{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

31-07-2024 om 01:40 geschreven door peter  

31-07-2024 om 01:31 geschreven door peter  

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

30-07-2024 om 23:52 geschreven door peter  

The entrance to Leang Karampuang cave, where some of the oldest cave art has been found.

Google Arts & Culture

Recent studies involving advanced laser ablation techniques examined the images on the cave’s walls, which include ancient depictions of animals like pigs and bovines along with stick renderings of anthropomorphic shapes. The new analysis reveals that the art is likely several thousands of years older than previously thought.

However, the extreme age of the art within the cave may point to another intriguing possibility: that its creators were not modern humans, and instead may have been one of our ancient hominin cousins. Such a discovery, if proven, would have profound implications for the origins of figurative art and the cognitive capabilities of our now-extinct hominin relatives.

THE ENIGMA OF SULAWESI

Renowned for its ancient cave paintings, Sulawesi has long fascinated archaeologists. Among the island’s most notable works of cave art include a 14-foot-wide panel that depicts crude imagery of early humans hunting what are commonly believed to be warty pigs and dwarf bovines with spears.

Past work had already revealed the presence of what archaeologists recognized as some of the world’s oldest rock art on the island. A process known as solution uranium-series (or U-series) was used to analyze calcite deposits that had formed over the art on the walls of Maros-Pangkep, a rock art location on the southern portion of the island. This technique, which scans rock walls without taking physical samples, provides a more accurate estimate by distinguishing between layers of sediment.

Cave art found at Maros-Pangkep on southern Sulawesi

(Credit: Cahyo/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 3.0).

However, in their recent study, researchers led by Indonesian archaeologist Adhi Augus Oktaviana used what they describe as “a novel application of this approach,” called laser-ablation U-series imaging, which allowed them to more accurately date some of the earliest cave art in the area.

In a recent study detailing their work, the researchers write, “This method provides enhanced spatial accuracy,” resulting in older minimum ages for previously dated art.

The scene, covered with calcium carbonate deposits, shows three human figures and a pig.

Dominic Julian/BRIN Google Arts

Three human-like figures and a large pig are drawn on a limestone cave wall. Griffith University

REDATING THE WORLD’S OLDEST CAVE ART

The new analysis revealed remarkable results. A hunting scene found at the Leang Bulu’ Sipong 4 location, previously dated to at least 43,900 years ago during previous analysis, has now been revealed to have a minimum age closer to 51,200 years ago, making the art at the location at least 4,040 years older than initial estimates had placed it.

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

30-07-2024 om 23:20 geschreven door peter  

Then, as Renata’s handler taps her on the chin, the chimpanzee is shown saying the word “mama” several times.

The footage, likely viewed as little more than a novelty at the time, represented something potentially extraordinary: evidence of a non-human primate displaying the ability to speak, albeit crudely. Despite Renata’s unique talent, the footage was largely forgotten, and prevailing wisdom continued to insist that humans were the only primates with the required neural circuitry capable of speech.

However, Renata was not the only known example of a chimpanzee who displayed a limited ability to learn and speak human words. Decades later, in a video uploaded to YouTube on August 17, 2007, a chimpanzee named Johnny was also shown saying “mama,” seemingly in response to requests from his owner, after which he was awarded a treat.

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

30-07-2024 om 22:45 geschreven door peter  

SR-91 Aurora: A Highly Classified American Aircraft

For decades, the US military has pursued the dream of dominating the skies with hypersonic platforms, a dream that China and Russia are also striving to become a reality. In this scenario of fierce competition, a disturbing question arises: is it possible that a Mach 5 aircraft, the mythical SR-91 Aurora, already existed and that its existence has been hidden from us?

The classified SR-91 Aurora project

Whispers about the Aurora, a supposedly classified hypersonic aircraft, have resonated in aviation circles since the 1980s. Yet evidence of this enigmatic triangular craft is as elusive as the wind. Is it conceivable that the United States not only managed to develop and operate a fleet of these aircraft at Mach 5+ during the 1980s but also kept this achievement in the shadows to this day? The truth could be more labyrinthine than we imagine.

The Pentagon, known for its “black programs,” has secretly funded the development of advanced technologies throughout history. Today, the most clandestine efforts are grouped under Special Access Programs, or SAPs, which restrict information to even those with the highest security clearances. Some of these recognized SAPs are never fully revealed, and others remain eternally anonymous.

After examining historical reports, declassified documents, testimonies and discussion forums, it is extremely unlikely that the United States has ever secretly operated a fleet of hypersonic aircraft. However, this does not rule out that such technological marvels have once touched the imposing doors of the hangars of Area 51.

Technology cost-benefit analysis for the SR-91 Aurora

It is vital to remember that there is a vast difference between technology that is mature and reliable enough for mass production and combat operation and that which, although within reach, is not sustainable from economic, resource or even political perspectives.

For example, the iPhone in your pocket is not necessarily the most advanced smartphone in the world; It is simply technology that can be mass-produced for a specific price and consumer. The latest communications technology would probably be much more expensive, potentially less reliable, and capable of leaving you in awe.

Aeronautical programs are advancing in a similar way: an extraordinary plane can be built for $2 billion, but that does not mean that mass production can begin immediately. Technology demonstrations, prototypes and limited production of exotic aircraft are a reality at facilities such as the Lockheed Martin plant in Palmdale or Area 51.

SR-91 Aurora: A response to the need to see without being seen

Sometimes, these efforts do not produce the expected results, are too costly, or require excessive maintenance. And sometimes, America‘s deepest secrets are buried in the desert, condemned to oblivion.

The SR-91 Aurora, if it ever existed, was conceived in response to a strategic need for aerial reconnaissance, a testament to the relentless quest for technological supremacy in a world where secrets and shadows play a crucial role.

Lockheed‘s SR-71 Blackbird, an unrivaled aerial beast and aviation’s fastest gem, laughed in the faces of more than 4,000 missiles with its dazzling speed during its golden era as a sky spy. This colossus, capable of challenging Mach 3 as if it were child’s play, made the most sophisticated surface-to-air missiles and elite fighters useless. So, when the Air Force decided to retire this very expensive technological marvel in the late 1980s, the world could only speculate: the United States must have something even more impressive in its arsenal.

It was not for less. The secret corridors of the Pentagon and Congress whispered about an heir to the Blackbird throne. But now, decades later, fact and fiction have become intertwined in a labyrinth of classified theories and programs, real or imagined, including those that may still lurk in the shadows.

Among whispers and rumors, there was talk of Aurora, a hypersonic, triangular plane taken from the bowels of science fiction, which seemed to be a first cousin of Lockheed Martin‘s SR-72 project, announced with great fanfare before this began. New era of hypersonic arms race.

Despite the rise of satellites, the need for aerial reconnaissance never died, as did the legend of the SR-71, which was even briefly resurrected in the 1990s to satisfy the hunger for aerial intelligence. The popular belief was that the Air Force would not let the SR-71 die without already having a worthy successor ready, warming up its engines in some secret location.

SR-91 Aurora: Many have followed its thread without finding its skein

And maybe they weren’t wrong. There are clues, threads of a larger plot, that point to evidence of an extraordinarily fast plane in those years, possibly related to Aurora.

In April 1992, on two separate occasions, journalist Steve Douglass, scanning the skies over Southern California, captured radio conversations that defied logic. A mysterious plane, with the callsign “Gaspipe,” coordinated with Edwards Air Force Base. The words captured by Douglass suggested that this craft flew at otherworldly altitudes and speeds. “You are at sixty-seven thousand [feet], eighty-one miles,” the controller indicated, and then, “Seventy miles, thirty-six thousand. Above the glide slope. Words that conjure images of a machine challenging the limits of the sky.

Was the SR-91 Aurora a real US military project?

There is no concrete evidence to confirm the existence of the SR-91 Aurora. Although it has been the subject of speculation and conspiracy theories, the lack of tangible evidence and the absence of official information suggests that it could be more of a myth or legend within the realm of military aviation.

What capabilities would a hypersonic aircraft like the SR-91 Aurora have?

If the SR-91 Aurora had existed, it is expected that it would have reached speeds exceeding Mach 5, which would have allowed it to perform reconnaissance and surveillance missions at extremely high speeds, making it difficult to detect and track by enemy air defense systems.

How is the SR-91 Aurora related to the SR-71 Blackbird?

The SR-91 Aurora is often considered the hypothetical successor to the SR-71 Blackbird, a spy plane that was a technological marvel of its time. It is speculated that the Aurora would have been designed to exceed the Blackbird’s capabilities, especially in terms of speed and operating altitude.

What advanced technologies would be expected on the SR-91 Aurora?

The SR-91 Aurora, had it been developed, would likely have incorporated advanced technologies such as high-temperature resistant composite materials, innovative propulsion systems to achieve hypersonic speeds, and stealth technologies to reduce its visibility to enemy radars.

Why do rumors about the SR-91 Aurora persist despite the lack of evidence?

Rumors about the SR-91 Aurora persist due to the public’s fascination with secret and advanced military technology. The story of the Aurora feeds into the culture of the Pentagon’s 

{https://militaryview.com/ }

30-07-2024 om 22:32 geschreven door peter  

Not many aircraft in military aviation history have been shrouded in mystery and conjured as much speculation as the SR-91 Aurora. First appearing in the 1980s, “Aurora” was listed in a black program spy plane request, and ever since, this mysterious airframe has remained cloaked in secrecy. It was an attempt by military engineers to come up with a hypersonic plane design that would clock over Mach 5.0; no other aircraft has been reported to do so.

The SR-91 Aurora entered public awareness through the Los Angeles Times and Aviation Week & Space Technology reports in the mid-1980s. All the reports made the point that “Aurora” had been included inadvertently in the budget for 1995, which the U.S. government had submitted for “black aircraft production,” insinuating a clandestine project with funding greater than nearly $1 billion for the B-2 Spirit. By 1986, funding for the black project had swelled to about $2.7 billion, according to a procurement document obtained by Aviation Week.

In the 1980s, with the world’s fastest plane, the SR-71 Blackbird, reaching the end of its service life, a replacement had to be taken into consideration. That very impressive flying machine was powered by Pratt & Whitney J58 engines and represented an early effort at stealth design that could break Mach 3.2. According to analysts, the U.S. was capable of fielding a Mach 5.0 airframe and probably did so with the SR-91 Aurora.

Over the years, several reports and sightings have been viewed as a confirmation of the existence of the Aurora. One such sighting was reported by an engineer in 1989 over the North Sea, which claimed that the Aurora was a triangular-shaped aircraft. However, considering the speed at which the aircraft is supposed to fly, such sightings do not seem very credible. When the Aurora was supposedly flying, the Air Force’s B-2 bomber and F-117 Nighthawk were operational and would have accounted for the sightings.

In 2000, Nic Outterside of the Aberdeen Press and Journal cited anonymous sources that RAF/USAF Machrihanish in Kintyre, Argyll, served as a base for Aurora airframes. The long runways would be suitable for high-altitude experimental aircraft. More evidence appeared in the form of an answer to a parliamentary question in 2006 which stated that the British Ministry of Defense had been told by the United States that the U.S. Air Force had plans to produce a Mach 4.0-6.0 supersonic airframe, though no evidence conclusively proved that such a project existed.

So-called “sky quakes” over Los Angeles, first observed in the early 1990s, have also been attributed to the Aurora. In 1993, Bill Sweetman of Jane’s Defense Weekly reported that U.S. Geological Survey seismologists had recorded tremors consistent with a sonic boom from a high-altitude supersonic aircraft. These tremors were not in line with any known aircraft, suggesting something faster and more advanced.

Though countless claims and sightings have been made, the SR-91 Aurora has not been confirmed by U.S. officials. If it does exist, it would shatter the Blackbird’s speed record into minute pieces, truly heralding a new era in hypersonic flight.

The SR-91 Aurora has seldom failed to impress the imagination of aircraft enthusiasts and military analysts. From fact to fiction, and through internet myth, Aurora is what aerospace ambition and the mysterious represent.

• The post SR-91 Aurora: The Hypersonic Enigma of the Skies first appeared on BuzzHint.

{ https://www.msn.com/en-us/channel/topic/Technology/ }

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30-07-2024 om 22:24 geschreven door peter  

WARP DRIVES IN SCIENCE FICTION

Although the warp drive concept was arguably made famous by its appearances in Star Trek, the idea has its origins much earlier. One of the earliest known fiction works to feature warp drive propulsion was a 1931 novel by John W. Campbell, Islands in Space. However, the term “space-warp drive” would not appear until almost two decades later in Fredrick Brown’s 1949 story “Gateway to Darkness.” Decades after that, the idea would also become a mainstay of interstellar transportation in the fictional universes of Star Trek, Star Wars, and other science fiction franchises.

Hypothetically, warp drive propulsion could actually exist, although bringing the technology to fruition would first require overcoming hurdles that include finding exotic sources of energy to power it, as well as relativistic issues that arise from implementing travel under such conditions.

According to Dr. Katy Clough of Queen Mary University of London, the lead author of the recent study, warp drives still look good on paper despite such problems.

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

30-07-2024 om 22:12 geschreven door peter  

UFO ‘Sighting’ In Ibiza Goes Viral

PEXELS: Grooveland Designs / Es Vedra island off the coast of Ibiza, Spain

KAY SMYTHE - NEWS AND COMMENTARY WRITER

Footage went viral Monday of an alleged UFO flying through the skies over Ibiza.

Video shared on Twitter shows a group of people sitting on what appears to be a cliffside during a gorgeous sunset on the Mediterranean island off the coast of Spain. A woman and whoever is filming then start running and pointing at the skies as a blurry white object flies over them.

The thing appears to hold still for a moment as it comes into focus … except, what you’re looking at isn’t a UFO. It’s the moon, shining brightly over the ocean. Things seem silly for a second. Then the reflection under the moon zooms off at speeds unknown in any type of human technologies.

I’ve seen my fair share of UFO videos in my life, but this one actually kind of freaked me out. 

• (RELATED: Multiple People Believe They Saw A UFO Over One State, And No One Has Debunked It Yet)

It’s the type of click-baity stuff they show at the start of a found footage horror film. A woman appears to yell “Look! Look! Look!” while pointing at something in the skies. The group gasps in unison as the thing zooms off into the atmosphere. The clip has everything in the horror story recipe book.

So this is either one of the best staged UFO encounters ever … or its real.

{ https://dailycaller.com/ }

30-07-2024 om 22:00 geschreven door peter  

Psychologist Carl Jung’s Fascination with UFOs

 Alejandro Rojas

 

Some view Carl Jung as a UFO debunker, others as a UFO believer, but the truth is he was somewhere in the middle. Either way, it is certain that Jung was an avid UFO researcher and fascinated with the topic. He wrote a book about the psychological symbolism and the role the UFO mythos plays in the unconscious mind.  Moreover, on several occasions Jung complained that his studies would have been much easier if the UFO phenomenon was not real.

Jung the Psychologist

Jung was born in Switzerland in 1875. His father was a pastor in the Swiss Reformed Protestant Church, and his mother was from a wealthy Swiss family. He was the Jungs’ fourth child, but was the only child who survived into his childhood. As such, he grew up as an only child. Later, he wrote that he remembered enjoying his solitude.

His first experience with neurosis was at the age of twelve when a fellow student shoved him, causing him to fall and hit his head on the ground very hard. He remembered associating this experience with schoolwork, and whenever he had to go to school or do schoolwork he would faint. Overhearing his parents’ concern that this condition would cause him to be unable to support himself as an adult, Jung fought to overcome the problem and eventually returned to academics.

Although Jung had a profound interest in spirituality, his experiences triggered an interest in psychology and he decided to pursue a career in medicine. It wasn’t long before he realized that studies in psychology would allow him to combine his interests in medicine and spirituality, and in 1902, he completed his doctoral dissertation, which was titled “On the Psychology and Pathology of So-Called Occult Phenomena.” He graduated with a medical degree from the University of Basel.

After graduating, Jung went to work with psychiatric patients at the University of Zurich asylum. He wrote a paper on word association that he sent to Sigmund Freud. Freud was impressed with Jung’s work, and they quickly became very close. Freud considered Jung his successor. However, after several years, Jung began to develop his own ideas beyond the work of Freud, and due to their disagreements, the relationship turned adversarial.

Freud’s work with the ego and unconscious served as a foundation for Jung’s work. They both felt that disconnects between the conscious and unconscious minds caused neurosis in people. They also both relied on dream interpretation to explore a person’s unconscious mind as a method for subsequently resolving neurosis. In fact, one story holds that Jung and Freud interpreted each other’s dreams and both completely disagreed with the other’s analysis, thus hastening the dissolution of their friendship.

A major area of disagreement between the two was that Jung did not believe a person’s unconscious was driven solely by sexual desires, as Freud did. Jung believed other strong emotions such as fear and aspiration were just as influential. He also conceived of a deeper level of the unconscious called the collective unconscious, which he believed is a part of our unconscious mind that holds ideas and concepts shared by all humankind. He believed these base ideas are then shaped by our cultural perceptions and personal experience. For example, we all have ideas around the notions of mothers, fathers, wise elders, etc. Jung called these shared notions archetypes. Jung felt that these archetypes not only would manifest in dreams, but could be seen in people’s creative works and behavior, including art, religion, and mythology.

Jung’s contributions to psychology are numerous. Even today his ideas of extraversion and introversion are a mainstay in personality psychology. He also came up with the idea of psychological complexes and synchronicities. All of these ideas and terms are commonly used in everyday conversation today, and all were made popular by Jung.

Jung and Alchemy

It is the idea of the archetype that brought Jung to have a particular interest in UFOs. When Jung interpreted psychological meaning he would search for archetypal figures. As mentioned earlier, such figures could be a mother or father.  But, in a mythological story, the archetype may be the hero, a dragon, or even a planetary entity such as the sun. However, Jung also had an interested in alchemy.

Alchemy is typically connected to legends of ancient mystics attempting to unravel the secret of turning lead into gold. The work of alchemists is credited with the development of modern chemistry. However, another side of alchemy is spiritual in nature, relating to personal transformation. Jung had a passion for alchemy in this sense, and felt that the metal lead was a metaphor for an impure soul, whereas gold was a metaphor for a perfected soul. Jung’s interest in alchemy was thus as a method of purifying the soul.

Jung wrote a couple of books focused on interpreting alchemical symbolism and processes as different stages of personal growth that mirrored his ideas. He felt these symbols were archetypes that were unconsciously manifesting in the work of alchemists. Although he acknowledged the physical goals of alchemy (an attempt to transmute lead into gold), Jung did not give it much attention in his writing and focused on the non-physical aspects that related to his psychological theories. This is very similar to the way he approached the topic of UFOs.

Jung and UFOs

In 1951, Jung wrote to a friend in the United States: “I am puzzled to death about the phenomena, because I haven’t been able yet to make out with sufficient certainty whether the whole thing is a rumour with concomitant singular and mass hallucination, or a downright fact.” 

Although Jung showed an interest in the mystery of the physical reality of the UFO phenomenon, professionally he stated, “As a psychologist, I am not qualified to contribute anything useful to the question of the physical reality of Ufos.” However, Jung could contribute by analyzing the unmistakable psychological side to the UFO phenomenon. In 1958, several of Jung’s papers regarding the psychology of UFOs were published in a book. It was originally published in German, but in 1959 it was translated to English under the title, Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Skies.

In the book, Jung argued that although there may be a physical reality to UFOs, there is certainly a portion of the phenomenon that is fantasy. He examined the difficulty many have in accepting fantastical stories of UFOs, even when they come from pilots, and points out, “What is worse, most of the stories come from America, the land of superlatives and of science fiction.”

For the sake of argument, and to examine the psychological aspects of the phenomenon, Jung presumed that UFOs are fantasy. This is an important aspect that many critics overlook when they characterize Jung as dismissive of the phenomenon altogether. UFO researchers also tend not to appreciate the portions of Jung’s book in which he examined the UFO phenomenon in regards to archetypal imagery and alchemic symbolism. Jung himself assures his readers that although his work may appear to be “unbridled fantasy” to those unfamiliar with psychology, it is actually based on “thorough research into the history of symbols.”

In his book, Jung observed that most UFO sightings describe the objects as disc shaped, which is a symbol that is often seen in alchemy and existed in the mythology of other cultures. For example, the Hindu and Buddhist symbol of the mandala is a circular disc-shaped symbol. Jung believed that the mandala is a protective sphere, which is elicited in the unconscious in times of emotional tension. Jung noted that, around the time of many of the UFO sightings, the world was under a collective stress due to “Russian policies and their still unpredictable consequences.” In short, he felt that perhaps UFOs were appearing in visions at the time because of the world’s Cold War jitters, and that the UFOs were a manifestation of a need for protection and salvation.

Jung’s book also provided detail of the analysis of particular sightings and art. One of the significant contributions to ufology made by the book is a focus on two historical broadsheets, a type of ancient newspaper, that recorded mysterious apparitions that many have speculated to be UFO related. Although Jung asserted that these reports were in the UFO literature prior to the publication of his book, Jung clearly made them popular as potential ancient UFO sightings.

The first is referred to as the Basel Broadsheet, and it dates back to 1566. It was written by Samuel Coccius and is a report of “many large black globes” that were seen flying in front of the sun “with great speed.” The Basel Broadsheet notes, “Some of them became red and fiery and afterwards faded and went out.” Jung noted the similarity of this phenomenon to modern UFO accounts.

The second report is called the Nuremberg Broadsheet and dates back to 1561. This report chronicles a “very frightful spectacle” that was witnessed by several people. Again, “globes” were seen near the sun, “some three in a row, now and then four in a square, also some standing alone.” There were also “two great tubes.” Jung noted that in UFO literature large tubes are considered “motherships,” and have been reported to have smaller discs that appear to fly out of them.

The Physical Reality of UFOs

In his book, Jung also examined the possibility of the physical reality of UFOs. He noted that, “unfortunately,” UFOs cannot be dismissed as purely psychological in nature. He pointed to numerous sightings, some of which have been caught in photographs and on radar. Jung even poked fun at astronomer Donald Menzel, a UFO debunker, saying that he “has not succeeded, despite all his efforts, in offering a scientific explanation of even one authentic UFO report.” 

Jung was well-versed on UFO research. He wrote, “since 1947 I have collected all of the books I could get a hold of on the subject.” He was also a member of the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), an early civilian UFO organization that included many credible members. In fact, in his book, Jung often referred to the work of Major Donald Keyhoe, a cofounder and director of NICAP.

Prior to releasing his book, Jung was considered by UFO researchers to be a proponent of the physical reality of UFOs. In 1955, he wrote an article on UFOs for a British journal called the Flying Saucer Review. In the article, Jung stated that he had never seen a UFO himself, but that “I can only say for certain: these things are not a mere rumour: something has been seen.”

He went on to argue that the U.S. Air Force “despite its contradictory statements,” considers the phenomenon to be real and they conduct official investigations. He warned that, by concealing information on the topic, the military is making it more likely that people will panic since the public is denied “an adequate picture of what is happening.”

Jung also stated that “the ‘disks’ (that is, the objects themselves) do not behave in accordance with physical laws, but as though without weight, and they show signs of intelligent guidance, by quasi human pilots, for their accelerations are such that no normal human could survive.”

Not much was made of Jung’s 1955 article until it was reprinted in 1958 by the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO) in the organization’s bulletin in July 1958. APRO posted the story as part of an announcement that Jung had agreed to become an official consultant for the organization. The New York Herald Tribune quickly picked up on the report and printed a story with the headline, “Dr. Jung Says ‘Flying Disks’ Suggest Quasi-Human Pilots.”

Jung was not happy with the implication that he believed UFOs represented a physical phenomenon and later wrote a letter to United Press International news agency clarifying his position. He wrote: “I expressly state that I cannot commit myself on the question to the physical reality or unreality of the UFOs since I do not possess sufficient evidence either for or against.” He then stated, “Something is seen, but it isn’t known what.” Jung later repeated this statement in his 1958 book and in several letters.

Although Jung was clearly embarrassed by the public perception that he conclusively believed flying saucers were physical in nature, he later reiterated his prior statements and earlier criticisms of the U.S. Air Force’s handling of the matter in very strong words. He wrote:

In spite of the fact that I hold my judgment concerning UFOs—temporarily let’s hope—in abeyance, I thought it worthwhile to throw a light upon the rich fantasy material which has accumulated round the peculiar observations in the skies. Any new experience has two aspects: (I) the pure fact and (2) the way one conceives of it. It is the latter I am concerned with. If it is true that the [American Air Force] or the Government withholds telltale facts, then one can only say that this is the most unpsychological and stupid policy one could invent. Nothing helps rumours and panics more than ignorance.

It is no wonder that many have been confused as to Jung’s official stance on UFOs. He seems to have believed the phenomenon and sightings to be real, but is uncertain whether UFOs are a physical reality or are limited to a psychological phenomenon. He stated that although “by all human standards it hardly seems possible to doubt this any longer,” in the decade or more he had been studying the topic, neither he nor anyone else seems to have learned much from the study of the physical aspect of UFOs. Jung said that this is precisely why he found it much more fruitful to study the psychological aspects of UFOs, an area in which he felt he had gained an abundance of knowledge.

Jung may be right. Concrete physical proof of UFOs continues to elude us to this day. Yet, Jung is another example of a luminary who garners a great amount of respect in his field of study, who also had the vision to seriously consider the UFO phenomenon. His UFO interest is a story that should not be forgotten, and his insights into the phenomenon may help guide us today, just as his insights into the human mind continue to be a part of the bedrock of modern psychological understanding.

• A version of this article originally appeared in Open Minds UFO Magazine. Back issues can be found here.

{ https://openminds.tv/category/articles/ }

30-07-2024 om 21:46 geschreven door peter  

Leaked UFO video captured by Homeland Security analyzed

 Alejandro Rojas

 

A group of UFO researchers with backgrounds in science have come together to analyze an alleged UFO video they have confirmed comes from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The object in the video was captured by a thermal imaging camera on a DHS aircraft, and according to the researchers, it exhibits characteristics that cannot be explained by any known aircraft or natural phenomenon.

The video is overlaid with the sort of telemetry one would expect from a military or law enforcement thermal image video. It shows an object apparently moving very quickly over land and then into the ocean. It seems to be tumbling or changing shape. It moves over buildings, through trees, and eventually over the ocean. Then things get weird. The object appears to go in and out of the ocean without slowing down, and at the end of the video is either joined by another object or breaks in two.

All of the primary witnesses have requested anonymity. However, several communications from alleged DHS employees indicate that the video caused quite a stir on the base.

Research on the video began when an acquaintance to the pilot of the aircraft that captured the video contacted Daina Chaviano, a famous Cuban-born fantasy and science fiction author. She is also a volunteer with the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) in Florida, where in her spare time she investigates UFO reports. She took the UFO case to her colleague, Morgan Beall, who runs the Florida MUFON chapter.

Chaviano and Beall were so impressed by what they saw they assembled a small group of skeptical researchers with backgrounds in various fields of science and technology. The pilot’s acquaintance requested strict control of the information provided and that knowledge of the investigation be limited to a very few people, so until now, the researchers have not shared any information regarding their investigation.

Today, the group released a 161-page report detailing their findings.

They are vague when it comes to the identity of Chaviano’s informant. They say this person and others who provided information wanted to remain anonymous “to ensure no issues arise with the source’s employers.”

However, the group says: “The source of this video evidence was vetted and identified.”

They say they are absolutely certain that the information comes from sources on board the DHS aircraft and the video is genuine. Their investigation also confirmed what they were told.

Their sources told them that the UFO incident began at about 9:20 pm on the evening of April 25, 2013 at the Rafael Hernandez Airport in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. It involved the crew of a DHC-8 Turboprop aircraft from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a division of DHS.

The DHC-8 took off on a routine flight and soon after takeoff they noticed “a pinkish to reddish light over the ocean that was in their vicinity and approaching toward the south.”

The crew was concerned the tower had not told them about the incoming traffic, so they called it in. The tower told them they also had a visual on the object, but they were unsure of its identity.

Once the object got close to land, its lights turned off, but at this time the DHC-8 was able to begin tracking and filming the object with their onboard thermal imaging system. The DHC-8 did not approach the object, but circled the area and filmed it.

The DHC-8 did not pick up the object on radar. However, their radar was looking downward to track ships on the ocean, not objects in the sky.

According to the source, a flight was delayed by the presence of the object. The research group was able to confirm from airport records that a FedEx flight scheduled to leave at 9:10 pm was delayed until 9:26 pm.

The researchers also confirmed the flight time and path of the DHC-8 via radar data they obtained from a Freedom of Information Act Request to the U.S. Air Force 84th Radar Evaluation Squadron (RADES) group. The radar data confirmed that the DHC-8 took off at approximately 9:16 pm and circled the airport twice before leaving the area about 10 minutes later.

The researchers note that there was an unknown object or objects tracked on radar a few minutes prior to the DHC-8’s take off,  but it is not known for certain that this was the same object that was later caught on video. The unidentified radar strikes were just off the shore to the north and northwest of the airport and lasted about 16 minutes from 8:58 pm to 9:14 pm.

When reading the times, the radar data is presented in a different time zone than the local times. The researchers explained this on their website: “Aviation times reflect  Zulu time which corresponds to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). The video displays the Zulu time April 26th at 1:22 AM at the top left of the initial frames. Converting this Zulu time to Puerto Rico’s local time gives April 25th at 9:22 PM. Puerto Rico uses  Atlantic Standard Time and does not use daylight savings time.”

The research group also thoroughly analyzed the video to determine the nature of the object in the film. They consulted thermal imaging experts to determine the capabilities of the system used for the filming, and broke the film down frame by frame to determine the object’s approximate size, speed, temperature and flight path.

The video (seen at the top of the story) is just under 4 minutes long, but the unknown object was tracked for about 2 1/2 of those minutes. Although it was difficult for the group to calculate the exact location of the object on the first half of its flight, they are confident of its position in the second half.

They have determined that the object came in from the ocean, from the north or northwest of the airport’s airstrip, and then flew over the airstrip, then turned back to the north and headed back out into the ocean.

During this time the DHC-8 was circling the airport. As can be seen in the map created by the researchers, the aircraft was moving along the shore, turning to the south, and eventually lost site of the object over the ocean as they continued south.

The report states: “The object was between three to five feet in length and its speed varied between approximately 40 mph to 120 mph. Its median speed was roughly 80 mph.”

The report goes on to note that an interesting characteristic at the end of the flight was when it apparently submerged into the ocean, traveled for over half a mile, and then flew back out.

According to the report: “Its speed through the water reached a high of 95 mph and average 82.8 mph.”

One suggestion has been that the object was merely a balloon. However, the researchers reject this idea for several reasons. They say the wind speeds at the time were 8 to 13 mph at ground level and 12 to 18 mph at 400 to 3200 feet. This means the object was moving too fast to be carried by wind currents. It also changed directions from heading south back to the north, and it went underwater with minimal loss of speed.

Another possibility is that the object was actually a bird. The object appears dark on the screen, and for this type of thermal imaging that would mean it was warmer than the ambient air. This is how a bird would appear. However, the researchers note that the object was moving much too fast to be a bird. They note that peregrine falcons, which do occasionally visit Puerto Rico, have an average horizontal speed of 40 to 56 mph, and a maximum of 65 to 69 mph.

The researchers also examined the possibility that the object was a drone. Their research did discover that the Navy is working on a drone that can fly through the air and dive into the ocean and become a submarine. It is called a “Flimmer.”

They found that current Flimmer drones have not been tested underwater and have an airspeed of 68 mph. They also noted that the fastest known underwater battery powered torpedo travels at 50 mph.

The researchers do acknowledge that it could be possible that the Navy is secretly testing a Flimmer drone that is much more advanced. However, they question why the military would so recklessly test it over a civilian area and airport runways.

In conclusion they state: “There is no explanation for an object capable of traveling under water at over 90 mph with minimal impact as it enters the water, through the air at 120 mph at low altitude through a residential area without navigational lights, and finally to be capable of splitting into two separate objects. No bird, no balloon, no aircraft, and no known drones have that capability.”

They do not profess to know what the object was, and they welcome “reasonable” suggestions.

However, as to be expected, there are those who have suggested that “they know” the object is extraterrestrial in nature, and at least one of those suggestions has come from an anonymous source who has intimate knowledge of this event.

An anonymous letter was sent to one of the researchers that is very similar to one that was sent to John Greenewald, owner of the website TheBlackVault.com. The only thing Greenewald knew about the video was related to a low resolution copy that was leaked to a Puerto Rican UFO researcher. Many assumed the video was taken from a helicopter.

The letter references the exact type of thermal system and aircraft that was used to capture the video. The message was accompanied by a high resolution version of the thermal video, which was then posted on YouTube by Greenewald. The anonymous letter states: “Alien technology is no doubt under the ocean near Puerto Rico!”

Is alien technology being demonstrated in this video? This careful report, which the researchers say took over 1000 man hours to complete, indicates that whatever took place, it is certainly unusual. The entire report is 161 pages long, and thoroughly explains their work, and how they came to the conclusions they did.

Even if the report had come to a mundane conclusion, the effort put into the investigation is remarkable. However, the fact that they could not determine what the object was, and have determined that it displayed characteristics that cannot be explained, makes the report remarkable.

Robert Powell, a retired engineer who worked in the semiconductor industry, who helped author the research paper, says although they have finally released their report, “work on this video will continue.”

Powell, Beall, Chaviano, and the rest of the researchers working on the report posted a high resolution version of the video, their report, and an animation of the radar data they obtained on a website called the Scientific Coalition for Ufology.

Powell says they have reached out to other scientific organizations that have shown an interest in the UFO phenomenon,  including 3AF Sigma2, a group that is part of the French National Aeronautical and Astronautical Association. The French scientists have agreed to review their work and provide input.

Powell says, “We hope that this report will generate ideas and thoughts from other scientists that may provide more insight into the characteristics of the object seen in the video.”

• To download the report, view the video, and find out more about the investigation, visit: ExploreSCU.org.

{ https://openminds.tv/category/articles/ }

30-07-2024 om 21:46 geschreven door peter  

The disappearance of the UK’s “most spectacular” UFO photo

 Alejandro Rojas

 

Hanging on the wall near the British government’s UFO Desk was what one of the men who occupied that desk called “the most spectacular UFO photo ever sent to the Ministry of Defence (MoD).” The photo has since disappeared, but the story of how the picture was obtained, and what it showed, has not.

Nick Pope ran the MoD’s UFO project from 1991 to 1994. When he was first assigned to the position, he was not excited about it. He felt the issue was ridiculous and he was not looking forward to having to deal with a bunch of UFO nuts. However, over the years, Pope found there were credible cases of incredible things, and began to see there was something truly mysterious about the phenomenon. One of the cases that lead him to this conclusion had to do with a photo that was made into a poster that he found hung in the office near his desk when he began working the UFO desk.

“I first came across this story in 1991, when I joined the UFO project,” writes Pope on his website. “A poster-sized enlargement of the best  photo was prominently displayed on the office wall.”

“The X-Files first aired in the UK in 1994 and I acquired the same nickname (Spooky) as Fox Mulder, for obvious reasons,” Nick continues. “Mulder famously had his ‘I want to believe’ UFO poster on his office wall and though uncaptioned, I suppose this was my equivalent.”

The photo showed a picture of a large diamond shaped craft with a jet in the background. When he asked about the photo, Pope was told that they had officially determined the image was real. They estimated the craft to have been 25 meters (over 80 feet) in diameter.

However, if asked, they were instructed to answer, “no definite conclusion had been reached regarding the large diamond-shaped object.”

Pope learned that the object had been photographed on August 4, 1990. Two people had been walking near the town of Calvine in Scotland when they spotted the large diamond-shaped object. They described the object as looking metallic. It sat in one position, hovering silently for several minutes before taking off vertically at, as Pope writes, “a massive speed.”

During the sighting, the witnesses also saw a military aircraft that they thought might be a harrier jet, but they were unsure whether the jet was escorting the craft, chasing it, or whether the jet pilot was even aware of the diamond-shaped UFO.

The witnesses had taken several photographs and sent them to the Scottish Daily Record newspaper. The paper contacted the MoD, and the MoD was somehow able to convince the paper to hand over the photographs along with the negatives.

” The photos were then sent to the Defence Intelligence Staff (DIS) who then sent them on to imagery analysts at JARIC (Joint Air Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre). Yet at the time, MoD hadn’t even publicly acknowledged that there was any intelligence interest in UFOs at all,” Pope explains.

“We implied and sometimes stated that we didn’t ‘investigate’ UFOs, but merely ‘examined sightings to see if anything reported was of any defence interest’ – as if the two were somehow different!”

Pope say the MoD was actually very interested in these cases, but often less interested in where the craft came from than what they could learn from it. They had hoped to identify some sort of technology they would be able to appropriate.

Either way, the Calvine UFO photos impressed the UFO desk investigators enough that they hung the poster in the office.

“At one particularly surreal briefing on the UFO phenomenon my DIS opposite number indicated the photo and pointed his finger to the right: ‘It’s not the Americans’, he said, before pointing to the left and saying ‘and it’s not the Russians.’ There was a pause, before he concluded ‘and that only leaves …’ – his voice trailed off and he didn’t complete the sentence, but his finger was pointing directly upwards,” recalls Pope.

The office where the UFO desk was located also housed other non-UFO related projects.

Pope says the reaction of some colleagues who came to visit unaware of the UFO program had amusing reactions to the poster.

Pope writes, “You’d have this surreal moment when they’d stop mid-sentence, stare at it, point and say ‘what the hell’s that?’ – this wasn’t the archetypal distant, blurred UFO photo. This was up close and personal, reach out and you can touch it stuff. ‘I don’t know what it is, but it’s not one of ours’ was our stock answer to the inevitable question.”

Eventually, around 1994, Pope says his superior determined the craft was a secret American aircraft or drone. Pope says they had already asked the U.S. if the craft or something similar of theirs was being tested over the UK, and were told they were not. Pope believes his boss had decided to support a potential cover-up by the Americans and the MoD and removed the poster. It was never to be seen again.

Although Pope has discussed these photographs in the media and has posted an article on his website, no one has come forward to claim they took the photos. Nor has anyone at the Scottish Daily Record come forth to discuss any involvement. The case remains a mystery.

• You can read more about this sighting and Pope’s work at www.NickPope.net. He can also be heard on several episode of Open Minds UFO Radio.

{ https://openminds.tv/category/articles/ }

30-07-2024 om 21:21 geschreven door peter  

AI Sharpened Image of Purple UFO! May 18, 2004 - Provo Canyon, Utah, USA, UAP Sighting News.

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

30-07-2024 om 21:14 geschreven door peter  

Wat is zand en waar bestaat het eigenlijk uit? Het zijn niet alleen stenen

Door Janine

Unsplash

Of je het nu vindt op een strand, in de woestijn of als onderdeel van de regen, zand is enorm wijdverspreid in onze wereld. Maar ondanks het feit dat het veel gebruikt wordt en aanwezig is in onze samenleving, weten maar weinig mensen wat zand eigenlijk is en waar het van gemaakt is. Kortom: wat is er nog meer dan de zeer bijzondere consistentie en korreligheid ervan? En is dat echt zand in de regen? Laten we het samen ontdekken!

Wat is zand?

Zand is niets meer dan een sedimentair gesteente, dat wil zeggen gevormd door erosie van verschillende soorten gesteente en de resulterende korrels. Het is een lang en continu proces dat leidt tot het ontstaan van zand in verschillende soorten en kleuren. Om te begrijpen wat zand is, moeten we beginnen met hoe het wordt gevormd:

• Erosie van gesteenten en mineralen. Dankzij de werking van regen en wind worden de rotsen van een specifieke plaats na verloop van tijd geërodeerd en vallen ze uiteen. De minerale fragmenten die uit dit proces voortkomen, vormen het zand dat we kennen
• Ophoping van riviersedimenten. Rivieren transporteren mineralen, organische resten, puin, enzovoort naar de zee. Al deze materialen worden onderweg geërodeerd en blijven dat ook, zelfs als ze eenmaal door zeestromingen langs de kusten worden verspreid.
• Hypersaline neerslag. Naast erosie en de ophoping van sedimenten kan er ook zand ontstaan ​​door een hoge concentratie aan ionen en sterke verdamping, wat leidt tot het ontstaan ​​van hypersaline regen waarbij het zand op de grond “neerslaat”.

Zoals je kunt zien, zijn er verschillende processen die leiden tot de vorming van zand. Gedeeltelijk verklaren ze al waarom niet al het zand hetzelfde is, uitgaande van de kleur: er is bijvoorbeeld zwart vulkanisch zand en wit atolzand. Maar waar bestaat zand uit?

Waar bestaat zand uit?

Unsplash

Gewoon zand bestaat grotendeels uit silicium, in de vorm van mineralen zoals kwarts en graniet. Daarnaast zijn veldspaat, die een groot deel van de terrestrische en oceanische korst uitmaken, ook wijdverspreid in licht zand. In het donkere zand zijn echter ook grote hoeveelheden hematiet, granaat en magnetiet te vinden. Met name dit laatste mineraal is verantwoordelijk voor het “magnetische” zand dat vaak door regen wordt meegebracht.

Op basis van wat we hebben gezien, kunnen we daarom zeggen dat zand een verzameling mineralen van verschillende aard is in zeer kleine korrels, tussen 0,06 en 2 millimeter. Het is echter niet zeker dat alle mineralen waaruit het zand bestaat uit stenen afkomstig zijn: het witte zand van de Caribische eilanden bestaat ook uit microscopisch kleine resten die zijn verkregen door de erosie van schelpen en andere mariene organismen. Hun samenstelling bevat mineralen, die vervolgens bijdragen aan de vorming van dit specifieke zand.

Hoe is de samenstelling van zand in regen?

Zoals we al zeiden, kan zand ook bestaan ​​uit de minerale overblijfselen van sommige mariene organismen, waardoor het zijn karakteristieke witte kleur krijgt. Toch kunnen we ook iets soortgelijks zeggen over het zand van de Sahara, oftewel hetzelfde zand dat in sommige mediterrane landen na regen vaak op auto's blijft liggen. Het is slechts gedeeltelijk zand zoals we het tot nu toe hebben begrepen, omdat het in werkelijkheid is samengesteld uit de fossielen van vele microalgen die duizenden jaren geleden in een Afrikaans meer leefden.

Misschien weet niet iedereen dat de Sahara nog maar een paar duizend jaar een woestijn is, en dat het daarvoor de kenmerken had van prairies en savanne. In een van de meren in het gebied bevonden zich eencellige algen, diatomeeën genaamd: zodra ze gefossiliseerd waren na de vorming van de woestijn, vormden ze diatomeeënstof dat door de wind wordt getransporteerd en in de regen terechtkomt.

Zand is immers een overkoepelende term die we aan veel verschillende materialen geven en, specifieker, aan een heel specifieke korrel. Of het nu gemaakt is van kwarts of magnetiet, schelpen of gefossiliseerde algen, het is een fundamenteel materiaal voor onze hedendaagse samenleving. En niet alleen op het strand.

{ https://www.curioctopus.nl/ }

30-07-2024 om 21:09 geschreven door peter  

In an article posted on January 27, 2018, we discussed Biological UFOs, showcasing many images of different types of biological entities such as zeroids, archons, ebani and flying rods. 

Image s some of the biological UFOs taken from our 2018 article

Now, the theory that some UFOs may be biological entities, which may populate the recesses of free space, possibly originating from another dimension, is not a new one. 

Video on Youtube: Astronauts report squid-like entity floating in space

Jacques Vallée, a renowned computer scientist and ufologist, proposed a theory that UFOs and related phenomena might be manifestations of beings from other dimensions or parallel realities existing at different frequencies from our own. 

These entities, according to Vallée, may not necessarily be extraterrestrial but could belong to a reality operating under different physical laws. This hypothesis suggests that the phenomenon of alien visitors might originate not from our physical reality or outer space but from alternate realities or parallel universes. 

Video on Youtube: Possible biological UFO filmed from passenger plane

Possible biological UFO seen over Iraq

Analyst Bob Spearing of MUFON recently spilled the beans to Daily Mail about these mysterious aerial objects. MUFON has studied drawings and photographs dating back to the 1970s of "squid-like objects" floating in the sky 

Image left: squid like entity spotted in Russia 1977 (credit MUFON)

Image right: squid like entity spotted in Denmark 1975 (credit MUFON)

These bioforms, living beings, are not only floating in our sky but also for example orbiting the moon, potentially populating the recesses of free space and the cosmic void, remain a mystery.

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

30-07-2024 om 20:59 geschreven door peter  

Pilot’s Shocking Encounter: UFO Follows Plane in Mid-Air Drama

In a captivating and mysterious incident, a former pilot vividly describes witnessing a UFO following his plane, adding a new dimension to the ongoing exploration of unidentified aerial phenomena. This account is part of a broader investigation into UFO sightings, with significant findings reported in both Carneiro, Kansas, and Bariloche, Argentina.

The Encounter in Bariloche, Argentina

Captain Jorge Polanco, a seasoned pilot with years of experience, recounted an extraordinary encounter while landing a Boeing 737 filled with passengers at Bariloche Airport in 1995. As he approached the airport, Polanco noticed a very bright light in the sky. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was a saucer-shaped object, an unidentified flying object (UFO), which began to follow his aircraft.

The proximity of the UFO was alarming. At one point, Polanco estimated it was only 100 meters away from his plane. This was not just a fleeting glimpse; the UFO seemed to be mirroring his movements. As Polanco attempted to land, the power at the airport suddenly went out, forcing him to abort the landing and circle back up to 10,000 feet. Astonishingly, the UFO seemed to anticipate his actions, maintaining its position at the same altitude.

“It was as if the UFO was always one step ahead,” Polanco explained. The eerie intelligence and precision of the object left him and his crew in awe and fear. This was not merely an unidentified object but a highly advanced craft demonstrating capabilities beyond known human technology.

Broader Implications and Investigations

Polanco’s encounter was not an isolated incident. His sighting coincided with an electrical blackout at Bariloche Airport and burn marks on the ground, which appeared at the exact time of the sighting. Multiple pilots reported similar experiences, adding weight to the argument that these were not mere hallucinations or atmospheric anomalies but real, tangible events.

In an effort to understand these phenomena, Space Marine Intelligence Officer Nick Carnezzi and astrophysicist Sarah Cruttis embarked on an investigation in Carneiro, Kansas, a known UFO hotspot. Utilizing advanced drone technology, they conducted an aerial survey of a three-mile area where a cluster of UFO sightings had been reported. The drone’s findings revealed an anomaly – a circular concrete pad in the middle of nowhere, suggesting a possible landing site.

Linking the Dots

The connection between these two regions, separated by thousands of miles, is compelling. In both instances, there were sightings of low-hovering objects, unexplained physical evidence on the ground, and multiple eyewitness accounts, including those of trained pilots. These parallels raise questions about the nature and origin of these objects.

The investigations in Kansas and Argentina illustrate the importance of using technology to validate eyewitness accounts. The drones in Kansas and the aviation maps in Argentina provided crucial data, turning wild stories into credible reports with physical evidence.

VIDEO:

• Pilot Witnesses UFO FOLLOWING His Plane | Alien Contact

• https://youtu.be/FxT1dWFhWsI

Captain Jorge Polanco’s harrowing experience adds a personal, human element to the study of UFOs. His detailed account, combined with the corroborating evidence from other pilots and the advanced technological investigations, underscores the reality of these unexplained phenomena. As we continue to explore these mysteries, such firsthand experiences are invaluable, reminding us of the vast unknown that still awaits discovery in our skies.

The convergence of multiple credible sightings, physical evidence, and advanced technological analysis makes it increasingly difficult to dismiss these events as mere coincidences or fabrications. Whether these phenomena are of extraterrestrial origin or something yet to be understood, the testimony of pilots like Polanco is crucial in unraveling the enigma of UFOs.

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

30-07-2024 om 20:42 geschreven door peter  

30-07-2024 om 00:21 geschreven door peter  

A CONTROVERSIAL DISCOVERY ON VENUS

The initial detection of phosphine in Venus’s oxidized atmosphere was reported in September 2020, when a team of scientists led by Jane Greaves of Cardiff University said they had found evidence of the toxic molecule. The discovery initially led to debate over the possibility that life could exist on Venus, since phosphine is normally associated with organisms that thrive in low-oxygen environments.

The team’s announcement received considerable media attention, and also led to controversy that culminated in rebukes from some in the scientific community. Arguably, the sharpest criticism was leveled by the organizing committee of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) Commission F3 on Astrobiology, who even questioned the ethics of Greaves and her team over the manner in which the discovery was revealed.

“It is an ethical duty for any scientist to communicate with the media and the public with great scientific rigour and to be careful not to overstate any interpretation which will be irretrievably picked up by the press,” the commission wrote in an official statement released at the time.

The commission added it “would like to remind the relevant researchers that we need to understand how the press and the media behave before communicating with them.”

Initial follow-up attempts to detect the compound again were unsuccessful. However, last year, Greaves and her team succeeded in detecting phosphine in deeper portions of the planet’s atmosphere during observations made with the James Clark Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) at Mauna Kea Observatory, Hawaii. Additional detections with NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) also suggested the presence of phosphine, which may originate either within or from below the clouds on Venus.

Craters seen in false color on the surface of Venus, where the presence of phosphine and ammonia could potentially point to the existence of life forms that may thrive in the planet’s inhospitable climate

(Credit: NASA).

Intriguingly, a separate research effort led by Rakesh Mogul with California State Polytechnic University reanalyzed data obtained by NASA’s Pioneer Venus Large Probe in 1978, revealing additional support for the presence of phosphine in the planet’s atmosphere that appeared to match the earlier findings.

“To date, our analyses remain unchallenged in the literature,” Mogul said of his team’s findings, which he characterized as being “in sharp contrast to the telescopic observations” made by Greaves and her colleagues, which Mogul said “remain controversial.”

NEW FINDINGS STILL WARRANT CAUTION

With the aid of a new receiver installed on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, Greaves and her colleagues now say they have collected as much as 140 times more data than previous observations yielded, which include additional detections of phosphine. The new findings were revealed in a pair of presentations by Greaves and David Clements, a researcher at Imperial College London who was involved with the discovery, on July 17 during a meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society.

However, of even greater potential interest in the search for possible life forms on Venus is evidence that ammonia is present in its atmosphere, which Clements has called “more significant than the discovery of phosphine.” Notably, the 2021 study by Mogul and his colleagues also determined that ammonia could potentially exist in Venus’s atmosphere.

Despite the potential significance of the discovery, during Greaves’s talk at the Society’s meeting earlier this month, a slide in her presentation emphasized that there are “many significant unknowns about the Venusian surface and atmosphere,” adding that “even a ‘gold standard’ discovery of two bio-associated molecules is not evidence that life is extant!”

Similarly, Clements told CNN that it would be premature to speculate that these gases point to the existence of life on Venus, although he conceded that the presence of ammonia along with phosphine certainly strengthens that possibility.

PROMISING PRELIMINARY FINDINGS

While cautioning against premature conclusions, Greaves explained during her presentation this month that there is at least a possibility that any organisms present on Venus could produce ammonia to help reduce the environment’s acidity and thereby make it more habitable. If this were the case, Greaves and her colleagues speculate that the gas could have potentially risen into the atmosphere, allowing its detection.

“The ammonia was detected in the upper clouds, where temperatures are -15°C or less and it is likely too cold for life to exist,” read a posting on the official X account of the Royal Astronomical Society summarizing Greave’s presentation.

“Researchers want to see if the molecule is also present deeper in Venus’s clouds, where it is much warmer,” it added.

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

29-07-2024 om 23:53 geschreven door peter  

5 Alleged Alien Artifacts That Were Actually Rocks, Spark Plugs, and Dolls

From strangely spherical orbs to ancient aircraft, the list of supposedly out-of-this-world objects keeps growing. Learn more about five of the most famous fake alien artifacts.

The bodies of two supposed aliens were presented to the Mexican Congress in September 2023. With their spindly bodies and bulbous domes, the specimens are the spitting image of the quintessential alien.

(Credit: Octavio Hoyos/Shutterstock)

We seem to have entered something of an alien renaissance. Public interest in extraterrestrial speculation soared this summer, as former intelligence officials testified to Congress that the U.S. government is in possession of materials from a spacecraft of “non-human origin.”

For all its mystery and intrigue, though, this moment is only the latest surge in a century of extraterrestrial hype, and of claims to the existence of alien artifacts. So far none have held up to scrutiny, and it remains to be seen whether the Pentagon is hiding the real deal. But there’s a long list of fascinating (and decidedly not authentic) objects that people have taken to be of alien origin.

Read More: 

• What Does Extraterrestrial Mean, And Why Are Experts Looking for It?

Found outside Olancha, a community near California's Coso Range, the “Coso artifcat” looked like a geode at first glance. Yet, its core of what appeared to be white porcelain and metal fostered rumors about its alien origins.

(Credit: Diane079F/Getty Images)

One winter morning in 1961, the three owners of a rock shop in eastern California went hunting for geodes. Later that day, when they brought their haul back to the shop and started slicing them open, the trio discovered something inexplicable: At the center of one “geode,” where they expected to find an array of sparkling crystals, they saw instead a circular piece of what appeared to be white porcelain surrounding a shaft of metal.

They were baffled. The object seemed man-made, but one of the discoverers claimed to have spoken with a geologist who said the surrounding rock would’ve taken 500,000 years to form. However, as noted in an analysis by Pacific Northwest Skeptics founder Pierre Stromberg and Louisiana State University geologist Paul Heinrich, “very little is known about the initial physical inspections.”

After decades of speculation, Stromberg and Heinrich closed the case with help from a surprisingly niche group of experts — the Spark Plug Collectors of America. Several of its members concurred that the so-called Coso artifact is simply a Champion spark plug from the 1920s, potentially used in a 20th-century mining operation. Nevertheless, it still routinely shows up on lists of “out-of-place artifacts” (OOPArts) as possible evidence of aliens.

Read More: 

• 3 Historic Hoaxes That Duped The Masses, Scientists Or Media

Some of the “Ottosdal objects” of South Africa are adorned with strange grooves, as a result of natural geologic processes. The same sort of grooves mark the “Moqui Marbles” of the Navajo Sandstone in southern Utah.

(Credit: Sumikophoto/Shutterstock)

Similar to the Coso find, several stone spheres, also known as Ottosdal objects, have been found in 3 billion-year-old geological deposits in Ottosdal, South Africa, just outside of Klerksdorp. A 1979 article in the National Enquirer described them as “so perfectly made that they look as though they were cast from a mould,” and ever since, creationists and ancient astronaut theorists have interpreted them as the artificial products of an advanced civilization.

Their name, however, is a misnomer. “A careful examination of the Ottosdal objects demonstrates the imaginary nature of the ‘perfectly spherical’ descriptions given by various authors,” states an analysis, also by Heinrich. In reality, the objects come in many shapes and sizes and are mostly asymmetrical. They’re just good old-fashioned carbonate concretions.

Some of the objects feature a series grooves around their circumference. The grooves, Heinrich explains, are merely the result of the sediment layers in which the objects formed: In fine-grained layers they grew more slowly, leaving what seem to be etched rings. The same process can be seen at work in the “Moqui Marbles” of southern Utah.

None of this, of course, prevents vague assertions that the objects may be “connected in some way” to Iapetus, a moon of Saturn that happens to have a similar ridge around its equator. Or that they are “so delicately balanced that, even with modern technology, they would need to have been made in zero gravity.”

Read More: 

• Hollow Earth: A Journey Through 3 Centuries of Conspiracy Theory

This semi-spherical helmet, adorned with a female figure, was among the artifacts of the famed “Quimbaya Treasure.” Also included in the collection were several small figurines, whose stylized appearance is sometimes said to look like ancient aircraft.

(Credit: WH_Pics/Shutterstock)

The “Quimbaya Treasure” is an assortment of gold objects created by the Quimbaya culture, which reached its peak in what is now Colombia between 500 B.C.E. and 600 C.E. But of the 135 artifacts in the collection — which include everything from containers and pendants to human and animal figurines — a handful have been singled out as evidence of ancient aircraft (and, by extension, aliens).

The producers of the pseudoscientific TV series Ancient Aliens call them the Tolima jets. They’re shaped a little like birds or insects or fish, but (the producers argue) the anatomy doesn’t add up: Many have what appear to be wings, as well as vertical tails, a perplexing combo. What does have both? Modern fighter jets. Ergo pre-Columbian people must have achieved flight, millennia before Orville and Wilbur Wright, with help from extraterrestrials.

In 1994, two German men even built (substantially altered) model airplanes based on the artifacts to prove that, scaled and motorized, they could have flown. On Ancient Aliens, the producers claim the men “did not add an inch or remove an inch, they just essentially blew the thing into a larger size.” But again, a quick comparison shows the models to be far more aerodynamic than the originals.

Chris White, who directed the film Ancient Aliens Debunked, notes that most of the Quimbaya artifacts are simply stylized animals. “Because of that,” he writes, “and the fact that the few objects in question also have teeth and eyes, it seems more likely that these were also depicting animals.” It takes little effort to see them as representations of fish, like the sucker-mouth catfish, which Quimbaya natives would’ve been familiar with.

Read More: 

• City of Gold: The Continued Quest for El Dorado

The fine craftsmanship of the crystal skulls supposedly taken from the pre-Colombian Aztec or Maya civilizations is sometimes interpreted as a sign of alien interference in ancient affairs.

(Credit: Mistervlad/Shutterstock)

An assemblage of quartz crystals, carved in the likeness of human skulls and allegedly dating to pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, is another favorite of the Ancient Aliens crew. They started turning up left and right in the late 1800s, and museum curators, eager for exotic curiosities, ate them up. But none came from official archaeological excavations, and none had substantiated backstories.

Perhaps the most famous is the “Skull of Doom,” which Anna Mitchell-Hedges, the adopted daughter of British adventurer Frederick Arthur Mitchell-Hedges, claimed to have found while exploring a ruined temple in Belize with her father in 1924. If that were the skull’s true origin, it would be much too finely crafted for the era — the sort of thing the Aztec and Maya civilizations might’ve had otherworldly assistance for.

When Smithsonian anthropologist Jane MacLaren Walsh examined it in 2007, however, she concluded the technology used in its creation was “decidedly 20th century” (that is, high-speed, diamond-coated rotary tools).

In her book The Man Who Invented Aztec Crystal Skulls, Walsh traces many of the fakes to a single Frenchman named Eugène Boban, who, as a recognized expert on Mexican archaeology, was able to pass them off as genuine artifacts. Still, it’s unclear where they ultimately came from, so, you know, aliens — with equipment strikingly like that of today’s human jewelers.

Read More: 

• The Real Story Behind Aztec Crystal Skulls That Intrigues Many People

The bodies of two supposed aliens were presented to the Mexican Congress in September 2023. With their spindly bodies and bulbous domes, the specimens are the spitting image of the quintessential alien.

(Credit: Octavio Hoyos/Shutterstock)

Lest you think the fountain of phony artifacts has gone dry, here’s a contemporary example, and one of the boldest yet.

For a brief moment in September 2023, Mexico’s Congress became the showroom for a spectacle the likes of which doesn’t often appear in government proceedings: mummified alien remains, and earnest testimony from the controversial, self-proclaimed ufologist who brought them.

Jaime Maussan, a Mexican journalist, presented two tiny, shriveled bodies, which he said had been found in a remote part of Peru in 2017 and dated to about 1,000 years ago. With oblong heads, three-fingered hands, and an eerily humanoid form, they resembled the classic grey aliens, or “greys,” common in extraterrestrial encounter claims (a bit on the nose, as such hoaxes go).

It may come as a surprise to see supposedly alien specimens taken seriously in the halls of legislature, but it’s a testament to our enduring extraterrestrial obsession.

As with each of the previous hoaxes, the mainstream scientific community scoffed at the proceedings. After all, when Maussan made similar claims in the past, the bodies turned out to be “recently manufactured dolls, which have been covered with a mixture of paper and synthetic glue to stimulate the presence of skin.” If we want an authentic alien artifact, we’ll have to keep waiting.

Read More: 

• Fact or Fiction: What Is The Truth Behind Alien Conspiracy Theories?

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29-07-2024 om 22:09 geschreven door peter  

What the UAP Disclosure Act of 2024 Means For UFO Sightings

In July 2023, military veterans testified about UFO sightings before Congress, sparking debates and investigations into Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena.

(Credit: PeopleImages.com - Yuri A/Shutterstock)

In July 2023, three military veterans testified before the U.S. Congress about their experiences with UFOs. A navy fighter pilot described seeing a dark, cube-like spacecraft near the coast of Virginia in 2014. The pilot was flying an F-18 in hurricane-force winds and was stunned to see the dark object hovering, unbothered by the gusts.

Another navy pilot reported how he saw an aircraft near San Diego that resembled a Tic Tac. The apparent UFO was smooth, without wings or rotors. And when the navy pilot tried to get close, the other aircraft zipped from sight.

The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability also heard from a former member of the Pentagon’s task force on UFOs. He testified the government had extraterrestrial spacecraft in its possession, and he knew exactly where they were hidden. 

So, what has happened since that bombshell testimony? 

The Department of Defense and other government agencies prefer the term Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), and the 2023 testimony was part of an increasing interest from Congress to have intelligence agencies share what they know about UAPs.

In 2022, the Department of Defense established the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO)to serve as the go-to agency regarding extraterrestrials.

Since then, the office has received hundreds of reports of UFO sightings from the public. But this year, AARO has made it clear they haven’t been impressed.

In late February, AARO released a report stating they saw no evidence of UAPs. The report is meant to be the first of two public investigations.

The report’s investigators say they reviewed all evidence collected since 1945, interviewed witnesses, and analyzed archives.

The following week, Major General Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, released a statement saying there had been “no verifiable evidence” that the UFO sightings were legit. The statement also denied there was any evidence that the government or private groups had access to “extraterrestrial technology” (AKA flying saucers), which they were able to study or even reverse-engineer.

Government intelligence agencies might not give credence to UFO sightings, but some members of Congress still want transparency with the American public. In May, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence passed the Intelligence Authorization Act, which included a section on UAPs.

Then in July, Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota proposed to Congress the UAP Disclosure Act of 2024. If passed, the Act would establish oversight, a review board, and a public disclosure plan for the next seven years.

Read More: 

• What Does UAP Mean, and Is This the New Term For UFO Now?

Like most bills introduced into Congress, The UAP Disclosure Act will be subject to debate, both among politicians and citizens with strong opinions. While some people don’t believe in extraterrestrial life, others not only believe in UFOs but they also say they have had some sort of encounter. 

People who say they have seen a UFO have become of interest to scientists who want to know about these encounters as well as the personality traits believers might share. 

In a March 2024 article in the Journal of Scientific Exploration, an international research team from the U.S. and U.K. sought to identify shared personality traits among people who say they have seen UFOs. 

Of the 206 participants, half said they had seen a UFO. The participants took several questionnaires measuring their personality traits as well as their belief in ETs. Those who said they had seen UFOs also described their encounters. Most said they saw strange, undefined lights or orb-like spacecraft. 

The study’s authors noted that while most people assume UFO witnesses are neurotic or odd, their study found that most witnesses fell into a personality category in which they scored high on openness, agreeableness, and extraversion. This group also scored lower on neuroticism and schizotypy traits. 

The study's lead author, Daniel R. Stubbings, said the participants in his study had encounters similar to those of the Congressional hearing witnesses. Yet, he says many people aren’t taken seriously when they tell others about their experiences.

“The wider reason for the research is that the topic of UAP is being considered seriously at the highest levels of the USA government; that is an intriguing turn of events,” says Stubbings, a principal lecturer in clinical psychology at Cardiff Metropolitan University in Wales. 

Stubbings says the current public interest in UFOs is a prime research opportunity. If the sightings are eventually disproven, there is an opportunity to study the event from a mass hysteria or misinformation perspective. And if the sightings are proven correct, then scientists also have out-of-this-world research possibilities. 

“It is one of the few topics in science that is a win-win, but we need to collect the data and inspire other scientists to apply their skills, rather than add to the conjecture, speculation or belief,” Stubbings says.

Read More:

•  Fact or Fiction: What Is The Truth Behind Alien Conspiracy Theories?

Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:

• Committee on Oversight and Accountability. Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency

• All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO). About AARO

• The Department of Defense All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office. Report on the Historical Record of U.S. Government Involvement with Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP)

• U.S. Department of Defense. Statement by Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder on the Historical Record Report on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, Volume 1

• U.S. Select Committee on Intelligence. Legislation: Intelligence authorization act fiscal year 2025 reported june 3 2024

• Congress.gov. Amendment: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025

• Journal of Scientific Exploration. Who Sees UFOs? The Relationship Between Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Sightings and Personality Factors

• Emilie Lucchesi has written for some of the country's largest newspapers, including The New York Times, Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and an MA from DePaul University. She also holds a Ph.D. in communication from the University of Illinois-Chicago with an emphasis on media framing, message construction and stigma communication. Emilie has authored three nonfiction books. Her third, "A Light in the Dark: Surviving More Than Ted Bundy," releases October 3, 2023 from Chicago Review Press and is co-authored with survivor Kathy Kleiner Rubin.

{ https://www.discovermagazine.com/ }

29-07-2024 om 21:17 geschreven door peter