Asteroid or supervolcano? New study says dinosaurs were wiped out by BOTH

• 'Volcanic winters' weakened the dinosaurs for 200,000 years prior to extinction
• 'The final blow,' researchers said, was likely given by Chicxulub meteor impact
• READ MORE: T.Rex had the same number of brain neurons as modern primates and may have been capable of problem-solving and even culture, study claims

By MATTHEW PHELAN FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

Repeated 'volcanic winters' may have left the dinosaurs hungry, shivering and vulnerable to a fatal 'final blow' by the asteroid that ultimately did them in. 

At least, an international team of researchers from Italy, Norway, Canada and the US has reached that conclusion in a new study, which analyzed sulfur and fluorine gases trapped in ancient volcanic rocks from the infamous Deccan Traps supervolcano.

This sulfur and fluorine — belched out by the Deccan Traps over 200,000 years before the extinction-level event — would have dropped global temperatures by as much as 18 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius), their new study determined.

The findings add further clarity to the raging debate between paleontologists and other scientists over what actually drove the dinosaurs to extinction.

Their work aligns itself with a compromise theory: the 'press-pulse extinction model.'

Repeated 'volcanic winters' may have left the dinosaurs hungry, shivering and vulnerable to a fatal 'final blow' by the asteroid that ultimately did them in, according to a new study 

An international team of researchers from Italy, Norway, Canada and the US analyzed sulfur and fluorine gases trapped in layers of ancient volcanic rocks (labelled above right) from India's Deccan Traps supervolcano. The volcanic gases likely led to temperature drops globally

'Our research demonstrates that climatic conditions were almost certainly unstable,' said study co-author and geologist Don Baker, 'with repeated volcanic winters that could have lasted decades, prior to the extinction of the dinosaurs.' 

'Our work helps explain this significant extinction event that led to the rise of mammals and the evolution of our species,' according to Baker, who teaches at Canada's McGill University in Montreal.

The group analyzed trapped sulfur and fluorine compounds in samples taken from the Deccan Traps 'lava pile' in India's Western Ghats mountain range, near Bombay. 

The compounds' minute concentrations, measured in parts-per-million, were determined via synchrotron radiation x‐ray fluorescence spectrometry — which bombards samples with magnetized corkscrews of radiation and then records how that radiation bounces and scatters back.

Some of the 'volcanic winters,' according to  study co-author, geologist Don Baker, 'could have lasted decades' each, prior to the meteor that led to the dinosaurs' extinction

Baker drew a cooking analogy to explain the process of calculating atmospheric sulfur and fluorine volume from the small percentages held within these lava rocks. 

'Imagine making pasta at home. You boil the water, add salt, and then the pasta,' Baker began in a statement.

'Some of the salt from the water goes into the pasta,' he said, 'but not much of it.'

Baker and his team worked with similar known ratios to estimate how much sulfur and fluorine gas compounds had flooded into Earth's atmosphere during the Cretaceous period. 

A steady drop in temperature during the late Cretaceous period, as estimated by past paleoclimate studies, happened to track with higher concentrations of the Sulfur compounds in several layers of ancient lava from the Deccan Traps: layers known as the Thakurvadi through Bushe rock formations. 

Sulfur content was found to be as high as 1,800 parts-per-million in these layers.  

By the researchers' calculations, that would indicate that a volume of sulfur gas somewhere between 86,000 and 466,000 cubic-kilometers in size erupted into the prehistoric atmosphere.

When it came to the fluorine gasses, Baker and his colleagues do not believe it contributed to major climate change, but that its concentrations had other, more local, toxic effects.

'There is historical evidence for local impacts of fluorine degassing,' they wrote in their study, published in the journal Science Advances, 'as readily deposited from the volcanic haze.' 

Above, a November 2023 eruption from one of most active and tallest volcanos in Europe, the snow-capped Etna in Italy. Etna shows what global 'volcanic winters' might have looked like

Huge regions of western India were carved and grooved by the lava flows of the Deccan Traps supervolcano over 66 million years ago. Above, a SkySat satellite image of the Deccan Traps taken in March of 2018 over Maharashtrain in India

The 'the final blow' in the researchers' view was almost assuredly the well-known Chicxulub impact, when a carbon-rich asteroid crashed into Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula roughly 66 million years ago. The impact led to trillions of metric tons of dust clouds and a new Ice Age

Those local impacts included, 'acid rain, crop failure, and livestock poisoning' after Iceland's Laki volcano eruptions in 1783 and 1784. 

In essence, the researchers speculate that the Laki volcano's fluorine episode might be a good example of how the Deccan Traps' supervolcanic activity could have further harmed the dinosaurs over 66 million years ago.

'Deccan Traps volcanism set the stage for a global biotic crisis,' as the team put it in their new study, 'repeatedly deteriorating environmental conditions by forcing recurring short volcanic winters.'

But the 'the final blow' in their view was almost assuredly the well-known Chicxulub impact, when a carbon-rich asteroid crashed into Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula roughly 66 million years ago.

The impact, which left a six-mile-wide crater visible to this day, devastated the planet smashing up a hot cloud of dust, ash and steam and spreading 25 trillion metric tons of material into the atmosphere, some of which even escaped Earth's orbit.

The heated rentry of the rest of that material caused forest fires across 70 percent of the planet and left massive dust clouds that hastened a new Ice Age, scientists say. 

But the dinosaurs were already struggling with bad weather by that time, based on Baker and his teams' new work.

'Our dataset,' they wrote, 'indicates that volcanic-driven climate disturbance was already underway.'

HOW THE DINOSAURS BECAME EXTINCT AROUND 66MILLION YEARS AGO

Dinosaurs ruled the Earth around 66million years ago, but suddenly disappeared in what is known as the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction.

It was believed for many years that the changing climate destroyed the food chain of the huge reptiles. 

However, in the 1980s paleontologists discovered a layer of iridium - an element that is rare on Earth but found in vast quantities in space.  

When this was dated, it coincided precisely with when the dinosaurs disappeared from the fossil record. 

A decade later, scientists uncovered the massive Chicxulub Crater at the tip of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, which dates to the period in question. 

Scientific consensus now says that these two factors are linked and they were both probably caused by an enormous asteroid crashing to Earth.

With the projected size and impact velocity, the collision would have caused an enormous shock wave and is likely to have triggered seismic activity. 

The fallout would have created plumes of ash thought to have covered the whole planet, making it impossible for dinosaurs to survive. 

Other animals and plant species had a shorter time-span between generations which allowed them to survive.

There are several other theories as to what caused the demise of the dinos. 

One early theory was that small mammals ate dinosaur eggs and another proposes that toxic angiosperms (flowering plants) killed them off.  

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

01-12-2023 om 23:43 geschreven door peter  

Mummified 'aliens' found in Peru have 30% DNA of an 'unknown species,' new analysis claims

• A DNA analysis of Mexico's mummified 'aliens' claimed they're nonhuman 
• Researchers conducted a DNA analysis on the bodies uncovered in Peru
• READ MORE:  A journalist first brought forth the two remains in September

By STACY LIBERATORE FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

The mystery of Mexico's 'aliens' is deepening after an analysis claimed the DNA of tiny corpses is not human but of an 'unknown species.' 

The nation's Congress has been a circus for the past two months as controversial UFO enthusiast and journalist Jaime Maussan has held court several times to prove the mummified remains found in Peru are extraterrestrial life.

In his recent attempt, Maussan ushered in a team of researchers who performed a DNA analysis on the figures that showed 30 percent is 'not from any known species' and stated that the figures were 'authentic,' comprising a single skeleton.

The other 70 percent has not yet been revealed. 

DailyMail.com revealed that a UFO expert who has handled the tiny bodies suggested humans put them together - and the pair could have been made with now-extinct animals 1,000 years ago.

The mystery of Mexico 's ' aliens ' is deepening after an analysis claimed the DNA of tiny corpses is not human but of an 'unknown species'

This is the first time extraterrestrial life has been presented in this manner, Maussan said to Congress.

'We have a clear example of non-human specimens unrelated to any known species on our planet. 

'The public has the right to know about non-human technology and beings. This reality unites humanity rather than dividing us. We are not alone in this vast universe; we should embrace this truth.' 

Maussan added that the two corpses have sturdy bones, are toothless, and contain implants made of the soft, slivery-white metal cadmium and the bluish-white metal osmium - rare elements on Earth. 

He revealed in September that 30 percent of the DNA was unknown, but it was not until recently that claims of an unknown species surfaced. 

The nation's Congress has been a circus for the past two months as controversial UFO enthusiast and journalist Jaime Maussan has held court several times to prove the mummified remains found in Peru are extraterrestrial life

The figures underwent carbon dating by the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), which determined the bodies had three-fingered hands, no teeth and were more than 1,000 years old, Maussan claimed

The figures underwent carbon dating by the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), which determined the bodies had three-fingered hands, no teeth and were more than 1,000 years old, Maussan claimed.

'These specimens are not part of our terrestrial evolution [...] These aren't beings that were found after a UFO wreckage,' Maussan said to Congress in September.

'They were found in diatom [algae] mines and were later fossilized.' 

He later added: 'Whether they are aliens or not, we don't know, but they were intelligent and they lived with us. They should rewrite history.'

'We are not alone in this vast universe; we should embrace this reality.'

Maussan said that the two corpses have sturdy bones, are toothless, and contain implants made of the soft, slivery-white metal cadmium and the bluish-white metal osmium - rare elements on Earth

Experts also indicated that their DNA is hybrid, suggesting the bodies were descendants of the being human

 Earlier this month, Maussan ushered in a string of doctors who all said the bodies were those of real, once-living organisms - some experts claimed to have studied 'five similar specimens over four years.

The experts also indicated that their DNA is hybrid, suggesting the bodies were descendants of the being human.

'We have a hybrid being, we have other beings that are apparently more evolved than us…we are facing something truly extraordinary,' said Maussan.

While Mausaan and his team declared the mummified corpses, named Clara and Mauricio, 'are real,' the experts did not have an origin story and did not imply the bodies were 'extraterrestrial.'

At the hearing, he focused on proving the bodies were not fake by providing insights from medical experts.

'None of the scientists say [the study results] prove that they are extraterrestrials, but I go further,' he said, suggesting that they could be evidence of non-Earthly life forms.

Ufologist Will Galison - a close friend of the archaeologist who first analyzed the supposed 'aliens' - said he believes the 'corpses' are dummies that are 1,000 years old

Maussan brought a squad of medical experts who carried in a letter signed by 11 researchers from San Luis Gonzaga National University in Ica, Peru, declaring the same.

Anthropologist Roger Zuniga of San Luis Gonzaga National University in Ica Peru said Tuesday: 'There was absolutely no human intervention in the physical and biological formation of these beings.'

However, the letter made clear that the team was not implying the bodies were 'extraterrestrial' but did not answer where the remains originated.

Argentine surgeon Celestino Adolfo Piotto also took the stand, claiming he reviewed the results of testing done on the bodies and made the bizarre case that 'they were an evolved version of today's human beings, calling them 'our descendants.'

But ufologist Will Galison - a close friend of the archaeologist who first analyzed the supposed 'aliens' - said he believes the 'corpses' are dummies that are 1,000 years old. 

Galison said they may have been made from animal remains a millennia ago, possibly for ritual purposes, with the heads bearing a 'remarkable similarity' to alpaca skulls. 

Many online have expressed skepticism about the veracity of the mummies origins.

Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

01-12-2023 om 23:26 geschreven door peter  

Na 4.000 jaar opnieuw mammoeten? "Tegen 2028 lukt het ons!"

In een historisch gebouw in het Amerikaanse Deep Ellum wordt tegenwoordig een enorme inspanning geleverd om enkele van de beroemdste uitgestorven dieren weer tot leven te brengen. Een in Dallas gevestigd bedrijf genaamd 'Colossal Biosciences' gaat deze hallucinante uitdaging aan. Zo werkt het momenteel al aan de creatie van de wolharige mammoet, die 4000 jaar geleden uitstierf.

"We creëren technologie die de toekomst zal veranderen voor de uitgestorven soorten, maar het verbazingwekkende is dat deze technologieën vandaag de dag al een verschil kan maken voor het behoud van bedreigde diersoorten", zegt Matt James, de hoofddierenfunctionaris van Colossal.

Met behulp van DNA van Aziatische olifanten en DNA van wolharige mammoeten die bevroren zijn in de arctische toendra, gebruiken onderzoekers van Colossal Biosciences genbewerkingstechnologie om het genoom van een Aziatische olifant opnieuw te ontwerpen totdat het dat van een wolharige mammoet weerspiegelt. “Het blijkt dat de wolharige mammoet en de Aziatische olifant gnomisch gezien voor 99,6% op elkaar lijken”, zegt James.

In de laboratoria in Deep Ellum wordt gewerkt aan het creëren van kunstmatige baarmoeders waarin een wolharige mammoetkalf kan groeien. Colossal heeft er zelf een doel van gemaakt om te slagen tegen het jaar 2028.

James zegt dat het herstellen van een gigantisch ecosysteem de permafrost, oftewel de grond die bevroren blijft, kan behouden en de uitstoot van broeikasgassen kan vertragen. “Dit is waarschijnlijk 100 verschillende levens waard om dit doel te bereiken, maar we moeten zo snel mogelijk doorzetten omdat we worden geconfronteerd met deze onmiddellijke dreiging van de mondiale klimaatverandering”, aldus James.

Sinds de aankondiging van zijn voornemen voor de wolharige mammoet, heeft Colossal ook soortgelijke plannen aangekondigd voor de dodovogel en de Tasmaanse tijger, oftewel thylacine.

(Skwadra by Tagtik/Source: NBC Los Angeles/Illustration picture: Unsplash)

{ https://www.tagtik.be/fr/accueil.html }

01-12-2023 om 23:02 geschreven door peter  

EXCLUSIVE: US military is seeing UFOs in SPACE, official report says

• US Space Force released a plan to identify and track 'anomalous' UFO sightings  
• Space Force said the 'unknown objects' disrupt its 'threat identification' mission
• READ MORE: CIA 'Office of Global Access (OGA)' has conducted UFO retrieval missions on at least NINE crash sites around the world, whistleblowers reveal

By MATTHEW PHELAN SENIOR SCIENCE REPORTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

The Pentagon branch tasked with protecting America from space-based threats, local and galactic, has detected thousands of UFOs in Earth's orbit, DailyMail.com can reveal.

US Space Force, America's newest military branch created under President Trump in 2019, told personnel this month that the sightings were so regular that they are 'hindering threat identification,' the branch's core mission.  

While many of the sightings will prove to be man-made space junk and 'natural debris' like meteoroids, US foreign adversaries continue to launch spy satellites, like North Korea's new Malligyong-1, and other covert orbital platforms. 

One new concern, Space Force noted: the risk of threatening spacecraft hidden in the large unwatched area between Earth and the moon, dubbed 'cislunar' orbit. 

In their new report, published this month, Space Force's leadership emphasized the importance of finding these grave 'threats' among mere 'hazards' like space junk.

But the military branch also went into considerable detail on a weirder, new category of potential 'hazards and threats' under scrutiny.

US Space Force, America's newest military branch created under President Trump in 2019, told personnel this month that 'abnormal observables' in space are a pervasive problem that is 'hindering threat identification,' the branch's core mission

Space Force hopes to 'distinguish between sources of spacecraft anomalies in support of anomaly resolution, recovery, and space attack assessment.' Since the branch's creation in 2019, the number of UFO 'unknowns' in Earth's orbit has skyrocketed by the thousands (above)

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Space Force's mandate 'to rapidly identify and respond to threats and hazards,' the strategy document noted, also includes, 'objects that exhibit abnormal observables and patterns of life and cannot [be] correlated to any owner or point of origin.'

DailyMail.com has reached out to STARCOM, Space Force's Space Training and Readiness Command which published the new document, for detailed clarification on its precise meaning by the terms 'abnormal observables' and 'patterns of life.' 

In recent years, Pentagon officials tasked with investigating UFO cases, including the now famous 2004 Tic Tac incursions, have focused their attention on 'five observables' they say are unique features of serious unexplained phenomena.

'Unidentified aerial phenomena' or UAP that check off these 'observables' appear to display either one or all of the following: (1.) gravity-defying behavior, (2.) eerily low observability on radar or other sensors, (3.) sudden or instantaneous accelerations, (4.) hypersonic speeds without signatures like 'sonic booms,' and (5.) so-called 'trans-medium' travel between air, sea and outer space.

It's unclear from the Space Force STARCOM document, however, whether these five, established UFO techno-signatures overlap with their own 'abnormal observables.' 

It's also unclear what 'patterns of life' have been detected from orbital unknowns.

Space Force's strategy document, titled 'Space Doctrine Publication 3-100, Space Domain Awareness,' outlines the military branch's mission to monitor a vast orbital range that includes everything from low earth orbit (LEO) to the moon 

Across US military branches, the term 'patterns of life' has been used to reference the thermal heat signatures given off by living human targets, for everything from drone warfare to troop deployment surveillance. 

The Pentagon's departing UFO investigation chief, physicist Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick, also used the term to indicate UAP mysteries that would include extraterrestrial craft.

'We are executing a rigorous science and technology plan to ensure controlled calibration of sensors, patterns of life, and signature characterization development,' Kirkpatrick said last December. 

'More data will help build a more complete picture and support the resolution of […] anomalous phenomena.' 

Thermal signatures from the body heat of a living thing (whether terrestrial or E.T. in origin), may fall into this category, to judge from the passages of Space Force's new strategy document that focused on the infra-red capabilities of US military satellites.

'Optical and infrared sensors with relatively wide (one square degree or more) field-of-view,' Space Force's STARCOM advised, 'are also well suited for searching for unknown objects or objects with only a roughly known location.' 

However, Lt. General DeAnna Burt, the deputy chief devoted to Space Force's cyber and nuclear operations, among others, have also used 'patterns of life' to reference detectable, routine activity by any and all technological platforms in space.

Last May, Lt. Gen. Burt dropped the term of art while criticizing China for its opaque and noncooperative space program activities. 

'We've said what our capabilities are,' Lt. Gen. Burt told SpaceNews. 'If you are honest and say what things are and have patterns of life that indicate they are what they are, then it's an everyday operation,' Burt said. 

Whatever Space Force's intent, the branch issued its new publication in mid-November to announce, in part, its plan to identify and track UFOs in orbit around Earth — a high priority initiative the branch calls 'Space Domain Awareness' (SDA).

The strategy document, titled 'Space Doctrine Publication 3-100, Space Domain Awareness,' outlines Space Force's mission to successfully monitor a vast orbital range that includes everything from low earth orbit (LEO) to the moon. 

STARCOM drafted the document as part of its mission to educate and train US Space Force personnel, officially dubbed 'guardians.'

Since the branch's creation in 2019, the number of orbital knowns and UFO 'unknowns' shadowing the Earth has skyrocketed by the thousands. 

Space Force, citing NASA data, published a chart revealing that there are now over 25,000 objects total in orbit, although most were determined to be 'rocket bodies,' 'spacecraft,' 'mission-related debris' or other known man-made objects.

Much of the clutter orbiting Earth is man-made space junk and 'natural debris' like meteoroids, but Space Force's document detailed a weirder, new category: 'objects that exhibit abnormal observables and patterns of life and cannot [be] correlated to any owner or point of origin'

Over 60 percent of the US Space Force budget, or about $19.2 billion worth, has earmarked for research, development, testing and evaluation - creating the tools and techniques for the new and growing problem of defending US interests from foreign military activity in space

According to the Air Force Research Lab, its new security and monitoring probe, the Oracle spacecraft (above) 'aims to launch in 2026 to an area of gravitational stability between the Earth and the Moon to test techniques to monitor space traffic that travels through that region'

Space Force leadership said it hopes to positively identify any and all UFOs to determine if they should be recovered or if they pose a clear and present danger to the United States. 

Or, in military's own unique jargon, Space Force hopes to 'distinguish between sources of spacecraft anomalies in support of anomaly resolution, recovery, and space attack assessment,' the new document states.

But that will cost money, alongside Space Force's other duties providing satellite and other space-based support for American troops on the ground worldwide.

This year, the new military branch is requesting a $30 billion budget from Congress for 2024, just one of many UFO-centric provisions to the 2024 National Defense Authorization (NDAA) now approaching a heated, contested vote on Capitol Hill.

As detailed by the law creating Space Force, the military branch has two related but distinct duties.

• READ MORE: Air Force officer breaks silence on 'red, glowing UFO the size of a football field' hovering at low altitude over US space base in California

The ex-Air Force security officer said he investigated two sightings of a 100-yard UFO witnessed by Boeing contractors and Air Force police on October 14, 2003. There's 'at least 80 people that know this happened,' the USAF vet., Jeff Nuccetelli, told the Merged podcast. As the officer recalled of the eyewitnesses, 'They're scared. Everyone's freaked out' 

First it must organize, train and equip personnel to 'protect US and allied interests in space.' But, secondarily, it must also 'provide space capabilities to the joint forces' here on Earth, such as maintaining spy satellites and other space-based military hardware. 

Space Force's STARCOM noted that figuring out the mystery of what these UFOs or UAP are is essential, in part, so that it can get on with it's other military troop-support tasks. 

'Anomalous indications,' the new guidance document states, 'unnecessarily consume SDA resources (e.g., sensors, communication nodes, command and control [C2] centers, planners, operators) that would otherwise be supporting space and terrestrial combatant commands.'

One new concern, the document added, is the growing threat of foreign spy satellites and worse, in the large dark orbital region between the Earth and the moon, dubbed 'cislunar' orbit.

'Current sensor capabilities will find that the vastness of space between the Earth and the moon, and around the moon, creates challenging conditions for search, custody, and collection operations in support of joint forces,' the branch's new strategy document stated. 

Space Force noted plans by the US Air Force Research Lab for a new security and monitoring probe, the Oracle spacecraft, which 'aims to launch in 2026 to an area of gravitational stability between the Earth and the Moon to test techniques to monitor space traffic that travels through that region.' 

Given all this uncharted territory, which is at best poorly monitored by US defense systems, it is no surprise that the branch's 'guardians' are requesting $3.9 billion more from taxpayers for 2024 than its 2023 fiscal year budget. 

At present, over 60 percent of the US Space Force's budget, or about $19.2 billion worth, has been earmarked for research, development, testing and evaluation. 

Nearly $20 billion, in other words, just to create the tools and techniques for the new and growing problem of defending US interests from foreign military activity, terrestrial and possibly extraterrestrial, in outer space. 

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

01-12-2023 om 18:46 geschreven door peter  

EXCLUSIVE: US military is seeing UFOs in SPACE, official report says

• US Space Force released a plan to identify and track 'anomalous' UFO sightings  
• Space Force said the 'unknown objects' disrupt its 'threat identification' mission
• READ MORE: CIA 'Office of Global Access (OGA)' has conducted UFO retrieval missions on at least NINE crash sites around the world, whistleblowers reveal

By MATTHEW PHELAN SENIOR SCIENCE REPORTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

The Pentagon branch tasked with protecting America from space-based threats, local and galactic, has detected thousands of UFOs in Earth's orbit, DailyMail.com can reveal.

US Space Force, America's newest military branch created under President Trump in 2019, told personnel this month that the sightings were so regular that they are 'hindering threat identification,' the branch's core mission.  

While many of the sightings will prove to be man-made space junk and 'natural debris' like meteoroids, US foreign adversaries continue to launch spy satellites, like North Korea's new Malligyong-1, and other covert orbital platforms. 

One new concern, Space Force noted: the risk of threatening spacecraft hidden in the large unwatched area between Earth and the moon, dubbed 'cislunar' orbit. 

In their new report, published this month, Space Force's leadership emphasized the importance of finding these grave 'threats' among mere 'hazards' like space junk.

But the military branch also went into considerable detail on a weirder, new category of potential 'hazards and threats' under scrutiny.

US Space Force, America's newest military branch created under President Trump in 2019, told personnel this month that 'abnormal observables' in space are a pervasive problem that is 'hindering threat identification,' the branch's core mission

Space Force hopes to 'distinguish between sources of spacecraft anomalies in support of anomaly resolution, recovery, and space attack assessment.' Since the branch's creation in 2019, the number of UFO 'unknowns' in Earth's orbit has skyrocketed by the thousands (above)

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Space Force's mandate 'to rapidly identify and respond to threats and hazards,' the strategy document noted, also includes, 'objects that exhibit abnormal observables and patterns of life and cannot [be] correlated to any owner or point of origin.'

DailyMail.com has reached out to STARCOM, Space Force's Space Training and Readiness Command which published the new document, for detailed clarification on its precise meaning by the terms 'abnormal observables' and 'patterns of life.' 

In recent years, Pentagon officials tasked with investigating UFO cases, including the now famous 2004 Tic Tac incursions, have focused their attention on 'five observables' they say are unique features of serious unexplained phenomena.

'Unidentified aerial phenomena' or UAP that check off these 'observables' appear to display either one or all of the following: (1.) gravity-defying behavior, (2.) eerily low observability on radar or other sensors, (3.) sudden or instantaneous accelerations, (4.) hypersonic speeds without signatures like 'sonic booms,' and (5.) so-called 'trans-medium' travel between air, sea and outer space.

It's unclear from the Space Force STARCOM document, however, whether these five, established UFO techno-signatures overlap with their own 'abnormal observables.' 

It's also unclear what 'patterns of life' have been detected from orbital unknowns.

+7

View gallery

Space Force's strategy document, titled 'Space Doctrine Publication 3-100, Space Domain Awareness,' outlines the military branch's mission to monitor a vast orbital range that includes everything from low earth orbit (LEO) to the moon 

Across US military branches, the term 'patterns of life' has been used to reference the thermal heat signatures given off by living human targets, for everything from drone warfare to troop deployment surveillance. 

The Pentagon's departing UFO investigation chief, physicist Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick, also used the term to indicate UAP mysteries that would include extraterrestrial craft.

'We are executing a rigorous science and technology plan to ensure controlled calibration of sensors, patterns of life, and signature characterization development,' Kirkpatrick said last December. 

'More data will help build a more complete picture and support the resolution of […] anomalous phenomena.' 

Thermal signatures from the body heat of a living thing (whether terrestrial or E.T. in origin), may fall into this category, to judge from the passages of Space Force's new strategy document that focused on the infra-red capabilities of US military satellites.

'Optical and infrared sensors with relatively wide (one square degree or more) field-of-view,' Space Force's STARCOM advised, 'are also well suited for searching for unknown objects or objects with only a roughly known location.' 

However, Lt. General DeAnna Burt, the deputy chief devoted to Space Force's cyber and nuclear operations, among others, have also used 'patterns of life' to reference detectable, routine activity by any and all technological platforms in space.

Last May, Lt. Gen. Burt dropped the term of art while criticizing China for its opaque and noncooperative space program activities. 

'We've said what our capabilities are,' Lt. Gen. Burt told SpaceNews. 'If you are honest and say what things are and have patterns of life that indicate they are what they are, then it's an everyday operation,' Burt said. 

Whatever Space Force's intent, the branch issued its new publication in mid-November to announce, in part, its plan to identify and track UFOs in orbit around Earth — a high priority initiative the branch calls 'Space Domain Awareness' (SDA).

The strategy document, titled 'Space Doctrine Publication 3-100, Space Domain Awareness,' outlines Space Force's mission to successfully monitor a vast orbital range that includes everything from low earth orbit (LEO) to the moon. 

STARCOM drafted the document as part of its mission to educate and train US Space Force personnel, officially dubbed 'guardians.'

Since the branch's creation in 2019, the number of orbital knowns and UFO 'unknowns' shadowing the Earth has skyrocketed by the thousands. 

Space Force, citing NASA data, published a chart revealing that there are now over 25,000 objects total in orbit, although most were determined to be 'rocket bodies,' 'spacecraft,' 'mission-related debris' or other known man-made objects.

+7

View gallery

Much of the clutter orbiting Earth is man-made space junk and 'natural debris' like meteoroids, but Space Force's document detailed a weirder, new category: 'objects that exhibit abnormal observables and patterns of life and cannot [be] correlated to any owner or point of origin'

Over 60 percent of the US Space Force budget, or about $19.2 billion worth, has earmarked for research, development, testing and evaluation - creating the tools and techniques for the new and growing problem of defending US interests from foreign military activity in space

According to the Air Force Research Lab, its new security and monitoring probe, the Oracle spacecraft (above) 'aims to launch in 2026 to an area of gravitational stability between the Earth and the Moon to test techniques to monitor space traffic that travels through that region'

Space Force leadership said it hopes to positively identify any and all UFOs to determine if they should be recovered or if they pose a clear and present danger to the United States. 

Or, in military's own unique jargon, Space Force hopes to 'distinguish between sources of spacecraft anomalies in support of anomaly resolution, recovery, and space attack assessment,' the new document states.

But that will cost money, alongside Space Force's other duties providing satellite and other space-based support for American troops on the ground worldwide.

This year, the new military branch is requesting a $30 billion budget from Congress for 2024, just one of many UFO-centric provisions to the 2024 National Defense Authorization (NDAA) now approaching a heated, contested vote on Capitol Hill.

As detailed by the law creating Space Force, the military branch has two related but distinct duties.

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

01-12-2023 om 18:38 geschreven door peter  

“If we were to send humans to Venus, they’d be going in a spacecraft that would fly by the planet en route somewhere else,” Dr. Byrne tells Universe Today. “If we were to one day send humans actually to Venus itself for science and engineering purposes, then a cloud-based habitat is the way to go. Getting humans onto the Venus surface is going to require so much technology and expense that, for the foreseeable future, I don’t think anyone will think it worth doing.”

A 2015 study presented at the AIAA Space and Astronautics Forum and Exposition outlined a NASA study for the High Altitude Venus Operational Concept (HAVOC) mission that would involve a 30-day crewed mission using an airship equipped with solar panels within the upper atmosphere of Venus. This is because Venus’ upper atmosphere at approximately 50 kilometers (30 miles) above the surface exhibits much more hospitable conditions, including temperatures between 30 to 70 degrees Celsius (86 to 158 degrees Fahrenheit) and pressures very close to that of Earth. However, Dr. Byrne refers to HAVOC as an “unbelievably expensive concept”.

As for using Venus while en route to another location in the Solar System, Venus has been used on several occasions to slingshot spacecraft to the outer Solar System as well as for exploration of the inner Solar System, such as Mercury and the Sun. For example, NASA’s Galileo and Cassini spacecraft used gravity assists at Venus while en route to Jupiter and Saturn, respectively, while NASA’s MESSENGER and the European Space Agency’s (ESA) BepiColombo spacecraft used gravity assists at Venus while en route to Mercury. Additionally, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe and the ESA Solar Orbiter used gravity assists at Venus for orbital adjustments to explore the Sun.

“Once within close proximity to Venus, astronauts could remotely operate spacecraft, landers, or even aircraft to conduct valuable science before moving out of range again,” Dr. Byrne tells Universe Today. “But to be clear, the real value for such a mission would be as part of learning how to live and work in deep space en route to distant destinations, i.e., Mars. That’s something I don’t think we’re talking enough about yet when we think about sending humans, one day, to the Red Planet

Will we ever send humans to Venus? Will it be a cloud or surface mission, and what can we learn from doing it? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!

As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

01-12-2023 om 17:07 geschreven door peter  

Dr. Francis Nimmo, who is a Professor in the Earth & Planetary Sciences Department at UC Santa Cruz, echoes Dr. Rhoden’s sentiments, telling Universe Today, “The biggest problem with sending humans to Europa is the radiation environment – it is extremely hostile. Even radiation-hardened spacecraft electronics have to be shielded inside a thick metal box in order to survive the Europa environment, so humans would be very unlikely to survive there for long enough to do anything useful.”

While NASA’s Europa Clipper mission will be exploring Europa, its orbital flight plan calls for the spacecraft to orbit Jupiter and not Europa to protect the spacecraft’s hardware and electronics from Jupiter’s intense radiation belts. Through this, Europa Clipper is slated to perform 50 flybys of Europa, coming as close as 25 kilometers (16 miles) of the icy moon’s surface. But, like Venus, could human exploration be conducted in orbit around Europa, despite the harsh radiation?

“An orbital colony would fare better, if it could be positioned to avoid too much radiation, but it would still be a major logistical challenge,” Dr. Rhoden tells Universe Today. “An orbiting colony of astronauts could provide (limited) ground support for ice shelling drilling projects and other short-term research excursions. And at least water retrieval would be easier! Overall, sending humans to Europa sounds exciting, but we have a long way to go before it’s feasible and likely to provide more benefit than orbiting spacecraft, landers/rovers, or autonomous drills.”

But even if an orbiting colony could work, what about resupplies for food and water (if the latter can’t be excavated from Europa)? With present propulsion technology, it takes spacecraft years to reach Jupiter from Earth while requiring multiple gravity assists just to slingshot their way to the outer Solar System. In contrast, future astronauts on the Moon would only have to wait a few days for a resupply mission. For Mars, astronauts might only have to wait six months if the positions of Earth and Mars were just right. All things considered, if a colony on Europa runs out of supplies, they might be doomed.

“Obviously, a colony on Europa would require just as much external support for food and breathable air as other targets like the Moon or Mars,” Dr. Rhoden tells Universe Today. “But on Europa, those externally supplied resources would be a decade away, and the external environment would be savagely attacking anything you put on the surface.”

Will we ever send humans to Europa? Will it be a surface or orbital mission, and what can we learn from doing it? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!

As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!

RELATED VIDEOS

This animation shows NASA’s Europa Clipper during a flyby of Jupiter's moon Europa.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

01-12-2023 om 16:48 geschreven door peter  

BREAKING: Whistleblowers Unveil CIA’s Covert Operations: Retrieving UFOs from Nine Global Crash Sites

In the vast expanse of our universe, the question of whether we are alone has always tantalized humanity. Recently, a stunning revelation has brought this question into a startling perspective (Daily Motion link: EXCLUSIVE: CIA’s secret office has conducted UFO retrieval missions on at least NINE crash sites around the world, whistleblowers reveal). Whispered rumors and clandestine conversations have long hinted at the existence of unidentified flying objects, but now, a new chapter unfolds as we delve into the secretive operations of the CIA’s ‘Office of Global Access’. This covert wing of the intelligence agency, shrouded in mystery, has reportedly been at the forefront of recovering alien spacecraft, with claims of at least nine extraterrestrial crafts in their possession.

Established in 2003, the Office of Global Access, a less-known appendage of the CIA’s Science and Technology Directorate, emerged as a central player in what could be the most extraordinary collection in human history. Sources, speaking under the veil of anonymity, have revealed that this office has played a pivotal role in orchestrating the retrieval of what are believed to be alien spacecraft from around the globe.

• Breaking News: Grusch Confirms UFO Recoveries with ‘Android’ Beings Still Alive Inside!
  

The narrative that unfolds is one of intrigue and secrecy. These alleged operations, sounding like they’re straight out of a science fiction novel, have been carried out with utmost discretion. According to insiders, some of these crafts were recovered from crash sites, bearing the scars of their tumultuous descents, while two others were found completely intact, presenting a baffling enigma of advanced technology and unknown origins.

The journey to uncover these truths has been fraught with challenges. The efforts to maintain secrecy are as complex as the operations themselves. It’s claimed that the actual physical retrieval of these objects is conducted by military units, but the control quickly shifts to private hands. This transition is supposedly a strategy to circumvent the rigorous documentation and public scrutiny that accompany government possession.

What makes these revelations even more compelling is the technology that supposedly allows the CIA to detect these UFOs, even when they are cloaked. This capability, if true, signifies a leap in surveillance and reconnaissance technologies, the likes of which we have yet to fully comprehend.

VIDEO:

• Chris Lehto – “CIA’s ‘Office of Global Access’ has 9 UFO Craft”! – The Daily Mail

However, amidst these staggering claims, skepticism and calls for transparency echo throughout the corridors of power and public forums. Legislation spearheaded by influential figures seeks to shed light on these mysteries, demanding the disclosure of ‘recovered technologies of unknown origin and biological evidence of non-human intelligence’.

The implications of these revelations extend far beyond the confines of national security and scientific curiosity. They challenge our understanding of the universe and our place within it. As we stand at the cusp of possibly the greatest discovery in human history, the saga of the CIA’s Office of Global Access and the nine UFO crafts continues to unfold, shrouded in secrecy, yet beckoning the relentless pursuit of truth.

{ https://www.latest-ufo-sightings.net/ }

01-12-2023 om 15:57 geschreven door peter  

Deze kerst zal een cactastrofe toeslaan: de Maya-profetie die we nooit wilden weten

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Planeet aarde
We leren al op jonge leeftijd dat onze planeet meer met water dan met land bedekt is en voortdurend in transformatie is.

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Dinosaurus tijdperk
Volgens National Geographic schatten wetenschappers dat ongeveer 65 miljoen jaar geleden een enorme catastrofe het uitsterven van de dinosauriërs veroorzaakte.

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Dinosaurus tijdperk
Wetenschappers blijven verdeeld over de precieze oorzaak van het uitsterven. Er blijven echter twee prominente theorieën bestaan. De eerste is dat het uitsterven werd veroorzaakt door een komeet of asteroïde die de aarde trof. De tweede theorie suggereert dat vulkanische activiteit verantwoordelijk was voor het uitroeien van de dinosauriërs.

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Dinosaurussen en het einde van de wereld
De verbijsterende verdwijning van dinosauriërs blijft een fascinerend raadsel voor wetenschappers. Er zijn talloze theorieën naar voren gekomen in een poging te voorspellen welk gevaar het einde van de mensheid zal veroorzaken.

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Einde van de wereld: de Bijbel
De heilige tekst vertelt twee keer over het einde van de wereld. In het boek Genesis beveelt God Noach om een ​​ark te bouwen en een paar van elk geslacht te beschermen tegen alle aardse soorten. Daarna verwoest God de wereld met een kolossale overstroming, terwijl hij het voortbestaan ​​van alle bewoners aan boord van de ark verzekert.

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Einde van de wereld: de Bijbel
Het andere gedeelte over het einde van de wereld bevindt zich in het boek Openbaring. Het gaat over een enorme oorlog tussen goed en kwaad die een einde maakt aan de wereld.

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Einde van de wereld: Johannes Stöffler
Een eeuwenoude theorie over het einde van de wereld werd aangekondigd door de Duitse astroloog en wiskundige Johannes Stöffler. Volgens de Encyclopedia Britannica voorspelde hij dat de wereld in 1524 zou vergaan nadat de uitlijning van de planeten een enorme overstroming zou veroorzaken.

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Einde van de wereld: de Antichrist
Volgens National Geographic was er een andere theorie die het einde van de wereld in 1666 voorspelde. Deze theorie verwees naar de getallen '666', waarvan sommigen geloven dat ze het getal van het Beest vertegenwoordigen dat in het boek Openbaring wordt genoemd.

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Einde van de wereld: Grote Brand van Londen
De theorie werd opnieuw ondersteund in 1666 toen een enorme brand Londen trof, gedetailleerd gerapporteerd door de BBC.

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Einde van de wereld: komeet
Volgens The Guardian begonnen mensen in 1910 te vrezen dat de aarde besmet zou raken en dat er een enorm verlies aan mensenlevens zou plaatsvinden als de komeet van Halley voorbij zou komen.

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Einde van de wereld: Hal Lindsey
Volgens het tijdschrift Time verwierf schrijver Hal Lindsey in de jaren zeventig bekendheid met zijn boek 'Late Great Planet Earth', waarin een theorie over het einde van de wereld populair werd. Lindsey voorspelde dat de apocalyps in 1988 zou plaatsvinden.

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Einde van de wereld: Nostradamus
Nostradamus, bekend om zijn voorspellingen over het einde van de wereld, theoretiseerde op beroemde wijze over de komst van een Koning van de Terreur in augustus 1999. Zoals gerapporteerd in The Washington Post trok deze profetie de aandacht van velen en leidde tot wijdverbreide speculatie. De details van deze profetie, samen met de mogelijke implicaties ervan, werden destijds nauwkeurig onderzocht en geanalyseerd.

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De millenniumbug: het einde van de wereld
Aan het einde van de 20e eeuw ontstonden er verschillende theorieën die de apocalyps voorspelden. Een van de bekendste was de populaire ‘Millennium Bug’-theorie, die zich concentreerde op een coderingsfout in computersystemen die alleen de laatste twee cijfers van het jaar herkenden.

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Einde van de wereld: Millenniumbug
Er ontstond een theorie dat computersystemen hierdoor de "00" in 2000 verkeerd zouden interpreteren als 1900, wat zou resulteren in een aanzienlijke chaos. Volgens Time waren er zorgen dat dit zou kunnen leiden tot storingen die een wereldwijde catastrofe zouden veroorzaken.

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Einde van de wereld: Harold Camping
Elf jaar later, in 2011, werd een andere datum voorspeld door Harold Camping. Hij stierf in 2013 zonder getuige te zijn van de apocalyps, zoals gerapporteerd in The New York Times.

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Einde van de wereld: de Maya's
In 2012 kreeg een algemeen aanvaarde theorie mondiale aandacht, waarbij de nadruk lag op de Maya's, een oude beschaving die leefde in wat nu bekend staat als Midden-Amerika.

Volgens de BBC was de theorie verbonden met de Maya-kalender, die destijds steun kreeg van mondiale gebeurtenissen zoals stormen en onrust in het Midden-Oosten.

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Einde van de wereld: de Maya's
Door de jaren heen zijn sommige mensen zelfs van mening geweest dat er een fout in de profetie zat, als gevolg van een misverstand bij het ontcijferen van de Maya-kalender, en dat het einde van de wereld in plaats daarvan gepland is voor 2023. Nieuwe onderzoeken uitgevoerd in Latijns-Amerika wijzen erop dat de apocalyps vindt plaats tussen 21 Juni en 31 December van dit jaar. Deze periode wordt zelfs de ‘Kerstprofetie’ genoemd, waardoor er angst ontstaat, vooral tussen 25 en 31 December.

2012 was inderdaad tamelijk tam vergeleken met de jaren daarna, waarin de wereld werd getroffen door een mondiale pandemie en diverse conflicten, waaronder die in Oekraïne en Israël, waardoor het concrete risico op een derde wereldoorlog toenam.

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Einde van de wereld: Grigori Raspoetin
Volgens het Pravda-rapport voorspelde de Russische mysticus Grigori Rasputin een verwoestende storm die de aarde in 2013 zou treffen.

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Einde van de wereld: de eindtijdprofetieën
Volgens The Telegraph voorspelde een christelijke groep genaamd The End Times Prophecies in 2016 dat er een significante verandering in de magnetische polen van de aarde zou plaatsvinden, wat zou leiden tot het uitsterven van de mensheid.

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De bioscoop portretteert de apocalyps
Verschillende films hebben het einde van de wereld in beeld gebracht, naast talloze theorieën en profetieën. Voorbeelden hiervan zijn 'Independence Day' (1996) en 'The Day After Tomorrow' (2004).

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Einde van de wereld: David Meade
David Meade, een gerenommeerd schrijver bekend om zijn ideeën over de apocalyps, schreef 'Planet X - The 2017 Arrival.'

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Einde van de wereld: bedreiging
Volgens de theorie van David Meade zou de aarde worden getroffen door een planeet, genaamd "X". De voorspelling kreeg terrein nadat NASA een nieuwe planeet ontdekte, genaamd Planet Nine, volgens The Sun.

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Einde van de wereld: de oorsprong van de theorie
Volgens de Express omvatten zijn voorspellingen astrologische theorie en de leringen uit het boek Openbaring.

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Einde van de wereld: uitleg
De schrijver vertrouwde op astrologische gebeurtenissen om zijn theorie te ondersteunen over een planetaire botsing die wijdverbreide chaos veroorzaakte. Deze gebeurtenissen omvatten de uitlijning van de zon, de maan en Jupiter in het sterrenbeeld Maagd.

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Einde van de wereld: geloof
Volgens de theorie van Meade, die ook wordt uiteengezet in een ander artikel uit The Sun, wordt voorspeld dat het einde van de wereld zou beginnen op 23 april 2018, met het plaatsvinden van de bijbelse Opname. Deze gebeurtenis zou dan leiden tot een mondiaal tijdperk van oorlogvoering en de opkomst van de Antichrist.

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Einde van de wereld?
Gelooft u dat het einde nabij is?

Geïnteresseerd in voorspellingen? Bekijk deze verbluffende boekvoorspellingen die daadwerkelijk zijn uitgekomen.

{ http://starsinsider.com/ }

01-12-2023 om 15:34 geschreven door peter  

A few alien structures in NASA moon photo, UFO Sighting News.

Date of discovery: Nov 30, 2023

Location of discovery: Earths moon

Source: 

• http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/802

 

Now I took the original photo and added contrast to it, because it was over exposed...meaning NASA added too much light to blur out the detail. They do that often, but I thought I would share with you a few of the interesting structures I found. Interesting fact about alien structures, since it is an alien culture, its rules of making structures are different from our own, therefore do not expect the expected, but instead look forward to the unexpected. 

Scott C. Waring 

{ https://www.ufosightingsdaily.com/ }

30-11-2023 om 23:38 geschreven door peter  

5,500km Boomerang UAP Passes Sun On Nov 27, 2023, Video, UFO Sighting News.

Date of sighting: Nov 27, 2023, 16:46:53
Location of sighting: Earths Sun
Source: Helioviewer.org 

 

I was looking at objects near the sun on Helioviewer. It's a NASA program that is designed for the public and educators to share. I found that in a single frame of the video, there is a huge craft that measures 5,500km across from wing tip to wing tip. Yes you heard me right, it's long and it's a boomerang type UAP shape. As it passes the sun it is unphased by the suns powerful gravity, showing no sign of bending. Also, the UAP seems to be pulling the suns material toward it and creating a stream behind the UAP, much like a ship moving through the ocean and living long lines in its wake from the plankton. A similar shaped UFO was seen by thousands of residence in Phoenix, Arizona on March 13, 1997, where a huge boomerang UFO blocked out the stars in the sky for miles.

 

It's hard to believe that this craft was caught in only one frame, that means it was traveling faster than anything we have on Earth. I looked at the frames:

 

16:36:41 frame before

16:46:53 UAP here ++++

16:56:29 frame after

And I found that there was a ten minute per frame rate. This tells us that the UAP was traveling very fast, not only faster than any rocket today, but faster than any comet or meteor ever recorded. It's traveling at partial light speed, about that of 1/10. Which tells me that not only was it fast, but if object can come close to light speed, there must be those that can travel faster than light speed, which is what makes time travel possible. The speed of the object, size and shape all indicate a massive alien ship passed our sun and was in our solar system on Nov 27th, but NASA of course would never mention it, because they believe the public is not intelligent enough to ever discover or find this info in their data bases. Clearly NASA needs to catch up to my speed, because they are falling far behind. 

Scott C. Waring 

{ https://www.ufosightingsdaily.com/ }

30-11-2023 om 23:28 geschreven door peter  

TikTok influencer captures a UFO disappearing in a flash of light

Approximately a week ago, TikTok influencer Gkbarry found herself engrossed in promotional recordings. Amidst her busy schedule, she unintentionally captured a spherical object flying through the sky at a remarkable speed. 

To her surprise, the footage not only revealed the sphere but also a substantial flash surrounding the sphere just before it vanished.

Due to the object's fast movement, it was nearly visible in the initial recording. However, upon closer inspection through zooming, both the object and its trajectory became distinctly visible as well as unveiling the flash that occurred moments before its disappearance. 

The enhanced zooming, starting at the 0.35-minute mark in the video, provides a clearer view of the mysterious object and the intriguing flash that unfolded during its flight.

  

{ http://ufosightingshotspot.blogspot.com/ }

30-11-2023 om 23:20 geschreven door peter  

US Military Confirms UFO Sightings in Outer Space, Official Reports Reveal!

In the vast expanse above us, a silent drama unfolds. The United States Space Force (USSF), the newest branch of the US Armed Forces, is grappling with an unprecedented challenge — the detection of thousands of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) orbiting our planet. This celestial mystery, once the domain of science fiction, is now a stark reality that poses complex questions for our guardians of the galaxy.

Established in 2019 under the Trump administration, the USSF was tasked with a mission of cosmic proportions: to safeguard America from space-based threats. But as the USSF stares into the abyss of space, the abyss stares back with a puzzle woven in a tapestry of unknowns. These UFOs, or ‘abnormal observables’ as they are termed, are cluttering the Earth’s orbit, making the crucial job of threat identification a Herculean task.

The nature of these ‘abnormal observables’ is as varied as it is perplexing. While some could be dismissed as mundane space debris or meteoroids, others exhibit behaviors that defy conventional understanding. We’re talking about objects that challenge gravity, vanish from radars, accelerate suddenly, and achieve hypersonic speeds without the acoustic signatures like sonic booms. They also demonstrate ‘trans-medium’ travel capabilities, seamlessly transitioning between air, sea, and space — a feature that leaves even seasoned scientists in awe.

This cosmic conundrum isn’t just about identifying what is floating above us; it’s about understanding potential threats. Among these unidentified objects could be covert spy satellites launched by foreign adversaries, such as North Korea’s Malligyong-1. The USSF is also wary of the largely unmonitored ‘cislunar’ orbit — the space between the Earth and the moon, which could harbor unseen dangers.

The challenges are as vast as space itself. As of now, NASA‘s data indicates over 25,000 objects in orbit, a mix of man-made and natural entities. Distinguishing friend from foe, debris from danger, in this crowded orbital dance is no small feat. It’s a task that demands cutting-edge technology, sharp analytical minds, and a significant financial commitment. The USSF’s budget reflects this, with a substantial part dedicated to research, development, testing, and evaluation.

VIDEO:

• NASA’s Spectacular CGI Journey Through Tracked Objects in Earth’s Orbit

Looking ahead, the USSF’s plans are as ambitious as they are necessary. The Oracle spacecraft, set to launch in 2026, aims to monitor the cislunar region. It’s a mission that symbolizes the USSF’s proactive approach to these unidentified phenomena — a step towards illuminating the shadows in our celestial neighborhood.

In this new age of space exploration and defense, the USSF’s journey is emblematic of humanity’s eternal quest to understand the unknown. As we gaze upwards, the mysteries of the universe continue to unfold, reminding us that we are but a small part of a vast, intricate cosmic ballet. The USSF’s endeavor is not just a mission of defense; it is a journey into the heart of this grand mystery, a testament to our unyielding spirit of exploration and discovery.

{ https://www.latest-ufo-sightings.net/ }

30-11-2023 om 22:30 geschreven door peter  

30-11-2023 om 22:16 geschreven door peter  

Deze delen van de Bijbel zijn waar

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De aarde is rond
Hoewel sommige samenzweringstheorieën iets anders beweren, heeft de wetenschap bevestigd dat onze planeet rond is. Dit wordt ook in de Bijbel genoemd: 'Hij troont boven de kring der aarde' (Jesaja 40:22).

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De kern van de planeet is heet

Job 28:5 vermeldt: 'De aarde, waaruit voedsel komt, wordt van beneden getransformeerd als door vuur.'

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De zondvloed is waarschijnlijk echt gebeurd
De zondvloed en de ark van Noach is een van de meest populaire verhalen uit de Bijbel. En volgens geologisch bewijs zou de zondvloed van Noach echt kunnen hebben plaatsgevonden.

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De ark zou hebben gefunctioneerd
Volgens Genesis 6:13-22 waren Gods instructies aan Noach als volgt: 'De ark moet 140 meter lang, 23 meter breed en 14 meter hoog zijn.'

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De ark zou hebben gefunctioneerd
Het blijkt dat de wiskunde correct is. Volgens berekeningen gemaakt door natuurkundestudenten aan de Universiteit van Leicester in 2014, zou de ark daadwerkelijk drijven en solide genoeg zijn om twee paren van elke diersoort te kunnen dragen.

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Er zijn talloze sterren aan de hemel
Natuurlijk weten we dat het universum veel sterren heeft. En met veel bedoelen we wel een biljoen sterren per melkwegstelsel. En er wordt geschat dat er ongeveer 100 miljard sterrenstelsels in het heelal zijn!

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Er zijn talloze sterren aan de hemel
De Bijbel vermeldt dit in Jeremia 33:22: 'Ik zal de nakomelingen van mijn dienaar David en de Levieten die voor mij dienen zo ontelbaar als de sterren aan de hemel en zo onmetelijk als het zand aan de kust.

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Sterren verschillen onderling
De Bijbel vermeldt ook dat de helderheid of grootte van sterren varieert. 'De zon heeft een soort pracht, de maan heeft een andere soort pracht en de sterren weer een andere; elke ster verschilt van pracht.' (Korinthiërs 15:41).

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Hemellichamen hebben niet het eeuwige leven
We weten nu dat sterren en andere astronomische lichamen sterven. De wetenschap heeft dit bevestigd, maar de Bijbel vermeldt het ook.

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Hemellichamen hebben niet het eeuwige leven
Mattheüs 24:35 luidt: 'Hemel en aarde zullen voorbijgaan, maar mijn woorden zullen nooit voorbijgaan.'

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Het universum is gemaakt van onzichtbare deeltjes
Hebreeën 11:3 luidt: 'Door geloof begrijpen we dat het heelal op Gods bevel werd gevormd, zodat het zichtbare niet werd gemaakt uit het zichtbare.

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Het universum is gemaakt van onzichtbare deeltjes
It sounds like the Bible is talking about atoms. Protons, neutrons, and electrons on their own are invisible to the naked eye. Atoms make up pretty much everything, including us.

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David zou Goliath daadwerkelijk hebben kunnen verslaan
Een kleine jongen die een reus verslaat klinkt misschien onwaarschijnlijk, maar het verhaal van David en Goliath in 1 Samuël 17 verteld het net iets anders.

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David zou Goliath daadwerkelijk hebben kunnen verslaan
Een katapult is misschien niet het krachtigste wapen, maar de stenen uit Elah Valley waren gemaakt van bariumsulfaat, dat extreem massief is en Goliath zou daarmee gemakkelijk uitgeschakeld kunnen worden.

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David zou Goliath daadwerkelijk hebben kunnen verslaan
Maar er is meer. Als reus leed Goliath waarschijnlijk aan Acromegalie (overproductie van groeihormoon). Dit kan problemen met het gezichtsvermogen veroorzaken en het centrale (perifere) gezichtsvermogen kan beperkt zijn, wat handig zou zijn geweest voor David.

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Er zijn bergen onder water
Deze landvormen worden eigenlijk zeebergen genoemd en worden in de Bijbel genoemd.

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Er zijn bergen onder water
Psalm 104:6 luidt: 'U bedekte het met de waterige diepten als met een kleed; de wateren stonden boven de bergen.'

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De zon stopte echt met schijnen
Er vond namelijk een verduistering plaats. Jozua 10:12 luidt: 'Op de dag dat de Heer de Amorieten aan Israël overgaf, zei Jozua tot de Heer in het bijzijn van Israël: 'Zon, sta stil boven Gibeon, en jij, maan, over de vallei van Ajalon.''

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De zon stopte echt met schijnen
Dit was hoogstwaarschijnlijk een zonsverduistering, die onderzoekers hebben gedateerd op 30 oktober 1207 v.Chr..

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Wezens kunnen niet leven zonder bloed
De meesten van ons zijn bekend met het verhaal van Adam en Eva uit de Bijbel. Mensen hebben in feite een vrouwelijke biologische voorouder genaamd Mitochondriale Eva, die voorafgaat aan onze soort: Homo sapiens. Er is echter één ding dat ons alle levende wezens verbindt: bloed.

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Wezens kunnen niet leven zonder bloed
'Want het leven van een schepsel is in het bloed, en ik heb het u gegeven om voor uzelf te verzoenen te doen op het altaar; het is het bloed dat verzoening doet voor iemands leven' (Leviticus 17:11).

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Ontsmetten is echt belangrijk
De pandemie heeft ons allemaal pro's gemaakt in het ontsmetten van onze handen en kleding om verspreiding van ziektekiemen te voorkomen, maar de Bijbel noemde het belang ervan al lang geleden.

©Getty Images

De zieken moeten zich isoleren
Hoewel er zich later in de geschiedenis behoorlijke quarantaines ontwikkelden, adviseerde de Bijbel al 'de getroffen persoon zeven dagen af te zonderen', en als ze niet beter zijn, 'ze nog zeven dagen te isoleren' (Leviticus 13:1-5).

{http://starsinsider.com}

30-11-2023 om 21:39 geschreven door peter  

Sightings of UFOs may challenge our entire worldview, but the facts are too compelling to ignore, and they’re not going away. So, it’s time to wash off the sticky stigma and engage in serious discussion about the evidence, and its implications. 

Most UFO sightings are attributable to man-made objects like experimental aircraft or satellites, innocent misidentifications of Venus and other celestial objects, or outright hoaxes. However, we now know that in a minority of cases, there appears to be something else going on: something quite extraordinary and beyond our current comprehension. 

According to the U.S. Department of Defense, there are objects of unknown origin, evidently under intelligent control, which behave in ways that seem to challenge our understanding of physics. These objects don’t just “fly” without any apparent lift surfaces or means of propulsion; according to some military testimony, they would appear to be the fastest technological objects on Earth, capable of accelerating so quickly that they should create sonic booms, superheat the air around them into a glowing plasma, and instantly kill any occupants on board. 

Instead, they silently maneuver with perfect agility through the atmosphere and, according to some eyewitness reports, underwater, as if basic rules of inertia and friction simply don’t apply to them. 

There’s general acknowledgment that these phenomena have been documented in America since at least the late 1940s, and probably much earlier. Hence, many longtime UFO advocates, as well as those newer to the subject, are now asking why it has taken 70 years for government offices to openly regard UFOs as a subject of serious inquiry. This is a question that deserves a lengthy public discussion. 

Today, serious researchers are beginning–sometimes grudgingly–to admit that UFOs (or UAPs if you prefer the rebranded version) are a valid area of study, and pockets of scientific enthusiasm are emerging. After the New York Times made the revelation of a secret Pentagon UFO study their front page story, the Department of Defense subsequently admitted that leaked UFO videos were in fact real (and that it has others it’s not showing us). Since that time, a NASA UFO research initiative headed by Princeton’s former chair of astronomy has been launched, former Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb’s Galileo Project wants to determine if the strange phenomena are extraterrestrial. The Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office is now investigating UFO phenomena across all the branches of the military; the US Navy has revised its protocols to counter stigmas against UFO reporting and encourage sighting reports by pilots (like this one); and there have been briefings in the US Senate and House regarding the more than 650 sightings now being studied by AARO, marking an almost singular point of bipartisanship in a traditionally fractured Congress.

This explosion of interest and influx of expertise, credibility, and funding into UFO research will create a flow of ideas between old-hat UFO researchers and establishment newcomers to the subject. As some scientific communities shift to incorporate the nascently-legitimate subject of UFO research, they may have to accommodate elements of the other’s conceptual frameworks, methodologies, and research agendas, and this will require questioning old assumptions about what sort of evidence actually exists and how to interpret it. Likewise, it is the perfect moment for UFO-interested folks to pause and evaluate their own assumptions about the subject, many of which seem to have been in place since the very beginning of the Flying Saucer craze that in 1947 began simultaneously in both America and Canada. As career researchers and academics (like me) join the conversation, the contours of the conversation itself will inevitably shift–I think for the better. 

HOW I CAME TO THE SUBJECT, AND WHAT I NOTICED AS A NEWCOMER

My own journey down the UFO rabbit hole began one day early in 2019. As I flipped through a catalog from Oxford University Press, one title, in particular, jumped out at me: American Cosmic: UFOs, Religion, Technology by Diana Walsh Pasulka, a tenured professor of religion at the University of North Carolina. What surprised me most was that the blurb in the catalog suggested the author thought that it was not merely the UFO believers that were interesting, but that the phenomenon itself was worth serious attention. I promptly ordered a copy, and once it arrived I spent the next few days absorbed in the most bizarre piece of nonfiction I’d ever read. 

The UFO enthusiasts Pasulka spent the most time with–two men she dubbed “James” and “Tyler” to preserve their anonymity–were both experiencers of the phenomenon. However, they weren’t tinfoil-hat-waring obsessives; they were scientists and academics, and not long after her book was published, a prodigious Stanford biomedical scientist named Garry Nolan revealed that he was the man referred to in the text as “James”. Around the same time, members of Reddit, by perusing the Vatican archive visitors’ log for the days Pasulka and “Tyler” visited,  discovered that the latter appears to have been Timothy Taylor, founder of Endius. 

Screenshot from the Vatican Observatory 2017 Annual Report

(Vatican Observatory).

What I found as I slipped into the deep end of the pool of UFO research was that, first, there is no shallow end. It’s deep ends everywhere you go, and once you clear away the debris of obvious hoaxes and non-evidential sightings, every drop in the pool–that is, every case warranting sustained attention–is a little ocean with its own perplexing depths where nothing is what it at first seems to be. The important facts of each case are often so embedded in the commentaries and interpretations that have grown around them that it’s difficult to consider them separately from the belief systems of the UFO community itself.

QUESTIONING COMMON SENSE WITH RELATION  TO UFOS

Like all communities defined by a belief system, over time the most important beliefs become accepted so widely that they eventually feel too obvious even to mention. It’s similar to the way we don’t ever point out that murder isn’t nice; beliefs like these are accepted so widely and deeply that they pass out of consciousness altogether to some deeper place, where they operate out of sight. 

We are born into an atmosphere of these powerful but unspoken beliefs, and we adopt them not by reasoning about the evidence for or against them; rather, we simply accept them as part of the foundation of beliefs that we need in order to do any reasoning at all. If reasoning were a game of chess, these beliefs wouldn’t be pieces in the game or moves made by players: they’d be the board. 

These beliefs–the ones paradoxically so obvious that they’re invisible–are what some people in my field call ideology. The word is sometimes used pejoratively, but the fact is that everyone has an ideology. Questioning a person’s foundational beliefs can be so uncomfortable that it feels like an existential threat, and we respond defensively, even violently. Likewise, if we encounter any idea that flatly contradicts our foundational beliefs, it will seem patently false and absurd. 

And this is exactly what I think the UFO community should do right now, in light of the growth of attention and collaboration regarding the topic. Shaking up the community’s ideology, and pushing at the wobbly bits will help identify areas ripe for creative thought, and will make collaboration more smooth and transparent. We may even surprise ourselves once we all lay our ideological cards on the table.

To us take a few first steps in this direction, I’ve identified four assumptions that seem to me to act as a kind of ideological orthodoxy among experiencers and researchers, and even among everyday people who maintain a quiet interest in the subject. These assumptions, I think, have their roots in our shared experience of Western culture and its worldview with relation to UFOs, from our suspicions toward governments to familiar tropes from science fiction stories to Hollywood’s speculative depictions of our intergalactic neighbors. When it comes to asking serious questions about the unknown, though, we need better foundations than these, and building those foundations starts with deconstructing our current ones.

FOUR ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT UFOS WORTH PRODDING

I’ve noticed four basic assumptions prevalent among UFO researchers and enthusiasts, as well as the general public that, as a philosopher, I think deserve some prodding. 

ASSUMPTION ONE: THE SUPREMACY OF ETH

The first culture-wide assumption that, as a philosopher, I think deserves a close look is the one that, at first glance, seems most sensible;  this is the assumption that the most obvious explanation for real UFOs is also the best one: that they’re extraterrestrial craft, under the control of intelligent extraterrestrial beings. This idea, often called the Extraterrestrial Hypothesis (or ETH for short), seems to come to mind spontaneously for nearly everyone when they think of UFOs (including me). But, after a lot of reflection, as far as I can tell, it’s not our brains’ automatic first choice because there is really strong evidence that ETH is a  better explanation than any other. Rather, I think it’s our default assumption because most of us don’t think outside the possibilities presented to us in science fiction. 

The consequence is that most of us aren’t even aware that the Extra-Terrestrial Hypothesis (ETH), with its either/or logic of “ if it’s not humans, then it must be ETs”, is certainly not the only plausible explanation for these phenomena. There are other views that deserve serious consideration. One possibility is that there is some natural process that occupies some unknown area of physics, and that can mimic intelligent behavior. This may sound far-fetched, but we already know of other natural phenomena that seem to behave in inexplicably intelligent ways: unintelligent slime molds can solve mazes and can even reproduce maps of Tokyo’s railway system. Similarly, totally blind evolutionary processes produce biological objects that seem like the product of design by intelligence. Perhaps some UFOs are themselves natural phenomena that simply seem to behave with intelligence. This of course leaves the question of how they defy our understanding of physics, but it’s a start. 

Another possibility is that UFOs are a special kind of mental phenomenon that can manifest in visible, external ways. Some Renaissance scientists studying the eye pointed out that it had the same structure as a projector, and reckoned that the eye might sometimes work in reverse, projecting light to create external images, rather than receiving light and turning it into mental images. 

Fig 2. Aerial perspective, by Johann Zahn, Oculus artificialis teledioptricus sive telescopium, 1702, public domain.

We can be confident today that this particular phenomenon isn’t real, but arguably stranger phenomena are now well-established realities. From robots controlled entirely by brain waves to machines that can render our dreams in visible images, technologies are allowing the contents of our minds to have a powerful presence in the world outside our heads. None of this even mentions theories of reality that totally throw into question the distinction between the “internal” and “external” world–ideas like the Simulation Hypothesis and holographic theories of the universe. 

It may also be worth considering whether some of these phenomena could be terrestrial, but nonhuman, in origin. Given that the US military suggests that at least some UFOs can travel underwater, that 70% of the Earth is ocean and that 95% of it is totally unexplored, the idea that these things are from here seems more plausible when we consider just how little of here we’ve actually mapped.. And while it seems unlikely that any intelligent, technological society arose before Homo Sapiens arrived on the scene, if such a civilization had arisen, we might not even be able to tell, because, while the Earth has been habitable for 40-600 million years, the geologic record itself only goes back 1.8 to 2.6 million. Entertaining these possibilities or creating new ones will, however, require abandoning the assumption that ETH is the only real game in town.

Another alternative to the ETH put forward by one of the most credentialed and intellectually rigorous UFO investigators out there, Jacques Vallée, is that reality itself has within it some fundamental mechanism for disrupting our certainty about the world. This mechanism, he theorizes, kicks in at opportune moments to manifest weirdness that is calculated, often humorously, to mystify us into wonder or incomprehension. For Vallée, who calls his theory the “Control System Hypothesis”, reality itself may be a trickster whose purpose is to nudge our collective consciousness in ways that encourage society to develop in particular ways.

As bizarre as this idea sounds, it’s not one that Vallée brought into his research into UFOs, but rather a notion he began to formulate after decades of flying around the world, personally investigating reported encounters and interviewing experiencers. By his own account, he was initially persuaded by the ETH, but case by case, he became convinced that the details simply didn’t add up to an extraterrestrial explanation. He found that, when experiencers were allowed to describe the details of their encounters as they experienced them, rather than simply responding to standard data-collection questions about the size and shape of craft, number, and arrangement of lights, etc., these sane, intelligent experiencers who shunned publicity and sought no personal gain, recalled details that are flatly absurd. The occupants of UFOs disembark for no other apparent reason than to argue with witnesses about what the time is, or to offer bystanders pancakes. Such encounters seem intentionally surreal to Vallée as if they were constructed in order to mystify experiencers with their absurdity. 

Another category of (quasi) encounters with UFOs that is rife with the absurd is the category of reported alien abductions. Abduction reports often describe beings who, despite obviously possessing ultra-sophisticated technology, inflict pseudo-medical “examinations” upon abductees using tools and methods that would be laughable for their medieval silliness if they weren’t so traumatizing for those who report these experiences. 

The bizarre details of abduction encounters make them easy to dismiss out of hand, but it’s probably a mistake to ignore these reports. Pulitzer Prize-winner and then-chair of psychiatry at Harvard, John Mack, spent over a decade conducting hundreds of hours of interviews with self-identified abductees. In the end, he published collaborations with other psychiatrists,  and several related books in which he reached three firm conclusions: 1) the people he interviewed were not crazy, 2) they were not lying, and 3) the only thing they seemed to have in common was the fact that they reported being abducted. Simply put, these sane, otherwise normal people really believed these things had happened to them.

You may, at this point, decide that we have strayed too far from respectable scientific speculation; Mack’s colleagues at Harvard suspected the same of him, and, in an attempt to oust him and formally discredit the incredible conclusions he drew, they descended upon his work with a formal investigation, the first Harvard had ever conducted upon one of its own faculty members. Their investigation alleged that Mack had committed gross professional irresponsibility by  “communicat[ing], in any way whatsoever, to a person who has reported a ‘close encounter’ with an extraterrestrial life form that this experience might well have been real”. For fourteen months the team of Harvard professors pored over piles of Mack’s notes, data, and recorded interviews before they were finally forced to conclude that, despite a few methodological criticisms, there was no basis to deny the credibility of his work. Harvard subsequently declared that Mack–a man who publicly argued for the reality of abduction cases– was, and always had been, a member of Harvard’s faculty in good standing and that his scholarship was worthy of one of the greatest universities in the world.

Mack openly acknowledged  that the abduction phenomenon is “some kind of psychological, spiritual experience” that is “both literally and physically happening”, and speculated that the events were “originating, perhaps, in another dimension.” He never made the surreal absurdities of abduction encounters a focal point of his study, but he left us with good reasons to believe these experiences were genuine–absurdities and all–which means the absurdity at the heart of many UFO and abduction encounters still requires an explanation. Vallée’s hypothesis seems, to a degree, like an attempt to address some of the questions raised by Mack’s research.

A totally different approach to understanding the incredible and sometimes absurd facts of the UFO phenomenon–an approach I call the “missing concepts” view–would be to consider that, if UFOs are the work of other intelligent beings, they are almost certainly the product of beings who have forms of experience, conceptual categories, and kinds of activities, and aims that would be incomprehensibly foreign to us. Our current relationship to the phenomena may then be akin to a race of intelligent, but totally blind aliens who have found and are trying to understand a human-made kaleidoscope. UFO phenomena, in other words, may be conceptually incomprehensible to us both in how they work, and what their basic purpose is. Our mental toolbox may be missing some of the essential concepts that are necessary for describing the phenomena, even at a rudimentary level, the way intelligent beings without a concept of visual experience simply can’t theorize their way to a good explanation of a kaleidoscope. 

Each of these hypotheses—Vallee’s “control system”, the possibility that some are exotic but natural intelligence-mimicking phenomena, that they’re somehow of terrestrial origin, or that UFOs are currently conceptually incomprehensible–all deserve consideration alongside the ETH, and we should be trying to design many other new hypotheses too, along with empirical tests to eliminate them if they don’t fit the evidence. The standard assumption that any legitimate UFOs are extraterrestrial craft shouldn’t simply be discarded, but it should be tested alongside these other hypotheses.

ASSUMPTION TWO: THE UNITY OF THE PHENOMENA OF UFOS

The second assumption that seems to underlie nearly every conversation about UFOs is the belief that these unexplained phenomena are each individual manifestations of a single root phenomenon; that they’re all ultimately the same kind of thing and so, whatever the explanation may be, we only need one explanation. Like all assumptions, this is rarely stated, but I’ve yet to come across anyone who wants to distinguish between types of UFOs for the purpose of attributing unrelated causes to them.

It may be tempting to assume that we should prefer a single explanation for a host of weird phenomena to multiple explanations because in doing so we satisfy Occam’s Razor–the dictum that we should always prefer simpler explanations to more complex ones. But Occam’s Razor is so widely misunderstood, so limited in its useful applicability, and so easily misapplied that it may be best to just avoid trying to satisfy it at all. Point in fact, conspiracy theories are almost always perfectly obedient to Occam’s Razor, because they propose to explain nearly everything as the product of a single cause. After all, positing one Jewish space laser is, in a real sense, a simpler explanation for California’s wildfires than a combination of worldwide climate change factors and specific conditions on the ground in California.

When we’re trying to explain a collection of distinct phenomena spread across space and time, each with its own unique, noteworthy features, the best default assumption is that there are multiple distinct causes at play. The body of documented UFO phenomena includes glowing orbs, military encounters with craft-like objects, accounts of human and humanoid creatures, massive air battles among flying objects of wildly varying descriptions, and celestial apparitions, to name a few. This raises a serious methodological question: how do we draw the boundaries to define UFOs in the first place? How, for instance, are we to distinguish in every case between religious or mystical encounters–like the 1917 events at Fatima, Portugal–and more “normal” UFO encounters, with which they share some important features? This question becomes even more complex when we consider that experiencers can interpret the same details very differently depending on their worldview.

What is needed is for us to develop a rigorous, standardized taxonomy of the different kinds of encounters according to both empirical and subjective elements, and then to consider, for each type, which explanation fits with and explains the data best. There’s no good reason to assume, in the face of so much perplexing evidence, that there’s really only one kind of weird thing going on. 

ASSUMPTION THREE: THE CONSISTENCY OF THE GOVERNMENT

Another idea joined at the hip of nearly every discussion about UFOs is the belief that The Government (usually the US) has probably already solved the mystery, and they’re playing dumb. The reasoning is clear: how could a technological superpower with a military spanning the globe not know what’s behind these phenomena, especially given the serious national security implications of strange objects in our airspace? 

The heart of this suspicion is an assumption that the government–and here it’s more like The Government–is unified enough that it can harbor within itself a kind of secret society that spans its various branches and bureaus and operates effectively, and in secret. However, take a cursory glance at any major government project (and here, again, I am thinking especially of the US Government); whether it’s an interstate system, national healthcare, public education, taxation, natural disaster response, or even passing an annual budget, one will quickly conclude that our governments very often lack the unity required for accomplish even their most fundamental tasks. 

This is just the nature of the beast: a large group comprising various ideologies tasked with pursuing multiple complexes and often competing goals is always at the risk of fracturing from internal stress, at which point it may be unable to accomplish even its day-to-day duties. Any system constantly fighting the tides of such internal stresses is almost certainly incapable of perpetrating a coordinated, decades-long, system-wide coverup of the most important truths humanity has ever known.  If we consider that there are also thousands of dogged and competent journalists sniffing for corruption, ethically motivated insiders ready to blow the whistle, and hundreds of other governments with their own messy innards and competing interests, it is possible, at most, to believe that single incidents–maybe even massively important ones–could be concealed if they fell under the purview of a single office or bureau, but the possibility that large numbers of people across multiple, often-quarrelsome governments have cooperatively succeeded at suppressing monumental truths about our place in the universe for decades seems vanishingly small. 

We would be better off avoiding attributing such awesome power and competence to our governments, and instead, adopt a more nuanced conception of governments that sees them not as unified wholes, but as loose collections of bureaus that cooperate or share information with one another when it serves their individual interests, but often operate with disregard or outright antagonism toward one another. A more accurate picture of the situation would then emerge, one in which the UFO phenomenon is a very large jigsaw puzzle of which each government likely only possesses a few pieces, which are then scattered across that government’s chain of island-like bureaus and offices, which are not particularly cooperative with each other, and so may not even acknowledge that they have any of the pieces, or that the puzzle is even real.

ASSUMPTION FOUR: THE INEVITABILITY OF DISCLOSURE

There is, however, a growing acknowledgment that the puzzle of UFOs is “real”, and this appears, at least for some within the UFO community, to confirm a long-held belief so important it verges on the prophetic: the belief that many of those in power –usually government officials– already know what is really behind these phenomena, and that a day of Disclosure is coming when the weight of the evidence and public concern about UFOs will become so great that it breaks down the wall of silence. On that day, the government will admit it has known for a long time that UFOs are real and that they’re not terrestrial in origin. 

Disclosure is usually conceived as the end result of a grass-roots effort: there will come a moment when the UFO community accumulates enough of its own evidence and public demand for the truth grows strong enough. Then the veil will fall and the government will come clean to the public about what it knows and the world will simply believe because the truth will be so unambiguous that no interpretation is required to understand it. 

The fourth assumption I want to interrogate concerns this supposedly-inevitable result of disclosure. The deluge of government revelations is expected by many to be a watershed moment that brings about the global realization that we are not alone in the universe and that we can no longer pretend to occupy its center. This will be a moment of enlightenment that unites humanity with a shared truth that transcends our differences.  The utopian vision of disclosure is founded upon a single essential, but hidden, assumption: that there is a kind of evidence so powerful that when it is presented to any sane, reasonable person, they will be convinced and draw the same conclusion. In this case, it is the belief that there’s some kind of evidence that, upon revelation, would overwhelmingly convince the global public that we’re not alone in the universe.

There is, however, no such evidence. In fact, there never could be.

This may seem like an odd claim, and maybe you feel inclined to reply, “Look, I guarantee that if a fleet of UFOs showed up at the White House, the whole world would believe”. But this would only prove that clear evidence doesn’t compel belief the way we tend to think, because, as it turns out, sightings of UFOs have already been reported at the White House on multiple occasions. Similar cases, like the time a UFO forced Chicago’s O’Hare airport to shut down one of its terminals, led to the launch of an investigation by a civilian aviation safety organization in 2006. But events like these just didn’t seem to move the needle of public belief, perhaps because the public is committed to a version of reality that leaves little room to take seriously the hard evidence for phenomena that we don’t already have an explanation for. The result is that we shrug, assume there’s some non-weird explanation we’re missing, and go on with our business. 

This is just the very nature of evidence though, regardless of whether it’s everyday people or professional scientists; evidence is never absolutely compelling. Here I am importing a concept from the philosophy of science called “underdetermination.” For philosophers of science, it is a well-known adage that theories are always underdetermined by the evidence. This means that, while a set of evidence might strongly support one theory, there will always be an array of other, totally different theories that could account equally well for that same set of evidence. It follows that, no matter how concrete or well-documented the evidence may be, evidence cannot ever conclusively compel us to accept any particular theory over all of the others.

To illustrate, consider a theory that you almost certainly hold. You don’t believe minotaurs are real. That is, you deny Minotaur Theory (a belief in minotaurs, which we’ll call MT)  in favor of No Minotaur Theory (NMT). Now, try to imagine some set of evidence that, if it were shown to you, would  force you to abandon NMT and accept MT. You might say that, if a minotaur walked into the room you’re in right now and said “Hi. I’m a minotaur”, you’d give up NMT and accept MT. Maybe you would, but would you have to? Is there no other option?  Couldn’t you hold on to NMT, and instead believe that something very serious had gone wrong in your brain? Or that you’d been the unwitting victim of a Darren Brown TV special? Or that someone had dosed your coffee with a potent hallucinogen? Or that you’ve died and gone to some very confusing hell? 

As with minotaurs, so it is with UFOs, and everything else. While you might be able to specify the evidence that would convince you to conclude, say, that extraterrestrials are behind some UFO phenomena, there is simply no possible set of evidence that would persuade every rational person, regardless of their belief system, to accept the same conclusion

• Michael is a member of the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies. In his leisure time he enjoys the company of his partner and his cats, and indulging in the exploration of strange, rare, and old books. You can follow him on Twitter @michaelglawson, reach out to him via email at michaelglawson[at]me[dot]com, or find his work at linktr.ee/michaelglawson.

{ https://thedebrief.org/category/uap/ }

30-11-2023 om 01:11 geschreven door peter  

Herbruikbare raketten van SpaceX veroorzaken nieuw soort "noorderlicht" (en dat baart astronomen zorgen)

Artikel van Wim De Maeseneer

Een felrode, bolvormige gloed aan de nachthemel, die wel 10 minuten lang zichtbaar is met het blote oog. Het fenomeen kreeg de naam "SpaceX auroras", verwijzend naar het ruimtevaartbedrijf van Elon Musk. Want het zijn vooral die raketten die het lichtverschijnsel tegenwoordig veel vaker en beter zichtbaar maken.

Wetenschappers weten al langer dat raketten tijdelijk gaten kunnen veroorzaken in de ionosfeer, de bovenste laag van onze dampkring, op 60 tot 1.000 kilometer hoogte. Die verstoring van de ionosfeer kan een rode gloed geven, vergelijkbaar met wat er gebeurt tijdens het noorderlicht.

Sterrenkundigen van het McDonald Observatorium in Texas hebben nu ontdekt dat hetzelfde gebeurt met de raketten van SpaceX die na de lancering terugkeren naar de aarde. Met dat verschil dat de rode gloed bolvormig is en veel helderder.

"Dat komt omdat de onderste rakettrap, de booster, 90 minuten na de lancering de motoren moet ontsteken om terug te keren", zegt astrofysicus Jeff Baumgarder van de universiteit van Boston, aan spaceweather.com. 

"Daarbij komt zo'n 180 liter waterdamp en koolstofdioxide vrij. Dat alles gebeurt op zo'n 300 kilometer hoogte, dicht bij het bovenste deel van de ionosfeer. En dat veroorzaakt een aanzienlijk gat (in de ionosfeer)."

Booster van een Falcon 9-raket van SpaceX landt weer op aarde (21/5/2023)

© 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

"We hebben het de eerste keer gespot in februari dit jaar en zien het sindsdien zo'n 2 tot 5 keer per maand", zegt astronoom Stephen Hummel van het McDonald Observatorium in Texas. 

Bezorgdheid

Omdat SpaceX bijna elke week wel een raket lanceert, zijn Hummel en andere sterrenkundigen bezorgd. Ze vrezen dat de "SpaceX auroras" hun astronomische waarnemingen te veel zullen verstoren.

Maar er is ook ongerustheid over mogelijke storingen van het gps-signaal en de radiocommunicatie. Net zoals zonnestormen kunnen raketten de ionosfeer zodanig verstoren dat communicatie over lange afstanden, of met satellieten bijvoorbeeld, moeilijk of niet mogelijk wordt.

Na 10 tot 20 minuten sluit zo'n gat in de ionosfeer wel vanzelf weer. Verder zou het lichtverschijnsel geen enkele impact hebben op het leven op aarde.

Bij ons zal de rode gloed trouwens nooit zichtbaar zijn. De gaten vormen zich typisch boven het zuiden van de Verenigde Staten, in de buurt van het Kennedy Space Center in Florida, waar de meeste raketten van SpaceX worden gelanceerd.

{ https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/ }

30-11-2023 om 00:25 geschreven door peter  

The Zhurong rover landed on Mars on May 15, 2021, making China the second country ever to successfully land a rover on Mars. The cute rover, named after a Chinese god of fire, explored its landing site, sent back pictures — including a selfie with its lander, taken by a remote camera – studied the topography of Mars, and conducted measurements with its ground penetrating radar (GPR) instrument. Zhurong had a primary mission lifetime of three Earth months but it operated successfully for just over one Earth year before entering a planned hibernation. However, the rover has not been heard from since May of 2022.

Researchers from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences who worked with Zhurong’s data said the GPR provides an important complement to orbital radar explorations from missions such as ESA’s Mars Express and China’s own Tianwen-1 orbiter. They said in-situ GPR surveying can provide critical local details of shallow structures and composition within approximately 100-meter depths along the rover’s traverse.

Utopia Planitia is a large plain within Utopia, the largest recognized impact basin on Mars (also in the Solar System) with an estimated diameter of 3,300 km. In total, the rover traveled 1,921 meters during its lifetime.

The researchers, led by Lei Zhang, wrote in their paper published in Nature, that the rover’s radar detected sixteen polygonal wedges within about 1.2?kilometers distance, which suggests a wide distribution of similar terrain under Utopia Planitia. These detected features probably formed 3.7 – 2.9 billion years ago during the Late Hesperian–Early Amazonian epochs on Mars, “possibly with the cessation of an ancient wet environment. The palaeo-polygonal terrain, either with or without being eroded, was subsequently buried” by later geological processes.

While polygon-type terrain has been seen across several areas of Mars from many previous missions, this is the first time there has been indications of buried polygon features.

The buried polygonal terrain requires a cold environment, the researchers wrote, that might be related to water/ice freeze–thaw processes in southern Utopia Planitia on early Mars.

“The possible presence of water and ice required for the freeze–thaw process in the wedges may have come from cryogenic suction-induced moisture migration from an underground aquifer on Mars, snowfall from the air or vapor diffusion for pore ice deposition,” the paper explains.

Earlier research from Zhurong’s radar data indicated that multiple floods during that same time frame created several layers beneath the surface of Utopia Planitia.

While the new paper indicates that the most likely possible formation mechanisms would be soil contraction from wet sediments that dried, producing mud-cracks, however, contraction from cooling lava could have also produced thermal contraction cracking.

Either way, they note that a huge change in Mars’ climate was responsible for the polygon’s formation.

“The subsurface structure with the covering materials overlying the buried palaeo-polygonal terrain suggests that there was a notable palaeoclimatic transformation some time thereafter,” the researchers said.

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

29-11-2023 om 22:33 geschreven door peter  

During a recent lecture at the University of Michigan that I gave, I was asked why the arrow of cosmic time is characterized by a transition from simplicity to complexity.

I explained that the universe started simply in the form of a nearly uniform soup of elementary particles. As the Universe expanded and cooled, the denser-than-average regions reversed their expansion and collapsed by their self-gravity to make galaxies in which gas fragmented into stars, dust, and planets. The chemistry of life in liquid water on the surface of our planet, the Earth, gave rise to the most complex systems we know.

Consider the Earth as an example. If our civilization will not be wise enough to preserve itself against existential risks such as a colossal pandemic, global nuclear war, or climate change, then Earth may return to a simpler state without the complexity associated with human technologies.  In fact, this ultimate fate may not even be in our hands. Irrespective of how much we engage in preserving our habitat, we may not be able to counteract the astronomical catastrophe of the Sun boiling off all oceans on Earth within a billion years. Subsequently, the Earth’s surface will be sterilized without the complex chemistry of life as we know it. In addition, all the meticulously designed constructions in our cities will be wiped out like an ant nest after heavy rain.

The return to simplicity would extend beyond Earth to the Universe at large. Observations show that cosmic expansion had been speeding up over the past five billion years. Albert Einstein’s theory of gravity allows for an accelerating Universe if the mass density of the vacuum is bigger than half that of matter, which naturally occurs at late cosmic time as matter gets diluted by the cosmic expansion, but the vacuum remains constant. An unchanging vacuum, which constitutes the so-called “cosmological constant,” naturally produces repulsive gravity that would push galaxies away from each other at an ever-increasing speed. If the cosmic mass budget is indeed dominated by a vacuum mass density that will remain constant as the Universe ages by another factor of ten, then all galaxies outside our immediate vicinity will be pushed out of our horizon by the accelerated expansion of space.

In a paper published two decades ago, titled “The Long-Term Future of Extragalactic Astronomy,” I showed that, in fact, all galaxies beyond a redshift of z=1.8 are already outside our horizon right now. The light we will ever receive from them was emitted long ago and does not represent their current state. Any signals sent from now out of those galaxies will be lost in space and never reach us. We will never be able to have a conversation with any sentient beings in the farthest galaxies at z>10 that were imaged recently by the Webb telescope and presented by NASA to President Biden at a White House celebration on July 11, 2022,

Within a finite time, the accelerated expansion of space moves any distant galaxy away from us at a speed that exceeds the speed of light. Even light, representing the fastest speed by which material particles can propagate, is ultimately unable to bridge the inflating gap between distant galaxies and us by the accelerated cosmic expansion.

The situation is similar to observing a friend cross the event horizon of a black hole. From a distance, we would see the image of our adventurous friend heading towards the black hole, getting fainter, and eventually freezing at some final snapshot, as that friend appears to be hovering just above the horizon. The frozen image will be the snapshot of the instant when the friend crossed the horizon. Beyond that point in time, no information can be retrieved about the whereabouts of the friend. Similarly, the image of each distant galaxy will eventually freeze at some finite time in its own frame, and we can collect a limited amount of information from it. In particular, we will never be able to study the evolution of a distant galaxy beyond some finite age in its own frame of reference. The more distant a galaxy is, the earlier its image will freeze, and the less information will be available to us about the way it ages.

Of course, bound systems which are held together by a force stronger than the repulsive force of the cosmological constant, do not participate in the cosmic expansion. This includes electrons bound to atoms by the electromagnetic force, planets bound to stars, as well as galaxies bound together by a stronger gravitational pull than the cosmic repulsion. Which galaxies will remain bound to the Milky Way and not fly away? In a paper I wrote with my former postdoc, Ken Nagamine, we simulated the future evolution of all distant galaxies on a computer. Our simulation indicated that all galaxies outside the local group of galaxies, namely beyond 3 million light years, are not bound to the Milky Way and will be pushed out of our view by cosmic expansion.

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{ https://thedebrief.org/category/space/ }

29-11-2023 om 22:17 geschreven door peter  

A long-duration aerial mission soon to be carried out by NASA over Antarctica will launch stadium-sized craft in support of a series of record-breaking science missions, the agency announced this week.

The Antarctic Long Duration Balloon (LDB) Campaign, which includes a trio of scientific balloon flights equipped to study a range of different phenomena, will launch at the beginning of December, according to a press release NASA issued on Monday.

The mission will employ a series of massive zero-pressure balloons, which the American space agency says will support five missions in total.

Equipped with open ducts through which gas can escape, thereby eliminating the buildup of pressure within, zero-pressure balloons expand as they accumulate heat from the rising Sun as they are being carried aloft. Conversely, as the Sun sets, heat is lost, which results in a loss of gas, which causes zero-pressure balloons to have a shorter flight duration than other inflatable systems.

However, long-duration missions can be achieved during the polar summer, a period during which the balloons remain in constant sunlight for extended periods.

One of the missions aims to break a previous long-duration balloon flight record of just over 55 days. The balloons will launch from NASA’s facility for balloon launches located close to McMurdo Station, the largest community on Earth’s southernmost continent located on the southern edge of Ross Island, Antarctica.

McMurdo Station

(Credit: Air National Guard)

Andrew Hamilton, acting chief of NASA’s Balloon Program Office (BPO), said the annual launch will carry NASA’s stadium-sized balloons to altitudes where stratospheric wind conditions will “provide a unique and valuable opportunity to fly missions in a near-space environment for days or weeks at a time.”

A primary component of the 2023 launch is NASA’s GUSTO mission, or Galactic/Extragalactic ULDB Spectroscopic Terahertz Observatory, which the agency says will conduct measurements of emissions from cosmic material located between stars known as the interstellar medium.

The space agency says the data GUSTO collects during its time in flight above Antarctica will provide scientists with valuable information about the life cycle of interstellar gas that populates the Milky Way. Other phenomena GUSTO will observe over the course of its mission include star formation and destruction, as well as how gases flow near the center of our galaxy.

GUSTO will be armed with a telescope equipped to detect oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen emission lines.

“This unique combination of data will provide the spectral and spatial resolution information needed for Walker and his team to untangle the complexities of the interstellar medium,” read a portion of a NASA mission brief detailing the mission, “and map out large sections of the plane of our Milky Way galaxy and the nearby galaxy known as the Large Magellanic Cloud.”

While GUSTO is the premier science mission that will be undertaken during this year’s flight, several additional science objectives will be carried out during NASA’s annual Antarctic LDB campaign, including the Anti-Electron Sub-Orbital Payload (AESOP-Lite) mission, which will study cosmic ray electrons and positrons.

Additionally, an engineering test flight called the Long durAtion evalUation solaR hand LAunch (LAURA) mission will employ solar panels to help extend the use and duration of the hand launch platform used at NASA’s Antarctic facility for long-duration flights. The experiment will help remedy problems that arise from hand-launched balloons, the flight time of which is impacted significantly by the power systems contained in their payloads, which are used to power the scientific instruments they carry.

Among the hand-launched missions conducted in December will also be NASA’s Anihala (Antarctic Infrasound Hand Launch) mission, which will be a component of the payload equipped with AESOP-Lite that will measure the subtleties of background sound in Earth’s stratosphere. The experiment will offer a unique opportunity to make such observations over a region of the planet where sound produced by human civilization is minimal.

“The annual Antarctic long-duration balloon campaign is the program’s flagship event for long-duration missions,” Hamilton said in a statement.

“The BPO team is excited to provide support to all our missions this year,” he added.

• Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. He can be reached by email at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow his work at micahhanks.com and on Twitter: @MicahHanks.

{ https://thedebrief.org/category/space/ }

29-11-2023 om 22:03 geschreven door peter