UFO'S of UAP'S, ASTRONOMIE, RUIMTEVAART, ARCHEOLOGIE, OUDHEIDKUNDE, SF-SNUFJES EN ANDERE ESOTERISCHE WETENSCHAPPEN

The question of whether or not we are alone in the universe has hung over us for a surprisingly long time. Since pretty much the point when we became aware of other planetary bodies and something other than this earth we stand on we have contemplated it and looked to the sky to wonder on it. One of the first targets of this fascination with the worlds beyond our own was the moon, already long the focal point of myth and legend, and it is here where an intriguing and odd history of aliens and proposed space travel unfolds in a very weird sequence of historical oddities.

Back in the 17th century the thought of actually traveling to space was so beyond us that it wasn’t even really science fiction yet, or even a thing at all. We simply did not understand the planets and space in general enough to even fully comprehend it at the time, although there were more and more discoveries being made all of the time, notably those of Galileo and his newfangled telescope. It was at around this time that a man named John Wilkins would be born in 1614, and his childhood obsession with the voyages of great explorers such as Christopher Columbus, Francis Drake, and Ferdinand Magellan would shape what he was to become later in life.

Wilkins would go on to complete his studies at Oxford in both theology and natural philosophy, also studying at Cambridge, and he had shown a lifelong fascination with the field of astronomy, which was still very much in its infancy at the time. He would achieve quite a good amount of respect and high standing, later even marrying the sister of self-styled Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland, Oliver Cromwell. He had also become a full-fledged vicar and clergyman, an interesting but not uncommon at the time matching of religion and science, and would be one of the founding members of the the Royal Society, as well as Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, gaining great prominence as a natural philosopher and author.

Wilkins was, in short, one of the most highly regarded intellectuals and academics of his time, and in this capacity he made quite a few groundbreaking propositions. Among his many wild ideas were that a universal language should be instated amongst the world’s scientists, a universal system of weights and measurements should be used, and a revolutionary way to record time accurately by use of a system of pendulums. Some of these ideas were quite groundbreaking and forward thinking, such as the standard system of length and weight that predated the metric system by over a hundred years. He was also responsible for all manner of strange and ingenious inventions, but perhaps his most out there achievements sat firmly with his longtime fascination with space and the life that he believed was out there within it.

Wilkins believed that not only did other living creatures inhabit the moon and beyond, but that it was possible to create flying machines that were capable of reaching these places, in an age when this had been previously not even a thing. These were heady, revolutionary concepts at the time, but this did not stop Wilkins from penning sophisticated and in-depth treatises on his ideas entitled The Discovery of a World in the Moone in 1638, and A Discourse Concerning A New Planet in 1640. Some of his wild ideas on the properties of the moon were fascinating and well ahead of their time, many of them quite accurate in retrospect, such as that the moon created no light of its own, but rather merely reflected the sun’s light, and that it was constantly hit by meteorites that left impact craters and orbited Earth in the same way that the Earth orbits the sun. In fact, Wilkins was describing how bodies orbit each other and stay aloft long before Isaac Newton was contemplating such things. Of course he was wrong about quite a few things, such as erroneously concluding that the moon had its own atmosphere, but for the era his predictions were extraordinary.

Not only this, but he also believed that trade could actually be established with these proposed beings, and his first target was the moon and its inhabitants, which he called “Selenites,” and with who he seriously began plans to establish trade with. To this end he began drawing out plans for a flying ship to reach it, very much like a sailing vessel in basic design, but with wings instead of sails. In Wilkins’ opinion, the craft could be outfitted with feathered wings and powered by a combustion engine, which would by his (unfortunately wrong) calculations manage to escape Earth’s gravity, which he viewed as merely a type of magnetism. For this planned mission, Wilkins made no plans to provide food rations for passengers, as he was convinced that a zero gravity environment would not generate hunger, and he also did not account for any oxygen that would be needed by these early astronauts, as it was thought they would be able to breathe up there just fine, with him writing, “space travelers would soon grow accustomed to the purer air breathed by angels who inhabit the vast space between planets.” Looking back with what we know now it all seems kind of silly, but Wilkins was very serious about building this craft, and went about drawing up plans with fellow astronomer Robert Hooke, with all of the enthusiasm of two little kids making a boat out of a mattress to take them around the world. It is extraordinary, as remember that this was an age when vehicles like cars and airplanes were not even on our radar yet, not to be invented for hundreds of years.

Unfortunately for these two complete and utter early space geeks, reality began to set in before they could get their death trap off the ground. With new discoveries in the nature of vacuum and magnetism, Wilkins realized that gravity and magnetism were different, and that his calculations were therefore way off. It occurred to both Wilkins and Hooke that this whole space travel thing wasn’t going to be as easy, or cheap, as they had thought, and that the technology to do so simply wasn’t feasible yet. They would both go on to other work, and Wilkins would pass away in 1672 at the age of 58, having never realized his dream of trading with those lunar aliens or of even getting to space period. Yet although Wilkins ultimately failed he is still one of the first pioneers of the field of space travel, and one of the first to seriously contemplate how to achieve it, giving him a place in history as a great daydreamer and innovator.

Despite the fact that Wilkins’ ideas on space travel and trade with aliens on the moon were dashed, the idea that there were indeed living beings on the moon endured, and that brings us up into the 1800s, when in 1835 there appeared a series of six articles in the New York Sun newspaper, authored by a “Dr. Andrew Grant,” which were fantastical to say the least. The articles claimed that the great astronomer Sir John Herschel had discovered concrete proof of life on the moon, which was apparently not only inhabited, but absolutely teeming with life. The articles, supposedly reprinted from a publication called The Edinburgh Journal of Science, claimed that all manner of incredible animals and entities had been discovered on the moon, as well as lush vegetation, oceans, forests, and rushing rivers and even an intelligent civilization of bat-like flying humanoids.

When the series of articles appeared the populace was spellbound, with everyone looking up at the moon and imagining what wonders were up there, and even such imminent scientific establishments as Yale University were lured in by it all, but, as you must no doubt have surmised by now, it was all hogwash. Grant was a completely fictitious character, and the whole thing had been merely a satire of ideas on life on the moon and publicity stunt to increase sales conjured up by Sun reporter Richard Adams Locke. Even Herschel had had no idea about his name being used for such a stunt, although he at first reportedly found it very amusing. What has gone on to be called “The Great Moon Hoax” had other ramifications, such as many people refusing to believe that it was a hoax even after the paper admitted it, citing conspiracies, as well as none other than Edgar Allen Poe accusing the paper of plagiarizing his work The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall.

Although increased understanding about how space, planets, and the moon work increasingly squashed all debate on whether life exists up there on the moon, it is still an interesting peek into another bygone era when the amazing possibility of life on the moon was still alive and people had a sense of wonder about it all. It marked the beginning of our longing to reach out past our own planet to space and beyond, to see what amazing sights await us, and whether the moon has or ever had organic life as we know it. It is a chapter in our species’ desire to go out over new horizons and connect with other life in this cold universe we spin about, currently totally alone.

UFOs are all the buzz lately… and have been ever since the initial reporting by the New York Times about the Pentagon’s Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program in December of 2017.

Since that time, further information has seeped forth at a slow trickle, with recent events including confirmation that the Pentagon had been behind the release of unusual footage promoted by the To the Stars Academy, a private UFO study group that also has various commercial interests. The group is headed by former Blink 182 frontman Tom DeLonge, although Luis Elizondo, former head of the Pentagon’s UFO program, is also a member.

In recent news, an announcement by the US Navy reported previously here at Mysterious Universe announced plans to draft new procedures for UFO reporting. Speaking with the San Francisco Gate, Joe Gradisher, a spokesperson with the office of the deputy chief of naval operations for information warfare, further stated that this information would include sensitive classified data, and therefore would not be released to the public.

“Any report generated as a result of these investigations will, by necessity, include classified information on military operations,” Gradisher said.

With this in mind, it remains in question just how much information about ongoing UFO studies the public would be made aware of (although the Navy’s acknowledgment does raise hopes for the possibility of Freedom of Information Act requests, which might allow proper civilian channels for accessing certain government records, albeit in redacted form).

Despite the necessity for secrecy in UFO reporting by government agencies like the Navy and USAF, there is still some compelling information about UFO incidents that the government has made available in recent years. It is accessible on account of the simple fact that it was never classified in the first place; however one has to know where to look in order to find it.

John Podesta admitted on Twitter that his biggest regret was “not being part of Alien Disclosure” whilst working under Obama!

The Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) is an online database which logs incident reports related to possible aviation safety hazards. For the last several decades, the ASRS has been maintained by NASA, and allows aviation professionals in various lines of work to report potential concerns anonymously (so as to remove concerns over things like future litigation).

The bulk of the information presented in the ASRS reports deals with issues pertaining to electronic or mechanical problems, as well as weather-related issues and other similar things. Some reports also relate to concerns about collision avoidance, whether between two separate aircraft, or between aircraft and objects or animals (birds hitting aircraft during initial ascent is another frequent happening).

Then there are the odd reports that, while remaining in the distinct minority, nonetheless convey some of the really unusual things going on in our skies.

One of my favorites is an incident that occurred in August of 2015, where a pilot observed an extremely unusual object at approximately 3,500 feet in altitude, and a distance of five miles Northeast of Windham High Peak in Greene County, New York.

According to the incident report:

I was piloting and had a passenger along for his first flight. We could not see any kind of wings, rotors, or form of propulsion. Unfortunately, my camera was stuck in my pocket under tight seat belts and I couldn’t get it out while flying the glider trying to avoid hitting this thing.

It was about 6 feet tall, 2-3 feet wide. Top of UAV was extremely radiant, with black half sphere under the radiant top and what appeared to be an antenna under the half sphere, we watched it skimming over the tree tops below and to the right of our flight path. It was moving at a fast speed southwest toward Windham High Peak. It had a very sparkling appearance like sun shining on a mirror with rainbow colors. I was flying northeast from Windham High Peak at about 3500 feet. As we watched the UAV I banked to the left and half way through the turn and now pointing at Windham High Peak, the UAV turned around and came toward us at a high rate of speed. As I got 3/4 of the way through the turn was within 50 yards of my right wing, quickly got in front of me and followed me around the turn getting closer until it was off my left wing, probably no more than 25-30 yards away. It covered about 5 miles in just a few seconds. We had a really good view of it.

The report concludes with an interesting twist: the pilot notes that as the object left its position off of his left wing, the passenger flying with him “looked up and saw two more UAVs come out of the cloud directly over us.” The pilot, seemingly unnerved by the experience, told his passenger they were “returning immediately to the airport,” at this point.

“I pushed the nose down and picked up speed,” the final line of the report reads. “The UAVs then headed to the west at a fast speed.”

Standard procedure with ASRS reports of any kind usually involves at least one follow up call, in order to glean any additional details that might be determined about the incident in question. With relation to the incident above, additional commentary was provided by the agent who made the follow up, who noted the following:

The reporter estimated at first visual contact the UAV was approximately 3.5 miles away down the hill. It sped up hill to the reporter’s aircraft at a much higher speed than the aircraft. The reporter estimated the closure took less than a minute and as he accelerated his aircraft away from the craft it followed, maneuvering at a speed much high than his. Two other similar shaped UAVs also had brilliant tops but colors somewhat different from the first which was a shimmering, brilliant rainbow type light.

It’s a tantalizing story, to say the least. While it certainly leaves determinations about what the “UAVs” was a bit open-ended, it nonetheless appears to convey a genuine concern on part of the pilot (enough so, obviously, that he or she felt compelled to file an incident report with the ASRS).

It is also just one of several reports of “unknowns” that appear in the database, although the majority of reports that involve unknown or unconventional aircraft are either indistinct, or they describe objects that more closely resemble some kind of unmanned aerial vehicle or projectile. The prevalence of the latter of these two, in fact, served as part of the basis for my own inquiry into “ghost rocket” reports since the end of World War II (the name is borrowed specifically from the sightings of projectile-like objects over Scandinavia in 1946, although I apply it more broadly in my book The Ghost Rockets: Mystery Missiles and Phantom Projectiles in Our Skies).

Although many of the ASRS reports of unidentified craft aren’t as exciting as the case outlined above, they nonetheless point to an odd prevalence of unusual things in U.S. airspace, which were of obvious concern to the pilots and aviation professionals who encountered them. Whether or not the Navy and other agencies are able to disclose information from their forthcoming inquiries, the fact alone that they have publicly stated an intent emphasize their UAP studies is noteworthy.