By SONYA GUGLIARA FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

The American astronauts who have been stranded in space for seven months have hinted at the toll their unexpected mission is taking. 

Butch Wilmore, 62, and Sunita Williams, 59, were heard telling NASA bigwigs 'eventually, we want to go home' during a video call on Wednesday.

The pair first landed at the International Space Station (ISS) on June 5 and they have been stuck there ever since.

Their visit was only supposed to be eight days long. But due to safety concerns, NASA decided to send the Boeing Starliner spacecraft they arrived on back to Earth without anyone inside.  

In August 2024, it was decided that the left-behind astronauts would return home on a SpaceX aircraft in 2025. 

On Wednesday, Wilmore and Williams joined fellow astronauts Nick Hague, 49, and Don Pettit, 69, at the ISS to share more details about their lives in space.

The astronauts participated in a video call with NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy. 

Williams shared how she and Wilmore have been feeling about their shocking circumstances and adapting to their extended space stay. 

'Yeah, eventually we want to go home, because we left our families a little while ago, but we have a lot to do while we’re up here,' she revealed.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, Nick Hague, Don Pettit and Suni Williams (from left to right) spoke about their experiences in space on Wednesday 

Butch Wilmore, 62, and Suni Williams, 59, have been stuck at the ISS since June when their spacecraft had to leave without them 

'We’ve got to get all that stuff done before we go home.'

They are expected to return home in early April alongside the rest of Crew-9, which is the ninth crew rotation of the ongoing Expedition 72. 

Williams has become the commander of Expedition 72. Wilmore, Pettit and Hague are flight engineers, according to NASA. 

Wilmore and Williams did not seem worried about their conditions and debunked rumored safety concerns about a lack of clothes or resources.

When the pair first came to space in June, they were short on clothes because the Starliner needed more room for cargo, so some personal items had to be sacrificed. 

Wilmore said: 'It was well known that when we came up here we swapped out a couple of components that we needed on the space station for some of our clothes. 

'So we wore [the same] clothes for a while, but that doesn’t bother us, because, you know, clothes fit loosely up here. 

The Boeing Starliner that Wilmore and Williams arrived to the ISS was sent back without the crew due to safety concerns 

Williams has become the commander of Expedition 72. Wilmore is a flight engineer for the mission

'It’s not like on Earth where you sweat and it gets bad. I mean, they fit loosely, so you can wear things, honestly, for weeks at a time, and it doesn’t bother you at all.'

The astronauts have since been resupplied with clothes brought by Crew-9 in September.

Wilmore and Williams joined Crew-9 when Hague, the crew's commander, and mission specialist Aleksandr Gorbunov arrived. They cannot leave until Crew-10 arrives in late March.  

While reiterating that the astronauts are not in harm's way, Melroy cheekily said: 'So what you’re telling us is you’re not channeling ‘Cast Away,’ and you don’t have a volleyball with a handprint on it that you call Wilson.'

Williams replied: 'No, we’ve got a whole team up here, so we’re not worried about that. And there’s a lot to do as well with the team on the ground.

Williams said they are not 'cast away' in space, but the pair would like to get back to their families as soon as they can 

'It’s just a great team, and, no, it doesn’t feel like we’re cast away.

'We had tons of science experiments with SpaceX 31 [a cargo resupply mission]. We’ve got space walks coming up. It was really busy when we were waiting for Nick to get up here. 

'And it’s just been a joy to be working up here, particularly with our counterparts on the other end of the space station.' 

Williams and Hague are set to go on a spacewalk later this month. A week after that, Wilson and Wilmore may go out for one as well. 

According to NASA, the goal of Expedition 72 is to 'explore a variety of space phenomena to benefit humans on and off the Earth including pharmaceutical manufacturing, advanced life support systems, genetic sequencing in microgravity, and more.' 

DailyMail.com has reached out to NASA for comment.

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

10-01-2025 om 21:07 geschreven door peter  

Sunken worlds under the Pacific? Scientists are BAFFLED by massive structures found deep beneath the ocean that 'shouldn't exist'

• READ MORE: Mystery of more than 100 earthquakes that struck Surrey is solved

By JONATHAN CHADWICK FOR MAILONLINE 

From Atlantis to El Dorado and Avalon, legend tells us that Earth is dotted with lost lands that once met a dramatic downfall.  

While these are commonly considered inventive myths, a new study reveals evidence for 'a lost world' beneath the Pacific Ocean.

Structure of the Earth: Crust, Mantle and Core

Scientists at ETH Zurich and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have found massive structures deep beneath the Pacific waters that 'shouldn't exist'. 

This mystery material – which is making seismic waves in the region behave strangely – could be evidence of a lost land from hundreds of millions of years ago. 

According to current scientific theories, the anomalous material in the lower mantle, about 600 miles (1,000km) beneath the water, 'should not be found' there. 

Described as a 'major mystery', the findings challenge 'our current understanding of how the Earth works', according to researchers. 

'Determining Earth's structure is paramount to unravel its interior dynamics,' say the team in their paper, published in Scientific Reports. 

'These findings suggest more diverse origins for these anomalies in Earth's lower mantle.' 

Using a new model, researchers uncover zones in the Earth's lower mantle where seismic waves travel slower (red) or faster (blue) - and cannot come from subducted plates. The large blue zone in the western Pacific (right above the center of the image) was previously unknown

From Atlantis to El Dorado and Avalon, legend tells us that Earth is dotted with lost lands that once met a dramatic downfall. Pictured, a depiction of Atlantis

Earth is made up of three layers – the crust, the mantle and the core, which was later separated into 'inner' and 'outer'.

The problem is, no-one can see inside the Earth, nor can anyone drill deep enough to take rock samples from the mantle. 

Instead, scientists study the speeds of seismic waves – the vibrations caused by earthquakes and explosions – as they travel through the planet's interior. 

Seismographic stations record these waves and on the basis of these recordings experts can draw conclusions about the structure and composition of the Earth.  

'This is very similar to how doctors use ultrasound to image organs, muscles or veins inside the body without opening it up,' ETH Zurich said. 

It's also well known that Earth's lithosphere – its rocky, outermost shell, comprising the upper portion of the mantle and the crust – is formed of around 15 tectonic plates. 

Seismic activity can be detected along the tectonic plate's borders, where the plates rub up against each other. 

But in the ancient past, large plates have since disappeared into Earth's mantle by means of 'subduction'.

Earth is made up of three layers – the crust, the mantle and the core, which was later separated into 'inner' and 'outer'. A recent study suggested the existence of an 'innermost core' too 

The anomalous findings, described as a 'major mystery', challenge 'our current understanding of how the Earth works'. In this image, A and B show the locations of seismic stations along the Pacific. C to F show the seismic wave anomalies in traditional map view and as cross-section

This is the geologic process in which one edge of one plate is forced below the edge of another – and over time an entire plate can be lost. 

In the past, seismologists have determined the position of submerged tectonic plates throughout the Earth's mantle, but they've always been under subduction zones. 

In the new study, the ETH Zurich and Caltech researchers used a computational technique called 'full-waveform inversion' which constructs a 3D image of the Earth using seismic wave data.  

They identified areas below the Pacific that seem like remains of submerged plates, but far away from plate boundaries with no geological evidence of past subduction.

The Pacific is one large plate so it should not have any subduction material under it anyway. 

This suggests the anomalies are not lost subducted plates. However, what the material is instead – or what it means for Earth's internal dynamics – is something of an enigma. 

'It's like a doctor who has been examining blood circulation with ultrasound for decades and finds arteries exactly where he expects them,' said co-author Professor Andreas Fichtner, seismologist at ETH Zurich. 

Seismic activity can be detected along the tectonic plate's borders, where the plates rub up against each other. But in the ancient past, large plates have since disappeared into Earth's mantle by means of 'subduction' 

The Pacific is one large plate so it should not have any subduction material under it. Plate boundaries are pictured here in red 

'Then if you give him a new, better examination tool, he suddenly sees an artery in the buttock that doesn't really belong there. That's exactly how we feel about the new findings.' 

However, the researchers do present a few theories behind the the anomalies, which would need more information from waves – not just their speed – to form any robust conclusions. 

They could be ancient, silica-rich material that has been there since the formation of the mantle about four billion years ago. 

Alternatively they could be zones where iron-rich rocks accumulate as a consequence of mantle movements over billions of years. 

'There is a diverse range of potential explanations for the detection of positive wave speed anomalies in Earth's (lower) mantle other than the presence of subducted slabs,' they conclude in their paper. 

'Our research underscores the critical role of full waveform inversion as an indispensable tool in mantle exploration.' 

The Earth is moving under our feet: Tectonic plates move through the mantle and produce Earthquakes as they scrape against each other

Tectonic plates are composed of Earth's crust and the uppermost portion of the mantle. 

Below is the asthenosphere: the warm, viscous conveyor belt of rock on which tectonic plates ride.

The Earth has fifteen tectonic plates (pictured) that together have moulded the shape of the landscape we see around us today 

Earthquakes typically occur at the boundaries of tectonic plates, where one plate dips below another, thrusts another upward, or where plate edges scrape alongside each other. 

Earthquakes rarely occur in the middle of plates, but they can happen when ancient faults or rifts far below the surface reactivate. 

These areas are relatively weak compared to the surrounding plate, and can easily slip and cause an earthquake.

RELATED VIDEOS

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

10-01-2025 om 20:50 geschreven door peter  

Moment private jet crew spot stunning spherical UFO in night skies over Florida

By LAUREN ACTON-TAYLOR FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

A flight attendant caught on camera a mysterious spherical object flying above the plane she was working on, thousands of feet above the Bahamas.

Cassandra Martin, a flight attendant for private air service Surjet, was flying with two pilots in an empty jet on December 23 when Miami air traffic control alerted them to a 'foreign object' as they were flying back to Fort Lauderdale. 

The eerie footage showed a rounded blur of white light that faded into a green color, with a circular halo surrounding the object.  

'All of a sudden, I heard traffic control say, "We have a foreign object, can you please identify",' Martin said. 

'I looked to the left, and pilot saw three objects, I only saw one, and I grabbed my phone, I just pressed it to the window to see if I could get a video of what the object was.' 

'I don't know what it was, and it turned slightly green, almost kind of like it had an electric field around it of some sort, and it stayed with us for about 45 minutes and then we didn't see it again, and we were about 43-, 45,000 feet and it was way above us,' she added. 

Martin added that the object moved around in zigzag patterns. The height the object and the aircraft were flying at, however, is too high for a drone to operate, NBC 6 reported. 

'I think we were astonished, and it was something that you really can't explain but I don't have the qualifications to know what that is,' Martin said, recalling the conversation she had with the pilots on board. 

Cassandra Martin, a flight attendant for private air service Surjet, was flying with two pilots in an empty jet on December 23 when air traffic control alerted them to a 'foreign object'

'It had capabilities just to zigzag and change color, so that was a little daunting, to the say the least, but you know, it's also something fascinating that I was able to see and capture with my phone,' Martin said

Defense expert Bryan Bender, who works with a nonprofit advocacy group Americans for Safe Aerospace, said: 'I think the video is compelling, so you know, this video and this testimony rhymes a lot with a number of cases we heard from military pilots going back even 10 or 15 years and that is these orbs. 

'In some cases, they called them Tic Tacs, they were more oblong in shape but flying at very high altitudes but also being able to maneuver in ways that don't seem to make a lot of sense to us, at least we know physics. 

'And so, the question is, are these foreign adversaries that have made some breakthrough, or is it something else, and of course, that something else could be many things.' 

Bender added that the Pentagon had an office to investigate such sightings, and said it is imperative for national security and aviation safety that they find out what these unidentified anomalies are, NBC 6 reported. 

'Was it a little bit eerie? Yes, because again, we were pretty high up and whatever we saw was even higher than us,' Martin said. 'It had capabilities just to zigzag and change color, so that was a little daunting, to the say the least, but you know, it's also something fascinating that I was able to see and capture with my phone.' 

The sighting comes after a mysterious 'orange UFO orb' was seen flying over military base Fort Campbell along the Tennessee-Kentucky border on New Year's Day. 

An anonymous user on Reddit captured footage of a mystifying 'bright orange light' hovering relatively low as it traveled over the military base. 

The user, who witnessed the perplexing 'celestial' event alongside their father, who is a seasoned Army veteran, said that they 'couldn't explain' what they were seeing in the skies above.

An anonymous user on Reddit captured footage of a mystifying 'bright orange light' flying relatively low as it traveled over Fort Campbell - a military base along the Tennessee-Kentucky border, on New Year's Day

Around 12:10am on January 1, the user, who was visiting family in a city just outside Nashville, then tried to capture the object 'as quickly as possible,' snapping a near 35-second clip of the glowing orb

'My dad, a former soldier with nearly 30 years of Army experience and extensive knowledge of the aircrafts that fly over his house, said he couldn’t explain what he saw - this was unlike anything he’d encountered before,' the post reads.

Around 12:10am on January 1, the Redditor, who was visiting family in a city just outside Nashville, tried to capture the object 'as quickly as possible,' snapping a near 35-second clip of the glowing orb.

'Just after midnight, my dad was outside watching fireworks when he noticed a bright orange light flying relatively low and maintaining a steady, consistent speed as it traveled from the northwest - where both Fort Campbell and the local airport are located,' the user claimed.

The curious onlookers were mystified at the unidentified flying object as it did not appear to have any additional lights as they suspect most drones do.

'My friend, dad, and I watched the object together and were surprised it had no additional lights, as one might expect on a drone,' the post adds.

'Initially, I thought it might be a hobbyist drone capturing footage of the fireworks for the New Year, but the apparent distance it was flying has made me second-guess that assumption.' 

As more sightings are being reported across the country, many to the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC), they continue to fuel public interest and speculation about the nature of these unidentified aerial phenomena. 

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

10-01-2025 om 18:36 geschreven door peter  

A UFO expert has lifted the lid on some of his wildest encounters as we reveal the top five hotspots in the UK.

Nick Pope, who previously ran the British Government’s UFO Project, spoke about his experiences with extraterrestrial life in an exclusive chat with The Sun.

Nick Pope is former head of the MoD's UFO research programme

Credit: Chris Loomis / National Geographic

Nick lifted the lid on some extraterrestrial mysteries

For over two decades, Nick worked as a civilian employee at the MoD, with his most prominent role beginning in the early 1990s, where he ran the department's UFO program.

Nick was at the helm of the project, an initiative that monitored and investigated reports of unidentified flying objects to assess their potential impact on national security and aviation safety.

Although the program was never formally named, it was often referred to as the “UFO desk” or “UFO program” by a number of media outlets.

When looking at the distribution of these sightings across the UK, Nick and his team discovered that the hotspots were not necessarily the rural or remote locations that many assumed.

Nick told The Sun: “It’s interesting because when we mapped out the UFO sightings, they didn’t necessarily occur in remote, rural areas.

“The hotspots were often London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, and Glasgow – all the major cities and urban areas.

"The reason for this is simple - the more people there are in an area, the more likely someone is to spot something unusual in the sky.”

These cities, with their dense populations, provided more potential witnesses.

It meant that if something strange appeared in the sky, the chances of someone witnessing it were far higher.

Nick also notes that other areas, like Warminster have been known for their frequent UFO sightings.

“People used to go up Cradle Hill and Flea Hill in Warminster, and even some 1960s pop songs referenced the place,” he added.

Bonnybridge, in Scotland, saw a huge surge in UFO sightings in the 1990s, to the extent that local councillor Billy Buchanan lobbied the government for an inquiry.

“I ended up drafting the replies to Buchanan’s letters, which were sent to the Ministry of Defence,” Nick recalls.

“He wasn’t very happy with me because the government line was always to play down the significance of UFO sightings.”

Despite the official stance, Nick acknowledges that Bonnybridge was, indeed, a hotspot.

However, Nick also cautions against confirmation bias, adding: “When people go to these hotspots for sky watches, they may already be believers, which can affect how they perceive what they see.

"They may be more likely to misperceive something or to see what they expect to see.”

Another factor is the issue of light pollution in cities, which can obscure the view of the sky.

Despite this, urban areas remained UFO hotspots due to the sheer number of potential witnesses.

Even more intriguing, Nick pointed out, was the fact that UFO sightings seemed to cluster around military bases, particularly air force bases.

While some argue that these sightings are due to secret military aircraft or advanced aerospace technology, the fact remains that military bases are more heavily surveilled, and the likelihood of sightings there is higher.

From Rendlesham Forest to Cosford, Nick has worked on some of the most high-profile cases in UFO history, all while trying to navigate the Ministry’s official stance on the phenomenon.

And according to Nick, the number of UFO sightings reported in the UK was far higher than most people realise with reports representing only the tip of the iceberg.

"We’d get about 200 to 300 reports a year, and at its peak, that number went up to 700 or 800,” he recalls.

“But even that number is misleading because many sightings went unreported due to fear of ridicule or simply not knowing who to contact.”

In reality, Nick believes the actual number of UFO sightings in the UK each year could be in the tens of thousands.

The MoD had a national reporting system for UFO sightings, with people reaching out to local police stations, military bases, and airports.

However, sightings reported to the media or civilian UFO research groups were not always included in the official data.

Calvine UFO Incident updated version with Nick Pope

The Calvine Incident

Among the most compelling pieces of evidence Nick Pope encountered during his time at the MoD was the Calvine Incident.

Nick said: "I think, the best photographic evidence we had came from a case called the Calvine Incident in August of 1990.

"This was just before my posting on the UFO desk, so my predecessor would have handled the investigation, but I certainly got involved in it."

The case involved two hikers in Scotland who captured six crystal-clear photographs of a large, diamond-shaped craft.

Nick, who inherited the investigation, recalls: “These photographs were examined by the UK’s top imagery analysts—Defence Intelligence Staff, Joint Air Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre.

“We concluded that this was the real deal. This wasn’t a hoax.”

The photos showed an object about 70 to 90 feet in diameter, with no visible means of propulsion, a detail that intrigued Nick and his colleagues.

The absence of conventional aerodynamic features, like wings or rotor blades, made the object even more mysterious.

The incident also featured a military jet circling the UFO, possibly trying to intercept it or gather data.

“This was a genuine mystery on our hands,” he adds, noting that the object in the photographs moved in ways that defied conventional aircraft design.

Nick also highlights the potential connection between the timing of the sighting and the geopolitical events unfolding in August 1990.

Reflecting on the mystery, he said: "The photographs were taken just two days after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, a moment that sparked preparations for military action.

“We wondered if this could have been a military prototype or reconnaissance aircraft.

“We asked both our own people and the Americans about this, but the Americans denied it."

Despite the U.S. government’s denials, Nick and his team remained unconvinced. “Sometimes we thought, ‘This is not just next generation; this is something a generation ahead.’ And if that’s the case, where is it now?”

Nick asks. "Where is the Rendlesham UFO? Where is the Cosford UFO now? Ten years later, these should have been unveiled. We should be seeing them at the Farnborough Air Show, but we’re not."

The question of whether UFO sightings could be attributed to advanced human technology is one that constantly resurfaced in Nick’s work.

“At any given time, there will be tech that’s 5, 10, even 15 years ahead of what the public knows,” Nick explains.

He points to historical examples, such as the U-2 spy plane and the SR-71 Blackbird, which were years ahead of their time when they were first introduced.

Cosford Mystery

A key event from Nick’s time at the MoD was the Cosford UFO sighting in March 1993.

He said: "It took place over a series of 6 hours or thereabouts on March 30, the and March 31, 1993. So that was right in the middle of my posting.

"So of course, I led the investigation into this and my case file, which is over a hundred pages of documents."

Over many hours, several witnesses, including police officers and military personnel, saw a large, triangular-shaped craft in the sky.

One of the most detailed reports came from a meteorological officer at RAF Shawbury, who described the object as being the size of a craft somewhere between a C-130 Hercules and a Boeing 747.

It emitted a low-frequency hum, and a beam of light appeared to be scanning the ground below.

“We had dozens of witnesses to the Cosford sighting, including police and military personnel,” Nick says.

“Some people even described the object as being like ‘two Concorde aircraft glued together.’ The most intriguing part of the case was the beam of light that seemed to track back and forth, almost like it was searching for something.”

Nick’s investigation into the sighting led to some theories, including the possibility that the sighting could have been related to the re-entry of a Russian rocket. However, this theory didn’t fully explain all the reports, and Nick wasn’t convinced it was the definitive answer.

Ultimately, Nick and his team were left with more questions than answers, he said: “We couldn’t definitively explain what happened, but there were certain things that gave us pause for thought.

"The speeds and manoeuvres reported by the witnesses were orders of magnitude above anything that we had or anything that we knew our adversaries had.

“I thought, maybe, this really is the real deal. Maybe this is extraterrestrial.

“It wasn’t a firm intelligence assessment, but it was one of the theories we put forward.”

UK trailing in UFO 'race'

When it comes to how the UK and the US are handling UFO research, Nick is critical of the UK’s lack of progress.

While the US government has made significant strides in acknowledging and investigating UFOs in recent years, the UK has been far slower to act - something Nick believes this is a dangerous oversight.

“In the 1960s, there was talk of a missile gap and a space race. Today, we have what I call a UFO gap,” he argues.

“The US is leading the way, and other countries are falling behind. Something is in our airspace, and we need to figure out what it is. If something can outpace your cutting-edge aerospace technology, it’s a threat, but it could also be an opportunity.”

Pope criticises the UK’s decision to axe its UFO programme in 2009. “I think that was a mistake,” he says.

“It leaves a gap that adversaries could exploit. We’ve seen this in recent incidents, like the Chinese spy balloon saga. If we’re not keeping an eye on UFO sightings, we could miss important intelligence.”

In contrast, the Pentagon has embraced UFO research through its All Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), which investigates UFOs, particularly military sightings.

While the UK is peripherally involved through intelligence-sharing agreements like the Five Eyes Forum, Nick believes the UK needs to take a more proactive approach.

He claims it is time for the UK to reinstate its UFO desk and begin taking public reports again.

“Something is in our airspace. Whether it’s Russia, China, extraterrestrials, or something else, it’s making us look foolish,” Nick warns.

“We need a proper UFO research program in the UK. We have the resources — radar systems, satellites, and space tracking. What we need is the political will to use them.

“You’re not looking at huge new costs — it’s just a case of using what you have to investigate UFOs properly.”

Changing attitudes

Reflecting on his own journey, Nick admits that before he began working on the UFO desk, he hadn’t given much thought to UFOs at all.

He was sceptical, and certainly not someone who actively believed in extraterrestrial life.

But his time working in the government’s UFO desk opened his eyes to the possibility that there was something more to these sightings than misidentifications or hoaxes.

“I wasn’t a true believer,” he says, “but now I’m much more open-minded. I don’t rule anything out.”

He notes that there seems to be a consistent pattern that suggests a “core phenomenon” that might be underpinned by advanced intelligence and technology.

The potential knowledge that could be gained from a civilisation far more advanced than ours is something Nick considers too important to ignore.

For the ex-MoD man, even the possibility of such a discovery makes it worth investigating the phenomenon further.

“Sceptics have to be right every day, but believers only need to be right once,” he points out.

"If just one UFO sighting turns out to be genuine, the impact on humanity would be transformative. Whether it’s extraterrestrials, time travellers, or something else entirely, the implications would be profound.

“There’s no part of society that wouldn’t be deeply affected. If extraterrestrial life were confirmed, it would change everything—from politics and religion to science, technology, and philosophy."

He continued: "People will look back on that day as the moment everything changed. Millions of years from now, they’ll say that’s the day it happened.”

{ https://www.the-sun.com/ }

10-01-2025 om 18:24 geschreven door peter  

Whether you’re captivated by the stories of strange shapes in the sky, or curious about what drives these reports, one thing is clear - Scotland's UFO phenomena are 

UFO spotters looking out over the Forth Valley in central Scotland where unexplained sightings are said to be frequent in Bonnybridge, Stirlingshire 

(Image: Colin McPherson/Sygma via Getty Images)

Scotland has been treated to a wave of earthly activity recently, from seeing the Northern Lights overhead to feeling earthquakes beneath our feet. Now, there are murmurings of movements from extra-terrestrial life.

Scots have always been partial to a UFO sighting. Just days before Christmas, an orange ball of light in the skies over Alva, Clackmannanshire, was recorded on a database of potential UFO sightings.

The spate of happenings may move people to wonder how Scotland fares against the rest of the UK in terms of spotting glowing teardrops, speedy silver circles, massive stretches of light, or simply bizarre objects in the skies.

According to Slotwise, Glasgow ranks fourth in the UK cities with the most number of UFO sightings. The Dear Green Place notes 51 sightings, only pipped to the post by London, Manchester, and Birmingham, which recorded 280, 88, and 73 reports of phenomena respectively. Maybe aliens are big fans of Glasgow Green or Kelvingrove Park.

One of the most intriguing aspects of UFO sightings is the description of the objects. According to reports, one UFO truther in the West Dunbartonshire town of Dumbarton said they saw a "massive stretch of light going at least 500mph".

The year with the most UFO sightings in the UK was 2009 with 286. In comparison, 2024 was a relatively quiet year, with 89 supposed sightings over the 12 months. Saying that, certain months see a noticeable spike in sightings.

Summer evenings often producing the most reports. With Earth bustling and lively during these months, it might just be the perfect time for intergalactic tourists to pay a visit. Either that or the skies are brighter and it’s easier to see mysteries at twilight.

UFOs seem to come in all shapes and sizes, too, according to the data. The most common thing people see when they believe they spot one is a beam of light. Circles and triangles are the second and third most popular shapes.

{ https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/ }

10-01-2025 om 17:24 geschreven door peter  

ARCHIVE IMAGE - X owner Elon Musk has been blamed for a record number of UFO sightings over Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

(Photo by Paul Morigi/WireImage)

X-files: Musk blamed for ‘record number of UFO sightings’

Köhler expressed doubt as to whether any of those reporting to his organisation actually saw alien spacecraft, with the expert instead putting the sightings spike down to tech billionaire Musk’s Starlink satellite service.

The US company had a record year for launches in 2024. Köhler said Starlink satellites were particularly striking just after launch, as they often followed one another in a regular pattern across the sky.

Other sightings, he added, could often be put down to people mistaking planets such as Venus and Jupiter for mysterious craft, as well as Sirius, the brightest star in the sky.

Reported UFO sightings also ended up being balloons of various kinds, as well as drones, private aircraft, helicopters and sometimes meteors, Köhler added.

CENAP has already received 30 reports of UFOs over territory it covers so far this year.

Italy’s potential use of Elon Musk’s SpaceX’s Starlink satellite service for strategic communications has raised concerns among opposition figures over a possible risk to national security. https://t.co/Ur2P8rR3OH

— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) January 10, 2025

{ https://brusselssignal.eu/ }

10-01-2025 om 17:13 geschreven door peter  

UFO Fleet Over San Antonio, Texas On Jan 1, 2025, UAP Sighting News.

Date of sighting: 

Location of sighting: 
Credit: NUFORC UFO website.

 

Guys this just in. Some glowing UFOs were seen over Texas last week and the video is just mind blowing. The craft move silently across the sky and are about car size. Each followed the other like military pilots following one another, but possibly alien military. The evidence is mounting high. 

Scott C. Waring 

Eyewitness states:

Fireball-like objects appeared from 0° North and seemed to fly in the southwestern direction in the 200° range. The first one I saw lasted only 17 seconds before vanishing out of nowhere. This one was first seen at 10:40 PM. Ten minutes later, my mom and my neighbor saw three of these fireballs flying in the same direction. Each disappeared at different times, but without a discernible pattern. The first fireball in the fleet disappeared after 1 minute and 26 seconds, the second after 1 minute and 50 seconds, and the third after 2 minutes and 36 seconds. These time frames are based on when I started recording. Another fireball appeared at the same location at 10:54 PM and vanished after 33 seconds. Later, at 11:08 PM, another fireball appeared in the same location and disappeared after a minute. All the fireballs seemed to have appeared at the same location and flown in the same direction at different times. At first, I thought they might be drones, but I’ve never seen drones without flashing red and green lights. These fireballs didn’t flash any lights and maintained their color and brightness until they disappeared out of nowhere. What was particularly strange about the fireballs was their complete silence. Despite their quick speed, they emitted no noise whatsoever. My neighbor filmed the event as well, and this was the first time any of us had seen something like this. 

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

10-01-2025 om 16:52 geschreven door peter  

The REAL reason for US drone invasion revealed as Pentagon's 'lack of transparency' fuels speculation

By FRANKIE ELLIOTT FOR MAILONLINE

Fears are continuing to grow in America over the mysterious nationwide drone sightings, as security officials are criticised for their 'lack of transparency' on the issue.

Multiple sightings of unmanned drones flying across the sky have been reported in a number of US cities and bases in the last month - including New Jersey, New York and Washington DC.

Their presence has raised both alarm and confusion with few answers forthcoming.

This has led many people to offer numerous suggestions and conspiracy theories online, with some believing they are Government nuclear weapon detector drones or the result of foreign powers spying on the country.

The FBI, Department of Homeland Security, Federal Aviation Administration, White House and Pentagon released a joint statement on Saturday stating there was no evidence of large-scale or malicious drone activity.

They also dismissed many of the sightings as manned aircraft such as aeroplanes.

But this response was described as 'disturbing' by James Dodd, mayor of the town of Dover, New Jersey.

Meanwhile, Larry Hogan, the former governor of Maryland, took to social media to vent his frustrations with the White House's 'dismissive attitude' to the situation.

Mr Hogan said he had witnessed 'what appeared to be dozens of large drones in the sky' above his home for about 45 minutes on Thursday night. 

Multiple sightings of unmanned drones flying across the sky have been reported in a number of US cities and bases in the last month - including New Jersey, New York and Washington DC.  (pictured ) 

A mysterious 'glowing orb' seen hovering in skies above New Jersey - where most of the drones have been documented

Larry Hogan, the former governor of Maryland, took to social media to vent his frustrations with the White House's 'complete lack of transparency and the dismissive attitude' to the situation

He said: 'Like many who have observed these drones, I do not know if this increasing activity over our skies is a threat to public safety or national security. But the public is growing increasingly concerned and frustrated with the complete lack of transparency and the dismissive attitude of the federal government.' 

Airing his grievances to the Financial Times, Mr Dodd said: 'We could shoot a missile down 5,000 miles away, but we can't determine where these drones are originating from?'

Dodd said he was left 'frustrated' by the 'scant information on a serious issue', having attended a briefing on the matter hosted by New Jersey state police this week.

The meeting was set up after the authorities in the state were flooded with reports of drones dotting the night sky, sometimes in groups and without any apparent purpose.

A wave of footage has emerged of the drones since they were first spotted last month, with some of the clearest video yet coming this week in New Jersey.

Video captured in Somerset County shows three 'mystery drones in the air' as two move extremely close as if they are interacting with each other.

The FBI has received more than 3,000 tips since the first sighting on November 18, with reports of varying levels of credibility cropping up in at least 12 counties throughout New Jersey, as well as eastern Pennsylvania and Orange County, New York.

And the crisis deepened last night, after DC locals claimed to have spotted drones floating in the sky around the US Capitol, as other videos purported to show objects on flight paths heading towards LaGuardia Airport. 

Charlie Kirk, 31, a conservative political activist and close confidant of president-elect Trump, took to X on Friday to claim America is 'f****d' as he suggested the recent mass drone sightings are part of Project Blue Beam.

'WE ARE F****D. THE DRONES ARE PROJECT BLUE BEAM,' Kirk posted on X.

'LOOK FOR VIDS OF THEM TRANSFORMING FROM BALLS OF LIGHT TO PLANES WHEN FILMED TO SEE FOR YOURSELF. THE GOVERNMENT IS NOT INVESTIGATING. THEY ARE DOING THIS. WHATEVER YOU SEE IN THE COMING DAYS IS NOT GOOD.' 

Project Blue Beam is a conspiracy theory dating to the 1990s that claims global elites, including government and military organizations, are planning to use advanced technology to stage celestial events in order to manipulate the world's population.

The theory has recently found traction again online as commentators such as Kirk claim that the US government could stage an alien invasion as a pretext for imposing authoritarian rule.

The outlandish theory is among many that have been amplified over the last week in the vacuum of information left in the wake of the Biden administration's failure to tell the public where the drones are coming from or who is behind them.

And Donald Trump called for urgent action yesterday, taking to the Truth Social platform to say: 'Mystery drone sightings all over the country. Can this really be happening without our government's knowledge? I don't think so! Let the public know, and now. Otherwise, shoot them down!'

The sightings started mid-November with footage capturing 'car-sized' drones with flashing lights 

Charlie Kirk, 31, a close advisor to Donald Trump issued a grave warning to the American public as he claims the countrywide drone sightings may be linked to a spine-chilling conspiracy theory

RELATED VIDEOS

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

09-01-2025 om 23:59 geschreven door peter  

Pentagon Has Clear Image Of Triangle UFO Rising Out Of Ocean, Elizondo Confirmed

The Pentagon reportedly holds a highly classified photograph of a “Black Triangle” UFO emerging from the ocean, taken by a US Navy pilot flying an F/A-18F Super Hornet. The photo’s existence has not been officially confirmed by the Pentagon, but many people believe that it does exist, as they have been told by government insiders. It is thought to be one of the most compelling UFO sightings ever captured on camera and is considered to be highly classified because it was captured using military equipment onboard the fighter plane.

In 2020, during an interview on Coast to Coast AM radio with investigative journalist George Knapp, former AATIP head Luis Elizondo stated that the current UAP Task Force obtained images of multiple unknown aerial objects, including a clear image of a mysterious triangle emerging from the ocean, recorded by military pilots.

The object was described as a large triangle with “blunted” edges and spherical white “lights” on each corner, and the encounter is said to have occurred off the East Coast of the US. The pilots who encountered the object are believed to have been operating from either the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower or the USS John C. Stennis, both of which are Nimitz-class nuclear-powered supercarriers, which further deepens the apparent links between UFOs and man’s nuclear capabilities.

Several officials confirmed the photo’s existence, but they did not provide any further details. The report primarily focused on “Unidentified Submersible Phenomena” or unidentified “transmedium” vehicles that can operate both underwater and in the air. The UAP Task Force appears to be concerned that these objects may originate from within the world’s oceans.

Tom Rogan, a national security writer for the Washington Examiner, verified the existence of the photo with his sources. He believes that the photo is “the tip of the iceberg” and that more UAP imagery and data would be leaked in the coming years. Rogan also called on the Pentagon to officially release more material. (Source)

In 2020, The Debrief reported that the Pentagon was investigating the “transmedium” element of the phenomena, which is the apparent ability of some UAPs to transit seamlessly between the air and the ocean.

The idea of “USOs,” or “unidentified submersible objects,” is not exclusive to the current UAP Task Force. In fact, there have been reports of unexplained, very high-speed sonar targets recorded by some of the most sophisticated listening equipment on the planet. A senior member of the intelligence community, whose responsibilities for decades involved underwater surveillance and reconnaissance programs, acknowledged that there are valid claims of extremely fast-moving underwater objects being detected by U.S. military systems.

The UAP Task Force is particularly interested in “transmedium vehicles,” which may seem unusual, but there have been many accounts, some going back centuries, in which people observed unidentifiable craft operating in and out of the water. In public appearances, Marc D’Antonio, an astronomer and chief video/image analyst for the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), shared an unusual experience involving the detection of an underwater “Fast Mover,” which occurred while he was sailing as a civilian aboard one of the U.S. Navy’s prized attack submarines.

Read also:

• Huge Cylindrical UFO Captured Over New York: Alien Mothership That Avi Loeb Discussed?
• James Fox Big Reveal: Deadly Bacteria From Varginha Creature Killed Brazilian Military Officer
• Harvard Professor Is Right: Some UFOs Are Aliens, Govt. Officials From D.C. Told Him
• Jacques Vallee On Footage Of UFO Landing At Holloman AFB: Occupant Carried Vertical Staff With Spiral Antenna

Tyler Rogoway, a defense journalist, spoke with several veteran submariners who almost unanimously acknowledged that unexplained, very high-speed sonar targets are indeed recorded by some of the most sophisticated listening equipment on the planet. Although there is skepticism about D’Antonio being granted a civilian ride-along, the Navy vets being interviewed confirmed the validity of such claims. The intelligence official declined to provide further details, citing the high levels of security classification associated with underwater reconnaissance.

Andy McGrillen from UAP Media UK, a team set up to campaign for a more open and serious discussion on UFOs in Britain, told The Sun Online that the triangular object was initially tracked underwater, then emerged, climbing to an altitude of 35-40,000 feet when an aircraft’s onboard systems took a high-fidelity image. He thought that something like this would surely be highly classified given the nature of the equipment taking the picture. However, if it did make its way into the public domain, it could be a key piece of evidence, demonstrating that we are truly in the presence of some other intelligence.

Mystery Wire reported that UFO enthusiast Joe Murgia wrote on his Twitter that Knapp asked Elizondo about an alleged triangle UFO coming out of the water, to which Elizondo responded by saying he was confident the photo exists, and it might even be a still frame from a video. Elizondo and Knapp talked about the need for patience when talking about disclosure and the series of high-level briefings that Elizondo took part in. Elizondo praised Florida Senator Marco Rubio for his willingness to talk about UFOs publicly.

Knapp also asked if the UFO mystery can be solved by just looking at military encounters with UFOs or if we need to expand our horizons and look at other topics like poltergeists and Bigfoot that seem to be connected to close encounter cases. Elizondo said the government programs have limitations, such as an inability to speak with commercial pilots about sightings.

When asked if he would consider ever returning to the government to work on the new Unidentified Aerial Phenomena task force (UAPTF), Elizondo said he would have to clear it with his family first. If he did go back, he would try to run it differently than when he ran the AATIP at the Pentagon. Elizondo said he would push for more openness with the public and work to break down the barriers that stigma about UFOs can cause.

“The problem with it is that the government recognizes it. There are some very authentic UAP images. When people say, “Oh, they’re all grainy and blurry,” no, they’re not. There are some that are really clear and are very authentic because we can look at the date and time stamp and the metadata on the video. We can then correlate that to any other type of assets that may be in the area, and we know where it turns out that we’re picking something up that came across, let’s say, the Pacific Ocean. All of a sudden, someone in San Diego says, “I had this really funny light doing these weird things in the backyard,” and all of a sudden, you realize, “Oh, man, they got it on camera.”

Yeah, there are some very, very compelling ones. There’s one, in particular, I probably can’t talk about it, but there’s one of a triangle, and it’s at night, and it’s not just three points of light. I mean, you can see the skin of the aircraft. You can see a lot, and to the point where some of our folks were like, “Well, should we take it off?” No, don’t take it off the internet. Leave it up. That’s not your video to take down. That’s a private citizen’s. Yes, they got a great video of a UAP. Congratulations. You should probably give them an award. Don’t take the video down”

Elizondo said during an interview with Calling All Beings.

Leaked emails from John Podesta, the chairman of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, may provide new insight into transmedium UFOs. The emails include a conversation between Podesta and a person named Bob Fish, who claims that the federal government has been collecting data on UFOs since the 1970s, using the Defense Support Program (DSP) satellites. (Click here to read the full article)

Fish shared an incident that happened to him in California, where a USAF official who worked on the program told Fish that there were times when they were diverted from these missions to track UFOs off the east coast of Florida. Fish stated that the UAP entered the atmosphere and descended into the Atlantic Ocean, specifically in an area east of Miami, Florida and north of Bermuda.

The US government has knowledge of some UAPs entering Earth’s orbit from deep space and can actively track them via RF signals emanating from these crafts. The officials realized that if this god-like technology were to be obtained and mastered by their adversaries before the United States, it would make democracy vulnerable.

Additionally, for many years, Bob McGwier worked in clandestine intelligence. He disclosed two incidents about underwater UFOs or USOs, that he saw while performing covert operations. This claim was made several months after a video had been made public by the United States military, in which it appeared to show an unidentified flying object moving from the sky into the water in the year 2019. (Click here to read the full article)

{ https://howandwhys.com/ }

09-01-2025 om 21:21 geschreven door peter  

'UFO' appears in the sky just weeks after eagle-eyed Aussies spotted unusual 'spaceship' cloud

• READ MORE: What's behind waves of drones appearing in US skies

By BRETT LACKEY FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

Australians have looked at the skies around southeast Queensland with awe after a giant UFO appeared in the sky. 

It was, in fact, a storm cell - though images show its uncanny shape that eerily resembles a flying saucer.

'We received several pics of this really cool UFO looking storm this morning. This is a lenticular storm cloud and its not that common to see,' Higgins Storm Chasing wrote to their Facebook page on Thursday morning. 

The weather page explained the cloud formation was a hailstorm that was moving across the Darling Downs towards Oakey and north of Toowoomba around sunrise with the light from the early morning sun  'helping ignite the eastern side of the storm, turning it pink and orange'.

Commenters on the post said the phenomenon was a particularly impressive display from nature and said that 'our sky never fails to be amazing'.

'You can see the ''Beam me up Scotty'' rays,' one said.

'Omg! Thankyou for sharing this storm cell is it so stunning,' said a second.

'Who needs drones and aliens when you can have this in the sky,' added a third.

A hailstorm in southeast Queensland at sunrise on Thursday formed this spectacular cloud formation that some mistook for a 'UFO'

It is actually a lenticular cloud which can often for smooth circular shapes

The spectacular display follows a similar 'spaceship' cloud appearing in Sydney. 

The bizarre natural phenomenon formed over the ocean in Cronulla, in Sydney's southern suburbs, with many sharing snaps and videos of the cloud to social media.

But Weatherzone meteorologist Felix Levesque assured Daily Mail Australia the strange cloud was nothing to be worried about. 

Some guessed the 'spaceship' was a lenticular cloud, which the forecaster said is formed when moist winds are forced over a barrier, such as a mountain. 

'This rising motion over the barrier causes the air to cool and condense into a stationary cloud,' Mr Levesque explained. 

'This stationary cloud will have a smooth oval appearance, hence why it's often mistaken as a UFO.'

Mr Levesque said the Cronulla cloud was in fact a roll cloud, a different species to the lenticular cloud which is caused by a similar process. 

'Roll clouds form when a cooler, denser airmass pushes under another airmass, causing this rising and 'rolling' motion on the leading edge of the airmass – hence the name,' he continued.

Some said they could see the 'beam me up Scotty' rays, referring to Star Trek

Residents of Cronulla in Sydney's south were shocked by the unusual appearance of a cloud formation that resembled a spaceship in December

'Southerly busters, like on Tuesday, can bring roll clouds, and these can occur about three to five times a year in Sydney.'

'A common location for roll clouds is over the Gulf of Carpentaria – so common it's been given the name 'Morning Glory Cloud'', Mr Levesque said.

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

09-01-2025 om 20:56 geschreven door peter  

CIA Built This Nuclear-Powered ‘Eagle’ Drone: Declassified in 2020, Developed in the ’60s at Area 51

Project Aquiline was one of the most unusual and complex spying projects during the Cold War. The idea was to create 12 bird-shaped drones powered by nuclear energy that could fly for up to a month. These drones were meant to be robotic spy planes and deliver secret items, but the project was never finished.

The CIA wanted Aquiline to be the first uncrewed system for gathering intelligence. Its goal was to gather information in areas where access was restricted secretly. The drone, designed by McDonnell Douglas (a defense company known for fighter jets), was very different from the company’s usual aircraft.

Aquiline was a small drone meant to be kept as close to bird-like size as possible—five feet long, 7.5 feet wide, and a takeoff weight of 83 pounds—under the constraints of the time’s technology. A silent 3.5-horsepower, four-cycle engine would give the drone a speed of 47 to 80 knots and an endurance of 50 hours and 1,200 miles. Aquiline’s maximum altitude was estimated at 20,000 feet. CIA file:  https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/collection/aquiline

Nuclear power was supposed to make Aquiline fly even farther. The CIA suggested adding a system that would use the heat from decaying radioactive materials like plutonium to create electricity. This system, made for deep space missions, would allow the drone to stay in the air for up to 30 days or travel 36,000 miles.

Aquiline was built to carry cameras and spy equipment. It could take photos from a lower height than the U-2 spy plane and collect electronic signals from radios, radar, and other devices for later study.

The CIA described Aquiline as a “small, bird-like surreptitious vehicle with sufficiently small acoustic, visible, and radar cross-section to permit it to operate in the natural physical signal environment of living birds.” Radars and human sentries at sensitive sites would mistake Aquiline for a bird and pay little attention to it.

Aquiline would be launched, controlled, and brought back by mobile teams on the ground. These teams could operate Aquiline from areas near the Soviet Union or China, like Taiwan, Turkey, Norway, or other places, to make sure the drone could fly over enemy land for a longer time.

The small drone would send its data to a modified DC-6 (later switched to a U-2R spy plane) flying nearby. This way, the drone wouldn’t need to carry its data storage, since storage at the time was bulky and heavy, using punch cards, tape, or large hard drives, which would use up too much weight and power.

The bird drone was supposed to be developed at Area 51, with various documents listing the personnel requirements and what it would take to regularly fly engineers to and from the mysterious base. The program was top secret, with access doled out on a strictly “need-to-know” basis. The program was so secret that it recommended personnel be recruited two years before the first flight to ensure enough personnel could pass the necessary security checks.

In 1969, the CIA agreed with the McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Corporation (MDAC) to start working on technologies for the Aquiline program. In 1970, people were sent to Area 51 to begin flight testing. This testing was planned to end in early 1971 when the contract was finished. It was expected that by then, a functioning Aquiline drone would be ready, and the program would become fully active.

Exact specifications and design details are scarce, but what is known is that Aquiline drones were made to resemble birds and featured a single-tail propeller. Initially, the prototypes were powered by chainsaw motors. In one memo in the CIA’s reading room, the Aquiline drone is referred to as a “high characteristic operating model plane with a lot of expensive gadgetry.”

Sensor systems were embedded in the aircraft’s nose and included optical cameras infrared sensors, and even electronic intelligence packages. The drones were intended to have also been able to drop “black box” sensor systems into hostile territory, as well, so some form of payload-carrying capability must have been included in at least some of the Aquiline designs. Specifically, one of the CIA’s documents states that one of the test drones was designed to carry payloads weighing up to five pounds.

The Aquiline drones were hard to spot during testing, so engineers painted one bright orange to make it easier for a chase plane to see during a test flight. Even with the paint, the chase plane crew still had trouble spotting the drone in the air.

The exact range of the Aquiline drones remains unknown and is redacted in all of the CIA’s declassified documents.

However, one account states that Aquiline was able to fly for 130 miles while obtaining “very high-resolution photography,” while another document states one of the proposed mobile control units would have a range of 1,200 miles. A dedicated satellite was planned to offer a long-distance communications link for Aquiline drones but was never launched.

Aquiline drones had an impressive design, but they had a big problem: they didn’t have landing gear. Instead, they had to land by crashing into nets. This often damaged the drones’ wings and propellers, leading to delays because of constant repairs. Three Aquiline prototypes were destroyed during these landings.

In a personal account hosted on RoadrunnersInternationale.com, a site that preserves “the history of the aviation pioneers and programs that developed the U-2, A-12 ,and YF-12 during the Cold War,” John H. Meierdierck, retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, offers a brief recollection of the Aquiline program as he remembered it, writing:

The vehicle was a six-foot-long plane that had a small pusher prop and looked like an Eagle or Buzzard when it was in the air. It was designed to fly at very low levels along communications lines and intercept their messages. It also had a small television in the nose as an aid to navigation and to photograph targets of opportunity. There were several successful flights some crashes [reason unknown] and some lousy landings.

Read also:

• This Mexican Scientist Claimed We Live in a Holographic Matrix, Disappears Mysteriously After It
• Tucker Carlson Says ‘There Are Forces That Are Not Human, Existing in a Spiritual Realm We Cannot See’
• Tom DeLonge Claimed There’s A Massive Underground Pyramid In Alaska, Larger Than The Great Pyramid Of Giza, Potentially Suppressing Human Consciousness

It’s unclear why Aquiline was canceled. It was meant to be a very complicated program, dealing with issues like stealth, data transfer, and propulsion in a tiny design. Using a nuclear power source would have made it even more complicated, and the technology of the 1960s might not have been enough to handle it.

Aquiline also depended on a trick, and if the Soviets or Chinese discovered it, their anti-aircraft weapons or MiG jets could have easily shot it down. In the end, Aquiline was just an idea held by a few people in the intelligence community.

If the rumors are to be believed, there’s a chance an example or two of Aquiline still exists among the other strange birds caged up in the darkness at Area 51.

RELATED VIDEOS

{ https://howandwhys.com/ }

09-01-2025 om 20:43 geschreven door peter  

During a live Fox News broadcast covering the intense Palisades wildfire in California, an unusual event captured viewers' attention. A camera aimed at the blazing inferno recorded a mysterious spherical object emerging suddenly from the middle of the flames. This object moved at a remarkable speed before vanishing over the treetops, leaving many wondering about its origin and purpose. 

The object does not appear to be debris carried aloft by the fire’s updraft. Its trajectory and speed seem too controlled and deliberate to be a random effect of the wildfire. Additionally, the object shows no signs of explosion or disintegration, characteristics that might be expected if it were merely a piece of material affected by the intense heat. 

Observers have ruled out common explanations such as birds, planes, or helicopters. The object’s rapid movement and apparent change in direction suggest advanced maneuverability, sparking comparisons to UFOs/UAPs. 

With the growing number of reported sightings involving drones, orbs, and UFOs, the appearance of this potential UFO or drone in such an environment is especially intriguing. Could this object represent evidence of advanced technology monitoring Earth's natural disasters? Or is it an entirely natural but poorly understood phenomenon?

VIDEO

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

09-01-2025 om 18:45 geschreven door peter  

Now, the 358-kilogram (789 lb) spacecraft sits in its final resting place in Elysium Planitia. Barring some hyper-futuristic, impossible-to-foresee archaeological rescue expedition, the lander will never move. It’s stranded there, waiting to be imaged repeatedly by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and its HiRISE camera.

However, perhaps unexpectedly, InSight still has more to offer. Researchers say that by monitoring the way dust collects on the lander and moves around it, they can learn about Mars’ ubiquitous dust. That will help researchers better understand the planet and prepare more thoroughly for future missions.

“Even though we’re no longer hearing from InSight, it’s still teaching us about Mars,” said science team member Ingrid Daubar of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. “By monitoring how much dust collects on the surface — and how much gets vacuumed away by wind and dust devils — we learn more about the wind, dust cycle, and other processes that shape the planet.”

Martian dust is full of iron oxides, which give the planet its red appearance. It’s very fine and can be lifted high into the atmosphere during Mars’ global dust storms. It affects the planet’s weather and climate.

It’s a hazard for landers and rovers. InSight isn’t the only mission to succumb to it. Spirit and Opportunity also struggled with Martian dust before being defeated by it. Landers and rovers need to be protected from it. It can cover solar panels, rendering them ineffective. It can foul unprotected moving parts, contaminate science instruments, and cause problems with electronics and thermal control.

Martian dust is slightly magnetic due to its iron content, making it quite different from Earth dust. Scientists are concerned that its electrostatic properties might make it stick to surfaces and be difficult to remove. It could cling to some components in unanticipated ways.

There are unanswered questions about Mars’ dust. For instance, scientists don’t know exactly how it all formed or when. Are we seeing only ancient dust? Or is some of it newly created? Scientists aren’t certain how it becomes electrically charged during storms, whether it’s toxic and to what degree, or how exactly it’s transported around the planet during storms.

While monitoring InSight from space likely won’t answer all these questions, it can still teach scientists some things. One of the things they can observe is dust devil tracks. Back when the lander was still active, scientists matched MRO images of dust tracks near the lander with its wind data. They found that the whirling wind patterns that produce the dust devils subside in the winter and pick up again in the summer.

via GIPHY

InSight is also helping scientists understand how quickly surface craters can be obscured by dust. When the lander touched down in 2018, its retrorockets left marks on the surface akin to craters. By knowing exactly when they were created and watching from orbit as they’re obscured by dust, researchers can learn how quickly impact craters can be erased.

The people behind missions like InSight put a lot of time and energy into them. They’re not only career-defining; each mission advances our collective understanding of nature, including other planets in our Solar System. InSight ended because of dust, not because we had learned all we could from it. So even though watching it from orbit and learning what they can is somewhat satisfying, it no doubt reminds the mission personnel of what went left undiscovered.

“It feels a little bittersweet to look at InSight now. It was a successful mission that produced lots of great science. Of course, it would have been nice if it kept going forever, but we knew that wouldn’t happen,” Daubar said.

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

09-01-2025 om 18:38 geschreven door peter  

The Milky Way Is On A Terminal Collision Course — Is This New Hubble Image A Preview?

The constellation Hercules hosts this epic clash of two galactic juggernauts.

by Doris Elín Urrutia

 

ESA/Hubble/NASA

Outer space nonchalantly sheds a “tear” as two galaxies meet their end — but is the distant scene, pictured in a new Hubble Space Telescope image, a finale?

At first glance, the answer must be yes. Some 570 million light-years away from Earth, a face-on galaxy called LEDA 59642 is overlapped by a tilted, mostly side-on galaxy called NGC 6040 that has severely warped on one side and taken on a shape resembling the top of a droplet. The galaxies’ proximity and devolution is a story as old as time: galaxy mergers.

The two bodies — known collectively as Arp 122 — are careening into one another. Their stars, planets, gas, and dust will experience new gravitational forces, according to a statement that NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) published on Friday. “Galactic collisions and mergers are monumentally energetic and dramatic events,” write officials from the two space agencies behind Hubble.

In many ways, the galaxies will unravel: the grand, highly organized spiral structures may go away. They might turn out to be irregular galaxies, looking like round hazy blobs until maybe evolving into something new.

Although this scene in the constellation Hercules is playing out very far away, it’s a preview of what will happen here at home. The Milky Way is on a collision course with the Andromeda Galaxy (also known as M31), scheduled for 4 billion years from today.

But the Milky Way has always been a work in progress. Many galaxies, large and small, have combined to add or subtract to the Milky Way’s starry profile, according to research from ESA’s Gaia spacecraft. Astronomers know that the Andromeda galaxy is a patchwork of other galaxies, too.

The mashup will happen slowly. “The process of colliding and merging will not be a quick one either: it might take hundreds of millions of years to unfold. These collisions take so long because of the truly massive distances involved,” agency officials wrote.

What will happen to Arp 122 and to us is uncertain, but one possible outcome is that the ménages will sort themselves into elliptical galaxies. One such object appears in this image, too, at the bottom left corner. It’s NGC 6041, the elliptical galaxy that acts as the center of the galaxy cluster to which Arp 122 belongs.

While Arp 122 reveals a preview of what might become of the Milky Way, it also gifts Earthlings with a dazzling cosmic teardrop to admire.

RELATED VIDEOS

{ https://www.inverse.com/ }

09-01-2025 om 01:25 geschreven door peter  

Archaeologists find 3MILLION-year-old tools at site dubbed 'the cradle of humankind'

• READ MORE:  Neanderthals and humans mated more recently than thought

By STACY LIBERATORE FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

Archaeologists have discovered some of the first-ever tools used on Earth at a site in Africa dubbed 'the cradle of humankind.'

Found in Kenya's Homa Peninsula, this region has produced clues about humanity's early beginnings such as other ancient tools and the remains of 'Lucy' - a pre-human relative that lived more than three million years ago.

The team uncovered three-million-year-old flakes, or small knives, created by hominins, the first pre-human species to walk on two legs, who hammered one stone against another to create sharp edges.

Researchers at the City University of New York said the sharpened rock allowed them to peel and cut fruits and vegetables and slice the flesh of hippos. 

The tools are known as the Oldowan tool kit, which previously only spanned from 1.7 million years to 2.9 million years ago.

Lead archaeologist Tom Plummer suggested that the tools found paved the way for everything that followed.

'In terms of technology, I think the Oldowan technology is the most important technological innovation that ever happened in human history,' Plummer told CBS News.

'It allowed hominins to access a whole array of foods that they never had access to before, fueling body and brain size increases.'

Archaeologists have discovered some of the first tools used on Earth. The artifacts are stones that ancient humans sharpened 

The new diet would have sparked a 'feedback loop' that led to more sophisticated beings and advanced technologies, Plummer said. 

While uncovering the tools was an amazing discovery for Plummer and his team, finding cut marks on nearby animal bones confirmed butchery was done.

The team uncovered ancient hippo bones at the site, which showed that technology existed nearly three million years ago, CBS News reported.

The site is located on the peninsula called Nyanga, which experts said could help frame humans' existence on Earth.

Rick Potts, the director of the Smithsonian's human origins program and the leader of research on the peninsula, said: 'We are the last biped standing, as I call it.

'All of those other ways of life became extinct. And so that gives us a lot to think about, and it draws attention to the fragility of life, even in our own journey through time.' 

Scientists have found evidence showing that modern humans appeared in Africa about 300,000 years ago - 600,000 years after hominins went extinct - but they only recently understood that the pre-human group began walking upright at least six million years ago.

'Some of the things that we thought occurred in a very short period of time, within the last one million years, are now stretched out over a six million year period,' Potts said. 'That includes tool making.'

The tools were uncovered Kenya's Homa Peninsula, a region that has produced clues about humanity's early beginnings

Researchers at the City University of New York said the sharpened rock allowed them to peel and cut fruits and vegetables and slice the flesh of hippos

Archaeologists uncovered the remains of 'Lucy' in 1974, celebrating with beer and listening to the Beatles.

And when the song 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,' the team knew what to name the ancient species that lived 3.2 million years ago.

In 2016, researchers re-examined her bones to learn more about how she died, finding a simple fall out of a tree may have caused her death.

Lead author John Kappelman, a University of Texas professor in anthropology, said: 'It is ironic that the fossil at the center of a debate about the role of arborealism in human evolution likely died from injuries suffered from a fall out of a tree.

 Kappelman first studied Lucy during her US museum tour in 2008, when the fossil detoured to the High-Resolution X-ray Computed Tomography Facility (UTCT).

The facility has a machine designed to scan through materials as solid as a rock and at a higher resolution than medical CT.

For 10 days, Kappelman and geological sciences professor Richard Ketcham scanned all of her 40-percent-complete skeleton to create a digital archive of more than 35,000 CT slices.

Kappelman noticed the end of her right humerus was fractured in a manner not normally seen in fossils, preserving a series of sharp, clean breaks with tiny bone fragments and slivers still in place. 

This compressive fracture results when the hand hits the ground during a fall, impacting the elements of the shoulder against one another to create a unique signature on the humerus,' said Kappelman.

He then consulted Dr Stephen Pearce, an orthopedic surgeon at Austin Bone and Joint Clinic, using a modern human-scale, 3D printed model of Lucy.

Pearce confirmed that the injury was consistent with fracture caused by a fall from considerable height when the conscious victim stretched out an arm in an attempt to break the fall.

Kappelman also saw similar, less severe, fractures at the left shoulder and other compressive fractures throughout Lucy's skeleton.

Overall, Lucy suffered a broken ankle, arm, knee, pelvis and at least one fractured rib - suggesting she must have suffered severe internal organ damage.

RELATED VIDEO

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

09-01-2025 om 01:08 geschreven door peter  

• READ MORE: Northern Lights visible across the US on New Year's Eve 

By WILIAM HUNTER

Looking up at the flickering glow of the Northern Lights is one of Earth's most incredible experiences.

But now, a NASA astronaut has revealed what it is like to look down on one of the planet's great natural wonders.

Astronaut Don Pettit has shared his bird's eye view of the Northern Lights from the window of the International Space Station.

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, Mr Pettit said simply: 'Flying over aurora; intensely green.'

In this mesmerising video, you can see the lower structures of the space station silhouetted against the bright green glow of the aurora.

With the Northern Lights forming between 60 to 186 miles (100 to 300 km) above the ground, the ISS soars above at almost four times this altitude.

On social media, space fans have been blown away to discover that astronauts have this unique perspective.

One amazed commenter wrote: 'Wait wait... auroras are that low?!'

A NASA astronaut has shared his stunning bird's-eye view of the Northern Lights from aboard the International Space Station 

On social media, commenters were shocked to learn that astronauts have this unique perspective on one of Earth's natural wonders 

Don Pettit, 69, is NASA's oldest astronaut and a member of NASA's Expedition 72 crew which also includes the stranded astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Willmore.

Currently undertaking his third stay aboard the station, Mr Pettit is well known for his orbital photography.

Over more than 300 days in space, Mr Pettit has become regarded as one of NASA's best photographers and has captured many stunning images of the Earth and the Northern Lights.

The Northern and Southern lights are caused when charged particles from the sun collide with Earth's atmosphere.

As these particles arrive, they slam into particles of gas and charge them with enough energy to glow brightly.

These are visible from the ISS because the aurora actually forms in a relatively low part of the atmosphere.

The lowest glowing gases are typically found 80 miles (130 km) above the ground but can dip as low as 60 miles (100 km) in some cases.

Orbiting at 230 to 285 miles (370 to 460 km), the ISS safely passes over the top of the aurora, allowing astronauts on board to look down on the show.

Don Pettit (pictured) is NASA's oldest serving astronaut and widely regarded as one of the space agency's best photographers 

Since the ISS orbits at an altitude of 230 to 285 miles (370 to 460 km), it can be almost four times higher than the lowest parts of the Northern Lights 

However, in some of the strongest events, even the ISS can be caught up in the aurora with the uppermost parts of the display extending several thousand miles above the Earth.

In Mr Pettit's video, the bright lights of a city appear beneath the intense green glow of excited gases 

While hints of blue and pink are caused by nitrogen, this emerald green is the characteristic sign of oxygen molecules charged by particles from the sun.

On social media, commenters flocked to share their amazement with Mr Pettit's stunning images.

One commenter wrote: 'It's like a massive emerald come alive!'

'Not sure how I thought it would look from above but this is incredible,' added another.

While one space fan wrote: 'The amount of electrical flow is astounding.'

Normally, the aurora is only visible at very high latitudes – for example at the poles, Scandinavia or the southern tip of South America. 

The ISS' height allows the crew to capture stunning images of the Northern Lights as they pass overhead. Pictured: The aurora seen from the ISS in August, 2024

Commenters on social media were amazed by the view, saying they had no idea that the Northern Lights would look like this from above 

One commenter said that the green of the aurora was 'like a massive emerald come alive'

This is because the charged particles which make the atmosphere glow are funnelled towards the poles by the Earth's magnetic fields.

However, when the sun undergoes an event called a 'coronal mass ejection' enormous clouds of charged particles are sent flying towards Earth at around two million miles per hour.

These clouds interact with the Earth's magnetic fields to produce geomagnetic storms which trigger huge auroral displays stretching into the lower latitudes.

Luckily for Mr Pettit, the start of the year has seen a few exceptionally large coronal mass ejections which have made the aurora even brighter than normal.

On January 3 and January 4, the sun was lit up by two X-class solar flares - a class reserved for the most intense kind.

Solar flares are sudden explosions of radiation created by the 'snapping' of tangled magnetic fields in the sun's atmosphere.

Since they are usually followed by coronal mass ejections, these two flares meant stunning auroral displays were soon to follow.

On the day that Mr Pettit posted his video, January 6, there had already been two days of geomagnetic storms according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Mr Pettit's video came after a week of intense Northern Lights due to a series of large solar storms. On January 4, the Northern Lights were forecast to extend as far south as the northern United States 

As clouds of charged particles arrived from the sun, they triggered massive outbursts of aurora in the Northern Hemisphere throughout the first week of the year. Pictured: Anchorage, Alaska on New Year's Day 

To make things even more exciting, a massive 'coronal hole' formed in the sun's atmosphere – a dark area of cooler plasma.

These holes allow a constant stream of charged particles called 'solar wind' to escape from the sun and bombard Earth.

This meant that even more particles arrived to collide with the Earth's atmosphere leading to even brighter aurora.

Last week, auroras were forecast in the US as far south as Washington, northern Idaho and Montana over the US.

On Monday, NASA recorded the explosion of an extremely strong solar flare rated as a class X1.8.

NASA wrote: 'Flares and solar eruptions can impact radio communications, electric power grids, navigation signals, and pose risks to spacecraft and astronauts.'

However, no significant disruption is forecast due to this stellar explosion.

The reason that there has been so much activity lately is because the sun is now at its 'solar maximum' – the peak of the sun's 11-year activity cycle. 

The auroral activity was made even stronger by the formation of a coronal hole - a dark, cool region which allows charged particles to escape. On January 3, a large coronal hole (pictured) formed which could have made the Northern Lights even more intense 

The Northern Lights have been more active recently because the sun is now at its 'solar maximum'. At this time there are far more sunspots (cool regions associated with solar flares) which leads to an increased level of activity and more intense auroras on Earth 

The sun goes through an 11-year cycle in which the number of sunspots (cool regions associated with solar flares) gradually increases.

In October last year, NASA revealed that the sun had reached its solar maximum and could stay at that level for another year.

That means an increased number of sunspots, more solar flares, and even brighter aurora.

While these solar flares can be dangerous to electrical systems on Earth, it also means that there will be plenty more opportunities for NASA's astronauts to bring us some spectacular views of the Northern Lights.

SOLAR STORMS PRESENT A CLEAR DANGER TO ASTRONAUTS AND CAN DAMAGE SATELLITES

Solar storms, or solar activity, can be divided into four main components that can have impacts on Earth:  

• Solar flares: A large explosion in the sun's atmosphere. These flares are made of photons that travel out directly from the flare site. Solar flares impact Earth only when they occur on the side of the sun facing Earth.  
• Coronal Mass Ejections (CME's): Large clouds of plasma and magnetic field that erupt from the sun. These clouds can erupt in any direction, and then continue on in that direction, plowing through solar wind. These clouds only cause impacts to Earth when they're aimed at Earth. 
• High-speed solar wind streams: These come from coronal holes on the sun, which form anywhere on the sun and usually only when they are closer to the solar equator do the winds impact Earth. 
• Solar energetic particles: High-energy charged particles thought to be released primarily by shocks formed at the front of coronal mass ejections and solar flares. When a CME cloud plows through solar wind, solar energetic particles can be produced and because they are charged, they follow the magnetic field lines between the Sun and Earth. Only charged particles that follow magnetic field lines that intersect Earth will have an impact. 

While these may seem dangerous, astronauts are not in immediate danger of these phenomena because of the relatively low orbit of manned missions.

However, they do have to be concerned about cumulative exposure during space walks.

This photo shows the sun's coronal holes in an x-ray image. The outer solar atmosphere, the corona, is structured by strong magnetic fields, which when closed can cause the atmosphere to suddenly and violently release bubbles or tongues of gas and magnetic fields called coronal mass ejections

The damage caused by solar storms 

Solar flares can damage satellites and have an enormous financial cost.

The charged particles can also threaten airlines by disturbing Earth's magnetic field.

Very large flares can even create currents within electricity grids and knock out energy supplies.

When Coronal Mass Ejections strike Earth they cause geomagnetic storms and enhanced aurora.

They can disrupt radio waves, GPS coordinates and overload electrical systems.

A large influx of energy could flow into high voltage power grids and permanently damage transformers.

This could shut off businesses and homes around the world. 

Source: NASA - Solar Storm and Space Weather 

RELATED VIDEOS

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

09-01-2025 om 00:50 geschreven door peter  

‘The Alien Perspective’ Exclusive Clip: What Happened During The Tic Tac Encounter?

Mary Beth McAndrews 

From the mind of Dean Alioto, godfather of found footage and director of The McPherson Tapes, comes a brand-new documentary about what lurks outside Earth’s atmosphere. After years of learning about and experiencing those obsessed with UFOs and aliens, he’s translating that into an actual documentary about the existence of extraterrestrials. The documentary, titled The Alien Perspective, features interviews with experts, as well as animation by Arvid Steen.

Read the full synopsis below:

The Alien Perspective offers a bold and groundbreaking take on the UFO and alien phenomenon. This first installment of a two-part movie series takes audiences on a journey unlike any before—exploring the UFO phenomenon not from humanity’s viewpoint, but for the first time, from the perspective of the visitors themselves. Seven years in the making, this unique project features insights from world-renowned scientists outside the UFO field, including NASA directors and esteemed professors from Oxford and more.

These experts delve into the possible motivations and reasons behind extraterrestrial visits to Earth and their interactions with humans. The film not only examines compelling evidence from the most credible UFO cases but also explores how these encounters impact humanity on a deeper level. Whether you’re a believer, a skeptic, or somewhere in between, The Alien Perspective invites you to consider the phenomenon in a whole new light.

In our exclusive clip from the upcoming two-part documentary, Alioto explores the Tic Tac Encounter and interviews two retired Navy officials who were there during the encounter.

Watch now:

The Alien Perspective - Official Trailer (2025) Documentary

Besides the two men featured in our clip, The Alien Perspective also features exclusive interviews with futurist and astrophysicist professor Michio Kaku, actor and UFO Researcher Dave Foley,
Fire In the Sky author Travis Walton, NASA Deputy Scientist of TESS Program Elisa Quintana, and many more.

The first part of The Alien Perspective will be released digitally on January 8, 2025.

{ https://www.dreadcentral.com/category/news/ }

08-01-2025 om 23:54 geschreven door peter  

De politie zegt op dit moment niet te weten waar de drones vandaan komen, wat ze daar deden en wiens eigendom ze zijn. Dat maakt nu voorwerp uit van een onderzoek. Onder meer de Deense geheime dienst PET werd over het incident geïnformeerd.

In de Scandinavische en Baltische staten die grenzen aan de Oostzee is er momenteel verhoogde waakzaamheid wegens mogelijke Russische sabotagedaden. De NAVO kondigde onlangs aan dat ze ter afschrikking haar militaire aanwezigheid in de Oostzee zal vergroten.

De voorbije jaren werden in Scandinavië al eerder drones gesignaleerd boven elektriciteitscentrales of luchthavens, zonder dat steeds duidelijk kon worden vastgesteld wat de bedoeling was of wie er achter zat. Verschillende van dergelijke onbemande vliegtuigen legden in september onder meer het nachtelijke vliegverkeer op de Zweedse luchthaven Stockholm-Arlanda - een van de belangrijkste luchthavens in Scandinavië - kortstondig lam.

{ https://www.hln.be/ }

08-01-2025 om 23:40 geschreven door peter  

Danish Police Investigate Mysterious UAP Sighting

“Drone@ Sighting Over Koege Port Amid Global UAP Surge

Koege, Denmark — Danish police are investigating a report of approximately 20 drones spotted over the Koege Marina, southwest of Copenhagen, on Friday night. The incident, which has sparked widespread curiosity and concern, is part of a growing trend of unexplained aerial phenomena (UAP) sightings across Europe and the United States, including a recent surge in reports from New Jersey.

The Incident: Drones Over Koege

According to Danish police, the incident began when a witness reported seeing a swarm of 20 drones hovering over the Koege Marina. By the time officers arrived, only four large drones remained visible. Witnesses described the drones as moving in a coordinated manner before disappearing into Koege Bay at high speed.

“It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen,” said Lars Jensen, a local fisherman who observed the event. “They moved too smoothly, too quietly. And then they were gone.”

Police have launched an investigation to determine the origin and purpose of the drones. No permits had been issued for drone flights in the area at the time, raising questions about who was operating the devices and why. Authorities are also exploring potential links to Russian hybrid warfare tactics, given recent reports of similar incidents in other European countries amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Global Context: A Surge in UAP Sightings

The Koege incident is not an isolated event. In recent months, sightings of drones, orbs, and other UAPs have surged worldwide, prompting investigations and speculation.

• Europe: Similar drone swarms have been reported in Sweden, Norway, and Germany, with many incidents linked to suspected Russian activity. Experts warn that these drones could be used for espionage, sabotage, or psychological operations.
• United States: In New Jersey, residents have reported a wave of UAP sightings, including pulsating orbs and darting lights. In December 2024, multiple witnesses in Sussex County described seeing a fleet of glowing orbs hovering over the town of Newton for nearly an hour. Similar events were reported in Princeton and Atlantic City, with some residents capturing footage of the phenomena.
• Global Trends: According to the National UFO Reporting Center, UAP sightings worldwide increased by 40% in 2024, with many reports describing drone-like objects and orbs of light.

Theories and Investigations

The surge in UAP sightings has sparked a range of theories and investigations:

1. Russian Hybrid Warfare: Many experts believe the drones could be part of a Russian hybrid warfare campaign, designed to destabilize Western nations and gather intelligence.
2. Extraterrestrial Activity: Some researchers argue that the objects could be evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence, citing their advanced movements and lack of identifiable technology.
3. Advanced Military Technology: Others speculate that the drones could be classified military aircraft developed by the U.S. or other nations.
4. Natural or Man-Made Phenomena: Skeptics suggest that the sightings could be the result of misidentified natural phenomena or experimental civilian drones.

Local Impact: New Jersey’s UAP Hotspot

While the Koege incident has captured international attention, New Jersey has emerged as a hotspot for UAP activity. In recent months, the state has seen a surge in sightings, with residents reporting everything from drones to pulsating orbs.

• Sussex County: In December 2024, residents of Newton reported seeing a fleet of pulsating orbs hovering over the town for nearly an hour.
• Princeton: A group of students at Princeton University captured footage of a darting light that defied explanation.
• Atlantic City: Tourists and locals alike have reported seeing strange lights over the Atlantic Ocean, with some describing the objects as “otherworldly.”

Government Response: Calls for Transparency

The surge in UAP sightings has prompted calls for transparency from governments worldwide. In November 2024, the U.S. Congress held hearings on UAPs, but officials provided few answers. Similarly, European governments have been tight-lipped about the recent drone sightings, fueling speculation and concern.

“We need to know what’s going on,” said Sarah Thompson, a high school teacher in Newton, New Jersey. “If these objects are a threat, we deserve to know.”

Conclusion: A Mystery Unfolding

The Koege drone sighting is just one piece of a larger puzzle—a global mystery that continues to unfold. Whether the objects are drones, extraterrestrial craft, or something else entirely, one thing is clear: the sky is no longer the limit.

As investigations continue, the world waits for answers.

References and Further Reading:

• Danish Police Statement on Koege Incident
• National UFO Reporting Center: 2024 Sightings
• The New York Times: UAP Sightings on the Rise

• Local News Coverage: Newton, NJ Sighting

{ https://lynxotic.com/latest-news/ }

08-01-2025 om 23:35 geschreven door peter  

Unexpected Mechanism Explains Formation of Pluto-Charon System

Planetary scientists at the University of Arizona say they have discovered an entirely new type of cosmic collision.

Pluto and Charon are the largest binary system in the known population of trans-Neptunian objects in the outer Solar System. Their shared external orbital axis suggests a linked evolutionary history and collisional origin. Their radii, 1,200 km and 600 km, respectively, and Charon’s wide circular orbit of about 16 Pluto radii require a formation mechanism that places a large mass fraction into orbit, with sufficient angular momentum to drive tidal orbital expansion. Denton et al. numerically modeled the collisional capture of Charon by Pluto using simulations that include material strength.

Image credit: Denton et al., doi: 10.1038/s41561-024-01612-0.

For decades, planetary researchers have theorized that Pluto’s unusually large moon Charon formed through a process similar to Earth’s Moon — a massive collision followed by the stretching and deformation of fluid-like bodies.

This model worked well for the Earth-Moon system, where the intense heat and larger masses involved meant the colliding bodies behaved more like fluids.

However, when applied to the smaller, colder Pluto-Charon system, this approach overlooked a crucial factor: the structural integrity of rock and ice.

“Pluto and Charon are different — they’re smaller, colder and made primarily of rock and ice,” said Dr. Adeene Denton, a postdoctoral researcher with the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona.

“When we accounted for the actual strength of these materials, we discovered something completely unexpected.”

Using advanced impact simulations, the authors found that instead of stretching during the collision, Pluto and the proto-Charon temporarily stuck together, rotating as a single snowman-shaped object before separating into the binary system we observe today.

A binary system occurs when two celestial bodies orbit around a common center of mass.

“Most planetary collision scenarios are classified as ‘hit and run’ or ‘graze and merge’,” Dr. Denton said.

“What we’ve discovered is something entirely different — a ‘kiss and capture’ scenario where the bodies collide, stick together briefly and then separate while remaining gravitationally bound.”

“The compelling thing about this study is that the model parameters that work to capture Charon, end up putting it in the right orbit. You get two things right for the price of one,” said Professor Erik Asphaug, also from the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona.

The study also suggests that both Pluto and Charon remained intact during their collision, preserving much of their original composition.

This challenges previous models that suggested extensive deformation and mixing during the impact.

Additionally, the collision process, including tidal friction as the bodies separated, deposited considerable internal heat into both bodies, which may provide a mechanism for Pluto to develop a subsurface ocean without requiring formation in the more radioactive very early Solar System — a timing constraint that has troubled planetary scientists.

“Charon is captured relatively intact in our scenario, retaining its core and most of its mantle, which implies that Charon could be as ancient as Pluto,” the researchers said.

• Their work appears today in the journal Nature Geoscience.
• C.A. Denton et al. Capture of an ancient Charon around Pluto. Nat. Geosci, published online January 6, 2025; doi: 10.1038/s41561-024-01612-0

{ https://www.sci.news/ }

08-01-2025 om 22:14 geschreven door peter