Dit is ons nieuw hondje Kira, een kruising van een waterhond en een Podenko. Ze is sinds 7 februari 2024 bij ons en druk bezig ons hart te veroveren. Het is een lief, aanhankelijk hondje, dat zich op een week snel aan ons heeft aangepast. Ze is heel vinnig en nieuwsgierig, een heel ander hondje dan Noleke.
This is our new dog Kira, a cross between a water dog and a Podenko. She has been with us since February 7, 2024 and is busy winning our hearts. She is a sweet, affectionate dog who quickly adapted to us within a week. She is very quick and curious, a very different dog than Noleke.
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THANK YOU FOR VISITING MY BLOG AND HOPE YOU ENJOY EACH TIME.
The purpose of this blog is the creation of an open, international, independent and free forum, where every UFO-researcher can publish the results of his/her research. The languagues, used for this blog, are Dutch, English and French.You can find the articles of a collegue by selecting his category. Each author stays resposable for the continue of his articles. As blogmaster I have the right to refuse an addition or an article, when it attacks other collegues or UFO-groupes.
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Deze blog is opgedragen aan mijn overleden echtgenote Lucienne.
In 2012 verloor ze haar moedige strijd tegen kanker!
In 2011 startte ik deze blog, omdat ik niet mocht stoppen met mijn UFO-onderzoek.
BEDANKT!!!
Een interessant adres?
UFO'S of UAP'S, ASTRONOMIE, RUIMTEVAART, ARCHEOLOGIE, OUDHEIDKUNDE, SF-SNUFJES EN ANDERE ESOTERISCHE WETENSCHAPPEN - DE ALLERLAATSTE NIEUWTJES
UFO's of UAP'S in België en de rest van de wereld In België had je vooral BUFON of het Belgisch UFO-Netwerk, dat zich met UFO's bezighoudt. BEZOEK DUS ZEKER VOOR ALLE OBJECTIEVE INFORMATIE , enkel nog beschikbaar via Facebook en deze blog.
Verder heb je ook het Belgisch-Ufo-meldpunt en Caelestia, die prachtig, doch ZEER kritisch werk leveren, ja soms zelfs héél sceptisch...
Voor Nederland kan je de mooie site www.ufowijzer.nl bezoeken van Paul Harmans. Een mooie site met veel informatie en artikels.
MUFON of het Mutual UFO Network Inc is een Amerikaanse UFO-vereniging met afdelingen in alle USA-staten en diverse landen.
MUFON's mission is the analytical and scientific investigation of the UFO- Phenomenon for the benefit of humanity...
Je kan ook hun site bekijken onder www.mufon.com.
Ze geven een maandelijks tijdschrift uit, namelijk The MUFON UFO-Journal.
Since 02/01/2020 is Pieter ex-president (=voorzitter) of BUFON, but also ex-National Director MUFON / Flanders and the Netherlands. We work together with the French MUFON Reseau MUFON/EUROP.
ER IS EEN NIEUWE GROEPERING DIE ZICH BUFON NOEMT, MAAR DIE HEBBEN NIETS MET ONZE GROEP TE MAKEN. DEZE COLLEGA'S GEBRUIKEN DE NAAM BUFON VOOR HUN SITE... Ik wens hen veel succes met de verdere uitbouw van hun groep. Zij kunnen de naam BUFON wel geregistreerd hebben, maar het rijke verleden van BUFON kunnen ze niet wegnemen...
18-09-2024
The Giants and their Connections to Aliens, Lost Civilizations, and the Gods of Antiquity!
The Giants and their Connections to Aliens, Lost Civilizations, and the Gods of Antiquity!
Did giants once exist and walk the Earth, perhaps even alongside human beings? That question, at least to some, is so preposterous that it is often dismissed without contemplation. The fact is, though, that there are more reasons to suspect that giants once existed than many people might think. Not only are there numerous writings of giants in ancient texts, but multiple discoveries of giant skeletal remains have been made dating from our contemporary era right the way back to the mid-nineteenth century and before even that.
Indeed, before we delve into just some of the alleged discoveries of giant remains, it is worth our time to briefly examine several intriguing footprints discovered around the world that would also suggest the existence of giants in ancient times. In South Africa, for example, there is a footprint that measures no less than four feet long. Discovered in the small town of Mpaluzi, the footprint is referred to as “Goliath’s footprint” and is estimated to be approximately three billion years old. What’s more, rather than being some kind of carved depiction of a human footprint, the dimensions are precise and accurate to that of a human foot, including how weight distribution would make it appear in the impression. Similar discoveries were reported in two separate articles in San Jose newspapers – the first, a five-foot indention discovered in 1925, and the second discovered the following year in 1926 measuring eight feet.
We might ask ourselves, then, if giants did exist in ancient times – who would appear to be, essentially human, and who perhaps lived billions of years ago – could “normal” sized humans have existed during this time also? With this question in mind, it is worth looking at the discovery of a standard-sized pair of footprints from 1976 in Tanzania by Mary Leaky. The footprints were fossilized into rock – rock that was estimated to be over 3 billion years old. Indeed, if Leaky’s research is accurate – and there is no reason to suspect it isn’t – the implications for human history are mind-shattering.
While there are many discoveries and legends of giants from around the world, there are some basic details of these apparent oversized humans that are the same. They are often described, for example, as being in excess of 10 feet tall and often sporting long red hair. Even more remarkable, not to mention unsettling, many are said to have had two rows of teeth on the top and bottom of their jaw.
As we shall see as we move on, there are many apparent connections between alleged giant discoveries and the world of ancient Egypt. So, it is also interesting to note further connections between red-haired people and the ancient Egyptians, themselves described as being large in stature. Might we find that these large red-haired people heavily hinted at in ancient Egypt are, in fact, the same as those spoken of in legends of giants around the world? And if so, is this further proof of the one-time existence of giants? We will return to this notion shortly.
Before we delve into some of those historic discoveries, it is perhaps best to examine one of the most recent. Known as the Dragon Man Skull, this completely intact cranium was originally discovered in the 1930s in Harbin, China, following the Japanese invasion of the country. It was seemingly hidden down a well by the person who discovered it, where it remained for several decades. Then, at some point in 2018, the cranial remains were discovered after the person who hid them confided in his family of their whereabouts before his death. Studies of this huge skull have made scientists offer that this could be evidence of a new human species that has been dubbed Homo longi. What’s more, it is thought that this skull dates back almost 150,000 years and that it contains a mixture of both ancient and modern anatomical features, making it truly unique. A paleoanthropologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xijun Ni, offered that it is “not just one feature that distinguishes this from all the others, it’s a kind of combination!”
It is also interesting to note that the dimensions of the skull are decidedly longer than a human skull. Very similar cranial dimensions are often seen in ancient Egyptian artwork, perhaps specifically depictions of Akhenaten, whose head was shown to stretch back in a similar way. When we consider some of the suggestions that this controversial Egyptian Pharaoh could have been extraterrestrial – at least in part – then the Dragon Man Skull is all the more intriguing.
It is further interesting that some researchers have suggested that the Dragon Man Skull may be connected to the Denisovans (another mysterious species of human closely linked to Neanderthals). Indeed, the Denisovans are an intriguing species and one that continues to be studied still today. As we might imagine, there are many conflicting theories regarding the Denisovans, with some insisting that there is a connection between this intriguing human species and the ancient Egyptian civilization, or at the very least the knowledge the ancient Egyptians utilized. As we shall see as we progress through our exploration of apparent giant remains, the ancient Egyptian civilization comes up a lot.
Without a doubt, some of the most interesting accounts of giants and discoveries thereof come from North America, specifically the United States. In the late-nineteenth century, for example, according to an article in the April 9th, 1885, edition of the New York Times newspaper, a “buried city” that contained the remains of several giant skeletons were discovered in Moberly, Missouri. The article detailed that a group of coal miners were “sinking a shaft” when the ground gave way, and they found themselves looking at a previously undiscovered cavern. Furthermore, according to details given to the newspaper by the miners, this cavern was “looming over the street of an ancient city” that was “regularly laid out and enclosed by walls of stone” and contained a “good although rude style of masonry”.
Following the discovery, several of the miners, along with two representatives of the city, ventured into the underground cavern. Among other things, they discovered a gigantic hall that measured around 30 feet by 100 feet. Moreover, this huge room contained equally huge tools and stone benches, as well as a stone fountain that still “produced perfectly pure water”. Even more intriguing was the discovery of “statues and images made of a composition closely resembling bronze”.
The most remarkable discovery, however, was that of partial skeletal remains of what appeared to be a giant. Part of these remains was a human leg that measured around four and a half feet. Based on this, those investigating the remains estimated the leg belonged to a person who must have been between 10 to 12 feet in height. Even stranger, and perhaps a little morose, was the discovery of an equally giant skull that appeared to have been “shattered”, as well as several oversized knives and saws around it, perhaps suggesting the hall was used for some kind of rituals.
In total, investigators spent around 12 hours in the subterranean domain, only leaving when their lamps ran out of oil. According to newspaper reports at the time, a second, more extensive search was planned but it never took place, at least officially. Whether a second search took place in secret or whether the discovery was suppressed and then forgotten about remains open to debate. There are plenty of theories that have been put forward since, though. Some people offer that while the discovery of the underground cavern might have been true, the details of an underground city and giant remains could have been exaggerated, or even outright manufactured for no other reason than to “sell newspapers”. Of course, those who are insistent that such discoveries have been suppressed would offer that these explanations of exaggeration are themselves part of the suppression.
Several years later, at Lake Delevan in Wisconsin, two brothers discovered the remains of no less than eighteen giant skeletons. What is interesting, it is said that the remains, while human, had monkey-like features, similar, perhaps, to the appearance of the Dragon Man Skull that was discovered over a hundred years later that we examined earlier. The brothers made the discovery while investigating burial mounds in the area. It was their conclusion that they had discovered the remains of a previously unknown race of ancient people who likely resided in the Lake Delevan area thousands of years ago.
What makes the discovery of the two brothers even more interesting are subsequent discoveries only several years later in the Wisconsin area. In Aztalan in 1891, for example, similar gigantic remains were unearthed, while in Maple Creek in 1897, a nine-foot skeleton was discovered. Interestingly or not, all of these remains – which were put into the care of the Smithsonian Institute (who will come up repeatedly as we go) – are currently missing, with some researchers putting forward that they have been taken and hidden by an unknown authority.
Of all the remains of giants throughout the North American continent, those discovered in the Grand Canyon are without a doubt one of the most thought-provoking. In 1909 celebrated explorer, G.E. Kincaid embarked on what would become one of his most enthralling expeditions on record to the Grand Canyon region. He was, officially at least, sent there by the Smithsonian Institution to conduct geological surveys as well as document and record the natural features of the canyon. He would, though, find much more than anyone bargained for.
Details of his adventures were documented in various articles in the Arizona Gazette newspaper, one of which told of his alleged discovery of a cave entrance at the edge of the Colorado River. Intrigued, he and his team ventured inside. As he made his way deep into the cave – estimating that it stretched at least a mile – he noticed that the entrance and tunnel that led from it appeared to be manmade. He recalled seeing, for example, evidence of chisel marks on the roof and walls of the tunnel. After he had walked around 100 feet, he witnessed something much grander.
He marveled as he found himself in a “grand hall” with a roof that he estimated was around 700 feet high. Inside this grand hall was a multitude of relics, statues, and other apparent treasures. Perhaps most notable of these discoveries was a huge statue of a figure who was in a cross-legged sitting position and holding a lotus flower in each hand. To Kincaid, this was clearly some kind of deity that was likely worshipped by whichever civilization had once called the region home. And he suspected that civilization went back thousands of years.
As he studied the grand hall further, he discovered numerous pieces of pottery, vases, and goblets. Despite this wealth of discoveries, Kincaid later offered that he felt, at one time, there was much more inside the cave, although he didn’t offer what he thought might have happened to these items or where they had gone. One other thing he did note was the distinct lack of any kind of clothing or material in the hall, something that he found quite odd given the many other items.
By the time he and his team had extensively explored the underground labyrinth, he had concluded that the subterranean domain could have easily housed upwards of 50,000 people. There was, though, one chamber that was distinctly different from the others, not least as this was the only chamber not to have any type of ventilation. The team approached this room cautiously, noticing that it had a “noxious, serpent-like odor” coming from inside. When they realized their lanterns were not powerful enough to penetrate the darkness and reveal to them what was inside the chamber, they decided to back away from the ominous room. It remains unknown if there was anything insidious inside the dark room, with the team agreeing to leave it unexplored. There were, though, more fascinating discoveries to come.
As the team made their way through chamber after chamber they came across all manner of relics and riches – such things as statues, urns, and intricate plates. Moreover, many of these items bore hieroglyphic-type symbols on them, very similar to those found in ancient Egypt. In fact, as well as finding these symbols on relics and statues, they were also discovered etched into the tunnel walls and above carved-out doorways. Although these symbols appeared very similar to those of ancient Egyptian culture, they have not been translated and appear to be a different (if similar) dialect. It is also worth noting that very similar symbols have been discovered in Southern Arizona, not far from the cave discovered by Kinkaid, further suggesting that an ancient civilization once resided in the western part of the modern United States.
Kinkaid’s team also discovered a separate chamber, seemingly isolated from the rest at the end of a complex tunnel system. This chamber exhibited clear signs of advanced planning, engineering, and execution, and was filled with intricately carved statues, various tools, as well as weapons such as spears and swords. And these weapons were particularly large. What Kinkaid discovered next offered an explanation for this.
In one particular chamber, Kinkaid discovered several mummies – each of which was remarkably well preserved. Once more, these mummies were almost identical to ancient Egyptian mummies, although instead of being wrapped in white linen, these remains were enveloped in some kind of black material. Most significant of all, though, was the fact that these remains were approximately nine feet tall – they were, essentially, giants.
Although unsubstantiated, rumors also swirled in the years following Kinkaid’s discoveries that an Egyptian-style boat was found in one of the chambers. If this was true, then, once again, it might suggest the possibility of some kind of connection between this unknown civilization of giants and ancient Egypt.
Is it possible that this ancient civilization somehow interacted with the Pharaohs of ancient Egypt? Or might this civilization be evidence that the ancient Egyptians – at least some of them – traveled to the United States thousands of years ago and established a colony of sorts there? While this is speculation, it is certainly an intriguing thought.
There have also been suggestions that Kinkaid perhaps discovered the remains of ancient Atlanteans. It is worth noting here that some researchers into the mysteries of Atlantis suspect they birthed the ancient Egyptian civilization following the event that, ultimately, brought their civilization to an abrupt end. If there is any truth in these assertions, might that explain why Kinkaid’s discoveries were discredited and suppressed? It also perhaps should not surprise us too much that many in the mainstream dismiss these discoveries – if indeed they were made, they say – as nothing but coincidence or, even more dismissive, as something misinterpreted. What makes these discoveries even more intriguing is the fact that, according to Kinkaid, the entrance to the cave was eventually sealed shut by a mysterious group of individuals who, while not identifying themselves, claimed to be working for the United States government. No explanation has been offered as to why the entrance was so discreetly sealed shut, and as such, the exact location of the cave in question remains a mystery.
It is also important to remember that Kinkaid was a respected scholar in his field, working closely with the Smithsonian Institute rather than some kind of “rogue archaeologist. In short, he was a credible individual who had no reason to fabricate or even make up his discoveries. With this in mind, we might ask why Kinkaid would have reported such discoveries and risk ruining his reputation unless they were undoubtedly true. It is also a little bit of a stretch that someone with his experience and skill would have misidentified his discoveries. Indeed, if there is any truth to Kinkaid’s claims – if only in part – then it would be history changing for all of humanity.
As we might imagine, in the decades that have followed Kinkaid’s alleged discoveries, there have been numerous theories and suggestions offered to explain the underground city, as well as the apparent giants that existed there. Could it be possible, for example, that the North American continent may have been the “land of the Gods” spoken of in many ancient writings? Could they not only have been the gods of ancient Egypt but the “Gods” of a one-time global civilization, perhaps those of Atlantis or Mu? If they were connected to ancient Egypt or any other ancient civilization, perhaps they ran their global empire from the North American continent, only traveling to such locations as Egypt, Mesopotamia, and even ancient Greece periodically?
It is important to note that this is just speculation, although there are many clues to suggest this certainly could have been the case. If we consider ancient Egyptian legends and culture, for example, there was a time called Zep Tepi when the “Gods” walked the earth alongside humans. Could the discovery by Kinkaid in the Grand Canyon be proof that this time was more than just myth or legend? We might remind ourselves also of the legends of the Anunnaki – who many people suggest are the ancient Gods of multiple civilizations of the ancient world. They were often described as “towering over human beings” and being large in stature.
Ultimately, only further study of the alleged subterranean city will provide answers to these questions, as well as authenticating Kinkaid’s discoveries. We might ask if there was nothing at all to them why the cave wouldn’t be open to the public today so they can see for themselves there was nothing of intrigue there.
If we stick with the world of the ancient Egyptians for a moment, a discovery in the late 1980s is worth examining briefly here. According to the account, Gregor Sporri claimed to have come into possession of a giant mummified finger, said by some to be a finger of a one-time ancient Egyptian pharaoh in 1988. He claimed he discovered the finger while on a trip to Egypt courtesy of a salesman who claimed that his family had come into possession of the finger at some time in the 1960s, adding that his family had a “long history” of grave robbing. Measuring around 15 feet long, images of this oversized digit began to appear online around 2012, and have been a cause of controversy as to its authenticity. The fact that the whereabouts of this mysterious digit are currently unknown only adds to this controversy. It is perhaps also worth keeping in mind some of the artwork on the temple walls of ancient Egypt – artwork that depicts what are essentially “giants” walking among the ancient Egyptian population. Once more, we might ask if these giants were actually the gods of ancient times.
If we return to the United States, two years after Kinkaid’s alleged discovery in the cave off the Colorado River, in 1911, another discovery of gigantic remains was made in Lovelock Cave in Lovelock, Nevada. This cave system – sometimes called Horseshoe Cave or Sunset Guano Cave – is widely agreed to be the oldest cave system in North America, dating back thousands of years, certainly long before officially recognized human existence on the continent.
The discovery was made by two miners – David Hart and James Pugh – who were searching for guano to be used in gunpowder. Not only did they discover giant handprints on the cave wall, but they also unearthed several giant sandal-like shoes. Without a doubt, though, the most remarkable discovery was the several 10-foot-tall mummies (similar, we might recall, to the mummies discovered by Kinkaid). Realizing they had found something truly momentous, but also realizing they were in a little over their heads, they sought the assistance of Alfred Kroeber of the University of California. Between 1912 and 1929, several significant digs took place at the cave – and several more fascinating discoveries were unearthed.
One of the most mind-blowing of these discoveries was that of a “donut-shaped stone” that had 365 equally spaced and clearly purposeful notches carved into the outside of it, as well as 52 other evenly spaced notches on the inside. Clearly this would indicate the stone was some kind of calendar device, which would, once more, suggest the existence of an ancient, advanced civilization. Even more remarkable, when carbon dating tests were carried out, it was determined that whoever had resided in Lovelock cave had done so from around 1500 BC, and quite possibly still inhabited it as late as the 1500s. It is further interesting to note the legends of the Native American tribe The Paiutes, who have called the region home for thousands of years. One specific legend (although the tribe themselves insist it is a historical fact) is that the cave systems in the region were once home to the Si-Te-Cha – “red-haired, white-skinned giants”. Incidentally, this description of giants – pale skin and red hair – as we noted earlier, can be found all over the planet.
Two years after the final dig at Lovelock cave, yet another discovery of giant remains took place in Death Valley in California, although the public was not made aware of the remarkable discoveries until almost a decade later when Howard Hill relayed details of the events during a talk he gave at the Transportation Club in Los Angeles.
Hill offered that the discovery was made in 1931 by Bruce Russell, a retired physician from Ohio. Russell, along with a friend, Dr. Daniel Bovee, were exploring the Death Valley region when they happened upon the cave by chance. They found themselves in an intricate tunnel system – one clearly not naturally formed. However, it was the discovery of several nine-foot skeletons that was of most interest to the men. These skeletons were not only remarkably well preserved but also were clothed in “trousers extending just below the knee” as well as clothing that resembled some kind of jacket that was made of material similar to wool or sheepskin. There were, though, further thought-provoking discoveries the pair would make.
They would find, for example, a huge ritual hall that appeared to have Masonic symbols on the walls. They also discovered skeletal remains of several animals – including several with saber-like teeth - suggesting that the hall had been used for some kind of ritual and that it dated back a significant amount of time. Although he didn’t detail the workings out of his reckoning, Russell offered that it was his belief that the cave system and the remains discovered in it likely dated back around 80,000 years.
Just to demonstrate how intricate this cave system actually was, Russel and Bovee documented over 30 separate tunnels across 180 square miles. After speaking of the alleged discovery, it was Hill’s hope that other explorers and archaeologists would carry on Russell and Bovee’s work and attempt to relocate the ancient underground network. However, to the best of anyone’s knowledge, it appears no such expeditions have taken place, at least officially.
It certainly isn’t just America where giant remains have been unearthed. A particularly intriguing discovery occurred in Ecuador in 1964. Several villagers discovered giant skeletal remains and immediately notified their local priest, Father Carlos Vaca. He returned to the location with the villagers to see the remains for himself, taking as many of the bones as he could back to his house where he placed them in storage. They remained there for several years until his death, as well as for several years after. Then, an Austrian researcher, Klaus Dona, entered the picture.
He had been told of the discovery in Ecuador and sought permission from the family to take the remains so that he could display them. The family agreed to this, and Dona took possession of the bones. He would have the bones tested and analyzed. According to the results of these tests, the bones were indeed human – and what’s more, based on their dimensions, the person they belonged to would have been a remarkable 25 feet tall. Even more amazing, tests suggested that the bones were at least 10,000 years old. When Dona learned of local legends of the region that offered the place where the bones had been discovered had long been known as the “cemetery of the giants” he was all but convinced that they were genuine remains of giant human beings.
Much more recently, in 2015, in the Caucasus Mountains in Georgia, a local man claimed to have accidentally discovered giant skeletal remains inside some kind of ancient crypt. Furthermore, he had discovered the remains in a distinct and purposeful sitting position at a large table. He immediately contacted local researchers before leading them to the location. However, by the time they arrived, the crypt appeared to have suddenly collapsed in on itself. The bones, however, were exactly where the local man had said they would be, and they were able to retrieve them. There was, though, a further twist in the tale. When the bones were passed to Professor Vekua for analysis, he died while in possession of them. Their current whereabouts are unknown. Make of all that what you will.
Around the same time, a similar discovery of giant remains occurred in Bulgaria near the town of Varna. What is most interesting about this discovery, however, especially given how we have contemplated if these giant remains from around the world have some kind of connection to the Gods of antiquity, is that this location was once the ancient Greek city of Odessos – and the ancient Greek civilization is another one that is rife with tales and accounts of giants.
One place where there have been multiple discoveries of giant remains, as well as a place that contains many legends of giants, is Kyrgyzstan. What makes these legends even more interesting is that many of them speak of these strange creatures still having a presence in the region today. One person who has conducted extensive region into these legends is researcher and author, Paul Stonehill. In an article in Fate Magazine titled Mysterious Giants Inhabit Eurasion Lakes deep in the northern Tian Shan Mountains in modern-day Kyrgyzstan, he detailed the discovery of three 10-foot-tall skeletons in the 1930s.
Stonehill offered that the discovery was made in a cave near the Issyk Kul Lake by several local men. One of the first things the men noticed was each of the skeletons had some kind of silver decorations around their neck that looked similar to a bat. As fascinated as they were with the skeletal remains, the men ensured they removed the silver decorations, eventually melting them down. They did, however, retain a small piece which they passed to Soviet authorities for examination. Ultimately, they were unable to determine how old the items were.
When Stonehill researched the region, he discovered that local legends suggested that a “submerged city” existed near the caves where the discovery had been made. Furthermore, the area had a long history of paranormal activity, some of which occurred in the early twentieth century and is well documented. According to the account, at some point in the early 1900s in what is modern-day Georgia, a group of young boys discovered a strange cave while swimming in the region. Curiosity got the better of them and they ventured inside the cave to take a closer look. Once inside, they discovered several huge skeletons measuring at least 10 feet in height. Of course, this raises the question of whether these skeletal remains were the same species as those discovered in the 1930s.
Another thought-provoking encounter was detailed in Issue Four, the 1992 edition of the Russian paranormal magazine ANOMALIYA. The article in question was written by Mark Shteynberg, who, according to the previously mentioned Paul Stonehill, was a “Soviet veteran of the Afghan War” and an “expert on Russia’s military who now resides in the United States”. It details an encounter that took place in the summer of 1982 during the conflict with Afghanistan. Shteynberg stated that he and Lieutenant Colonel Gennady Zverev were running training exercises near Lake Baikal when a superior officer – Major-General V. Demyanko – arrived at the lake unexpectedly.
He briefed the officers that divers had encountered strange humanoid beings deep under the waters of Lake Baikal – and what’s more, these humanoids were an astonishing 10 feet tall. Even stranger, although the waters were icy cold, these humanoids wore only thin, skintight suits, and some kind of spherical helmet. The divers were ordered to attempt to apprehend one of these humanoids – a decision that would prove fatal for some of them. As the divers approached, the humanoids used some kind of sonar weapon that forced the divers to the surface of the water. While some of the divers were extremely sick following this, three of them died. According to the research of Mikhail Demidenko, several fishermen – who he spoke to several years later – claimed to have seen the military divers “propelled out from the lake” up to 50 feet into the air.
This account is a particularly interesting one in that many researchers have put forward that these humanoids might not have merely been giants – but perhaps extraterrestrial giants. Indeed, the descriptions of them (light skin and large eyes) are seemingly more akin to extraterrestrials than giant humans. With this in mind, it is perhaps also interesting to note that, according to Stonehill, Soviet authorities had identified several other lakes and bodies of water where reports of these aquatic humanoids had been made, with several of those locations also having reports of “huge discs and sphere-shaped objects” hovering over or near the water.
It is further worth our time to examine an encounter that occurred around the same time as the Lake Baikal incident. The account comes to us from the files of Mikhail Gerhteyn and details a UFO sighting on May 26th, 1982, in the Voronezh region. Although it isn’t clear if it was sent to pursue the UFO, on the same day, a MIG fighter jet disappeared in the same area. The following day, a search for the plane and the pilot was put into action. Ultimately, the search team would find no sign of the pilot or any wreckage of the plane. They did, though, witness something truly bizarre.
The unit eventually came to a clearing after walking through the thick woodland of the region. There in front of them, was a 10-foot-tall humanoid creature dressed in a tight-fitting silver suit. A moment or two after they had spotted the creature it appeared to notice their presence, and quickly disappeared into the trees on the other side of the clearing. Only moments later, the search team heard an explosive sound followed by a bright flash of light coming from the woods in the direction the creature had disappeared. Then, a “luminescent object” rose into the air over the trees before vanishing into the distance with great speed.
As we can see, then, claims of giants once walking the earth are not as far-fetched as some people might have you believe. And what’s more, there is ample reason to believe that at least some of these oversized humanoid creatures still roam the planet today. It is further important to remember that we have only detailed a small number of reports of oversized remains and encounters with giants. There are many, many more from around the world – so many, in fact, that it would be bordering on irresponsible to dismiss all of these as nothing but fantasy.
With all of this in mind, we might ask, if we assume for a moment that giants do (or at least did) exist, are they indigenous to Earth or do they have a more otherworldly origin? Do the gigantic remains that have been discovered have a connection to the Anunnaki, for example – ancient extraterrestrial visitors who possibly interbred with ancient humans and ruled over them as the Gods of antiquity? There are many accounts of interactions with apparent alien entities from our contemporary era that tell of these creatures being more than 10 feet tall. Once more, does this suggest some kind of link between these earthly giants and extraterrestrial visitors from elsewhere?
It is perhaps also interesting that many of these remains have been discovered in ancient caves with intricate tunnel networks. If we briefly turn our attention to legends from antiquity – particularly many of the Native American legends where many of these remains have been discovered – many of them speak of a race of giant “star people” who used these underground territories to escape various cataclysmic disasters. Furthermore, they also used these subterranean domains to house human beings from these sudden disasters. If this is true, it not only suggests that giants did exist in the distant past, but that they lived alongside human beings. This, of course, would suggest that human civilization dates back much further than mainstream history currently states it does, perhaps by hundreds of thousands of years – perhaps even as far back as billions of years ago.
Perhaps above all else, what should we make of the apparent significant efforts to cover up and suppress these findings? What might the reason be for such suppression? Clearly, it would force a significant rewrite of human history, but could it be more than that? Could it be that further study of these giant remains would reveal not only the reality of giants but also extraterrestrial intervention in human affairs thousands of years ago? Indeed, if we accept for a moment, as some researchers assert, that this extraterrestrial presence still rules over humanity from the shadows, might it be they themselves who are behind this suppression? And where might these remains be today? Have they been destroyed and so lost forever? Or might they be secure, deep inside a vast vault at an undisclosed location?
Ultimately, despite the many discoveries and apparent abundance of evidence to suggest that giants did once exist on the planet, we are left with many more questions than answers. Only further study will move us closer to the truth of these remains, as well as our own collective history. Indeed, if we can get to the heart of the truth regarding giants and whether they did once have a presence here on Earth – a presence they perhaps maintain even today – then it would be reality-shattering for each and every one of us.
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Flying saucers, little green men…? Americans are divided over alien life
Flying saucers, little green men…? Americans are divided over alien life
A recent UFO ‘sighting’ in Montana sparks rendered debate over the existence of extraterrestrial lifeforms ahead of a new Congressional hearing.
Berra Ince
Reuters
In 2023, alleged "non-human" bodies were presented at a congressional hearing on extraterrestrial sightings by journalist Jaime Maussan in Mexico.
Photo: Reuters
On the night of August 31, at exactly 10.13, an American couple caught sight of a mysterious, shining object in the night sky above Montana, US.
“Is that a shooting star?” one of them exclaimed.
However, when they moved to get a clearer view, both were astonished by the ‘jaw-dropping’ sight of an enormous craft with blinking lights and an orange-red glow swirling at its base.
This extraordinary Reddit entry post from two weeks ago – describing what is known as ‘close encounters of the third kind’ from the eponymous Hollywood hit – adds to a growing list of UFO sightings reported in the US ahead of a congressional hearing on what is officially called ‘unexplained aerial phenomena’.
Others
The reddit user said the shockingly close encounter with what he believed to be a UFO left his wife "shaking and crying from the experience".
Photo: Screengrab from Reddit entry
According to media reports, the hearing is expected to take place in the coming weeks.
The incident detailed in the post occurred in Choteau, a small and quiet city nestled in the heart of the US state of Montana —just 60 miles from a US Air Force nuclear weapons base.
In May, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who confirmed the upcoming hearing, had expressed concern about unidentified drones near military sites.
“It is deeply concerning that they are spyware by adversaries, and so we want to have more information on that,” Gillibrand said during an interview with the Ask a Pol podcast, where the point of discussion was on the implications of a declassified All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) report.
“We also want to try to continue to build credibility within this office (AARO) so more of the public can feed in sightings and have a place and a platform to send information and inquiries,” the New York Democrat was quoted as saying.
“Because that's eventually what this office is supposed to do.”
The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) was established in 2022 following a 2021 Pentagon report on unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), which documented 144 sightings, but could only explain one, attributing the lack of conclusions for the remaining 143 to insufficient data.
AARO’s aim has not only been to address security concerns arising from the frequent encounters between military facilities or aircraft and unidentified flying objects, but also to explore the possibility of extraterrestrial life.
Under the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, the office was required to issue a report to Congress detailing the government's historical record relating to “unidentified anomalous phenomena” (UAP) since 1945.
It delivered the first of two volumes of that to Congress in March, which found “no evidence” linking sightings to aliens or extraterrestrial intelligence, instead attributing most incidents to “ordinary objects and phenomena” or cases of misidentification.
“AARO recognizes that many people sincerely hold versions of these beliefs which are based on their perception of past experiences, the experiences of others whom they trust, or media and online outlets they believe to be sources of credible and verifiable information,” the report said.
However, the AARO report has been a point of contention since its release, with critics arguing that it is riddled with numerous errors and omissions and fails to adequately address the historical and scientific aspects of UAP phenomena.
“While I appreciate AARO's efforts, their recent report lacks depth and transparency,” Dr. Beatriz Villarroel, an astronomer at the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics in Stockholm, tells TRT World.
“For example, their downplaying of the 1952 Washington D.C. UFO event was particularly notable”.
In July 1952, a series of unidentified flying object (UFO) sightings were reported over Washington D.C., in an event often called the “1952 Washington Flap.”
Following the reports, the US government scrambled fighter jets to intercept the objects, but the UFOs reportedly outmanoeuvred and outran the jets.
Others
Reports about UFOs over Washington DC made headlines in 1952.
Photo: Air Staff, National Archives, Records of Headquarters US Air Force
Although the Air Force later attributed the sightings to possible radar glitches from temperature inversions, the incident, which prompted widespread public attention at the time, remains one of the most debated UFO cases in history.
Villarroel also pointed out a broader issue within the scientific community, saying that many journals remain reluctant to publish research on UFOs, with papers often being rejected outright before they even undergo peer review.
This lack of academic engagement, she believes, leads to “a gap in knowledge” where governments are expected to provide answers without proper scientific engagement.
Ever since the 2021 Pentagon report documented numerous sightings of UAP without ruling out extraterrestrial possibilities; more and more people have started to believe in the existence of UFOs, according to statistics.
In 2022, a YouGov poll indicated that the percentage of Americans who believe that UFOs are likely alien ships or life forms has increased from 20 percent in 1996 to 34 percent in 2022, a year after the Pentagon report was published.
A Gallup poll from 2021 also supports these findings, with figures indicating that over 40 percent of Americans believe alien spacecraft have visited Earth, up from 33 percent in 2019.
Several residents of Mexico shared shocking video footage of a UFOseemingly hovering to the ground, drawing a mixed response.
Videos on social media captured what appeared to be an oval-sized object hovering over the western city of Zitácuaro on September 8.
The footage shows the UFO-like figure hovering near a tree while a second recording captured it slowly moving in front of the overcast skies.
The alleged flying saucer sightings were reported in the neighborhoods of El Naranjo and Manzanillos.
Residents in Mexico debated whether they had spotted a UFO in the western city of Zitácuaro last week. Some believe that it was just one of the many sky lanterns that are seen floating across the country
A flying object that reportedly resembled a UFO was spotted flying over El Naranjo and Manzanillos, two neighborhoods located in the western city of Zitácuaro
Following the videos, some users took to X, formerly Twitter, to share their belief that aliens had made their way to Mexico.
'That's that eye diamond UFO shape,' one person commented. '(Must) be some kind of organic ship.'
'Spectacular video, contact between humans and alien races is getting closer and closer,' another X user chimed in. 'Anyone who continues to believe that it is a balloon, a drone, a hologram or something else is either blind or does not want to see reality.'
However, others were quick to dispel the claims, pointing out that it was most likely just one of the many sky lanterns that float across the Mexican skies during the Globos de Cantoya festival.
A large sky lantern floats towards a mountain outside of Paracho, a city in the western Mexican state of Michoacán, during the annual Globos de Cantoya festival
'It may have been a test of a hot air balloon, as these balloons are very common in central Mexico and from a distance they can be confused with other objects,' another user explained.
One X user questioned the quality of the video but conceded that life probably exists outside our solar system.
'So much technology, cell phones with too many mega pixels and images like that,' they said. 'I do believe that there is life on other planets, but some tests like this don't help much.'
Some found humor in the alleged UFO sighting.
'They went searching for atoles,' another X user said, referring to the traditional Mexican beverage that is made with water, masa (corn flour), piloncillo, (unrefined cane sugar), cinnamon and vanilla.
'We will see more and more UFOs. And the government will make contact with them,' another person joked. 'We will obey in fear as always. But we will never see them.'
New Research Reveals How El Niño Caused the Greatest Ever Mass Extinction
New Research Reveals How El Niño Caused the Greatest Ever Mass Extinction
Mega ocean warming El Niño events were key in driving the largest extinction of life on planet Earth some 252 million years ago, according to new research.
The study, published in Science and co-led by the University of Bristol and China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), has shed new light on why the effects of rapid climate change in the Permian-Triassic warming were so devastating for all forms of life in the sea and on land.
Scientists have long linked this mass extinction to vast volcanic eruptions in what is now Siberia. The resulting carbon dioxide emissions rapidly accelerated climate warming, resulting in widespread stagnation and the collapse of marine and terrestrial ecosystems.
But what caused life on land, including plants and usually resilient insects, to suffer just as badly has remained a source of mystery.
Co-lead author Dr Alexander Farnsworth, Senior Research Associate at the University of Bristol, said: “Climate warming alone cannot drive such devastating extinctions because, as we are seeing today, when the tropics become too hot, species migrate to the cooler, higher latitudes. Our research has revealed that increased greenhouse gases don’t just make the majority of the planet warmer, they also increase weather and climate variability making it even more ‘wild’ and difficult for life to survive.”
The Permian-Triassic catastrophe shows the problem of global warming is not just a matter of it becoming unbearably hot, but also a case of conditions swinging wildly over decades.
“Most life failed to adapt to these conditions, but thankfully a few things survived, without which we wouldn’t be here today. It was nearly, but not quite, the end of the life on Earth,” said co-lead author Professor Yadong Sun at China University of Geosciences, Wuhan .
Surface temperature (°C) of the warmest month during peak-warmth for the Permian-Triassic mass extinction 252 million years ago. (University of Bristol and China University of Geosciences (Wuhan))
The scale of Permian-Triassic warming was revealed by studying oxygen isotopes in the fossilized tooth material of tiny extinct swimming organisms called conodonts. By studying the temperature record of conodonts from around the world, the researchers were able to show a remarkable collapse of temperature gradients in the low and mid latitudes.
Dr Farnsworth, who used pioneering climate modelling to evaluate the findings, said:
“Essentially, it got too hot everywhere. The changes responsible for the climate patterns identified were profound because there were much more intense and prolonged El Niño events than witnessed today. Species were simply not equipped to adapt or evolve quickly enough.”
In recent years El Niño events have caused major changes in rainfall patterns and temperature. For example, the weather extremes that caused the June 2024 North American heatwave when temperatures were around 15°C hotter than normal. 2023-2024 was also one of the hottest years on record globally due to a strong El Niño in the Pacific, which was further exacerbated by increased human-induced CO 2 driving catastrophic drought and fires around the world.
“Fortunately such events so far have only lasted one to two years at a time. During the Permian-Triassic crisis, El Niño persisted for much longer resulting in a decade of widespread drought, followed by years of flooding. Basically, the climate was all over the place and that makes it very hard for any species to adapt,” co-author Paul Wignall, Professor of Paleoenvironments at the University of Leeds.
The results of the climate modelling also help explain the abundant charcoal found in rock layers of that age.
“Wildfires become very common if you have a drought-prone climate. Earth got stuck in a crisis state where the land was burning and the oceans stagnating. There was nowhere to hide,” added co-author Professor David Bond, a paleontologist at the University of Hull.
The researchers observed that throughout Earth’s history there have been many volcanic events similar to those in Siberia, and many caused extinctions, but none led to a crisis of the scale of the Permian-Triassic event.
They found Permian-Triassic extinction was so different because these Mega-El Niños created positive feedback on the climate which led to incredibly warm conditions starting in the tropics and then beyond, resulting in the dieback of vegetation. Plants are essential for removing CO 2 from the atmosphere, as well as the foundation of the food web, and if they die so does one of the Earth's mechanisms to stop CO 2 building up in the atmosphere as a result of continued volcanism.
This also helps explain the conundrum regarding the Permian-Triassic mass extinction whereby the extinction on land occurred tens of thousands of years before extinction in the oceans.
“Whilst the oceans were initially shielded from the temperature rises, the mega-El Nino’s caused temperatures on land to exceed most species thermal tolerances at rates so rapid that they could not adapt in time,” explained Dr Sun.
“Only species that could migrate quickly could survive, and there weren’t many plants or animals that could do that.”
Mass extinctions, although rare, are the heartbeat of the Earth’s natural system resetting life and evolution along different paths.
“The Permo-Triassic mass extinction, although devastating, would ultimately see the rise of Dinosaurs becoming the dominant species thereafter as would the Cretaceous mass extinction lead to the rise of mammals, and humans,” Dr Farnsworth concluded.
Top image: A geological field section reveals a desiccated (extreme dryness) land surface that was common all over the world 252 million years ago - a sign of our future to come. Source: University of Bristol and China University of Geosciences (Wuhan)
Mega El Niños may have played a part in the Permian mass extinction
Mega El Niños may have played a part in the Permian mass extinction
Story by Michael Le Page
Illustration of the end-Permian extinction event, when extreme temperatures may have killed off forests
RICHARD JONES/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
The Great Dying at the end of the Permian Period 250 million years ago may have been amplified by El Niño events far stronger and longer lasting than any today.
These mega El Niños caused wild swings in the climate that killed off forests and many land animals, says Alexander Farnsworth at the University of Bristol in the UK.
What would Earth look like in 25 years? I asked the experts
They also triggered feedback processes that helped make this mass extinction as bad as it was, he says. “There are knock-on effects of this sort of El Niño event becoming stronger and lasting longer.”
Around 90 per cent of all species alive at the time may have gone extinct during the end-Permian extinction, making it the worst ever mass extinction. It is widely thought that it was triggered by massive volcanic eruptions in what is now Siberia.
These eruptions released huge quantities of carbon dioxide – possibly by heating rocks full of fossil carbon – that led to extreme global warming. The ocean became stagnant and low in oxygen, killing off marine creatures.
But this doesn’t explain everything. In particular, land species started going extinct tens of thousands of years earlier than those in the sea.
Many ideas have been put forward to explain this, from volcanic winters to the loss of the ozone layer. The idea that extreme El Niños might be involved emerged from studies of past ocean temperatures, based on oxygen isotypes in fossils, led by Yadong Sun at the China University of Geosciences in Wuhan.
Now, Farnsworth and his colleagues have run computer models to explore what might have happened at end of the Permian that could explain Sun’s findings.
Today, El Niño occurs when warm water in the western Pacific spreads eastwards across the surface of the ocean. This creates an area of abnormally warm water that heats the atmosphere and affects weather across the planet.
Before the Permian extinction began, the researchers found, El Niños were probably of a similar intensity and duration as today. That is, the anomalously warm water was about 0.5°C (0.9°F) hotter than average and the events lasted for a few months.
These events, however, were happening in a massive ocean called Panthalassa, which was 30 per cent wider at the equator than the Pacific Ocean is today. This means the area of anomalously warm water during El Niños was much larger than today, and thus had a bigger planetary impact.
As CO2 levels rose at the end of the Permian, these El Niño events got stronger and lasted longer, the team’s models suggest. They caused extreme swings in the weather on land that killed off forests, which stopped soaking up CO2 and started releasing it, leading to more warming and even more extreme El Niños.
In the sea, the temperature variations would have been less severe, and marine animals can more easily migrate to avoid them. This explains why marine extinctions happened later, when global warming got more intense. “The killer extreme global warming that was the cause of marine extinction was worse because of these El Niños taking away the carbon sink,” says Farnsworth.
By the peak of the extinction, the temperature anomaly during El Niños was up to 4°C (7.2°F), with each event lasting more than a decade, he says.
Something strange is happening in the Pacific and we must find out why
Something strange is happening in the Pacific and we must find out why
Unexpectedly, the eastern Pacific Ocean is cooling. If this “cold tongue” continues, it could reduce greenhouse gas warming by 30 per cent – but also bring megadrought to the US
It isn't clear if something similar will happen in the future. Computer models vary in their forecasts of how El Niños will change as the planet warms, says Farnsworth. But they are already having a bigger impact because they are happening in a warmer world.
“The El Niño we just had was helping set record temperatures everywhere and leading to a huge amount of forest fires,” he says. “And the thing that disturbs me most is tentative signs during this El Niño of dieback in the Amazon.”
The study shows that under specific climate conditions, El Niño events can cause extinctions, says Pedro DiNezio at the University of Colorado, Boulder. But these mega El Niños couldn't occur today because the Pacific is smaller than Panthalassa, they say.
“These results are very exciting to understand the past, not so much the near future. To answer what El Niño will do, we need to look at intervals in the past with similar continental configurations as today,” says DiNezio.
“I think it’s a compelling study,” says Phil Jardine at the University of Münster in Germany, who found the first direct evidence for the loss of the ozone layer during the Permian extinction.
“I don’t think that this and other extinction drivers, including ozone degradation, are mutually exclusive,” he says. “The deadly thing about the end-Permian mass extinction seems to be that a lot of things were happening at once, and interacting with each other as they cascaded through the Earth system.”
Mega El Niño Events Caused End-Permian Mass Extinction, Researchers Suggest
Mega El Niño Events Caused End-Permian Mass Extinction, Researchers Suggest
Illustration of the end-Permian extinction event, when extreme temperatures may have killed off forests
RICHARD JONES/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
The end-Permian mass extinction, which occurred about 252 million years ago, was the most severe extinction event in the past 540 million years, eliminating more than 90% of marine and 75% of terrestrial species. Scientists have long linkedthis extinction to vast volcanic eruptions in what is now Siberia. The resulting carbon dioxide emissions rapidly accelerated climate warming, resulting in widespread stagnation and the collapse of marine and terrestrial ecosystems. But what caused life on land, including plants and usually resilient insects, to suffer just as badly has remained a source of mystery.
An illustration depicting the onset of the end-Permian mass extinction.
Image credit: Dawid Adam Iurino / PaleoFactory, Sapienza University of Rome / Jurikova et al, doi: 10.1038/s41561-020-00646-4.
“Climate warming alone cannot drive such devastating extinctions because, as we are seeing today, when the tropics become too hot, species migrate to the cooler, higher latitudes,” said University of Bristol’s Dr. Alexander Farnsworth.
“Our research has revealed that increased greenhouse gases don’t just make the majority of the planet warmer, they also increase weather and climate variability making it even more ‘wild’ and difficult for life to survive.”
“The Permian-Triassic catastrophe shows the problem of global warming is not just a matter of it becoming unbearably hot, but also a case of conditions swinging wildly over decades.”
“Most life failed to adapt to these conditions, but thankfully a few things survived, without which we wouldn’t be here today. It was nearly, but not quite, the end of the life on Earth,” said China University of Geosciences Professor Yadong Sun.
The scale of end-Permian warming was revealed by studying oxygen isotopes in the fossilized tooth material of tiny extinct swimming organisms called conodonts.
By studying the temperature record of conodonts from around the world, the researchers were able to show a remarkable collapse of temperature gradients in the low and mid latitudes.
“Essentially, it got too hot everywhere,” Dr. Farnsworth said.
“The changes responsible for the climate patterns identified were profound because there were much more intense and prolonged El Niño events than witnessed today.”
“Species were simply not equipped to adapt or evolve quickly enough.”
A geological field section reveals a desiccated (extreme dryness) land surface that was common all over the world 252 million years ago. Image credit: University of Bristol / China University of Geosciences.
In recent years, El Niño events have caused major changes in rainfall patterns and temperature.
For example, the weather extremes that caused the June 2024 North American heatwave when temperatures were around 15 degrees Celsius hotter than normal.
2023-2024 was also one of the hottest years on record globally due to a strong El Niño in the Pacific, which was further exacerbated by increased human-induced carbon dioxide driving catastrophic drought and fires around the world.
“Fortunately such events so far have only lasted one to two years at a time,” said University of Leeds Professor Paul Wignall.
“During the Permian-Triassic crisis, El Niño persisted for much longer resulting in a decade of widespread drought, followed by years of flooding.”
“Basically, the climate was all over the place and that makes it very hard for any species to adapt.”
The results of the climate modeling also help explain the abundant charcoal found in rock layers of that age.
“Wildfires become very common if you have a drought-prone climate,” said University of Hull Professor David Bond.
“Earth got stuck in a crisis state where the land was burning and the oceans stagnating. There was nowhere to hide.”
The researchers observed that throughout Earth’s history there have been many volcanic events similar to those in Siberia, and many caused extinctions, but none led to a crisis of the scale of the end-Permian event.
They found the extinction was so different because these mega-El Niños created positive feedback on the climate which led to incredibly warm conditions starting in the tropics and then beyond, resulting in the dieback of vegetation.
Plants are essential for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, as well as the foundation of the food web, and if they die so does one of the Earth’s mechanisms to stop carbon dioxide building up in the atmosphere as a result of continued volcanism.
This also helps explain the conundrum regarding the end-Permian mass extinction whereby the extinction on land occurred tens of thousands of years before extinction in the oceans.
“Whilst the oceans were initially shielded from the temperature rises, the mega-El Nino’s caused temperatures on land to exceed most species thermal tolerances at rates so rapid that they could not adapt in time,” Dr. Sun said.
“Only species that could migrate quickly could survive, and there weren’t many plants or animals that could do that.”
“The Permo-Triassic mass extinction, although devastating, would ultimately see the rise of dinosaurs becoming the dominant species thereafter as would the end-Cretaceous mass extinction lead to the rise of mammals, and humans,” Dr. Farnsworth said.
The results were published in the journal Science.
Yadong Sun et al. 2024. Mega El Niño instigated the end-Permian mass extinction. Science 385 (6714): 1189-1195; doi: 10.1126/science.ado2030
Massive UFO Encounter: Air Force Crew Faces Unidentified Craft Over Nuclear Silo
Massive UFO Encounter: Air Force Crew Faces Unidentified Craft Over Nuclear Silo
In the quiet skies of North Dakota, an extraordinary event unfolded one night that would forever embed itself in the annals of UFO history. Involving U.S. Air Force personnel stationed at Minot Air Force Base, the encounter revolved around an unidentified flying object (UFO) appearing over one of America’s most secure military installations — a nuclear missile silo. This mysterious incident not only unsettled the maintenance crew but also raised concerns about national security during the height of the Cold War.
The Cold War Context and Minot Air Force Base
During the Cold War, Minot Air Force Base played a crucial role in the United States’ defense strategy, housing both B-52 nuclear bombers and Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs). The base was fortified by 150 Minuteman missile silos, each containing a nuclear missile capable of retaliating against a potential Soviet strike.
On an otherwise quiet night, airmen John O’Connor and Lloyd Isley, two maintenance technicians, were dispatched to perform routine checks at one of these silos, codenamed “November 7.” These young technicians were not trained in combat; their job was to ensure the missiles were operational. But on this particular night, their mission would quickly turn from routine to extraordinary.
The Strange Light in the Sky
As O’Connor and Isley drove towards the missile silo, O’Connor spotted an unusual bright light in the sky. Initially dismissing it as a farmer’s light, he soon realized that the light was moving — and worse, it seemed to be pacing their vehicle. The strange object floated just above the ground and followed them as they continued their journey. Unease set in, and O’Connor decided to radio the control tower, asking if there were any aircraft or military maneuvers occurring in the area. The response he received confirmed their fears: there were no military operations or aircraft in the vicinity.
The light, now moving closer, emitted a strange noise akin to a jet engine, heightening the tension. Both men believed that they were being monitored by the object, which only grew larger and brighter as it approached. They soon realized this was no ordinary aircraft or drone; it was something far more mysterious.
A Potential Threat to the Missile Silo
With the object now hovering near the missile site, O’Connor and Isley felt a growing sense of danger. O’Connor, fearing for the safety of the nuclear missile, immediately reported the situation to the base, calling for backup. Isley, unarmed and anxious, grabbed an axe from the back of their vehicle as a makeshift defense. Though they were maintenance personnel and not combat-trained soldiers, the gravity of the situation pushed them to prepare for the unknown.
As the mysterious object moved over the silo, both men noticed its immense size, estimating it to be a quarter the size of an aircraft carrier. Despite the overwhelming size of the craft, it remained eerily silent except for the faint engine-like sound.
Backup Arrives and a National Security Concern
Meanwhile, the security team stationed at the base, including Airmen Joe Jablonsky and Gregory Adams, had been dispatched to aid O’Connor and Isley. As the security team raced toward the scene, they too witnessed the bright light in the sky. By this time, the object was so large and close to the ground that it also appeared on radar, confirming its presence and elevating the situation to a matter of national security.
The security team arrived, but despite their presence and preparations, the UFO continued to hover over the missile silo. The military personnel faced an unprecedented dilemma: while they were trained to protect the base and its nuclear weapons, they had never encountered a threat like this. They couldn’t fire without clear provocation, especially over sensitive military grounds.
A B-52 Bomber’s Encounter
At the same time, a B-52 bomber returning from a training mission was preparing to land at Minot Air Force Base. The bomber’s crew was asked to observe and confirm the sighting. Not only did the crew confirm the presence of the strange object, but they also witnessed a second UFO at a higher altitude, approximately 12,000 feet in the air. This indicated that there were now two unidentified objects in the vicinity.
Moments after this confirmation, the UFO over the silo suddenly rocketed into the sky, disappearing from view. The B-52 crew also reported their object vanishing at the same time.
Aftermath and Military Investigation
The aftermath of the sighting sparked immediate concern at the highest levels of the U.S. military. The situation had implications not only for national security but also for the protection of nuclear assets. Given that multiple credible witnesses, including Air Force personnel and radar operators, had confirmed the presence of the object, the incident warranted serious investigation.
The U.S. Air Force initiated an inquiry through its UFO investigation division, Project Blue Book. Captain Bradford Run, the B-52 pilot who witnessed one of the objects, provided a detailed sketch of what he saw, adding further legitimacy to the account. However, the official explanation that emerged from the investigation was unsatisfactory to many. The sightings were attributed to a rare atmospheric phenomenon known as plasma balls, where ionized gas in the atmosphere could create glowing, moving objects.
Continuing Mysteries at Nuclear Sites
This event at Minot Air Force Base was not an isolated incident. Similar UFO sightings have been reported at other U.S. nuclear facilities, including Malmstrom, Loring, and Warren Air Force Bases. In many cases, military personnel witnessed unidentified objects hovering near nuclear missile sites. The recurring nature of these sightings has led some to speculate that UFOs might have a particular interest in nuclear weapons, though no conclusive evidence has ever been presented.
Massive UFO vs. Air Force Over a Nuclear Silo | Close Encounters 205
The UFO encounter over Minot Air Force Base remains one of the most compelling cases of unidentified objects interacting with military personnel, especially near sensitive nuclear installations. With multiple credible witnesses and radar confirmation, the event continues to intrigue UFO researchers and skeptics alike. While the official explanation may point to natural atmospheric phenomena, many who were involved believe they encountered something far more mysterious that night, something that remains unexplained to this day.
UFO Sightings at Nuclear Bases (Full Episode) | UFOs: Investigating the Unknown
Two new studies have revealed that that thousands of toxic chemicals are seeping into our bodies through every day food packaging.
Scientist from Switzerland identified 3,601 toxic chemicals in items like Tupperware, water bottles and canned goods, which were found in human blood, urine, hair and breast milk.
The chemicals included Bisphenol A, or BPA, and heavy metals that have been linked to cancer and reproductive problems.
A separate team from Brazil made another startling discovery after detecting microplastics in a part of the nose connected to the brain, which could be linked to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
Thousands of potentially toxic chemicals were found in the human body, new research showed. The chemicals were found to seep into food through their containers
The compounds infiltrate food by simply coming into contact with the product through it's packaging or by heating up food in the plastic to-go containers handed out at restaurants.
'There are known hazardous chemicals that are known to be linked with adverse human health outcomes, and these chemicals leach out of packaging,' said the study's co-author and the chief scientific officer of the Food Packaging Forum, Jane Muncke.
There are 14,000 chemicals used in packaging and the new study led by the Food Packaging Forum Foundation in Switzerland found that 25 percent of them are 'largely unregulated.'
'This is a staggering number and shows that food contact materials are a significant source of chemicals in humans,' Martin Wagner, a professor of biology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim told CNN.
'The study is the first to systematically link the chemicals we use in materials to package and process foods to human exposure.'
The study, published in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology, reported that the researchers identified BPA in both food and the human body that had previously been used in baby bottles, sippy cups and infant formula containers.
The chemical remained in the products until parents boycotted it more than a decade ago, however, it is still found in other packaging containers today.
BPA has been linked to heart disease, erectile dysfunction, diabetes and cancer in adults and has also been found to increase the risk of early death by 49 percent.
Heavy metals were also discovered in the products, which can harm human's DNA by binding proteins and displacing essential metal ions that can alter the way protein functions in the body and can cause cell dysfunction.
They can become toxic as they gradually increase and accumulate in the body and can cause cardiovascular disease, cancer and impair brain development and cause lower IQs in children.
A lesser-known item is tiny containers of sauces that are popular at fast-food restaurants.
The researchers noted that the small cups have a better chance of contaminating food because of the close proximity between the chemicals in the packaging and the products
Food packaging like small sauce containers can contaminate the food, causing dangerous chemicals to enter the body
Muncke told The Washington Post that she was recently on a flight and was giving a small container of salad dressing that raised immediate red flags.
'They served the salad with a 15 milliliter little plastic bottle with olive oil and vinegar that you could pour over it,' she said. 'I thought, 'Well, I'm not doing that.'
'We don't think about how the (mostly) plastic packaging adds chemicals to our food, but it's an important source of human exposures,' R. Thomas Zoeller, an emeritus professor of biology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst who was not involved in the research, told The Post.
'This is an early indication that harmful chemicals — largely unregulated — are making it into the human population.'
On top of toxic chemicals found throughout the body, a separate study also published this month was the first to identify microplastics from water bottles in the olfactory bulb.
The olfactory bulb is a small portion of tissue inside the nose that's separated from the nasal canal and researchers found that this bulb is housing between five millimeters and one nanometer of plastic particles.
The study, published in the journal Environmental Health, found that the tissue could create a direct pathway for microplastics to enter the brain, although no published studies have confirmed the presence of PFAS in the brain.
Microplastics, or fragments of any plastic that measure less than five millimeters in length, lurk in oceans, the air, food, and even drinking water.
Humans constantly inhale and ingest them, raising the odds of experiencing whole-body inflammation, neurological effects, DNA damage, and a weakened immune response.
A total of 16 synthetic particles were found in eight of of the 15 deceased individuals studied.
Polypropylene - a thermoplastic found in food packaging - was the most prevalent polymer found, accounting for 48 percent of the microplastics in the bulb.
These findings could pave the way for future research to understand where microplastics originate.
Philip Landrigan, MD, who wasn't involved with the study told MedPage Today: 'I think there'll be a lot more information in the next few years about how microplastics are getting into the human body -- and what they're doing once they get in there.'
Microplastics Could Enter Your Brain. Here's How | Vantage with Palki Sharma
This grinning formation is made up of a pair of crater eyes and rings of ancient salt deposits.
These deposits are the remains of an ancient body of water that dried up long ago, leaving behind this emoji-like remnant that is only visible when viewed with an infrared camera.
The European Space Agency (ESA) - which snapped the photo - said: 'These deposits, remnants of ancient water bodies, could indicate habitable zones from billions of years ago.'
The European Space Agency snapped this photo of a smiley-face-shaped salt deposit on Mars that could harbor evidence of ancient alien life on the Red Planet
Scientists aren't sure exactly how big the smiley-face is, but it's one of 965 other salt deposits that have recently been catalogued on Mars' surface, which range in size from 1,000 to 10,000 feet wide.
Salt deposits are accumulations of salt - or chloride - found on a planetary surface. On Mars, they are the remnants of ancient bodies of water that dried up when the planet underwent a major climatic shift eons ago.
Before the last puddles of Mars' liquid water disappeared, they may have been a 'haven' for microbial life, according to the ESA.
These puddles would have been extremely salty, and thus the remains of microbes that once lived in them may still be preserved to this day - hiding in deposits like this smiley face.
The ESA captured this image using their ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, which has been measuring the levels of methane and other gases in Mars' atmosphere since 2016 to help scientists understand possible biological or geological activity on the Red Planet.
Normally, salt deposits on Mars' surface are invisible.
But the orbiter's infrared cameras allow us to see them glowing pink or violet - revealing the smiley-face.
The photo was published as part of a study in the journal Scientific Data.
These salt deposits are typically invisible, but the infrared cameras on the ESA's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter allow us to see them glowing pink or violet
As Mars' liquid water disappeared, the last salty puddles could have harbored surviving microbial life, and their remains could be preserved in the resulting salt deposits
The research team, led by scientists from the University of Bern in Sweden, used images taken by the orbiter to create the most robust catalog of Mars' chloride salt deposits to-date.
The new catalog contains data for nearly 1,000 different deposits located all across the planet's surface.
These deposits paint a picture of ancient Mars that is very different than the red desert planet we know today. Billions of years ago, Mars hosted bodies of liquid water.
'In the distant past, water formed magnificent landforms such as riverbeds, channels, and deltas on the Red Planet,' said planetary scientist and study lead author Valentin Bickel in an ESA statement.
But studies suggest that sometime between three billion and two billion years ago, severe climate change caused these bodies of water to dry up.
That extreme climatic shift was likely triggered by the loss of Mars' magnetic field, which allowed solar wind to erode the atmosphere and caused liquid water to freeze, evaporate or become trapped within the planet's surface.
Now, salt deposits are some of the only evidence we have of Mars' ancient water bodies.
What's more, studying them could reveal clues about ancient microbial life that once lived in the planet's liquid water, according to the study.
'The new data has important implications for our understanding of the distribution of water on early Mars, as well as its past climate and habitability,' Bickel said.
While there is no conclusive evidence pointing to past or present life on Mars, this study adds to a growing body of research that has reignited the search for microbes on the Red Planet.
European Space Agency Shares Pic Of 'Smiley Face' Spotted On Mars
A new map of Mars has revealed mysterious structures hiding beneath the sediment layers of a lost ocean.
The researchers detected about 20 features scattered around the planet's north polar cap that are significantly denser than their surroundings.
The structures vary in shape and size, with one resembling the shape of a dog, leaving the team puzzled because they do not know exactly what the formations are or where they came from. But they do have some theories.
One idea is that the structures were compacted by ancient meteor strikes, or formed by volcanic activity, but more research is needed to get to the bottom of these underground anomalies.
A new analysis of Mars' gravitational field has revealed mysterious structures lurking beneath the planet's surface
The team of researchers from Denmark's TU Delft and Utrecht University presented their findings at the Europlanetary Science Conference in Berlin this week.
The team used tiny deviations in satellite orbits to create a picture of Mars' gravitational field, or the region of space around a planet where its gravitational force can be felt.
They did this to look for clues about how mass is distributed throughout the planet's subsurface.
The team then combined these observations with data on the thickness and flexibility of the Mars' crust, as well as the dynamics of the planet's mantle and deep interior.
This allowed the researchers to create a global density map of Mars that revealed the existence of 20 previously unknown underground structures scattered around the planet's north polar cap.
The structures are about 19 to 25 pounds per cubic foot denser than their surroundings, and vary in shape and size.
Additionally, they are covered by a thick, smooth layer of sediment that may have once been a seabed.
The researchers used tiny deviations in satellite orbits and data from NASA's InSIGHT lander to create a global density map of Mars
Their analysis revealed 20 previously unknown underground structures scattered around the planet's north polar cap
Billions of years ago, Mars was not the desert planet we know today. It was once covered in oceans and rivers, but water dried up in an extreme climactic shift.
Now, the only evidence of these bodies of water lies in Mars' geologic record - like this sediment layer.
As for the structures that lie beneath, 'there seems to be no trace of them at the surface,' lead author Bart Root, an assistant professor at TU Delft, said.
'However, through gravity data, we have a tantalizing glimpse into the older history of the northern hemisphere of Mars.'
In December 2023, China's Zhurong found large honeycomb-shaped crevasses buried dozens of meters beneath Mars' equator that likely formed when drastic temperature dips contract and fracture the ground.
But Root and his team are having a harder time figuring out what these most recently structures are, and where they came from. Right now, they have two main theories.
Either the structures were compacted by ancient impact events, like meteor strikes, or they were formed by some kind of volcanic activity. This latter idea challenges scientists' longstanding view of Mars as a geologically inactive planet.
But while studies have shown that Mars does not have as much geological activity as Earth, a growing body of evidence suggests that it isn't completely 'dead.'
Root's study adds to this evidence not just by discovering structures that may be volcanically formed, but through a totally separate finding.
In addition to finding the mysterious structures, the team's analysis revealed that Mars' mantle may still host active geological processes that could be feeding Olympus Mons, the largest known volcano in the solar system.
Olympus Mons is located in the Tharsis Montes region near Mars' equator. Scientists estimate that it hasn't erupted for 25 million years.
The subterranean geology of the Tharsis region is incredibly dense, but Root and his team detected a much lighter mass lying 700 miles beneath the surface.
He believes this mass is an enormous plume of magma that stretches 1,000 miles across in Mars' mantle. What's more, this plume might be in the process of bubbling to the surface.
'This means we need to rethink how we understand the support for the Olympus Mons volcano and its surroundings,' Root said.
'It shows that Mars might still have active movements happening inside it, affecting and possibly making new volcanic features on the surface.'
Intro to Areography | The Geography of Mars
A close-up photo taken by the Curiosity rover shows pure yellow sulfur crystals within a rock.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
NASA’s Curiosity rover captured a close-up image of a rock nicknamed “Snow Lake." Nine days earlier,the rover had crushed a similar-looking rock and revealed sulfur crystals.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
The Gediz Vallis channel is visible above the rocky area in the foreground.
After a mountaintop collapsed into the sea in Greenland, a 'mega-tsunami' as tall as a skyscraper shook the Earth for nine straight days, baffling scientists around the world.
No one was injured by the landslide or resulting tsunami, but the 650-foot-tall wave destroyed roughly $200,000 worth of infrastructure at an unoccupied research station on Ella Island.
What's more, the events occurred near a route that is commonly traveled by cruise ships. Had one been sailing through at this time, it could have led to tragedy.
Until now, no one knew what caused the mysterious seismic activity that began in September 2023 and lasted over a week. It took an international team of scientists to trace it back to the landslide.
'When we set out on this scientific adventure, everybody was puzzled and no one had the faintest idea what caused this signal,' said Kristian Svennevig, study lead author and geologist at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland.
Before and after the massive landslide that dumped 33 million cubic yards of ice and rock into a Greenland fjord, triggering a 650-foot-tall 'mega-tsunami' that shook Earth for nine days
Svennevig and her colleagues now believe that climate change set the stage for this landslide by melting a glacier at the base of the mountain and destabilizing enough ice and rock to fill 10,000 Olympic swimming pools.
And as rising global temperatures continue to melt Earth's polar regions, destructive landslides like this one could become more common.
The research team published their findings today in the journal Science.
When seismic monitoring networks first detected the activity, scientists were perplexed for two reasons.
First, the signal was much more spread out than the typical tight squiggles that an earthquake produces on a seismograph - a device used to record ground shaking.
'It oscillated with a 92-second-interval between its peaks, too slow for humans to perceive,' according to a statement from the University of California San Diego, one of the institutions that contributed to the research.
Second, the signal remained strong for nine straight days. Typical seismic events decay much more rapidly - the average earthquake lasts only seconds to minutes.
Scientists around the world quickly began working to get to the bottom of this strange signal.
Climate change set the stage for this landslide by melting a glacier at the base of the mountain and destabilizing enough ice and rock to fill 10,000 Olympic swimming pools
The mega-tsunami destroyed roughly $200,000 worth of infrastructure at an unoccupied research station on Ella Island, but no one was hurt
Discussions online eventually turned up reports of a massive landslide that occurred on a mountain overlooking a remote fjord in East Greenland on September 16 2023.
To determine whether the landslide was connected to the mysterious shaking, a team of researchers led by Svennevig digitally reconstructed the landslide and resulting shakes.
They did this using a combination of seismic recordings from around the world, field measurements, satellite imagery and computer simulations.
The researchers also used supercomputers to simulate the 650-foot-tall mega-tsunami triggered by the 33 million cubic yards of rock and ice that crashed into the fjord.
The waves sloshed back and forth inside the fjord in a phenomenon known as seiche. The researchers concluded that this sloshing is what caused the nine-day stretch of seismic activity that rocked the Earth last year.
'Ultimately, it took a plethora of geophysical observations and numerical modeling from researchers across many countries to put the puzzle together and get a complete picture of what had occurred,' said co-author Robert Anthony, a geophysicist with the United States Geological Survey's Earthquake Hazards program, in a statement.
The findings demonstrate the 'complex, cascading hazards' driven by the impact of climate change on Earth's polar regions, according to the researchers.
'Climate change is shifting what is typical on Earth, and it can set unusual events into motion,' said co-author Alice Gabriel, a seismologist at the University of California San Diego, in a statement.
Fortunately, no people were in the area when the enormous landslide and resulting tsunami occurred. But this incident emphasizes the importance of monitoring polar regions as climate change accelerates.
Earth Will Have a Tiny New Mini-Moon for a Few Months
The Moon has inspired poets and artists, musicians and playwrights. The sight of our one and only Moon is familiar to anyone that has ever glanced up at the night time (and sometimes day time sky!) Every so often though, our Moon (note the use of capital ‘M’)is joined by a small asteroid that wanders too close. Astronomers have detected an 11-metre wide asteroid that has the snappy name 2024 PT5 and it came within 567,000 kilometres of Earth and will become a temporary satellite from 29 September until 25 November when it will leave our system.
Planets, comets, satellites and asteroids are the main constituents of our Solar System, plus of course, the Sun. The asteroids are small rocky objects that orbit the Sun with the majority in orbits between Mars and Jupiter. These remnants of the early Solar System come in a wide range of sizes from those measuring just a few centimetres to others measuring hundreds of kilometres. They have no atmosphere and are usually irregular in shape.
The asteroid Dimorphos was captured by NASA’s DART mission just two seconds before the spacecraft struck its surface on Sept. 26, 2022. Observations of the asteroid before and after impact suggest it is a loosely packed “rubble pile” object. Credit: NASA/JHUAPL
Asteroids that pass within 1.3 astronomical units (one astronomical unit is the average distance between the Sun and Earth) are typically referred to as near-earth objects (NEOs.) Their proximity to Earth means they may – if not immediately – pose a potential impact threat to Earth. Most NEO’s pass by harmlessly on each orbit but they are tracked for future threats. The study of this family of asteroids helps us to understand about the formation of the Solar System.
On occasions, Earth can capture asteroids from the NEO group and for a short period, pull them into an orbit. These temporary captures can be very short lived not even lasting for an entire orbit before returning to their regular trajectory. Others like 2006RH120 remained in orbit around Earth for a year, while some have been captured for more than a year. These mini-moon events have even turned out to be pieces of space junk like one identified in 2020 which turned out to be a rocket booster from the launch of Surveyor 2 in 1966!
This 1964 photograph shows a Centaur upper-stage rocket before being mated to an Atlas booster. A similar Centaur was used during the launch of Surveyor 2 two years later. Credit: NASA
Asteroid 2024 PT5 is a NEO that was discovered on 7 August 2024 by ATLAS, the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System. It measures 11 metres across and can approach within 1 million kilometres of Earth in an orbit whose path resembles a horseshoe shape. This complex type of orbit occurs when a smaller object orbits a relatively larger object. In the case of 2024 PT5, the gravitational attraction of Earth changes the shape of the asteroids elliptical orbit. The horseshoe shape is only evident when the orbit of the asteroid is mapped relative to both the Sun and the Earth.
The dynamics of the two objects means that for a period of 56 days from 29 September to 25 November, 2024 PT5 will officially orbit the Earth although it is only classed as a ‘temporary captured flyby.’ It will only perform one single orbit however before it returns to its usual heliocentric, Sun centred orbit. This won’t be the only time though as it is predicted to return again in 2055.
Don’t get too excited about seeing it though. The object will be far too faint to be seen with the naked eye, even beyond the visual range of amateur telescopes. It is however possible for experienced amateur astronomers to capture images of the asteroid using astronomical imaging techniques.
A skyscraper-sized asteroidis set to narrowly miss Earth next week, Nasa has warned.
The space rock, dubbed 2024 ON, has been classified as "potentially hazardous" - and is set to hurtle past our planet at a staggering speed of 19,685 miles per hour - approximately 25 times the speed of sound.
With a 220-480m diameter, 2024 ON dwarfs landmarks like the Shard or Eiffel Tower - and would sit at 14th in a list of the world's tallest skyscrapers.
But despite its size and speed, Nasa has maintained that 2024 ON is not expected to pose a danger to Earth or its inhabitants.
An asteroid is deemed "potentially hazardous" if it comes within 0.05 astronomical units (4.65 million miles) of Earth and exceeds 140m in diameter.
Fortunately, this space rock's closest approach to Earth will see it stay twice as far away as the moon - but 2024 ON is still classified as a near-Earth object (NEO) and is being monitored by Nasa.
The Most Dangerous Asteroid Is Here, But NASA Has a Plan (Bright Side)
The space agency's definition reads: "NEOs are comets and asteroids that have been nudged by the gravitational attraction of nearby planets into orbits that allow them to enter the Earth's neighbourhood."
It goes on to detail that comets are formed in the cold outer planetary system, whilst rockier asteroids originated in the warmer inner solar system between Mars and Jupiter.
At its maximum estimated size, 2024 ON is still dwarfed by the largest known asteroid, Ceres, which boasts a diameter of 580 miles.
And despite its impressive dimensions, the approaching space rock will be too small to observe with the naked eye or even an average telescope.
Asteroids, remnants of ancient solar system collisions, travel at high speeds due to intense gravitational forces in space, and orbit the sun in elongated paths whilst rotating erratically.
Nasa's online tracker lists 2024 ON as one of the upcoming close approaches and highlights the agency's vigilance in monitoring potential threats from space.
The scientific interest in these celestial bodies stems from their status as relatively unchanged remnants of the solar system's formation process, dating back some 4.6 billion years.
Whilst 2024 ON's approach may seem alarming, it's important to note that such events aren't uncommon.
Nasa continuously tracks and studies these objects to better understand our cosmic neighbourhood and assess any potential risks to our planet.
The agency's efforts in asteroid detection and monitoring play a crucial role in planetary defence strategies, ensuring Earth's safety from potential space-borne hazards.
This Giant Asteroid That Could End Life on Earth is Coming, but NASA Has a Plan!
Researchers Study Life After Death — And It Gets Weirder
Researchers Study Life After Death — And It Gets Weirder
Story by Peter A Noble,Alex Pozhitkov and The Conversation
Kriegman et al. 2020/PNAS, CC BY-SA
Life and death are traditionally viewed as opposites. However, the emergence of new multicellular life forms from the cells of a dead organism introduces a “third state” that lies beyond the traditional boundaries of life and death.
Usually, scientists consider death to be the irreversible halt of the functioning of an organism as a whole. However, practices such as organ donation highlight how organs, tissues, and cells can continue to function even after an organism’s demise. This resilience raises the question: What mechanisms allow certain cells to keep working after an organism has died?
The third state challenges how scientists typically understand cell behavior. While caterpillars metamorphosing into butterflies, or tadpoles evolving into frogs, may be familiar developmental transformations, there are few instances where organisms change in ways that are not predetermined. Tumors, organoids, and cell lines that can indefinitely divide in a petri dish, like HeLa cells, are not considered part of the third state because they do not develop new functions.
However, researchers found that skin cells extracted from deceased frog embryos were able to adapt to the new conditions of a petri dish in a lab, spontaneously reorganizing into multicellular organisms called xenobots. These organisms exhibited behaviors that extend far beyond their original biological roles. Specifically, these xenobots use their cilia — small, hair-like structures — to navigate and move through their surroundings, whereas in a living frog embryo, cilia are typically used to move mucus.
Scientists Create the Next Generation of Living Robots
Xenobots are also able to performkinematic self-replication, meaning they can physically replicate their structure and function without growing. This differs from more common replication processes that involve growth within or on the organism’s body.
Scientists create tiny living robots from human cells | WION
Researchers have also found that solitary human lung cells can self-assemble into miniature multicellular organisms that can move around. These anthrobots behave and are structured in new ways. They are not only able to navigate their surroundings but also repair both themselves and injured neuron cells placed nearby.
Taken together, these findings demonstrate the inherent plasticity of cellular systems and challenge the idea that cells and organisms can evolve only in predetermined ways. The third state suggests that organismal death may play a significant role in how life transforms over time.
Researchers Study Life After Death — And It Gets Weirder
Postmortem conditions
Several factors influence whether certain cells and tissues can survive and function after an organism dies. These include environmental conditions, metabolic activity, and preservation techniques.
Different cell types have varying survival times. For example, in humans, white blood cells die between 60 and 86 hours after organismal death. In mice, skeletal muscle cells can be regrown after 14 days postmortem, while fibroblast cells from sheepandgoats can be cultured up to a month or so postmortem.
Metabolic activity plays an important role in whether cells can continue to survive and function. Active cells that require a continuous and substantial supply of energy to maintain their function are more difficult to culture than cells with lower energy requirements. Preservation techniques such as cryopreservation can allow tissue samples such as bone marrow to function similarly to that of living donor sources.
Researchers Study Life After Death — And It Gets Weirder
Factors such as age, health, sex, and type of species further shape the postmortem landscape. This is seen in the challenge of culturing and transplanting metabolically active islet cells, which produce insulin in the pancreas, from donors to recipients. Researchers believe that autoimmune processes, high energy costs, and the degradation of protective mechanisms could be the reason behind many islet transplant failures.
How the interplay of these variables allows certain cells to continue functioning after an organism dies remains unclear. One hypothesis is that specialized channels and pumps embedded in the outer membranes of cells serve as intricate electrical circuits. These channels and pumps generate electrical signals that allow cells to communicate with each other and execute specific functions such as growth and movement, shaping the structure of the organism they form.
The extent to which different types of cells can undergo transformation after death is also uncertain. Previous research has found that specific genes involved in stress, immunity, and epigenetic regulation are activated after death in mice, zebrafish, and people, suggesting widespread potential for transformation among diverse cell types.
Implications for biology and medicine
The third state not only offers new insights into the adaptability of cells. It also offers prospects for new treatments.
For example, anthrobots could be sourced from an individual’s living tissue to deliver drugs without triggering an unwanted immune response. Engineered anthrobots injected into the body could potentially dissolve arterial plaque in atherosclerosis patients and remove excess mucus in cystic fibrosis patients.
Importantly, these multicellular organisms have a finite life span, naturally degrading after four to six weeks. This “kill switch” prevents the growth of potentially invasive cells.
A better understanding of how some cells continue to function and metamorphose into multicellular entities sometime after an organism’s demise holds promise for advancing personalized and preventive medicine.
This article was originally published on The Conversation by Peter A Noble at University of Washington and Alex Pozhitkov at Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences at City of Hope. Read the original article here.
A Utah resident has been left shocked after capturing what appeared to be a triangle-shaped multi-coloredUFO flashing in the night sky.
The unidentified Reddituser, who goes by Cruxstew on the platform, uploaded a 50-second video of the May 2 sighting from their home in Southern Utah.
The video showed a small orb in the sky rapidly changing colors. As the resident zoomed in on the object, the light flashed between red, blue, green and white in a matter of seconds, and appeared to have an aura surrounding it.
'I was blown away by what I saw,' the person wrote on the UFOs Reddit channel.
They also claimed that this video is just one a dozen unidentified phenomena that lit up the Southern Utah sky that night.
The unidentified Reddit user, who goes by Cruxstew on the platform, uploaded a 50-second video on Monday of what they claim to be a UFO
The video shows a small orb in the sky rapidly changing colors in the sky
'This is one of over a dozen similar UAP’s I saw that night,' the Utah resident wrote, before adding that there were 'similar sightings by multiple people in this area.'
'The multi-color pulsating light was triangular throughout the whole video until it disappeared,' the user added. 'No other lights, when zoomed in, were triangular.
'The triangular shape wasn’t from a lens artifact or distortion. The light wasn’t from a plane or satellite and it wasn’t stationary.'
'This is out in the middle of the desert. There were over 15 of these objects within an hour,' they continued. 'These were moving horizontal across the horizon at variable speeds, much faster than planes at seemingly similar distances.'
Although they did not disclose where exactly in Southern Utah they lived, the Beehive State is one of the best places to spot the unusual, according to research done by the University of Utah.
'I was blown away by what I saw,' the person wrote on the UFO Reddit channel. 'This is one of over a dozen similar UAP’s I saw that night'
The western part of the US, including Utah, have lots of flat land and open skies, offering greater potential to spot a UFO than in more mountainous or populated areas.
In addition, Utah, Nevada, and New Mexico have links to UFO conspiracies from Area 51 in Nevada to the Skinwalker Ranch in Ballard, Utah, where UAP (unidentified anomalous phenomenon) have been recorded by secret government programs and the popular History Channel show The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch.
'People are out and looking skyward,' Richard Medina, associate professor of geography at the University of Utah, said in the study that analyzed a 20-year period across the 21st Century, from 2001 to 2020.
'The idea is that if you have a chance to see something, then it’s more likely that you’re going to see unexplained phenomena in the sky'.
Pictured: The Skinwalker Ranch in Utah's Uintah Basin
On History Channel's The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch, the team of researchers frequently record evidence of UAPs (pictured)
'There’s more technology in the sky than ever before so the question is: What are people actually seeing? It’s a tough question to answer, and it is an important one because any uncertainty can be a potential threat to national security,' he added.
Moab, Utah, is the number one spot in the state for UFO sightings. It also ranked 22nd in the US, according to Axios.
Nearly all of Utah's counties had more reported UFO sightings per capita than the average of 34.3 sightings per 100,000 residents between 2020 and 2023, according to an Axios report.
The Salt Lake Metro area had 47.1 sights per 100,000 residents. Grand County had 340.9, while Wayne County had 315.
Despite the many alleged sightings across the US, most UFO claims turn out to be balloons, drones, 'airborne clutter,' or military activity, according to Axios.
Ominous images of a perfectly spherical UFO, seemingly dotted with yellow 'landing lights,' have left some researchers certain one is 'the first selfie with a UFO in history.'
Taken by Brazilian UFO researcher and author Edie Meireles in 2011, the snaps show the apparent craft above a hiking trail to 'La cascada de la purificación,' a chilly waterfall in Brazil's high-altitude Chapada Diamantina National Park.
What followed, at least, according to one of Meireles' UFO-hunting peers, was years of 'threats and intrigues' — with two members of their group 'killed by the military' and three more 'abducted.'
And by Meireles' own account, his sighting in one of South America's most scenic ecological preserves led to a raid on his home by 'soldiers in camouflage and black.'
Photos, taken by Brazilian UFO researcher and author Edie Meireles in 2011 (pictured), show the an ominous apparent craft above a hiking trail to 'La cascada de la purificación' - a chilly waterfall in the South American nation's high-altitude Chapada Diamantina national park
In a recent, March 2022 post to the group UFOs Bahai on Facebook, Meireles boasted that his candid snap was 'the only selfie with a flying saucer.' Above, a second and less clear 'UFO selfie' from Meireles' alleged encounter with a flying orb in Chapada Diamantina national park
What followed, at least, according to one of Meireles' UFO-hunting peers, was years of 'threats and intrigues' — with two members of their group 'killed by the military' and three more 'abducted.' Above, another photo from Meireles' 2011 UFO encounter
Skeptics on social media, however, have alleged that the photos are everything from 'sky lanterns' held aloft by hot air from candles to outright doctored images.
DailyMail.com reached out to Meireles for further comment — but the researcher, who serves as admin for 'el Grupo de Pesquisa Tecnológica Extra Avançada' ('the Extra-Advanced Technology Research Group') on Facebook has not replied.
But, in a March 2022 post, Meireles boasted that his candid snaps were 'the only selfie with a flying saucer.'
And, in a submission to Brazilian nonprofit Museu da Pessoa (Museum of the Person) the UFO researcher recounted his trips back to the national park for repeated, but less-well-documented, encounters with these UFOs and their occupants.
Those expeditions, documented in his book Fieldworkers: Pesquisadores de Campo in 2016, according to Meireles, led to further unwanted encounters with the military.
'The result of the interrogation was [...] Fractures: 4 left ribs and left knee [...] Perforation with bleeding in the left lung,' and worse, Meireles told the nonprofit.
'I was hospitalized for 12 days at the Chapada Regional Hospital, in Seabra-Ba, my medical history is there for anyone who wants to investigate,' according to the Brazilian UFO researcher.
Meireles' version of his UFO experiences at the national park, includes more surreal encounters with beings and a prophecy of global environmental cataclysm: 'a natural collapse, with a lack of renewable resources, drinking water, and wood for construction,' as he told the nonprofit museum.
Fact or fiction, his story has a fitting setting in Brazil's Chapada Diamantina National Park, established in September 1985 to protect a host of rare, endangered species native to these Atlantic Forest plateaus 3,000 feet about sea level.
Brazil's giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus), its giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) and Chaco eagle (Buteogallus coronatus) are all protected species that call the park home.
Above, another photo from Meireles' 2011 UFO encounter
Above, lateral blur on the apparent craft appears to indicate a form of propulsion in another photo alleged to be from Meireles' 2011 UFO encounter
Above, another image of lateral blur on the apparent 'alien spacecraft' - which appears to indicate a form of propulsion in another image from Meireles' alleged 2011 UFO encounter
One account of the 2011 sighting, attributed to Meireles, described a UFO whose onboard devices or novel means of propulsion managed to either accidentally or intentionally leave him stranded in the park.
'I got out of the car and photographed,' according to a Reddit posting quoting Meireles. 'It was an indescribable wonderful emotion to have photographed a UFO so clearly visible.'
But, the account continues: 'About 40 minutes later, still on the road, my car turned off, I braked, I tried to turn the key and nothing, absolutely nothing.
'I saw a light on the hood and I looked up and there was a UFO standing on top of my car, I opened the door and ran,' the account continues.
'I even stopped to take a Selfie with them. My car was towed by a tractor the next day, it burned all electrical parts.'
This version of his encounter states that Meireles was travelling to the historic district near the national park, Serra de Igatú, although a 2016 posting apparently by Meireles on Facebook asserts the images were taken on his was to the waterfall at the park known as 'La cascada de la purificación.'
Above, 'Mosquito Waterfall,' one of many waterfalls like the 'La cascada de la purificación' from Meireles' UFO encounter, visited by tourists of Brazil's Chapada Diamantina National Park
Above, a final known image from Meireles' alleged 2011 UFO encounter, this time with less fog or low-lying cloud cover along the trail in Brazil's Chapada Diamantina National Park
An aerial view of Chapada Diamantina National Park in Bahia state, Brazil
Above, tourists admire the 'Poco Encantado' (aka 'the Enchanted Well') a sunken, subterranean pool and tourist destination at Chapada Diamantina National Park
Some champions of Meireles' UFO research have attributed the murky stories around his incredibly crisp and visually compelling photographs to the alleged hostile encounters with the military.
'They are leaving UFOlogy to live their own lives away from threats and intrigues,' Nunes de Camargo wrote in a 2014 post to his group's Facebook page.
The UFO researcher recounted the deaths and abductions that UFOs Bahai is alleged to have faced, adding: 'They told me that families are suffering a lot and they don't want to make other families suffer.'
Other UFO researchers online, however, have had trouble with this explanation.
'The fact that he's [Meireles] still uploading those photos to his Facebook account every few months proves that might not be correct,' Reddit user spriz2 opined.
'I've written to Edie multiple times on Facebook over the last year to try and gain more knowledge on this event,' the Redditer explained. 'He's ignored every message and comment.'
Others, however, not only found the case credible but believed they had seen this same UFO themselves.
'Holy F***, this is identical to what I saw right before Covid hit,' one Redditer, who goes by ehtseeoh, said.
The poster said that the bottom of the craft he saw 'rotated when it glowed red with an orange center, and then it did a quick zig zag and it was gone,' making 'zero sound' as it vanished in an instant.
'I screamed laughed and cried,' the poster said. 'FINALLY the orb I've been looking for online, this guy has a selfie with it haha.'
DailyMail.com also reached out to noted UFO skeptic and computer programmer Mick West of Sacramento, California, who weighed-in saying: 'They look photoshopped to me, but could be practical effects.'
Another round of public UFO hearings are in store for Congress within mere weeks, according to a senior member of the Senate's Armed Services Committee.
New York Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who confirmed the hearing, said: 'It's a priority for me because I think it's very important we continue to make things publicly available.'
The CapitolHill inquiry also comes as many American civilians have also reported their own UFO sightings, which Sen. Gillibrand said she hopes will soon be added to the investigative purview of thePentagon's only one-year-old UFO hunting office.
Just days ago, Montana witnesses videotaped what one called a 'huge' UFO with 'tons of blinking and spinning lights' 60 miles from a US Air Force nuclear-weapons base (pictured)
That sighting — filmed from Choteau Montana and hour's drive northwest of storied UFO hotspot Malmstrom Air Force Base — left one witness 'shaking and crying from the experience,' according to her husband, who posted the encounter to Reddit.
'The photos aren't scary,' the anonymous poster noted, 'but seeing what you truly believe to be a massive object in the silent night sky going over YOUR head and home carries a lot more emotional weight in person.'
The UFO, which can mostly be seen by 'a rotating orange/red light on the bottom' after it shifted from appearing like a long, gleaming white streak, was not one of Elon Musk's Starlink satellite trains commonly mistaken for alien craft, the witness said.
'I'm familiar with Starlink videos,' he emphasized. 'While we were watching the object it was very apparent that the lights were around the silhouette of a large craft.'
'You could not "see between the lights,"' as he explained the encounter to the r/UFOs subreddit. 'It was solid dark behind them. Our take is that we were seeing a disc shape from the side.'
Sen. Gillibrand expressed her hope Monday that the upcoming Senate UFO hearing would renew public trust in the Pentagon's All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) and encourage the public to report their own sightings to AARO's UFO hunters.
'We also want to try to continue to build credibility within this office [AARO] so more of the public can feed in sightings and have a place and a platform to send information and inquiries,' she said, 'because that's eventually what this office is supposed to do.'
That changed late last August when the Pentagon announced that AARO's new lead would be an expert in quantum optics and crypto-mathematics from the National Security Agency (NSA): Dr. Jon T. Kosloski.
Then-Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Kirsten Gillibrand ran an April 2023 hearing (pictured above) in which the previous director of the Pentagon's UFO-hunting All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), Dr Sean Kirkpatrick, last spoke before the Senate
Then-AARO boss Dr Kirkpatrick spoke on the challenges of prioritizing and identifying UFOs
'I'm hoping that the new head will be the one to testify,' Sen. Gillibrand told Capitol Hill reporter Matt Laslo, who runs the newsletter Ask a Pol.
The Armed Services Committee, she said, would host 'a progress report on how many unidentified aerial phenomena we've assessed and analyzed, give examples of what we have identified and give examples of what we haven't identified.'
This kind of public disclosure was a key goal, according to Sen. Gillibrand, 'so that the community can be kept up to speed about what we're actually doing and what this office [i.e. AARO] is doing.'
What are UFOs? The question that has been buzzing for decades might not have a simple explanation. From alien spaceships to interdimensional crafts, these mysterious objects are associated with various strange phenomena. There are a number of whistleblowers who have claimed that the U.S. government possesses UFO materials retrieved from crash sites, but the exact nature of these materials is not known.
UFO filmmaker Jeremy Corbell claims: “UFOs are real, and we’re no closer to understanding what a UFO truly is, who operates them, where they are from, what their intent is, or what they represent to humankind. So when the public in general sees that on the news, it’s like, “Okay, yeah, we all kind of thought that because we’re seeing them. Thanks, government, but nothing’s really answered.”
Corbell has discussed various theories surrounding UAPs/UFO phenomena with Steve-O on his podcast. He put forward ideas on what UFOs could manifest. Apart from interplanetary spacecraft, terrestrial, non-terrestrial, or interdimensional objects, Corbell introduced a new term to explain UFOs, which is “extratemporal.” He explained that many scientists working on UFO-related projects believe these crafts utilize gravitational propulsion, a technology we have yet to fully understand. Manipulating gravity could distort time and space, suggesting that these crafts might originate from another time; hence, the term is “extratemporal.”
Corbell noted that when it comes to duplicating or reverse-engineering these non-human technologies, our current understanding of science is not up to that mark. Corbell mentions that one of the significant challenges in understanding UFOs is the limitations of our material science. He explains that attempts at reverse engineering UFO materials or craft are hindered because our material science has not advanced enough to replicate these materials accurately.
“These craft can move; they call it transmedium. From space through air without a sonic boom, they can move at speed and into the sea without disturbance, without slowing down. That’s transmedium. So the idea of how do they do that with physics? Some people say, ‘Well, the craft’s skin, you know, it’s like hydrophobic; when you go in, it just slips in.’ But really what we’re seeing is objects that appear to move in ways that our physics understands; we just can’t replicate gravitational fields,” Corbell says.
Corbell explains that some people think UFOs might be using things like time travel or manipulating gravity to achieve these unusual movements. He mentions the idea that if they can control gravity somehow, they could create a kind of force field around their craft that makes them move in ways that we cannot explain with our current science.
Corbell also talks about the way UFOs can move from space into the Earth’s atmosphere or even underwater without making a sound or causing disturbances. He suggests that this could be related to their ability to control gravity, allowing them to smoothly transition between different environments.
Skin of the UFO is alive
Steve-O expresses his view that the distinction between craft and biologics in the UFO phenomenon is not entirely clear to him. He suggests that it might be more accurate to consider that the boundary between what is traditionally thought of as a craft and a biological entity is blurry. He implies that the craft themselves might have some form of biological elements.
Corbell agrees with this perspective and mentions that many military personnel who have had close encounters with UFOs often report a strange characteristic about the craft’s “skin.” According to these reports, the craft’s exterior appears to exhibit signs of intelligence and liveliness. Corbell notes that this observation is puzzling, especially to engineers who are accustomed to thinking of machines as non-biological entities.
Corbell further explores the idea that these UFOs may be so integrated with biological elements that they could be considered a form of biology as we understand it, even though they are still functional craft capable of carrying things.
Some of these UFOs appear to be piloted by what Corbell refers to as artificial intelligence, essentially acting like drones. Others seem to carry occupants, which they refer to as “biologics” or biological entities. However, they entertain the idea that even these occupants could be some form of cybernetic organisms with synthetic flesh, essentially functioning as autonomous AI beings.
Israeli Psychic Uri Geller, who is often misjudged on social media for his bizarre posts, was a part of CIA secret programs where his abilities were used in the area of “mind projection” and possibly for national security purposes. A declassified CIA document revealed information about the “Project Stargate” that was focused on remote viewing.
He played an important role in the CIA investigation into ESP and psychokinesis. In one experiment for the CIA, Geller was isolated in a room to draw the same picture that had been drawn by another person in another room. He drew a picture of a square with diagonals. In 2017, the CIA released some 12 million pages of records, revealing details about Project Stargate.
One of Geller’s least-known claims is about working with NASA. He got acquainted with Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell and later, the two became friends. He was then asked by Mitchell to meet a legendary German-born American aerospace engineer Wernher von Braun.
Geller said Kennedy argued to bring him to the US so that they could use his mind. Along with his brother-in-law Shipi Shtrang, Geller visited NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. While being there, Geller gave his secret spy camera to Shtrang which he used later to take photographs of Geller, Mitchell, von Braun, and more.
Geller claimed that he could not believe his eyes as he was shown extraterrestrial evidence at the Goddard Space Flight Center. During their meeting, Von Braun doubted Geller. “He said he heard about my powers and told me that if he took his wedding ring off his finger and put it in the palm of his hand and I’d be able to bend it while it’s there, he’d believe me,” Geller recounted. “And I did – completely.”
After that, Geller was shown a piece of metal at Von Braun’s office. “It was metallic, smooth, pearl-like, with rainbow reflective ‘skin.’ When I held it I sensed vibrations. It felt like it was breathing… as if it was alive. Von Braun said I was right – and that it was from a crashed UFO,” he explained. He never found out where this metal had come from. “UFOs/UAPS are not just nuts and bolt craft,” Geller posts on X (formerly Twitter).
With Curt Jaimungal on his Theories of Everything (TOE) podcast in 2021, former AATIP head Luis Elizondo carefully hinted that “potentially” the U.S. government had acquired otherworldly biological samples. He also suggested that the government has images of UAPs that appear to show beings inside them.
“Have there potentially been biological samples recovered?” Curt asked. ELizondo replied: “Yes. I’m not going to expound on that… and be careful when I say that. I’m being purposely very open and vague at the same time, right? What does that mean? Well, it means what it means.”
Besides, when asked if there are photos that show occupants inside “craft,” Elizondo said: “There are some very compelling photos out there that seem to show something inside, some sort of occupancy, And I’ll leave it at that, because it gets really murky, much beyond that.
And there’s a lot that can be speculated. And so I try to avoid speculation as much as possible. But yes, I’ve spoken to enough people with firsthand knowledge that not only report the crafts that we know exists, but potentially some sort of intelligence inside these vehicles.”
Why isn’t this topic being discussed by everyone on the planet? Is it feasible that the majority of people are disregarding this news, even if they are aware of it? At what point does the truth and its mind-boggling consequences become too conspicuous to overlook?
Former intelligence officer David Grusch also testified in July 2023 UAP hearings that the U.S. has recovered non-human “biologics” from alleged crash sites, which further bolsters Corbell and Geller’s claims that the craft’s skin or its occupants exhibit signs of intelligence and liveliness.
Filmmaker Reveals UFO Secret: Skin Of Craft Seemed Alive Like A Biological Being!
Jeremy Corbell: New UFO Video Shows ‘Spherical Craft’ Diving Into Ocean. NO WRECKAGE FOUND
After conducting the first-ever commercial spacewalk and traveling farther from Earth than anyone in more than half a century, the astronauts of the Polaris Dawn mission returned to Earth safely early Sunday.
The capsule carrying tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman reached the Gulf of Mexico near Florida’s Dry Tortugas early Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024.
AP
This image made from SpaceX video shows the four-member crew including tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, third left, seated in its capsule as they wait to get off the capsule after it landed in the Gulf of Mexico near Florida’s Dry Tortugas early Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024.
(SpaceX via AP)
The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Dry Tortugas, Fla., shortly after 3:30 a.m., carrying Jared Isaacman, a billionaire entrepreneur, and his crew of three private astronauts, according to a SpaceX livestream.
The ambitious space mission, a collaboration between Mr. Isaacman and Elon Musk’s SpaceX, spent five days in orbit, achieved several milestones in private spaceflight and was further evidence that space travel and spacewalks are no longer the exclusive domain of professional astronauts working at government agencies like NASA.
The Crew Dragon capsule launched on Tuesday, after delays because of a helium leak and bad weather. On board were Mr. Isaacman, the mission commander and the founder of the payment services company Shift4; Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon, SpaceX employees; and Scott Poteet, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel.
Late on Tuesday, its orbit reached a high point of about 870 miles above the Earth’s surface. That beat the record distance for astronauts on a mission not headed to the moon, which the Gemini XI mission set in 1966 at 853 miles high, and made Ms. Gillis and Ms. Menon the first women ever to fly so far from Earth.
Related video:
Tech billionaire and crew return to Earth after first private spacewalk
On Thursday, Mr. Isaacman and Ms. Gillis became the first private astronauts to successfully complete a spacewalk. The operation involved the crew letting all the air out of the spacecraft, because it had no airlock, while the other two crew members wore spacesuits inside the airless capsule. Mr. Isaacman moved outside and conducted mobility tests of his spacesuit for a few minutes before re-entering the capsule. Ms Gillis then moved outside and performed the same tests.
This was the first of three Polaris missions aimed at accelerating technological advances needed to fulfill Mr. Musk’s dream of sending people to Mars someday. A key goal of the mission was to further the development of more advanced spacesuits that would be needed for SpaceX to try any future off-world colonization.
During a news conference before the launch, Mr. Isaacman mused that one day, someone might step onto Mars wearing a version of the spacesuit that SpaceX had developed for this flight. Closer to Earth, commercial spacewalks also present other possibilities, like technicians repairing private satellites in orbit.
During the spaceflight, the four astronauts conducted about 40 experiments, mostly about how weightlessness and radiation affect the human body. They also tested laser communications between the Crew Dragon and SpaceX’s constellation of Starlink internet satellites.
This image shows U.S. fintech billionaire Jared Isaacman peeking out to space from a hatch structure called “Skywalker.”Polaris Program
AFP via Getty Images
This image shows crew members inside the capsule preparing to open the hatch before the first private spacewalk.
SPACEX HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
The hatch was open for nearly 30 minutes before they went inside to depressurize the capsule and restore air.
Trilobites Had Five Pairs of Head Appendages, New Fossils Show
Trilobites Had Five Pairs of Head Appendages, New Fossils Show
Based on multiple analytical techniques applied to well-preserved soft-bodied specimens of two trilobite species, the Late Ordovician species Triarthrus eatoni and the Middle Cambrian species Olenoides serratus, paleontologists argue that an additional pair of cephalic appendages occurred just behind the antennae, indicating that trilobites had five pairs of cephalic appendages and six segments.
Trilobites are extinct arthropods that dominated the faunas of the oceans of the Paleozoic era.
During their time on Earth, which lasted much longer than the dinosaurs, they survived two major episodes of mass extinctions and dominated ocean floor ecosystems.
They appeared in ancient oceans in the Early Cambrian, about 540 million years ago — well before life emerged on land, and disappeared in the mass extinction at the end of the Permian, about 252 million years ago.
They were extremely diverse, with about 20,000 species, and their fossil exoskeletons can be found all around the world.
Like other arthropods, the bodies of trilobites are made up of many segments, with the head region comprised of several fused segments.
As with other parts of the trilobite body (thorax and tail), these segments were associated with appendages, which ranged in function from sensing to feeding to locomotion.
“The number of these segments and how they are associated with other important traits, like eyes and legs, is important for understanding how arthropods are related to one another, and therefore, how they evolved,” said Dr. Melanie Hopkins, curator and chair of the Division of Paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History.
The segments in the trilobite head can be counted in two different ways: by looking at the grooves (called furrows) on the upper side of the trilobite fossil’s hard exoskeleton, or by counting the pairs of preserved antennae and legs on the underside of the fossil.
The soft appendages of trilobites are rarely preserved, though, and when looking at the segments in the trilobite head, researchers regularly find a mismatch between these two methods.
In the new study, Dr. Hopkins and Nanjing University’s Dr. Jin-Bo Hou examined new specimens of Triarthrus eatoni.
These fossils, known for the gold shine of the pyrite replacement preserving them, show an additional, previously undescribed leg underneath the head.
“This fantastic preservation style allows us to observe 3D appendages in hundreds of specimens directly from the ventral side of the animals, just like looking at the appendages of horseshoe crabs on a beach by grabbing them and turning them upside down,” Dr. Hou said.
By making comparisons with another trilobite species, the exceptionally preserved Olenoides serratus from the Burgess Shale in British Columbia, the authors propose a model for how appendages were attached to the head in relation to the grooves in the exoskeleton.
“This model resolves the apparent mismatch and indicates that the trilobite head included six segments: an anterior segment associated with the developmental origin of the eyes and five additional segments, associated with one pair of antennae and four pairs of walking legs, respectively,” they explained.
Rare Fossils of Ancient Trilobites
Triumph of the Trilobites
Their paper was published today in the journal Palaeontology.
Jin-bo Hou & Melanie J. Hopkins. 2024. New evidence for five cephalic appendages in trilobites and implications for segmentation of the trilobite head. Palaeontology 67 (5): e12723; doi: 10.1111/pala.12723
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Over mijzelf
Ik ben Pieter, en gebruik soms ook wel de schuilnaam Peter2011.
Ik ben een man en woon in Linter (België) en mijn beroep is Ik ben op rust..
Ik ben geboren op 18/10/1950 en ben nu dus 74 jaar jong.
Mijn hobby's zijn: Ufologie en andere esoterische onderwerpen.
Op deze blog vind je onder artikels, werk van mezelf. Mijn dank gaat ook naar André, Ingrid, Oliver, Paul, Vincent, Georges Filer en MUFON voor de bijdragen voor de verschillende categorieën...
Veel leesplezier en geef je mening over deze blog.
