Dit is ons nieuw hondje Kira, een kruising van een waterhond en een Podenko. Ze is sinds 7 februari 2024 bij ons en druk bezig ons hart te veroveren. Het is een lief, aanhankelijk hondje, dat zich op een week snel aan ons heeft aangepast. Ze is heel vinnig en nieuwsgierig, een heel ander hondje dan Noleke.
This is our new dog Kira, a cross between a water dog and a Podenko. She has been with us since February 7, 2024 and is busy winning our hearts. She is a sweet, affectionate dog who quickly adapted to us within a week. She is very quick and curious, a very different dog than Noleke.
DEAR VISITOR,
MY BLOG EXISTS ALREADY 13 YEARS AND 2 MONTH.
ON 06/08/2024 MORE THAN 2.161.100
VISITORS FROM 135 DIFFERENT NATIONS ALREADY FOUND THEIR WAY TO MY BLOG.
THAT IS AN AVERAGE OF 400GUESTS PER DAY.
THANK YOU FOR VISITING MY BLOG AND HOPE YOU ENJOY EACH TIME.
The purpose of this blog is the creation of an open, international, independent and free forum, where every UFO-researcher can publish the results of his/her research. The languagues, used for this blog, are Dutch, English and French.You can find the articles of a collegue by selecting his category. Each author stays resposable for the continue of his articles. As blogmaster I have the right to refuse an addition or an article, when it attacks other collegues or UFO-groupes.
Druk op onderstaande knop om te reageren in mijn forum
Zoeken in blog
Deze blog is opgedragen aan mijn overleden echtgenote Lucienne.
In 2012 verloor ze haar moedige strijd tegen kanker!
In 2011 startte ik deze blog, omdat ik niet mocht stoppen met mijn UFO-onderzoek.
BEDANKT!!!
Een interessant adres?
UFO'S of UAP'S, ASTRONOMIE, RUIMTEVAART, ARCHEOLOGIE, OUDHEIDKUNDE, SF-SNUFJES EN ANDERE ESOTERISCHE WETENSCHAPPEN - DE ALLERLAATSTE NIEUWTJES
UFO's of UAP'S in België en de rest van de wereld In België had je vooral BUFON of het Belgisch UFO-Netwerk, dat zich met UFO's bezighoudt. BEZOEK DUS ZEKER VOOR ALLE OBJECTIEVE INFORMATIE , enkel nog beschikbaar via Facebook en deze blog.
Verder heb je ook het Belgisch-Ufo-meldpunt en Caelestia, die prachtig, doch ZEER kritisch werk leveren, ja soms zelfs héél sceptisch...
Voor Nederland kan je de mooie site www.ufowijzer.nl bezoeken van Paul Harmans. Een mooie site met veel informatie en artikels.
MUFON of het Mutual UFO Network Inc is een Amerikaanse UFO-vereniging met afdelingen in alle USA-staten en diverse landen.
MUFON's mission is the analytical and scientific investigation of the UFO- Phenomenon for the benefit of humanity...
Je kan ook hun site bekijken onder www.mufon.com.
Ze geven een maandelijks tijdschrift uit, namelijk The MUFON UFO-Journal.
Since 02/01/2020 is Pieter ex-president (=voorzitter) of BUFON, but also ex-National Director MUFON / Flanders and the Netherlands. We work together with the French MUFON Reseau MUFON/EUROP.
ER IS EEN NIEUWE GROEPERING DIE ZICH BUFON NOEMT, MAAR DIE HEBBEN NIETS MET ONZE GROEP TE MAKEN. DEZE COLLEGA'S GEBRUIKEN DE NAAM BUFON VOOR HUN SITE... Ik wens hen veel succes met de verdere uitbouw van hun groep. Zij kunnen de naam BUFON wel geregistreerd hebben, maar het rijke verleden van BUFON kunnen ze niet wegnemen...
27-06-2024
MUFON teases game-changing UFO cases but be cautious about what you choose to believe
MUFON teases game-changing UFO cases but be cautious about what you choose to believe
In this interview from the Vetted podcast, Ron James, Director of Media Relations for MUFON and filmmaker of "The Accidental Truth," shares shocking new UFO evidence. xxx
Discover the latest findings from MUFON's upcoming symposium, including mysterious metals received by a Russian experiencer, the compelling 1955 Oregon UFO shootdown case, and a cryogenically frozen alien.
The Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) is set to reveal findings from a study on alleged UFO material. In a surprising announcement, MUFON has declared that it will present "the most important UAP-related presentation it has ever made" at a live event on July 13th.
The presentation will focus on alleged UAP material received from a Russian UFO investigator, which was reportedly part of an attempted cover-up. According to the press release, the material was tested in Russia and at a U.S. lab, with both investigations concluding it is "of unknown origin."
Some samples of the material were allegedly stolen from a U.S. Post Office Box before MUFON Investigator Robert Spearing could retrieve them. The investigation into the theft was hindered by tampered CCTV cameras.
"This is typical with evidence of this nature," said MUFON Media Relations Director Ron James. "We believe that this material was deliberately taken by someone who could hack into a locked Post Office Box to prevent further testing. Who did it is anybody's guess."
According to MUFON: "The evidence that supports this story, and others that we will share at the Symposium, could make this the biggest UFO-related news event of the year. We have physical materials and more evidence of non-human technology."
But, I wouldn't hold out much hope for anything coming from this.
For example the UAP material received from a Russian UFO investigator: One commenter @FAA-DPE on Chris Letho's YouTube channel stated: I recognize that material from years of working in petrochemical plants. Shell Norco LA, Union Carbide Taft LA, etc. And it's IDENTICAL to the byproduct of "Fluid Coking" Hydrocarbons. It makes a very unique and strange byproduct material that does not exist in nature and would confuse most of today's lab techs. if they were not given some idea.
About the photo previewed by Ron James on the podcast of the supposedly shot down disk, commenter @zimzimma5688 on Chris Letho's YouTube channel stated: It took all of about 24 hours before that photo previewed by Ron James on the podcast of the supposedly shot down disk in the woods with the two "army men" retrieving it that was going to be a centerpiece at this Mufon conference, was shown to be fake. The two blurry army men exactly match a set of toy figurines. The disk is obviously a model of some sort.
A lot of people in the community consider Mufon to be a compromised organization as well, essentially it functions as a tool for those responsible for the cover up/psy op. That I don't know to be true, but it would not surprise me.
Here's the interview from the Vetted podcast. Be cautious about what you choose to believe.
Unveiling the Unknown: Extraordinary Extraterrestrial Encounters You’ve Never Heard Of
Unveiling the Unknown: Extraordinary Extraterrestrial Encounters You’ve Never Heard Of
Throughout history, the possibility of extraterrestrial life has fascinated humanity. While mainstream narratives often focus on well-known incidents like Roswell, there exists a myriad of lesser-known encounters that provide intriguing glimpses into potential interactions with beings from beyond our world. This article delves into some of these extraordinary, yet obscure encounters that defy conventional explanation and challenge our understanding of reality.
1. The Tarento Encounter
On a clear evening between March and April, Mr. Johan Franco Maroi and his son experienced an encounter that would change their lives. As they drove from Tarento to Mount Bernady, they noticed a bright, morphing light in the sky. This light, shifting from white to orange to red, eventually descended behind a nearby hill. Driven by curiosity, Maroi stopped the car and ventured towards the light.
Upon reaching the hilltop, Maroi encountered a tall, luminous being clad in a suit resembling medieval armor, but more advanced and meshed with light-emitting wires. As they approached each other, Maroi experienced a sudden vision of a spaceship, highlighting a technology that seemed to utilize light as energy. This vision was interrupted when sparks flew from the being’s hand, affecting Maroi’s hand in return. The encounter left him with severe, mysterious burns that healed only after he received an anonymous package containing a miraculous ointment. The incident, compounded by subsequent visits from mysterious men in black, left Maroi with lasting physical and psychological scars.
2. The Franco-Belgian Frontier Incident
In January 1974, on the Franco-Belgian frontier, Monier X experienced a bizarre encounter with mechanical-like beings. After his car malfunctioned, Monier noticed an unusual object in a nearby field. This object, initially appearing as a haystack, turned out to be a structured craft emitting patches of light. Two figures emerged, moving in a mechanical manner, wearing peculiar helmets and holding a device resembling a revolver.
These beings communicated through modulated sounds that bypassed normal sensory pathways, causing Monier to feel a faint shock. The beings abruptly retreated to their craft, which ascended and vanished. The arrival of another car, whose driver also witnessed the beings, added credibility to Monier’s account, marking this as one of the more corroborated yet mysterious encounters.
3. The Castal Encounter
In 1974, in Castal, Italy, Signoria Giovanna Seni witnessed a hovering figure while tending to her farm animals. This figure, seated in a swinging box-like structure, wore a multicolored suit and appeared to control the box with a rod emitting a humming sound. Despite her initial fear, Giovanna observed the figure and a subsequent bright light moving across the sky.
The figure and light circled a nearby cemetery before disappearing. Although Giovanna’s mother dismissed the phenomenon, Giovanna remained convinced of the extraordinary nature of the encounter. This event, marked by the figure’s unusual attire and behavior, contributed to the rich tapestry of unexplained sightings in rural Italy.
4. The Montville Encounter
In 1978, in Montville, New Jersey, three young boys witnessed a hovering, square-shaped object emitting lights and a red beam. The object remained stationary for several minutes before moving away. The boys then observed strange figures in yellow suits with hawk-like features. These figures, displaying stiff, mechanical movements, were accompanied by a woman who could disappear and reappear mysteriously.
The boys’ account was thoroughly investigated by UFO researchers, who found no conclusive explanation. The incident left the boys deeply shaken, adding to the credibility of their experience and highlighting the persistent enigma of such encounters.
5. The Bendini Encounter
In 1979, in Bendini, Brazil, Orlando Grado Santos experienced a series of encounters with various unidentified crafts and beings. While separated from his hunting group, he photographed a descending craft resembling a telephone booth. Subsequently, he witnessed other crafts and was eventually approached by helmeted humanoids.
These beings communicated with Orlando, assuring him of their peaceful intentions. Inside their craft, Orlando observed advanced technology and human-like figures operating unfamiliar machinery.
"On the evening of 28 July 1979, security guard Antonio Carlos Ferreira was allegedly abducted from his workplace - a furniture factory in Mirassol, São Paulo. According to his own accounts, he was approached by three humanoid figures who tranquilized and took him aboard a small ship which ferried him to a larger craft further away. There, he said he was positioned in front of a large television-like device and presented with a variety of images before being forced to mate with a female alien, after which he was tranquilized again and returned to the ground. Ferreira described the creatures as being approximately 1.2 metres (3.9 ft; 120 cm) tall with pointed ears, slanted eyes and human-like mouths. They lacked eyebrows or eyelashes and spoke in a language that superficially resembled Japanese. Some were said to have dark skin and red curly hair, while others had light skin and straight black hair. The ship was spherical with three undercarriage-like legs protruding from the bottom, with the interior lit by bright red and green lights. Ferreira states that he encountered the aliens again in 1982, with the craft supposedly landing close enough for him to see the female alien and a childlike alien observing him from a distance. He said he experienced a third encounter later in 1982 in which he was taken into the hangar of an alien craft via a green beam of light before being injected with a yellow substance. He said he was then taken to meet the two aliens once more, the younger of whom he was led to believe was his own child. Other encounters are said to have followed, to a total of 16 or 20 between 1979 and 1989 ''
Asteroid moonlet Dimorphos as seen by NASA's DART spacecraft 11 seconds before the impact that shifted its path through space, in the first test of asteroid deflection.
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/NASA
Is humanity prepared to face down an asteroid with a 72% chance of hitting Earth in 14 years?
Scientists and experts say there's work to be done.
When NASA posed the hypothetical scenario, devised by the Planetary Defense Coordination Office, to a group of nearly 100 government representatives, they found their plan to combat an asteroid hurtling towards Earth had several "high-level gaps," according to a NASA slide presentation. Space officials have "limited readiness to quickly implement needed space missions," and methods to keep the public informed about a looming disaster are not fully developed.
Of the participants, from federal agencies like the State Department and international bodies like the U.N.'s Office for Outer Space Affairs, 33% said humanity was not prepared to launch a space mission to prevent an asteroid from impacting the planet, and 19% said "reconnaissance missions" were not ready.
Kelly Fast, NASA's acting planetary defense officer, said the exercise helped government agencies to plan out how they would work together to prepare for a future asteroid strike.
"In the unlikely event we ever face a scenario like this, it won't be the first time that anybody's talked about how to treat this," she said.
In the scenario posed by NASA, humanity has 14 years to face an asteroid with a 72% chance of hitting Earth.
NASA runs fifth test to gauge asteroid preparedness
The exercise, designed to test government readiness for an asteroid headed towards Earth, was organized by NASA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency at an April meeting at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, according to a news release. It marked the fifth test to gauge whether authorities are prepared to defend Earth from space. This year's exercise was the first to include "international collaborators on planetary defense."
In the hypothetical scenario, an asteroid collides with the Earth in 2038. The collision would have a 47% chance of affecting more than 1,000 people, and an 8% chance of affecting more than a million. It could strike a swath of cities across the U.S., Europe, and Africa, including Washington, Dallas, Madrid, and Algiers.
In the scenario, participants weren't told "the asteroid’s size, composition, and long-term trajectory," according to the news release. Further observations about the asteroid would also hypothetically have to be delayed by at least seven months as the asteroid passed behind the Sun – "a critical loss of time."
Even with years to prepare, agencies would still have to work efficiently to respond to an approaching asteroid, Fast said. "When you talk about planning a mission, any kind of spacecraft mission, it doesn't happen on a dime," she said.
"Even though 14 years sounds like a long time, it actually might not be when you think of developing missions," Fast added.
Space officials have only one tested method of heading off an asteroid on its way toward Earth – "kinetic impact," or crashing a spacecraft into the asteroid to change its trajectory. In 2022, NASA crashed a spacecraft into Dimorphos, a small "moonlet" orbiting the asteroid Didymos around 6.8 million miles from Earth, successfully shortening the moonlet's orbit by 32 minutes, according to NASA.
Fast said scientists would need to tailor a space mission to respond to a particular asteroid collision scenario.
"It all depends on the asteroid," she said. "A single kinetic impactor might work for a smaller asteroid but not for something much larger."
Some participants were also skeptical that enough federal funding would be available to deal with the threat, according to the presentation. The decision-making process was "unclear," it said.
Authorities would also have a limited ability to gather more information about the incoming asteroid by flying a spacecraft close to it, evaluators concluded.
The presentation also warned that coordinating the release of information to the public about an asteroid flying towards the planet would pose problems. "Misinformation and disinformation would have to be dealt with," they wrote.
"Maintaining trust at the start of this event is critical and that means talking early – probably earlier than the scientists and lawyers are comfortable with," another unnamed participant said.
Fast said it would be important to "turn information into something that is understandable to the public, and not to be overly technical and jargon-y."
NASA successfully crashed a spacecraft into an asteroid Monday, marking a win for the agency's plan for when a devastating asteroid should ever threaten humanity.
The latest exercise, which used data from the test, recommended more tests on the new technology
Fast said people should be reassured that scientists and agencies are coming together to map out strategies in the unlikely event of an asteroid collision.
The scenario was "just a chance to continue to explore these possibilities and our own readiness, and to identify how we can do better in the future."
"This is actually a good thing, to be talking through this," she said.
An asteroid with a 72% chance of colliding with Earth on July 12, 2038 is the scenario that Nasa has just tested to see how humanity would handle a massive space rock impact.
NASA organised its fifth planetary defence interagency tabletop exercise, inviting more than 100 participants including the UN, the UK Space Agency (UKSA) and the European Space Agency (ESA).
Faced with the challenge of an asteroid between 60 and 200 metres wide likely to hit somewhere between North America and Saudi Arabia in 14 years' time, these organisations had to collaborate to save us or identify what might hinder the process and leave us bracing for the big impact.
Yes, it appears that even when faced with potential extinction, scientists and space leaders worry that politicians will fail to unite and work as a team to prevent it happening.
In September last year, Nasa's OSIRIS-REx mission successfully brought back samples of an asteroid, named Bennu, to Earth.
Bright comet tail. Ice evaporates from the comet's surface.
Currently, it has about a 1 in 2,700 chance of colliding with Earth on Tuesday, September 24, 2182.
The chances of it hitting sometime between now and 2300 are even lower, at about 1 in 1,750.
While the most costly mission was estimated at just over $1 billion, global GDP is rapidly nearing $1 trillion, so it seems like a worthwhile investment although the NASA scenario predicted it was more likely between 1,000 and 100,000 people would die, rather than a mass extinction.
The change of day and night on planet earth a view from space. 3D render of Earth with a detailed night view showing city lights and shooting stars. 4
The lack of disaster management plans for survivors in the event of an asteroid strike is a major concern, suggesting that not only might politicians fail to prevent the asteroid, but we could also be left to fend for ourselves post-impact.
NASA has already demonstrated its ability to deflect an asteroid if necessary even though it inadvertently created dozens of smaller asteroids that may eventually collide with Mars
Related video:
What If an Asteroid Were on a Collision Course to Hit Earth? (Underknown)
While its Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission has only been tested once, there's hope that it could be repeated if necessary provided there's sufficient funding from politicians.
Furthermore, NASA emphasised that its new Near-Earth Object (NEO) surveyor mission, a powerful infrared telescope designed to detect dangerous space rocks, is scheduled for launch in 2028.
Fly Through the Pillars of Creation in this New Visualisation Made from Webb and Hubble Data
I remember April 1995 very well. It was the month that the stunning and iconic image that has been called ‘Pillars of Creation’ was released. It was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope but now the James Webb Telescope is getting in on the act. Webb snapped images of the Eagle Nebula (home to the ‘pillars’) early on but now astronomers have combined the data form Hubble and Webb to create an amazing 3D animation flight through the nebula.
The Pillars of Creation are composed mostly of cool molecular hydrogen and dust. They are being worn away by strong winds and ultraviolet radiation emitted by nearby hot, young stars. The pillars, which resemble great big cosmic fingers have additional protrusions, that are larger than the solar system, extending from their tops. Embedded within these fingers are young hot stars. The tallest of the pillars measures three light-years from top to bottom.
Eagle Nebula Pillars of Creation as seen by Hubble Space Telescope in 2005. (Credit NASA, ESA, STScI, J. Hester and P. Scowen (ASU)
The stunning new 3D movie takes viewers on a journey through the structures of the pillars, relying on real observational data from a scientific study led by Anna McLeod, an associate professor at the University of Durham in the United Kingdom. The video allows viewers to get a glimpse at how the two space telescopes can collaborate
The new visualisation allows viewers to understand how two of the world’s most powerful space telescopes collaborate to deliver a more detailed view. Hubble captures objects glowing in visible light at thousands of degrees, while Webb’s infrared camera is sensitive to cooler objects at just hundreds of degrees and can penetrate the dust to reveal stars embedded within.
This image of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope was taken on May 19, 2009 after deployment during Servicing Mission 4. NASA
The movie does more than just create a fabulous video. It helps viewers to explore a number of different areas and stages of star formation. The central pillar for example is approached and can be observed with an infant protostar embedded at its top. It can be seen glowing bright red in the infrared image. Near the top of the left pillar is a diagonal jet of material that has been ejected from a newborn star. The hot young star cannot be seen but the jet gives away its presence. Finally at the tip of one of the left pillar’s protrusions is a brand new star that is shining brightly.
Another wonderful benefit of the new 3D visualisation is the creation of a 3D printable model of the Pillars of Creation. The information has been converted into an STL file format that can be downloaded and printed at home using 3D printers. Not only will this be of fabulous interest to fellow geeks but it will also be of immense educational value to schools.
This scientific visualization explores the iconic Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula (Messier 16 or M16) and the various ways that stars and dust are intertwined in the process of star formation. In developing the contextual story and the three-dimensional model, the video uses data from science papers, the Hubble Space Telescope, the Webb Space Telescope, the Spitzer Space Telescope, and the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
The sequence begins with zoom from our Milky Way galaxy in to the Pillars of Creation, a scale change greater than a factor of 10,000. Along the way, the general distribution of stars and dust clouds on the sky leads to the specific details of the star-forming Eagle Nebula. The stellar winds and high energy light from hot young stars at the center of the nebula are responsible for creating the pillars' shapes.
The video then enters a journey into the three-dimensional structure of the pillars. Based on scientific results, astronomers and artists modeled this striking formation in three dimensions and created a sequence that flies past and among the pillars. What can look like three connected pillars in a two-dimensional image separates into four dust clouds with ionized gas streaming away from each in the three-dimensional model.
As the virtual camera flies through the model, the view shifts back and forth between Hubble's visible-light and Webb's infrared-light perspectives. Viewers explore the contrasts between Hubble's and Webb's observations, which demonstrate how the telescopes complement each other by probing different scientific aspects of the clouds.
The Pillars of Creation get their nickname from the fact that stars are forming within these dust clouds. The visual tour highlights various stages of star formation, including an embedded protostar at the top of the central pillar, bipolar jets from a hidden star in the process of forming in the upper part of the left pillar, and a newborn star in the middle of the left pillar.
This visualization is a product of the AstroViz Project of NASA's Universe of Learning. A shorter non-narrated visualization, The Pillars
How Commercial Satellites Could Track Spy Balloons and Other UFOs
It turns out that you don’t need the Men in Black to spot unidentified anomalous phenomena, which are also known as UAPs, unidentified flying objects or UFOs. Researchers have shown how the task of detecting aerial objects in motion could be done by analyzing Earth imagery from commercial satellites.
“Our proposed method appears to be successful and allows the measurement of the apparent velocity of moving objects,” the researchers report.
In a 2023 video, CBS News recaps lessons learned from the Chinese spy balloon’s flight:
The demonstration is described in a research paper written by Harvard University’s Eric Keto and Wellesley College’s Wesley Andres Watters, who proposed their image analysis technique in an earlier study. The new study was posted to the ArXiv pre-print server last week and has been submitted to the Journal of Astronomical Instrumentation for review.
Keto and Watters started out with multispectral imagery captured by Planet’s SuperDove satellites during last year’s balloon flights. Such imagery isn’t captured all at once. Instead, the satellite’s sensors record a succession of exposures that reflect different spectral bands. That means an aerial object would be seen at a slightly different location in each of the images that are combined to produce a multispectral view, due to the parallax effect created by a moving satellite.
The researchers said the spy balloons were ideal subjects for their study. “High-altitude balloons are advantageous targets, because the motion of the balloon itself can be ignored in the analysis,” they said.
The aim of their study was to create a baseline for interpreting spectral-band images. The researchers conducted a detailed analysis of imagery that was acquired over British Columbia, Missouri and Colombia — and made a few educated guesses about the relative velocities involved. They took a variety of factors into account, including shifts in the background terrain and the potential effects of atmospheric distortion. (The British Columbia imagery wasn’t that useful, because snow and ice covered up the features that would typically be used for ground reference.)
The analysis not only provided a baseline for tracking moving objects using SuperDove satellite imagery, but also made it possible for the researchers to provide estimates for the altitudes of the balloons. They said one balloon flew over Missouri at a height of about 21,200 meters (69,500 feet), while the other balloon’s altitude was about 21,500 meters (70,500 feet) when it was spotted over Colombia.
Keto and Watters aren’t the only ones looking into how commercial satellite data could be used to track anomalous aerial objects. A team of researchers at RAIC Labs (formerly known as Synthetaic) used Planet’s data archive and RAIC Labs’ AI-based image analysis program to trace the infamous Chinese balloon’s route backward from the U.S. to its point of origin near Hainan.
A 2023 video focuses on how Planet and Synthetaic / RAIC Labs tracked the Chinese balloon:
Such techniques could be used to detect phenomena that are even more exotic than Chinese spy balloons: The study conducted by Keto and Watters is part of Harvard University’s Galileo Project, which is aimed at finding ways to collect high-quality data that could be useful in the search for objects of extraterrestrial origin.
Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb, who heads up the Galileo Project, said last year in a blog posting that his team has been searching through Planet’s data archive for signs of unusual objects.
“Extraterrestrial equipment can be distinguished from a terrestrial object, not just by resolving unusual bolts or labels imprinted on its hardware but also based on its motion,” Loeb explained. “As mentioned in the DNI [Director of National Intelligence] reports in 2021 and 2022, unusual flight characteristics can serve as an indicator of an extraterrestrial origin.”
Will satellite data analysis become a standard tool for detecting anomalous aerial phenomena? Stay tuned: We’ve reached out to Loeb, Keto and Watters, and we’ll update this report with any additional information we can pass along.
Mountain-sized “planet-killer” Asteroid 2011 UL21 is headed towards Earth this week and during its trip it will be making a very close approach to our planet.
The asteroid, classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA) by NASA, is supposed to go zooming by Earth at 58,000 mph on June 27th.
Asteroid 2011 UL21 is also classified as a near-Earth object (NEO), which means that its orbit can move the space rock within 1.3 astronomical units (AU) of the sun. An AU is the average distance between Earth and the Sun, or about 93 million miles.
This asteroid is no tiny space rock either. According to SpaceReference.org, it is comparable in size to Mount Everest – Earth’s highest mountain above sea level – and is between 1.1 and 2.4-miles wide.
Needless to say, a 2-mile wide rock traveling at 58,000 mph would definitely “kill” our planet.
Thankfully, the asteroid will only pass Earth at a distance of around 4.1 million miles. Still, that is the closest it will have come to Earth in the past 110 years, at least.
And while 4.1 million miles may sound like a great distance, in terms of space it isn’t so much. By comparison, Mars is 245.22 million miles from Earth.
According to Gianluca Masi, astrophysicist and director of the Virtual Telescope Project, “There is absolutely no risk for our planet.”
“The term ‘Potentially Hazardous Asteroid’ (PHA) is a precise formal definition, referring to minor planets larger than approximately 140 meters that can come within 7.5 million km from the Earth,” said Masi. “In other words, only the largest asteroids capable of approaching close enough to our planet are flagged as PHAs, which does not mean they are going to hit the Earth, but they nonetheless warrant a better monitoring.”
That being said, there is always the possibility that the gravitational tug of Earth could alter the “planet killer” asteroid’s orbit (called the Yarkovsky Effect). And if that were to ever occur there isn’t much we could do to stop it.
Researchers believe a search of the Vatican’s historic archives will reveal key insights into aliens, UFOs and other previously unexplained paranormal activity.
Sorting through the massive amounts of documents located in the Vatican Apostolic Archives (its official name) will be no easy task, however.
According to the archive’s website, the files are stored on over 85 linear kilometers of shelving. That’s almost 53 linear miles worth of documentation, covering over twelve centuries.
A recent article published on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ website explains that “a group of scientists and researchers are seeking access to the Vatican Apostolic Archives to uncover information about UFOs and the paranormal.”
The reason for this has ties to Air Force veteran and Pentagon whistleblower David Grusch’s testimony last year in which he claimed the “Vatican was involved” in the first-ever mission of the United States’ alleged secret UFO retrieval program.
“1933 was the first recovery in Europe, in Magenta, Italy,” Grusch told NewsNation. They recovered a partially intact vehicle, and the Italian government moved it to a secure airbase in Italy until around 1944-1945.
“The Pope back-channeled that and told the Americans what the Italians had and we ended up scooping it.”
“The historical record is filled with these kinds of events,” Diana Walsh Pasulka, a religious studies professor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, told Catholic News Service. “The people at the Vatican, they don’t even know where to look; it’s in their basements.”
“[The Vatican’s archivists are in a] mad rush to digitize what they have; they have to prioritize what they think is most important. They aren’t really prioritizing orbs that are bothering nuns in the 1800s.”
Garry Nolan, a professor of medicine at Stanford University and co-founder of the Sol Foundation (a think tank established to research the political, philosophical and scientific implications of UFOs), stated, “The Vatican is probably the oldest library system of paranormal or supernatural knowledge still extant,” adding that the archive “has an aura of both mysticism and a feeling of deep truth that if you just know how to read it, you can pull that information out.”
Despite Nolan, his group, and others’ efforts to suss out any documents pertaining to UFOs and aliens in the Vatican’s archives, Marco Grilli, secretary to the prefect of the archives, claims “the prefect wants to affirm that there is no document in the archives that regards extraterrestrial life.”
So it won’t hurt to let someone take a look then, right?
"UFOs don't make history. People make UFOs make history. They are a phenomenon beyond just something that is seen. It's a social phenomenon."
Cover art for "After the Flying Saucers Came."
(Image credit: Getty Images/Oxford University Press)
Providing an academic lens through which to view the huge interest and hysteria surrounding unidentified flying objects since pilot Kenneth A. Arnold witnessed what he called "flying disks or saucers" while cruising past Mt. Rainier on June 24,1947, a new book titled "After the Flying Saucers Came: A Global History of the UFO Phenomenon" has just been released from Oxford University Press.
Author Greg Eghigian is a professor of history and bioethics at Penn State University who spent nearly a decade delving into the subject of UFOs for this project, which was based on exhaustive archival research, interviews, and newspaper reports swirling around these mysterious aerial sightings.
Eghigian's illuminating 400-page book chronicles how the phenomenon began right here in America then blossomed into a global obsession over the next few decades up to today's digital age government studies of "unidentified aerial phenomena" (UAP).
After the Flying Saucers Came: A Global History of the UFO Phenomenon: $28.49 at Amazon
Greg Eghigian's 'After the Flying Saucers' came explores the history of the UFO phenomenon beginning with Kenneth Arnold's famous sighting in 1947 and up through the present day.
"When that dropped, then subsequent films, photos and more stories, that's when it all exploded," he tells Space.com. "As a mainstream media phenomenon, UFOs were kind of dead for a good long period of time and that’s really the thing that ushered it in. The veteran ufologists refer to people as 'seventeeners,' those people who believe that all UFO stuff started in 2017 and have no idea about the past.
"For me, I began this project around 2013. I grew up on UFOs and loved this stuff as a kid but lost interest in it when I went off to college. I had some time in the summer and I started digging around a digital archive and found all this stuff. No professor of history had written on the subject since 1975, I thought this seemed like it might be worth a revisit. I knew it was going to be a deep dive, and know there were a lot of rabbit holes but I wasn’t completely ready for just how many there were out there."
Giving the book a solid foundation in history was an important aspect to this comprehensive UFO exploration for Eghigian as he discovered myriad false accounts, unreliable witnesses and semi-established truths.
"What we do in history is ask ourselves how did we get to where we are? And that happens through choices that are made, but also choices that aren't made. There are lots of different forks in the road at various places in time and institutions and people do things for a variety of reasons. So you excavate that whole complicated history of the choices made and not made that inform how things got framed the way they are now. And the extent to which that's reflective of something that represents the reality on the ground versus the image we have of it.
"What was really missing from the way people talk about UFOs was somebody who approached it from the outside looking in who had no skin in the ontology game. I'm not here to referee or debunk. I'm going to take people seriously here, but I'm not going to just take their word for things."
Author and Penn State University Professor Greg Eghigian. (Image credit: Penn State University)
Eghigian was most unsettled by many of the more outlandish and imaginative explanations out there that all attempt to explain the true nature of these mysterious phenomena.
"I think some of the bigger rabbit holes that I recall are actually the alternative, speculative theories about where the UFOs are coming from," he notes. "The big ones of course are really the two variations: If these things are real they’re secret technology of the United States or, back then, the Soviet Union. Or they're from another planet. But there's lots of other theories that start to come out of the woodwork pretty quickly. These go from that they are ultra-terrestrials from some other kind of space-time continuum or dimension, they are maybe dead people and that they're a variation on ghosts, to arguments about these are beings that live inside the Earth or live underwater.
"And then there are people who start to see this in Christian theological ways as demons of Satan. I realized if I started to go too far down that road that the book was never going to get completed, so I largely put my focus solely on the extraterrestrial argument.
"UFOs don't make history. People make UFOs make history. They are a phenomenon beyond just something that is seen. It's a social phenomenon. It's all the different people and institutions who get involved that try to make this thing important, to try to argue that this matters, and that includes debunkers and irrational people who try to use UFOs as opportunities to make spurious arguments that undermine science."
Promotional art for "After the Flying Saucers Came." (Image credit: Oxford University Press)
According to Eghigian, the fact that military intelligence has declared that there's something real there, and not just the result of computer glitches feels like confirmation for a lot of UFO faithful.
"The UFO world is awash in rumor. This stuff has legs within different segments of academia," he adds. "There are serious people like me who are saying, 'Be ready if you really want us to look into this stuff. Because we academics are slow and we are very, very skeptical. It's the way we operate. So just be careful what you wish for. If we do get into this stuff it's likely not going to play out in the way that a lot of people imagine it playing out.
"It's cooling down a bit but there's still a lot of people excited and enthused about it so I don't think it's going away anytime soon."
Study: Active, Seafloor Hydrothermal Systems on Small Ocean Worlds Could Support Life
Study: Active, Seafloor Hydrothermal Systems on Small Ocean Worlds Could Support Life
Ocean worlds are planetary bodies that have a liquid ocean, often under an icy shell or within the rocky interior. In our own Solar System, several moons of Jupiter and Saturn are ocean worlds. Some ocean worlds are thought to have hydrothermal circulation, where water, rocks, and heat combine to drive fluids in and out of the seafloor. Hydrothermal circulation would impact the chemistry of the water and rock of ocean worlds, and could help life to develop deep below the icy surface. In a new study, planetary researchers used computer simulations of hydrothermal circulation, based on a well-understood system on Earth, to measure the influence of lower gravity at values appropriate for ocean worlds smaller than our home planet. The simulations with ocean world (lower) gravity result in fluid circulation much like that occurring on and below Earth’s seafloor, but with several important differences. Lower gravity reduces buoyancy, so fluids don’t become as light when heated, and this reduces flow rates. This can raise temperatures in the circulating fluid, which could allow more extensive chemical reactions, perhaps including those that sustain life.
This graphic illustrates how Cassini scientists think water interacts with rock at the bottom of Enceladus’ ocean, producing hydrogen gas.
Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Southwest Research Institute.
Rock-heat-fluid systems were discovered on Earth’s seafloor in the 1970s, when scientists observed discharging fluids that carried heat, particles, and chemicals.
Many vent sites were surrounded by novel ecosystems, including specialized bacterial mats, red-and-white tubeworms, and heat-sensing shrimp.
In the new study, University of California, Santa Cruz’s Professor Andrew Fisher and colleagues used a complex computer model based on hydrothermal circulation as it occurs on Earth.
After changing variables like gravity, heat, rock properties and fluid-circulation depth, they found that hydrothermal vents could be sustained under a wide range of conditions.
If these kinds of flows occur on an ocean world, like Jupiter’s moon Europa, they could raise the odds that life exists there as well.
“This study suggests that low temperature — not too hot for life — hydrothermal systems could have been sustained on ocean worlds beyond Earth over timescales comparable to that required for life to take hold on Earth,” Professor Fisher said.
The seawater-circulation system that the researchers based their computer models on was found on a 3.5 million-year-old seafloor in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, east of the Juan de Fuca Ridge.
There, cool bottom water flows in through an extinct volcano (seamount), travels underground for about 30 miles (48.3 km), then flows back out into the ocean through another seamount.
“The water gathers heat as it flows and comes out warmer than when it flowed in, and with very different chemistry,” Kristin Dickerson, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
“The flow from one seamount to another is driven by buoyancy, because water gets less dense as it warms, and more dense as it cools,” Professor Fisher added.
“Differences in density create differences in fluid pressure in the rock, and the system is sustained by the flows themselves — running as long as enough heat is supplied, and rock properties allow enough fluid circulation. We call it a hydrothermal siphon.”
“While high-temperature vent systems are driven mainly by sub-seafloor volcanic activity, a much larger volume of fluid flows in and out of Earth’s seafloor at lower temperatures, driven mainly by background cooling of the planet.”
“The flow of water through low-temperature venting is equivalent, in terms of the amount of water being discharged, to all of the rivers and streams on Earth, and is responsible for about a quarter of Earth’s heat loss.”
“The entire volume of the ocean is pumped in and out of the seafloor about every half-million years.”
Many previous studies of hydrothermal circulation on Europa and Enceladus have considered higher temperature fluids.
“Cartoons and other drawings often depict systems on their seafloors that look like black smokers on Earth. Lower-temperature flows are at least as likely to occur, if not more likely,” said Dr. Donna Blackman, also from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
The findings show that, under very low gravity — like that found on the seafloor of Enceladus — circulation can continue with low to moderate temperatures for millions or billions of years.
This could help to explain how small ocean worlds can have long-lived fluid-circulation systems below their seafloors, even though heating is limited: the low efficiency of heat extraction could lead to considerable longevity — essentially, throughout the life of the Solar System.
The scientists acknowledge the uncertainty of when the seafloors of ocean worlds will be directly observed for the presence of active hydrothermal systems.
Their distance from Earth and physical characteristics present major technical challenges for spacecraft missions.
“Thus, it is essential to make the most of available data, much of it collected remotely, and leverage understanding from decades of detailed studies of analog Earth systems,” the authors concluded.
Their paper was published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets.
A.T. Fisher et al. 2024. Sustaining Hydrothermal Circulation with Gravity Relevant to Ocean Worlds. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 129 (6): e2023JE008202; doi: 10.1029/2023JE008202
Knowing what alien species exist out there is of utter most importance, because if we can see their face, we will fear them less knowing already that they exist. I am only trying to help humanity erase the fear that the movies and TV shows try to grow in us all.
New Mexico, the Land of Enchantment, holds a unique and significant place in the annals of UFO history. The state is home to some of the most famous and intriguing UFO sightings and incidents in the world, drawing both skeptics and believers. From the legendary Roswell incident to the lesser-known yet equally perplexing Hobbs burn case, New Mexico’s UFO history is rich and varied.
The Roswell Incident
The Roswell incident of 1947 is perhaps the most iconic UFO event in New Mexico’s history. Something undeniably crashed on a ranch near Roswell, leading to the recovery of mysterious debris by the military. Initial press releases claimed the recovery of a “flying disc,” only to be retracted the next day in favor of a weather balloon explanation. Over the years, theories have ranged from top-secret military projects like Project Mogul to extraterrestrial spacecraft. Despite the controversy and lack of definitive evidence, the Roswell incident remains a cornerstone of UFO lore and has significantly influenced popular culture.
The Farmington Armada
In March 1950, the town of Farmington witnessed a remarkable series of events known as the Farmington Armada. Over three days, hundreds of residents reported seeing numerous flying objects in broad daylight. Descriptions varied from silver discs to elliptical shapes, often seen in formation. This mass sighting involved credible witnesses, including police officers and business leaders, adding to its legitimacy. The sheer number of objects and the duration of the sightings make the Farmington Armada one of the most substantial UFO events in New Mexico.
Kirtland Air Force Base Incidents
Kirtland Air Force Base has been the site of several significant UFO sightings. On November 4, 1957, military radar operators tracked an unknown object that violated the base’s perimeter. This object exhibited capabilities far beyond conventional aircraft, such as hovering and rapid acceleration. Another notable event occurred in September 1959, when multiple radar stations across New Mexico tracked an object moving at unprecedented speeds, clocking in at around 2,200 miles per hour. These incidents highlight the potential national security implications of unidentified aerial phenomena.
The Hobbs Burn Case
One of the more obscure yet fascinating cases is the Hobbs burn incident of 1964. An eight-year-old boy in Hobbs was reportedly burned by a UFO. According to contemporaneous news accounts, a black, top-shaped object emitted a column of fire that set the boy’s hair on fire and caused severe burns. The FBI was involved in the investigation, and samples of the boy’s shirt, hair, and skin were sent to FBI labs for analysis. Despite extensive investigations, no conventional explanation was found. This case, like many others, underscores the enigmatic nature of some UFO reports.
Historical Preservation and Research
David Marler, Executive Director of the National UFO Historical Records Center, has dedicated his life to preserving the history of UFO sightings. His center holds the largest collection of UFO materials in North America, including civilian and military case files, original Air Force documents, and interviews with credible witnesses. Marler’s approach is not to promote belief in extraterrestrial visitors but to preserve and document the historical record. His efforts ensure that future generations can access and study these phenomena with an objective, evidence-based approach.
Technological and Scientific Context
New Mexico is also home to significant technological and scientific facilities that have contributed to UFO research. The Very Large Array, a radio telescope facility west of Socorro, is used by astronomers to observe natural radio waves from space. Radar technology, infrared sensors, and satellites have all played roles in detecting and analyzing unidentified aerial phenomena. These tools provide objective measures that can corroborate eyewitness reports, adding a layer of scientific credibility to the study of UFOs.
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New Mexico’s History Of UFO Sightings
New Mexico’s history withUFO sightingsis both rich and complex. From the well-known Roswell incident to the mysterious Hobbs burn case, the state has been a focal point for UFO activity for decades. Through the efforts of researchers like David Marler and the preservation of historical records, the stories of these sightings continue to intrigue and inspire curiosity. Whether one is a skeptic or a believer, the UFO history of New Mexico offers a fascinating glimpse into the unknown and a reminder of the enduring human quest to understand our place in the universe.
NASA Doesn't Know When Starliner Will Return From Orbit
An aurora streams below Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft docked to the forward port on the Harmony module as the International Space Station soared 266 miles above the Indian Ocean southwest of Australia. Photo credit: NASA/Matt Dominick
NASA Doesn't Know When Starliner Will Return From Orbit
After helium leaks and thruster problems with Boeing’s Starliner capsule, NASA has been pushing back the return date from the International Space Station. On Friday, the agency announced they no longer had a planned return date. Instead, they will keep testing the capsule, trying to understand its issues, and seeing if they can make any fixes. Plenty of supplies are on the station, so there’s no urgent need to bring the two astronauts back to Earth.
Another reason NASA decided to cancel the planned departure of Wednesday, June 26 is because of conflicting timelines with a series of planned spacewalks on the ISS, set for today (Monday, June 24), and Tuesday, July 2. The delay also allows mission teams time to review propulsion and system data.
Boeing’s CTS-100 Starliner taking off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on June 5th, 2024. Credit: NASA
After years of delays and two recent scrubbed launch attempts, Starliner finally launched on June 5, 2024 with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on board. Although two of the spacecraft’s thrusters failed during the flight, the spacecraft managed to reach the ISS and delivered 227 kg (500 lbs) of cargo. Additionally, five small leaks on the service module were also detected, and the crew and ground teams have been working through safety checks.
“We are taking our time and following our standard mission management team process,” said Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program in a NASA blog post. “We are letting the data drive our decision making relative to managing the small helium system leaks and thruster performance we observed during rendezvous and docking. Additionally, given the duration of the mission, it is appropriate for us to complete an agency-level review, similar to what was done ahead of the NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 return after two months on orbit, to document the agency’s formal acceptance on proceeding as planned.”
Safety and gaining a better understanding of the issues with Starliner are NASA and Boeing’s motivations for the delay in returning the spacecraft and crew back to Earth.
This first crewed flight of Starliner was supposed to validate the spacecraft as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP), with the hope of it working alongside SpaceX’s Crew Dragon to make regular deliveries of cargo and crew to the ISS. This mission is the second time the Starliner has flown to the ISS and the third flight test overall. During the first uncrewed test flight (OFT-1), which took place back in December 2019, the Starliner launched successfully but failed to make it to the ISS. After making 61 corrective actions recommended by NASA, another attempt was made (OFT-2) on May 22nd, 2022. That flight successfully docked to the ISS, staying there for four days before undocking and landing in the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.
The seven Expedition 71 crew members gather with the two Crew Flight Test members for a team portrait aboard the space station. In the front from left are, Suni Williams, Oleg Kononenko, and Butch Wilmore. Second row from left are, Alexander Grebenkin, Tracy C. Dyson, and Mike Barratt. In the back are, Nikolai Chub, Jeanette Epps, and Matthew Dominick. Photo credit: NASA
Wilmore and Williams are now working with the Expedition 71 crew, assisting with station operations as needed and completing add-on in-flight objectives for NASA’s certification of Starliner.
Stich said that despite all the issues, Starliner is performing well in orbit while docked to the space station.
“We are strategically using the extra time to clear a path for some critical station activities while completing readiness for Butch and Suni’s return on Starliner,” he said, “and gaining valuable insight into the system upgrades we will want to make for post-certification missions.”
Mission managers will evaluate future return opportunities for Starliner and NASA said they will host a media telecon with mission leadership following a readiness review. NASA added that Starliner is actually cleared for return in case of an emergency on the space station that would require the crew to leave orbit and come back to Earth.
China’s Chang’e-6 Probe Drops Off Samples From Moon’s Far Side
Three weeks after it lifted off from the far side of the moon, China’s Chang’e-6 spacecraft dropped off a capsule containing first-of-its-kind lunar samples for retrieval from the plains of Inner Mongolia.
The gumdrop-shaped sample return capsule floated down to the ground on the end of a parachute, with the descent tracked on live television. After today’s touchdown, at 2:07 p.m. local time (0607 GMT), members of the mission’s recovery team checked the capsule and unfurled a Chinese flag nearby.
Chang’e-6, which was launched in early May, is the first robotic mission to land and lift off again from the moon’s far side — the side that always faces away from Earth. It’s also the first mission to bring dirt and rocks from the far side back to Earth.
“The Chang’e-6 lunar exploration mission achieved complete success,” Zhang Kejian, director of the China National Space Administration, said from mission control. Chinese President Xi Jinping extended congratulations to the mission team, the state-run Xinhua news service reported.
Chang’e-6 followed a flight plan similar to the one used for Chang’e-5, a mission that brought back samples from the moon’s Earth-facing side in 2020. After entering lunar orbit, the spacecraft sent a lander down to the moon’s South Pole-Aitken Basin region.
The lander used an onboard drill and robotic arm to collect and store samples on its ascent stage. It also gathered data about its surroundings with a radon detector, a negative-ion detector and a mini-rover. Data and telemetry were relayed between Chang’e-6 and Earth via China’s Queqiao-2 satellite.
On June 4, Chang’e-6’s ascent stage lifted off for a rendezvous with the orbiting spacecraft. The samples were transferred to a re-entry capsule, and the spacecraft left lunar orbit several days ago for the trip back to Earth. The re-entry capsule was released as the spacecraft sped about 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles) over the South Atlantic Ocean, CNSA said in a mission update.
After an initial round of processing at the landing site in China’s Inner Mongolia region, the capsule is due to be airlifted to Beijing, where the mission’s precious cargo will be removed for distribution to researchers.
The samples are expected to include volcanic rock and other materials that could shed fresh light on the moon’s origins and compositional differences between the near side and the far side. Scientists may also learn more about resources in the moon’s south polar region. That region is of high interest because it’s thought to harbor deposits of water ice that could be used to support future lunar settlements.
This image shows the bright stars within 15 parsecs of the Sun. If red dwarfs and brown dwarfs were included, there would be far more stars. But those stars are difficult to spot. Have we found all of them yet? Image Credit: By Andrew Z. Colvin - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14359465
If the Sun has a stellar neighbourhood, it can be usefully defined as a 20 parsec (65 light-years) sphere centred on our star. Astronomers have been actively cataloguing the stellar population in the neighbourhood for decades, but it hasn’t been easy since many stars are small and dim.
Even with all of the challenges inherent in the effort, astronomers have made steady progress. Do we now have a complete catalogue?
In a new article in Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society, a pair of researchers from the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics in Potsdam, Germany, try to understand how complete or incomplete our catalogue of the stellar neighbourhood is. The article is titled “Do We Finally Know all Stellar and Substellar Neighbors within 10~pc of the Sun?” The authors are Ralf-Dieter Scholz and Alexey Mints.
If all stars shone as brightly as main sequence stars like our Sun do, it would be easy to catalogue the stars in our neighbourhood. But they don’t. Some are so small and dim that they’re considered failed stars. We call them brown dwarfs or substellar objects.
When we look up at the night sky with the unaided eye, our view is dominated by main sequence stars and giant stars, many of which are far beyond our stellar neighbourhood. Many stars are too dim to see, like red dwarfs and brown dwarfs. In fact, Proxima Centauri, a red dwarf and our nearest neighbour, wasn’t discovered until the early 20th century.
Proxima Centauri. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
In the early days of astronomy, measurements of proper motions showed that some stars that appear fixed in place are closer than other stars. All stars move and have proper motion; it’s just not always noticeable in the span of a single lifetime. High proper motion surveys of stars led to the selection of certain stars for measurements of their parallax, which helped locate more stars correctly in space. Then, in the early 20th century, as astronomy and photography were used in conjunction, photographic astrometry triggered a wave of discoveries of our solar neighbours. Those efforts showed that our nearest neighbours are red dwarfs (M dwarfs).
In the 1990s, as technology advanced, infrared sky surveys found more dim stars. “A second wave of discoveries started in the late 1990s with the advance of infrared sky surveys,” the authors write. Missions like the Two Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS) gave us a new, unprecedented look at the sky. It found M dwarfs, brown dwarfs, and substellar objects like L, T, and Y types, and even minor planets in the Solar System. (Definitions of brown dwarfs and other substellar objects overlap.) By the year 2,000, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey came online, strengthening our catalogue of the sky.
In 1997, Henry et al. published an important paper on the solar neighbourhood titled “The solar neighborhood IV: discovery of the twentieth nearest star.” It showed that the discovery of LHS 1565, about 3.7 pc from Earth, spelled trouble for our census of the neighbourhood. “It ranks as the twentieth closest stellar system and underscores the incompleteness of the nearby star sample, particularly for objects near the end of the main sequence,” Henry et al. wrote. “Ironically, this unassuming red dwarf provides a shocking reminder of how much we have yet to learn about even our nearest stellar neighbours.”
Since about 1997, there’s been a burst of discoveries of stars within the Sun’s neighbourhood. The authors say that these seem to have filled in the gaps in our 10 pc neighbourhood. But some of the knowledge was still based on two assumptions. The first was that the survey out to 5 parsecs was complete, and the second was that the density was uniform out to 10 parsecs. “The first of these is not true, and the second is in question,” the authors write.
Where does that leave us? Up to 90 star systems could still be missing.
An artist’s conception of a brown dwarf. Brown dwarfs are more massive than Jupiter but less massive than the smallest main sequence stars. Their dimness and low mass make them difficult to detect. Image: By NASA/JPL-Caltech (http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/image/114) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
“Using all neighbours the luminosity and mass functions and the star-to-brown dwarf (BD) number ratio can be studied,” the authors state. Astronomers don’t fully understand the ratio of brown dwarfs to other stars, but two recent papers (1,2), in particular, have continued the work to better understand and catalogue our stellar neighbourhood’s dim members.
Earlier this year, Kirkpatrick et al. published a study claiming that a complete survey of nearby stars is possible, largely thanks to Gaia data. They found 462 objects (including the Sun) in 339 systems within 10?pc. of the Sun.
In previous work, the authors of this new paper added 16 more stars to the list. These were late M-dwarfs, some of the coolest and dimmest main sequence stars, and brown dwarfs. They also discovered a new white dwarf companion to an existing M dwarf.
But how complete is this newest survey?
The problem lies in the difficulty of detecting dim stars like brown dwarfs and late M-dwarfs. The further we look, the more difficult they are to detect. They’re also more difficult to detect in the direction of the galactic plane.
Dim objects like brown dwarfs are more difficult to detect when looking toward the galactic plane because that’s where most of the Milky Way’s mass is. Image Credit: ESA/Gaia/DPAC
The authors say that our neighbourhood stellar catalogue is still likely missing 93 stellar systems, “… corresponding to a deficit of ?21.5%,” they write. In terms of individual stars, it’s not much better: “…138 missing objects corresponding to a deficit of ?23.0%,” they write.
They broke it down even further to individual star types. We’re probably missing 28.1% of AFGK stars, -31% of white dwarfs, and ?27.8% of M-dwarfs. There’s also a higher deficit for late M-dwarfs. These deficits are higher than expected. What does it mean?
“The estimated deficits of systems and individual objects within 10?pc exceed expectations, in particular for the well-known AFGK stars,” the authors write. They conclude that the general assumption of a constant stellar density in the solar neighbourhood is incorrect. They say that small-scale density fluctuations can at least partly explain the deficits.
“Our statistical estimates show that the probability of these discrepancies being caused by random fluctuations is around 40%,” the authors conclude.
Mysterious 'ring-shaped UFO' seen hiding in the clouds above Venezuela in broad daylight that looks eerily similar to Jordan Peele horror movie monster
A bizarre, ring-shape UFO that appeared in the skies above Venezuela was recorded by a pair of stunned friends.
The now-viral video shows the dark, circular spot hovering in the clouds over Valencia, a city in the northern Venezuelan state of Carabobo.
'A flying saucer,' one of the young men shouts as they drove down a rode on a sunny afternoon.
He then asks one of his pals for the time on the clock to document the recording.
'Bro, look here: 4:54 pm on the 17th of June in 2024,' he says. 'Look at what is here in the sky in Valencia, Carabobo.'
A bizarre, ring-shape UFO that appeared in the skies above Venezuela was recorded by a pair of stunned friends
Pictured: A poster for Jordan Peele's Nope released in 2022
The excited man then asks one of his friends to share the video with another person.
Although Venezuelan authorities have not made any public statements, local meteorologist Luis Vargas rained on their parade with several theories that ruled out a possible UFO sighting.
'This could be a smoke vortex or black ring that occurs after an explosion through a circular structure such as an industrial chimney or something similar,' he wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
He also indicated that the circular shape may have been produced by a volcano.
'They are also more common in volcanic activities as can be seen … and are known as ring clouds,' Vargas said.
Venezuelan meteorologist Luis Vargas downplayed a video filmed in the northern city of Valencia on June 17 that showed a ring-shaped UFO figure in the sky and took to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, to share two pictures (left and right) explain that it was most like smoke that was produced by an explosion from a chimney
The meteorologist also mentioned that circular shape that was spotted in the sky may have been produced by volcanic activity (seen here)
One user on X linked the odd-looking shape to military exercises that had taken place at a camp ahead of Monday's commemoration of the Battle of Carabobo, the 1821 fight for independence between fighters led by Venezuela General Simón Bolivar and the Spanish.
The victory at Carabobo led to the independence of Venezuelan and the creation of the Republic of Gran Colombia.
Another social media user linked the ring-shaped clouds to smoke from a cigar.
'It was me who was smoking a cigar, and I started making figures with the smoke,' José Pérez said. 'But yes, his explanation is the most coherent and valid. I don't think UFOs will arrive in Valencia, because we never have electricity, water and there are always lines for gasoline.'
Another joked that the UFO arrived ahead of next month's presidential election to remove President Nicolás Maduro and his regime.
'It is a UFO hired to search for those who leave on July 28,' Alba Ferrero said.
Wilmer Palacios joked: 'Those from Valencia are the chose ones.'
UK government's secret UFO investigation came to 'very strong' verdict
UK government's secret UFO investigation came to 'very strong' verdict
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) set up a secret group to investigate UFO sightings in the 1950s - and it came to a very similar conclusion to the recent reports from the US
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) came to a "very strong" verdict following a clandestine probe into UFOsightings.
A second report was released in 2006 (file)
( Image: Getty Images)
In the US, the Pentagon has been releasing reports investigating UFO encounters following the establishment of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO). Their most recent report this March, unsurprisingly, found no signs of extraterrestrial life.
Brits are now beginning to discover that their own government has engaged in similar investigations.
The revelation comes from a post on X (formerly Twitter) from the account for BBC TV programme QI. It read: "In 1950 the UK Ministry of Defence created a secret organisation to look into UFOs called the Flying Saucer Working Party. It disbanded within a year."
Sir Henry Tizard, serving as Chief Scientific Adviser at the MoD at the time, launched the covert Flying Saucer Working Party back in October 1950. When their comprehensive final dossier was disclosed in June 1951, much like their American counterparts, they deduced that every phenomenon they examined did not defy earthly explanation.
Each mysterious sighting, the group concluded, was a consequence of one or more of four factors: astronomical or meteorological phenomena, misidentification, optical illusions and psychological delusions, or hoaxes.
Their findings concluded: "We accordingly recommend very strongly that no further investigation of reported mysterious aerial phenomena be undertaken, unless and until some material evidence becomes available."
Just like in the US, the British investigation found no signs of alien life (stock)(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
A second investigation into UFOs, known as Project Condign, was finalised in 2000 but only made public in 2006. Again, it determined that the majority of UFO sightings could be attributed to either mistaken identity or atmospheric conditions.
The BBC reported a statement from an MoD spokesperson at the time: "Both this study and the original 'Flying Saucer Working Party' concluded that there is insufficient evidence to indicate the presence of any genuine unidentified aerial phenomena. It is unlikely that we would carry out any future studies unless such evidence were to emerge."
Social media users have been quick to comment on the recent post about the brief existence of the Flying Saucer Working Party, with one user quipping: "Great name for a band." Meanwhile, another sceptically remarked: "'It disbanded within a year' - that's what THEY want you to think."
Webb Observes Intricate Structures in Ionosphere of Jupiter
Webb Observes Intricate Structures in Ionosphere of Jupiter
Jupiter’s upper atmosphere is composed of a neutral thermosphere and charged ionosphere. Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have spotted unexpected small-scale intensity features such as arcs, bands and spots in Jupiter’s low-latitude ionosphere in the region above the Great Red Spot.
This graphic shows the region observed by Webb: first its location on a NIRCam image of the whole planet (left), and the region itself (right), imaged by Webb’s Near-InfraRed Spectrograph (NIRSpec).
Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / Jupiter ERS Team / J. Schmidt / H. Melin / M. Zamani, ESA & Webb.
Jupiter is one of the brightest objects in the night sky, and it is easily seen on a clear night.
Aside from the bright northern and southern lights at the planet’s polar regions, the glow from Jupiter’s upper atmosphere is weak and is therefore challenging for ground-based telescopes to discern details in this region.
However, Webb’s infrared sensitivity allows scientists to study Jupiter’s upper atmosphere above the infamous Great Red Spot with unprecedented detail.
The gas giant’s upper atmosphere is the interface between the planet’s magnetic field and the underlying atmosphere.
Here, the bright and vibrant displays of northern and southern lights can be seen, which are fuelled by the volcanic material ejected from Jupiter’s moon Io.
However, closer to the equator, the structure of the planet’s upper atmosphere is influenced by incoming sunlight.
Because Jupiter receives only 4% of the sunlight that is received on Earth, astronomers predicted this region to be homogeneous in nature.
University of Leicester astronomer Henrik Melin and his colleagues observed the Great Red Spot in July 2022 using the Integral Field Unit of Webb’s Near-InfraRed Spectrograph (NIRSpec).
Their Early Release Science observations sought to investigate if this region was in fact dull, and the region above the iconic Great Red Spot was targeted for Webb’s observations.
They were surprised to discover that the upper atmosphere hosts a variety of intricate structures, including dark arcs and bright spots, across the entire field of view.
“We thought this region, perhaps naively, would be really boring. It is in fact just as interesting as the northern lights, if not more so. Jupiter never ceases to surprise,” Dr. Melin said.
Although the light emitted from this region is driven by sunlight, the team suggests there must be another mechanism altering the shape and structure of the upper atmosphere.
“One way in which you can change this structure is by gravity waves — similar to waves crashing on a beach, creating ripples in the sand,” Dr. Melin said.
“These waves are generated deep in the turbulent lower atmosphere, all around the Great Red Spot, and they can travel up in altitude, changing the structure and emissions of the upper atmosphere.”
“These atmospheric waves can be observed on Earth on occasion, however they are much weaker than those observed on Jupiter by Webb.”
“We hope to conduct follow-up Webb observations of these intricate wave patterns in the future to investigate how the patterns move within the planet’s upper atmosphere and to develop our understanding of the energy budget of this region and how the features change over time.”
The findings appear in the journal Nature Astronomy.
H. Melin et al. Ionospheric irregularities at Jupiter observed by JWST. Nat Astron, published online June 21, 2024; doi: 10.1038/s41550-024-02305-9
Hey @NASA @NASAjpl @NASA_Johnson could you please answer this question? UFO Sighting News.
Hey @NASA @NASAjpl @NASA_Johnson could you please answer this question? UFO Sighting News.
Hey everyone, I decided to tweet to three NASA accounts and see if they respond or not. So I made this video and sent it off to them. They will see it for sure, but the real question is...are they prepared to answer it?
Also I'm currently keeping the NASA like to this photo a secret for now, otherwise NASA would delete it immediately.
Guys I found some interesting evidence of ancient aliens on Mars today. Strongly I found many pyramid like structures with huge openings in them. This to me is signs of a semi intelligent life form that stood about 6 to 7 inches tall. Some of these structures however were torn open, as if someone or something was hunting them, carving up their homes so easily as if they were made of butter. Absolute proof of alien life? We passed that point decades ago with my research.
Beste bezoeker, Heb je zelf al ooit een vreemde waarneming gedaan, laat dit dan even weten via email aan Frederick Delaere opwww.ufomeldpunt.be. Deze onderzoekers behandelen jouw melding in volledige anonimiteit en met alle respect voor jouw privacy. Ze zijn kritisch, objectief maar open minded aangelegd en zullen jou steeds een verklaring geven voor jouw waarneming! DUS AARZEL NIET, ALS JE EEN ANTWOORD OP JOUW VRAGEN WENST, CONTACTEER FREDERICK. BIJ VOORBAAT DANK...
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Alvast bedankt voor al jouw bezoekjes en jouw reacties. Nog een prettige dag verder!!!
Over mijzelf
Ik ben Pieter, en gebruik soms ook wel de schuilnaam Peter2011.
Ik ben een man en woon in Linter (België) en mijn beroep is Ik ben op rust..
Ik ben geboren op 18/10/1950 en ben nu dus 73 jaar jong.
Mijn hobby's zijn: Ufologie en andere esoterische onderwerpen.
Op deze blog vind je onder artikels, werk van mezelf. Mijn dank gaat ook naar André, Ingrid, Oliver, Paul, Vincent, Georges Filer en MUFON voor de bijdragen voor de verschillende categorieën...
Veel leesplezier en geef je mening over deze blog.