 2004 when Prof. Alastair Edge, a fellow Durham University astronomer and a co-author of this paper, reviewed images of a galactic survey and noticed a giant lens in its vicinity. For this study, Dr. Nightingale, Prof. Edge, and their colleagues consulted data from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in multiple bands – including visible light, X-rays, and other wavelengths. Following up on what Hubble saw years ago, the team compared the data to simulations on the new DiRAC COSmology MAchine 8 (COSMA8) supercomputer facilities at Durham University.
Using open-source software (PyAutoLens) that astronomers rely on to model strong lenses, the team simulated light traveling between Abell 2021 and Earth thousands of times. Each simulation included a black hole with a different mass and how this would influence the way the light traveled over 2.7 billion years to reach Earth. Their results showed that a UMBH located in the foreground galaxy, over 30 billion times as massive as our Sun, would account for what Hubble saw. Astronomers rarely see black holes this massive, and this find (if confirmed) would constitute the largest black hole ever detected.
On top of that, it was the first time astronomers used the GL technique to detect such a massive black hole. What’s more, it could help astronomers learn more about UMBHs and dormant black holes in the future. Ordinarily, astronomers are largely restricted to studying active black holes because of how bright they are in multiple wavelengths. This is caused by gas and dust being pulled in toward black holes and forming tightly-bound disks that are accelerated to velocities approaching the speed of light (aka. relativistic speed).
This causes the material in the disk to become highly energetic, emitting radiation in visible light, infrared, X-rays, radio waves, and other wavelengths. The same occurs when the material infalls and is accreted onto the face of the black hole, being torn apart at the subatomic level. This is characteristic of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), where a galaxy’s center shines brighter than all the stars in the galactic disks. This study has shown how dormant black holes, which are significantly less luminous, can be inferred by the presence of a powerful GL.
The team hopes that this study will lead to deeper explorations of black holes, which will benefit from the new class of 30-meter telescopes that will become operational in the near future. These include the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT), and the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), which will combine greater sensitivity with adaptive optics and interferometers. Along with improved data analysis and new methods, astronomers will likely be able to study even more distant black holes and gain additional insights into these behemoths.
Denver’s Hidden Secrets: Underground Bunkers and The Elite’s Escape Plan
Denver’s Hidden Secrets: Underground Bunkers and The Elite’s Escape Plan
The thought of a catastrophic event leading to the annihilation of a large percentage of Earth’s population is both intriguing and terrifying. While we can’t predict when or how such a disaster may strike, it’s worth considering the measures that have been put in place to protect select individuals in the face of catastrophe. In the United States, the chosen few would likely find refuge in Denver, Colorado – a location shrouded in mystery, conspiracy theories, and rumored connections to UFOs and aliens.
A Haven for the Elite
It’s no secret that world leaders and key government figures, like the President of the United States and Vice President, would be taken to secure underground facilities in the event of a doomsday scenario. Members of Congress and the military would also find themselves in protected locations. But what about the civilians? There are facilities around the world designed to house thousands of people, but who gets to decide who is saved and who is left behind?
Denver, Colorado, has long been associated with conspiracy theories and underground bunkers. One of the most famous theories revolves around the Denver International Airport, which has sparked numerous speculations due to its unusual artwork, Masonic symbols, and rumors of a vast network of underground tunnels.
Some believe that Denver International Airport serves as a cover for an extensive underground bunker system, built to house the elite in the event of a cataclysmic event. In 2011, when the Comet Elenin was headed towards Earth, President Obama was reportedly taken to a secret facility near Denver Airport instead of the usual Cheyenne Mountain bunker.
UFOs, Aliens, and Area 51
Adding to the mystery surrounding Denver is the purported connection to UFOs, aliens, and the infamous Area 51. Denver International Airport, with its peculiar design, has been linked to extraterrestrial activity, fueling speculations that the underground bunkers may serve a dual purpose – not only to protect the elite but also to hide evidence of alien encounters and advanced technologies.
Area 51, a highly classified US Air Force facility located in Nevada, has long been the subject of conspiracy theories related to UFOs and extraterrestrial life. While there is no direct evidence connecting Area 51 to the alleged underground bunkers in Denver, the secrecy surrounding both locations has led some to believe that they may be part of a larger, covert network of facilities designed to deal with potential alien contact and technology.
The Veil of Secrecy
The existence of these hidden bunkers and the role of Denver in sheltering the chosen few during an apocalyptic event, as well as its possible connections to UFOs and aliens, remains shrouded in secrecy. While many dismiss these theories as baseless conspiracies, others argue that the government’s reluctance to address these questions fuels suspicion.
Conclusion
As we continue to ponder the possibility of a catastrophic event that could force humanity to “reset,” the debate around underground bunkers, the elite’s escape plans, and Denver’s mysterious role in the world of UFOs and aliens will likely persist. Ultimately, the question of who gets to survive while the rest of the population is left to face the consequences is a sobering reminder of the potential inequality in the face of disaster and the importance of transparency and accountability from governments around the world.
VIDEO:
The Why Files: What Are They Hiding Underneath? The Truth about the Denver International Airport Conspiracy
NASA reveals the crew for its first moon mission in 50 YEARS: Victor Glover becomes first person of color while Christina Koch becomes the first WOMAN to get called up for Artemis II lunar launch
NASA reveals the crew for its first moon mission in 50 YEARS: Victor Glover becomes first person of color while Christina Koch becomes the first WOMAN to get called up for Artemis II lunar launch
NASA has unveiled the crew that will take part in Artemis II mission
It includes the first person of colour and first woman selected for a moon mission
They will fly around the moon in NASA's Orion spacecraft in 18 months time
NASA has revealed the identities of the four astronauts who will make the first trip to the moon in 50 years as part of the Artemis II mission.
Victor Glover, 46, from Pomona, California, becomes the first person of color selected for lunar moon mission, while Christina Koch, 44, from Grand Rapids, Michigan, becomes the first woman.
They have been chosen alongside Reid Wiseman, 47, from Baltimore, Maryland and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, 47.
This mission will see them fly around the moon in NASA's Orion spacecraft in 18 months' time, reaching a maximum altitude of 5,523 miles above the surface.
Artemis II is the second leg of NASA's new moon program for the 21st century, which will see a separate team land on the lunar surface for the first time since 1972.
NASA has revealed the identities of the four astronauts will make the first trip to the moon since 1972 as part of the Artemis II mission. Victor Glover (second from left), 46, becomes the first person of color selected for a moon mission, while Christina Koch (second from right), 44, becomes the first woman. They have been chosen alongside Reid Wiseman (left), 47, from Baltimore, Maryland and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, 47 (right)
The newly announced crew will have already embarked on training for the mission but their identities have remained top secret ahead of today's press conference
WHAT IS ARTEMIS II?
Artemis II is the second leg of NASA's new moon programme for the 21st century.
It follows Artemis I, an uncrewed mission which launched in November 2022 and successfully returned to Earth 25 days later after circling the moon.
Artemis II is scheduled to lift off in 2024.
It will also see the four-man crew go around our lunar satellite but not land.
That honour will fall to Artemis III, which is due to blast off in 2025 if Artemis II is a success and NASA can keep to its strict timeline.
Artemis III will see the US space agency return to the lunar surface for the first time since 1972, possibly with the first woman and first person of colour walking on the moon.
It follows Artemis I, an uncrewed mission which launched in November 2022 and successfully returned to Earth 25 days later after circling the moon.
This tested Orion's technologies, including its heat shield, to ensure the future astronauts' safety for when they lift off in 2024.
The newly announced crew will have already embarked on training for the mission - but their identities have remained top secret ahead of today's press conference.
Victor Glover was selected as an astronaut in 2013 and became the first African American ISS expedition crewmember to live on the ISS seven years later.
He served as pilot and second-in-command on the Crew-1 SpaceX Crew Dragon, named Resilience, which arrived at the space station in 2020.
Christina Koch is the record holder for the longest single spaceflight by a woman, having spent 328 days in orbit during her trip to the ISS between 2019 and 2020.
That surpassed the previous record of 288 days held by Peggy Whitson.
Just a few months prior, Koch and another female astronaut, Jessica Meir, completed the first all-woman spacewalk.
Following her record-breaking ISS mission, Koch was included in Time's Most Influential People of 2020.
Christina Koch (pictured) 44, is the record holder for the longest single spaceflight by a woman, having spent 328 days in orbit during her trip to the ISS between 2019 and 2020.
Victor Glover (pictured) was selected as an astronaut in 2013 and became the first African American ISS expedition crewmember to live on the ISS seven years later
Wiseman is a 47-year-old test pilot who stepped down as chief of the astronaut office in November last year.
The astronaut holding this role is traditionally involved in assigning crews for each space mission — but is not eligible to fly themselves.
This led to rumors that the decorated naval aviator's resignation could signify his involvement in the first moon mission in 50 years.
This turned out to be true, as he was named Commander of the mission.
Hansen, from London, Canada, has never been to space but was the favorite among four potential Canadian Space Agency astronauts to get the nod for Artemis II.
Reid Wiseman (pictured) is a 47-year-old test pilot who stepped down as chief of the astronaut office in November last year
Jeremy Hansen (pictured), from London, Canada, has never been to space but was the favourite among four potential Canadian Space Agency astronauts to get the nod for Artemis II
Artemis II is the second leg of NASA's new moon programme for the 21st century. It follows Artemis I , an uncrewed mission which launched in November 2022 and successfully returned to Earth 25 days later after circling the moon
peculation has been rife about who could be aboard NASA's Orion spacecraft, with at least one female astronaut strongly expected to be among them.
NASA associate administrator Jim Free said in a statement: 'We're looking forward to that crew flying on Artemis II.
'Right now, there's nothing holding us up based on what we learned on Artemis I.'
Artemis II, which is scheduled to take place in late November 2024, will take a four-person crew around the moon but won't land on it.
That honor is due to fall to Artemis III the following year.
It is part of NASA's ambitious program that aims to return humans to the moon for the first time since the historic Apollo missions ended in 1972.
The US space agency hopes to establish a lasting human presence on the lunar surface and later launch a years-long trip to Mars.
Only 12 people – all of them white men – have set foot on the moon.
The last to leave his footprints on the surface was Eugene Cernan, commander of the Apollo 17 mission.
Artemis II is a follow up to the Artemis I mission, which completed a 25-day mission around the moon in late 2022. It blasted into space on NASA's new Space Launch System rocket (pictured)
Splashdown: Artemis I's Orion capsule is retrieved from the Pacific after a successful mission
Just before leaving, Cernan dropped to one knee and etched his daughter Tracey's initials, 'TDC', into the lunar soil.
Because the moon has no wind or atmosphere, it will likely remain there for a very long time.
Cernan, who died in 2017 aged 82, was joined on the surface by scientist Harrison Schmitt.
Schmitt was the only person without a background in military aviation to walk on the moon.
Making up the Apollo 17 crew was Ronald Evans, who was the last human to orbit the moon alone.
At 147 hours and 43 minutes, he also holds the record for the most time spent in lunar orbit after serving as command module pilot for the mission.
Evans died of a heart attack aged 56 in 1990.
Artemis I launched on November 16, 2022. The program, however, was plagued with numerous delays that pushed the maiden launch data back since August.
The $4 billion Space Launch System endured fuel leak concerns, engine issues and escaped the clutches of not one but two hurricanes.
NASA said during the November launch that if all went well, the world could see humans take the same journey in 2024 - and the hope is becoming a reality.
'Our plan has always been 12 months, but there are significant developments that have to occur,' Free said.
'We're still sticking with that 12 months, but we're always looking at the development of all the hardware that has to come together for that.'
NASA announced Tuesday it is on track to send four people around the moon and back in 2024. The crew will launch atop the Artemis Space Launch System (SLS) rocket
NASA will land the first woman and first person of color on the moon in 2025 as part of the Artemis mission
Artemis was the twin sister of Apollo and goddess of the moon in Greek mythology.
NASA has chosen her to personify its path back to the moon, which will see astronauts return to the lunar surface by 2025 - including the first woman and the next man.
Artemis 1, formerly Exploration Mission-1, is the first in a series of increasingly complex missions that will enable human exploration to the moon and Mars.
Artemis 1 will be the first integrated flight test of NASA’s deep space exploration system: the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the ground systems at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Artemis 1 will be an uncrewed flight that will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration, and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human existence to the moon and beyond.
During this flight, the spacecraft will launch on the most powerful rocket in the world and fly farther than any spacecraft built for humans has ever flown.
It will travel 280,000 miles (450,600 km) from Earth, thousands of miles beyond the moon over the course of about a three-week mission.
Artemis 1, formerly Exploration Mission-1, is the first in a series of increasingly complex missions that will enable human exploration to the moon and Mars. This graphic explains the various stages of the mission
Orion will stay in space longer than any ship for astronauts has done without docking to a space station and return home faster and hotter than ever before.
With this first exploration mission, NASA is leading the next steps of human exploration into deep space where astronauts will build and begin testing the systems near the moon needed for lunar surface missions and exploration to other destinations farther from Earth, including Mars.
The will take crew on a different trajectory and test Orion’s critical systems with humans aboard.
Together, Orion, SLS and the ground systems at Kennedy will be able to meet the most challenging crew and cargo mission needs in deep space.
Eventually NASA seeks to establish a sustainable human presence on the moon by 2028 as a result of the Artemis mission.
The space agency hopes this colony will uncover new scientific discoveries, demonstrate new technological advancements and lay the foundation for private companies to build a lunar economy.
NASA stuurt voor de eerste keer een vrouw en een zwarte man richting de maan, lancering eind 2024 gepland
NASA stuurt voor de eerste keer een vrouw en een zwarte man richting de maan, lancering eind 2024 gepland
UPDATEDe Amerikaanse astronauten Reid Wiseman (47), Victor Glover (46) en Christina Koch (44) en de Canadees Jeremy Hansen (47) gaan volgend jaar, na een onderbreking van meer dan 50 jaar, opnieuw rond de maan vliegen. Dat maakte de Amerikaanse ruimtevaartorganisatie NASA maandag bekend. De vier ruimtevaarders vormen de bemanning van de vlucht Artemis II, de laatste generale repetitie voordat mensen weer voet op de maan zetten.
De lancering staat voorlopig gepland voor eind 2024. De bemanningsleden gaan niet op de maan zelf landen. Dat moet gebeuren met de missie Artemis III, die op zijn vroegst in 2025 wordt uitgevoerd. In 1972 liepen voor het laatst mensen op de maan rond. Met de keuze voor een vrouw en een kleurling komt NASA zijn belofte na om meer diversiteit te brengen in zijn exploratie-inspanningen. Alle vorige bemande missies naar de maan werden uitgevoerd door blanke mannen.
“De missie Artemis II is de volgende stap in het grote doel om naar Mars te reizen”, zei Reid Wiseman, die de bevelhebber van de missie wordt. De zwarte Amerikaan Victor Glover is de piloot van de missie. Koch en Hanson zijn de “ondersteunde missiespecialisten”. Ze zullen nu beginnen aan een intensieve training om zich voor te bereiden voor de missie.
De VS en Canada werken al langer nauw samen aan reizen naar de maan. Daarvoor is het Artemis-programma opgezet om uiteindelijk een duurzame buitenpost op de maan te vestigen. De eerste vlucht uit het project was Artemis I, die begon op 16 november. Het onbemande ruimteschip vloog naar de maan, draaide een paar rondjes eromheen en begon daarna aan de terugvlucht. Op 11 december plonsde de capsule in de Grote Oceaan.
Op het verste punt was het ruimteschip ongeveer 430.000 kilometer van de aarde verwijderd, volgens de NASA meer dan duizend keer zo ver weg als het internationale ruimtestation ISS. Nog nooit is een ruimteschip dat voor mensen is gebouwd zo ver weg gevlogen. Het is nu de bedoeling dat de vier astronauten ongeveer dezelfde ruimtereis zullen ondernemen.
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Over mijzelf
Ik ben Pieter, en gebruik soms ook wel de schuilnaam Peter2011.
Ik ben een man en woon in Linter (België) en mijn beroep is Ik ben op rust..
Ik ben geboren op 18/10/1950 en ben nu dus 74 jaar jong.
Mijn hobby's zijn: Ufologie en andere esoterische onderwerpen.
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![Based on new evidence from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, this illustration reflects the conclusion that the exoplanet LHS 475 b is rocky and almost precisely the same size as Earth. The planet whips around its star in just two days, far faster than any planet in the Solar System. Researchers will follow up this summer with additional observations with Webb, which they hope will allow them to definitively conclude if the planet has an atmosphere. LHS 475 b is relatively close, 41 light-years away, in the constellation Octans. [Image Description: Illustration of a planet and its star on a black background. The planet is large, in the foreground at the centre, and the star is smaller, in the background and also at the centre. The planet is rocky. The top quarter of the planet (the side facing the star) is lit, while the rest is in shadow. The star is bright yellowish-white, with no clear features.]](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230111134727-01-james-webb-space-telescope-exoplanet-confirmation.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_144,w_256,c_fill)
