The purpose of this blog is the creation of an open, international, independent and free forum, where every UFO-researcher can publish the results of his/her research. The languagues, used for this blog, are Dutch, English and French.You can find the articles of a collegue by selecting his category. Each author stays resposable for the continue of his articles. As blogmaster I have the right to refuse an addition or an article, when it attacks other collegues or UFO-groupes.
Druk op onderstaande knop om te reageren in mijn forum
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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...
03-12-2024
Air Force officer breaks silence on 'red, glowing UFO the size of a football field' hovering at low altitude over US space launch base in California - in event witnessed by over half a dozen military personnel: 'People were screaming and scared'
Air Force officer breaks silence on 'red, glowing UFO the size of a football field' hovering at low altitude over US space launch base in California - in event witnessed by over half a dozen military personnel: 'People were screaming and scared'
The ex-Air Force security officer said he investigated two sightings of a 100-yard UFO witnessed by Boeing contractors and Air Force police on October 14, 2003
'At least 80 people that know this happened,' the USAF veteran, Jeff Nuccetelli, told the Merged podcast Tuesday. 'They're scared. Everyone's freaked out.'
Twenty years ago this October, military contractors working for Boeing reported 'a gigantic floating red square' UFO — over 100 yards long — hovering in the morning air over a launch site at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
The eerie 2003 event first exploded into public view this July, in sworn testimony before Congress, but now an ex-US Air Force security officer has come forward to detail his official, rapid-response investigation into the UFO on the day it occurred.
'This is not a joke,' ex-USAF senior patrolman, Jeff Nuccetelli, told the Merged podcast Tuesday. 'These are contractors with top secret clearances.'
Nuccetelli also revealed a second reported encounter with the 'red square,' in which two of his fellow USAF police patrol officers 'got buzzed by the UFO.'
'When I showed up, it's just mayhem,' as Nuccetelli recalled it. 'Everybody's excited. They're scared. Everyone's freaked out.'
ex-US Air Force security officer Jeff Nuccetelli has come forward to detail his official, rapid-response investigation into a 100-yard long, 'red square' UFO as it occurred in October 2003. Nuccetelli said the UFO had over half a dozen witnesses and 'at least 80 people' on base knew
The never-before-public second sighting of the gigantic 'red square' UFO took place above Vandenberg AFB's Space Launch Complex 4 (SLC-4), leased today by Elon Musk's SpaceX. Above, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches from Vandenberg with a satellites payload in 2018
To the best of his recollection, Nuccetelli interviewed 'about six people' then posted to guard SLC-4, with his superior officer, or flight chief, alongside him: 'Basically what they described was this object came in, was moving strangely, erratically. It got bigger and brighter as it came'
'I'm getting ready to jump in the car,' Nuccetelli told Merged host, retired US Navy fighter pilot Lt. Ryan Graves, 'and then all hell breaks loose and they start screaming over the radio, 'It's coming right at us. It's coming right for us. Now it's right here.''
'It was hard to hear,' the former USAF patrol officer said, 'because they were screaming and they were scared.'
This never-before-public second sighting, which Nuccetelli said he recorded in a police blotter with copies still in his possession, took place above Vandenberg AFB's Space Launch Complex 4, which is leased today by Elon Musk's SpaceX.
The veteran Air Force security official told that podcast that he had high confidence in the half a dozen fellow USAF police who witnessed the giant red UFO's flyby.
'These guys are trained observers,' Nuccetelli emphasized to Lt. Graves, founder of the new nonprofit, Americans for Safe Aerospace, which is devoted to resolving flight safety concerns around such 'unidentified aerial phenomena' (UAP).
'They're posted out there, you know, 24/7,' Nuccetelli continued. 'They know what aircraft look like. They know what fishing boats look like.'
'I didn't feel like they were just jumping the gun, because there had been a UFO.'
Nuccetelli gave Lt. Graves his recollection of driving to the launch site, SLC-4 or 'Slick 4,' as base police radio transmissions about the UFO came pouring in.
'This is all playing out on the radio and the dispatchers are communicating with them trying to get more information,' Nuccetelli said. 'It's just chaos, you know? The dispatchers are basically advising everybody to go on alert trying to get information.'
Nuccetelli told his story to retired US Navy fighter pilot Lt. Ryan Graves, host of Merged and founder of the new nonprofit Americans for Safe Aerospace, which is devoted to resolving flight safety concerns around such 'unidentified aerial phenomena' (UAP)
Three Boeing contractors, Nuccetelli said, signed sworn statements that they saw the UFO, 'a big square object, the size of a football field, silently floating over the launchpad, red in color, glowing,' at low altitude. Above, right, a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch from October 29, 2023
Netflix's brand new UFO docu-series 'Encounters,' premiering today, started off with a literally massive sighting: 'a large object one mile long and half a mile wide,' per reports, 'moving away at high speed' and 'soundless.' Engineer Robert Powell analyzed 2.8 million radar returns from this 2008 UFO case out of Stephenville, Texas, interviewing many of the events' 300-or-so eyewitnesses. Powell has now told the DailyMail.com that the FAA has stopped releasing this class of raw data to the public, following his success spotting this UFO with the agency's radar
'Then things calmed down a bit,' the former USAF policeman continued. 'They said the object flew off.'
To the best of his recollection, Nuccetelli then interviewed 'about six people' then posted to guard SLC-4, with his superior officer, or flight chief, alongside him.
'I talk to everybody,' he recalled. 'Basically what they described was this object came in, was moving strangely, erratically. It got bigger and brighter as it came in.'
'Then it came at a high rate of speed and flew right up to the entry control point, and stopped. And they all stared at it. And it just shot off.'
Three Boeing contractors, Nuccetelli said, signed sworn statements that they saw the UFO — 'basically just a big square object, the size of a football field, silently floating over the launchpad, red in color, glowing' — at a low altitude.
In this first sighting, 'which began October 14, 2003 8:45am,' the ex-USAF patrolman said, the 'red square' hovered over Vandenberg's Launch Facility 21: at the time, a 'Minuteman' missile site being repurposed for a new missile defense system.
'As far as I know, it wasn't a cube. It was like a flattened square,' Nuccetelli recollected.
'The call came in from Range Control. They said, 'the contractors say there's this gigantic floating red square over the launch facility.''
'Later, they brought in the technical sergeant from Range Control,' Nuccetelli told Merged listeners, 'that received the complaint from the contractor saying there's this UFO.'
'They brought that person in and had him write us a written statement, I have his written statement. And I also have the blotter entry.'
All told, Nuccetelli believes that there's at least 80 people that know this happened, you know, and then plus the contractors and the other cops that actually saw it with their own eyes.' And he's actively working to track them down for fresh interviews.
The former senior USAF police officer, who went to work in an administrative role for the US Marshals after 16 years in the Air Force, has also delivered what he knows to the Pentagon's All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO).
'In fact, the investigator that contacted me spent a tremendous amount of time talking to me, over an hour for sure,' Nuccetelli said.
'I felt that they were genuinely, genuinely, interested in the case. And genuinely interested in looking into it.'
His next steps, he told Lt. Graves, are to assist AARO in locating more witnesses to these two October 14, 2003 sightings.'
'What I'm trying to do now is track down all the people,' the ex-USAF policeman said, 'because my recollection of who was there, and all the particulars, and the details are flawed, right? Because I wasn't there when these things happen. It's all secondhand.'
'I haven't talked to these people for 20 years. And then all of a sudden, I'm like, 'Hey, let's get in contact' [...] 'let's talk about the UFO.''
EXCLUSIVE: CIA's secret office has conducted UFO retrieval missions on at least NINE crash sites around the world, whistleblowers reveal
EXCLUSIVE: CIA's secret office has conducted UFO retrieval missions on at least NINE crash sites around the world, whistleblowers reveal
The Office of Global Access (OGA) - a wing of the CIA - has played a central role in collecting alien spacecraft since 2003, sources tell DailyMail.com
At least nine 'non-human craft' have been recovered by the US government – some wrecked from a crash, and two completely intact
A secretive CIA office has been coordinating the retrieval of crashed UFOs around the world for decades, multiple sources told DailyMail.com.
One source said that at least nine apparent 'non-human craft' have been recovered by the US government – some wrecked from a crash, and two completely intact.
Three sources briefed on those alleged top secret operations told DailyMail.com that the Office of Global Access (OGA), a wing of the Central Intelligence Agency's Science and Technology Directorate, has played a central role since 2003 in orchestrating the collection of what could be alien spacecraft.
The three sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid reprisals, have all been briefed by individuals involved in those alleged UFO retrieval missions.
Though the shocking claims sound like they come from a science fiction novel, they are part of a growing body of evidence suggesting the US government could indeed be hiding advanced vehicles that were not made by humans.
The Office of Global Access - a wing of the CIA - has played a central role in collecting alien spacecraft since 2003, sources tell DailyMail.com
David Grusch - a former high-ranking intelligence official – is one of three military whistleblowers who testified under oath about UFOs. Grusch claims he has evidence of secret programs involving technology far surpassing the US's capabilities
In July Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer co-sponsored a bill to allow disclosure of 'recovered technologies of unknown origin and biological evidence of non-human intelligence'
The same month, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer sponsored an extraordinary bill to allow disclosure of 'recovered technologies of unknown origin and biological evidence of non-human intelligence' – which has now passed in the Senate.
Sources who spoke to DailyMail.com shed light on how the CIA has allegedly coordinated the secret recovery and storage of these alleged crashed or landed UFOs.
Late CIA expert Jeffrey Richelson wrote in his 2016 book, The US Intelligence Community, that the Office of Global Access helped provide 'worldwide collection capability'
'There's at least nine vehicles. There were different circumstances for different ones,' one source briefed by UFO program insiders told DailyMail.com. 'It has to do with the physical condition they're in. If it crashes, there's a lot of damage done. Others, two of them, are completely intact.'
The source said the CIA has a 'system in place that can discern UFOs while they're still cloaked,' and that if the 'non-human' craft land, crash or are brought down to earth, special military units are sent to try to salvage the wreckage.
Another source with knowledge of the OGA's role said that they specialize in allowing the US military to secretly access areas around the world where they would usually be 'denied' – for example behind enemy lines.
'They are basically a facilitator for people to get in and out of countries,' the source said. 'They are very clever at being able to get anywhere in the world they want to.'
Multiple sources briefed on the OGA's activities told DailyMail.com that most of its operations involve more conventional retrieval missions, such as stray nuclear weapons, downed satellites or adversaries' technology.
But they claimed some missions coordinated by the OGA have involved retrieval of UFOs.
'The task at hand is simply to get it into custody and protect the secrecy of it,' one source said. 'The actual physical retrieval is by the military. But it's not kept under military control, because they have to keep too many records. So they start moving it out fairly quickly into private hands.'
Documents published by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in December 2016 showed that the OGA was one of 56 offices in the CIA, with its chief and deputy making up two of a total 286 director-level officials in the spy agency.
An unclassified organizational chart published by the CIA in October 2015 lists the OGA among nine offices in the 'Science and Technology' wing of the agency.
Late CIA expert Jeffrey Richelson wrote in a 2016 book on the agency that the OGA was established in 2003, and cited a CIA description that it 'integrate[s] analysis, technology, and tradecraft to attack the most difficult targets, and to provide worldwide collection capability.'
Doug Wolfe helped set up the CIA's Office of Global Access in 2003 and served as its deputy director. He managed 'unwarned access programs that deliver intelligence from the most challenging denied areas' according to a short biography published by a conference he attended in 2017
Schumer's bill requires all government agencies to turn over evidence of any 'recovered technologies of unknown origin and biological evidence of non-human intelligence' to a panel of experts, who can then choose to make the information public
One source claimed at least nine 'non-human craft' have been recovered by the US government – some wrecked from a crash, and two completely intact. A 3D rendering of a UFO
Wolfe's bio cryptically adds that he 'was responsible for leading and managing strategic, unwarned access programs that deliver intelligence from the most challenging denied areas' and 'served as program manager with responsibility for the end-to-end system acquisition of an innovative new source and method for the IC [Intelligence Community].'
Two sources told DailyMail.com that the OGA coordinates with Special Operations Forces such as SEAL teams or Delta Force under the Pentagon's Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), or nuclear weapons experts such as the Nuclear Emergency Support Team (NEST), to collect the crashed or landed craft.
But another source, who has briefed members of Congress on alleged crash retrievals, said that NEST had not been involved in any of these operations.
A spokesperson for the agency also denied involvement.
'[NEST] personnel encounter materials from unknown origins on a regular basis,' a spokesperson said. 'In fact, one of NEST's missions is to help determine the origin of nuclear material interdicted outside of regulatory control or used in a nuclear device.
'During its operations, NEST has never encountered any material related to UAP.'
In a written statement, a JSOC spokesperson told DailyMail.com: 'We have nothing for you on this.'
A former SEAL team member told DailyMail.com that they had been on operations coordinated by the CIA to retrieve high-value stray enemy weapons, and that they knew of colleagues who had been on similar operations where they recovered technology that appeared highly advanced – though not necessarily out-of-this-world.
'Absolutely that happens,' the ex-SEAL said. 'Even ordinance or a weapon that we've never seen, we recover and bring it back.'
One source said that the Air Force Special Operations Command's 24th Special Tactics Squadron, based at Pope Field Army Airbase in North Carolina, has also been involved in securing areas for UFO crash retrievals.
Sources said the CIA office then often hands the wreckage or material over to private aerospace contractors for analysis, where it is not subject to rigorous government audits and can be shielded with protections for trade secrets.
'The CIA is the portfolio manager or owner of the UAP [Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena] crash retrieval operation,' one source, who has shared their information with Congress, told DailyMail.com.
'The Department of Energy national labs are materials analysis contractors whenever recovered radioisotopes are involved but not always just radioisotope materials. The aerospace-defense industry are also contractors that specifically do not handle any recovered radioisotopes, but they handle the other non-radioactive material – and intact craft.'
Multiple sources said that many of the people involved in these programs may not even realize they are dealing with non-human craft, due to the intense security and compartmentalization of information in such top secret programs.
UFO whistleblower David Grusch appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast on Wednesday, repeating his claims of a secret US government program that is hiding crashed 'non-human' UFOs
In an interview on Wednesday with podcaster Joe Rogan, whistleblower David Grusch gave an example of engineers in the Manhattan Project of the 1940s not realizing they were working on fuses for the atom bomb that would eventually be dropped on Japan.
Late Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told the New Yorker in 2021 that top defense company Lockheed Martin was one of the private contractors holding potentially alien wreckage.
'I was told for decades that Lockheed had some of these retrieved materials,' he said.
As majority leader, Reid was one of the 'Gang of Eight', a select group of top lawmakers given access to the country's most closely held secrets too sensitive to share widely in Congress.
But even he was denied access to these alleged programs, he told the magazine.
'I tried to get, as I recall, a classified approval by the Pentagon to have me go look at the stuff. They would not approve that. I don't know what all the numbers were, what kind of classification it was, but they would not give that to me.'
Reid helped set up a new UFO investigation office in the Pentagon in 2008 to probe the regular encounters US military pilots and other armed forces members had with strange objects in the sky and sea.
In June, former top intelligence officer Grusch came forward with claims that while working for the Pentagon's UFO office he discovered the US had a secret program trying to glean new technology from multiple 'non-human' craft it had obtained, dating as far back as the 1930s.
The former National Reconnaissance Office staffer's claims were deemed 'urgent and credible' by the Intelligence Community Inspector General, whom Grusch says he gave documents evidencing his story, and introduced to around 40 witnesses involved in the alleged 'reverse engineering' UFO programs in July 2021.
The OGA is one of 56 offices in the CIA, according to documents published by the National Archives in 2016
The Office of Global Access sits inside the CIA's directorate of Science and Technology, one of five directorates at the agency according to a 2015 unclassified organizational chart
Earlier this year Senate Intelligence Committee ranking member Marco Rubio told TV news station NewsNation that he had spoken to some of these 'first-hand' program insiders, who allegedly worked to glean new technology from potentially alien captured craft.
'There are people that have come forward to share information with our committee over the last couple of years,' Rubio said in the June 26 interview.
'Some of these people still work in the government. A lot of them are very fearful. Fearful for their jobs, fearful for their clearances, fearful of their career. Some of them are fearful of harm coming to them.
'Most of these people, at some point or maybe even currently, have held very high clearances and high positions within our government.
'Some of these claims are things that are beyond the realm of what any of us has ever dealt with.
'If it's even partially true, then somebody's broken the law. There's been some violations. Because these things have to be disclosed to Congress.'
Top lawmakers appear to be taking seriously the claims of UFOs hidden in secret bunkers.
Senate leader Schumer co-sponsored a bill to create a review board with presidential-level powers, with the aim of uncovering and disclosing any non-human craft or even bodies, held by the US government.
Earlier this year Senate Intelligence Committee ranking member Marco Rubio said that he had spoken to some of these 'first-hand' program insiders, who allegedly worked to glean new technology from potentially alien captured craft
Senate leader Schumer co-sponsored a bill to create a review board with presidential-level powers, with the aim of uncovering and disclosing any non-human craft or even bodies, held by the US government
Grusch testifies to discovering 'non-human biological' pilots
It requires all government agencies to turn over evidence of any 'recovered technologies of unknown origin and biological evidence of non-human intelligence' to a panel of experts, who can then choose to make the information public.
The Senate has voted in favor of Schumer's bill. If passed in the House of Representatives, it will be added as an amendment to the annual military spending bill for 2024.
'The American public has a right to learn about technologies of unknown origins, non-human intelligence, and unexplainable phenomena,' Schumer said in a July press release announcing the amendment.
Missouri Republican congressman Eric Burlison, part of an informal caucus of lawmakers campaigning for greater transparency on UFOs, told DailyMail.com that the sources' claims gave him and his colleagues a lead to follow in their investigations.
'These are the kind of specific programs we've been trying to get the names of,' he said. 'It's been so difficult because we can't get that information with specifics from Grusch or from the [Intelligence Community] Inspector General.
'I can't confirm it's true. But it certainly gives us a trail to follow.
'I think that if it does exist, even if they give us no information beyond that, I think we owe it to the world to disclose that.'
The Pentagon branch tasked with protecting America from space-based threats, local and galactic, has detected thousands of UFOsin Earth's orbit, DailyMail.com can reveal.
US Space Force, America's newest military branch created under President Trump in 2019, told personnel this month that the sightings were so regular that they are 'hindering threat identification,' the branch's core mission.
While many of the sightings will prove to be man-made space junk and 'natural debris' like meteoroids, US foreign adversaries continue to launch spy satellites, like North Korea's new Malligyong-1, and other covert orbital platforms.
One new concern, Space Force noted: the risk of threatening spacecraft hidden in the large unwatched area between Earth and the moon, dubbed 'cislunar' orbit.
In their new report, published this month, Space Force's leadership emphasized the importance of finding these grave 'threats' among mere 'hazards' like space junk.
But the military branch also went into considerable detail on a weirder, new category of potential 'hazards and threats' under scrutiny.
US Space Force, America's newest military branch created under President Trump in 2019, told personnel this month that 'abnormal observables' in space are a pervasive problem that is 'hindering threat identification,' the branch's core mission
Space Force hopes to 'distinguish between sources of spacecraft anomalies in support of anomaly resolution, recovery, and space attack assessment.' Since the branch's creation in 2019, the number of UFO 'unknowns' in Earth's orbit has skyrocketed by the thousands (above)
Space Force's mandate 'to rapidly identify and respond to threats and hazards,' the strategy document noted, also includes, 'objects that exhibit abnormal observables and patterns of life and cannot [be] correlated to any owner or point of origin.'
DailyMail.com has reached out to STARCOM, Space Force's Space Training and Readiness Command which published the new document, for detailed clarification on its precise meaning by the terms 'abnormal observables' and 'patterns of life.'
In recent years, Pentagon officials tasked with investigating UFO cases, including the now famous 2004 Tic Tac incursions, have focused their attention on 'five observables' they say are unique features of serious unexplained phenomena.
'Unidentified aerial phenomena' or UAP that check off these 'observables' appear to display either one or all of the following: (1.) gravity-defying behavior, (2.) eerily low observability on radar or other sensors, (3.) sudden or instantaneous accelerations, (4.) hypersonic speeds without signatures like 'sonic booms,' and (5.) so-called 'trans-medium' travel between air, sea and outer space.
It's unclear from the Space Force STARCOM document, however, whether these five, established UFO techno-signatures overlap with their own 'abnormal observables.'
It's also unclear what 'patterns of life' have been detected from orbital unknowns.
Space Force's strategy document, titled 'Space Doctrine Publication 3-100, Space Domain Awareness,' outlines the military branch's mission to monitor a vast orbital range that includes everything from low earth orbit (LEO) to the moon
Across US military branches, the term 'patterns of life' has been used to reference the thermal heat signatures given off by living human targets, for everything from drone warfare to troop deployment surveillance.
The Pentagon's departing UFO investigation chief, physicist Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick, also used the term to indicate UAP mysteries that would include extraterrestrial craft.
'We are executing a rigorous science and technology plan to ensure controlled calibration of sensors, patterns of life, and signature characterization development,' Kirkpatrick said last December.
'More data will help build a more complete picture and support the resolution of […] anomalous phenomena.'
Thermal signatures from the body heat of a living thing (whether terrestrial or E.T. in origin), may fall into this category, to judge from the passages of Space Force's new strategy document that focused on the infra-red capabilities of US military satellites.
'Optical and infrared sensors with relatively wide (one square degree or more) field-of-view,' Space Force's STARCOM advised, 'are also well suited for searching for unknown objects or objects with only a roughly known location.'
However, Lt. General DeAnna Burt, the deputy chief devoted to Space Force's cyber and nuclear operations, among others, have also used 'patterns of life' to reference detectable, routine activity by any and all technological platforms in space.
Last May, Lt. Gen. Burt dropped the term of art while criticizing China for its opaque and noncooperative space program activities.
'We've said what our capabilities are,' Lt. Gen. Burt told SpaceNews. 'If you are honest and say what things are and have patterns of life that indicate they are what they are, then it's an everyday operation,' Burt said.
Whatever Space Force's intent, the branch issued its new publication in mid-November to announce, in part, its plan to identify and track UFOs in orbit around Earth — a high priority initiative the branch calls 'Space Domain Awareness' (SDA).
The strategy document, titled 'Space Doctrine Publication 3-100, Space Domain Awareness,' outlines Space Force's mission to successfully monitor a vast orbital range that includes everything from low earth orbit (LEO) to the moon.
STARCOM drafted the document as part of its mission to educate and train US Space Force personnel, officially dubbed 'guardians.'
Since the branch's creation in 2019, the number of orbital knowns and UFO 'unknowns' shadowing the Earth has skyrocketed by the thousands.
Space Force, citing NASA data, published a chart revealing that there are now over 25,000 objects total in orbit, although most were determined to be 'rocket bodies,' 'spacecraft,' 'mission-related debris' or other known man-made objects.
Much of the clutter orbiting Earth is man-made space junk and 'natural debris' like meteoroids, but Space Force's document detailed a weirder, new category: 'objects that exhibit abnormal observables and patterns of life and cannot [be] correlated to any owner or point of origin'
Over 60 percent of the US Space Force budget, or about $19.2 billion worth, has earmarked for research, development, testing and evaluation - creating the tools and techniques for the new and growing problem of defending US interests from foreign military activity in space
According to the Air Force Research Lab, its new security and monitoring probe, the Oracle spacecraft (above) 'aims to launch in 2026 to an area of gravitational stability between the Earth and the Moon to test techniques to monitor space traffic that travels through that region'
Space Force leadership said it hopes to positively identify any and all UFOs to determine if they should be recovered or if they pose a clear and present danger to the United States.
Or, in military's own unique jargon, Space Force hopes to 'distinguish between sources of spacecraft anomalies in support of anomaly resolution, recovery, and space attack assessment,' the new document states.
But that will cost money, alongside Space Force's other duties providing satellite and other space-based support for American troops on the ground worldwide.
The ex-Air Force security officer said he investigated two sightings of a 100-yard UFO witnessed by Boeing contractors and Air Force police on October 14, 2003. There's 'at least 80 people that know this happened,' the USAF vet., Jeff Nuccetelli, told the Merged podcast. As the officer recalled of the eyewitnesses, 'They're scared. Everyone's freaked out
First it must organize, train and equip personnel to 'protect US and allied interests in space.' But, secondarily, it must also 'provide space capabilities to the joint forces' here on Earth, such as maintaining spy satellites and other space-based military hardware.
Space Force's STARCOM noted that figuring out the mystery of what these UFOs or UAP are is essential, in part, so that it can get on with it's other military troop-support tasks.
'Anomalous indications,' the new guidance document states, 'unnecessarily consume SDA resources (e.g., sensors, communication nodes, command and control [C2] centers, planners, operators) that would otherwise be supporting space and terrestrial combatant commands.'
One new concern, the document added, is the growing threat of foreign spy satellites and worse, in the large dark orbital region between the Earth and the moon, dubbed 'cislunar' orbit.
'Current sensor capabilities will find that the vastness of space between the Earth and the moon, and around the moon, creates challenging conditions for search, custody, and collection operations in support of joint forces,' the branch's new strategy document stated.
Space Force noted plans by the US Air Force Research Lab for a new security and monitoring probe, the Oracle spacecraft, which 'aims to launch in 2026 to an area of gravitational stability between the Earth and the Moon to test techniques to monitor space traffic that travels through that region.'
Given all this uncharted territory, which is at best poorly monitored by US defense systems, it is no surprise that the branch's 'guardians' are requesting $3.9 billion more from taxpayers for 2024 than its 2023 fiscal year budget.
At present, over 60 percent of the US Space Force's budget, or about $19.2 billion worth, has been earmarked for research, development, testing and evaluation.
Nearly $20 billion, in other words, just to create the tools and techniques for the new and growing problem of defending US interests from foreign military activity, terrestrial and possibly extraterrestrial, in outer space.
US Report: Earth's Orbit filled with Thousands of UFOs, Posing Challenges in Threat Detection
B-21 Raider: What we're allowed to know on US' new top-secret aircraft
'It lit up the entire cab of my cruiser to the point where I was having a hard time driving because I really couldn't see,' Klein stated. 'I was blinded by it.'
The veteran policeman described the large spherical light as having a 'plasma-like' quality. 'I've seen my fair share of drones and meteors,' Klein said. 'This was something I've never come across before.'
The UFO then made a shocking, 'instantaneous' movement to the bank across the reservoir where it continued to hover.
'That's when I sort of snapped out of it and took out my camera and started recording and taking pictures,' Klein recollected.
The police officer released his video of UFO over Thanksgiving weekend.
A Connecticut policeman has recently gone public with an eerie tale of a glowing UFO, the size of a 'Mini Cooper,' hovering over his patrol car in 2022
Klein, who told his story to NewsNation host Ashleigh Banfield of 'Banfield' last Wednesday, said he was amazed by the both the apparent speed and acoustic signature of this airborne, plasma-like object.
'I couldn't see it go from A to B, that's how fast it moved,' he said. 'It gave off a low hum, which was very distinct.'
The veteran police officer took pains to emphasize that, in the early moments of his encounter, he was able to get 'a very close-up view of it' from 30 feet below the hovering, orb-like object: 'It wasn't a drone — I can guarantee you that.'
'I froze,' Klein told NewsNation as he recalled that moment looking up at the object. 'I wasn't in fear. I just was really trying to understand what exactly I was looking at.'
'I was trying to just process what I was looking at,' he said. 'Still to this day, I'm perplexed.'
Klein recalls that his midrange car-sized UFO cycled through four colors in total, red, green, white and orange.
Swarms of noisy, small UFOs were seen at dusk 'moving at rapid speeds' and displaying 'flashing red, green, and white lights' penetrating the highly restricted airspace above Langley Air Force Base in Virginia for over two weeks this time last year, December 2023.
The rogue fleets of small aircraft would disappear into thin air each night despite being hunted by the best hardware the Air Force and NASA had on hand.
The eyewitness, police officer Robert Klein (pictured), described the object's intense, color-changing light flooding his vehicle as he approached a local reservoir in Fairfield County, CT in 2022, while on patrol close to midnight
A Connecticut police officer with 25 years of experience in law enforcement has gone public with an eerie tale of a glowing UFO - the size of a 'Mini Cooper' - hovering over his patrol car. Above, a 3D recreation of the event produced by computer graphics artist Fin Handley
Above, a map of the region where the police officer had his UFO encounter in April 2022
General Glen VanHerck, the commander with North American Aerospace Defense (NORAD) Command, has called for authorization to use special surveillance equipment on US soil to get to the bottom of the incursions.
Officer Klein reached out to UFO researcher and TV presenter Ben Hanson via one of his websites, offering his testimony and video of the encounter.
Hanson described the episode as a classic case resembling a scene straight out of Steven Spielberg 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' in which a vehicle driven by Richard Dreyfuss's character is similarly bathes in blinding light.
'Incidentally, anyone who's watched the [US Senate] hearings lately with AARO,' Hanson told NewsNation, 'they'd mentioned [covered] a similar event on the West Coast with another police officer who described an object the size of a Prius.'
Hansen, the host of the Discovery+ docu-series 'UFO Witness' said he is still actively pursuing this case, on the hunt for potential additional witnesses who could help to corroborate Klein's testimony or offer more physical evidence.
The seasoned UFO investigator said that he already has a line on a separate incident involving multiple orbs witnessed by people at a local community center.
'Our team is going to be going out to Connecticut on the ground,' Hansen told NewsNation.
Meet the ancient 'big head' people: Scientists uncover a 'lost' human in Asia with an abnormally large skull that lived alongside homo sapiens 100,000 years ago
Meet the ancient 'big head' people: Scientists uncover a 'lost' human in Asia with an abnormally large skull that lived alongside homo sapiens 100,000 years ago
Scientists have discovered a 'lost' species of human with an abnormally large skull which lived alongside homo sapiens.
Known as the Juluren, meaning 'big head people', this ancient species may have lived in China between 300,000 and 50,000 years ago.
Scientists believe they would have had a larger brain than any of the known hominin species, including modern-day humans.
'Homo julurensis' would likely have hunted wild horses in small groups, made simple stone tools for cutting, and possibly processed animal hides for clothes.
Previous studies have tended to lump together lots of different fossils as a single diverse group.
However, paleoanthropologist Professor Xiujie Wu from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and anthropologist Dr Christopher Bae from the University of Hawai'i argue that scientists have missed key characteristics in the fossil record.
In a 'provocative' paper, these scientists claim that some fossils have a mosaic of features which don't fit with any known human species.
Researchers claim to have discovered a new species of ancient human with an abnormally large brain by analysing fragments of 300,000 year old skulls (stock image)
Scientists believe that this ancient human would have had the biggest brain of any known hominin based on the abnormal size of its skull (depicted here as digital renders)
However, Dr Bae says that some of these fossils should actually be considered their own separate species called homo julurensis.
The researchers analysed 21 hominin fossils from an unknown number of individuals found in China during the 1970s and skull fragments from two individuals found in 2005 at a different Chinese site.
Using new techniques for organizing fossil evidence, Dr Bae and Professor Wu identified a set of characteristics that didn't match the known species.
The most distinctive of these characteristics is the abnormally large skull which gives the Juluren their name.
By piecing together the remains of the skull, researchers estimate that it would have had a volume of 1700 ml, larger than even the 1,330 ml skull of homo sapiens.
Palaeontologists believe the ancient human species made their settlements on the shores of this lake which now holds their remains in its thick sediment.
The researchers argue that homo julurensis was a relative of homo erectus (bottom) which lived between 1.89 million and 110,000 years ago
By comparing skull fragments found in China (pictured), the researchers estimate that homo julurensis would have had a skull volume of 1700 ml - much larger than any other known hominin
Scientists discovered teeth and jaw fragments which suggest that homo julurensis would have had some similarities to Neanderthals but have enough differences to be its own species
Not only was the skull abnormally large, but it was also strangely shaped, being much wider at the base than a typical skull.
In addition to skull fragments, researchers have subsequently found pieces of jaw and teeth.
Together, the researchers argue there are enough distinct characteristics to support the existence of a completely new category of humans.
In their paper, published in PaleoAnthropology, Professor Wu and Dr Bae argued: 'Collectively, these fossils represent a new form of large-brained hominin.'
This complex pattern of traits suggests that there was far more interbreeding and shared ancestry between the various hominin groups living in Asia between 300,000 and 50,000 years ago.
However, these arguments have been controversial with some pointing out that the fossil evidence for homo julurensis remains relatively thin.
Professor Jonathan Hawk, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, described the new paper as 'provocative' in a post on X.
However, Professor Hawk maintains that the basic idea behind the Julurensis theory is valid.
The scientists call the species Juluren, meaning 'big head people', and claim they would have lived between 300,000 and 50,000 years ago, hunting horses in small groups, and making simple tools (stock image)
The researchers argue that a set of fossils found in China (left) doesn't fit with any of the other known species of hominin. This comes amid a series of other new hominin species being discovered including homo longi (top) and homo floresiensis (right)
In a blog post, Professor Hawk wrote: 'I think the record is more expansive than most specialists have been assuming.
'Calling all these groups by the same name makes sense only as a contrast to recent humans, not as a description of their populations across space and time.'
The new species is yet to be officially scientifically recognised – a formal approval given by an authoritative taxonomic body.
But however homo julurensis ends up being classified, the researchers argue that the simple story of human evolution in Asia no longer stands to scrutiny.
Dr Bae says: 'This study clarifies a hominin fossil record that has tended to include anything that cannot easily be assigned to homo erectus, homo neanderthalensis or homo sapiens.'
While the human family tree was once considered fairly simple, recent years have seen a sudden bloom of new offshoots.
And in 2021, scientists officially recognised the existence of homo longi, a species known as the 'dragon people' found in China.
This comes after scientists confirmed the existence of homo floresiensis (pictured), the smallest known human species which lived on an isolated island of Indonesia 50,000 years ago
And in 2021, scientists officially recognised the existence of homo longi, a species known as the 'dragon people' found in China.
Homo longi had a brain comparable in size to that of modern humans, but sported big, almost square eye sockets, thick brow ridges, a wide mouth and larger teeth.
As these discoveries emerge, many researchers now argue that there is a compelling case to reconsider the groupings of some Asian fossils.
Writing in Nature Communications, Professor Wu and Dr Bae conclude: 'It is becoming increasingly clear that the eastern Asian hominin fossils are not only increasing in number thanks to new discoveries, but that a greater degree of morphological variation is present than originally assumed or anticipated.'
Who were the Denisovans?
Who were they?
The Denisovans are an extinct species of human that appear to have lived in Siberia and even down as far as southeast Asia.
The individuals belonged to a genetically distinct group of humans that were distantly related to Neanderthals but even more distantly related to us.
Although remains of these mysterious early humans have mostly been discovered at the Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains in Siberia, DNA analysis has shown the ancient people were widespread across Asia.
Scientists were able to analyse DNA from a tooth and from a finger bone excavated in the Denisova cave in southern Siberia.
The discovery was described as 'nothing short of sensational.'
In 2020, scientists reported Denisovan DNA in the Baishiya Karst Cave in Tibet.
This discovery marked the first time Denisovan DNA had been recovered from a location that is outside Denisova Cave.
How widespread were they?
Researchers are now beginning to find out just how big a part they played in our history.
DNA from these early humans has been found in the genomes of modern humans over a wide area of Asia, suggesting they once covered a vast range.
They are thought to have been a sister species of the Neanderthals, who lived in western Asia and Europe at around the same time.
The two species appear to have separated from a common ancestor around 200,000 years ago, while they split from the modern human Homo sapien lineage around 600,000 years ago.
Last year researchers even claimed they could have been the first to reach Australia.
Aboriginal people in Australia contain both Neanderthal DNA, as do most humans, and Denisovan DNA.
This latter genetic trace is present in Aboriginal people at the present day in much greater quantities than any other people around the world.
How advanced were they?
Bone and ivory beads found in the Denisova Cave were discovered in the same sediment layers as the Denisovan fossils, leading to suggestions they had sophisticated tools and jewellery.
Professor Chris Stringer, an anthropologist at the Natural History Museum in London, said: 'Layer 11 in the cave contained a Denisovan girl's fingerbone near the bottom but worked bone and ivory artefacts higher up, suggesting that the Denisovans could have made the kind of tools normally associated with modern humans.
'However, direct dating work by the Oxford Radiocarbon Unit reported at the ESHE meeting suggests the Denisovan fossil is more than 50,000 years old, while the oldest 'advanced' artefacts are about 45,000 years old, a date which matches the appearance of modern humans elsewhere in Siberia.'
Did they breed with other species?
Yes. Today, around 5 per cent of the DNA of some Australasians – particularly people from Papua New Guinea – is Denisovans.
Now, researchers have found two distinct modern human genomes - one from Oceania and another from East Asia - both have distinct Denisovan ancestry.
The genomes are also completely different, suggesting there were at least two separate waves of prehistoric intermingling between 200,000 and 50,000 years ago.
Researchers already knew people living today on islands in the South Pacific have Denisovan ancestry.
But what they did not expect to find was individuals from East Asia carry a uniquely different type.
Echoes From The Pleistocene: Denisovans Remembered in Indigenous Myths? | Dawn of sapiens
CARTA: The Origin of Us -- Chris Stringer: Fossil Record of Anatomically Modern Humans
Journeying into space is pretty dangerous stuff. Relatively few missions sent to explore space over the years have been crewed, and for good reason. The risk to human (and animal) life is always high, even as technology in this field advances rapidly.
In one of the scariest disasters in recent years, two US astronauts who were meant to spend eight days traveling to and from the International Space Station (ISS) have been stuck there for over two months. What's more, they may not be able to get home until 2025. This is due to the myriad of technical issues that have left their craft, the new Boeing Starliner capsule, unsafe to use. Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were the first crew to fly the ship on its maiden voyage—an unlucky predicament, as it turns out. The mission launch occurred on June 5, and the Starliner made it to the ISS safely. However, several technical issues came to light that made it impossible for Wilmore and Williams to return to Earth on the scheduled date. What was supposed to be eight days stretched into eight weeks as Boeing and NASA attempted to resolve the issues. In July, Boeing revealed that four of Starliner's jet fuels had failed, the thrusters were malfunctioning, and there were helium leaks.
The astronauts have been at the ISS for over 180 days, and the Starliner has already returned to Earth without them due to safety concerns. A SpaceX Crew Dragon flight is now scheduled to bring them back to Earth in February.
While the world waits to see when and how these astronauts will make it back to Earth, let's look back at some of the worst disasters in the history of space travel to remember what is at stake.
Ben je een liefhebber van astronomie of wil je meer leren over wat er zich in ons heelal afspeelt?
Met deze quiz kun je niet alleen je kennis testen, maar er ook iets meer over te weten komen door de juiste antwoorden te vinden.
Er is een oneindige ruimte om ons heen en alles weten is misschien onmogelijk, maar hoeveel weet jij tot nu toe? Test jezelf om erachter te komen!
Astronomie, alles wat zich buiten de grenzen van de aarde bevindt
Astronomie is een van de meest fascinerende studies, omdat het alles betreft wat zich buiten de grenzen van de aarde bevindt.
Slechts weinig mensen hebben deze grens overschreden en niemand is ooit verder gegaan dan de maan. Terwijl enkele rovers zelfs op Mars zijn geland, wordt wat buiten ons sterrenstelsel ligt alleen waargenomen door telescopen.
Het heelal is potentieel oneindig en er wordt gezegd dat het menselijk brein niet in staat is om zich de uitgestrektheid en grenzen ervan voor te stellen. Dit betekent dat de dingen die we moeten weten over de ruimte om ons heen eindeloos zijn, maar de wetenschap ontdekt elke dag iets nieuws.
Planeten, zonnestelsels, sterren en andere hemellichamen doorkruisen het heelal en beïnvloeden elkaar. En dan hebben we het nog niet eens over zwarte gaten en mysterieuze zaken als donkere materie, die bestaat uit nog onbekende deeltjes die we niet kunnen zien.
Tot slot de grote vraag: zijn wij alleen in het universum? Tot nu toe is het antwoord nog niet gevonden, ook al zijn er precieze en onvermijdelijke voorwaarden om een planeet als bewoonbaar te beschouwen en velen zijn gevonden onder exoplaneten, die buiten onze Melkweg.
Kortom, de dingen die je moet weten zijn ontelbaar, net als de mysteries die de ruimte omhullen, maar hoeveel weet jij van astronomie?
De quiz over astronomie
Pixabay
Hoe goed ken jij het universum? Het is tijd om erachter te komen met deze fascinerende astronomie-quiz. We raden je aan om je antwoorden op een vel papier te schrijvren, zodat je je persoonlijke resultaat kunt terugvinden.
Ben je er klaar voor? Laten we beginnen:
1. De Maan is een:
a) Planeet
b) Asteroïde
c) Satelliet
2. Wat is de leeftijd van ons stelsel?
a) ongeveer 80 miljoen
b) ongeveer 12 miljard
c) ongeveer 4,5 miljard
3. In 1999 konden astronomen berekenen hoe oud het heelal ongeveer is:
a) ongeveer 13 miljard jaar
b) ongeveer 6.000 jaar
c) ongeveer 900 miljard jaar
4. De afstand van de maan tot de aarde is gelijk aan:
a) 384.400 km
b) 745.500 km
c) 1.628.000 km
5. Wat is de beste plek om naar leven in de ruimte te zoeken?
a) Neptunus, omdat het vergelijkbare weersystemen heeft als de aarde
b) Mars, vanwege de mogelijke aanwezigheid van vloeibaar water onder het oppervlak
c) Uranus, omdat het blauwgroene oppervlak bewoonbaar zou kunnen zijn
6. Wat is de temperatuur op het oppervlak van de Zon?
a) 1300°
b) 2500°
c) 5500°
7. Hoeveel planeten zijn er in het zonnestelsel?
a) 9
b) 8
c) 12
8. Wat is een zwart gat?
a) Een donkere tunnel tussen het ene zonnestelsel en het andere
b) Een hemellichaam van binnen waaruit niets, zelfs geen licht, kan ontsnappen.
c) Een gat in het centrum van een ster.
9. In juli 1969 liep de mens voor het eerst op de maan. Hoe lang zullen hun voetafdrukken zichtbaar zijn op het maanoppervlak?
a) Honderden miljoenen jaren
b) Ze zijn al uitgewist door de wind
c) Ongeveer een eeuw
10. Wat is de afstand tussen de aarde en Alpha Centauri, de dichtstbijzijnde ster in het zonnestelsel?
a) 40 biljoen km
b) 950 miljoen km
c) 16 miljard km
11. Hoe ver staat de Zon, onze moederster, van de Aarde?
a) 3,2 miljard km
b) 147 miljoen km
c) 998 miljoen km
12. Wat is een supernova?
a) De explosie van een ster
b) De geboorte van een grote nieuwe ster
c) De samensmelting van twee sterren
13. Hoeveel sterren zijn er, afgezien van de sterren die we vanaf de aarde kunnen zien, nog meer in de Melkweg?
a) 6.000
b) 10 miljoen
c) 20 miljoen
14. Wat is de snelheid van het licht?
a) 150.000 km per seconde
b) 300.000 km per seconde
c) 150.000 km per minuut
15. De staart van een komeet kan zich uitstrekken tot:
a) Ongeveer 20 km
b) Honderden miljoenen kilometers
c) Ongeveer 8.000 km
16. Hoe lang duurt een dag op Mercurius, van zonsopgang tot zonsondergang?
a) Zes aardse maanden
b) Zes aardse uren
c) Zes Aardse dagen
17. Uit hoeveel sterren bestaat ons sterrenstelsel?
a) ongeveer 970 miljoen
b) ongeveer 8 miljard
c) ongeveer 200 miljard
18. Hoe lang zou een ruimteschip erover doen om met de snelheid van het licht de Melkweg over te steken?
a) ongeveer duizend jaar
b) ongeveer honderd jaar
c) ongeveer honderdduizend jaar
19. Wat gebeurt er met een massieve ster als zijn leven eindigt?
a) Het wordt een witte dwerg
b) Het krimpt tot hij verdwijnt
c) Het explodeert
20. Waarom zijn planeten en sterren bolvormig?
a) Erosie heeft ze in de loop der tijd gevormd totdat ze rond werden
b) De zwaartekracht heeft ze gevormd tijdens hun vorming
c) De bolvorm is beter bestand tegen wind
Oplossing van de quiz
Nu kun je ontdekken hoeveel antwoorden je hebt geraden met de oplossingen voor de astronomie-quiz van vandaag:
1. c (satelliet)
2. c (4,5 miljard jaar)
3. a (13 miljard jaar)
4. a (384.400 km)
5. b (Mars)
6. c (5500°)
7. a (9)
8. b (Een hemellichaam waaraan niets kan ontsnappen, zelfs geen licht)
9. a (Honderden miljoenen jaren)
10. a (40 biljoen km)
11. b (147 miljoen km)
12. a (De explosie van een ster)
13. c (20 miljoen)
14. b (300.000 km per seconde)
15. b (Honderden miljoenen kilometers)
16. c (Zes aarddagen)
17. c (Ongeveer 200 miljard)
18. c (Ongeveer honderdduizend jaar)
19. c (Ontploft)
20. b (De zwaartekracht vormde ze tijdens hun vorming)
Als je tussen de 0 en 6 goede antwoorden hebt gegeven: de astronomie intrigeert je zeker, maar misschien ben je pas sinds kort geïnteresseerd in dit onderwerp of heb je nog geen tijd gehad om je erin te verdiepen. In ieder geval heb je een goede basis om nog veel meer te ontdekken!
Als je tussen de 7 en 13 goede antwoorden hebt gegeven:dan ken je het heelal vrij goed, ook al is er iets - en hoe kan het ook anders? - dat je nog ontgaat. Je bent echter zeker niet onervaren en met een beetje studie kun je de gaten opvullen, dus geef niet op!
Als je tussen de 14 en 20 antwoorden goed hebt:gefeliciteerd, het heelal heeft geen geheimen voor jou (of bijna!) Het lijkt erop dat astronomie een echte passie voor je is en dat de ruimte iets is dat je intrigeert en dat je graag onderzoekt. Want weten wat ons omringt is echt fascinerend!
Heb je genoten van deze quiz? Je kunt jekennis blijven meten met de quizzen van Curioctopus en je kennis op de proef stellen!
Earth formed 4.54 billion years ago. The first period of the history of the Earth was known as the Hadean Period which lasted from 4.54 billion to 4 billion years ago. During that time, Earth was thought to be a magma filled, volcanic hellscape. It all sounds rather inhospitable at this stage but even then, liquid oceans of water are thought to have existed under an atmosphere of carbon dioxide and nitrogen. Recent research has shown that this environment may well have been rather more habitable than once thought.
The name ‘Hadean’ comes from Hades, the Greek god of the underworld. It nicely reflects the hot, hostile climate of the early Earth. During this period, Earth was largely a molten, chaotic world with volcanic eruptions a common sight on the landscape. Overhead, there would be regular visitors from space with meteorites and comets impacting the surface as the crust is still forming. Despite these conditions, it seems that water also began to accumulate as the planet cooled, possibly having been delivered by comets or released from outgassing from giant volcanoes. By the end of the era, the crust had solidified enough to form two early continents separated by forming oceans.
Artist concept of Earth during the Late Heavy Bombardment period. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab.
In a paper published by a team of researchers from the University of California they confirm this conclusion that, far from being in hospitable, early Earth was actually far less tumultuous. The team, led by Christopher K Jones explore the evolution of the Earth from formation to the evolution of life. They review a number of different pathways for the origins of life during the Hadean in the context of the large-scale planetary environment at the time, including Earth’s position in the Solar System.
This view of Earth from space is a fusion of science and art, drawing on data from multiple satellite missions and the talents of NASA scientists and graphic artists. This image originally appeared in the NASA Earth Observatory story Twin Blue Marbles. Image Credits: NASA images by Reto Stöckli, based on data from NASA and NOAA.
In order to complete their work, the team look at the a number of critical aspects across different disciplines that included microbiology, atmospheric chemistry, geochemistry and planetary science. The relationships between life’s beginnings and the processes and state of the environment at the time is also assessed in their paper including the formation of the crust and evolution of the atmosphere.
The paper also explores a number of different atmospheric processes from wet-dry and freeze-thaw cycles to hydrothermal vent systems. This is not just assessed on Earth but in the Solar System at large to see if there is any correlation or overlaps. The impact of comets too are considered and how they would impact on the atmospheric chemistry.
According to a new study, a comet impact triggered massive wildfires and a temporary cooling 12,800 years ago. Credit: NASA/Don Davis
The team conclude that Earth, during the Hadean period, most likely had liquid water. The debate still rages on however about the existence of continents and their composition. This uncertainty has an impact on just how organic life could have got a foothold on Earth. However it did, life would have taken a hold by the end of the Hadean era and started to leave evidence in the geological records of the Archean period that followed.
Unfortunately the paper is far from conclusive, leaving a number of questions unanswered but it does make a fabulous start to fill in the gaps at just how life began on this planet we call home.
NASA has given SpaceX the contract to launch the Dragonfly mission to Saturn’s moon Titan. A Falcon Heavy will send the rotorcraft and its lander on their way to Titan in 2028, if all goes according to plan, and the mission will arrive at Titan in 2034. Dragonfly is an astrobiology mission designed to measure the presence of different chemicals on the frigid moon.
Dragonfly will be the second craft to visit Titan, along with the Huygens probe and its short visit back in 2005.
Titan is remarkable because it’s the only body besides Earth with liquids on its surface. The liquids are hydrocarbons, not water, though there may be surface deposits of water ice from impacts or cryovolcanic eruptions. Researchers think that prebiotic chemicals are also present, making the moon an enticing target to understand how far prebiotic chemistry may have advanced.
These images of Titan’s well-known hydrocarbon seas are from Cassini radar data. Image Credit: [JPL-CALTECH/NASA, ASI, USGS]
Titan is benign when it comes to powered flight; its atmosphere is dense and its gravity is weak, compared to Earth. Dragonfly is an octocopter, a large quadcopter with double rotors, that can take advantage of Titan’s flight-friendly conditions. It will travel at about 36 kmh (22 mph) and will be powered by a Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG), a type of engine proven in multiple missions. The craft is designed to be redundant; it can lose one of its motors or rotors and still function.
Dragonfly will land near a feature on Titan called Shangri-La, east of where the Huygens probe landed. Shangri-La is one of three large sand seas near the moon’s equator.
Dragonfly’s target is the Selk impact structure, near the edge of Shangri-La. Selk is a young impact crater about 90 km (56 mi) in diameter that features melt pools, sites where liquid water and organics could mix together to form amino acids or other biomolecules. Dragonfly will initially land at some dunes near the structure then begin exploring the region and its chemistry.
Thanks largely to Cassini and Huygens, researchers have made progress understanding Titan. In a 2020 paper, researchers examined two types of craters on the moon: dune craters and plains craters. Selk is a dune crater, and in the paper, researchers said that the dune craters are richer in organics than plains craters, and in fact are almost entirely composed of organics. However, Titan’s thick atmosphere makes it difficult to observe, and these findings stem from interpreting albedo and emissivity.
Selk and the other dune craters may have originally had more water ice, according to the research, but much of it’s been eroded away. However, there was a long period of time where the water ice was present, and Dragonfly is heading for Selk to examine the chemistry in the crater and to try and determine if water and organics interacted and if prebiotic chemistry made any headway.
This illustration shows NASA’s Dragonfly rotorcraft-lander approaching a site on Saturn’s exotic moon, Titan. Taking advantage of Titan’s dense atmosphere and low gravity, Dragonfly will explore dozens of locations across the icy world, sampling and measuring the compositions of Titan’s organic surface materials to characterize the habitability of Titan’s environment and investigate the progression of prebiotic chemistry.
Credits: NASA/JHU-APL
It’s up to SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy to send Dragonfly on its way to Titan. Falcon Heavy has 11 launches under its belt, including the launch of the Europa Clipper in October. After Falcon Heavy launches Dragonfly, the spacecraft will perform one flyby of Earth to gain additional velocity.
It’ll take six years for Dragonfly to reach Titan, and just as it arrives, the entry capsule will separate from the cruise module. With the help of an aeroshell and two chutes, the lander will endure an approximately 105-minute descent. At approximately 1.2 km above the surface, the lander will deploy its skids, and based on its lidar and radar data, will perform and autonomous landing.
From its landing site, Dragonfly will deploy itself and perform a series of flights up to 8km (5 mi) long. There’s diverse geology in the region, and the rotorcraft will acquire samples and then analyze them during Titan’s nights, which last about 8 Earth days or about 192 hours. After that, it will head to the Selk crater.
Titan is an important astrobiology target in our Solar System, and unlike the frozen ocean moons Europa and Enceladus, there’s no added complexity of somehow working its way through thick ice before its potentially biological environment can be examined.
SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket sends NASA’s Europa Clipper into space from its Florida launch pad. If all goes well, the Falcon Heavy will launch the Dragonfly mission to Titan in July, 2028. (NASA Photo / Kim Shiflett)
But for all of this to succeed, it needs a successful launch first. NASA is paying SpaceX about $256 million to launch Dragonfly, and it the launch goes off without a hitch, it’ll be money well-spent.
Has Noah's Ark been found? Archaeologists reveal 'ruins' found in Turkey's boat-shaped mound date back 5,000 years ago - the same period as the Biblical flood
Has Noah's Ark been found? Archaeologists reveal 'ruins' found in Turkey's boat-shaped mound date back 5,000 years ago - the same period as the Biblical flood
Experts have dated rock and soil they believe hold ruins of Noah's Ark
Samples contain marine materials and seafood that suggest human activity
The calculations also put the samples at the same time as the Biblical flood
Archaeologists believe they are one step closer to confirming the resting place of Noah's Ark.
A teamexcavating a geological formation in Turkey has aged rock and soil samples they believe contain ruins of the vessel, which puts the site at the same time the Bible puts the Great Flood 5,000 years ago.
The project began in 2021 and is ongoing, but the initial analysis determined samples to contain clayey and marine materials and seafood.
According to the researchers, these results mean human activity was present on the boat-shaped mound between 5500 and 3000 BC.
A team excavating a geological formation in Turkey has aged rock and soil samples they believe contain ruins of the vessel, which puts the site at the same time the Bible puts the Great Flood 5,000 years ago
In the Bible, God commands Noah to build a vast ship, the ark - capable of saving himself, his family and a representation of the world's animals
The Bible claims the ark settled on the 'mountains of Ararat' in Turkey following a 150-day flood that drowned the Earth and every living thing on it that was not housed inside the wooden ship.
The geological formation located in Doğubayazıt district of Ağrı has been a potential site since it was discovered in 1956.
The mountain is the highest peak in Turkey, standing 16,500 feet tall and carved out like an ark would be.
The vessel was said to measure '300 cubits, 50 cubits, by 30 cubits', which translates to up to 515 feet long, 86 feet wide and 52 feet high.
A team of experts led by Istanbul Technical University (İTÜ), Andrew University, and Ağrı İbrahim Çeçen University (AİÇÜ) have been working at the site for nearly one year, collecting samples they believe hold the key to confirming the Biblical story.
The geological formation located in Doğubayazıt district of Ağrı has been a potential site since it was discovered in 1956 (pictured)
The first portion of their work began in December 2022, when they collected 30 samples of rock and soil fragments that the ITU laboratory analyzed. Pictured is the team walking inside the formation to collect rocks and soil
The first portion of their work began in December 2022, when they collected 30 samples of rock and soil fragments that the ITU laboratory analyzed, Arkeonews reports.
AİÇÜ Vice Rector Professor Faruk Kaya said: 'According to the first findings obtained from the studies, there have been human activities in the region since the Chalcolithic period between the years 5500 and 3000 BC.
'It is known that the flood of Prophet Noah went back 5,000 years ago.
'In terms of dating, it is stated that there was life in this region as well. This was revealed in the laboratory results.
'It is not possible to say that the ship is here with the dating. We need to work for a long time to reveal this.'
The Bible claims the ark settled on the 'mountains of Ararat' in Turkey following a 150-day flood that drowned the Earth and every living thing on it that was not housed inside the wooden ship
However, Dr Andrew Snelling, a young Earth creationist with a Ph.D. from the University of Sydney, had previously said that Mount Ararat could not be the ark's location because the mountain did not form until after the flood waters receded.
Although considered a historical event, most scholars and archaeologists do not believe in literally interpreting the Ark story.
In the Bible, God commands Noah to build a vast ship, the ark - capable of saving himself, his family and a representation of the world's animals.
The wickedness and corruption of man spurred God's vows to send a great cleansing flood.
Deeming Noah to be the only righteous man worth saving, God commands him to build a vast ship.
According to the Bible, when Noah has completed his task, and God has sent 'two of every sort' of animal to the Ark, the flood waters rise until all mountains are covered, and life (except fish) is destroyed.
Melvin Vopson, an associate professor in physics at the University of Portsmouth, thinks a series of daily clues suggest this world is not what it seems.
Now, he has tackled the hypothetical and philosophical question: If we are living in a virtual simulation, what is the purpose of it?
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, he outlines three theories, including that we all chose at birth to become characters in an advanced AI world.
'All these scenarios operate under the control of a master AI, created of course by a future iteration of our civilization,' Professor Vopson told MailOnline.
'It is possible that no one is awake anymore and we are trapped in the simulated reality, controlled by the AI.'
The so-called 'simulation theory' is popular with other figures including Elon Musk, who said the odds that we're living in a 'base reality' – the real universe as opposed to a simulated one – are 'one in billions'.
A physicist thinks we could be living in a simulation - and now he explains his leading theories as to why
In classic blockbuster film The Matrix, humans are enslaved by AI because they want our body heat to power their computers. Pictured, Keanu Reeves as Neo waking up in the real world
Professor Vopson – whose research focuses on experimental and theoretical studies of applied and fundamental physics – stresses that these three scenarios are speculation and not something backed by scientific research.
The first theory is that we opted to enter the simulation at birth purely as a form of entertainment – to keep our minds amused and occupied.
The real world that we've chosen to leave behind is not very interesting, the theory goes, so humans created a much more interesting, albeit fabricated, approximation of life - the ultimate VR game.
And with its plethora of celebrity gossip, sports events, political scandal and more, the ongoing soap opera of modern existence is anything but boring.
'We created the simulation as a place of entertainment where we can choose to enter (at birth) and experience a whole new life with all the components of it,' Professor Vopson told MailOnline.
As for how we had the capacity at birth to make the decision to enter the simulation, it's possible our consciousness would have made the choice before our new human was born.
The second theory is that the simulation can help humans as a whole 'learn something' that could provide a solution to a real-world problem.
Are we living in a simulated reality? Professor Melvin Vopson at the University of Portsmouth thinks it's possible (file photo)
What is the simulation theory?
The simulation theory suggests that what humans perceive as reality is actually a computer-generated simulation.
Human beings are unknowingly being fed this simulated consciousness either for their own good or for nefarious means.
In 2003, University of Oxford philosopher Nick Bostrum first proposed the argument that 'we are almost certainly living in a computer simulation'.
Simulation theory is explored in sci-fi films including 'The Matrix' (1999) and its sequels, as well as 'The Thirteenth Floor' (1999) and 'Dark City' (1998).
According to this so-called guinea pig theory, we may all be involuntary stuck inside the simulation for the greater good – the long-term benefit of humankind.
'Imagine that our society has a complex issue to solve – environmental, economic, energy crisis, wars,' Professor Vopson told MailOnline.
'If we had the ability, the best way to solve it would be to run a simulation (or multiple parallel simulations) and see what solutions the simulated version of us come up with.
'If any of the simulations crack the problem, then we can adopt it in the base reality as a viable solution.'
Lastly, the 'near-immortality' or 'Narnia' theory suggests that time in the real world moves much faster compared with time in the simulation.
For example, a single minute in the real world could last up to 100 years in the simulation, while one lifetime in the real world could be akin to 4.2 billion years, or over 52 million lives of lives in the simulation, assuming an average life of 80 years.
By opting to live in the simulation, we could experience multiple lives back-to-back, essentially achieving immortality.
'A hundred life experiences could be just 100 minutes in the real life in the base reality,' said Professor Vopson.
Melvin Vopson, an associate professor in physics at the University of Portsmouth, has already outlined the clues that suggest we live in a simulated reality
At a 2016 conference, Elon Musk said the odds that we're living in a 'base reality' - the real universe as opposed to a simulated one - are 'one in billions' (file photo)
'This is exactly how the time dilation works when we dream.
'In the dream, the events that we experience can appear to last minutes, hours or days, but in the real conscious state the dream lasted in fact fractions of seconds.'
It’s a moment that’s been depicted countless times in science fiction — but what would actually happen when extraterrestrials make contact via a signal picked up on Earth?
The moment could come as early as the end of this decade: if aliens receive signals sent by NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN) to the Pioneer 10 satellite in the 70s, for example.
When the moment comes, the signal is most likely to be received by large ground-based telescopes such as FAST in China, the Very Large Array (VLA) in New Mexico and the Parkes Telescope in Australia, says former NASA expert Sylvester Kaczmarek.
Day One
There is no universally agreed rule on how scientists or governments would respond - or on questions such as whether aliens would have rights.
But extraterrestrial-focused organisations including the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) drew up a framework in 2010.
Rather than immediately announce the finding to the world, scientists would work to confirm it was real - first ruling out interference from earth such as satellites and radio transmissions.
A mysterious signal at the Parkes Radio Telescope in the 90s was discovered to be a microwave oven in the staff canteen.
Kaczmarek says: ‘For a signal to be considered potentially extraterrestrial, researchers would typically require multiple layers of confirmation and analysis, often over several weeks or months.
The signal is most likely to be received by large ground-based telescopes such as the Parkes Telescope in Australia
(pictured)
'The signal would need to demonstrate properties inconsistent with natural astrophysical sources and human-made interference.’
In SETI’s ‘Declaration of Principles Concerning the Conduct of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence’, published in 2010 with the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), the guidelines suggest discoverers should collaborate with other institutions to be sure the signal is real.
Nothing would be announced until confirmed, although the scientists would respond to media queries if news ‘leaked’.
Week One (after confirmation)
Scientists at the observatory would notify organizations such as the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
Kaczmarek says that while organizations such as SETI have their own strategies for first contact in the event of sudden contact, organizations with expertise in space communication like NASA, and the ESA would almost certainly get involved.
WEEK ONE: Once scientists are certain, the discovery would be shared - probably through a public announcement including a press release and scientific publication, telling the world aliens have been discovered
Seth Shostak of SETI, which has a plan for what will happen when an alien signal is received
Kaczmarek says: ‘Governments would also become quickly involved, particularly those with advanced space programs or defense capabilities, like the US Space Force or equivalent agencies.
'However, in such a scenario, there would likely be confusion and competing interests before a unified global strategy emerged.’
Once scientists are certain, the discovery would be shared - probably through a public announcement including a press release and scientific publication, Kaczmarek says,
Kaczmarek says: ‘This transparency could be delayed depending on geopolitical or security concerns, especially if governments or defense agencies got involved.'
But once the secret is out, it's bound to leak so governments will likely try get ahead of the panic and confusion that would ensue.
Week Two
One of the first things would happen would be to ‘protect’ the frequency the signal was received on to ensure more signals could be received.
WEEK TWO: Chaos erupts across the globe after learning about the alien signal
Scientists would use emergency procedures within the World Administrative Radio Council of the International Telecommunication Union.
SETI’s guidelines suggest establishing a Post-Detection Study Group to analyze the signal and start discussions of how to respond.
At this point, it’s likely that the United Nations would become involved in deciphering the signal and working out how to respond.
Kaczmarek says, ‘In principle, the United Nations would play a central role in any coordinated global response.
Sylvester Kaczmarek is a former NASA space and AI expert
'The UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) is the most likely body to lead, as it oversees the peaceful use of outer space and has existing treaties, like the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, that cover international cooperation in space.'
Scientists and governments would work together at this point to understand where the signal came from, what it means - and whether or not to respond.
Week Three
The response to alien contact would vary according to what form it took: a visit from a spacecraft would require a direct response, says Kaczmarek.
But a signal received from the depths of space would require ‘long-term planning’ to respond to.
It’s likely that responding to such a signal would be a global decision, according to the Declaration of Principles Concerning the Conduct of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.
Rather than the scientists or any one group formulating a response, the scientists would seek guidance from global groups such as the United Nations.
The document says, “In the case of the confirmed detection of a signal, signatories to this declaration will not respond without first seeking guidance and consent of a broadly representative international body, such as the United Nations.”
When will we hear from aliens?
The SETI Project is still optimistic that aliens will be found in the near future.
Seth Shostak, 80, has been the senior astronomer at the SETI project (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) for almost a quarter of a century.
He has famously bet that the human race will hear from intelligent aliens by 2036 - and believes it is likely due to steady improvements in telescope technology and computing hardware.
In a recent Reddit AMA, Shostak said, ‘The trend of improving hardware - mostly computers -- has proceeded unabated. I'm still betting on a signal by 2036.’
Shostak also argues that recent research showing that there could be billions of Earth-like worlds means that it’s highly unlikely that Earth is the only one with life.
Shostak says, “That may be the strongest argument for life in space. Because, if there isn’t any, there’s something really exceptional about what’s happened here on Earth. While that’s not ruled out by the data, it does seem a little self-centered.”
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For decades, scientists have held onto the idea that Venus may be home toalien life.
But a new study has dashed those hopes - as scientists claim that Earth's 'evil twin' has never had liquid water on its surface.
By studying the composition of the planet's atmosphere, researchers from the University of Cambridge found that Venus has likely been dry for its entire history.
Without liquid water, it is almost impossible that life as we know it could have formed on the planet.
This discovery suggests that Venus may be at the very limit of the sun's habitable zone, narrowing down the area in which life as we know it could be found.
However, the researchers say that the search for life on Venus is not necessarily over.
Lead researcher Tereza Constantinou, a PhD student at the University of Cambridge, told MailOnline: 'While this rules out Earth-like life, it leaves open the intriguing possibility of extreme, unconventional life forms thriving in Venus’s hostile cloud environment.
'Any potential life in the Venusian clouds would have originated and evolved under entirely different conditions, perhaps adapted to survive in sulfuric acid clouds — so very much life as we do not know it.'
Scientists have dashed hopes that Venus (pictured) might be home to alien life as a new study shows that the planet has always been dry and inhabitable
Venus is the closest planet to Earth and is only 24 million miles closer to the sun. Venus and Earth are often called 'sister planets' due to their similarities in mass, size, and density but have evolved very differently
Venus and Earth are often called 'sister planets' due to their similarities in mass, size, density, and distance from the sun.
Yet despite their similar origins, the sister planets could not have grown into more different siblings.
While Earth is rich in liquid water and maintains an oxygen-rich atmosphere, Venus is a boiling-hot hell planet.
Ms Constantinou says: 'Venus now has surface conditions that are extreme compared to Earth, with an atmospheric pressure 90 times greater, surface temperatures soaring to around 460°C (860°F), and a toxic atmosphere mainly composed of carbon dioxide and with sulfuric acid clouds.'
However, based on climate models, scientists believe there are two paths Venus might have taken to end up this way.
In one scenario, Venus began its life rich in liquid water until a runaway greenhouse effect caused by volcanic eruptions led to temperatures spiralling out of control.
In the other, Venus has always been a dry, inhospitable planet and never had the conditions to support liquid water.
In order to investigate which of these stories is more likely, Ms Constantinou and her colleagues looked at the current composition of the Venusian atmosphere.
Scientists believe that Venus could have evolved into its current form (right) in one of two ways. Either it started covered in liquid water oceans (bottom) before a runaway greenhouse effect made it inhospitably hot, or it was always a dry planet (top) as H20 was driven out of the atmosphere into space
The researchers calculated the chemical content of Venus' volcanic eruptions (illustrated). On Earth, these are 80 per cent water due to the planets high moisture content while those on Venus only contained six per cent water by volume
Venus: Earth's hellish sister planet
Diameter at the equator:7,521 miles (12,104 km)
Distance from Earth: 24 million miles (38 million km)
Atmosphere: Mainly CO2
Surface temperature: 464°C (867°F)
Surface pressure: 92 bar
Day length: 117 Earth days
Year length: 225 Earth days
Habitability: With temperatures hot enough to melt lead, extreme pressure, and clouds of sulphuric acid Venus is considered to be very inhospitable to life.
On any volcanically active planet, the interior and exterior are in a constant state of chemical communication.
Since gases are constantly escaping from the atmosphere into space, these chemicals need to be replaced from within the planet for the atmosphere to remain stable.
When volcanoes erupt they release gases from inside the planet to replace those being lost into space.
This means that by working out how fast chemicals leave the atmosphere and comparing that to the chemicals which remain, astronomers can work out what the conditions inside the planet are like.
On Earth, volcanic eruptions are around 80 per cent steam due to our planet’s water-rich interior.
However, in their paper published in Nature Astronomy, the researchers found that Venusian eruptions only contain about six per cent water by volume, suggesting that the planet has been dry all along.
This pours cold water on the idea that there might be Earth-like organisms eeking out a precarious living in the Venusian atmosphere.
By looking at the gases in Venus' atmosphere, researchers predict that the interior of the planet contains low levels of moisture. This suggests that the planet was never home to oceans capable of supporting life. Pictured: A NASA image of the Venusian surface
What signs of life have been found in Venus' clouds?
Ammonia - on Earth produced by decay of plant and animal matter
Phosphine- produced by microbes in the absence of O2 and released from decay of organic matter
Ms Constantinou says: 'One theory for how life may now exist in the clouds, is that it migrated upwards from a once habitable surface.
'In this scenario, with a warming planet going through a runaway greenhouse effect, as the oceans evaporated and the surface became uninhabitable, life would have migrated to a habitable niche in the clouds.
'However, the absence of water oceans in Venus’s past suggests Venus never experienced the conditions necessary to develop and sustain Earth-like life -- the planet was never habitable.'
These findings contradict some earlier studies which have shown promising suggestions that life may exist on the planet.
The ammonia was discovered in the upper reaches of the atmosphere, where it is too cold for life to form.
Although Venus (pictured) was likely to have always been dry, the researchers suggest that some exotic forms of life could have evolved to survive in the clouds of sulphuric acid which make up much of the atmosphere
But some scientists suggest it could have been formed at lower, warmer altitudes before rising to its current position.
Venus's atmosphere consists mainly of carbon dioxide, with clouds of sulphuric acid droplets.
The thick atmosphere traps the sun's heat, resulting in surface temperatures higher than 470°C (880°F).
The atmosphere has many layers with different temperatures.
At the level where the clouds are, about 30 miles (50 km) up from the surface, it's about the same temperature as on the surface of the Earth.
As Venus moves forward in its solar orbit while slowly rotating backwards on its axis, the top level of clouds zips around the planet every four Earth days.
They are driven by hurricane-force winds travelling at about 224 miles (360 km) per hour.
Atmospheric lightning bursts light up these quick-moving clouds.
Speeds within the clouds decrease with cloud height, and at the surface are estimated to be just a few miles (km) per hour.
On the ground, it would look like a very hazy, overcast day on Earth and the atmosphere is so heavy it would feel like you were one mile (1.6km) deep underwater.
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The region - called Acidalia Planitia - contains just the right levels of water, heat and energy in its soil for alien bacteria to thrive.
The next step is to drill into the Martian surface to see if life truly has sprung there.
'[It is] a promising target area for future missions in the search for extant life in Mars' subsurface,' the researchers, led Andrea Butturini of the University of Barcelona, wrote.
But researchers would have to dig miles below the Red Planet. This would require major crewed missions and technologies that are not likely to be achievable for years to come.
What's more, it lays the groundwork for future studies that could settle an 'intense debate' about the presence of methane in the Red Planet's atmosphere.
Alien bacteria may be lurking 2.5 to 5.5 miles beneath the surface of a Martian plain called Acidalia Planitia, a new study has found
On Earth, methanogens typically dwell in swamps and marshes but can also be found in the guts of cows, termites and other herbivores, as well as in dead and decaying organic matter.
These microorganisms are anaerobic, which means they do not need oxygen to survive. They can also survive without organic nutrients or sunlight.
This will include a drill that can dig roughly seven feet into the Martian surface.
But that's not nearly deep enough to access the potentially habitable depth Butturini and his colleagues identified.
The Martian surface is inhospitable due to extremely cold temperatures and low pressure that not even extremophiles could survive.
But below the surface, the radioactive decay of elements such as thorium - a radioactive metal - produces heat and chemical energy. What's more, water left behind from ancient oceans is buried within the Red Planet.
These conditions could provide the ingredients for bacterial life - but likely up to five miles below.
Butturini, a biogeochemist the University of Barcelona, and his colleagues used data from Mars orbiters to locate regions where abundant thorium could provide life-sustaining energy.
Methanogens are extremophiles - bacteria that thrive in extreme environmental conditions such as very high temperatures, ultra-salty water or even high levels of radiation
In 2028, the European Space Agency plans to launch their Rosalind Franklin rover, previously known as the ExoMars rover, which will include a drill
They then matched this data with the distribution of subsurface ice previously mapped by missions such as the Chinese Zhurong rover.
This analysis revealed that the 'most robust target area is the southern Acidalia Planitia at mid latitude,' located near a region of clay and carbonate deposits with signs of groundwater activity.
At this underground location, temperatures are higher than they are on the surface, averaging between 32 to 50°F.
That means liquid water could be mixed into the Martian soil. And where there is liquid water, bacterial life can grow.
The findings are currently available on the pre-print server arXiv, which means the study has yet to be reviewed by other scientists.
But the research is already gaining attention from the scientific community, as it provides a specific location on which to focus the search for extraterrestrial life.
'The subsurface of the southern of Acidalia Planitia is a putative target region for hosting cold-adapted Methanosarcinaceae-like and/or Methanomicrobiaceae-like methanogens,' the study reads.
'In this region, the radiogenic heat-producing elements are at the highest abundance and subsurface water is likely.'
Observations of methane in the Martian atmosphere have been reported since 1999, but they have always been conflicting. These measurements show highly variable methane concentrations, with global averages ranging from five to 33 parts per billion-volume.
Specifically, the discrepancy between measurements taken by NASA's Curiosity rover and the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter.
Finding methanogens living below the surface of Mars would be strong evidence to suggest that the Red Planet's atmosphere does, in fact, contain methane at least partly generated by microbial processes.
Methanogens produce methane as a by-product of their metabolism.
Alternatively, atmospheric methane could stem from nonbiological processes such as volcanic or hydrothermal activity. Or, it could not exist at all.
'Cataclysmic' collision of giant asteroids is discovered by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope around a nearby star - and it only happened 20 years ago, scientists say
'Cataclysmic' collision of giant asteroids is discovered by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope around a nearby star - and it only happened 20 years ago, scientists say
Collision between asteroids 20 years ago occurred in Beta Pictoris star system
Just 20 years ago, a collision occurred between two asteroids orbiting Beta Pictoris, a star 63 light-years from Earth, the $10 billion observatory reveals.
This 'cataclysmic' impact event pulverized the two rocky bodies into fine dust particles 'smaller than pollen or powdered sugar', astronomers say.
In our own solar system, asteroids collide with each other and even with planets, posing a threat to lifeforms – although as it stands there's no known worlds orbiting Beta Pictoris that could host aliens.
Two different space telescopes took snapshots 20 years apart of the same area around a star called Beta Pictoris. Scientists theorize that a massive amount of dust detected in 2004 and 2005 by the Spitzer Space Telescope indicates a collision of asteroids that had largely cleared by the time the James Webb Space Telescope captured its images in 2023
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (pictured) was built to 'see back in time', up to a whopping 13.5 billion years ago - but its latest discovery is surprisingly recent
What is Beta Pictoris?
Beta Pictoris is a star located 63 light-years from Earth in the southern constellation Pictor.
It has an encircling disk of debris that may contain planets, or 'planetesimals' on their way to becoming planets.
Scientists know of two gas planets orbiting Beta Pictoris - but there may be many more.
Beta Pictoris – which is nearly twice as massive as our sun and more than eight times as luminous – has long been of interest for astronomers because it's relatively young.
Our sun is 4.5 billion years old, but Beta Pictoris is only 20 million years old – and this is a key age giant planets have formed but rocky planets may still be developing around it.
Scientists have already confirmed the presence of two gas planets, Beta Pictoris b and Beta Pictoris c, orbiting it – but any rocky ones are yet to be discovered.
'Beta Pictoris is at an age when planet formation in the terrestrial planet zone is still ongoing through giant asteroid collisions,' said Christine Chen, astronomer at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.
'So what we could be seeing here is basically how rocky planets and other bodies are forming.'
It was 20 years ago that NASA's now-retired Spitzer Space Telescope observed a 'massive amount of dust' around Beta Pictoris.
Artist's impression depicts gas planet Beta Pictoris b in the foreground orbiting its star (Beta Pictoris)
Spitzer (artist's impression) was one of NASA's four Great Observatories - large, powerful space-based astronomical telescopes that were launched between 1990 and 2003
Do you know your asteroids from your meteorites?
An asteroid is a large chunk of rock left over from collisions or the early Solar System. Most are located between Mars and Jupiter in the Main Belt.
A comet is a rock covered in ice, methane and other compounds. Their orbits take them much further out of our solar system.
A meteor is a flash of light in the atmosphere when debris burns up.
This debris itself is known as a meteoroid. If any of this meteoroid makes it to Earth, it is a meteorite.
Along with Hubble, Compton and Chandra, Spitzer was one of NASA's four Great Observatories – large, powerful space telescopes launched between 1990 and 2003.
At the time, it was thought that the dust around Beta Pictoris was from a constant stream created by two small rocky bodies grinding against each other.
But after studying the same area 20 years later with the James Webb telescope, Chen and colleagues found the dust had gone.
They think a massive collision between two asteroids created the ultra-fine dust grains, which gradually dispersed into space.
'We think all that dust is what we saw initially in the Spitzer data from 2004 and 2005,' said Chen.
'With Webb's new data, the best explanation we have is that, in fact, we witnessed the aftermath of an infrequent, cataclysmic event between large asteroid-size bodies.'
If rocky planets do exist in orbit around Beta Pictoris, they are yet to be found – or yet to form.
But the findings suggest this faraway system may be going through a similar process of planetary formation that our solar system went though over 4 billion years ago.
In young solar systems such as Beta Pictoris, 'early turmoil' can influence the atmospheres, water content and other key aspects of habitability that can eventually develop on their planets.
The team also tip their hats to Spitzer, without which the dust from the collision would not have been detected.
'Most discoveries by James Webb Space Telescope come from things the telescope has detected directly,' said co-author Cicero Lu, a former Johns Hopkins doctoral student in astrophysics.
'In this case, the story is a little different because our results come from what James Webb did not see.'
The new insights are being presented on Monday at the 244th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Madison, Wisconsin.
According to our current understanding, a star and its planets form out of a collapsing cloud of dust and gas within a larger cloud called a nebula.
As gravity pulls material in the collapsing cloud closer together, the centre of the cloud gets more and more compressed and, in turn, gets hotter.
This dense, hot core becomes the kernel of a new star.
Meanwhile, inherent motions within the collapsing cloud cause it to churn.
As the cloud gets exceedingly compressed, much of the cloud begins rotating in the same direction.
The rotating cloud eventually flattens into a disk that gets thinner as it spins, kind of like a spinning clump of dough flattening into the shape of a pizza.
These 'circumstellar' or 'protoplanetary' disks, as astronomers call them, are the birthplaces of planets.
James Webb Space Telescope's discoveries 2 years since launch
JUST IN: James Webb Telescope's New Discovery Shatters Our Understanding of Early Universe
Astronomers have discovered mysterious 'UFO galaxies' that appear as red, glowing disc-shaped objects in the blackness of space.
They found evidence of 56 'Ultra-red Flattened Objects' after analyzing data collected by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which had eluded older telescopes, like Hubble, for decades.
However, JWST features advanced technology, such as its infrared-light detection, enabled it to capture stunning images of these glowing discs, some located in regions closer to our own Milky Way galaxy than astronomers had thought they'd already mapped.
Drawing on these images and computer simulations, researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder (UCB) suggested that UFO galaxies are similar in size and shape to the Milky Way but are 'much dustier.'
Lead author Justus Gibson said: 'JWST allows us to see this type of galaxy that we never would have been able to see before.'
'It tells us that maybe we didn't understand the universe as well as we thought.'
Gibson also explained that UFO galaxies appear red because they emit very little visible light. Most of the light escaping from these galaxies is infrared radiation, and the small amount of visible light they emit is at the limit of what human eyes can perceive.
NASA spots mysterious 'UFOs' hidden in deep space
Above, two images depicting the same region of space show how the 'UFO galaxies' evaded detection from past telescopes. The top image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope failed to spot the infrared heat signal that the James Webb Space Telescope image, below it, picked up
Researchers identified a total of 56 UFO galaxies - most likely hidden due to clouds of dust and debris that mask the light from their inner star systems. Above, four more examples of infrared emitting UFO galaxies that were hidden from Hubble (HST) but visible to the James Webb (JWST)
A suite of computer simulations, neural network emulators and mathematical models was used to determine the shapes of these large, red UFO galaxies.
The team concluded that they come in forms such as classic 'flying saucers' (discs) and rugby ball-shaped 'prolate spheroids.'
Each of these massive, red light- and infrared radiation-emitting galaxies, the researchers discovered, contains roughly 50 times more dust than our own galaxy, the Milky Way.
Study co-author Erica Nelson remarked: 'Why on Earth do these galaxies have so much more dust than all the other galaxies? Got me.'
The researchers considered data from the vast array of better-documented galaxies before feeling confident in their conclusion: the stars and planets within these UFO galaxies are hidden by thick clouds of dust.
The team rigorously compared this data to the total mass of stars in each UFO galaxy (its stellar mass) and the changes in the quality of light and infrared radiation emitted at each galaxy's center compared to its edges.
The results provided a clear indication that the faint red light emitted by these UFO galaxies is due to masking by dust and debris—rather than the faint light typical of very distant galaxies billions of light-years away, which are thought to have formed during the universe's earliest epochs.
'UFOs have red colors throughout the extent of their bodies but still possess slight negative color gradients, with outskirts that are less red than the interiors,' the said.
'These color gradients are likely driven by increased central dust concentration and not by the ages of the stellar populations,' they concluded in their study, published this October in The Astrophysical Journal.
Above, more examples of the 56 known UFO galaxies, with one comparatively 'dust free' galaxy in the top left, published by the researchers for the sake of comparison
Above, another bright-red UFO galaxy taken by James Webb. 'It tells us that maybe we didn't understand the universe as well as we thought,' the study's lead author Justus Gibson said
Changes in the gradients of red and infrared light, as well as similar measurements from nearby brighter and bluer galaxies, helped the team to also estimate the rate at which new stars form inside these UFO galaxies, another factor that might impact the light they emit.
'The population of UFOs studied here are not extreme objects in regard to the stellar mass, SFR [star formation rates], or redshift,' Gibson and his co-authors wrote.
The once hidden UFOs were thus simply, 'thoroughly red objects whose optical faintness is largely driven by dust.'
'They're so visually striking,' said Nelson, assistant professor of astrophysics at CU Boulder.
'They're enormous red disks that pop up in these images, and they were totally unexpected. They make you say, 'What? How?''
Three other ultra-massive, red-light emitting galaxies dubbed 'Red Monsters' — each nearly as big as the Milky Way — were also discovered this month, much farther away from Earth and closer to the site of the Big Bang.
The international team of astronomers who published that find used similar methods to determine that their infrared radiating galaxies were most likely dust free, giants far away from Earth in both time and space.
Both the Red Monster and the UFO galaxies, the researchers noted, challenge current ideas of how galaxies form.
The Red Monsters show that galaxies formed much earlier than previously calculated and the UFOs show that gravity may not pool all the matter that swirls a young galaxy together into neatly defined planets and stars, leaving a lot of dust and debris behind.
'They make you say: 'What? How?'' Dr Nelson said. 'They're so visually striking [...] They're enormous red discs that pop up in these images, and they were totally unexpected.'
A thermal video captured a 'pair of UFOs' flying over the coast of Northern California, stumping locals and experts alike.
On Friday, Reddit user @louthegoon posted the video to the 'The UFOs Subreddit' - a forum for UFO discussions where people can talk about sightings, experiences, news and investigations.
He recorded the video from Pacifica, California, on November 29 at 10:29 pm, which features 'two solid heat-objects flying in tandem'.
Midway through the video, the scorching hot objects can be seen rotating in unison while maintaining a consistent distance between them.
After the footage went viral, some Reddit users in the comments expressed disbelief.
'They move kind of like birds though,' one user commented, to which @louthegoon responded, 'I'm interested in hearing why you believe they are birds.'
'I don't think it is an osprey because if it was we wouldn't see negative space between these heat-objects,' he said, adding that the way in which the objects moved 'gives off a robotic feeling' when they rotate.
A thermal video captured a 'pair of UFOs ' flying over California
The video comes just weeks after a photo of four gleaming lights above the United States Capitol building sparked fears that an alien invasion may be finally starting to materialize
The photo, captured at night just outside Congress with the Capitol Hill dome in view, was taken by Dennis Diggins, a U.S. Air Force veteran who now works as a licensed tour guide and professional travel director in the Washington, D.C., area.
In the image, the triangular formation of lights appears to hover mere feet above the 'Statue of Freedom' atop the Capitol dome.
As fate would have it, this sighting occurred just weeks after a pair of high-profile public hearings in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, where lawmakers questioned current and former Pentagon officials about intelligence regarding what were once called "flying saucers."
While some eagerly sought video evidence to connect this latest sighting to the broader UFO debate on Capitol Hill, others dismissed the speculative frenzy surrounding the mysterious lights.
The footage begins with the camera scanning the flat terrain surrounding the base before zooming in on distant mountains, where four black dots hovered in the sky.
Moments later, the camera captured a closer view of the mysterious orbs, which appeared to be dripping fuel beneath them.
A swarm of UFOs were seen completely unaffected after being hit by a missile outside of an Afghanistan military base - and the 10-minute was shared on Reddit
Many Reddit users initially thought the dots were flares, but the camera later switches from FLIR mode to normal vision - revealing that the orbs were glowing multi-colored dots that rigidly moved in a spatial relationship with each other
A short-range missile then entered the frame from the top right, striking through two of the levitating orbs.
Despite the apparent impact and brief explosions, the orbs remained unharmed as the debris dissipates into the air.
Initially, many viewers speculated that the peculiar dots were either training targets or flares.
As the video nears the six-minute mark, the camera transitions from FLIR — a thermal imaging technology that creates infrared visuals — to standard vision.
The camera switch showed how the orbs were actually glowing multi-colored dots, with pink, orange, purple, and yellow hues pulsating as they flew across the sky.
NASA’s Europa Clipper — the largest spacecraft NASA has ever developed for a planetary mission — is already 20 million km (13 million miles) from Earth.
An artist’s concept of NASA’s Europa Clipper shows the spacecraft in silhouette against the surface of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa, with the magnetometer boom fully deployed at top and the antennas for the radar instrument extending out from the solar arrays.
Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.
Europa Clipper lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on October 14, 2024.
The spacecraft is zooming along at 35 km per second (22 miles per second) relative to the Sun.
Europa Clipper will travel 2.9 billion km (1.8 billion miles) to arrive at Jupiter in 2030 and in 2031 will begin a series of 49 flybys, using a suite of instruments to gather data that will tell scientists if the icy moon and its internal ocean have the conditions needed to harbor life.
Europa Clipper deployment
For now, the information mission teams are receiving from the spacecraft is strictly engineering data, telling them how the hardware is operating.
Shortly after launch, Europa Clipper deployed its massive solar arrays, which extend the length of a basketball court.
Next on the list was the magnetometer’s boom, which uncoiled from a canister mounted on the spacecraft body, extending a full 8.5 m (28 feet).
To confirm that all went well with the boom deployment, the team relied on data from the magnetometer’s three sensors.
Once the spacecraft is at Jupiter, these sensors will measure the magnetic field around Europa, both confirming the presence of the ocean thought to be under the moon’s icy crust and telling scientists about its depth and salinity.
After the magnetometer, the spacecraft deployed several antennas for the radar instrument.
Now extending crosswise from the solar arrays, the four high-frequency antennas form what look like two long poles, each measuring 17.6 m (57.7 feet) long.
Eight rectangular very-high-frequency antennas, each 2.76 m (9 feet) long, were also deployed — two on the two solar arrays.
“It’s an exciting time on the spacecraft, getting these key deployments done,” said Europa Clipper project manager Jordan Evans, a researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
“Most of what the team is focusing on now is understanding the small, interesting things in the data that help them understand the behavior of the spacecraft on a deeper level. That’s really good to see.”
The remaining seven instruments will be powered on and off through December and January so that engineers can check their health.
Several instruments, including the visible imager and the gas and dust mass spectrometers, will keep their protective covers closed for the next three or so years to guard against potential damage from the Sun during Europa Clipper’s time in the inner Solar System.
Once all the instruments and engineering subsystems have been checked out, mission teams will shift their focus to Mars.
On March 1, 2025, Europa Clipper will reach Mars’ orbit and begin to loop around the Red Planet, using the planet’s gravity to gain speed.
Mission navigators already have completed one trajectory correction maneuver, as planned, to get the spacecraft on the precise course.
At Mars, they plan to turn on the spacecraft’s thermal imager to capture multicolored images of Mars as a test operation.
They also plan to collect data with the radar instrument so engineers can be sure it’s operating as expected.
The spacecraft will perform another gravity assist in December 2026, swooping by Earth before making the remainder of the long journey to the Jupiter system.
At that time, the magnetometer will measure Earth’s magnetic field, calibrating the instrument.
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Ghostly figure caught on security camera as distressed dogs react
Ghostly figure caught on security camera as distressed dogs react
A security camera recently captured an eerie scene that has left people intrigued and spooked. In the footage, recorded at dawn, a mysterious figure dressed in white appears near a large vehicle. What makes the video even stranger is the reaction of two nearby dogs, who seem unusually distressed and unsettled by the presence.
While the exact location in Mexico where this happened hasn’t been confirmed, many are already speculating about the figure’s identity. Some believe it could be La Llorona, the legendary weeping woman from Mexican folklore. La Llorona is said to wander in sorrow, mourning her lost children, and has been the focus of countless ghost stories over the years.
Others have suggested a different explanation, claiming the figure resembles a "nightcrawler," a strange cryptid reportedly known for its bizarre appearance.
Skeptics, however, argue that it might just be a person caught in an unusual moment, and the dogs’ reactions could be explained by their heightened senses picking up on something out of the ordinary. Still, the dogs' unsettling behavior has sparked debate about whether the encounter might have been something paranormal.
For now, the true nature of the figure remains a mystery.
What do UFO sightings tell us about ourselves? And will they ever be explained? Historian Greg Eghigian tells us how he's trying to find out.
An artist's impression of UFOs appearing over a small town.
(Image credit: Shutterstock)
Strange lights in the sky, little green men and crashed vessels secreted away to government labs — the relatively modern history of UFOs is replete with conspiracy theories and allegations of coverups.
But beyond the endless arguments between believers and debunkers over what could be behind the phenomena, the fact remains that many people have looked into the sky and reported seeing things they cannot explain. So what do UFO reports tell us about ourselves?
To discuss UFO sightings, how and why they first emerged, and the ways they tie into the cultural and political trends of the past and present, Live Science spoke with Greg Eghigian, a professor of history and bioethics at Penn State University, whose new book, "After The Flying Saucers Came" (Oxford University press, 2024), is one of the first social histories of UFOs, or unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP). Here's what he had to say.
Ben Turner: A lot of people assume UFOs entered public consciousness with the Roswell incident. But your book says otherwise. When did it all begin?
Greg Eghigian: I think when we look at this as a social phenomenon — not just simply someone saw something strange in the sky, but that the object was made by somebody, and that one of the probable scenarios is they were extraterrestrials — we can mark the moment that starts to evolve in June 24, 1947.
The private pilot Kenneth Arnold sees these objects [that day] over Washington state when he's flying his plane. He lands and reports it to the military and to journalists. When asked how they flew, he answered that these things flew kind of like saucers skipping across the water. Then, within a day or two, a journalist comes up with this great headline: "Flying saucers."
Once we had flying saucers, everything else fell into place.
A history of flying saucers and UFOs
BT: But then Roswell happened just a few weeks later. How did a fairly small city in New Mexico become famous all over the world for UFOs, while Arnold's name remains relatively unknown?
GE: Here's the thing about Roswell that a lot of people don't realize. The story that came out of Roswell is that some material had been retrieved around an Air Force base there that they believe could be from a crashed flying saucer.
Within a day, the Air Force rolls that back, saying that it's not the case, the people who first found it were mistaken. The reality is that the people who were on the ground and found this stuff were not terribly qualified to talk about it.
They didn't understand what they had, literally, in their hands, and the people who usually dealt with the material were actually off at a conference. When they did finally get a chance to look at it, they said, "Oh this is pretty mundane stuff," and they corrected themselves.
So the Roswell thing gets a lot of air play, a lot of global news coverage for about 24 to 48 hours, and then it disappears. It's not really ever talked about, and leaves very little imprint on the UFO world for decades.
It's then only in the late 1970s that some ufologists (and this is a very common thing in the UFO world) go back over the records, dig deeper into the story and believe that they found all these contradictions in it. That's when Roswell became a focal point.
(Image credit: Greg Eghigian)
BT: Looking at the period of history where all of this kicked off, we have growing Cold War rivalry, the new existential threat of nuclear weapons, McCarthyism, fear of communism and Soviet Russia. It seems like a time that's ripe for paranoia and conspiracism. How much is all of the UFO stuff tied into that?
GE: Oh, it's very tied in. I make the point in the book that I don't think the UFO phenomenon as we know it would exist without the Cold War. There are a variety of reasons for that, but one of the often forgotten aspects of this is World War II.
WWII and the Cold War bring a number of critical things to the table for how UFO stories were built. Firstly, you have big governments — big governments and big militaries. You look at the United States federal government in 1900 and it's not a big thing, it's not this monstrosity. By 1945, the U.S. government was a large bureaucracy with a big military.
Secondly, what WWII taught everybody was that this institution can have secret programs that build remarkable technology, like the atomic bomb, as well as new kinds of airplanes such as jets. And of course, both conflicts also have a lot of spying.
So when the UFO phenomenon emerges, the initial thought of just about everybody is that it has to be one of these superpowers. This has to be somebody doing surveillance.
That's also a lot of the ways it's still spoken about today: Who's doing this? Who's keeping it a secret? What are their intentions? And could it harm us? So it's very much a part of it, and it haunts the story of UFOs for decades.
The Roswell Daily Record, July 9, 1947.
(Image credit: Roswell Daily Record)
BT: There are also interesting preludes to the Kenneth Arnold moment in 1947. One thing that flashes to mind is Orson Welles' 1938 radio broadcast of the "War of The Worlds," which caused a mass panic that aliens were actually invading. Why did flying saucers take off in 1947 and not earlier?
GE: I think the game changer is the atomic bomb. That something could be invented that we had no idea about, that is just presented to the world, and has this enormous destructive power that could wipe out all of humanity almost in an instant.
When you ask why now, some people will respond that alien visitors have always been here and we're just noticing them now. But the argument that's usually presented is that it's probably because they [the aliens] saw us explode atomic bombs. This makes us capable of being conversed with, or a possible threat down the road.
The actor Orson Welles explains his radio broadcast of H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds to reporters after a fake radio bulletin of an alien invasion within the production caused mass panic.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
BT: There's an appeal to a higher power in it too, right? In a time when religion is falling by the wayside, after all the horrors of the past century, people were looking for something that could save us from ourselves.
GE: There are certainly people who believe exactly that. The figure who lays all of this out is the psychologist Carl Jung. In the late 1950s, he wrote one of the first, and still one of the best, scholarly books on the topic.
It makes this argument that, real or not, what they [UFOs] represent to people is this idea of salvation from something, at least that's the hope. By the early 1950s you see the beginning of UFO religious communities, almost all of them tied to the New Age Movement.
BT: Everything you've said so far makes this seem like a firmly mid-20th century American phenomenon. I confess to having been partial to the History Channel's "Ancient Aliens" back in the day. Do sightings stretch across cultures and into the past, as they claimed? Or is that a post-hoc narrative?
GE: This is a question that people debate pretty vigorously. There's no question that people reported seeing strange things in the sky dating back to ancient times. The most famous example is probably meteorites. For a long time the idea that rocks could fall from the sky seemed patently absurd, until people found out the reason is because there are a lot of rocks in space.
The problem with going backward in time and retrospectively looking at stuff and saying: "Aha! Here's another example of a UFO," is that it's deeply, deeply problematic from a historical standpoint.
Most of the time it involves an unintentional, and sometimes outright deliberate misreading of documents, artifacts or paintings. I've seen very good art historians, for instance, talk about paintings and say: "Oh my gosh, these things are clearly flying saucers!" When the objects they're referring to are objects in a particular religious ritual, or serve as a very symbolic trope. So it's very, very difficult to do that stuff [accurately].
BT: This touches on the methodology in your book. You take an agnostic approach: You don't take reports at face value, but neither do you dismiss them out of hand. How does one go about impartially assessing a UFO report? That's going to seem like a weird concept to people.
GE: Yeah it is strange to people, and I know a lot of people who still don't like that I do that.
For me, as a historian, it's partly the idea that I don't feel qualified to adjudicate some of these matters. I think some of these things have to be done by a meteorologist, a physicist, an astronomer or an engineer — someone who is far better qualified than I am to say what's possible and what's anomalous.
But the other part is that this is the way I get to the things that most interest me, which are human beings. I say in the introduction of the book that UFOs don't make history, people make UFOs make history. That really is the main point; it's that I'm interested in the human part of that history.
As far as we know today, UFOs don't have a natural history, they have a human history. Everything about them is related to our perception of them, our speculations and our discussions about them. The social fact of the UFO is very real, and it needs to be chronicled now. Whether these things also have a natural history I'm going to leave up to the researchers who do that stuff for a living.
BT:When you work through these reports, I'm sure some of them on their surface are obviously bogus. But others come from people, pilots for instance, who have no interest in UFOs and are speaking out at significant personal and professional cost. Have you come across any real headscratchers?
GE: Yeah a lot of them can be, or at least certain elements of them.
Back in the 1950s, there was one case that the U.S. Air Force looked into that really set them back on their heels. These two seasoned civilian pilots for Eastern Airlines, reasonable fellows, who saw this very strange object during a flight, they could even make out details from it and it was like nothing they'd seen before.
That's eerie and strange. They didn't have any explanation for it and certainly had no call to make it up — they weren't seeking fame and that wasn't a time you could make any money off this stuff.
Then there's the case of Lonnie Zamora in the 1960s, he was a police officer in the American Southwest who stopped his vehicle because he thought he saw a crashed car. He sees this strange object with people in a kind of white uniform working around it. Then they flit off in it.
By everybody's assessment at the time, he was a mild mannered guy, very cool headed and with absolutely no interest in publicity. He comes across as very sheepish in the radio interviews. That's another case where you sit there and think it's hard not to believe he saw something. Then you try to come up with explanations for what the possibilities could be.
Socorro Policeman Lonnie Zamora points at one of the rectangular depressions in a gully which he says were left by the landing gear of an egg-shaped flying object.
(Image credit: Denver Post via Getty Images)
BT: How do the reports evolve over time? Do they change as the culture surrounding them comes into sharper focus?
GE: Some things don't change that much. The overwhelming number of them are seeing patterns of lights, orbs or spheres of some kind that move in a strange way then whoosh away with no sound. That remains relatively unchanged from the beginning. But people also see cigar shaped things or triangles. A lot of these things are common across the world.
What has changed more dramatically over the years and over different areas, has been the description of the occupants of these vessels, the aliens themselves. Early on in the 1950s and 1960s, a very common thing would have been to talk about seeing what appeared to be robots — looking like the Tin Man from the "Wizard of Oz." We don't tend to see robots anymore.
Another very common thing during the 1950s and 1960s were what were dubbed, "little men." They weren't really described as green but little and usually gendered male for some reason. They typically stood at about 4 feet [1.2 meters], and in places like Malaysia, they were under 6 inches [15 centimeters] tall. Another very common thing in their descriptions was they were wearing old divers suits.
Then you get to the 1970s and 1980s, and there's a veritable zoo of creatures: things that look like insects; in South America and [in] the Soviet Union big hairy creatures that look like a Bigfoot or a Sasquatch are particularly common.
The one we have come to know as "the gray" is not all that common until the publication of Whitley Strieber's "Communion" book in 1987, from that point the idea of what an alien looks like really crystallized.
Communion: A True Story by Whitley Strieber. The book is a telling of the supposed experiences of Strieber, whose experiences under hypnosis revealed links to alleged encounters with extraterrestrial beings. (Image credit: CBW/Alamy Stock Photo)
BT: That's got to be one of the things debunkers point to: the fact that the culture is shaping what people see makes it easier to call it a mass delusion.
GE: Yeah, the debunkers look at it and do that. What debunkers would like to do is to get even more concrete than that and say why somebody would see something at a particular time. They say there was a television show two weeks before someone's sighting. Then the person comes back and says I never watched it, and they go back and forth.
I firmly believe that the media of all sorts plays a formative role shaping the way people think, talk about and even see things. But from my standpoint, this is where I might deviate from the debunkers. I don't think that simply explains things away. It just means that people are human beings, they are doing what we always do.
When something happens to us that is really bizarre or unexplainable, it's not a surprise that what we tend to do is turn to analogies and to metaphors. It helps us to say, "Well, this was a little like this."
BT: These debates persist up to the present day, but things have changed a lot too. We're sitting at the tail end of our own UFO — or should I say UAP — wave. And this time, after U.S. Navy footage of mysterious flying objects was released in 2017, we've seen a very different reaction from officials. There have been Senate hearings, task forces set up, and NASA has even been roped in. What happened? Is it because everyone in the U.S. government now also grew up on UFO lore?
GE: A number of things have changed that have led to this becoming something seen as legitimate to ask questions about, and considered, even in academic circles, to be respectable to discuss. One thing is the reality of new surveillance and sensors to detect surveillance. In the United States, China and Russia there is an awareness of those technologies and, of course, a Keeping up with the Joneses attitude about them.
The proliferation of drones is one thing. Drones are everywhere now. I was speaking to a Swedish ufologist a few years ago and he said that the number of sightings that involve drones has skyrocketed.
On the extraterrestrial dimension, since the late 1990s astronomers have found out that exoplanets are pretty ubiquitous. That introduces the idea that planets are really all over the place, and that habitable planets are really pretty likely. I think that's made it easier to conceive of these things as possible. I've heard debunkers say they believe it's probable that there are extraterrestrial civilizations out there, they just don't think they're visiting us.
You also have people who are actively involved in lobbying people to take this seriously. There's Robert Bigelow, the billionaire, who's funneled a lot of money into this cause. Lobbyists now have the ear of certain politicians in America who see this as a valuable issue to them in some ways.
I think you have to always be a little cynical about politicians — they tend to be very pragmatic, and the fact that they come to this subject doesn't necessarily mean they're interested in UFOs, but in other things they can achieve.
The whistleblowers Ryan Graves, David Grusch, and David Fravor at a House Oversight Committee hearing at Capitol Hill 26, 2023 in Washington, D.C.. The three testified about their experience with possible UFO encounters and discussed a potential covert government program to study debris from crashed, non-human spacecraft. (Image credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
BT: What are politicians trying to achieve by embracing it?
GE: I could conceive of them using this as a way to say they're going to keep money away from the military because they're not being honest brokers about this.
The number one thing I keep hearing over and over again, from people on these committees and those who are maybe less interested, is spending and classification. U.S. military secrecy has been a big priority since at least WWII, certainly since the Manhattan Project, and it's only increased over the years. Then 9/11 really doubled, tripled down on that.
This makes the UFO/UAP thing a great example for all these folks to say, "We've got all these whistleblowers saying all this stuff is going on. We haven't heard anything about it. You're keeping this from us. It's all supposedly classified. So we want in."
BT: One of the frustrating things about covering these questions is that you get task forces that are essentially military task forces. People come out to say all kinds of spooky stuff, and when they're probed further they say we'll tell you the rest behind closed doors, and no we won't allow scientists into the bases where we saw this. Now that NASA's involved, do you have more faith for civilian science projects to get to the bottom of things?
GE: Yeah, spot on. I agree with you completely. It's why I always tell people that, personally, I don't think these military intelligence branches will be key to addressing these questions. I don't think you're ever going to get it from them. I'm also not someone who believes in full transparency, sometimes it's important to keep secrets.
NASA's endorsement of research in this area is unprecedented, and I think it's very welcome. I know a lot of scientists who have started to try to conduct research along these lines. The problem we have is it has not translated into funding yet. A lot of the current efforts are on shoestring budgets and it's unclear whether that money is ever going to be forthcoming. So far, at least in the United States, it has not been.
But there is a hope among a lot of researchers that that will change, because the climate has changed. Civilian scientists and researchers are going to be the key, because we operate in a world of transparency, with an openness that contractors and government don't have.
Mexican journalist Jaime Maussan stands near the two "non-human" beings before a press conference, at the Camino Real hotel, in Mexico City, Mexico on Sept. 13, 2023. Lab tests later revealed that the 'aliens' were actually made from paper, glue, metal and human and animal bones. (Image credit: Daniel Cardenas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
BT: Do you think we'll ever get a solid answer?
GE: I suspect we will be revisiting and speculating over this for a good long time to come. The world's been at this for over 75 years, and the most seasoned ufology veterans will tell you that not a lot has changed.
If there is an opportunity for serious, empirically driven researchers to get involved, maybe then we'll actually start to see some real progress.
But until that time, it seems to me we're still stuck in a cycle where we largely rely on hearsay and references to evidence that never turns up. Or, as you say, people saying I've got some information, but I can only tell you behind closed doors.
That just leaves us with the mystery, which I know some people are satisfied with.
Editors note:This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
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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.
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