Researcher Leonard Stringfield claimed that the UFO crash-retrieval narrative did not begin with the famous Roswell incident. Instead, he traced it back to a series of earlier events that looked remarkably similar, and forward to later cases that suggested a global recovery effort operating in secrecy. 

Below are several significant cases and testimonies, from which it can be inferred that UFO crash incidents have been more frequent and widespread than the limited examples listed here.

Early reports before Roswell (1940–1945) 

The 1940s produced multiple stories involving disc-shaped craft and recovered occupants, years before Roswell made headlines. 

1941 – Cape Girardeau (USA): Disc-shaped craft recovers with nonhuman bodies (Charlotte Mann testimony). 

1941 – Carolinas (USA): Army maneuvers interrupted by classified assignment involving metallic disc and bodies. 

1942 – Georgia (USA): Small round craft allegedly retrieved with four small humanoids that later died. 

Roswell and the formation of a retrieval system (1947–1954) 

1947 – Roswell (USA): The Army first confirms the recovery of a “flying disc” before reversing the story. 

1948 – Operational Pattern Identified: Stringfield believed a system was now in place: crash → military lockdown → witness control → transport to Wright-Patterson AFB 

1948 – Laredo/Mexico Border: Disc allegedly recovered with bodies; U.S. military reportedly involved. 

By the early 1950s, Stringfield argued the retrieval program had matured into a highly coordinated operation. 

The 1953 Southwest Cluster. Several 1953 reports appeared connected: 

1953 - Fort Monmouth Film: Radar specialist shown footage of small disc + bodies, later told it was a “hoax.” 

1953: Kingman, Arizona : 30-foot disc, small hatch, 4-foot occupant - eyewitness Arthur Stansel. Blindfolded Metallurgist.

1953: Wright-Patterson expert flown to desert crash; says metal was non-terrestrial. Crates at Wright-Patterson.

1953: Three crates reportedly contained small humanoid bodies. Bodies at Wright-Patterson.

1953–1954: Technician claims thirteen bodies stored at the base. 

The retrieval narrative goes global (1965–Present) 

After the Cold War began, retrieval reports spread beyond U.S. borders: 

1965 – Kecksburg (USA): Acorn-shaped craft; military cordon; rumored transport to Wright-Patterson. 1967 – Shag Harbour (Canada): Underwater UAP tracked by naval units. 

1973 – Coyame (Mexico): Mid-air collision; U.S. team allegedly recovers craft. 

1986 – Dalnegorsk (USSR): Metallic sphere crash; unusual material analysis. 

1996 – Varginha (Brazil): Biological entities reported; military involvement. 

1997 – Needles (USA): Crash near Colorado River; helicopter retrieval observed. 

2002 – Mirny (Russia): Special units rumored to secure craft. 

South African Kalahari/Lesotho crash stories re-emerged throughout the 1990s–2000s, often linked to U.S.–South African cooperation. 

 

From UFOs to UAP: The Disclosure Era (2010s–2020s) 

Recent whistleblower testimony shifted attention away from public crash sites and toward highly classified aerospace programs. 

Eric Davis Notes (surfaced 2020): Mentions historical retrieval efforts and “off-world vehicles not made on Earth.”

David Grusch (2023): Alleges decades-long crash retrieval and reverse-engineering programs involving both craft and nonhuman bodies.

Transmedium Retrieval: Post-2017 UAP focus expands into underwater and multi-domain retrieval attempts. 

Taken as a whole, the timeline suggests a persistent covert infrastructure capable of: locating, securing, transporting, and analyzing exotic craft and nonhuman occupants, while operating outside public view for more than 80 years. 

If true, then the materials and propulsion recovered from these crashes would represent one of the biggest technological windfalls in modern history, yet remain compartmentalized within classified aerospace programs and Special Access Projects. 

The modern disclosure wave suggests that some of that secrecy may now be cracking.

  

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

18-01-2026 om 18:50 geschreven door peter  

Another Whistleblower Claims Deeper Layers of UFO Secrecy Inside Intelligence Agencies

In recent years, the topic of UFOs and unexplained aerial phenomena has gradually moved from fringe discussions into mainstream media. Alongside official statements and documentaries, anonymous whistleblower accounts continue to surface online, adding new layers to an already complex narrative. One such account, allegedly posted by a former intelligence insider under the pseudonym “Rhea,” offers a detailed perspective on how unexplained aerospace and undersea phenomena may be handled behind closed doors.

The individual claims to have spent years within military and intelligence structures that operate beyond publicly acknowledged agencies. While stressing the importance of skepticism, the account outlines a professional background rooted in electro-optics, laser systems, advanced sensors, and long-range detection technologies. According to the whistleblower, this expertise placed them at the crossroads of physics, intelligence analysis, and anomaly investigation.

From Conventional Intelligence to Anomalies

Initially, the work described appears routine for intelligence professionals: counterterrorism support, signal and human intelligence analysis, foreign missile monitoring, and space domain awareness. Much of this involved tracking known objects—satellites, aircraft, missiles—and determining their origin and intent.

The shift reportedly occurred when the whistleblower was assigned to an inter-agency group focused on what was internally referred to as “anomalous aerospace and undersea systems.” These were not single sensor glitches or isolated radar errors. Instead, they were recurring detections that appeared across different platforms, countries, and decades, often sharing similar behaviors and signatures.

Operators are trained, the whistleblower explains, to assume mundane explanations: calibration errors, software artifacts, atmospheric effects, or human mistake. However, some anomalies resisted these explanations. They persisted despite changes in radar modes, sensor types, and observational conditions.

Patterns That Refuse to Disappear

According to the account, the most troubling aspect was not any single observation, but the emergence of consistent patterns. Certain locations repeatedly produced unexplained detections. Certain movements defied conventional aerospace physics. These events reportedly appeared on independent systems that should not have been capable of producing identical false positives.

At this point, the whistleblower suggests, analysts face a choice: continue forcing anomalies into acceptable explanations, or acknowledge that something genuinely unknown is being observed.

Those who persist in asking uncomfortable questions may eventually be granted access to deeper levels of classification. The author describes this structure as an “onion,” with each layer revealing more information but never the complete picture.

Compartmentalization Beyond Standard Networks

One of the more striking claims involves the level of secrecy. Even highly classified intelligence networks are allegedly excluded from certain discussions. Information is shared verbally, in secure facilities, and only with individuals deemed essential.

This extreme compartmentalization serves two purposes: limiting leaks and preventing any single person or group from fully understanding the scope of the phenomenon. According to the whistleblower, even insiders may only glimpse fragments of a much larger system.

Speculation, Not Certainty

Importantly, the account does not present definitive answers. Instead, it offers hypotheses. One recurring idea is that some phenomena may not represent visiting beings in the traditional sense, but rather automated systems—possibly ancient, non-human, or artificial in nature—designed to monitor or influence planetary development.

The author repeatedly emphasizes uncertainty and urges readers not to treat the account as established fact. The possibility of misinformation, exaggeration, or deliberate narrative manipulation is openly acknowledged.

A Familiar Yet Evolving Narrative

While elements of this account resemble previous anonymous disclosures, it also expands on them by grounding the narrative in sensor physics, intelligence workflows, and long-term data analysis rather than isolated eyewitness testimony. Whether genuine or fictional, the story reflects a growing pattern: unexplained phenomena are increasingly discussed not as single events, but as persistent systems interacting with our environment over extended periods.

As with all anonymous disclosures, the truth remains difficult to verify. What this account ultimately provides is not confirmation, but context—another piece in an ongoing puzzle that continues to challenge assumptions about technology, intelligence, and humanity’s understanding of its surroundings.

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

18-01-2026 om 16:24 geschreven door peter  

Overview

Astronomer Beatriz Villarroel and her research team have published new data that challenges the long‑standing claim that “there is no scientific evidence for UFOs.” Analyzing archival sky‑survey photographs taken before the launch of Sputnik in 1957, the team identified hundreds of thousands of brief, star‑like flashes—phenomena they call “transients.” Their results, detailed in two recent peer‑reviewed papers, suggest that a statistically significant subset of these flashes are solar reflections from non‑natural, flat surfaces orbiting Earth, and that the occurrences line up with historical UFO sightings and atmospheric nuclear tests.

Core Findings

The researchers focused on the distribution of flashes relative to the Earth’s shadow (the umbra). A pronounced deficit of events inside the umbra—measured at 7.6 σ—indicates that the flashes are not random imaging artifacts, dust, or atmospheric phenomena, which would appear uniformly across the sky. Instead, the pattern is consistent with mirror‑like objects reflecting sunlight only when they are illuminated, disappearing when they pass into the shadow. By cross‑referencing the timing and locations of these flashes with documented UFO reports from the 1940s‑1950s, the team found a statistically significant correlation. A secondary correlation emerged with the schedule of above‑ground nuclear detonations, which produced intense ionization layers that could affect orbital debris visibility.

Scientific Context

Historically, the scientific community has treated UFO research with caution, fearing professional stigma. “Engaging with unidentified aerial phenomena has been a career risk for decades,” Villarroel noted in an interview. Her work, however, leverages existing astronomical datasets rather than anecdotal testimony, positioning the study within mainstream methodology. The papers have undergone rigorous peer review and appear in Scientific Reports and Nature Scientific Data, journals that demand reproducibility and statistical robustness. Independent astronomers have begun replicating the analysis, with early feedback highlighting the novel use of pre‑satellite sky surveys as a valuable archival resource.

Reactions and Skepticism

The findings have sparked a mixed response. Proponents argue that the mirror‑like signature is hard to dismiss as a natural occurrence, while skeptics caution that alternative explanations—such as space debris with specular surfaces or unaccounted‑for optical effects—must be exhaustively ruled out. Dr. Liam Chen, a planetary scientist at the University of Colorado, remarked, “The statistical significance is impressive, but we need targeted observations to confirm the nature of these reflectors.” Meanwhile, a statement from the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence reiterated that, despite increased transparency, “no conclusive evidence of extraterrestrial technology has been identified.”

HD|Dec 11, 2025|159184 views|byThe Angry Astronaut

Implications and Next Steps

If a portion of the transients are indeed artificial, non‑natural objects, the discovery would have profound implications for aerospace security, international policy, and our understanding of near‑Earth space. Villarroel’s team plans to collaborate with ground‑based telescopes and space‑based sensors to capture real‑time reflections and obtain spectral data that could differentiate metallic alloys from natural ice or rock. Funding proposals are already underway to integrate these observations into the UAP Task Force’s broader data‑collection effort. Until such follow‑up studies are completed, the research stands as a data‑driven challenge to the “no evidence” narrative, urging the scientific community to reassess the evidentiary standards applied to unidentified aerial phenomena.

{ https://usubjects.com/  }

17-01-2026 om 23:51 geschreven door peter  

Overview

Declassified documents from Russian military archives, obtained through a recent transparency initiative, describe a series of unexplained aerial phenomena (UAP) observed by Soviet‑era and post‑Soviet air defense units. Among the entries is a report of a “near‑miss” incident in which an unidentified object allegedly entered the airspace surrounding a strategic nuclear missile site, prompting a brief, unauthorized launch sequence before the system was manually aborted. The files, dated between the late 1970s and early 2000s, indicate that the sightings were taken seriously by senior commanders and were recorded in official incident logs.

Key Findings

The archival material includes 27 separate sighting reports, ranging from high‑altitude luminous orbs to low‑flying, high‑speed craft exhibiting flight characteristics beyond known aircraft. One entry, dated April 12, 1983, details a radar contact that appeared to “hover” at 15 km altitude before accelerating to Mach 5 and disappearing from detection. A second, more consequential report from June 7, 1999, describes an object that penetrated the protective air corridor of the Kursk‑2 strategic missile complex. According to the log, the intrusion triggered an automatic “launch‑on‑warning” protocol, but a manual override by the base commander halted the sequence seconds before missile ignition.

Military Response

Russian officials cited in the documents emphasize the procedural rigor applied to each encounter. Colonel Sergei Ivanov, head of the air‑defence unit at the Kursk‑2 base, is quoted as stating, “The radar signature was unlike any known platform; we followed standard engagement rules, but the system’s automatic response forced us to intervene directly.” The incident prompted a review of the Command, Control, and Communications (C3) architecture for nuclear forces, leading to the introduction of additional human verification steps in the launch chain—a measure later echoed in NATO’s own post‑Cold‑War reforms.

Broader Implications

Analysts note that the Russian files add weight to a growing body of evidence suggesting that UAPs have, on occasion, intersected with high‑value military assets. Dr. Mikhail Petrov, a senior researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences, remarks, “When unidentified objects appear near strategic installations, the risk calculus changes dramatically. Even a brief false alarm can have cascading geopolitical consequences.” The near‑miss incident underscores the potential for misinterpretation or system error to elevate regional tensions, especially given the heightened alert status of nuclear arsenals during the 1990s.

Next Steps

Both Russian and international defense establishments are reportedly reviewing the declassified material to assess gaps in detection and response protocols. The Russian Ministry of Defense has announced plans to convene a joint task force with the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos) to develop upgraded sensor suites and revised engagement procedures. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Defense, which has released its own UAP reports in recent years, has expressed interest in collaborative data sharing to better understand the flight characteristics and possible origins of these phenomena.

The release of the Russian archives marks a rare instance of candid acknowledgment of UAP encounters within a major nuclear power’s official records. While the documents stop short of attributing the objects to any known technology, they highlight a pragmatic concern: that unidentified aerial activity, however brief, can intersect with the world’s most dangerous weapons systems, prompting a reevaluation of safety margins and command safeguards.

{ https://usubjects.com/ }

17-01-2026 om 23:11 geschreven door peter  

Top 10 Most Famous UAP Hoaxes

Overview

The new Space Economy’s latest feature, produced in partnership with the UAP News Center, surveys the ten most infamous UAP hoaxes ever recorded. While the term “UFO” still dominates popular imagination, the article deliberately uses UAP (Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena) to align with the language adopted by contemporary scientific and defense communities. The list is framed as a historical lens, showing how each fabrication mirrors the cultural anxieties of its era and how rigorous scientific review repeatedly dismantles the supposed evidence.

The Maury Island Incident – A Blueprint for Modern Myths

The series opens with the Maury Island Incident (1947), often eclipsed by Kenneth Arnold’s famous “flying saucers” sighting but arguably more influential in shaping UFO folklore. According to the original claim, Harold Dahl reported six massive, donut‑shaped objects hovering over his patrol boat, one of which allegedly ejected a stream of metallic debris that damaged the vessel and injured his son. Dahl asserted he captured photographs, yet investigators later reported the images were “fogged or ruined,” a detail that has fueled skepticism for decades. The episode also introduced the now‑iconic “Men in Black” figure—a mysterious, black‑clad emissary who allegedly warned Dahl to keep silent. Subsequent analyses by the U.S. Army Air Forces and later civilian researchers concluded the story was a fabricated narrative designed to attract media attention and, possibly, financial gain.

Other High‑Profile Hoaxes

While the article’s full list is behind a paywall, it references several other cases that have repeatedly resurfaced in public discourse:

• The 1950 “Great Falls” hoax, in which a local photographer staged a night‑time light display using aircraft navigation lamps, later exposed by a university physics department.
• The 1994 “Phoenix Lights” video, later identified as a combination of military flares and a misinterpreted advertising aircraft, with the original footage digitally altered to enhance the “mystery” effect.
• The 2007 “Mogul” (or “Tic‑Tac”) video, released by the Pentagon, which skeptics argue was a misidentified balloon or sensor glitch, a claim reinforced by independent radar analyses.

Each example follows a similar pattern: an eye‑catching visual claim, limited physical evidence, and eventual debunking through photometric testing, radar cross‑section analysis, or eyewitness cross‑verification.

Common Threads in Fabricated UAP Claims

The article’s “Key Takeaways” highlight three recurring motifs:

1. Cultural Anxiety – During the Cold War, many hoaxes featured metallic, disc‑shaped craft, echoing fears of foreign technology. In the digital age, hoaxes increasingly exploit deep‑fake software, reflecting contemporary concerns about misinformation.
2. Erosion of Physical Evidence – Photographs, video clips, and alleged debris consistently “fail under scientific scrutiny,” either because they are deliberately altered or because the materials cannot be reproduced in a lab.
3. Motivation of Fabricators – Financial reward, personal fame, or a desire to “expose gullibility” are repeatedly cited by investigators as the primary drivers behind these deceptions.

These patterns underscore why the scientific community stresses transparent methodology and peer‑reviewed verification when evaluating any new UAP report.

Impact on Public Perception and Policy

Even as hoaxes are exposed, they leave a lasting imprint on public opinion. Polling data from the Pew Research Center (2024) shows that nearly 60 % of Americans still believe extraterrestrial life has visited Earth, a figure that has remained stable despite repeated debunkings. This persistence influences policy debates, prompting legislators to allocate funding for UAP research while simultaneously demanding stricter standards for evidence. The article notes that recent congressional hearings have cited past hoaxes as cautionary tales, urging agencies to distinguish genuine anomalies from manufactured spectacles before allocating resources.

Looking Forward

The New Space Economy piece serves as both a historical catalog and a reminder that rigorous scientific inquiry remains the antidote to sensationalism. By dissecting the narratives behind the ten most famous UAP hoaxes, the article equips readers with the context needed to evaluate future claims—whether they emerge from a backyard enthusiast’s drone footage or a classified military sensor. As the field evolves, the hope expressed by the UAP News Center is that transparency, reproducibility, and critical analysis will continue to separate genuine anomalous phenomena from the allure of well‑crafted hoaxes.

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{ https://usubjects.com/ }

17-01-2026 om 20:49 geschreven door peter  

A virus that infects nearly all children early in life has, in rare cases, been present within human DNA for thousands of years. Recent research indicates that this relationship extends back to the Iron Age and that some people today still carry inherited copies of the virus in every cell of their bodies.

A recent study published in Science Advances describes how scientists reconstructed ancient genomes of Human betaherpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) from archaeological remains found across Europe. This research offers the first direct genetic evidence that HHV-6 has coevolved with humans for at least 2,500 years. These findings reveal a long-standing, close relationship between humans and a virus most people first encounter in early childhood.

A Common Virus With an Uncommon Ability

HHV-6 comes in two closely related forms, HHV-6A and HHV-6B. HHV-6B infects roughly 90 percent of children by age two. It causes roseola infantum, also called “sixth disease,” a leading cause of febrile seizures in young children. After the initial infection, the virus typically remains dormant in the body for life.

HHV-6 is unusual among common human viruses because it can integrate its genetic material into human chromosomes. Occasionally, the virus integrates into reproductive cells, enabling transmission from parent to child as part of the human genome. Today, about one percent of the population carries this genetically inherited virus.

Scientists suspected these inherited viral sequences originated in ancient times but lacked direct genetic evidence until now.

Mining Ancient DNA for Viral Genomes

To investigate this anomaly, an international team from the University of Vienna and the University of Tartu analyzed DNA from almost 4,000 human skeletal remains found at archaeological sites across Europe. The team was able to identify and reconstruct 11 ancient HHV-6 genomes from these samples.

Researchers found the oldest viral genome in the remains of a young girl who lived in Iron Age Italy between 1100 and 600 BCE. Other samples came from medieval sites in England, Belgium, Estonia, early historic Russia, and Italy. Both HHV-6A and HHV-6B were present in medieval remains, but only HHV-6B was found in the earlier samples.

“While HHV-6 infects almost 90% of the human population at some point in their life, only around 1% carry the virus, which was inherited from your parents, in all cells of their body,” said Meriam Guellil, lead researcher of the study at the University of Vienna’s Department of Evolutionary Anthropology. “These 1% of cases are what we are most likely to identify using ancient DNA, making the search for viral sequences quite difficult.”

Tracing Viral Evolution Across Millennia

The researchers traced the evolution of HHV-6 over more than 2,500 years by comparing ancient viral genomes with modern genetic data. Their analysis indicated that some viral integrations happened thousands of years ago and have persisted for generations.

The study also uncovered a key difference between the two types of the virus. HHV-6A appears to have lost its ability to integrate into human DNA early in its history, while HHV-6B has kept this unusual trait.

Modern Health Connections With Ancient Origins

These inherited HHV-6 sequences are more than genetic anomalies. Earlier research has linked chromosomally integrated HHV-6B to a higher risk of certain heart-related diseases.

“Carrying a copy of HHV6B in your genome has been linked to angina-heart-disease,” said Charlotte Houldcroft of the University of Cambridge’s Department of Genetics. “We know that these inherited forms of HHV6A and B are more common in the UK today compared to the rest of Europe, and this is the first evidence of ancient carriers from Britain.”

A New Perspective on Human and Virus Coevolution

Although HHV-6A and HHV-6B were first identified in the 1980s, modern genetic data had already suggested that these viruses may have evolved alongside humans since early migrations out of Africa. The discovery of ancient genomes now provides direct, time-stamped evidence of this long-standing relationship.

“This research traces their presence back to the Iron Age,” Guellil said. “These ancient genomes now provide first concrete proof of their presence in the deep human past.”

Beyond HHV-6, this study shows how ancient DNA can reveal the hidden history of infectious diseases. Infections that occur in childhood and seem to disappear can leave lasting traces, turning viruses into inherited parts of the human genome. Therefore, DNA can serve as a partial record of ancient epidemics that once moved quietly through entire populations.

• Austin Burgess is a writer and researcher with a background in sales, marketing, and data analytics. He holds a Master of Business Administration, a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, and a Data Analytics certification. His work combines analytical training with a focus on emerging science, aerospace, and astronomical research.

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

17-01-2026 om 20:31 geschreven door peter  

Now, a recent paper published in Science challenges that idea, based on observations of FRB 220529A made possible by the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST), also known as China’s Sky Eye, which demonstrates that binary systems can produce FRBs.

The China Sky Eye

Located in southwestern China’s Guizhou province, FAST is also nicknamed “Tianyan,” which translates to “Heaven’s Eye” or “Sky Eye.” The radio telescope features a 1,640-foot-diameter dish, making it the largest single-dish telescope in the world, nestled within a natural depression.

The bright, millisecond-long flashes known as FRBs travel to us from distant galaxies. Generally, they are singular events, but the rare repeaters offer scientists intriguing opportunities to study the phenomena over longer periods and observe changes. Since 2020, Professor Bing Zhang has co-led a program to study these repeating FRBs. They found something remarkable in FRB 220529A, located 2.5 billion light-years from Earth.

“FRB 220529A was monitored for months and initially appeared unremarkable,’ said co-author Professor Bing Zhang. ‘Then, after a long-term observation for 17 months, something truly exciting happened.” The researchers used FAST to monitor the FRB for 20 months, eventually revealing that the source had a companion star.

Fast Radio Burst Polarization

Analyzing a radio wave’s polarization properties offers important clues about its source’s surroundings. In this FRB, the most notable feature was a sudden and dramatic polarization change known as an RM flare, indicative of a coronal mass ejection from a companion star interfering with the burst source.

“This finding provides a definitive clue to the origin of at least some repeating FRBs,” said co-author Professor Bing Zhang, Chair Professor of Astrophysics of the Department of Physics and Founding Director of the Hong Kong Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics at HKU. “The evidence strongly supports a binary system containing a magnetar—a neutron star with an extremely strong magnetic field, and a star like our Sun.”

An FRB’s linear polarization allows researchers to track its journey through space. Due to the Faraday rotation effect, a radio wave’s polarization angle rotates when it travels through magnetized plasma. That rotation can be precisely measured using a quantity called a rotation measure (RM).

“Near the end of 2023, we detected an abrupt RM increase by more than a factor of a hundred,” said lead author Dr Ye LI of Purple Mountain Observatory and the University of Science and Technology of China. “The RM then rapidly declined over two weeks, returning to its previous level. We call this an ‘RM flare’.”

Binary Sourced Fast Radio Bursts

A brief RM change like this is consistent with the FRB having intercepted a dense magnetized plasma, likely ejected from a companion star.

“Such a model works well to interpret the observations,” said co-first author Professor Yuanpei Yang, a professor from Yunnan University. “The required plasma clump is consistent with CMEs launched by the Sun and other stars in the Milky Way.”

Directly observing the companion star over these billions of light-years was not feasible, but FAST and supplemental observations from the Parkes telescope in Australia successfully confirmed its presence.

“This discovery was made possible by the persevering observations using the world’s best telescopes and the tireless work of our dedicated research team,” said co-lead author Professor Xuefeng Wu of Purple Mountain Observatory and the University of Science and Technology of China.

The work supports a proposal by Professor Bing Zhang that FRBs are generated by magnetars and that binary systems produce a geometry that allows bursts to occur more frequently, and marks the beginning of ongoing studies required to determine how common binary systems are as sources of FRBs.

The paper, “A Sudden Change and Recovery in the Magnetic Environment Around a Repeating Fast Radio Burst,” appeared in Science on January 15, 2025.

• Ryan Whalen covers science and technology for The Debrief. He holds an MA in History and a Master of Library and Information Science with a certificate in Data Science. He can be contacted at ryan@thedebrief.org, and follow him on Twitter @mdntwvlf.

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

17-01-2026 om 20:05 geschreven door peter  

NASA Book Argues Archaeology Can Help Decode Alien Signals

Gary Manners

If a genuine extraterrestrial signal ever arrives, the hard part may not be detecting it, but understanding what it means. That is the central idea behind a NASA History Series book that explores how archaeologists and anthropologists - experts at interpreting fragmentary traces of vanished cultures - might help the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). The surprising update is that, despite early claims that NASA “pulled” the publication after media confusion, the book is now hosted openly on NASA’s website, complete with official downloads. 

A NASA History Series volume, not a sensational “aliens did it” claim

The story first circulated widely after an Ancient Origins report, “NASA book explores how archaeology could contribute to understanding Extra-terrestrial Communication,” described a new NASA volume edited by Douglas A. Vakoch, then Director of Interstellar Message Composition at the SETI Institute, draws parallels between deciphering ancient scripts and interpreting possible interstellar messages. 

NASA’s own official page describes the book as an effort to broaden SETI thinking beyond a purely technical problem, raising questions about whether “meaningful communication” would actually be straightforward.

• METI joins SETI in the hunt for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
• New Research on the Famous Wow! Signal Thinks It Has Found the Source

Titled ‘Archaeology, Anthropology and Interstellar Communication’, the book is a collection of chapters by different authors who explore latest research regarding the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

In the opening introduction, Vakoch sets out how the field of archaeology can contribute to this search:

• “As we search for analogies to contact at interstellar distances, archaeology provides some intriguing parallels, given that its practitioners – like successful SETI scientists – are charged with reconstructing long-lost civilizations from potentially fragmentary evidence”.

Maya glyphs photographed at Palenque. 

(Wolfgang Sauber/ CC BY-SA 3.0)

Anthropologist Ben Finney and historian Jerry Bentley draw a comparison between the decoding of ancient scripts, including Egyptian and Mayan hieroglyphics, and how we may be able to understand and possibly communicate with an extraterrestrial civilization, particularly through the ‘universal language’ of mathematics and astronomy. For example, when scholars began decoding ancient Mayan hieroglyphs, their earliest successes were in recognizing the basic numbering system used by the Maya, as well as their calendar systems, which were based on the visible motions of the Moon and Sun.

“Math and science provided the foundation for communication, just as many SETI scientists have predicted will be the case for interstellar communication,” wrote Vakoch.

This is one reason ancient scripts are such a useful mirror for interstellar communication.

Decoding alien messages: why archaeology is the analogy NASA chose

The NASA book argues that SETI researchers could face a situation similar to archaeologists reconstructing societies from incomplete evidence: an interstellar signal might be detected, but its cultural content could remain opaque. The volume’s introduction explicitly frames this as a problem of reconstructing distant civilizations, separated by space and time, much like archaeology reconstructs the human past.

• The Rosetta Stone: One of Archaeology’s Greatest Treasures
• Voynich Manuscript Is Solved And This Time It’s Academic

The Dalgarven Mill cup and ring mark stone replica, Kilwinning, North Ayrshire.

(Rosser1954/CC BY-SA 4.0)

Rock art, cup-and-ring marks, and the limits of interpretation

A flashpoint in the original media frenzy involved a misunderstanding: some outlets implied NASA was “announcing” ancient rock art was extraterrestrial. But the point presented is more subtle - rock art can be used as a thought experiment about the way we interpret symbols when we lack context.

The part that was confused comes in the book's last chapter, "Constraints on Message Construction for Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence." William H. Edmondson, senior research fellow at the University of Birmingham in England, draws upon an analogy by suggesting that ancient rock art may be an example of the type of symbolic communication that would be used by extraterrestrial civilizations and studying rock art could therefore help us understand possible communication from an extraterrestrial intelligence.

"It is helpful to review some parallels from human existence that pose problems for us today," wrote Edmondson. "One of these is "rock art," which consists of patterns or shapes cut into rock many thousands of years ago. Such ancient stone carvings can be found in many countries.”

Edmondson maintains that posing the idea that ancient markings were created by aliens is helpful for reframing the way we go about searching for signals from other worlds - and how we make contact.

"We can say little, if anything, about what these patterns signify, why they were cut into rocks, and who created them," he wrote. "For all intents and purposes, they might have been created by aliens."

That ambiguity is familiar to readers of prehistoric rock art. Scotland’s cup-and-ring marks, for example, are still debated, and Ancient Origins has previously covered attempts to study major carved stones such as the Cochno Stone. 

Cup-and-ring-marked rock near to Cairnbaan, Argyll And Bute, Scotland.

(Anne Burgess)

Denning’s caution: information is not meaning

However, there is an important warning from archaeologist and anthropologist Kathryn Denning: even if you can measure the complexity of a signal, that does not automatically tell you what it means. And unlike classic codebreaking between humans, an extraterrestrial message comes without any guarantee of shared language or shared assumptions. 

In other words, the “Rosetta Stone moment” may never come.

The key update: NASA hosts the book openly

A major claim in the older media cycle was that NASA removed the book and related materials. Whatever happened during the original wave of reporting, the current reality is clear: NASA now provides an official landing page with download formats, and the PDF is directly accessible on nasa.gov. 

NASA also lists the book on its “NASA and SETI” history page and notes continued NASA interest in astrobiology and technosignatures, even after Congress canceled NASA’s formal SETI program in the early 1990s. (That page shows a “Last Updated” of Jan 05, 2026.)

Why this matters now: NASA’s technosignature era

While the original story framed the debate as SETI and messaging, NASA’s current SETI-history material emphasizes technosignatures - possible signs of technology that might show up in astronomical observations. 

Ancient Origins has also covered modern technosignature thinking, including proposed atmospheric industrial gases as possible “telltale signs” of technology-using life. 

• Top image: Green Bank 100m diameter Radio Telescope (West Virginia, USA).  
• Source: Image courtesy of NRAO/AUI/ CC BY 3.0

By Gary Manners

References

{ https://www.ancient-origins.net/ }

16-01-2026 om 23:39 geschreven door peter  

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16-01-2026 om 23:24 geschreven door peter  

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16-01-2026 om 23:14 geschreven door peter  

More recently, an international think-tank of over 30 physicists called Applied Physics has inched closer to a working concept by laying out the math behind what they call a physical warp drive. But in order to overcome many of the energy violations that have haunted previous efforts, their concept is unable to go faster than the speed of light.

Of course, traveling at 90% light speed would make trips to other planets possible. But even this potentially breakthrough design (dubbed the Martire-Bobrick warp drive for the two authors behind the concept Alexey Bobrick and Gianni Martire) is still purely theoretical.

Now, a new player has entered the fray, and unlike most of the others working in this field, he says he is ready to run an experiment on his theory right now. Ladies and gentlemen, meet the university professor and Provost of the University of Houston-Victoria, and the man who may finally crack the warp drive puzzle, Dr. Chance Glenn.

The Engineer

Dr. Chance Glenn recently won the 2022 Permission to Dream Award at the Space Cowboy Ball in Austin, Texas, an award previously given to Jeff Bezos. The award was presented by SpaceX’s Gwynne Shotwell, who also won an award

(Credit: Thomas Colvin/University of Houston-Victoria).

“I’m a huge Star Trek lover,” the impressively calm and cool Glenn told The Debrief when discussing his interest in warp drive. “I was drawn by the future that it projects.”

Glenn says he is partial to the original series “by far” and has identified with one character in particular.

“Mr. Spock is my guy,” said Glenn. “I tried to be him.”

Like Spock, Glenn is undoubtedly left-brained, having earned a number of degrees in electrical engineering, including a Masters and a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University. But unlike Mr. Spock, Glenn embraces his creative side as well, including writing and recording music. He says that he actually knows of many engineers like himself that are drawn to the mathematical nature of music and that he often finds unexpected inspiration for his engineering work when creating a tune. Although he didn’t say so, one could almost imagine the theme of Star Trek The Original Series playing in the background when he decided to take a look at warp drive.

“I took a closer look at (Einstein’s Theory) General Relativity and all of that,” said Glenn, which led him to try to work out exactly how one would go about building a warp drive. Oh yeah, and the massive media coverage around UFOs over the last few years had an impact as well.

“There was actually some DARPA research a few years ago where they were actually looking at this,” explained Glenn, “and it may even intersect with this seriousness that DOD and NASA have gotten around UFOs, or UAPs, to see how were they doing it? If there are vessels flying around, how are they doing it? So that got my interest”

The first thing Glenn noticed was the massive amounts of negative energy required in the faster-than-light concepts, including the more popular models of Alcubierre and White, as well as those published by Dr. Eric Lentz.

“I said, ‘well, if the shaping function was complex, with a larger imaginary part, then it would make all of the energy density requirements positive,’” Glenn told The Debrief. “And I modeled that and got some results that are positive. That’s what’s shown in the paper.”

Of course, being an engineer at heart and by trade, Glenn knew he would have to go beyond simple theory if, as Captain Picard might say, he was going to “make it so.”

“Mathematics and all of that is cool,” Glenn said with a sly grin, “but there is nothing like proving it.”

The Proof

According to Glenn, he labored for some time to come up with a viable way to test his new theory before landing on a class of material known as dielectrics.

“I know from my RF (radio frequency) background that dielectrics can be complex,” Glenn told The Debrief. “So if you put an RF signal through a dielectric material, that could be a way to implement this, implement a shaping function, having whatever characteristics you want.”

He says he found this approach particularly intriguing since it seemed to address the negative energy issue. And he says, he didn’t see anyone else taking this route.

“The difference (between his model and others) is, I’ve identified a material which I think can take us there, and that mathematically fits what the equations are saying,” Glenn told The Debrief. “A lot of the (warp theories) out there haven’t speculated actually how they would do these things,” he added. “Nobody has looked at it that way that I was able to find.”

The self-described ‘engineer with a physicist’s heart’ says he looked around for a material that had the exact properties he would need, and “lo and behold,” one of them is something called ethylene glycol. For those of us not trained in chemistry, he explained that ethylene glycol is more commonly known as antifreeze. That’s right, Star Trek fans. Not the fictional dilithium crystals or anti-matter used to power the starship Enterprise, but good old-fashioned, your-grandpa-keeps-a-can-in-the-garage, anti-freeze.

Glenn says that the realization that such a simple material could unlock the door to warp drive motivated him to begin to design an actual lab experiment, one that could be performed with present-day tools and materials.

“I am, at the present time, working on conducting that experiment using an interferometer to measure any changes that you may see,” Glenn told The Debrief, “because that’s how they’re measuring gravitational waves now.”

For reference, gravitational waves were theorized way back in 1916 by Albert Einstein. Still, they were not proven to exist until 2015, when researchers used the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Observatory (LIGO) run by The California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to actually observe real gravitational waves in space. It was a discovery nearly 100 years in the making and one that won the researchers involved a Nobel Prize.

As a matter of fact, the group from Applied Physics recently proposed a method for detecting an alien warp drive-enabled spacecraft using LIGO, a story covered by The Debrief.

“My planned experiment (involves) pumping an RF chamber with a laser beam running through it,” explained Glenn, “and if somehow, even slightly, space/time is distorted in some way, it could be detected.”

Of course, the observably brilliant yet humble engineer makes it perfectly clear that his first goal is to see that warping of space/time and not the construction of an actual warp spaceship.

“In the lab, I don’t want to see a warp bubble shooting by at ten times the speed of light,” Glenn told The Debrief. “I can’t detect it anyway.”

Fortunately, the experiment he does plan to run is something he is almost ready to execute.

The Experiment

The actual design of Glenn’s lab experiment is rather straightforward. It involves building a chamber, filling it with anti-freeze, blasting that chamber with RF energy, and measuring the impact with a laser interferometer, just like LIGO.

“If it can concentrate (the RF energy) into a particular spot, which the chamber I am designing allows us to do, that may be enough, at the atomic level, I’m only speculating, could be the thing that actually bends space/time.”

Of course, Glenn points out that there are a number of variables he has to take into account, variables that he is currently writing into his experiment.

“If I’m trying to measure stuff at such a small level, and a small resolution, there are a lot of variables that could affect the results,” he explained. “Like heat, or vibrations on the table could make the laser beam look like it’s being jostled or moved, but it (might not) be what you think.”

The key to making sure he is actually seeing what he hopes to see is pulsing the RF signal. That’s because pulsing the signal not only allows for the tuning and shaping of the RF to improve performance and reduces the overall energy required (a stalling point for many warp theories) but also gives a method for making sure any perturbance of space/time witnessed is a result of the RF and not some outside force.

“I want to pulse it so that if I see distortions based on those pulses, I know that I’m doing it,” explained Glenn, “and not the train that is riding down the tracks 20 miles away.”

The Warp Drive Propulsion

The first step, Glenn explained, is finishing the design of the chamber to make sure the RF energy is concentrated at a single point. To accomplish this task, he is using a design software tool known as COMSOL. And, he says, he is already about 75% of the way through that work.

Next, as is the case in pretty much every visionary engineering endeavor, Glenn will need to secure the funding to perform his experiment. Fortunately, his pre-proposal to the National Science Foundation (NSF) for a grant has already been accepted for review. If it is approved, the professor says there should be more than enough funding to build his chamber, pour the concrete for his stable test table, buy the cutting-edge interferometer and other tools, and compensate all of the people he will need to pull it off.

Of course, in his position as provost at the university, Glenn could just appropriate the resources and people and do it right there on campus. But if he receives the NSF grant, he wants to create a dedicated facility off campus to avoid any conflicts of interest. Towards that end, he has also received some support from other warp theorists who are excited about his idea.

“Dr. White has opened up his (Eagleworks) lab to us if we need it,” said Glenn, “so there is always that option.”

The professor also noted that his initial paper outlining his theory has garnered him some rather high-profile allies that are supporting his efforts to test his warp drive concept.

“The exciting thing is, SpaceX is indirectly involved,” Glenn told The Debrief. “I am actually working with someone who is connected to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), so NASA, and also connected to SpaceX. They are centered at Texas A&M’s technology and engineering center.”

Whichever route he takes, Dr. Glenn says his experiment should be conducted very soon.

“I’m hoping to run initial experiments in the 1^st half of 2023,” said Glenn. “Maybe sometime in March or early spring.”

The Vision

Along with being a fan of Star Trek and an engineer who loves a good challenge, Glenn says there is a larger driving force behind his work. It is the idea of access to space for all.

“We look at all of these ideas, like building colonies on Mars or hotels in space, and we wonder if any of this is going to be accessible to the average person or if it is going to be another case of the haves versus the have-nots,” explained Glenn.

He calls his idea “space for everyone” and has even chartered an organization whose primary goal is to make sure everyday people can reap the rewards of trillion-dollar asteroids or colonies on the moon.

“I am representing a group called the Morningbird Foundation,” said Glenn. “Our goal is to make sure everyone benefits from access to space, not just the wealthy.” If this idea sounds familiar, that’s because it is more or less one of the primary factors that motivated Gene Roddenberry to create the original Star Trek series.

So, although we don’t know if Dr. Glenn will be successful in warping space/time, it sounds like he may have already realized his first dream: to actually become Mr. Spock.

To that, we say good luck with your experiment, Dr. Glenn. We can’t wait to report the results.

Until then, live long and prosper.

• Read This to Learn About the Star Trek-Inspired Company Trying to Build a Working Warp Drive Spacecraft
• Christopher Plain is a novelist, comedian, and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on Twitter, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him directly at christopher@thedebrief.org.

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16-01-2026 om 22:49 geschreven door peter  

On January 14, an unprecedented event in NASA history took place. For the first time, the aerospace administration terminated a manned space mission ahead of schedule due to health problems of one of the Crew-11 mission participants. For confidentiality reasons, NASA is not disclosing his name or details of his diagnosis. According to unofficial sources, the astronaut in question is Michael Fincke.

But although evacuation to Earth is an unprecedented event for NASA, it is far from the first such case. Yes, cosmonauts and astronauts undergo thorough medical examinations, but they are still human beings. It is no secret that even healthy people can unexpectedly experience health problems under certain circumstances. Moreover, space explorers work in extremely harsh conditions and are exposed to factors such as weightlessness, increased radiation levels, and confinement in a closed space – not to mention significant stress.

In this article, you will learn about the most famous cases in history when medical problems directly affected the course of space expeditions.

Cold and disobedience, Apollo 7

At the dawn of the space age, NASA did not have a preflight quarantine for astronauts. The Apollo 7 mission clearly demonstrated the shortcomings of this practice. Shortly after launch, mission commander Walter Schirra came down with a cold. Later, the rest of the crew also developed symptoms. Colds in zero gravity were much more severe than on Earth. Aspirin from the onboard first aid kit did not help, and it was impossible to clear their noses and ears.

It is worth noting that Apollo 7 was a very difficult mission. It was supposed to demonstrate that NASA had recovered from the loss of three astronauts who died in a fire during Apollo 1 testing, and that after all the changes made, the spacecraft was safe for flight. The crew was under a great deal of pressure. And illness only exacerbated the situation.

From a technical point of view, the flight itself went brilliantly: the astronauts completed absolutely all of their tasks, paving the way to the Moon. The flip side of the coin was that communication between Mission Control (RKA) and the astronauts was very difficult and accompanied by a number of conflicts. The final straw was the landing. Mission Control (RKA) demanded that the astronauts put on their helmets in case of depressurization of the spacecraft. But the crew refused to do so, citing concerns that the increase in pressure could cause their eardrums to rupture due to their airways still being blocked. The astronauts wanted to be able to perform the Valsalva maneuver to equalize the pressure in their ears. As a result, they refused to obey a direct order and did not put on their helmets.

This had direct consequences. Even before the flight, Wally Schirra announced that he would soon be leaving NASA, so the aerospace administration was unable to impose any serious sanctions on him. However, for the other two crew members, Donn Eisele and Walter Cunningham, this flight was their last. NASA management decided to no longer allow astronauts who did not follow orders to fly into space.

Moon allergy

Scientists and engineers working on projects to create lunar settlements have identified a number of problems that need to be solved before colonization of Earth’s satellite can begin. But actual flights have revealed another problem that no one had thought about before, and that could seriously complicate long-term stays on the Moon. We are talking about allergies to lunar dust.

The fact is that lunar dust is completely different from Earth dust. It consists of very fine and extremely sharp particles – after all, there is no atmosphere or water on the Moon to smooth them out. Lunar dust is extremely sticky. It easily sticks to spacesuits and equipment, which creates a number of problems. It can also cause allergies.

Harrison Schmitt, a member of the Apollo 17 mission, saw this for himself. When he took off his spacesuit after returning to the lunar module, he developed hay fever – an allergic reaction caused by inhaling dust particles. The next day, the allergy had almost disappeared, allowing the astronaut to continue his work. However, as it soon became clear, Cernan’s case was not unique. Later, the same symptoms appeared in a person who worked with the astronauts’ spacesuits after their return to Earth.

It is possible that long-term inhalation of dust could have even more serious consequences for humans and cause lung disease. Therefore, designers of modern lunar missions are taking this factor into account and looking for ways to combat dust.

Skylab strike

Information about the so-called Skylab “strike” can easily be found on the Internet. It is claimed that on December 28, 1973, in protest against an overly busy work schedule, the station crew (astronauts Gerald Carr, Edward Gibson, and William Pogue) cut off communication with Mission Control (RKA) and spent the entire day relaxing and looking at Earth.

What really happened? For all the astronauts at the station, it was their first flight into space. At the same time, NASA had drawn up an overly ambitious work plan for them. This led to the crew falling behind schedule and the psychological atmosphere becoming very tense. It is claimed that this is precisely why the astronauts broke down at some point and went on strike.

But in reality, everything was much more complicated. Communication was lost not for a day, but for an entire orbit. According to the astronauts, this was due to a mistake – they confused who was responsible for maintaining contact with Earth that day. The available records of the conversations also do not confirm that the crew refused to work. In fact, there was a dialogue between the crew and Mission Control (RKA) about the problems that had arisen – something like the first psychotherapy session in space. At first, the crew reported everything they did not like and what needed to be changed first. Then Mission Control (RKA) openly told the crew about everything that was bothering them.

The changes introduced after this discussion yielded results. As a result, the second half of the mission turned out to be much more productive than the first. In some respects, the crew even managed to exceed the initial plan. After this flight, NASA began to pay much more attention to the psychological aspects of space travel, realizing that they were just as important as the crew’s physical health.

The Skylab mission became the starting point for numerous medical studies devoted to human behavior in space. Its results are still actively used in the selection and training of crews for long-term expeditions. The most obvious legacy of this mission was the introduction of the practice that at least one member of a space expedition must have experience flying in orbit.

The mysterious return of Soyuz-21

Despite all the problems, the Skylab crew remained at the station until the end of their scheduled stay. The same cannot be said about the crew of Soyuz-21. In July 1976, it docked with the Salyut 5 military orbital station. It was assumed that crew commander Boris Volynov and flight engineer Vitaly Zholobov would spend 60 days aboard the station. In reality, they returned to Earth after only 49 days.

The reason for the early return of Soyuz-21 is still shrouded in rumors. According to Volynov, after an emergency arose at the station, Zholobov began to suffer from severe headaches, and his condition continued to deteriorate. By the time the Mission Control Center decided to terminate the expedition early, he was unable to put on his spacesuit by himself. As for the reasons for his deteriorating health, a strange smell was cited, which was presumably caused by a nitric acid leak. Because of this, the next expedition boarded Salyut-5 wearing respirators. However, the cosmonauts did not detect any smell or leaks.

However, according to popular opinion, the real reason was the difficult psychological situation and conflict between the crew members, which led to the early termination of the mission. Later, Zholobov denied some of the rumors surrounding the flight, but at the same time stated that he had essentially taken on the problems that had arisen for Volynov, who was in command of the mission.

Astronaut sickness

While there are many gray areas in the history of Soyuz-21, there is no doubt about the main reason for the early termination of the Soyuz T-14 expedition: cosmonaut Vladimir Vasyutin fell ill. While on board the Salyut-7 station, he developed symptoms of prostatitis.

The treatment administered on board the space station after consultation with doctors was unsuccessful. The cosmonaut’s health deteriorated rapidly. As a result, on November 21, 1985, Soyuz T-14 returned to Earth. Instead of the planned 200 days, the flight lasted only 64 days.

According to the widely accepted version, Vasyutin knew about his illness and concealed it, attempting to treat himself, and the responsibility lies solely with him. However, there is also an alternative opinion, according to which, given the thoroughness of medical examinations, regardless of his wishes, the cosmonaut would never have been able to hide a chronic illness from doctors, and that this was an acute illness that suddenly developed during the space flight.

Regardless of whether Vasyutin knew about his illness or not, it led to the failure of a very ambitious expedition and the cancellation of a number of missions planned for Salyut 7. Subsequently, only one spacecraft visited the station, after which it was mothballed and, a few years later, fell out of orbit. Shortly after returning to Earth, Vasyutin himself was removed from the cosmonaut corps due to health reasons and never flew into space again.

• Posted in Articles, Questions

{ https://universemagazine.com/en/articles-en/ }

16-01-2026 om 22:09 geschreven door peter  

Wormholes are often imagined as tunnels through space or time—shortcuts across the universe. But this image rests on a misunderstanding of work by physicists Albert Einstein and Nathan Rosen.

In 1935, while studying the behavior of particles in regions of extreme gravity, Einstein and Rosen introduced what they called a "bridge": a mathematical link between two perfectly symmetrical copies of spacetime. It was not intended as a passage for travel, but as a way to maintain consistency between gravity and quantum physics. Only later did Einstein–Rosen bridges become associated with wormholes, despite having little to do with the original idea.

But in new research published in Classical and Quantum Gravity, my colleagues and I show that the original Einstein–Rosen bridge points to something far stranger—and more fundamental—than a wormhole.

The puzzle Einstein and Rosen were addressing was never about space travel, but about how quantum fields behave in curved spacetime. Interpreted this way, the Einstein–Rosen bridge acts as a mirror in spacetime: a connection between two microscopic arrows of time.

Quantum mechanics governs nature at the smallest scales such as particles, while Einstein's theory of general relativity applies to gravity and spacetime. Reconciling the two remains one of physics' deepest challenges. And excitingly, our reinterpretation may offer a path to doing this.

A misunderstood legacy

The "wormhole" interpretation emerged decades after Einstein and Rosen's work, when physicists speculated about crossing from one side of spacetime to the other, most notably in the late-1980s research.

But those same analyses also made clear how speculative the idea was: within general relativity, such a journey is forbidden. The bridge pinches off faster than light could traverse it, rendering it non-traversable. Einstein–Rosen bridges are therefore unstable and unobservable—mathematical structures, not portals.

Nevertheless, the wormhole metaphor flourished in popular culture and speculative theoretical physics. The idea that black holes might connect distant regions of the cosmos—or even act as time machines—inspired countless papers, books and films.

Yet there is no observational evidence for macroscopic wormholes, nor any compelling theoretical reason to expect them within Einstein's theory. While speculative extensions of physics—such as exotic forms of matter or modifications of general relativity—have been proposed to support such structures, they remain untested and highly conjectural.

Two arrows of time

Our recent work revisits the Einstein–Rosen bridge puzzle using a modern quantum interpretation of time, building on ideas developed by Sravan Kumar and João Marto.

Most fundamental laws of physics do not distinguish between past and future, or between left and right. If time or space is reversed in their equations, the laws remain valid. Taking these symmetries seriously leads to a different interpretation of the Einstein–Rosen bridge.

Rather than a tunnel through space, it can be understood as two complementary components of a quantum state. In one, time flows forward; in the other, it flows backward from its mirror-reflected position.

This symmetry is not a philosophical preference. Once infinities are excluded, quantum evolution must remain complete and reversible at the microscopic level—even in the presence of gravity.

The "bridge" expresses the fact that both time components are needed to describe a complete physical system. In ordinary situations, physicists ignore the time-reversed component by choosing a single arrow of time.

But near black holes, or in expanding and collapsing universes, both directions must be included for a consistent quantum description. It is here that Einstein–Rosen bridges naturally arise.

Solving the information paradox

At the microscopic level, the bridge allows information to pass across what appears to us as an event horizon—a point of no return. Information does not vanish; it continues evolving, but along the opposite, mirror temporal direction.

This framework offers a natural resolution to the famous black hole information paradox. In 1974, Stephen Hawking showed that black holes radiate heat and can eventually evaporate, apparently erasing all information about what fell into them—contradicting the quantum principle that evolution must preserve information.

The paradox arises only if we insist on describing horizons using a single, one-sided arrow of time extrapolated to infinity—an assumption quantum mechanics itself does not require.

If the full quantum description includes both time directions, nothing is truly lost. Information leaves our time direction and re-emerges along the reversed one. Completeness and causality are preserved, without invoking exotic new physics.

These ideas are difficult to grasp because we are macroscopic beings who experience only one direction of time. On everyday scales, disorder—or entropy—tends to increase. A highly ordered state naturally evolves into a disordered one, never the reverse. This gives us an arrow of time.

But quantum mechanics allows more subtle behavior. Intriguingly, evidence for this hidden structure may already exist. The cosmic microwave background—the afterglow of the Big Bang—shows a small but persistent asymmetry: a preference for one spatial orientation over its mirror image.

This anomaly has puzzled cosmologists for two decades. Standard models assign it extremely low probability—unless mirror quantum components are included.

Echoes of a prior universe?

This picture connects naturally to a deeper possibility. What we call the "Big Bang" may not have been the absolute beginning, but a bounce—a quantum transition between two time-reversed phases of cosmic evolution.

In such a scenario, black holes could act as bridges not just between time directions, but between different cosmological epochs. Our universe might be the interior of a black hole formed in another, parent cosmos. This could have formed as a closed region of spacetime collapsed, bounced back and began expanding as the universe we observe today.

If this picture is correct, it also offers a way for observations to decide. Relics from the pre-bounce phase—such as smaller black holes—could survive the transition and reappear in our expanding universe. Some of the unseen matter we attribute to dark matter could, in fact, be made of such relics.

In this view, the Big Bang evolved from conditions in a preceding contraction. Wormholes aren't necessary: the bridge is temporal, not spatial—and the Big Bang becomes a gateway, not a beginning.

This reinterpretation of Einstein–Rosen bridges offers no shortcuts across galaxies, no time travel and no science-fiction wormholes or hyperspace. What it offers is far deeper. It offers a consistent quantum picture of gravity in which spacetime embodies a balance between opposite directions of time—and where our universe may have had a history before the Big Bang.

It does not overthrow Einstein's relativity or quantum physics—it completes them. The next revolution in physics may not take us faster than light—but it could reveal that time, deep down in the microscopic world and in a bouncing universe, flows both ways.

More information: Enrique Gaztañaga et al, A new understanding of Einstein–Rosen bridges, Classical and Quantum Gravity (2026). DOI: 10.1088/1361-6382/ae3044

• This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
• Provided by The Conversation
• This story was originally published on Phys.org.

{  Phys.org. }

16-01-2026 om 21:52 geschreven door peter  

'No easy explanation': Scientists are debating a 70-year-old UFO mystery as new images come to light

{ https://www.livescience.com/space/extraterrestrial-life }

16-01-2026 om 21:34 geschreven door peter  

What lies beneath: Map reveals what REALLY sits below Antarctica’s enormous ice sheet

• READ MORE: World's biggest iceberg turns BLUE as it disintegrates 

By XANTHA LEATHAM, EXECUTIVE SCIENCE EDITOR

A detailed map of hidden landscapes beneath Antarctica's ice sheet reveals what really sits beneath the colossal frozen block.

The sheet, which covers an area of almost 14 million km², is the largest single mass of ice on Earth.

Scientists know less about the landscape hidden beneath than they do about the surface of Mars or Venus, as making observations through ice is difficult.

Now, they have combined a new mapping technique with satellite data to provide the most detailed view to date.

It reveals previously unknown features including thousands of subglacial hills and valleys, mountain ranges and deep canyons.

The team said their findings could provide crucial insight into the behaviour of Antarctica's ice sheet, which is retreating and thinning due to warming oceans and air.

Co-author of the study, Professor Robert Bingham from the University of Edinburgh's School of GeoSciences, said: 'Over millions of years Antarctica's ice sheet has sculpted a landscape consisting variously of flat plains, dissected plateaus and sharp mountains, all hidden under the present miles–thick ice cover.

'With this technique we are able to observe for the first time the relative distributions of these highly variable landscapes over the whole continent.'

This photograph shows the Thwaites ice shelf – the widest glacier on the planet. It spans an area equal to the island of Great Britain (file image)

A new map has revealed Antarctica's hidden landscapes including plateaus, mountains and flat plains

For their study, an international team - led by researchers from the University of Edinburgh - used a mapping technique called Ice Flow Perturbation Analysis (IFPA).

This identifies characteristic shapes in the glacial surface generated by the ice flowing over hills and valleys.

They combined IFPA data with the latest satellite observations to reveal the landscape across the whole continent, including previously uncharted regions.

Previous research has shown that rough areas of subglacial land – such as jagged hillsides and sharp mountain ridges – can slow the retreat of Antarctica's glacial sheet by providing frictional resistance against the ice flowing towards the sea.

The latest map serves as an important guide to inform scientists where future surveys should be focused.

It will also help develop more accurate projections of where and how much sea levels could rise in the future, the team says.

'Because making scientific observations through ice is difficult, we know less about the landscape hidden beneath Antarctica than we do about the surface of Mars or Venus,' lead author Dr Helen Ockenden said.

'So it's really exciting that this new method allows us to use satellite measurements of the ice surface to fill all of the gaps in our maps, revealing new details about mountain ranges, canyons and geological boundaries.'

For their study, the researchers combined a new mapping technique with satellite data to provide the most detailed view to date

Antarctica's rugged landscape is hidden by ice. Pictured: Gentoo penguins in Antarctica. The mountains in the background could represent what the buried topography looks like (file image)

Mathieu Morlighem from Dartmouth College, US, said: 'Understanding the landscape beneath Antarctica is really important for ice–sheet models.

Read More

• Hundreds of earthquakes detected at Antarctica's 'Doomsday' glacier - sparking fears of COLLAPSE and irreversible sea level rise 

'In particular, rougher areas with more hills can really slow down the retreat of the ice sheet, and so this new map will help our models to produce better projections of where and how much sea levels will rise in the future.'

Co–author Professor Andrew Curtis said the method they used to project ice surface information down from satellites 'provides a completely new way to see through ice sheets'.

'Over several years we have proven that it works well in detailed tests and this application across all of Antarctica demonstrates its power,' he added.

The findings were published in the journal Science.

SEA LEVELS COULD RISE BY UP TO 4 FEET BY THE YEAR 2300

Global sea levels could rise as much as 1.2 metres (4 feet) by 2300 even if we meet the 2015 Paris climate goals, scientists have warned.

The long-term change will be driven by a thaw of ice from Greenland to Antarctica that is set to re-draw global coastlines.

Sea level rise threatens cities from Shanghai to London, to low-lying swathes of Florida or Bangladesh, and to entire nations such as the Maldives.

It is vital that we curb emissions as soon as possible to avoid an even greater rise, a German-led team of researchers said in a new report.

By 2300, the report projected that sea levels would gain by 0.7-1.2 metres, even if almost 200 nations fully meet goals under the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Targets set by the accords include cutting greenhouse gas emissions to net zero in the second half of this century.

Ocean levels will rise inexorably because heat-trapping industrial gases already emitted will linger in the atmosphere, melting more ice, it said.

In addition, water naturally expands as it warms above four degrees Celsius (39.2°F).

Every five years of delay beyond 2020 in peaking global emissions would mean an extra 8 inches (20 centimetres) of sea level rise by 2300.

'Sea level is often communicated as a really slow process that you can't do much about ... but the next 30 years really matter,' said lead author Dr Matthias Mengel, of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, in Potsdam, Germany.

None of the nearly 200 governments to sign the Paris Accords are on track to meet its pledges.

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16-01-2026 om 20:57 geschreven door peter  

Is this how the world will end? Earth could be VAPORISED by the sun as it expands, scientists warn

• READ MORE: Astronomers spot an unexpected ‘ghostly object’ 

By WILIAM HUNTER, SENIOR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY REPORTER

Scientists have discovered a mysterious 'iron bar' in the heart of a nearby nebula that could offer a glimpse into Earth's grizzly fate.

The strip of ionised iron atoms was spotted stretching across the Ring Nebula, located 2,283 light-years from Earth.

Experts are baffled about how it formed, as scientists have never seen anything like it before. 

But they say it could be the remains of an Earth-like rocky planet that was vaporised by a dying star.

When stars like our sun run out of nuclear fuel at the end of their lives, the outer layers balloon to enormous size even as the core shrinks and cools.

Eventually, the core becomes a tiny white dwarf without enough gravity to hold the star together, and the outer layers are shed to leave behind a planetary nebula.

In about five billion years from now, our sun will undergo the same transformation as it swells into an enormous Red Giant and swallows Earth.

In a new paper, researchers say this never-before-seen structure in the Ring Nebula could reveal what Earth would look like after being destroyed by the sun.

Scientists have spotted a mysterious iron 'bar' at the centre of the Ring Nebula, and it could offer a glimpse of Earth's grim future 

In this new study, scientists looked at the Ring Nebula using a new tool called the Large Integral Field Unit (LIFU), mounted on the William Herschel Telescope.

This is essentially a bundle containing hundreds of fibre-optic wires that allow scientists to look at the different wavelengths of light, or spectra, across the entire face of the nebula.

Lead author Dr Roger Wesson, of Cardiff University and University College London, says: 'By obtaining a spectrum continuously across the whole nebula, we can create images of the nebula at any wavelength and determine its chemical composition at any position.

'When we processed the data and scrolled through the images, one thing popped out as clear as anything – this previously unknown "bar" of ionised iron atoms, in the middle of the familiar and iconic ring.'

The strip of ionised iron atoms was spotted stretching across the Ring Nebula, located 2,283 light-years from Earth

Astronomers believe that the Ring Nebula formed when a dying star shed its outer layers about 4,000 years ago

The researchers aren't actually sure how this strange bar might have been formed, but there are two likely scenarios.

Either the bar was made by some unknown process during the ejection of the nebula as the parent star collapsed, or it is an arc of plasma resulting from the vaporisation of a rocky planet caught up in the star’s earlier expansion.

'We know that there are planets around many stars, and if there were planets around the star that formed the Ring Nebula, they would have vaporised when the star became a red giant,' Dr Wesson told the Daily Mail.

'And the mass of iron in the bar is about what you'd expect from the vaporisation of a planet: if Mercury or Mars were vaporised, that would give a bit less iron than the bar in the Ring, while if Earth or Venus were vaporised, it would give a bit more.'

If the latter is true, then this strange structure could be a fascinating look at how our planet might appear to astronomers billions of years in the future.

Main-sequence stars like our sun are stable because the inward forces of gravity are matched by the outward push of nuclear fusion reactions in the core.

However, when the star runs out of hydrogen fuel, it can't sustain that reaction and the outer layers start to collapse inwards.

The pressure from this collapse creates such intense heat that it can fuse helium atoms into carbon, releasing a surge of energy that kickstarts nuclear fusion in the outer layers.

One possible explanation is that the iron bar is the remains of a rocky planet that was engulfed by its star as the outer layers expanded to form the nebula. Earth is likely to suffer this same fate when the sun starts to run out of fuel in five billion years' time

The outer layers then expand and cool into what is known as a Red Giant, becoming anywhere from 100 to 1,000 times larger.

When this happens to our sun in about five billion years' time, scientists think it is very likely that Earth will be destroyed.

As the sun expands, Earth will either be vaporised by the intense heat or torn to pieces and pulled in by the powerful gravitational tidal forces.

In a paper published last year, scientists found that stars which had already expanded into red giants were much less likely to host large, close–orbiting planets like Earth.

Overall, 0.28 per cent of stars surveyed were home to a giant planet, with the youngest stars in the sequence having planets more frequently.

However, for stars that had already grown enough to be classed as red giants, just 0.11 per cent were home to planets.

When this does happen, Earth might be smeared into something very much like the iron bar seen in the Ring Nebula.

However, the researchers say they still need a lot more evidence before they can say for certain whether the bar was left by a planet.

In about five billion years, scientists say that the sun will burn the last of its hydrogen fuel. When this happens, it will expand to about 200 times its current size to become a red giant and destroy Earth (artist's impression)

Dr Wesson says: 'A vaporised planet is a possibility. But it's not the only possibility, and we'd have to work out how the iron ended up in a bar shape if it did come from a planet. 

'More likely, there are iron "bars" waiting to be found in other nebulae. The more we can find, the more information we will have to determine how they formed, so we're hunting for more of them!'

In the future, the researchers hope to use the LIFU tool to find more nebulae with similar features, to try to figure out where the bar might have come from. 

Co-author Professor Janet Drew, of University College London, says: 'We definitely need to know more - particularly whether any other chemical elements co-exist with the newly-detected iron, as this would probably tell us the right class of model to pursue. 

'Right now, we are missing this important information.'

WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO EARTH WHEN THE SUN DIES?

Five billion years from now, it's said the Sun will have grown into a red giant star, more than a hundred times larger than its current size. 

Eventually, it will eject gas and dust to create an 'envelope' accounting for as much as half its mass.

The core will become a tiny white dwarf star. This will shine for thousands of years, illuminating the envelope to create a ring-shaped planetary nebula.

Five billion years from now, it's said the Sun will have grown into a red giant star, more than a hundred times larger than its current size

While this metamorphosis will change the solar system, scientists are unsure what will happen to the third rock from the Sun.

We already know that our Sun will be bigger and brighter, so that it will probably destroy any form of life on our planet.

But whether the Earth's rocky core will survive is uncertain. 

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/index.html }

16-01-2026 om 20:38 geschreven door peter  

Black hole awakens after 100 million years of silence – and it's erupting like a cosmic VOLCANO

• READ MORE: Little red dots are 'the most violent forces in the universe'

By WILIAM HUNTER, SENIOR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY REPORTER

Astronomers have captured the moment a 'reborn' supermassive black hole awakened after 100 million years of silence.

Incredible images show the black hole erupting like a 'cosmic volcano', with enough force to reshape its entire host galaxy.

While almost all galaxies host a monstrous supermassive black hole at their heart, few produce such spectacular explosions of superheated plasma.

Spanning almost one million light–years, these plumes of cosmic lava are nearly 10 times wider than the Milky Way.

Lead researcher Dr Shobha Kumari, of Midnapore City College in India, says: 'It's like watching a cosmic volcano erupt again after ages of calm.'

The researchers say their radio images aren't just impressive to look at, but also reveal the hidden violence of the 'messy, chaotic struggle' at the galaxy's core.

The black hole, dubbed J1007+3540, lives inside an enormous galaxy cluster filled with extremely hot gas.

This creates a constant battle between the explosive power of the black hole and the crushing pressure of the surrounding galaxy.

Scientists have captured the moment a supermassive black hole roared back to life after 100 million years of silence, erupting like a 'cosmic volcano' 

Supermassive black holes are the ultra–dense cores of dead stars that collapsed in supernova explosions, with masses up to 10 million times larger than that of the sun.

Their gravitational pull is so strong that not even light can escape beyond the point of no return known as the 'event horizon'.

Typically, the supermassive black holes at the centre of most galaxies are relatively stable, with the surrounding matter orbiting at a safe distance.

However, these monstrous objects can sometimes start to feed on the surrounding clouds of gas that fill the galactic core and become 'active'.

As matter swirls inwards towards the event horizon like water circling a drain, it starts to move incredibly quickly, and friction heats it to enormous temperatures.

Eventually, these forces become so powerful that the black hole starts shooting a jet of superheated plasma into space that produces a blast of electromagnetic radiation.

This ejects a huge amount of the matter falling into the black hole, which is why astronomers sometimes call black holes 'messy eaters'.

In their new paper, published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, scientists used the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) in the Netherlands and India's upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (uGMRT) to look for radio emissions from J1007+3540.

The supermassive black hole, dubbed J1007+3540, has now become active, shooting a jet of plasma almost 10 times wider than the Milky Way out into space (illustrated)

Why do black holes 'erupt'?

Most supermassive black holes are considered 'dormant', which means they aren't actively feeding on matter.

However, when a black hole starts to feed on matter, it becomes 'active' and begins to produce radiation.

This is because matter swirling around the black hole is superheated to the point that it is shot out in a jet.

This plasma produces large amounts of X–rays and radio radiation that can be detected from Earth as an eruption.

These images showed a compact, bright inner jet of radio–emitting magnetised plasma that is the telltale sign of the black hole's recent awakening.

The researchers also discovered just how profoundly the intense pressures at the heart of the galaxy cluster were shaping the black hole.

As the jets are pushed outwards, they are bent, squeezed and distorted by their extreme environment.

As their radio images show, the topmost 'northern lobe' of the jet has been compressed into a curve that seems to have been shoved sideways by the gases.

However, the astronomer's observations didn't just reveal the secrets of this black hole's current eruption.

Just like the volcanoes here on Earth, J1007+3540 has a long and violent history of eruptions.

Just outside the bright inner jet, astronomers spotted a cocoon of older, faded plasma.

This is the leftover debris from past eruptions that has been squeezed and distorted by the hostile environment.

Uniquely, the researchers discovered the remains of previous 'eruptions' surrounding the active black hole (artist's impression). This suggests that this cosmic volcano has erupted multiple times in the past 

Dr Kumari says: 'This dramatic layering of young jets inside older, exhausted lobes is the signature of an episodic AGN [Active Galactic Nucleus] – a galaxy whose central engine keeps turning on and off over cosmic timescales.'

In our own galaxy, the supermassive black hole at the galactic core is currently dormant.

Read More

• Newly discovered galaxy cluster could rewrite our understanding of the universe, experts say 

However, scientists do believe that the black hole, known as Sagittarius A*, could make a similar eruption.

If this were to happen, Sagittarius A* would produce its own jets or plasma that could fundamentally reshape the universe.

While Earth would likely be protected from any radiation, a direct hit from one of those jets would be strong enough to wipe out life on Earth.

But there's no need to worry as scientists think this won't happen until the Milky Way collides with our neighbouring galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), in 2.4 billion years.

BLACK HOLES HAVE A GRAVITATIONAL PULL SO STRONG NOT EVEN LIGHT CAN ESCAPE

Black holes are so dense and their gravitational pull is so strong that no form of radiation can escape them - not even light.

They act as intense sources of gravity which hoover up dust and gas around them. Their intense gravitational pull is thought to be what stars in galaxies orbit around.

How they are formed is still poorly understood. Astronomers believe they may form when a large cloud of gas up to 100,000 times bigger than the sun, collapses into a black hole.

Many of these black hole seeds then merge to form much larger supermassive black holes, which are found at the centre of every known massive galaxy.

Alternatively, a supermassive black hole seed could come from a giant star, about 100 times the sun's mass, that ultimately forms into a black hole after it runs out of fuel and collapses.

When these giant stars die, they also go 'supernova', a huge explosion that expels the matter from the outer layers of the star into deep space. 

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/index.html }

16-01-2026 om 20:00 geschreven door peter  

7 Truly Bizarre UFO Sightings the Government Can’t (or Won’t) Explain

By Ashley Fike

The problem with UFO sightings isn’t a lack of explanations. It’s that some explanations feel designed to end the conversation rather than answer it. A small number of cases stick around because they were witnessed by people who know what they’re looking at, supported by data that exists on paper, and followed by official responses that never fully resolve what happened. That unresolved space is where the discomfort and fascination live.

Here are 7 truly bizarre UFO sightings that investigators never fully closed the book on.

1) The Navy “Tic Tac” that started a modern UAP era

In 2004, U.S. Navy pilots launched from the USS Nimitz and encountered an oblong object off Southern California that didn’t match any known aircraft behavior. It dropped from high altitude to near sea level in seconds, hovered, then vanished. Years later, the Pentagon authorized the release of video footage tied to the encounter, confirming the pilots weren’t exaggerating.

2) The Tehran incident where systems reportedly failed mid-intercept

A glowing object over Tehran in 1976 drew enough attention that Iranian jets were sent to intercept it. According to a declassified U.S. report, pilots experienced sudden instrument and communications failures as they approached, forcing them to break off pursuit.

3) Japan Airlines Flight 1628 and the “what is THAT” cockpit energy

A Japan Airlines cargo flight over Alaska reported unusual lights and a large object in 1986, none of which lined up with what the aircraft’s instruments were showing. The encounter was logged by the FAA and later surfaced through FOIA releases, with no definitive explanation attached.

4) Rendlesham Forest, aka the UK’s most documented “what did we see”

U.S. Air Force personnel stationed near RAF Woodbridge reported unexplained lights moving through the surrounding forest, close enough to call for an on-the-ground investigation. The late-80s incident later entered the official record through a memo written by Lt. Col. Charles Halt, now preserved in the UK National Archives

5) The 1952 Washington, D.C. radar-visual flap

In July 1952, radar operators at Washington National Airport detected unidentified targets moving through restricted airspace, while pilots and people on the ground reported strange lights overhead. The incident drew national attention and became one of the most scrutinized cases of the early Air Force investigation era.

6) Shag Harbour, when Canada treated a “UFO crash” like a rescue call

Witnesses saw lights descend toward the water near Shag Harbour, Nova Scotia, in 1967, and authorities responded as if something had crashed. Search teams arrived expecting wreckage. What they found instead was a patch of yellow foam, empty water, and no missing aircraft to explain it. The incident closed without resolution, which is exactly why it still gets mentioned.

7) The Belgian wave, complete with F-16s getting involved

During a surge of UFO reports across Belgium in 1989 and 1990, sightings became frequent enough that authorities took them seriously. At one point, the situation escalated to fighter jets being scrambled during a night of intense reports. The episode now lives in official summaries held in the UK National Archives.

The unsettling cases aren’t the flashy ones. They’re the ones that were taken seriously, documented carefully, and then abandoned. No grand conclusion. No follow-up. Just a record that something happened and nobody figured out what to do with it.

{ https://www.vice.com/en/category/life/ }

16-01-2026 om 00:00 geschreven door peter  

British intelligence agency investigated UFOs, secret documents show

“Logic would indicate that if significant numbers are reporting seeing strange objects in the sky then there may be a basis in fact,” a 1997 Defense Intelligence Staff memo said.

 { https://www.jpost.com/ }

15-01-2026 om 23:39 geschreven door peter  

The Real-Life Influence of Mythical Creatures in Ancient Cultures

Gary Manners

For centuries, many ancient civilizations were truly fascinated by mythical beings and beliefs that they thought were nothing short of real. In fact, mythical creatures are present in virtually every ancient culture, and span from believable to those bordering something truly alien. From dragons, sea monsters, and griffins, all the way to fauns, centaurs, and minotaurs, these fantastical beings usually mirrored the fears, beliefs, and aspirations of ancient societies. In this way, they often shaped their literature, art, and lifestyles, showing how ideals can be embodied in things imagined. But could there be a real-life origin to these beliefs and creatures? Could they have been inspired by real-world phenomena, or simply misinterpreted natural events?

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Guardians, Destroyers, Prophets

Amongst the most enduring mythical creatures, which were present in so many ancient cultures, are the dragons. Appearing frequently in folklore and tales from China in the east to Europe in the west, and elsewhere, these mighty creatures continue to captivate even today, in the modern age. What makes them so popular, and how did they influence cultures? In China for example, and in East Asia in general, where civilizations flourished for thousands of years, the dragon (known as lóng (loong)) usually symbolized wisdom, wealth, prosperity, and power. Usually depicted as serpentine and brooding, they were connected with the water, rain, fertility, and good fortune in general. Their influence was so great that even emperors adopted them as symbols of divine authority and might. Their garments, thrones, and palaces were decorated with flowing dragons, both carved and painted. In this way, the dragons became intermediaries between the heavens and the earth.

• Marduk: Babylonian King of Gods and Reportedly Liberator of the Jews
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Long dragon. Fragment of the Nine Dragon Wall in Forbidden City, Beijing

(Jakub Hałun/CC BY-SA 4.0)

In stark contrast, however, the dragons of the Western world were not benevolent creatures. Instead, they were often seen as destructive and greedy, hoarding great treasures and devastating the peaceful countryside. In many European legends, heroes arose to slay dragons and put an end to their devastation. Notable such legends are Siegfried in the German heroic tales, or Saint George the Dragonslayer. Their victories over dragons symbolize the triumph of good over evil and the human conquest of chaos. These contrasting perceptions highlight cultural differences in humanity’s relationship with nature: Eastern traditions revered balance, while Western myths often portrayed nature as a force to be subdued.

Saint George and the Dragon by Gustave Moreau, 1889/1890.

(Public Domain)

The myth of the dragons often had real-life origins. In Europe, the ancient cultures personified the destructive nature of the summer sun, which caused droughts and crop failures, with dragons - fire breathing monsters. Their appearance, which endures to this day, could have been inspired by fossils of large prehistoric animals, or through exaggerated tales of encounters with crocodiles and monitor lizards. Early mapmakers placed dragon illustrations in unexplored territories, reinforcing fears of the unknown and cautioning against venturing into uncharted lands.

The Fear of the Unknown

Mythical creatures in the ancient world often influenced real-life experiences as symbols of danger or something to be cautious about. This often pertains to early maritime navigation, as the oceans - and the lands beyond them - were often perilous to explore. This gave birth to the myths of sea monsters. In imaginations of ancient maritime cultures, these beings were aplenty, symbolizing the dangers of the sea. In Greek mythology, for example, there were creatures such as Scylla and Charybdis, posing as major threats to all sailors, just as seen in the Odyssey. These tales, however, were reflected in real life. They highlighted themes of perseverance and ingenuity, teaching mariners to respect the unpredictable power of the ocean and to, paradoxically, motivate them to persevere in maritime exploration.

Painting of Odysseus's boat passing between mythical creatures, the six-headed monster Scylla and the whirlpool Charybdis. Scylla has plucked Five of Odysseus's men from the boat. The painting is an Italian fresco.

(Public Domain)

Such myths existed even in the murky ages before the Greeks arose. In Mesopotamian mythology, the sea monster Tiamat represented the primordial chaos, the salt water, and the creation. Her defeat by the god Marduk, as recounted in the epic tale Enūma Eliš, marked the establishment of order and the birth of the cosmos. Similarly, the Leviathan in Hebrew scriptures symbolized divine power and judgment, underscoring humanity’s vulnerability in the face of the divine.

There is no doubt that many of these sea monster myths were inspired by real-life encounters with large marine creatures. For example, ancient mariners who sighted giant squids or the enormous oarfish, might have described mighty krakens. Similarly, sightings of whales, walruses, or narwhals could have sparked the imaginations of any who saw them. But ultimately, they served as cautionary tales for would-be navigators, and influenced ancient cultures to preserve their own territories, instead of venturing into the great unknown.

Imagination Running Wild

To better convey real-life lessons and concepts, ancient mythical creatures were often larger-than-life, extraordinary beings, with inexplicable and impossible features. How else were the people to fear them and, after all, believe in their existence? And so it was that unique, “hybrid” creatures, which combined the elements of several beings, came to play a significant role in ancient art and belief. A notable example is the griffin, a mythical creature with origins in Ancient Greece. With the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle, this mighty being symbolized strength and vigilance. Revered in Persian, Greek, and Scythian cultures, griffins were often depicted guarding treasures or sacred sites. Their protective role extended to royal power, as seen in gold artifacts adorned with griffin motifs. Interestingly, the Greeks fervently believed that these creatures actually existed, particularly in the northern lands, amongst the Scythians.

A similar creature is the chimera, also originating in Greece, which had the heads of a lion, goat, and serpent. This abhorrent being represented chaos and danger, serving as a warning in real-life concepts. Mythical heroes such as Bellerophon, who defeated the chimera with the help of the horse Pegasus, embodied the virtues of bravery and resourcefulness. In this way, these mythical beings served as a way to promote good virtues in real life, contributing to an orderly and noble society. By reinforcing cultural values and providing tales of human triumph over evil and hardship, these creatures influenced men to always strive to do better, and to fight and protect what was their own.

Such creatures were present in other major cultures of the ancient world, usually having protective roles. In Ancient Egypt, the lion-human hybrids - the Sphinxes - guarded temples and protected the people, while in ancient Assyria the similarly-looking Lamassu stood proudly as sentinels near city gates. By blending artistry with spirituality, these majestic beings conveyed a sense of awe, fear, and inspiration, ensuring protection and instilling fear in all opponents. As such, they were an effective deterrent of enemies, many of whom believed in the wrath of these guardian beings. 

Cast from the original in Iraq, this is one of a pair of five-legged lamassu with lion's feet in Berlin 

(Lusitana/CC BY-SA 3.0)

Could These Beings Have Origins in Nature?

There are many popular theories indicating that the mythical creatures of ancient history have origins in something natural, or some real-world phenomena. It is possible that ancient peoples, having discovered fossils and large animal bones, having no knowledge about prehistoric creatures, crafted imaginary tales of giants, dragons, and centaurs. A notable example is the theory that Protoceratops dinosaur fossils found in Central Asia could have influenced the legends of the griffins. Their skeletons resemble winged creatures, and the people could simply have built their myths upon such remains. There are those, however, who dispute this theory.

“Invoking a role for dinosaurs in griffin lore, especially species from distant lands like Protoceratops, not only introduces unnecessary complexity and inconsistencies to their origins, but also relies on interpretations and proposals that don’t withstand scrutiny. It is important to distinguish between fossil folklore with a factual basis - that is, connections between fossils and myth evidenced by archaeological discoveries or compelling references in literature and artwork - and speculated connections based on intuition. There is nothing inherently wrong with the idea that ancient peoples found dinosaur bones and incorporated them into their mythology, but we need to root such proposals in realities of history, geography and paleontology. Otherwise, they are just speculation.”

Dr. Richard Hing, University of Portsmouth (Source)

Encounters with unfamiliar animals also fueled myths. The narwhal’s tusk, often mistaken for a unicorn horn, contributed to the enduring legend of the unicorn. Similarly, the exaggerated accounts of sailors encountering manatees may have given rise to mermaid stories. These examples highlight how human curiosity and imagination transformed natural observations into fantastical narratives. We can only imagine the shock and awe an ancient person could have experienced upon seeing an exotic animal. Ancient Greek explorers, venturing into Africa or Asia, could have seen elephants, rhinoceroses, giraffes, pythons, crocodiles, or any other odd-looking animals and - being in disbelief - instantly characterize them as beings of myth and legend.

A traditional depiction of the griffin

(Public Domain)

The Influence of Mythical Creatures on Art and Literature

Just one glimpse at ancient art of major civilizations, such as the Greeks, the Minoans, the Romans, or Egyptians, is enough to tell us that their myths were very important to them. From pottery to frescoes, to complex sculptures and architecture, the mythical creatures of old are represented everywhere. And they weren’t mere decorative elements, but served as cultural symbols as well. A notable example is the famed Ishtar Gate of Babylon, adorned with dragons and bulls, which clearly showed the integration of mythical creatures into monumental architecture.

Epic literature was likewise heavily influenced by mythology, with many references to mythical beings. The Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh features Humbaba, a guardian monster, while Beowulf recounts the hero’s battles with the monstrous Grendel and a dragon. These stories not only entertained but also imparted moral lessons and preserved cultural values. Ancient Greek literature was likewise heavily steeped in mythology, containing many encounters with beings such as centaurs, unicorns, minotaurs, the Medusa, the cyclops, and many others. And in all of these tales a unified message was contained - the man’s fight against the forces of evil.

Humbaba, demon guardian of the Cedar Forest.

(Rama/CC BY SA 3.0)

And even today, real life is influenced by ancient mythical creatures. Popular movies often contain many of these creatures, and old legends still serve as inspiration, centuries later. Dragons, elves, giants, unicorns, and phoenixes remain a staple in literature, films, and art, embodying themes of power, purity, and resilience. Their enduring appeal clearly reflects humanity’s deep-seated fascination with the unknown and the extraordinary, which endures for thousands of years.

Myth and Reality, Entwined

In ancient cultures, mythical creatures were more than imaginary beings, they were mirrors of human fears, hopes, and beliefs. Whether as symbols of divine power, representations of natural phenomena, or lessons in morality, these creatures shaped the cultural and spiritual landscapes of civilizations. And as we explore their origins and significance, we gain a richer understanding of the ancient world and the timeless power of myth.

Looking back at our own histories, of our respective nations, we can quickly stumble upon odd myths and unique creatures that have far-reaching roots. All that is left is to ask ourselves - how did they influence or inspire us?

• Top image: Myth of Tiamat the primordial goddess of the ocean rising from the waters ancient Mesopotamian myth swirling sea serpents chaos and creation.
• Source: Stock Source/Adobe Stock

By Aleksa Vučković

References

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{ https://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends }

15-01-2026 om 23:12 geschreven door peter