We could float effortlessly in Pluto's subsurface ocean

Related: 

• Supervolcano eruption on Pluto hints at hidden ocean beneath the surface

Most strikingly, some scientists believe that Pluto holds cryovolcanoes that spew out water vapor or even solid water ice. That water has to come from somewhere — and a layer of liquid water beneath Pluto's crust would fit the description.

Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis and the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston set about constructing a model of what that liquid layer might look like. In particular, they wanted to match Sputnik Planitia — a heart-shaped lowland basin on Pluto's surface thought to be the aftermath of an impact. So, the researchers tried different configurations of ocean thickness and water density that would result in the Sputnik Planitia criss-crossed with cracks that New Horizons observed.

"We estimated a sort of Goldilocks zone where the density and shell thickness is just right," said Alex Nguyen, a graduate student at Washington University in St Louis and one of the authors, in a statement.

Their calculations indicated that a Plutonian ocean would most likely be around 25 to 50 miles (40 to 80 kilometers) thick, and about 8 percent denser than Earth seawater. That is about as dense as the Great Salt Lake. 

But the idea of a Plutonian ocean is still controversial. Scientists don't know enough about Pluto to know if the evidence really points to liquid water or if it's just circumstantial. Most recently, a study simulating the origin of Sputnik Planitia suggested that the heart-shaped basin was most likely to have formed if Pluto had a solid interior.

So, until a successor to New Horizons lets us revisit Pluto, what lies beneath the world's surface will remain cloaked in shadow.

Nguyen and co-author Patrick McGovern published their work in the journal Icarus on February 15.

{ https://www.space.com/ }

31-05-2024 om 23:30 geschreven door peter  

James Webb Space Telescope spots the most distant galaxy ever seen (image)

Related: 

• James Webb Space Telescope spots 3 of our universe's earliest galaxies

The announcement of the discoveries, made in Oct. 2023 and Jan. 2024, are the latest developments in the ongoing investigation of cosmic dawn that the $10 billion telescope has facilitated as part of the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) program. JADES aims to provide vital insights into the ways in which the stars, gas, and black holes were evolving in primordial galaxies when the 13.8 billion-year-old universe was very young. 

"These galaxies join a small but growing population of galaxies from the first half billion years of cosmic history where we can really probe the stellar populations and the distinctive patterns of chemical elements within them," team member and Kavli Institute for Cosmology scientist Francesco D’Eugenio said in a statement.

JADES-GS-z14-0 isn't just remarkable for how distant it is from Earth and how early it existed in the cosmos, though. With a width of around 1,600 light-years across, this "cosmic dawn" galaxy is also remarkable for how big and bright it is.

"The size of the galaxy clearly proves that most of the light is being produced by large numbers of young stars, rather than material falling onto a supermassive black hole in the galaxy's center, which would [make it] appear much smaller, "JADES team leader Daniel Eisenstein from the Harvard & Smithsonian's Center for Astrophysics (CfA) said in a separate statement. 

The extreme brightness of JADES-GS-z14-0 and the fact this luminosity is powered by young stars means this galaxy represents the most striking evidence for the rapid formation of large, massive galaxies in the early universe found thus far.

JADES team member and University of California-Santa Cruz researcher Ben Johnson added that JADES-GS-z14-0 shows that galaxy formation in the early universe was very rapid and intense. 

"The JWST will allow us to find more of these galaxies, perhaps when the universe was even younger," he said. "It is a marvelous opportunity to study how galaxies get started."

The James Webb Space Telescope sees red to spot early galaxies

The JWST is adept at seeing early galaxies thanks to the high infrared sensitivity of its instruments, particularly its primary imager, the Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam). 

Light leaves these cosmic dawn galaxies with a wide range of wavelengths similar to light from galaxies that are closer to the Milky Way. It is the journey of billions of years that transforms this light into low-energy and long-wavelength light in the near-infrared and infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.

The very fabric of space is expanding, and as light passes through it, its wavelength is stretched along with it. This causes the light to "shift" down to the red end of the electromagnetic spectrum, hence the name for this phenomenon, "redshift."

Galaxies that are farther away have to cross more space (which is being stretched as it expands) before their light reaches us, and thus, that light experiences more redshift. Redshift, denoted as z, can, therefore, be used to measure the distance to celestial objects with a known spectrum. And because light takes a finite amount of time to travel, this distance can be used to calculate how long ago these galaxies existed as we see them.

JADES-GS-z14-0 has a redshift of z = 14.32, while the previous most distant galaxy, JADES-GS-z13-0, has a redshift of z = 13.2, which placed it as existing 400 million years after the Big Bang. Clearly, this newly found galaxy has absolutely smashed that record, with the JWST seeing back in time by another 100 million years or so.

"JADES-GS-z14-0 now becomes the archetype of this phenomenon," JADES collaboration team member Stefano Carniani of the Scuola Normale Superiore said. "It is stunning that the universe can make such a galaxy in only 300 million years."

JADES-GS-z14-0 delived some surprises

Not everything about JADES-GS-z14-0 was immediately clear to the JADES team and some elements could confuse our picture of the early cosmos.

When it was first spotted, the primordial galaxy was so close to a closer foreground galaxy that the team suspected they could be celestial neighbors.  This idea was dispelled in October last year when the JADES crew spent five days performing a deep analysis of JADES-GS-z14-0 with NIRCam. The application of filters that are specifically tailored to identify early galaxies confirmed the extreme distance to JADES-GS-z14-0.

"We just couldn’t see any plausible way to explain this galaxy as being merely a neighbor of the more nearby galaxy," JADES team member and University of Arizona researcher Kevin Hainline said.

The galaxy also surprised its discoverers because its light is even redder than expected. That is because the light from JADES-GS-z14-0 is being "reddened" by dust within it that will become the building blocks of stars that will help this galaxy grow even larger.

Another surprise was the discovery of oxygen in JADES-GS-z14-0. Elements heavier than hydrogen and helium are forged by stars during their lifetimes and then distributed through galaxies when these stars explode. The observation of oxygen in JADES-GS-z14-0 could indicate that at least one generation of stars has already lived and died in this very early galaxy.

"All of these observations, together, tell us that JADES-GS-z14-0 is not like the types of galaxies that have been predicted by theoretical models and computer simulations to exist in the very early universe,"  JADES researcher Jake Helton of Steward Observatory and the University of Arizona said. "Given the observed brightness of the source, we can forecast how it might grow over cosmic time, and so far, we have not found any suitable analogs from the hundreds of other galaxies we’ve observed at high redshift in our survey."

Helton added that given the relatively small region of the sky that the JWST searched to find JADS-GS-z14-0, its discovery has profound implications for the predicted number of bright galaxies we see in the early universe.

"It is likely that astronomers will find many such luminous galaxies, possibly at even earlier times, over the next decade with the JWST," he concluded. "We're thrilled to see the extraordinary diversity of galaxies that existed at cosmic dawn!”

{ https://www.space.com/ }

31-05-2024 om 23:14 geschreven door peter  

While previous studies have revealed that Egyptians from these periods were able to identify, describe, and treat diseases and traumatic injuries, build prosthetics, and even place dental fillings, this study is the first to show that these surprisingly advanced ancient people may have tried to treat cancer around the same time they were building the pyramids.

“This finding is unique evidence of how ancient Egyptian medicine would have tried to deal with or explore cancer more than 4,000 years ago,” said Prof Edgard Camarós, a paleopathologist at the University of Santiago de Compostela and the study’s lead author. “This is an extraordinary new perspective in our understanding of the history of medicine.”

CUT MARKS ON 4,000-YEAR-OLD EGYPTIAN SKULL LEAVE RESEARCHERS STUNNED

To conduct their analysis, the researchers were able to procure two separate skulls that showed signs of cancerous lesions. The first, dubbed “Skull and mandible 236,” has previously been dated to between 2687 and 2345 BCE, while the second, “Skull E270,” has been dated to between 663 and 343 BCE. For comparison, the Great Pyramid of Giza is believed to have been built over a period of about 27 years, sometime around 2,600 BCE.

The skulls were examined using microscopic analysis and CT scanning.

Image: Tondini, Isidro, Camarós, 2024. CREDIT: Tondini, Isidro, Camarós, 2024.

When examining the roughly 30 small, metastasized lesions and one large lesion likely caused by neoplasm spread across Skull 236 under a microscope and also using a CT scanner, the researchers say they were “stunned” to discover something unexpected: clear cutmarks around a number of the lesions.

Cutmarks found on skull 236, probably made with a sharp object. Image: Tondini, Isidro, Camarós, 2024.

CREDIT: Tondini, Isidro, Camarós, 2024.

“When we first observed the cutmarks under the microscope, we could not believe what was in front of us,” said Tatiana Tondini, a researcher at the University of Tübingen and first author of the study.

In fact, according to Tondini, they weren’t even looking for things like cutmarks in the first place. “We wanted to learn about the role of cancer in the past, how prevalent this disease was in antiquity, and how ancient societies interacted with this pathology,” the researcher explained.

SIGNS ANCIENT EGYPTIAN MAY HAVE RECEIVED AND SURVIVED CANCER SURGERY

After finding evidence of cutmarks on the 4,000-year-old Egyptian Skull known as 236, the team performed a similar analysis of Skull E270. Like the older sample, E270 also had a large lesion the researchers described as “consistent with a cancerous tumor that led to bone loss.” However, unlike the other skull, this specimen had two smaller, “healed” lesions likely caused by traumatic injuries. Furthermore, one of the smaller lesions appears to be the result of a “close-range violent event” involving some sort of sharp instrument.

A closer analysis showed that this second lesion appeared to have healed after encountering a sharp object. Such a finding hints at the possibility that this person had surgery to remove cancer and then survived the treatment. “These healed lesions could mean that the individual potentially received some kind of treatment and, as a result, survived,” the press release announcing the study expl

Skull E270, dating from between 663 and 343 BCE, belonged to a female individual who was older than 50 years. Image: Tondini, Isidro, Camarós, 2024.

CREDIT: Tondini, Isidro, Camarós, 2024.

The researchers concede that the injury could be the result of combat. However, they also point out that E270 belonged to a roughly 50-year-old woman. In ancient Egypt, it was rare to find evidence of women in any form of combat, especially one of such an advanced age, meaning either answer could have the potential to rewrite the history books.

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

31-05-2024 om 22:44 geschreven door peter  

Does This FBI Document Suggest That Nikola Tesla Was An Alien From Venus?

For more than half a century, incredible information about Nikola Tesla has been kept secret, and only recently the FBI declassified document revealed this data, which indicates that a cult scientist was once brought to Earth from Venus. Tesla’s mind was almost too great for the limitations of his time’s technology.

These things make it clear that Tesla was a remarkably intelligent man who was far ahead of his time. In fact, it has been said by many that his inventions were between 300 and 1,000 years ahead of time. If it were not for Tesla’s inventions, the world as we know it would be nearly half a century behind where we are today in terms of technological advancement. This has, understandably, led many to wonder about Tesla’s origins. Was he even from this planet?

According to information from the FBI documents, Nikola Tesla was an alien. In the archives of the FBI’s official website, there is a very mysterious document that contains a very unusual statement regarding Nikola Tesla. In addition, the declassified FBI dossier contained information about a certain George Washington Van Tassel, who was engaged in ufology and also worked on the Douglas, Hughes, and Lockheed planes in the 30s and 40s.

This declassified FBI document known as the “Interplanetary Sessions Newsletter“, written on June 14, 1957, seems to suggest that these notions may not be as unbelievable as they sound. In fact, this document seems to suggest that Tesla was originally from the planet Venus. It read in part:

“The Space People have visited the Tesla engineers many times, and have told us that Tesla was a Venusian, brought to this planet as a baby, in 1856, and left with Mr. and Mrs. Tesla in a remote mountain province in what is now Yugoslavia.”

Margaret Storm had been assigned to certain work with the Space People, as follows: She wrote a book – Return of the Dove – a story of the life of Nikola Tesla, a scientist, and the part his inventions played in the New Age. Much of the data for this book has been supplied to Mrs. Storm through transcripts received on the Tesla set, a radio-type machine invented by Tesla in 1938 for Interplanetary Communication.

Tesla died in 1943 and his engineers did not build the Tesla set until after his death. It was placed in operation in 1950 and since that time the Tesla engineers have been in close touch with space ships. The Space People have visited the Tesla engineers many times, and have told us that Tesla was a Venusian, brought to this planet as a baby, in 1856, and left with Mr. and Mrs. Tesla in a remote mountain province in what is now Yugoslavia.”

Additionally, Margaret Storm, a woman who was tasked with writing a book on Tesla’s remarkable life, was reportedly given information through a device that the scientist created in 1938 that was said to allow for “interplanetary communication”. Allegedly, Storm even had contact with these so-called “Space People”. In an interview in May of 1959, Storm reported that Tesla was a Venusian saying:

“Tesla was born onboard a spacecraft and brought to this planet… and placed in the care of Mr. & Mrs. Tesla.”

Storm claimed that Tesla was frequently in contact with his fellow Venusians, even visiting him from time to time. In the interview, she states that Tesla had many visitors who arrived in spaceships and that “most of them have come from Venus”.

According to the “Interplanetary Sessions Newsletter”, Margaret Storm had been “assigned to certain work with the Space People as follows: She is writing a book- Return of the Dove- a story of the life of Nikola Tesla, scientist, and the part his inventions will play in the new age”. Further, much of the information that Storm used to complete her book was given to her through communication with the Space People. The now-declassified FBI document goes on to say:

“Much of the data for this book has been supplied to Mrs. Storm through transcripts received on the Tesla set, a radio-type machine invented by Tesla in 1943 and his engineers did not build the Tesla set until after his death. It was placed in operation in 1950 and since that time the Tesla engineers have been in close touch with space ships.”

Read also:

• Black US Soldier Was Abducted by Three Alien Species And Visited Grey Aliens Planet
• Italian Man Took Photos Of Aliens From Planet Clarion, Located 150,000 light-years From Earth
• Chinese Man Mated With 10-Foot Tall Alien For 40 Minutes While Hovering Above His Sleeping Wife

• Alien Abducted Irish Man And Told Him The World Would END in 850 Years

{ https://www.howandwhys.com/ }

31-05-2024 om 22:17 geschreven door peter  

Rare 'exo-Venus' with Earth-like temperature discovered

Gliese 12 b, which orbits a cool, red dwarf star located just 40 light-years away, promises to tell astronomers more about how planets close to their stars retain or lose their atmospheres. In this artist’s concept, Gliese 12 b is shown retaining a thin atmosphere.

Credit NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (Caltech-IPAC)

Licence type

Attribution (CC BY 4.0)

Astronomers have made the rare and tantalising discovery of an Earth-like exoplanet 40 light-years away that may be just a little warmer than our own world.

The potentially-habitable planet, named Gliese 12 b, orbits its host star every 12.8 days, is comparable in size to Venus - so slightly smaller than Earth - and has an estimated surface temperature of 42°C (107°F), which is lower than most of the 5,000-odd exoplanets confirmed so far.

That is assuming it has no atmosphere, however, which is the crucial next step to establishing if it is habitable.

It may have an Earth-like atmosphere, one more akin to Venus - which experienced a runaway greenhouse effect that made it a 400°C (752°F) hellhole - no atmosphere, or perhaps a different kind of atmosphere not found in our solar system.

Getting an answer is vital because it would reveal if Gliese 12 b can maintain temperatures suitable for liquid water - and possibly life - to exist on its surface, while also unlocking answers about how and why Earth and Venus evolved so differently.

Gliese 12 b is by no means the first Earth-like exoplanet to have been discovered, but as NASA has said, there are only a handful of worlds like it that warrant a closer look.

It has been billed as "the nearest, transiting, temperate, Earth-size world located to date" and a potential target for further investigation by the US space agency's £7.5billion James Webb Space Telescope.

The closest Earth-like exoplanet to us - and possibly the most famous - is Proxima Centauri b, which is only 4 light-years away. However, because it is not a transiting world we still have a lot to learn about it, including whether it has an atmosphere and the potential to harbour life.

Most exoplanets are discovered using the transit method, where a planet passes in front of its star from our point of view, causing a dip in the host star's brightness.

During a transit, the star's light also passes through an exoplanet's atmosphere and some wavelengths get absorbed. Different gas molecules absorb different colours, so the transit provides a set of chemical fingerprints that can be detected by telescopes like Webb.

Gliese 12 b’s estimated size may be as large as Earth or slightly smaller — comparable to Venus in our solar system. This artist’s concept compares Earth with different possible Gliese 12 b interpretations, from one with no atmosphere to one with a thick Venus-like one.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (Caltech-IPAC)

Licence type

Attribution (CC BY 4.0)

Gliese 12 b could also be significant because it may help reveal whether the majority of stars in our Milky Way galaxy - i.e. cool stars - are capable of hosting temperate planets that have atmospheres and are therefore habitable.

The discovery of the 'exo-Venus', by two international teams of astronomers, has been published today in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

It orbits a cool red dwarf star called Gliese 12, which is almost 40 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Pisces.

"Gliese 12 b represents one of the best targets to study whether Earth-size planets orbiting cool stars can retain their atmospheres, a crucial step to advance our understanding of habitability on planets across our galaxy," said Shishir Dholakia, a doctoral student at the Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Southern Queensland in Australia.

He co-led a research team with Larissa Palethorpe, a doctoral student at the University of Edinburgh and University College London.

The exoplanet's host star is about 27 per cent of the size of our Sun and has a surface temperature that is around 60 per cent of our own star.

However, the distance separating Gliese 12 and the new planet is just 7 per cent of the distance between Earth and the Sun. Gliese 12 b therefore receives 1.6 times more energy from its star as Earth does from the Sun and about 85 per cent of what Venus experiences.

This difference in solar radiation is important because it means the planet's surface temperature is highly dependent on its atmospheric conditions. As a comparison to Gliese 12 b's estimated surface temperature of 42°C (107°F), Earth has an average surface temperature of 15°C (59°F).

"Atmospheres trap heat and - depending on the type - can change the actual surface temperature substantially," Dholakia explained. "We are quoting the planet's 'equilibrium temperature', which is the temperature the planet would be if it had no atmosphere.

"Much of the scientific value of this planet is to understand what kind of atmosphere it could have. Since Gliese 12 b gets in between the amount of light as Earth and Venus get from the Sun, it will be valuable for bridging the gap between these two planets in our solar system."

Palethorpe added: "It is thought that Earth's and Venus's first atmospheres were stripped away and then replenished by volcanic outgassing and bombardments from residual material in the solar system.

"The Earth is habitable, but Venus is not due to its complete loss of water. Because Gliese 12 b is between Earth and Venus in temperature, its atmosphere could teach us a lot about the habitability pathways planets take as they develop."

The closest Earth-like exoplanet to us - and possibly the most famous - is Proxima Centauri b (pictured in an artist's impression), which is only 4 light-years away. However, because it is not a transiting world we still have a lot to learn about it, including whether it has an atmosphere and the potential to harbour life.

NASA Visualization Technology Applications and Development (VTAD)

Licence type

Attribution (CC BY 4.0)

The researchers, along with another team in Tokyo, used observations by NASA's TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) to help make their discovery.

"We've found the nearest, transiting, temperate, Earth-size world located to date," said Masayuki Kuzuhara, a project assistant professor at the Astrobiology Center in Tokyo, who co-led a research team with Akihiko Fukui, a project assistant professor at the University of Tokyo.

"Although we don't yet know whether it possesses an atmosphere, we've been thinking of it as an exo-Venus, with similar size and energy received from its star as our planetary neighbour in the solar system."

An important factor in retaining an atmosphere is the storminess of its star. Red dwarfs tend to be magnetically active, resulting in frequent, powerful X-ray flares.

However, analyses by both teams conclude that Gliese 12 shows no signs of such extreme behaviour, raising hopes that Gliese 12 b's atmosphere may still be intact.

"We know of only a handful of temperate planets similar to Earth that are both close enough to us and meet other criteria needed for this kind of study, called transmission spectroscopy, using current facilities," said Michael McElwain, a research astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and a co-author of the Kuzuhara and Fukui paper.

"To better understand the diversity of atmospheres and evolutionary outcomes for these planets, we need more examples like Gliese 12 b."

At 40 light-years from Earth, Gliese 12 b is about the same distance as the TRAPPIST-1 system.

This is made up of seven planets, all roughly in Earth's size range and likely rocky, orbiting a red dwarf star.

Three of these are in the habitable zone but at least two - and probably all of them - have no atmosphere and are likely barren, dismissing hopes when they were first discovered eight years ago that they could be water worlds hosting life.

• The new paper "Gliese 12 b, A Temperate Earth-sized Planet at 12 Parsecs Discovered with TESS and CHEOPS", Shishir Dholakia and Larissa Palethorpe et al., has been published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

{ https://ras.ac.uk/ }

31-05-2024 om 20:54 geschreven door peter  

De planeet heeft een geschatte oppervlaktetemperatuur van slechts 42 graden Celsius en bevindt zich op ongeveer dezelfde afstand als het bekende TRAPPIST-1 systeem.

Al jaren speuren astronomen het universum af naar planeten die mogelijk leven kunnen ondersteunen of op zijn minst bewoonbaar zijn, in de hoop werelden te vinden die op de aarde lijken. En een nieuwe ontdekking heeft nu voor grote opwinding gezorgd. Op zo’n 40 lichtjaar afstand zijn onderzoekers namelijk op de veelbelovende planeet Gliese 12 b gestuit. Zou dit de planeet kunnen zijn waar we al zo lang naar op zoek zijn?

Gliese 12 b
De mogelijk bewoonbare planeet Gliese 12 b draait elke 12,8 dagen om zijn moederster. Qua grootte is de exoplaneet vergelijkbaar met Venus, wat betekent dat hij slechts iets kleiner is dan de aarde. Daarnaast heeft deze aardachtige planeet ook nog eens een aardachtige temperatuur. Zo wordt de oppervlaktetemperatuur geschat op 42 graden Celsius. Hiermee is hij iets warmer dan de aarde, maar opvallend koeler dan de meeste van de ongeveer 5.000 tot nu toe ontdekte exoplaneten. De ontdekking van deze ‘exo-Venus’, is vandaag gepubliceerd in de Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Exo-Venus
Onderzoekers kwamen de veelbelovende planeet op het spoor met behulp van planetenjager TESS, die al heel wat exoplaneten aan het licht heeft gebracht. En onderzoekers zijn enthousiast. “We hebben de dichtstbijzijnde, gematigde wereld ter grootte van de aarde tot nu toe ontdekt,” benadrukt onderzoeker Masayuki Kuzuhara. “Hoewel we nog niet weten of Gliese 12 b een atmosfeer heeft, beschouwen we ‘m als een ‘exo-Venus’. Het heeft een vergelijkbare grootte en ontvangt een vergelijkbare hoeveelheid energie van zijn ster als onze buurplaneet in ons eigen zonnestelsel.”

Atmosfeer
Om er echter zeker van te zijn dat de planeet leefbaar is, is het van cruciaal belang om te bepalen of er wel of geen atmosfeer aanwezig is. Het is mogelijk dat de planeet een atmosfeer heeft die vergelijkbaar is met die van de aarde. Deze kan echter ook meer lijken op die van Venus, waar een omvangrijk broeikaseffect ervoor zorgde dat het oppervlak een verzengende 400 graden Celsius bereikte. Een andere mogelijkheid is dat de planeet geen atmosfeer heeft. Of misschien heeft ie wel een soort atmosfeer die we nog niet in ons eigen zonnestelsel hebben gezien. Het is erg belangrijk om hierop een antwoord te krijgen omdat het ons zal vertellen of Gliese 12 b temperaturen kan handhaven die geschikt zijn voor vloeibaar water – en mogelijk leven – op het oppervlak.

Moederster
Om dit te achterhalen, is ook de moederster relevant. De moederster van Gliese 12 b is een koele rode dwergster genaamd Gliese 12, die zich zoals gezegd op bijna 40 lichtjaar afstand van de aarde bevindt, in het sterrenbeeld Vissen. De ster is ongeveer 27 procent zo groot als onze zon en heeft een oppervlaktetemperatuur van ongeveer 60 procent van die van onze zon. Over rode dwergsterren is echter bekend dat het ‘opvliegende’ sterren zijn, die vaak magnetisch actief zijn. Dit resulteert in frequente, krachtige uitbarstingen, waardoor een mogelijk rondom cirkelende planeet van zijn atmosfeer wordt ontdaan. Toch lijkt Gliese 12 b er beter vanaf te komen. Analyses hebben namelijk aangetoond dat Gliese 12 geen tekenen vertoont van dergelijk extreem gedrag. Dit verhoogt de hoop dat de potentiële atmosfeer van Gliese 12 b nog steeds intact is.

Oppervlaktetemperatuur

Daarnaast is de afstand tussen Gliese 12 en de nieuw ontdekte planeet slechts 7 procent van de afstand tussen de aarde en de zon. Hierdoor ontvangt Gliese 12 b 1,6 keer meer energie van zijn ster dan de aarde van de zon, en ongeveer 85 procent van de hoeveelheid die Venus ontvangt. Dit verschil in de hoeveelheid zonnestraling die de planeet ontvangt, is van groot belang omdat het aangeeft dat de oppervlaktetemperatuur sterk wordt beïnvloed door de atmosferische omstandigheden. Voor je beeldvorming: de geschatte oppervlaktetemperatuur van Gliese 12 b is 42 graden Celsius, terwijl de gemiddelde oppervlaktetemperatuur van de aarde 15 graden Celsius bedraagt. “Atmosferen houden warmte vast en kunnen, afhankelijk van hun samenstelling, de werkelijke oppervlaktetemperatuur aanzienlijk beïnvloeden,” legt onderzoeker Shishir Dholakia uit.

Aarde en Venus
Het onderzoek naar Gliese 12 b heeft overigens niet alleen betrekking op de leefbaarheid van deze planeet. Het helpt ons ook om meer te weten te komen over waarom de aarde en Venus, die in veel opzichten erg op elkaar lijken, toch zo’n andere weg zijn ingeslagen. “Omdat Gliese 12 b een vergelijkbare hoeveelheid licht ontvangt als de aarde en Venus van de zon, kan het ons ook helpen om het verschil tussen deze twee planeten in ons eigen zonnestelsel te verklaren en te begrijpen,” aldus Dholakia. Dit kan waardevolle inzichten bieden in de atmosferische processen die de leefbaarheid van planeten beïnvloeden. Terwijl de aarde bewoonbaar is, is Venus dat niet, voornamelijk vanwege het volledige verlies van water. “Gliese 12 b, met een temperatuur tussen die van de aarde en Venus in, kan ons helpen begrijpen hoe planeten bewoonbaar worden, vooral door te kijken naar welke atmosfeer het heeft,” vertelt mede-auteur Larissa Palethorpe.

Onderzoek naar de veelbelovende exo-Venus gaat onverminderd door. Want het idee dat deze planeet mogelijk leefbaar is, prikkelt de verbeelding van menig astronoom. Gliese 12 b is zeker niet de eerste aardachtige exoplaneet die is ontdekt, maar volgens NASA zijn er maar een paar van zulke werelden die de moeite van nader onderzoek waard zijn. De volgende stap is om de krachtige ruimtetelescoop James Webb op Gliese 12 b te richten. Uiteindelijk hopen onderzoekers te achterhalen of deze planeet al dan geen atmosfeer herbergt. “Gliese 12 b vertegenwoordigt een van de beste doelen om te bestuderen of aardachtige planeten die om koele sterren draaien hun atmosferen kunnen behouden,” zegt Dholakia. “Dit is een cruciale stap om ons begrip van de bewoonbaarheid van planeten in ons sterrenstelsel te bevorderen.”

Bronmateriaal

• "Rare 'exo-Venus' with Earth-like temperature discovered" - Royal Astronomical Society.
  
• Afbeelding bovenaan dit artikel: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (Caltech-IPAC)

{ https://scientias.nl/ }

31-05-2024 om 20:41 geschreven door peter  

Nanoplastics nu ook op onverwachte plek in hart van foetus teruggevonden. En de kans is groot dat dat schadelijk is

Jeannette Kras

 

{ https://scientias.nl/ }

31-05-2024 om 20:22 geschreven door peter  

Unveiling Antarctica’s Alien Secrets: Government Cover-Ups and Hidden Civilizations

The icy expanse of Antarctica has long been a subject of mystery and intrigue. Among the most captivating and controversial theories is the existence of an alien base beneath its frozen surface. This idea has fueled the imagination of UFO enthusiasts and conspiracy theorists alike, with stories that suggest not only the presence of extraterrestrial beings but also secretive government cover-ups. This article delves into these fascinating claims, exploring the potential truths behind the legends and the implications they hold.

Project Stargate: Psychic Spies and Extraterrestrial Encounters

In 1978, the CIA launched a covert operation known as Project Stargate. The project aimed to employ psychic spies to gather intelligence on Soviet activities during the Cold War. Using a technique called remote viewing, these psychics purportedly had the ability to perceive locations and events from afar using only the power of their minds. One notable psychic, Patrick Price, claimed to have seen an alien base inside Mount Hayes in Alaska. He described a facility where extraterrestrials and military personnel worked together using advanced technology. Shortly after revealing his findings to the CIA, Price mysteriously died, leading to speculation about a potential cover-up by the government or even retaliation by the aliens he had described.

Admiral Richard Byrd’s Mysterious Antarctic Expedition

In 1945, Admiral Richard Byrd, a renowned US Naval officer and explorer, led Operation Highjump, the largest expedition to Antarctica. This mission included a massive deployment of 13 ships, 23 aircraft, and over 4,500 military personnel. One of its primary objectives was to locate potential Nazi military bases. However, according to a diary found by Byrd’s son after his death, the expedition uncovered something far more extraordinary.

Byrd’s diary recounts an incredible journey to the Earth’s center through an entrance at the South Pole. Inside, he described a temperate world, lush and green, reminiscent of the Amazon rainforest. The most astonishing discovery was a crystalline city inhabited by advanced beings. These beings, piloting disc-shaped craft, allegedly took control of Byrd’s aircraft and guided them to their city. There, Byrd met a leader referred to as “the Master,” who expressed disappointment with humanity’s use of nuclear weapons during World War II and concern for the planet’s future. Despite this, the aliens caused no harm to Byrd and his team, allowing them to return to the surface unharmed. Upon their return, Byrd was instructed by military officials to keep these findings secret to prevent mass panic.

Implications of Hidden Alien Civilizations

The claims made by Byrd and the implications of Project Stargate present a fascinating, if not unsettling, narrative. If Byrd’s account is to be believed, it suggests the existence of a hidden, technologically advanced civilization beneath Antarctica. This could potentially explain numerous UFO sightings near nuclear sites and military bases, as these beings might be monitoring humanity’s use of such dangerous technology.

The idea of an alien base under Antarctica also raises questions about the broader implications for our understanding of Earth’s history and the potential existence of other hidden civilizations. Could these beings be responsible for ancient myths and legends of gods and advanced beings from below the earth?

VIDEO:

• Antarctica’s Hidden Aliens: What the Government Doesn’t Want You to Know

• https://youtu.be/VLyyK6aHtx0

The theories surrounding an alien base beneath Antarctica are undeniably intriguing, blending elements of historical exploration, government secrecy, and extraterrestrial life. While there is no concrete evidence to confirm these claims, the stories of Project Stargate and Admiral Byrd‘s expedition continue to captivate and inspire those who seek to uncover the unknown. Whether viewed as mere conspiracy theories or potential truths waiting to be discovered, these tales remind us of the vast, uncharted mysteries that our world still holds.

As we continue to explore and understand our planet, the possibility of discovering hidden civilizations, whether alien or ancient human, remains an exciting frontier. Until then, the icy expanse of Antarctica will keep its secrets, waiting for the day they might be revealed.

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

31-05-2024 om 19:58 geschreven door peter  

The breakthrough relied on the combination of annual growth ring measurements with the measurable spike in cosmogenic radiocarbon that occurred during the 5259 BC event. This allowed them to establish a chronological reference point for producing accurate dates for the historic settlement, which now may significantly aid archaeological dating at other sites in Southeast Europe.

Additionally, the team behind the new findings says their methods could mark a new standard for dating ancient sites through such processes.

AN EXTREME COSMIC EVENT IN ANCIENT TIMES

In 2022, researchers discovered a pair of extreme solar energetic particle (SEP) events by employing carbon isotope measurements in ancient tree rings dated to 7176 and 5259 BC. Each of the events yielded an increase in 14C of about 2%, a relatively small percentage, albeit one indicating events of far greater magnitude than all similar events previously observed.

Such occurrences happen periodically during eruptive events such as flares and coronal mass ejections, the most recent of which bombarded the planet with cosmogenic radiation beginning on May 10, 2024, producing visible aurorae in parts of the world where such colorful light displays are rarely seen.

Since the observational record is too short to provide an accurate estimation of the frequency of extremely rare SEP events, scientists look for the presence of radionuclides like 10Be, 14C, and 36Cl, all of which can be produced when cosmic rays strike Earth’s atmosphere—to help them reconstruct a clearer picture of past solar activity and highly energetic events like the one that occurred in 5259 BC.

STORIES TOLD IN TREE RINGS

Dendrochronology, the process of using annual growth discernible in tree rings to help date events from the past, is useful for more than just determining things like when extreme solar events have occurred: archaeologists also use it to help them reveal the ages of ancient artifacts and archaeological features that include tombs and settlements.

Above: Cross-section of a California Coast Redwood tree felled in 1934, with rings labeled to indicate several historical events that occurred between 1215 to 1620 AD

(Credit: Larry McElhiney/CC 2.5)

Now, a team from the University of Bern, led by the Institute of Archaeological Sciences, was successfully able to produce dates for the ancient site of Dispilio in northern Greece, using evidence of high-energy particles revealed in timber discovered at the site.

Previous attempts to date the site had proven difficult for a variety of reasons, which include the fact that while tree-ring data extending further back than 12,500 years is readily attainable in many parts of Europe, the same is rarely true for the Mediterranean, according to Andrej Maczkowski, lead author of a study outlining the University of Bern team’s findings.

In fact, there are only a handful of regions around the world where the presence of continuous tree-ring chronologies allows dating accuracy down to the year, such as parts of the American Southwest and northern Alpine foothills and parts of the British Isles. Because of this, dendrochronological dating methods have traditionally been limited.

MIYAKE EVENTS: A PARADIGM SHIFT IN DATING THE PAST

That is, until 2012, when a breakthrough made by Japanese physicist Fusa Miyake revealed that cosmic rays originating from solar flares resulted in spikes in radionuclides, specifically the presence of 14C content found in tree rings.

Now known as Miyake events, dendrochronological data related to these occurrences offer researchers a powerful tool in the form of global anchor points for dating under conditions where annual growth ring chronologies are normally absent. Scientists have now charted Miyake events as far back as 12,350 BC.

“Miyake’s discovery was a paradigm shift,” said Albert Hafner, a University of Bern Professor of Prehistoric Archaeology and senior author of the team’s new study.

Now, Hafner and his colleagues say the area has become “the first region to benefit from this paradigm shift, allowing for absolute dating independent of a consistent calendar.” This is a significant point given that the Balkans are home to many of Europe’s earliest settlements, many of which existed along ancient lakes and other bodies of water around or just after 6000 BC. These thriving ancient communities played a key role in the spread of agriculture throughout the rest of the continent during the ensuing thousands of years.

PRECISION DATING OF AN ANCIENT GREEK SETTLEMENT

In their recent research, the Bern team was able to define a growth ring chronology spanning more than 300 years that ends in 5140 BC, which they achieved by analyzing 787 timber samples collected at Dispilio. With knowledge of the Miyake event that occurred in 5259 BC, the team was able to determine very precise dating that aligned with existing global tree-ring chronologies.

Above: An assemblage of adornments and other artifacts dating to the Neolithic period, recovered during excavations at Dispilio

(Credit: Dispilio Excavation Archive).

Of key significance, the Bern team’s research greatly advances our understanding of prehistoric timelines, offering crucial information for archaeologists and historians about the spread of early farming communities throughout Europe.

“We expect other regional chronologies to rapidly link to the ‘Dispilio Chronology,’” Maczkowski said, “paving the way for a comprehensive dendrochronology for the southern Balkans.”

Maczkowski, Hafner, and the team’s new paper, “Absolute dating of the European Neolithic using the 5259 BC rapid 14C excursion,” was recently published in the journal Nature Communications.

• Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. He can be reached by email at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow his work at micahhanks.com and on X: @MicahHanks.

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

31-05-2024 om 01:16 geschreven door peter  

New Data Reveals How Galaxies Grew in the Early Universe

These new galaxies in the early universe were still hungrily gobbling up nearby gas.

BY KIONA SMITH

 

University of Copenhagen astrophysicist Kasper Heintz and his colleagues published their work in the journal Science.

THE EPOCH OF REIONIZATION IS GONNA BE LIT

JWST’s instruments helpfully split the light from the distant galaxies into the individual wavelengths that make it up. The spectrum of light coming from an object, like a galaxy, is like a fingerprint of the chemicals that form it, because each chemical compound absorbs, emits, and reflects its own very specific wavelengths of light. Around the three distant galaxies, Heintz and his colleagues noticed that something seemed to be absorbing the same wavelengths of light as cold hydrogen gas – and lots of it.

“These galaxies are like sparkling islands in a sea of otherwise neutral, opaque gas,” says Heintz in a recent statement.

Hydrogen gas, when it’s cold and not electrically-charged (or ionized), absorbs light but doesn’t emit it. This neutral gas filled the early universe, making it impossible for light to travel very far, until a few hundred million years after the Big Bang: a period called the Cosmic Dark Ages.

It took powerful blasts of radiation from the first stars in the first galaxies to strip away electrons from all those hydrogen atoms, creating ionized gas (also called plasma) which is translucent instead of opaque. The Epoch of Reionization had begun – and the three galaxies in Heintz and his colleagues’ recent study are just starting to light it up.

BRAND NEW GALAXIES, SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED

Somewhere between 13.2 billion and 13.4 billion years ago — when the light that just reached JWST started its long journey across space — these three early galaxies were still in the process of assembling themselves from the surrounding gas.

“[The data] suggests that we are seeing the assembly of neutral hydrogen into galaxies,” says University of Copenhagen astrophysicist Darach Watson, a coauthor of the recent study, in a statement. And that’s a stage of galaxy formation that astronomers haven’t seen before, especially in the very early universe.

The galaxies, in their infancy, are still surrounded by a cloud of cold, dark, neutral hydrogen gas — the same stuff that caused the Cosmic Dark Ages. Most of that gas will be heated up as it falls into the galaxies, pulled in by their inexorable gravity. And then it will slowly cool, forming lumps like congealed oatmeal, and some of those lumps will be so heavy that they collapse on themselves to form new stars.

Right now (or as we see them right now, which actually happened billions of years ago), what stars these early galaxies contain are mostly young and newly-formed.

“The fact that we are seeing large gas reservoirs also suggests that the galaxies have not had enough time to form most of their stars yet.” But they’ll get there, most likely.

The data reveals not only a previously unseen moment in a galaxy’s life, but also a glimpse of what the early universe was like before the expansion of space pulled everything farther apart, turning most galaxies into lonely beacons, or at most isolated clusters of lights, in the void.

“We’re moving away from a picture of galaxies as isolated ecosystems,” says University of Copenhagen astrophysicist Simone Nielsen in a recent statement. “At this stage in the history of the universe, galaxies are all intimately connected to the intergalactic medium with its filaments and structures of pristine gas.”

In the very early universe, no galaxy was an island (yet).

 { https://www.inverse.com/ }

31-05-2024 om 00:20 geschreven door peter  

By Shanna Hogan

Sarah2/Shutterstock

As related in a 1950 book called "Behind the Flying Saucers," the tale features two men who pulled a couple of dead alien corpses from the wreckage and stored them in a freezer until the army picked them up. Another version has the spacecraft crashing miles away, in Cave Creek or Paradise Valley.

"What’s amazing and significant is that there were two UFO crashes, one in Roswell and one in Phoenix, within fairly close proximity, that occurred in the same year," Willes says. "As far as the dam being built over the crash site, that’s a possibility, but I don’t see why the government wouldn't just remove the wreckage and there wouldn't be anything left but desert landscape."

A 1945 U.S. government Phoenix Sectional Chart showing Marana Army Air Field and Marana Auxiliary Army Airfield No. 2, No. 4, No. 5

Chris Kennedy/Public domain

A screengrab of camcorder footage of the V-shaped formation of lights that appeared over the Valley on March 13, 1997.

Screen Grab

5. The Phoenix Lights (1997)

As most Arizonans know, the otherworldly event that elevated Phoenix's prominence in the annals of UFO lore was the Phoenix Lights — one of the largest mass UFO sightings of all time.

On March 13, 1997, a string of glowing orbs hovered over Paradise Valley skies. For three hours the huge, V-shaped formation passed silently over a 300-mile corridor from the Nevada line through Phoenix to the northern edge of Tucson.

The lights were witnessed by thousands and photographed by hundreds, who had been watching the skies that night to catch a glimpse of a passing comet.

"Much has happened since the historic and still-unexplained March 13, 1997, mass sighting, propelling the Phoenix Lights into the international limelight as the most witnessed, most documented, and most important mass anomalous aerial events in modern history,” she tells New Times. 

Jeff Willes says the Phoenix Lights was impossible for the government to conceal. 

"The Phoenix Lights is Arizona's biggest UFO story," he says. "Thousands of witnesses saw this V-shaped object that flew all across the state. There still hasn’t been a UFO sighting like that in UFO history."

    - (This article originally appeared in 2016 and has been updated.)

30-05-2024 om 22:13 geschreven door peter  

UFO Sighting Caught On Video In New York During Blue Angels Show Has People Stumped

BY DOUGLAS CHARLES

It is not unusual for pilots to report seeing UFOs. In fact, they probably see more UFOs than the average person because, well, they are thousands of feet up in the sky.

What is more unusual is for people on the ground watching pilots fly their aircraft to spot a UFO in the same sky at the very same time.

Then again, how often does the average person spend looking at the sky in a given day. Surely, it is much less than they do when they are at an air show. So someone spotting a UFO at an event like that makes some sense.

It happened in 2023 when a UFO appeared to join the Royal Air Force (RAF) Red Arrows and was caught on camera.

It also happened in 2022 during Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee parade while nine fighter jets flew in formation over the festivities.

And now it has happened again in 2024.

While the Navy’s Blue Angels were performing a demonstration during an air show on Long Island over Memorial Day weekend, a UFO appeared to zoom past a Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet while it was flying over Jones Beach.

Of course, it was caught on video, but just for a split second. Even slowing down the video shows how incredibly quick this UFO was when compared to the speed of the fighter jet.

According to a report filed with the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC), here’s what the witness saw.

“Weekend of Bethpage Airshow – was looking for anything in the sky,” they wrote. “From stated location above, looking very high in the sky – approximately 36,500 to 41,000 ft high. Looking Westward from my location, tracking it going North by Northwest, by eye.

“Held at arms length, UAP was about the size of a slightly less than a pea, but greater than a grain of rice. Going very fast for a craft that high. No trails seen. Vividly tracked it visually for about 9 seconds. Then, saw it take an immediate and distinct 90 degree turn downward to about 18,000 feet within two to maybe 3 seconds. Distinctly able to follow it visually to that level when it simply disappeared.

{ https://brobible.com/ }

30-05-2024 om 21:44 geschreven door peter  

Een Japanse robot loste een Rubiks kubus op in minder dan een seconde: de video is te snel

Door Janine

Het Guinness Book of World Records is altijd een soort boek geweest van menselijke en dierlijke prestaties. Van het meest ongelofelijke tot het meest bijzondere, een vermelding in het Guinness World Records betekent dat je ergens de beste in bent. Het is echter niet altijd een levend wezen dat een record vestigt. Onlangs verdiende een robot een ereplaats onder de wereldrecords door een Rubiks kubus op te lossen in minder dan een seconde. Laten we eens kijken hoe hij dat deed.

Mensen, machines en Rubiks kubus: een genadeloze vergelijking

Unsplash

Dat Guinness World Records ruimte maakt voor prestaties betreft Rubiks Kubus is niets nieuws. In 2023 en daarvoor, in 2018, wisten twee mannen in iets meer dan drie seconden een Rubiks kubus op te lossen, waarmee ze in beide gevallen een wereldrecord vestigden. De laatste is van Max Park, een 21-jarige man die de 3x3x3-kubus in slechts 3,13 seconden in zijn oorspronkelijke staat terugbracht.

Dit is een buitengewone en ongekende prestatie, maar wel een die Park heeft bevestigd als een van de specialisten van Rubuks kubus. In 2020 had Netflix zelfs al de documentaire “The Speed Cubers” aan hem gewijd, oftewel de mensen die gespecialiseerd zijn in het razendsnel oplossen van Rubiks kubussen. Dit zijn verhalen over een toewijding en vaardigheid die geen grenzen kent. Zo niet die van het menselijk lichaam.

Robot lost de Rubiks kubus in minder dan een seconde op

guinnessworldrecords/Instagram

Max Park vertegenwoordigt daarom het toppunt van menselijk vermogen bij het oplossen van een Rubiks kubus, een niveau dat echter niet door machines kan worden bereikt. Een team van ingenieurs van Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, een Japans bedrijf, heeft namelijk een robot ontwikkeld die de Rubiks kubus kan oplossen. Dit is niet de eerste poging, maar op dit moment is het wel de poging die een nooit eerder vertoond record heeft gevestigd.

De robot ontwikkeld door het Component Production Engineering Center van MEC slaagde erin de 3x3x3 Rubiks kubus in minder dan een seconde op te lossen, om precies te zijn in 0,305 seconden. Dit is zo'n snelle tijd dat het menselijk oog deze niet eens kan volgen, tenzij gebruik wordt gemaakt van slow motion. Deze prestatie wordt bevestigd door het profiel van Guinness World Records zelf, dat de video in slow motion publiceerde.

Het geheim achter het Guinness van de robot

Het recordbrekende robotproject werd geleid door ingenieur Tokui, geïnspireerd door de vele online video's van robots die een Rubiks kubus probeerden. Tokui was ervan overtuigd dat zijn team een beter resultaat kon bereiken en ging meteen aan de slag, maar hij realiseerde zich al snel voor welke uitdagingen hij stond. Niet alleen het ontwerp van de robot om de Rubiks kubus op te lossen zorgde voor problemen, maar ook de Rubiks kubus zelf. Het mechanisme in de puzzel kan namelijk gemakkelijk vastlopen of zelfs leiden tot het breken ervan. Het oplossen van een Rubiks kubus in minder dan een seconde vereist snelheid, maar ook een grote vloeiendheid in de bewegingen van de machine en de puzzel.

Na een mislukte eerste poging slaagde het ingenieursteam erin om de robot te perfectioneren voor een tweede poging, die de klok stopte op 0,305 seconden. Een wereldrecord dat het vorige record dat was gevestigd als onderdeel van The Rubik's Contraption overtrof. Misschien is de tijd wel rijp voor een Guinness Book of Robots, en niet alleen een Guinness World Record.

{ https://www.curioctopus.nl/ }

30-05-2024 om 21:24 geschreven door peter  

Retired Colonel Karl Nell: Aliens Exist and Interact with Humans

In a recent and highly provocative declaration, Retired U.S. Army Colonel Karl Nell stated that not only do extraterrestrials exist, but they have also been interacting with humanity. Nell, who formerly directed the Pentagon’s Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) task force, made these claims during a speech at the SALT conference in New York City on May 21st. His bold assertions have sparked significant interest and debate, particularly as they come from someone with his extensive military and intelligence background.

Extraordinary Claims from a High-Ranking Officer

Colonel Nell’s extensive career includes roles in the U.S. Army Space Command, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, and Bell Labs, among others. His high-level security clearances and positions within the defense sector lend considerable weight to his statements. During his speech, Nell emphatically stated, “Non-human intelligence exists. Non-human intelligence has been interacting with humanity. This interaction is not new and it’s been ongoing.” He also asserted that there are unelected officials within the government who are aware of these interactions.

Acknowledging the Critics

Ross Coulthart, the host of the event, addressed the skepticism that often surrounds such claims. Critics frequently ask, “Where’s the evidence?” Coulthart acknowledged that while Nell’s statements might not introduce new information, the way he presented them—with clear resolve and preparedness—was compelling. Coulthart pointed out that Nell’s statements align with those made by other notable figures in the UAP community, including Lou Elizondo, David Grusch, and Chris Mellon.

The Challenge of Secrecy

A significant portion of the controversy stems from the classified nature of the information. Nell and others in similar positions are bound by national security oaths and top-secret clearances, limiting what they can publicly disclose. Coulthart emphasized that these individuals, whom he describes as patriots, are constrained by their commitments to national security, which complicates the public’s demand for evidence.

Historical Context and New Legislation

Nell’s involvement in significant intelligence operations, such as the Defense Intelligence Agency’s foreign material program, adds another layer of credibility to his claims. This program, which deals with the retrieval and analysis of foreign technology, is rumored to involve collaboration with international allies, further indicating the potential global implications of these interactions.

Moreover, the discussion touched on recent legislative efforts, such as the Schumer Amendment, aimed at increasing transparency around UAPs. Although the amendment faced setbacks, it underscores the ongoing efforts within Congress to address the issue. Senator Chuck Schumer and others have voiced their frustration over the government’s reluctance to share UAP information with the public and Congress, highlighting a bipartisan desire for greater transparency.

The Path Forward

Coulthart and Nell both stressed the importance of continued advocacy for disclosure. They believe that pressure from informed and engaged citizens can compel Congress to act. Nell outlined six potential reasons for the government’s reluctance to disclose information, including national security concerns, societal disruption, and the potential for technological and strategic advantages.

However, Nell also presented strong arguments for disclosure, emphasizing the moral right of the public to know the truth and the potential benefits of scientific collaboration. He suggested that a controlled, measured disclosure could help advance humanity’s understanding of advanced technologies while maintaining national security.

VIDEO:

• Senior US military officer: ‘Zero doubt’ of alien life on earth | Reality Check

• https://youtu.be/FFV4mSzFBcU

Colonel Karl Nell’s statements at the SALT conference have reignited the debate on UAPs and the existence of extraterrestrial life. His authoritative voice, combined with his extensive experience in military and intelligence roles, adds significant weight to the conversation. While the challenge of secrecy remains a significant barrier, ongoing legislative efforts and public advocacy could pave the way for greater transparency and understanding of this profound issue.

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

30-05-2024 om 20:46 geschreven door peter  

Webb-telescoop legt melkwegstelsel vast van 290 miljoen jaar na oerknal

Wetenschappers hebben, met behulp van de James Webb-ruimtetelescoop (JWST), een melkwegstelsel gevonden dat "slechts" 290 miljoen jaar na de oerknal bestond. Dat meldt het Europese ruimtevaartagentschap ESA, dat spreekt van een record, donderdag.

De afgelopen twee jaar hebben wetenschappers de telescoop gebruikt om de zogenaamde Cosmic Dawn, of kosmische dageraad, te onderzoeken, de periode in de eerste paar honderd miljoen jaar na de oerknal waarin de eerste sterrenstelsels ontstonden. "Die sterrenstelsels geven vitaal inzicht in de manieren waarop het gas, de sterren en de zwarte gaten veranderden toen het heelal nog heel jong was", aldus ESA.

In oktober 2023 en januari 2024 gebruikte een internationaal team van astronomen de ruimtetelescoop om sterrenstelsels te observeren als onderdeel van het JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) programma. Het gaat om een observatieprogramma dat zich, gebruikmakend van Webb's NIRSpec (Near-Infrared Spectrograph), focust op een heel klein deel van de hemel en die focus behoudt voor langere tijd. Het resultaat zijn zogenaamde deep field-beelden van verafgelegen hemellichamen.

"Wetenschappers hebben op die manier een melkwegstelsel ontdekt dat slechts 290 miljoen jaar na de oerknal werd waargenomen", zo klinkt het.

De Webb-telescoop, de opvolger van de beroemde ruimtetelescoop Hubble, is ontwikkeld door de Verenigde Staten, Europa en Canada. Hij werd in 2021 gelanceerd.

Ter info: de oerknal, of Big Bang, zou zo'n 13,7 miljard jaar geleden hebben plaatsgevonden.

{ https://www.msn.com/nl-be/feed?ocid=msedgntp&pc=acts }

30-05-2024 om 20:31 geschreven door peter  

Story by Andrea Vacchiano

Wisconsin historians recently announced the discovery of at least 11 ancient canoes in a Badger State lake – including one boat that dates back to 2500 BC.

The findings were announced in a press release by the Wisconsin Historical Society on May 23. The canoes were found in Lake Mendota, which is located outside of Madison.

The Wisconsin Historical Society explained that two ancient canoes were found in a cache in the lake in 2021 and 2022. Since then, historians have found at least 11 other ancient canoes, along what they believe was an ancient shoreline that became submerged over time. 

Not all the canoes will be removed from the lake due to their fragility. In an interview with Fox News Digital on Wednesday, State Archaeologist for the Wisconsin Historical Society Dr. Amy Rosebrough explained the significance of the discovery.

• WOMAN OUT FOR A WALK STUMBLES UPON ONCE-IN-A-DECADE DISCOVERY

The discovery of ancient canoes was announced in a press release by the Wisconsin Historical Society last week.

Fox News© Wisconsin Historical Society

"The Indigenous peoples of Wisconsin and the wider United States fished, traveled, and traded extensively on inland lakes and streams, and until now we have not had a clear look at the canoes used in the Great Lakes region," she explained.

"To put it in modern terms, it’s like trying to understand life in the Midwest without ever seeing a real pickup truck in person. Canoes allowed people to fish in deeper lakes, to transport goods over hundreds of miles, and to travel to far-away places. "

Rosebrough added that they believe an ancient village site is located under the waters, although it has not been found yet. Divers have found stone tools in the water, and experts believe that the lake is filled with other hidden sites.

"Lake Mendota is a hard lake to work in, however," Rosebrough admitted. "There is a limited window of visibility for diving missions, and we are exploring non-destructive remote sensing techniques that might help this summer."

• MICHIGAN RESEARCHERS DISCOVER EERIE 1909 SHIPWRECK AT BOTTOM OF LAKE SUPERIOR

Archaeologists discovered the ancient canoes in the murky waters of Lake Mendota.

Fox News© Fox News

"Even without finding the village, the discovery of these canoes and the tools found within the first canoe that was found, human-worked stone tools called net sinkers, reminds us that people have lived and worked alongside the lake for thousands of years."

Radiocarbon dating found that the oldest canoe dates back to 2500 B.C., which would mean it was built around the time Stonehenge was constructed. The canoe was constructed more than 1,700 years before Ancient Rome was first settled and 2,500 years before the birth of Jesus Christ.

All the canoes varied in age, with the youngest one dating back to 1250 AD. The archaeologist explained that the canoes "may have been intentionally cached in the water during the winter months, a standard practice to keep canoes safe from freezing and warping."

All the canoes varied in age. Not all will be removed from the lake due to their fragility.

Fox News© Fox News

"Either this practice of storing canoes for winter was carried out in roughly the same spot over generations – perhaps because of a living area nearby – or we are only seeing a window into a much larger site that might span much of the lakeshore," she described.

Rosebrough added that, though the Great Lakes dwarf Lake Mendota, the south central Wisconsin lake is small but mighty when it comes to archaeological potential.

Archaeologists conduced carbon dating to determine age of canoes.

Fox News© Fox News

"The Great Lakes oftentimes receive more funding for maritime archaeology but smaller bodies of water like Lake Mendota have their own distinct histories and stories to tell us about the people who lived here hundreds and thousands of years ago," she said. "We are proud to work in partnership with Native Nations in Wisconsin to discover all we can about Tee Waksikhominak and to share these stories now and in the future at the new Wisconsin History Center set to open in early 2027."

• For more Lifestyle articles, visit www.foxnews.com/lifestyle.
• Original article source: Prehistoric discovery in US lake leaves experts in shock and awe

{ https://www.msn.com/en-us/feed?ocid=nl_article_link }

30-05-2024 om 13:00 geschreven door peter  

The Meteor’s Appearance

To most observers, the meteor over Portugal and Spain looked blue-green and very bright. Those colors are created as various elements in the meteor get heated up by friction with our atmosphere. That vaporizes them and we see the “fiery” aspect light up the sky. If it was a piece of a comet, then the colors also indicate the materials it contained. Most comets contain water, carbon dioxide, ammonia, and methane ice. Other comet “stuff” consists of silica dust, carbon, various metals, and organic molecules. The metals, in particular, could show spectacular colors as they heat up and vaporize.

It’s not known which comet supplied the chunk that broke up and vaporized that night. Earth’s orbit crosses the orbit of several different comets. As they travel through space, particularly as they get close to the Sun, comets shed pieces of themselves. That cometary debris stays in the original orbit around the Sun. Occasionally, Earth’s orbit intersects that cometary path. Its particles particles eventually end up in our atmosphere. The best-known path creates the Orionid Meteor Shower and we can thank Comet Halley for that show from late September to mid-November.

Surveys to Detect an Incoming Space Rock

As planetary scientists learn more about the near-Earth environment and its population of asteroids and other space debris, they’ve formed observation groups within NASA and ESA. There’s a network of ground-based observers and facilities that watch the sky each night, looking for incoming impactors. Most of the time, their search is limited to objects larger than the Portugal/Spain object. In addition, satellites such as MeteoSat can pick up these intruders. MeteoSat was launched by ESA to monitor weather conditions and detect lightning strikes. The instrument has four cameras covering Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and parts of South America. Each can capture up to a thousand images per second, allowing the satellite to monitor lightning continuously from space.

ESA’s Planetary Defence Office is in charge of monitoring the positions and approaches of near-Earth objects that could pose a threat to any portion of our planet. It does regular observing campaigns to search for bits of asteroids and comets. NASA operates the Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) to do similar searches for possibly dangerous rocks. The Near-Earth objects it’s most concerned about are asteroids and comets with orbits that bring them to within 195 million kilometers of the Sun. Their orbits can move through our planet’s neighborhood. Most of these small bodies are asteroids as small as a few meters wide to nearly 40 kilometers across.

The office uses data from observatories around the world—both professional and amateur. Much of this data comes from larger facilities, including Pan-STARRS, the Catalina Sky Survey, and NASA’s NEOWISE mission. In addition, there’s a significant program of planetary radar measurements that contribute data to the NEO observations effort. All of these skywatching campaigns contribute to increased awareness and predictions of near-Earth objects that could pose a threat to our planet.

For More Information

• Fireball Witnessed by Weather Satellite
• Asteroid Watch
• ESA Planetary Defence Office

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

30-05-2024 om 00:41 geschreven door peter  

“Euclid is a unique, ground-breaking mission, and these are the first datasets to be made public – it’s an important milestone,” says Valeria Pettorino, ESA’s Euclid Project Scientist. “The images and associated science findings are impressively diverse in terms of the objects and distances observed. They include a variety of science applications, and yet represent a mere 24 hours of observations. They give just a hint of what Euclid can do. We are looking forward to six more years of data to come!”

The leading image is the most stunning and perhaps the most relatable. It shows Messier 78, aka NGC 2068. It’s a reflection nebula and star-forming region contained in the vast Orion B molecular cloud complex. Euclid used its infrared capabilities to see through the dust that shrouds the star-formation region. It’s given us our most detailed look at the filaments of gas and dust that give the region its ghostly appearance.

Euclid can detect objects that are just a few times more massive than Jupiter, an impressive feat. In its M78 image, it found over 300,000 objects in that mass range.

One of Euclid’s objectives is to study dark matter and how it’s distributed in the Universe. It uses gravitational lensing to probe dark matter, and its image of the Abell 2390 galaxy cluster exhibits the tell-tale curved arcs of light coming from distant background objects created by gravitational lensing. The image also shows more than 50,000 galaxies.

Most of the stars currently forming in the Universe are forming in spiral galaxies. Euclid captured this image of NGC 6744 as an archetype of that galaxy type. The telescope’s wide-angle lens and depth of field capture the entire galaxy and also small details. It shows lanes of dust that emerge as spurs on the spiral arms.

With this image, astronomers can map individual stars and the gas that feeds their formation. They can also identify globular clusters and new dwarf galaxies. Euclid already found one new dwarf galaxy astronomers have never seen before, which is impressive for a galaxy that’s already been studied so intently.

Euclid also imaged another galaxy cluster, Abell 2764. This cluster contains hundreds of galaxies within a halo of dark matter. Euclid’s impressive wide-field view comes into play in this image. Not only does it show Abell 2764 in the image’s upper right, but it also shows other clusters that are even more distant, multiple background galaxies, and interacting galaxies with their streams of stars.

The image highlights one of Euclid’s other capabilities. The foreground star is in our own galaxy, and when viewed with a telescope, its diffuse light creates a halo that obscures distant objects behind it. Euclid was built to minimize that diffuse halo effect. The disturbance from the star’s diffuse light is minimal, meaning Euclid can see distant background objects near the star’s line of sight.

The final of the five new images is of galaxies in the Dorado Group. Euclid’s image shows signs of galaxies merging. The Dorado Group is a relatively young group, and many of its member galaxies are still forming stars. The image helps astronomers study how galaxies form and evolve inside halos of dark matter.

A zoomed-in image shows more detail of the main pair of galaxies in the image. Euclid’s unique large field-of-view and high spatial resolution means that for the first time, astronomers can use the same instrument and observations to deeply study tiny objects the size of star clusters, intermediate objects like the central regions of galaxies, and larger features like tidal tails in one large region of the sky.

Prior to Euclid, astronomers had to use small chunks of data to painstakingly catalogue globular clusters around galaxies. But Euclid’s wide images capture far more data in a single image, simplifying the task. Globular clusters provide important clues to how galaxies evolve over time.

Euclid’s mission is only starting. The telescope’s images so far have no equivalent, and there’s much more to come. Euclid hasn’t even begun its main survey yet. That survey will comprise both a wide survey covering about 15,000 square degrees of the sky and a deep survey covering about 50 square degrees.

“It’s no exaggeration to say that the results we’re seeing from Euclid are unprecedented,” says ESA Director of Science, Prof. Carole Mundell. “Euclid’s first images, published in November, clearly illustrated the telescope’s vast potential to explore the dark Universe, and this second batch is no different.”

“The beauty of Euclid is that it covers large regions of the sky in great detail and depth, and can capture a wide range of different objects all in the same image – from faint to bright, from distant to nearby, from the most massive of galaxy clusters to small planets,” said Mundell. “We get both a very detailed and very wide view all at once. This amazing versatility has resulted in numerous new science results that, when combined with the results from Euclid’s surveying over the coming years, will significantly alter our understanding of the Universe.”

• The scientific papers released with these images are available here.

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

30-05-2024 om 00:24 geschreven door peter  

Mystery Fireball Seen Breaking Up in Sky Over Southern Russia: Video

By Isabel van Brugen

A mysterious fireball was spotted breaking up in the sky over southern Russia on Wednesday, videos shared by locals show.

Footage showing the unknown flying object was shared on social media by residents from several regions, including Stavropol Krai, the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, Krasnodar Krai, and the Republic of Kalmykia. Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported that some residents believed it was a falling meteorite or comet, while others said they thought they had seen a satellite or an "enemy object."

The videos showed the fireball breaking up into multiple parts as it moved slowly across the night sky. Newsweek has not independently verified the footage.

This comes weeks after social media users reported seeing mysterious spiral UFO sightings across the United States and Europe. Interest in unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) peaked last year after several experts testified before a Congress committee in July 2023 that they could pose a threat to national security. A Gallup poll conducted in 2021 found that 41 percent of Americans believe alien spacecraft have visited Earth, up eight points from 33 percent in 2019.

RIA Novosti reported, citing amateur astronomers, that the sighting could have been space debris burning at low speed.

The Telegram channel of the observational astronomy project, AstroAlert, said the burning object was likely a SpaceX Starlink satellite.

"The culprit of today's sky show has been found! This is most likely STARLINK-2653," the channel said, sharing a map purportedly showing its flight path.

"On this map, its final flight path is the lower orbit turning from white to green and then to the red line, going through the center of the Sahara Desert, the Mediterranean Sea, Turkey, the Black Sea, Sochi and further over the northern Caspian Sea."

"15 minutes before combustion (at 17:35 UT or 20:35 Moscow time), the spacecraft flew over the western coast of Africa near a point with coordinates 0° longitude and 0° latitude," the channel said.

Newsweek reached out to SpaceX for comment by email.

Russia this week announced that it had kickstarted the first stage of testing tactical nuclear weapons in the region. Personnel of the Southern Military District had started training and completing combat tasks with "special ammunition" for Iskander missile systems, the Russian defense ministry said in a statement.

There is no suggestion that the fireball spotted on Wednesday is linked to the tactical tests. Newsweek has reached out to Russia's Foreign Ministry for comment via email.

"The personnel of the aviation units of the Russian Aerospace Forces involved in the exercise practice are equipping aviation weapons with special warheads, including the Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, and flying into designated patrol areas," the statement said.

{  https://www.newsweek.com/ }

29-05-2024 om 22:14 geschreven door peter  

• https://youtu.be/jlxjsGrsyNw

An expert has come to the defense of a Las Vegas family who claim they came face to face with eight-foot-tall aliens.

The Kenmores have insisted for over a year that two gangly, green-gray creatures crash-landed on their property last summer.

They now have the backing of Scott Roder, a veteran in the field of crime scene reconstruction who has worked on high-profile cases like the Oscar Pistorius murder trial.

‘It’s there. It’s absolutely there,’ Roder said during an appearance on the Extraterrestrial Reality Podcast with host Jim Quirk.

He was speaking about footage captured by Angel Kenmore that was purported to show the otherworldly visitors in the hours between April 30 and May 1, 2023. 

The Kenmore family insist that two gangly, green-gray aliens were spotted in their backyard last summer – and have now garnered the support of an expert

Scott Roder, a veteran in the field of crime scene reconstruction, analyzed the footage and claims to have spotted two extraterrestrial beings

‘At this particular time, with what we’ve seen here, is proof of a couple of things,’ Roder said. ‘That these entities… are real. They’re there. This is not fake. This is not a fraud.’

In addition to singling out what he believes to be a ‘creature,’ Roder pointed to 30 frames of video showing a ‘head’ surrounded by ‘smoke,’ which he described as ‘some sort of cloaking device,’ peeking over the fence.

During an appearance on NewsNation’s ‘Banfield’ earlier this month, Roder insisted that the footage was genuine.

‘We tried to debunk it to see if there was something that was added to the video. All of our results came back as it was authentic,’ he said.

Roder used motion tracking software to locate what he described as the head of one of the creatures.

‘We believe it’s attached to a body,’ he explained. ‘And the motion of that head from right to left is consistent with the motion that we see between the slats of the fence.’

Angel Kenmore, who captured the infamous video, has sat for numerous interviews since speaking out about what he saw.

In April, he detailed paranormal happenings inside the family home, including Bible pages turning on their own and a cross floating upside down.

During an appearance on the Extraterrestrial Reality Podcast, Roder pointed to 30 frames of video showing a ‘head’ surrounded by ‘smoke,’ described as ‘some sort of cloaking device’

The video was captured by Angel Kenmore last year and featured in a viral YouTube video where the teen recounted the purported alien sighting

Angel first came into the public eye due to a viral YouTube video that was uploaded on June 8 of last year and has since racked up more than 1 million views.

‘This is not a conspiracy theory,’ Angel began by saying. ‘I am not making this story up for clout or fame.’

The then-16-year-old explained how he and his brother heard something falling from the sky before observing a flash of light.

Unbeknownst to him, this greenish glow was also captured on police bodycam and footage from a neighbor’s Ring camera.

Kenmore said he and his brother then felt the impact of something hitting the ground, followed by a loud bang.

Angel said they were then hit with a shockwave, likening the sensation to ‘an out of body experience’. 

He said the entire backyard was blurry when he tried to look at the fallen object, and he heard ‘thousands of footsteps’ all around him before the blurriness subsided.

The teen said he could make out a tall, very thin creature standing between eight and 10 feet tall. Panicking, he called Bobby to the backyard, who told him to go inside.

Later, Angel and Joshua went to retrieve Angel’s toolkit when Joshua instructed him to ‘look behind the forklift.’

Angel said he froze as soon as he saw the creature, describing it as ‘the same experience as having sleep paralysis.’

The creature sported ‘weird-looking feet and a big face and eyes and you could see a big mouth. I could hear his loud deep breathing and see his stomach move.’

Moments earlier, a flash of light was spotted cresting across the night sky before a loud bang sounded

Angel said a police officer pointed at a perfect circle that had been etched into the ground upon arriving to check out the scene

Angel fled to the house and called 911. ‘There’s like an eight-foot person… and it has big eyes and it’s looking at us,’ he told the operator. ‘I swear to God, it’s not a joke.’

When police arrived, Angel was surprised to hear that one of the officers had spotted the streak of light an hour earlier.

‘I’m not gonna B.S. you guys,’ the cop told the bewildered family. ‘One of my partners said they saw something fall out of the sky too.’

The police then followed the family into the backyard. Angel said an officer pointed at a perfect circle that had been etched into the ground.

With bodycams rolling, officers flagged down cars to glean more information.

‘This might sound like a really dumb question, but did you guys see anything fall out of the sky?’ one cop asked a passing driver.

He added that police usually wouldn’t take such a call seriously but were intrigued because one of their own had seen it.

However, other experts have refuted the family’s claims. Mick West, a writer who specializes in debunking false conspiracy theories, was brought on Inside Edition to give his take on the mysterious incident.

According to West, an alternate explanation could be a raccoon sitting atop the fence – explaining the big eyes – or perhaps even a coyote.

Another theory suggests that a meteor may have caused the streak of light and resounding impact.

The American Meteor Society confirmed 21 reported sightings of the strange glow across California, Nevada and Utah. 

{ https://expressdigest.com/ }

29-05-2024 om 21:50 geschreven door peter  

Las Vegas UFO Crash Is Real, Claims Man Worked For NYPD: 10-Foot Alien Terrified 

Another historic extraterrestrial event has happened in the United States that will be debated in the UFO community until the truth comes out. On May 1, 2023, an object in the sky was noticed by several people in eastern California, Nevada, and Utah, which was later reported to be crashed including the alleged sighting of peculiar creatures in a residential backyard.

The incident shares similarities with other extraordinary cases from around the world, involving crashes, encounters with strange beings, and puzzling elements that defy explanation. Such stories can be easily called hoaxes, as happened with the  Las Vegas crash. But independent investigative journalist and former police officer Doug Poppa shed light on his involvement in the case and provided additional information about the crash incident, according to which it is not a hoax.

Crash Incident

Both the police and news investigators took the incident seriously from the outset. Just before midnight on April 30, 2023, numerous skywatchers across multiple Western States observed a bright fireball streaking across the heavens. Around the same time, a police officer captured footage of the colorful object on his body  camera, and a nearby ring  camera recorded an unusual sound resembling a crash.

On May 1, 2023,  Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department received a distressing call from a terrified family. In a ranch-style home close to the crash site, a family, consisting of two brothers and their father, was engaged in vehicle repairs in their yard. Suddenly, they caught sight of a sparkling object hurtling toward the ground, followed by what they described as a shockwave.

Witness Account

One of the witnesses, a 16-year-old teenager named “Angel,” reported that the area where the object landed appeared obscured and blurry, almost as if concealed by an unknown form of camouflage. Their curiosity led them to peer into the yard, where they were confronted by a sight that prompted them to urgently contact emergency services. They described the creatures as large, measuring between 9 and 10 feet tall, with notable features such as big eyes and shiny, non-human mouths. Angel emphasized their alien-like appearance, unable to find adequate words to describe them.

Angel presents video evidence from police body  cameras and a nearby ring  camera, providing glimpses of the incident. The footage, albeit blurry, captures the intensity of the event and supports Angel’s account. He highlights specific moments in the videos where the creature is barely discernible but clearly present, further validating his claims.

Describing the creature in detail, Angel recollects its tall and slender frame, sporting a gray-greenish hue. When he locked eyes with it, his body froze, reminiscent of sleep paralysis experiences. The creature had distinctive features, including peculiar feet, a large face with eyes, and a sizeable mouth. Angel recalls the creature’s loud, deep breathing, which resonated with his entire being.

Overcoming the temporary paralysis, Angel sprinted toward the safety of his house, urgently dialing 911 to report the unearthly encounter. The 911 call records his distress and desperation, as he tries to convey the presence of two enormous, non-human entities in his backyard. Meanwhile, a cacophony of footsteps and whispered voices echoed in the background, further amplifying the sense of unease.

 Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (Metro Police) initially contemplated sending a crisis intervention team to assist the shaken witness. However, upon receiving further information from other officers, they treated the incident seriously. Two officers arrived at the scene 38 minutes after the distress call, exercising caution and even managing nervous laughter.

The officers ventured into the backyard, discovering a perfectly formed circular impression on the ground, mysterious aftermath of the encounter.

Several days later, two Metro sergeants returned to the location to conduct follow-up inquiries. The family also claimed to have observed individuals in suits and sunglasses driving a government-plated car slowly past their house. However, Nellis and Creech, nearby military installations, denied any involvement or interest in the incident.

As the officers conducted their investigation, one of them expressed his own astonishment, stating that his partner had witnessed a similar light falling from the sky. This newfound validation encouraged the officers to take the situation seriously, engaging in further inquiries and canvassing the neighborhood for additional witness accounts.

Remarkably, before departing, one officer advised Angel that if he ever encountered the creatures again, he should refrain from contacting the police and instead protect himself by any means necessary. This chilling advice underscores the gravity of the situation and the officers’ own apprehension.

With the police’s departure, Angel and his family retreated indoors, seeking solace in prayer. However, their respite was abruptly shattered when an unnerving, human-like scream pierced the night from the backyard. The harrowing experience left the family shaken, questioning the nature of the events that unfolded before them.

Las Vegas Story is Not Hoax

Doug Poppa has been closely following the story of the mysterious object falling from the sky and the subsequent claims of encounters with aliens in a  Las Vegas backyard. He was the first person to interview the family involved in the incident. Poppa conducted an interview with the family who made the initial call to the police, and they informed him that the law enforcement authorities installed surveillance  cameras outside their home to protect them from UFO enthusiasts.

Note: 

Poppa is an independent investigative journalist. He has authored more than 160 articles on the 2017  Las Vegas Massacre that were published by the Baltimore Post-Examiner. He is a former NYPD Auxiliary Police Officer, U.S. Army Military Police veteran, and former law enforcement officer. In 1986, he was the LCSO Criminal Investigator of the Year. He served 18 years in the  Las Vegas hotel-casino industry as an investigator and Director of Security and Surveillance and worked for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

While Poppa remains somewhat skeptical about the incident, he acknowledges that the family appears to be credible. In his tweet, he sarcastically questioned the Las Vegas Metro Police Department’s disbelief in the video  camera surveillance system he recorded at the residence, emphasizing the extensive measures taken by the Technical and Surveillance Squad.

Read also:

• Man Worked In Antarctica Saw Powerful Machines To Contact Alien Crafts In Deep Space
• Ex-Pentagon David Grusch Claims We Are Definitely In Contact With Aliens & They’ve Hurt Humans
• Ex-CIA Officer Encountered With Reptilian Alien; Says Reptilian Race Walking Among Us
• Whitley Strieber’s Alien Abduction & Stranger Who Told Him ‘Mankind Is Trapped

According to local TV channel 8 News Now, an officer’s  camera captured the object at around 11:50 PM local time, following a report from a resident about a non-human presence on their property. In an audio recording obtained by the TV channel, the homeowner described an eight-foot figure and another entity with big eyes inside their house, emphasizing that the beings were still present.

Poppa expressed his surprise at the police installing expensive video equipment to respond to a UFO report, stating that it is unusual for law enforcement to take such measures in such cases. His doubts and observations contribute to the ongoing intrigue surrounding the incident, raising questions about the authenticity and nature of the reported encounters.

During one of the interviews, Doug Poppa observed a peculiar occurrence. While interviewing Angel, the teenager who recorded YouTube videos about the incident, there was a mysterious female voice on the phone with Angel, instructing him to obtain Doug Poppa’s license plate. This strange interaction added an intriguing element to the investigation.

In an interview with News Nation on June 15, 2023, Poppa confirms that he recently spoke with the family and shared his experience with them. He mentions that Angel has been facing intense scrutiny and backlash on social media. The family, being Hispanic, has also received threats and derogatory comments. Poppa expresses his disappointment and highlights the need for respect and understanding.

Poppa emphasizes that three members of the family, including Angel, his brother, and their father, witnessed the strange creatures. He points out that during his interactions with the family, their accounts remained consistent, which he finds significant in assessing their credibility. As an experienced investigator with 40 years of experience, Doug Poppa made efforts to gauge the authenticity of their claims but found no reason to doubt their story.

Regarding evidence, Doug Poppa mentions that Angel posted a video on his YouTube channel, but many people have criticized and analyzed it extensively. He notes that the Baltimore Post-Examiner was the first to publish a photo of the impression left in the soil, which Angel captured on the night of the incident. Additionally, Poppa obtained a photograph from Angel showing two sergeants from the  Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department who allegedly returned to speak with the family a few days after the initial incident.

Doug Poppa also discusses the installation of surveillance  cameras on the family’s roof. These  cameras were reportedly installed by the  Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s Homeland Security division for the family’s protection. However, Poppa finds it peculiar that the cameras had been removed a few days before he returned to the residence on May 27th.

Poppa highlights the ongoing investigation and the need for further verification of certain aspects, such as the location of the ring  camera mentioned in social media posts. He expresses his commitment to continuing his investigation into the incident and implies that there is more to uncover.

To be noted: According to NASA’s planetary defense officer Lindley Johnson, the green fireball observed in  Las Vegas last month was most likely a bright meteor less than a meter in size and not a UFO that fell in anyone’s backyard. Johnson clarified that the object was high in the atmosphere and hundreds of miles away from  Las Vegas when it was spotted, so nothing from the meteor landed in anyone’s backyard. He explained that NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) captures reports for objects estimated to exceed 1 meter in size based on the observed energy released. Therefore, smaller objects like the green fireball may not be included in NASA’s records. (Source)

{ https://www.howandwhys.com/ }

29-05-2024 om 21:32 geschreven door peter  

Pour one out for NASA’s large flying laboratory, an old and hardworking DC-8 aircraft that the space and aeronautics agency just retired. The plane came into the world in 1969, the same year that NASA astronauts first walked on the moon during the Apollo era. The agency converted it to be a flying lab after buying the aircraft from Alitalia in 1985 and started using it for missions in 1987, during the space shuttle era. Its final resting place is at Idaho State University, where it will serve as a ground-based training aircraft for mechanics.

But life, and science, keep cruising onward: The plane’s successor is an even bigger aircraft, a modern Boeing 777 that will become NASA’s next flying laboratory. It’s due to start conducting science flights late next year.

“The DC-8 is a special plane,” says Nicki Reid, the aircraft’s operations engineer. “It’s accomplished a lot in its life.” That may be an understatement. There are big shoes to fill to replace what NASA has dubbed “the largest flying science laboratory in the world.”

NASA’S JACK OF ALL TRADES

NASA’s retiring DC-8 carried out many different types of scientific research while airborne. It could fly for as long as 10 or even 12 hours, although Reid says a standard mission would last between six and 10 hours. The flying lab, she says, could hold dozens of instruments — the exact equipment could change based on the mission — and as many as 55 people.

Those instruments were surprisingly versatile. One of the most straightforward things the plane studied was the air it was flying through. Its most recent mission had it measuring air quality in Asia, for example, and it also trailed a Boeing 737 to study its contrails.

It also had a key role in larger scale science. Historically, and probably most famously, it played a key role in studying the recovery of the hole in the ozone layer, a problem that the United Nations said in 2023 was thankfully moving in the right direction after the global ban on ozone-depleting substances. Turning from atmosphere to the ground, from 2009 to 2019, the aircraft studied the thickness of ice in Antarctica as part of a mission called Operation IceBridge.

The plane also acted as a test bed for satellite instruments before they were launched into space. And after they were, it could check to see if they were staying in working order, validating how satellite instruments were doing once they were in space by flying under the satellite’s path, and taking its own measurements, thus allowing researchers to compare those with what the satellite saw.

Using an aircraft to carry out research allows scientists to get an important viewpoint. “We go out and do things on aircraft that we can’t do with satellites or ground-based measurement,” says Amin Nehrir, a research scientist with NASA. We “look at processes in the atmosphere and the surface that are on short-enough time scales that we can’t see them from space — because from space, we sample them once a day, or maybe once every 16 days — and from the ground, we only have one data point in one location. And so the aircraft allows us to bridge these spatial and temporal scales.”

Nehrir highlights one particular instrument on the aircraft: an ozone lidar called DIAL, which employs lasers to measure what’s going on with the air outside the plane. It “was integral to finding the ozone hole,” he says.

TIME FOR RETIREMENT

Operating an old plane like the DC-8 — a four-engine type of passenger aircraft that Delta Air Lines, for example, flew between 1959 and 1989 — came with a cost. “It was getting hard to maintain,” says Reid. “We had to buy our tires custom-made, we had to buy brakes custom-made, and those get expensive when you’re a customer of one.”

Besides that, on board the DC-8, the climate situation wasn’t exactly perfectly temperature controlled. “It’s rarely a pleasant flight,” Reid says. And it was loud, too. “We took out a lot of the insulation, so that we could have access to a lot of the wiring running through the walls, so we can hear the engine noise quite a bit,” she says. Noise-canceling headphones with a built-in communications system helped with that issue.

The old-school nature of the aircraft compels Carrie Worth, a NASA Gulfstream pilot who has also flown the DC-8, to compare it to a “dump truck with wings.” That’s because it was a very hands-on aircraft to fly and had little automation, the equivalent of an older car that requires you to manually roll up or down the windows instead of pushing a button.

WHAT’S NEXT

The new aircraft is a Boeing 777 that, like the DC-8, used to be a passenger airliner. A widebody plane with two engines built in 2003, this 777 was owned by Japan Airlines before NASA bought it. Right now, the aircraft is having work done on it in Louisiana.

Its mission, says Glenn Jamison, who directs the Research Services Directorate at NASA, will be “understanding our Earth.”

As a successor to the DC-8, the new aircraft “brings a significant increase in the capacity,” Jamison says. “It also brings a significant increase in reach and endurance.” That means it can go farther and stay in the air for longer — as long as 18 hours.

This is one factor that’s important for doing science. “How long can you stay over an area and take measurements that are not broken by having to return to base?” says Jamison. That’s why an aircraft that can stay in the air for a long time is useful for scientists. It is being designed to be able to carry some 100 researchers, he says. And students may be able to fly on it someday, through a program called SARP.

NASA does have other research aircraft at its disposal, such as Gulfstream jets, a P-3 Orion, and two ER-2s, which are similar to the Air Force’s U-2 aircraft and can soar as high as 70,000 feet.

But the DC-8’s end of life comes, as The New York Times reports, as a trio of important NASA satellites — Terra, Aqua, and Aura — are nearing the end of their lifetimes, too. Satellites and research aircraft work well together, because the aircraft can essentially check the satellite’s work.

“The aircraft will never be able to pick up the slack from a satellite — because the satellite is 24/7, it’s global,” says Nehrir. When NASA loses satellites, he says, another aspect that gets lost is the way the plane works with them. “We typically go do these science investigations within the context of the satellite measurements — so we place the aircraft under the satellite, so that we can understand how to better interpret the satellite measurements, how to calibrate and validate them, and so we lose that component once the satellites turn off.”

In regard to the sunsetting of the three satellites, a NASA representative says that other existing instruments, such as SAGE on the International Space Station and a Canadian instrument on a Swedish satellite, can study the atmosphere and that they’re also looking into a proposal called STRIVE. Among other tasks, STRIVE would focus on studying the state of the ozone layer.

Whatever the future may hold, there’s no doubt that one 55-year-old DC-8 has done its part for science as the little flying laboratory that could.

{ https://www.inverse.com/ }

29-05-2024 om 21:07 geschreven door peter  

The 1957 RB-47 UFO Encounter: Unraveling a Secret Signal

In 1957, an extraordinary UFO encounter involving a U.S. Air Force RB-47 aircraft provided a compelling case of an unidentified flying object being detected through advanced electronic intelligence (ELINT) equipment. This incident, combining visual confirmation, radar detection, and ELINT data, remains one of the most fascinating and well-documented UFO encounters in history.

The RB-47 Aircraft

The RB-47, a modified version of the B-47 bomber, was equipped with sophisticated ELINT equipment. This six-engine turbojet-powered strategic bomber was primarily designed for reconnaissance missions during the Cold War. The RB-47H variant, involved in this encounter, was specifically adapted for electronic intelligence gathering, carrying a crew of six, including three electronic warfare officers.

The Encounter

On July 17, 1957, an RB-47 took off from Forbes Air Force Base in Kansas for a training mission over the Gulf of Mexico. As the aircraft returned from the Gulf, it detected an unusual radar signal. Frank McClure, the operator at the number two ELINT monitor, noticed an airborne radar signal at 2.8 gigahertz, a frequency typically associated with ground-based radar.

Unusual Signal Behavior

McClure initially thought his equipment was malfunctioning, but the signal exhibited behavior that no ground-based radar could replicate. The signal moved around the aircraft, which was flying at 500 miles per hour, indicating it was emanating from an airborne source. This unexpected movement led McClure to realize that the signal was from an unidentified object following the RB-47.

Visual and Radar Confirmation

At around 4:10 a.m. CST, the pilot, Lieutenant Chase, and co-pilot James McCoy observed a luminous object moving at high speed across their flight path. The object appeared as a bright light, sometimes white and other times red. Concurrently, the ELINT equipment detected the same signal, confirming the presence of the unidentified object.

As the RB-47 flew over Louisiana and Texas, the crew continued to detect the signal and visually observe the object. Ground radar stations, including one in Duncanville, Texas, also tracked the object. The synchronized detection by ground radar, airborne radar, and ELINT equipment provided strong evidence of the object’s existence and capabilities.

Extraordinary Maneuvers

The UFO demonstrated extraordinary flight capabilities, such as abrupt stops, rapid altitude changes, and the ability to evade pursuit. At one point, the object dropped 15,000 feet in altitude and disappeared from radar, only to reappear moments later. These maneuvers were beyond the capabilities of known aircraft at the time, further deepening the mystery.

Investigation and Analysis

Project Blue Book, the U.S. Air Force’s official UFO investigation program, and other agencies investigated the RB-47 encounter. However, they could not provide a satisfactory explanation. The encounter was classified as “unknown,” and crucial ELINT data reportedly disappeared during the investigation process, adding to the intrigue.

Significance of the Encounter

The RB-47 UFO encounter stands out due to the convergence of multiple forms of evidence: visual sightings by experienced military personnel, radar detection by both the aircraft and ground stations, and ELINT data. This combination of evidence from credible sources makes the RB-47 encounter a pivotal case in UFO research.

The incident underscores the potential existence of advanced, unidentified aerial technology and highlights the importance of thorough documentation and investigation. As UFO phenomena continue to capture public and scientific interest, the RB-47 case serves as a critical reference point for understanding and exploring these mysterious events.

VIDEO:

• https://youtu.be/LU6ozS9caGI

The 1957 RB-47 UFO encounter remains a remarkable and enigmatic event in the history of UFO sightings. With its combination of visual, radar, and ELINT evidence, it provides a compelling case for further investigation into the phenomena of unidentified flying objects. The encounter challenges our understanding of aerial technology and continues to intrigue researchers and enthusiasts alike, emphasizing the need for openness and scientific inquiry in unraveling the mysteries of the skies.

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

29-05-2024 om 20:47 geschreven door peter  

Arizona Man Filmed Huge Solid UFO In Phoenix Lights: MIB Took Video & Man Vanished

On the night of March 13, 1997, the people of the United States witnessed one of the largest and best-known UFO sightings in history. The UAP phenomenon was observed in the skies over the southwestern states of Arizona and Nevada and the Mexican state of Sonora. According to a Rocky Mountain Poll conducted at the time, as well as the commotion that ensued, around 10% of Arizonans claimed to have witnessed the incident that is now known as “The  Phoenix Lights.”

One of the eyewitnesses named Richard Curtis from Arizona, claiming to have solid evidence of the incident, contacted local Councilwoman Frances Barwood. He vanished following an encounter with  MIB and a media revelation.

Frances Barwood, a member of the city council, opened an investigation into the incident. Since the military and local authorities had already managed to claim that the lights seen by the eyewitnesses were only flares, her coworkers thought her behavior was ludicrous.

Barwood received a call from Richard Curtis a few months later. He said right away that he had extremely detailed footage of the  Phoenix Lights despite being an injured former soldier. He claimed that had personally captured them using high-quality equipment.

“He said you could see the shape. He said you could see how big it was in comparison to the surrounding buildings and everything. He described that the lights were gaseous. He was so excited that he had gotten all this on video,” Barwood recalled him telling her. Additionally, Curtis admitted to Barwood that he had no idea who else to call and that he trusted her.

Since the majority of the  Phoenix Lights video footage up until this point had been merely specks of light on a dark background, Barwood was intrigued by this message. Curtis agreed to provide copies of the footage to Barwood’s office after she urged him to do so. However, days passed, and she did not receive films either by mail or by courier. “I thought he made this up. He didn’t have video, you know, all this stuff,” she said.

A week later, Curtis telephoned Barwood at her house and inquired about her thoughts on the films. Barwood informed him that she had not received them and expressed her amazement. Curtis continued by telling her that following their phone call, two men from her workplace stopped up at his home. The two “similar-looking” individuals were fully covered in black (three-piece black suits, black shoes, black hats, black suitcases, etc.). The men were not dressed in jackets or other gear, even though it was fairly chilly outside. It struck Curtis as weird.

He asked the men if they were from Barwood’s office and they confirmed it. Then they inquired about the  Phoenix Lights videos, specifically to find out if Curtis had copied them. They responded that they would make copies for him themselves when he said he had not been able to. Curtis then handed them his videos and the two men left his house in a black sedan.

Barwood informed Curtis that she had no men in her office and that all of her staff were female. “I had no idea who these guys were. It sounds so bizarre. Nothing made sense to me,” Barwood recalled thinking. All of this infuriated Richard Curtis, who concluded that the authorities had misled him. In an interview with  Phoenix TV, he discussed everything that had happened, including the “Men in Black” visit and that they took his videos.

Read also:

• Neil Armstrong Confided Italian Journalist That UFOs Observed Them Insistently On Moon
• Harvard Scientist Explains Which UFOs Over Ukraine Could Be Extraterrestrial Spacecraft
• Ex-US Army Major Released NASA Footage Of 2000-Mile-Long UFO Near Saturn
• Ex-CIA Officer: Truth About UFOs Is Terrifying & Interdimensional Beings Are Within Us

And shortly after that, when Barwood tried to call Curtis, she discovered that he was not answering. When she got to his apartment, he was not there, but the neighbors informed her that Curtis had supposedly taken a faulty medication and had been transported by ambulance to the hospital. There were no records of Curtis ever being admitted to any Phoenix-area hospitals when Barwood started looking for him there.

Barwood made the decision to have her phone lines checked by a professional when she questioned how the odd men even knew about the tapes. He visited her house and conducted his tests there. After that, he went outdoors. “He wouldn’t come back in the house. He came to the backdoor and said, “No, I’m not coming in. Yes, your phone is tapped, it’s a government tap,” she said.

Since the military and authorities insisted that the  Phoenix Lights were nothing more than flares, Barwood was astounded to learn that someone in the US government had tapped her phones. Richard Curtis vanished without a trace.

It became a worldwide sensation throughout the course of the subsequent months. It was “the second biggest case in UFOlogy after  Roswell,” according to the late Art Bell, host of the syndicated paranormal radio program Coast to Coast AM.

The bizarre light show, according to skeptics, was caused by man-made aircraft from Glendale’s Luke Air Force Base or other neighboring military installations conducting training drills. The  Phoenix Lights, according to UFOlogists, were not of this world.

Below you can find a transcript from a FOX10 NEWS ( Phoenix Lights) reported by Jim Schnabel: (Source)

Voiceover: Months after this (March 13) sighting there are many questions regarding the strange lights over Phoenix. Is this a solid craft, or merely lights in an empty sky? What could be the conclusive evidence is now mysteriously missing. Richard Curtis claims his home video is proof that this sighting was a huge flying craft. And he claims his video shows a solid object in the sky passing over his home.

Curtis: I saw the bottom part (of the craft) as it went over  Phoenix, because the lights lit the bottom of it, and it partially blocked out the clouds and the stars. : voiceover: Curtis called city councilwoman Frances Emma Barwood, wanting to show her the footage. : (on screen: cut to a headshot of Barwood)

Barwood: He said he had it on two videotapes, and would I like them, so I said, “Of course I would.”, and could he give me copies of them. He said he would. I told him how to get them to my office and to mark them ‘personal and confidential’.

Voiceover: But before Curtis could send copies to Barwood, he’s paid a visit by two mysterious men in black. : Curtis:(voiced over  MIB reenactments) They were dressed in black suits, with black hats and sunglasses. They asked me if I had tapes for councilwoman Barwood, and I said “Yah, they’re laying right here”. They said, “We’ve stopped by to pick them up.” So I said, “Great!” and just handed (the original tapes) to them.

Barwood: I didn’t get them, and I have no idea who these two men were since I have just females working in my office. It’s absolutely puzzling to me.

Voiceover: Did the tapes ever exist, and if so were they proof of more than “lights” in the sky? And who were these mysterious  Men in Black who allegedly took them?

Curtis (voiced over): I think someone listened in on that phone call and wanted those tapes.

Barwood (voiced over): I can’t explain it. It’s just eerie. Voiceover: The mystery continues.

• Source: Encounter: UFO, Season 1, Episode 5, Episode aired Sep 21, 2021

{ https://www.howandwhys.com/ }

29-05-2024 om 01:31 geschreven door peter  

Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service/Getty Images

NASA and its space aviation partners are in the midst of a major problem. Their newest human-rated spacecraft, Boeing’s Starliner, is in the middle of a string of issues. The latest? A second helium leak. While it might seem easy to place full blame on Boeing, in reality, rocketry is, put simply, extremely difficult.

Boeing and SpaceX received contracts a decade ago to build out the space agency’s Commercial Crew Program. This would see astronauts launch into space from American soil for the first time since the Space Shuttle retired. In the interim, NASA paid Russia tens of millions of dollars to purchase individual seats on their Soyuz spacecraft. This mostly wrapped up when SpaceX’s Crew Dragon aced its summer 2020 astronaut debut flight.

Boeing’s Starliner is meant to join the Crew Dragon as a go-to transportation vehicle, but its been delayed longer than expected. Earlier this month, it was moments from flying Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore to the International Space Station. But two hours before the targeted launch window, officials from the company that supplied the rocket, United Launch Alliance, recommended standing down. The initial problem was a liquid oxygen valve. That was swiftly addressed. But as teams reviewed the crew capsule, they detected a helium leak. That, too, was quickly fixed. But a new, unrelated, helium leak has now emerged.

Helium is important because it allows the spacecraft thrusters to fire, and isn’t combustible or toxic, according to NASA.

NASA will conduct a flight readiness review probably next week, the space agency reported on Thursday. The new target launch date is June 1.

PUTTING THE DELAY INTO PERSPECTIVE

Delays stemming from mechanical issues are not uncommon.

Even tried and tested launch vehicles, like the SpaceX reusable Falcon fleet, have experienced ongoing issues like corrosion from salt water.

When the SpaceX Crew Dragon was at the same stage as the Boeing Starliner is now, with a successful uncrewed docking at the orbiting laboratory under its belt, and in the midst of preparations for sending its first astronauts into space, the Crew Dragon literally blew up.

As CBS News reported in 2019, teams were just about to fire up its “fault-tolerant propulsion” engines, which would bring the crew capsule away from the rocket in less than eight seconds in case of an emergency during liftoff. But just before beginning this test of its launch escape system, there was an anomaly. Beachgoers witnessed reddish-orange smoke rising after the incident. Crew Dragon didn’t fly its first astronauts, for the Demo-2 mission, until a year later.

Artemis I, NASA’s most-recent foray around the Moon with a human-rated spacecraft, is another example of this liminal space.

The premier mission of the Artemis program established that the Orion capsule could successfully swing out past the Moon, farther than any such spacecraft has flown before, and land back on Earth, coming in faster and hotter than Apollo astronauts ever did. But the first trip with astronauts, Artemis II, has been delayed by a year due to an issue with the heat shield. Charred material unexpectedly came off the capsule during descent, posing a potential risk to the integrity of the spacecraft if it happened to be entering a different orientation than its entry in late 2022.

In the grand scheme of spaceflight history, delays tend to fade from memory. What people remember is the awe of a successful trip, and the sad moments when they’ve failed. Space is undeniably hard.

{ https://www.inverse.com/ }

29-05-2024 om 00:37 geschreven door peter  

((Credit: Raytheon)

The program “will accelerate the ability to provide fire-control in support of global detection, warning, and precision tracking of advanced missile threats, including hypersonic missile systems,” according to a draft solicitation released by the SDA last fall. “The F2 system will demonstrate advanced missile defense capability by incorporating fire control-quality sensors into a prototype constellation,” the solicitation adds.

This week, it was revealed that the first request for proposals for the experimental satellites is set to be released on June 18, according to SDA Director Derek Tournear, who spoke with reporters on May 24. The proposal request was first reported by Breaking Defense.

According to its current timelines, the SDA plans to solicit proposals for contractors to develop and manage the ground system backbone for the FOO Fighter program. This initiative marks a significant step toward advancing the U.S.’s satellite-based missile defense capabilities.

Tournear explained on Friday that a pre-RFP announcement had been posted on the SAM.gov website, detailing the SDA’s solicitation for an integrator to develop and manage the ground system for the FOO Fighter program.

The first solicitation, called the “Advanced Fire Control Ground Integration,” is looking for contractors to lay the groundwork for the program through the establishment of a developmental operations center (DOC) at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama.

The development of the system’s DOC will include the construction of ground entry points for data downlinks, cloud hosting for computing, and providing the IT resources that will support the FOO Fighter program during its initial stages, as well as later providing support for other fire control demonstrations.

This will be followed by a second solicitation, the “Advanced Fire Control Mission Integration” (AFCMI), later this summer. This solicitation will secure a contractor to oversee ground-based operations for the management of incoming data from the FOO Fighter and future demonstrations, helping to propel the program toward eventual use with military operators.

Originally, the SDA had envisioned hiring a sole contractor to oversee all of the program’s demonstration satellites under the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) Futures Program (PFP). This included the T1DES (Tranche 1 Demonstration and Experimentation System) project and the T2DES (Transport Layer Tranche 2).

Following additional feedback from industry stakeholders, an additional draft solicitation was issued last month, prompting SDA to take a slightly different approach.

The April 30 solicitation announced an award “using Other Transaction Authority (OTA) with a total potential value of approximately $414 million to build eight satellites, for launch in first quarter fiscal year 2027,” revealing that the fixed-price agreement had been awarded to California-based Millennium Space Systems, Inc.

“The FOO Fighter program will provide an operational demonstration of fire control efforts separate from, but complementary to, our missile warning/missile tracking and missile defense efforts already underway in the tranches,” Tournear said, accompanying the solicitation’s release.

“We look forward to working with Millennium, a new teammate in the expanding marketplace of performers innovating to deliver the PWSA for the warfighter,” Tournear said.

Tournear told reporters on Friday that feedback from the industry made it evident that the previous solicitation had been confusing due to the level of complication it involved, likely making it very difficult for any prospective contractor to execute. It was, therefore, impractical for SDA to depend on a single contractor to manage the full range of technologies the FOO Fighter program will require.

Tournear said the new ground system for fire control must be operational before the FOO Fighter satellites are launched. Current estimates aim to have them in orbit by the first quarter of fiscal 2027.

“The contracts will start in the first week of December 2024, and then everything will be in place by the summer of 2026,” Tournear said last week, emphasizing that SDA plans to have the infrastructure for the program’s operation ready well ahead of the satellite launch.

The program’s unique title is more than just a random designator. The name appears to be rather obviously derived from a nickname given to phenomena encountered by Allied pilots flying over Europe during the Second World War who, as early as March 1942, began reporting sightings of unusual lights that reportedly paced their aircraft.

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

28-05-2024 om 23:10 geschreven door peter  

Cornell University

Someday, she hopes that the vials of well-tended microbes, tiny samples of hot lava, and thousands of lines of computer code in her labs will help astronomers recognize the chemical signs of life in the atmosphere of a distant planet.

In her recent book, Alien Earths: The New Science of Planet Hunting in the Cosmos, Kaltenegger describes the result as a “light fingerprint” for life (and one of its telltale features is a combination of oxygen and methane).

Inverse talked with Kaltenegger about exoplanets, aliens, and how science mixes caution with optimism.

Kaltenegger: I started thinking about how to do this in 1999 or 2000, and I really started modeling it around 2004. People were finding the first planets in the habitable zone, but it was with the wobble technique, so we didn't really know their mass; they could still be gas balls or rocks. It took about a decade until 2013, until we found the first Kepler planets in the habitable zone that were small enough to be rocky.

It was a long stretch where there were still some hints that those planets would exist, like from radial velocity measurements, but we just were unsure.

I think when we found that first exoplanet around another star, it was an educated guess that there should be other ones. But the one problem we had was the timeline; that the work would be needed at some point seemed like a logical conclusion, but the problem was, was it going to be within my lifetime? There were people telling me that this was way too far advanced, that this is something nobody would need in our lifetimes. And I usually fall back to this idea that I have on science, that you're basically putting these stepping stones into place. Even if it might not be you who actually can do the observations, the ideas that we put together can vibrate through time.

I usually fall back to this idea that I have on science, that you're basically putting these stepping stones into place. Even if it might not be you who actually can do the observations, the ideas that we put together can vibrate through time.

Your book describes one lab full of colorful microbe colonies in vials, and another where you actually make lava by melting powdered rock samples. That sounds like so much fun! What is your normal work day like?

I work a lot on my computer. What I do most of the time is actually putting these pieces together and putting it into this atmospheric model to figure out how these signs of life would appear to a telescope. I do get to go to the biology lab, to the Earth and atmospheric lab, and to the lava lab.

But I have people who actually have those as their specific things, because otherwise I could get going and forget to feed the bacteria. I could see myself forgetting something critical. In our team, we have a person who trained in microbiology who's growing most of these biota, so that's a big step forward from me killing half of the biota when I tried this. And then we have somebody else whose specific expertise is lava, that actually knows how to handle molten rock. I have to say in my head 'Don't touch it, it's molten rock.'

Your tone in the book is very hopeful. How optimistic are you that we’ll detect life on another planet during your career?

We have billions and billions of possibilities out there, so I think the numbers are forever in our favor. The question is how to spot it, and this is what we are learning.

It requires these databases of signatures, like biopigments, that you could see as mixtures of gases in an atmosphere. It requires you to understand your data well, and to understand the star well. Where we are right now is learning how to take the star's signal out to figure out what's going on with the small planets, and the TRAPPIST-1 system is the one that we've started with. It's really hard to do even with the biggest telescope we have.

We have billions and billions of possibilities out there, so I think the numbers are forever in our favor. The question is how to spot it, and this is what we are learning.

One of the first questions that I asked myself is if you looked at the Earth through time, how long could you have spotted life? Because that was a completely open question. Just in terms of how long Earth's atmosphere has had unique signatures of life, it's about half the planet's lifetime, so 2 billion years. If we assume that the evolution of a planet is the same everywhere, time-wise, then I think we have a great chance to find signs of life. If the evolution of life to do photosynthesis and produce oxygen is faster, then we have a higher chance. If it's slower, then it's going to become more tricky to identify it. But being that generation and the group of people who figure out what this probability is, is actually a fascinating journey.

So how optimistic am I? The bigger surprise to me would be if we find nothing. If life is everywhere it can be, and it developed to leave unique signs, then we have a shot with the JWST in the next 5 to 10 years.

Speaking of TRAPPIST-1, some of the first round of observations with JWST have been pretty discouraging; it looks like the innermost TRAPPIST-1 planets may not have much in the way of atmospheres. What does this mean for the odds of life on rocky worlds in the habitable zones of red dwarf stars?

The problem is that if you make a certain assumption for the model of the star, and you apply it to your data, you get a solution. Then you come to the second observation, and we figure out the star is actually completely different than we thought it was. The problem is that results in error bars that are very big, and those big error bars do not preclude us from saying either way if there's an atmosphere enough, so I'm not worried yet. Once we have beaten down the error bars from the star, if we still don't find anything, then it can exclude things like a Martian atmosphere. But we're not there yet.

Currently, what [the JWST data] means is that we can exclude a 'substantial atmosphere,' but the Earth doesn't have a 'substantial atmosphere.' We never expected the TRAPPIST systems to have 10 or 100 bars of hydrogen and CO2, because they're too small, so it's not really surprising, what we've found.

Let's assume that that we find there is no atmosphere on any of the TRAPPIST-1 planets. That actually doesn't mean that the next M star over will also have planets with no atmosphere. TRAPPIST-1 is of the smallest systems, extremely active, and very tightly packed. In science, we have to be very careful not to take one example and extrapolate it to everything else.

Once you find an exoplanet atmosphere with a mix of chemicals that looks like a fingerprint of life, how do you decide when to make the ‘we found aliens’ claim?

The scientific community generally agrees on something called three sigma detection. When you run the model, and it does machine learning and lots of super cool things to figure out what's in the atmosphere [of an exoplanet], if that signal doesn't hit the three times higher than the noise, a lot of times [those signals] are artifacts. And so we've already seen this when we have the first hints that there could be dimethyl sulfide [in a planet’s atmosphere] — that is like a 1.2 sigma, so not anywhere near this threshold yet.

And then I think what needs to happen is that the data needs to be scrutinized by way more than one team. Because you never know; there could be an error in your model, or there could be something you program differently that gives you better results than other teams.

If two independent teams find a confirmation, then the next step is you put all the criticism you can out there: What else could it be? Like exotic geophysics or photochemistry. That's what I do with the light fingerprints, to say [when a planet] might look like it has life, but it doesn't — under what circumstances do we have to be very careful? It's not to say that I'm not excited every time someboday says 'Oh, this could be life.' But it's like the methane on Mars; I wish for it to be life, but if I have 99 or 100 explanations that don't require life, then as a scientist, I do have to say, 'I wish it were life, but it seems like that it's not.'

The more the planet becomes not Earth-like, the more cautious we have to be with our interpretation of the results.

Your book describes a lot of really strange, interesting planets — some you’ve simulated in your lab, and some you’ve actually studied telescope data from. Of all of them, which do you think would make the most interesting science fiction story?

So, when we found Kepler 62 e and f, the two first Kepler words: Just the vision that this would be a water world, that when you dive in, there would be ice on the bottom of this ocean, which because of the pressure, would be warm ice. There would be waves that would never break.

The other one that I'd love to see a sci-fi novel about is that giant planet we found around the white dwarf. We can only wonder, when the star exploded, did they go underground and shelter through the explosion of the star? Did they have any idea if they could survive this? You know that the white dwarf, even over billions of years, would get colder, so they would actually have to do climate change – create as much CO2 as humanly possible. And so I think that would be a super cool sci-fi plot, where your planet or moon is a spaceship that goes to the exploded planet of a star, and that's where you have to survive.

{ https://www.inverse.com/ }

28-05-2024 om 21:31 geschreven door peter  

UFO, Aliens? What is it in North Carolina?

Sighting of a space debris in North Carolina once again raised curiosity about UFOs and aliens. Space experts have given a clarity.

The device measures a minimum of three feet in width and exhibits distinct scorch marks, suggesting it endured significant heating during its fiery descent through Earth's atmosphere.

Spacecraft are equipped with thermal protection systems to withstand the intense heat produced during reentry into Earth's atmosphere. However, the trunk section of the mission is intentionally designed to break apart and burn  ..

Earlier this year, the United States has said that it found no evidence of UFOs or aliens and that most sightings were "ordinary objects" that were the results of 'misidentification'. In the 63-page report titled "Historical Record of US Government Involvement with Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP)," the Pentagon said, "the Department of Defense's All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) found no evidence of any US government investigation, research, or review panel verifying a"UAP represented extraterrestrial technology".

FAQs:

Q1. What is the full form of UFO?
A1. The full form of UFO is Unidentified flying object.
Q2. What is full form of UAP?
A2. UAP full form is Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena.

{ https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ }

28-05-2024 om 21:07 geschreven door peter  

Venus is Currently Volcanically Active, New Study Confirms

Using radar data from NASA’s Magellan mission, planetary scientists have detected volcanic-related flow features in two different regions of Venus: on the western flank of Sif Mons and in western Niobe Planitia.

This image shows the Sif Mons area with the active volcanic region highlighted in red. Image credit: Davide Sulcanese, IRSPS – Università d’Annunzio.

Venus’ thick atmosphere has made it difficult to directly observe the surface of the planet.

However, global radar mapping performed in the 1990s by the Magellan spacecraft showed that Venus’ surface is covered with many volcanoes and has likely been shaped by widespread volcanic activity in its past — though the role of volcanism in the planet’s geologic present remained unclear.

However, evidence of more recent activity from one volcanic vent on the planet’s surface was identified in the Magellan data in 2023.

In the new study, d’Annunzio University researcher Davide Sulcanese and his colleagues analyzed two sets of Magellan radar data obtained in 1990 and 1992 to look for evidence of volcanic activity.

They found surface changes that could indicate volcanism in two areas where volcanic-related features are present, located on the western flank of Sif Mons and in western Niobe Planitia.

After analyzing the various possible sources, the authors suggest that these variations were likely caused by fresh lava flows.

They suggest that Venus is a geologically active planet in the present day, but also that present-day volcanism is rather widespread.

They also suggest that volcanic activity on Venus is comparable to that of Earth, indicating that Venus is more volcanically active than previously thought.

Artist’s impression of a volcano erupting on Venus. Image credit: ESA / AOES Medialab.

“Using these maps as a guide, our results show that Venus may be far more volcanically active than previously thought,” Dr. Sulcanese said.

“By analyzing the lava flows we observed in two locations on the planet, we have discovered that the volcanic activity on Venus could be comparable to that on Earth.”

“We interpret these signals as flows along slopes or volcanic plains that can deviate around obstacles such as shield volcanoes like a fluid,” added Dr. Marco Mastrogiuseppe, a researcher at Sapienza University of Rome.

“After ruling out other possibilities, we confirmed our best interpretation is that these are new lava flows.”

“These new discoveries of recent volcanic activity on Venus provide compelling evidence of the kinds of regions we should target with NASA’s upcoming VERITAS mission when it arrives at Venus,” said Dr. Suzanne Smrekar, a researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and principal investigator for VERITAS.

“Our spacecraft will have a suite of approaches for identifying surface changes that are far more comprehensive and higher resolution than Magellan images.”

“Evidence for activity, even in the lower-resolution Magellan data, supercharges the potential to revolutionize our understanding of this enigmatic world.”

• The results were published this week in the journal Nature Astronomy.
• D. Sulcanese et al. Evidence of ongoing volcanic activity on Venus revealed by Magellan radar. Nat Astron, published online May 27, 2024; doi: 10.1038/s41550-024-02272-1

{ https://www.sci.news/ }

28-05-2024 om 19:58 geschreven door peter  

Ondergrondse structuur ontdekt bij de piramides van Gizeh: het dateert van meer dan 4000 jaar geleden

 Door Janine

Egypte is een land met een eeuwenoude geschiedenis, rijk aan archeologische vindplaatsen en artefacten die duizenden jaren oud zijn. Ondanks de vele vondsten zijn er echter nog veel mysteries die moeten worden opgelost en die geleidelijk aan de oppervlakte komen. Onlangs hebben archeologen bijvoorbeeld sporen gevonden van een ondergrondse structuur die nog nooit eerder is ontdekt: deze bevindt zich in de buurt van de piramides van Gizeh.

Ondergrondse structuur ontdekt bij de piramides van Gizeh

Sato et al./Archaeological Prospection

Een onderzoeksteam van Japanse en Egyptische archeologen heeft sporen ontdekt van een bouwwerk in de vlakte van Gizeh. Het zou gaan om een tweedelige ondergrondse constructie die verborgen ligt onder de Westelijke Necropolis, een van de meest bestudeerde archeologische vindplaatsen in Egypte van de afgelopen decennia.

Als we de resultaten lezen die gepubliceerd zijn in het tijdschrift Archaeological Prospection, gebruikten de onderzoekers bodemradar en elektrische resistiviteit tomografie. De scans onthulden een L-vormige structuur die zich uitstrekte over een gebied van 10 bij 15 meter en ongeveer een meter onder het zand begraven lag. Maar dit is niet de enige ontdekking, want er kan een nog grotere structuur onder liggen op een diepte tot 10 meter onder het woestijnoppervlak. Het is de vraag waar deze structuren voor werden gebruikt, maar op dit moment kunnen archeologen er alleen maar naar gissen.

Hoe slaagden ze erin een ondergrondse structuur te vinden zonder te graven?

Sato et al./Archaeological Prospection

Het vinden van een ondergrondse structuur zonder te graven is niet eenvoudig: archeologen zijn weliswaar bekend met de Westelijke Necropolis, en de vlakte van Gizeh ligt vol met locaties om onderzoek uit te voeren, maar het is niet allemaal zo eenvoudig als het lijkt. Daarom maakten de onderzoekers gebruik van bodemradar en elektrische resistiviteit tomografie. De eerstgenoemde methode, ook bekend als Ground-penetrating Radar of GPR, is een methodologie die in de geofysica wordt gebruikt om de ondergrond te bestuderen. In de praktijk worden elektromagnetische golven naar de grond gestuurd en net als bij een radar worden hun reflecties gemeten om de ondergrond te reconstrueren. De tweede is in plaats daarvan een methodologie die veranderingen in de elektrische weerstand van ondergrondse materialen detecteert.

Met behulp van deze twee technologieën, die beloven een revolutie teweeg te brengen in de archeologie, hebben onderzoekers gebieden met verschillende dichtheden geïdentificeerd onder een deel van de Westelijke Necropolis. Op het eerste gezicht is het een gebied dat niet bedekt is met graven; ondergronds zijn er echter twee structuren die moeten worden bestudeerd.

Wat was het doel van de twee verborgen structuren?

Nina Aldin Thune/Wikimedia Commons - CC BY-SA 3.0 DEED

De twee structuren waarvan het onderzoeksteam de sporen heeft ontdekt, zijn niet van natuurlijke oorsprong maar door mensenhanden gemaakt. Toch is er, zoals we al zeiden, weinig bekend over hun daadwerkelijke doel: ze kunnen zo'n 4000 jaar oud zijn, zoals een groot deel van de rest van de Westelijke Necropolis, maar ze kunnen ook ouder zijn. En verder, niets. Op dit moment hebben archeologen opgemerkt dat er mogelijk een kamer is in de diepste structuur, maar gezien het ontbreken van andere informatie hebben ze besloten om het een “anomalie” te noemen.

Verder onderzoek zal nodig zijn om echt te begrijpen waar de twee verborgen structuren voor werden gebruikt. Na alle opgravingen van de afgelopen twee eeuwen is Egypte nog steeds de hoofdrolspeler van verrassende ontdekkingen en onverwachte vondsten. En zoals zo vaak het geval is, staan we nog maar aan het begin.

{ https://www.curioctopus.nl/ }

28-05-2024 om 19:33 geschreven door peter  

Hunter Abducted in the Remote Yukon Wilderness: 1987 UFO Humanoid Close Encounter

In the remote wilderness of the Yukon, a hunter named Kevin experienced an extraordinary and unsettling event in 1987. This story, which blends elements of classic UFO encounters with unique personal details, offers a fascinating glimpse into the world of alien abductions and unexplained phenomena.

Setting the Scene

Kevin, whose full identity remains undisclosed for privacy reasons, lived in the small town of Ross River. On September 2, 1987, he embarked on a moose hunting trip near a place called McAss. Despite the rainy and unpleasant weather, Kevin set out on his motorbike, determined to reach his destination.

During his journey, Kevin stopped at an old trailer to spend the night. This trailer, typical of those found at oil lease sites, provided basic shelter in the bush. Early the next morning, he resumed his trip, eager to meet up with his friends.

The Initial Encounter

As Kevin rode along the North Canol Road, he took in the scenery, scanning the landscape for signs of moose. His journey took a bizarre turn when he noticed a strange craft in the sky. The object was flying low, approximately 30 to 40 yards above the ground, and was silent. Kevin described it as a cigar-shaped craft, the size of a DC-3 plane or a large school bus, lacking any typical aircraft features like wings or a tail fin.

Realizing the unusual nature of the craft, Kevin crouched in the grass to observe it more closely. The craft soon disappeared behind a hill, but his ordeal was far from over. He then heard a metallic clunking sound behind him, similar to a car door slamming shut. Curious and cautious, Kevin decided to investigate.

Alien Encounter

To his shock, Kevin encountered two beings that he described as insectoid, with heads resembling grasshoppers and large bug-like eyes. These beings wore blue jumpsuits and stood in the ditch by the road. One of them raised a device resembling a flashlight and directed it at Kevin. Instantly, he felt as though he was pulled out of reality, enveloped in an eerie silence.

Kevin’s next memory was regaining consciousness on the road, disoriented and terrified. His motorbike had been moved, and he found the keys in his hand. He quickly returned to the trailer, realizing that hours had passed, even though the encounter seemed brief.

The Abduction Experience

Back at the trailer, Kevin experienced a sense of vibration and heard a faint humming sound, suggesting the presence of the beings nearby. As he tried to relax, he began having flashbacks of his abduction. He recalled flying over the landscape and coming face-to-face with gray aliens, distinct from the insectoid beings he initially encountered.

These gray aliens communicated telepathically, assuring Kevin that they had already performed experiments on him. Despite his fear, he felt a strange sense of familiarity and comfort with the beings. They offered to show him his home planet, displaying a white star, which Kevin found peculiar as he expected Earth to appear blue and green.

The aliens then offered him a yellow liquid to drink, promising it would help him forget the experience. Although Kevin was reluctant, he sipped the liquid and soon found himself back on the ground, with only partial memories of the event.

Similarities to Other Encounters

Kevin’s story shares similarities with other UFO and alien abduction reports. The cigar-shaped craft and the presence of gray aliens are common elements in such narratives. Interestingly, the metallic clunking sound he heard parallels accounts from Ron Morehead, who recorded Bigfoot vocalizations in the Sierra Mountains. Morehead’s experiences also included strange lights and metallic sounds, suggesting a possible connection between these phenomena.

Reflections on the Encounter

Kevin’s encounter in the Yukon wilderness raises several intriguing questions. The nature of the beings—whether extraterrestrial, interdimensional, or part of a secretive government operation—remains unknown. The advanced technology displayed by the aliens, including their ability to induce amnesia and transport individuals instantaneously, challenges our understanding of reality.

Unlike many abduction accounts characterized by trauma and fear, Kevin’s experience evolved into a sense of calm and familiarity with the beings. This variation underscores the complexity of these encounters and suggests that the intentions and behaviors of the abducting entities might differ widely.

VIDEO:

• https://youtu.be/rY99yMY9fj4

Kevin’s 1987 encounter in the Yukon wilderness adds a compelling chapter to the ongoing saga of UFO and alien abduction phenomena. His story, marked by vivid details and emotional nuances, provides valuable insights into the mysterious world of human-alien interactions. Whether these experiences are literal events or deeply psychological phenomena influenced by cultural narratives, they continue to intrigue and challenge our perceptions of the unknown.

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

28-05-2024 om 18:54 geschreven door peter  

28-05-2024 om 18:29 geschreven door peter  

DE AMERIKAANSE B-378 

CREDIT BOEING

Geheimzinnig Chinees ruimtevliegtuig brengt onbekend object in baan rond de aarde

Floris Poort

Het Space Shuttle-achtige ruimtevliegtuig van China heeft tijdens zijn derde missie een onbekend object in een baan rond de aarde gebracht.

China troefde de VS eind vorig jaar af met de derde lancering van zijn herbruikbare ruimtevliegtuig. Inmiddels is het al ruim 165 dagen in een baan rond de aarde, en sindsdien stoot het voertuig allerlei signalen uit, en worden objecten losgelaten. Astronoom Jonathan McDowell van het Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics denkt meer te weten.

Onbekend object

"Een nieuw object (59884/2023-195G) is gecatalogiseerd in verhouding met het met het Chinese CSSHQ-ruimtevliegtuig", aldus McDowell. "Het lijkt rond 1900 UTC 24 mei te zijn uitgeworpen", schrijft de astronoom over het onbekende object. Het zou volgens de wetenschapper een satelliet, of 'een ander stuk hardware' kunnen zijn. Mogelijk wordt er al hardware afgestoten voordat de landing wordt ingezet, of wordt met het object geoefend voor bepaalde manoeuvres of het terughalen van satellieten.

"Dat gebeurde bij de eerste vlucht ook", schrijft McDowell over een dergelijke test. Het ruimtevliegtuig werd in 2020 voor het eerst getest, toen voor twee dagen. In 2022 steeg 'ie nogmaals op, en bleef het vaartuig 276 dagen in een baan om de aarde.

Gebaseerd op Amerikaans ontwerp

Het Chinese ruimtevliegtuig lijkt volgens experts op de Boeing X-37B die door de VS wordt ontwikkeld. Dat 'vliegtuig' lijkt op een miniatuur-Space Shuttle en heeft sinds 2010 al zes missies achter de rug. Tijdens zijn laatste missie, die in november 2022 ten einde kwam, verbleef het 908 dagen lang in een baan rond de aarde. Experts denken dat het ontwerp van het Chinese vliegtuig gebaseerd is op de X-37B.

{ https://www.bright.nl/ }

27-05-2024 om 23:53 geschreven door peter  

Beyond the alien mass-hysteria, according to the US government, there are no credible occurrences of UFO's - recently rebranded to UAP's (Unidentified Anomalous Phenomenon).

However, residents of Tottori Prefecture in southern Japan might be left wondering if that's entirely true after a nine mysterious pillars of light were captured floating in the sky on 11 May.

Like anyone confronted with such a strange occurrence in the sky, residents swiftly snapped photos of the pillars and uploaded them to social media to seek an explanation.

The lights were originally shared on X by user Maashii, who wrote: "Around 22:00 today, I discovered a streak of light above Mikaya Port in Daisen Town, Tottori."

"When I looked up at the night sky in front of my house, I saw several streaks of light in the sky," he also told Japanese news site Hint-Pot.

The lights appeared to be floating to the north of the town above the Sea of Japan, with the tweet viewed over 12.1 million times and capturing the attention of X users across the world.

Unsurprisingly, the strange lights led some to speculate that they 'might be abducted by aliens' or if it's 'one big UFO'.

Meanwhile, some also shared their own pictures of the lights.

However, the lights actually have a completely reasonable explanation - and it's not little green men in spaceships.

The beams in the sky are actually above a patch of the sea popular with fishing boats, meaning that the lights are actually reflections of the boats in the harbour at the point.

This isn't the first time the lights have been spotted either, with fellow Daisen resident Marcy telling Hint-Pot that she'd witnessed the floating lights a handful of times since moving to the town nine years ago.

The phenomenon is known as 'Isaribi Kochu' or 'fish-attracting light pillars'.

The lights don't often appear, however, sometimes happening once a year, according to Japan Today in 2015.

In order to coax nocturnal fish to their boats, fishermen use lights in order to attract them.

However, according to the publication, when the overnight temperatures drops low enough, ice crystals can form in the air above ships, and given the right conditions, they are bright enough to reflect into the sky and can be seen from shore.

So not aliens, but still pretty cool right?

• Featured Image Credit: X/@maashii_taiy/X /@totoro8201

{ https://www.ladbible.com/ }

27-05-2024 om 21:58 geschreven door peter  

Man adamant that he's stumbled upon a UFO covered in mysterious fur

 Joshua Nair

A man from North Carolina is claiming that he has found a UFO that features heavy-duty metal and some odd bits of fur.

Justin Clontz, an American works at Glamping Collective, a luxury campsite in Haywood County, describes what he saw as a 'once in a lifetime' discovery while out working.

The popular holiday spot apparently became the landing spot for a huge unidentified flying object - something that Justin said wasn't a common occurrence.

The weird occurrence had him feeling 'shocked' when he was trying to figure out what it was, as Justin said he was in pure disbelief.

"It's once in a lifetime you know, it don't happen every day," he stated.

The discovery happened when he and a coworker spotted the large object on a secluded trail near Canton, with photos taken revealing a burnt carbon fibre shell with robust metal plates bolted together, sporadically covered in bits of fur around the edges.

As it was extremely heavy, Justin had to haul the object from the area, and managed to drag it away with the help of a lawnmower.

He revealed his unique removal method to WLOS: "I just tied a rope to it and drug it out with a lawn mower.

"It's a one in a million chance that it lands, especially if it landed somewhere off the trail in the woods you'd have never found it but it just happened to land on the trail."

The campsite worker also highlighted that the object managed to land between a gap in the trees without causing a fire, landing silently as the object was deep in the woods.

Justin highlighted that you don't hear much from the woods when you get far down that trail.

Following the discovery, he has been looking for aerospace experts for help to identify the UFO's origins - though he has not any clarification from anyone just yet.

Justin's discovery is not the only possible sighting of UFOs in the world this year, as a town in Japan spotted floating lights in the sky, in something from a dystopian film.

The residents of Tottori Prefecture in southern Japan spotted nine mysterious pillars of light floating in the sky on 11 May.

The lights were originally shared on X by user Maashii, who wrote: "Around 22:00 today, I discovered a streak of light above Mikaya Port in Daisen Town, Tottori."

"When I looked up at the night sky in front of my house, I saw several streaks of light in the sky," he also told Japanese news site Hint-Pot.

The lights appeared to be floating to the north of the town above the Sea of Japan, with the tweet viewed over 12.1 million times and capturing the attention of several X users.

• Featured Image Credit: WMTW Channel 8

{ https://www.ladbible.com/ }

27-05-2024 om 21:49 geschreven door peter  

Open Minds UAP News: Ball Lightning Science with Dr. Karl Stephan

 Alejandro Rojas

 { https://openminds.tv/ }

27-05-2024 om 21:24 geschreven door peter  

NASA-foto's tonen het ruimtepak zoals het nog nooit eerder is gezien: zonder armen en vizieren

 Door Janine

Dat NASA van plan is terug te keren naar de maan met een menselijke bemanning is geen mysterie. Ter voorbereiding op de Artemis III-missie testte de Amerikaanse ruimtevaartorganisatie enkele nieuwe technologieën voor toekomstige maanwandelingen. Daarvoor stuurde het enkele astronauten naar een vulkanisch veld in de staat Arizona, maar met een heel speciale uitrusting. Laten we eens kijken waar het om gaat!

De reden voor de NASA-tests in Arizona

NASA/Josh Valcarcel

We bevinden ons in Arizona, in de Verenigde Staten, en meer precies in het vulkanische veld San Francisco, dat bestaat uit meer dan 500 vulkanische kloven. Dit is een ideale omgeving, onder de omstandigheden die hier op aarde beschikbaar zijn, om de apparatuur te testen waarmee het mogelijk zal zijn om met de Artemis III-missie naar de maan te gaan. Nadat ze speciale ruimtepakken hadden aangetrokken, simuleerden de astronauten enkele maanwandelingen, om op alle eventualiteiten voorbereid te zijn.

Twee verschillende NASA-teams voerden de tests uit. Het eerste team bestaat uit vluchtleiders en wetenschappers van het Johnson Space Center en houdt op afstand toezicht op de activiteiten van de astronauten. Het tweede team bestaat uit ingenieurs en werkt in het veld en voert “maanwandelingen” uit in de woestijn van Arizona.

Is alles klaar voor de Artemis III-missie?

NASA/Josh Valcarcel / NASA

Bij de vier door NASA gesimuleerde maanwandelingen maakten de teams gebruik van augmented reality-displays en navigatie met heldere lichten. Maar als je naar de gedeelde foto’s kijkt, is het bijzondere ontwerp van de ruimtepakken die de astronauten gebruikten duidelijk. Kort gezegd: ze zien er beslist incompleet uit.

De waarheid is dat het testen op Artemis III op verschillende locaties plaatsvindt en verschillende doeleinden heeft. In Arizona is het niet nodig om de hele opstelling van het ruimtepak uit te proberen, maar eerder om de werking van enkele componenten te evalueren tijdens een wandeling over het oppervlak van onze satelliet. Dit zijn simulaties waarvan het belang voor het succes van missies te vaak wordt gebagatelliseerd. In werkelijkheid maken tests zoals die in Arizona het mogelijk om te oefenen in geologische omstandigheden die vergelijkbaar zijn met die op de maan: eenmaal daar zul je immers niet gemakkelijk naar huis kunnen terugkeren.

Van Arizona tot de zuidpool van de maan

NASA/Josh Valcarcel

De gesimuleerde maanwandelingen met de vreemde ruimtepakken zijn momenteel de meest getrouwe simulatie van de Artemis III-missie die tot nu toe is uitgevoerd. De omstandigheden in de woestijn van Arizona lijken immers erg op die van de maangrond waarop de astronauten zich voorbereiden om te betreden.

Het doel van de veldtesten is immers om de uitdagingen die de Artemis III-missie op de zuidpool van de maan zal tegenkomen beter in te schatten. Deze omvatten het verzamelen van gegevens en communicatie met het team dat de vlucht bestuurt en het wetenschapsteam in Houston. Kortom: het duurt niet lang meer voordat een bemanning astronauten terugkeert naar de maan, en het is beter dat alles tot in de puntjes geregeld is. Misschien zullen er nog steeds onvoorziene gebeurtenissen plaatsvinden, maar dat betekent niet dat je niet voorbereid kunt zijn door in vreemde ruimtepakken rond te lopen in de woestijn van Arizona.

{ https://www.curioctopus.nl/ }

27-05-2024 om 20:58 geschreven door peter  

Japan ontwerpt de eerste ruimtelift: hij zal klaar zijn in 2050

 Door Janine

Tot voor kort betekende praten over een ruimtelift dat je je op sciencefictionterrein begaf. In staat zijn om naar een ruimtestation in een baan om de aarde te gaan zonder gebruik te maken van een ruimteschip lijkt iets onrealistisch, maar toch is het een steeds reëler wordende mogelijkheid. Het nieuwste bedrijf dat aan dit ambitieuze project is begonnen, is de Japanse Obayashi Corporation. Maar is het echt mogelijk om een ruimtelift te bouwen? En wanneer zal hij klaar zijn? Laten we daar samen achter komen!

Wat is een ruimtelift?

Liftport/Wikimedia Commons - CC BY-SA 3.0 DEED

Een ruimtelift is een hypothetische constructie die het aardoppervlak moet verbinden met een geostationaire baan, zo'n 36.000 kilometer boven de aarde. Dit speciale transportmiddel zou werken als een klassieke lift, met cabines die langs een lange, sterke kabel omhoog en omlaag gaan. Kortom, een ruimtelift zou mensen en goederen in de ruimte kunnen vervoeren zonder dat daar raketten en ruimtevaartuigen voor nodig zijn.

Hoewel het idee op zich niet nieuw is - een eerste vermelding dateert al uit 1895 - lijkt de aanpak van de Obayashi Corporation een concrete interesse in de realisatie van de eerste ruimtelift op aarde te bevestigen. Aan de andere kant zou zo'n constructie enorme voordelen bieden bij het transport van en naar de ruimte, maar tegelijkertijd ook aanzienlijke uitdagingen met zich meebrengen.

Het idee van Obayashi Corporation

大林組広報部/Youtube

De realisatie van een ruimtelift zou mogelijk worden gemaakt door de vooruitgang in het onderzoek naar koolstofnanobuizen, dat de kern van het project vormt. Volgens de Obayashi Corporation zou deze ruimtelift zich over ongeveer 96.000 kilometer van de aarde naar de ruimte kunnen uitstrekken en resistente kabels gebruiken om mensen en goederen naar een ruimtestation in een geostationaire baan te brengen. Op deze manier zou de omwentelingsperiode van het station gelijk zijn aan de rotatieperiode van de aarde.

Voor de bouw van de lift zijn echter verschillende stappen nodig. Eerst zouden materialen door raketten naar een lage baan om de aarde worden gestuurd, waar ze zouden worden gebruikt om een ruimtestation in elkaar te zetten dat wordt aangedreven door elektromotoren. Eenmaal klaar zou dit ruimteschip een geostationaire baan moeten bereiken om vervolgens de kabel naar de aarde te verlengen. Eenvoudig, toch?

Is een ruimtelift echt haalbaar?

大林組広報部/Youtube

Volgens Obayashi Corporation zeker wel. Het bedrijf wil zo snel mogelijk beginnen met de bouw en de ruimtelift operationeel hebben voor 2050, met alle positieve gevolgen voor de kosten van ruimtevaart, koolstofuitstoot en het transport van mensen en goederen.

Kortom, vandaag de dag wil het idee van een ruimtelift meer dan ooit breken met science fiction en onze dagelijkse realiteit binnendringen. In theorie is dit een haalbaar project, maar het vergt een gecoördineerde internationale inspanning. Velen zien het project wellicht als slechts een poging van de mens om het bereik van zijn doelstellingen uit te breiden naar de ruimte, duizenden kilometers voorbij het Internationale Ruimtestation. En dit behoort zeker ook tot de doelstellingen van de Obayashi Corporation, maar dat niet alleen. Het is ook een poging om iets werkelijkheid te laten worden wat tot voor kort alleen een verbeelding was. Een toekomstige realiteit, zeker, maar een concrete en tastbare realiteit.

Source:

• https://www.obayashi.co.jp/en/news/detail/the_space_elevator_construction_concept.html

{ https://www.curioctopus.nl/ }

26-05-2024 om 23:51 geschreven door peter  

How Betty and Barney Hill’s Alien Abduction Story Defined the Genre

Their account, recovered with the help of hypnosis, detailed extensive medical exams, including a crude pregnancy test.

BY: LINDA LACINA

Is it chasing us? That thought coursed through Betty and Barney Hill’s minds as they drove down the empty winding country road in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. It was a September night in 1961, they hadn’t seen a car for miles, and a strange light in the sky seemed to follow them.

When they finally got home to Portsmouth at dawn, they were far from relieved. They felt dirty. Their watches stopped working. Barney’s shoes were strangely scuffed and Betty’s dress was ripped. There were two hours of the drive that neither one of them could remember. What had happened

• https://youtu.be/pxo48Tv9yGE

With the help of a psychiatrist, the quiet couple eventually revealed a startling story: Gray beings with large eyes had walked them into a metallic disc as wide, Betty said, as her house was long. Once inside, the beings examined the couple and erased their memories.

Their experience would kick off an Air Force inquiry, part of the secretive initiative Project Blue Book that investigated UFO sightings across the country. The incident would also become the first-ever widely publicized alien-abduction account and shape how stories like it were told—and understood—from then on. Debate continues as to whether the husband and wife were liars, fantasists, crackpots or simply sleep-deprived people who later recovered seriously scrambled memories.

The Hills Saw Strange Lights Pursuing Their Car

The Hills’ road trip was spontaneous, a well-earned break Barney decided the couple needed, as explained in The Interrupted Journey, a 1966 book they collaborated on with author John G. Fuller. Barney worked a grueling night shift at the post office, driving 60 miles each way. Betty’s job handling state child-welfare cases was no easier. The little free time this biracial couple had was devoted to their church and activities related to the civil-rights movement. After 16 months of marriage, Betty and Barney saw this trip through Montreal and Niagara Falls as their delayed honeymoon. They left so impulsively they had no time to go to the bank before it closed for the weekend. They got in their car with less than $70 in their pockets.

On the last night of their three-day trip, the tired couple sipped coffee in a Vermont diner to recharge before driving back. Barney figured if they pushed through, they could beat the wind and rains from an approaching hurricane. They left the diner around 10 p.m., estimating they could reach their red-framed house in Portsmouth, New Hampshire between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. at the latest.

As they drove, strange light in the sky gave another reason to hurry. At first it looked like a falling star, but grew larger and brighter with each mile. Barney, an avid plane watcher and World War II vet, was sure they had nothing to worry about. It’s just a satellite, he assured Betty. It probably went off course.

• https://youtu.be/c7knSt_4cnM

The light seemed to move with the car as Barney steered down the curving mountain road. The light zigged and zagged, ducking past the moon and behind trees and mountain ridges, only to reappear moments later. Sometimes it seemed to move toward them in a game of cat-and-mouse. It had to be an illusion, they thought. Maybe the car’s movement made it seem like the light, too, was moving.

Curiosity overcame them. The couple pulled over at road stops and picnic turnouts to get a closer look. Through binoculars, Betty saw that the white light was really an object spinning in the air.

“Barney,” she told her husband, “if you think that’s a satellite or a star, you’re being completely ridiculous.”

Betty and Barney Hills' Close Encounter

He knew she was right. Barney had an IQ of 140, noted Fuller in his book. Barney was also a pragmatic man who wouldn’t give flying saucers a second thought, remembered his niece Kathleen Marden in her work, Captured: The Betty and Barney Hill Experience. The night was too quiet for a helicopter, a commercial plane or even military jet with a hotshot pilot. He didn’t want to spook Betty, but he was becoming concerned. What was this light and why was it toying with them?

About 70 miles past the diner, the object hovered just above the treetops, approximately 100 feet above them. Barney abruptly stopped the car, keeping the engine running. He shoved a handgun he’d hidden beneath the seat into his pocket and rushed into a dark field, leaving Betty in the car. What he saw was as big as a jet but as round and flat as a pancake. “My God, what is this thing?” he recalled thinking. “This can’t be real.”

AN ILLUSTRATION OF BETTY AND BARNEY HILL'S 1961 ALIEN ABDUCTION

Behind rows of windows, gray uniformed beings seemed to look right at him, Barney recalled. He tried to lift his hand to his pistol but somehow couldn’t. A voice told him not to put down his binoculars.

He had a startling thought: We’re about to be captured. Yelling hysterically, he ran back to the car and barreled down the road as Betty tracked the craft, craning her head outside the car window. Without explanation, loud, rhythmic beeps sounded from the car’s trunk. The couple felt instantly drowsy and lost consciousness.

They came to around two hours later and 35 miles down the road.

Using Hypnosis to Recover the Hills' Abduction Memory

Back home in Portsmouth, they tried to make sense of the night. Barney felt compelled to examine his body’s lower half. Both seemed aware of a puzzling presence.

In the weeks and months after, Betty, an avid reader, checked out books from the library discovering the civilian UFO group National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP). She also reported the sighting to the Air Force, worried about radiation.

IMAGE DEPICTING AN ALIEN SPACE SHIP, AT 200 FEET AND 100 FEET ABOVE THE EARTH'S SURFACE, DRAWN BY ALLEGED ALIEN ABDUCTEE BETTY HILL AND REGARDED AS ONE OF THE FIRST EXAMPLES OF THE FLYING SAUCER ALIEN SPACESHIP ARCHETYPE, SEPTEMBER 20, 1961.

In coming years, with Betty suffering from disturbing dreams and Barney developing an ulcer and anxiety, the couple sought mental help. The two met with Benjamin Simon, a psychiatrist and neurologist who specialized in hypnosis, a mainstream technique at the time.

Through months of weekly sessions, Simon helped the couple piece together what they think had happened: A vessel had landed on the Hill’s car, putting them to sleep. Afterward, gray beings walked them up a long ramp and into the spacecraft.

Once inside, the Hills were separated, taking turns in an examination room that had curved walls and a large light hanging from the ceiling. Each was asked to climb up on a metal table. The table was so short, Barney’s legs hung over the side.

During the examinations, the beings removed Betty and Barney’s clothes, plucked strands of their hair, took clippings of their nails and scraped their skin. Each sample was placed on a clear material, not unlike a glass slide. Needles, connected to long wires, probed their heads, arms, legs and spines. One large needle, around 4 to 6 inches long, was inserted into Betty’s belly. This pregnancy test left her twisting in pain. Throughout, a being Barney and Betty called “the leader” watched from the side.

After Betty’s examination ended, the beings rushed back into her room, excited. They discovered that Barney’s teeth could be removed. Betty laughed, explaining that Barney had dentures, a fact of human aging the beings struggled to understand.

Read more

• The UFO Sightings That Launched ‘Men in Black’ Mythology

In all of their different incarnations, the Men in Black usually have one main purpose: to muzzle witnesses of strange, paranormal phenomena.

• When Dozens of Korean War GIs Claimed a UFO Made Them Sick

Theories range from high-tech Soviet death rays to extraterrestrials studying human combat to combat-stress-induced hallucinations

• Meet J. Allen Hynek, the Astronomer Who First Classified UFO ‘Close Encounters’

When the U.S. government tapped the academic to help investigate UFOs, he was initially a skeptic. But not for long.

Later, alone with the leader, Betty asked where the craft had flown, admitting she knew little of the universe. The being joked with her, saying “if you don’t know where you are, there wouldn’t be any point in telling you where I am.” Later, under hypnosis, she drew a star map shown to her on the ship.

In 1965, the Hills' story was picked up by a Boston newspaper. After that, everything changed. The quiet couple’s story became the subject of a best-selling book and a movie starring James Earl Jones. The upstanding civil servants had become celebrity abductees.

The Hills' Story Became a Model for Alien Abductions

BARNEY HOLDING UP A DIAGRAM EXPLAINING THE ALIEN ABDUCTION

The Hills weren’t the first to spot a UFO or even to report an abduction. But their story did capture the nation’s imagination and was so widely publicized, it has helped shape how we talk about alien encounters and abductions to this day.

Before the Hill’s story, alien encounters were friendly, according to Christoper Bader, a professor of sociology at California’s Chapman University. Some aliens even lived on earth and commuted back on weekends. But once the Hills’ story became better known, abduction accounts shared certain characteristics, such as medical examinations and missing time. Aliens with large heads and big eyes—dubbed “grays” in UFO circles—became classic sci-fi staples in personal accounts and pop culture, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and shows like the X-Files.

The Hills’ story—and those that came after—helped pave the way for a new understanding of human experience. Richard J. McNally, a Harvard psychologist, puts it this way: “The ‘alien-abduction’ phenomenon, in my opinion, shows how sincere, non-psychotic individuals can develop beliefs about, and false memories of, incredible experiences that never happened.”

Experts of all stripes have tried to explain why intelligent, otherwise mentally stable people came forward with these experiences. Many psychologists say sleep paralysis and hallucinations played a role. Leading questions during hypnosis—the main way most abductees unlock their stories—could also have been a factor.

The Psychology of Alien Encounter Stories

BARNEY AND BETTY HILL HOLDING A NEWSPAPER REPORTING ABOUT THEIR ALLEGED ALIEN ABDUCTION IN A RURAL PORTION OF NEW HAMPSHIRE IN LATE SEPTEMBER 1961

Those who report abduction might also see the world a little differently. According to research, one of the strongest predictors of false recall is a vivid imagination. This group scores high in “magical ideation” and is more likely to believe in ghosts and tarot readings, according to McNally.

Some believe the Hill’s story was simply a myth in the making, with the supernatural meetings, vulnerable protagonists and otherworldly journeys that are often the hallmarks of legend. Many point to the stress of being an interracial couple living in a predominantly white state in a turbulent era. (The year of their hypnosis, 1964, was marked by Cold War tensions and civil-rights unrest, with numerous urban riots erupting that summer.) “You have a biracial couple at a time where obviously it was not easy to be a biracial couple,” says Bader. “Look what those aliens were: a mixture of black and white. I find that very meaningful.”

Abductee stories depend on first-hand accounts—the most vulnerable form of evidence. Memories can be distorted by stress or distraction, or even manufactured. When a false memory is in place, psychologists say, the brain works to fill in the details. Psychologist Michael Shermer points to ‘patternicity,’ the tendency to see patterns even when none exist, helping us to see faces in clouds or assume that one event caused another.

Read more

• How the ‘Little Green Men’ Phenomenon Began on a Kentucky Farm

The 11 witnesses who arrived at the Hopkinsville police station were genuinely terror-struck.

• This Scoutmaster Had a Run-in with a UFO. The Kids Saw it Too.

Investigators noted the hair on the alleged victim’s arms was singed, and the skin burned. The grass where he claimed to have had the encounter was also scorched.

• When Top Gun Pilots Tangled with a Baffling Tic-Tac-Shaped UFO

Fighter pilots and radar operators from the USS Nimitz describe their terrifying—and still inexplicable—2004 encounter.

Past experience also shapes human perception. Barney, a World War II vet, thought the head “gray” looked like Hitler and seemed menacing. Betty, meanwhile, who had been excited to see the aliens, bantered with the affable gray who performed her medical examination. That alien even agreed to give her a book to bring to earth with her, she said, though other crew members would later overrule that decision.

In this way alien abduction and encounter stories have helped psychologists understand the human brain, its defects—and the weaknesses inherent in memory and first-hand accounts, according to Christopher French, a psychologist specializing in human experience related to the paranormal. “What we see and hear, especially under less than ideal observational conditions, can be heavily influenced by our prior beliefs and expectations,” wrote French in the The Guardian.

NICAP’s scientific advisor cross-examined the couple and found their account credible. The Air Force’s Project Blue Book would ultimately dismiss the story, determining the unexplained craft could be explained by “natural causes”—hinting that the couple hadn’t seen a spacecraft but only the planet Jupiter.

For his part, psychiatrist Simon never felt the Hills had made up their story. He concluded Betty had dreamed the abduction and Barney had absorbed her story, especially since many of the most vivid details matched descriptions of dreams Betty had jotted down after the event. “I believe implicitly in the honesty of these people,” he said on a ‘70s radio program.

Of course, another explanation is always possible: The abduction actually occurred. The Hills stuck by their story, despite years of skeptics and detractors. Like many abductees, the couple never felt false memory or sleep paralysis explained what they experienced. Betty became a known voice in UFO research and claimed she was visited multiple times in the decades to follow.

{ https://www.history.com/ }

26-05-2024 om 22:06 geschreven door peter  

Alien Abduction: The True Story of Betty and Barney Hill – Revealed on Joe Rogan with Dan Aykroyd

The Joe Rogan Experience episode featuring Dan Aykroyd delves into one of the most intriguing alien abduction stories of the 20th century: the case of Betty and Barney Hill. This tale, recounted with rich detail and historical context, sheds light on the mysterious world of UFO encounters and the phenomena associated with them.

The Betty and Barney Hill Abduction

In 1961, Betty and Barney Hill claimed to have been abducted by extraterrestrials while driving through the White Mountains of New Hampshire. This incident is often cited as the first widely publicized alien abduction story in the United States. According to their account, the couple experienced a close encounter with a UFO, followed by a period of missing time. Under hypnosis, they later recalled being taken aboard a spacecraft, where they underwent medical examinations.

Evidence and Credibility

Dan Aykroyd emphasizes several pieces of evidence that lend credibility to the Hills’ story. Notably, there was a fluid stain on Betty’s dress, which she believed was used during the medical procedures performed on her. Additionally, the couple’s car showed unexplained marks on its trunk. These physical traces, though not definitive proof, support the plausibility of their account.

The Hills’ testimonies, particularly those given under hypnosis by Dr. Benjamin Simon, are another compelling aspect of their story. Barney’s intense fear and detailed recollections, as captured in the tapes of these sessions, further underscore the authenticity of their experience. Aykroyd points out that neither Betty nor Barney had any prior interest in astronomy, making their detailed descriptions of the star systems they saw aboard the spaceship particularly intriguing.

The Zeta Reticuli Star Map

One of the most fascinating elements of the Hills’ story is the star map that Betty claimed to have seen during her abduction. Betty’s drawing of this map, under hypnosis, was later analyzed by amateur astronomer Marjorie Fish. Fish’s three-dimensional model identified the stars as Zeta Reticuli 1 and 2. This identification was significant because it suggested that Betty had seen a star system not widely known at the time, adding a layer of credibility to her account.

Broader Abduction Phenomena

The conversation between Rogan and Aykroyd expands to discuss other abduction cases and the work of researchers like Budd Hopkins. Hopkins was known for his work with abductees, using hypnosis to help them recall their experiences. He documented numerous cases where individuals reported being taken by extraterrestrials, undergoing examinations, and then being returned to different locations or in different states of dress.

Aykroyd draws an analogy between these abductions and the practice of catch and release in fishing. Just as fishermen release their catch back into the water, seemingly without concern for their exact return location, extraterrestrials might similarly abduct humans, perform tests, and then return them haphazardly.

Skepticism and Belief

A central theme in the discussion is the skepticism that often surrounds UFO and abduction stories. Both Rogan and Aykroyd acknowledge the difficulty many people have in believing such extraordinary claims. However, they argue that the infrequent and bizarre nature of these occurrences makes them challenging to dismiss outright. They urge a balanced approach, remaining open to the possibility of extraterrestrial life while critically examining the evidence.

Historical Context and Media Coverage

Aykroyd references numerous historical newspaper reports and government memos from the 1950s that document UFO sightings. These reports suggest that the phenomenon has been acknowledged for decades, albeit with varying degrees of seriousness. This historical context highlights the enduring public and governmental interest in UFOs and alien encounters.

John Mack’s Contributions

The discussion also touches on the work of John Mack, a Harvard psychiatrist who wrote extensively about abduction experiences. Mack’s academic background and his thorough investigations into these phenomena provided a measure of legitimacy to the study of alien abductions. His books, such as “Abduction,” have influenced many, including skeptics, by presenting well-documented cases and thoughtful analysis.

VIDEO:

• https://youtu.be/zZ-8CbF6PJI

The Joe Rogan Experience episode with Dan Aykroyd offers a comprehensive exploration of the Betty and Barney Hill abduction story, supported by various pieces of testimonial and circumstantial evidence. It places their experience within the broader context of UFO phenomena, highlighting the challenges of proving such extraordinary claims. Despite the skepticism that often accompanies these stories, the enduring fascination with the possibility of extraterrestrial life continues to captivate the public imagination.

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

26-05-2024 om 21:31 geschreven door peter  

Amid rising Cold War tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, anxiety over a missile gap soon led to an arms race, while wild rumours about the other’s technological innovation soon became rife.

The conspiracy theory: the US government covered up the crash of an alien spacecraft

In late June 1947, W W ‘Mac’ Brazel, a rancher living in New Mexico, discovered an unusual debris field on his land near Roswell.

Days later, he alerted the local authorities, who in turn notified Roswell Army Air Field (RAAF). Military personnel were dispatched to the location whereupon they supposedly recovered material from a damaged extraterrestrial spacecraft and even the bodies of its alien crew.

The base issued a statement confirming that a “flying disc” had been recovered in the vicinity and “inspected at the Roswell Army Air Field”. Yet the following day a correction was released that clarified the debris was in fact a downed weather balloon.

• Read more | Why we should remember the Roswell incident

Decades later, in 1978, the so-called ‘Roswell incident’ returned to the spotlight. According to a whistle-blower who had been involved in the operation, the weather balloon story was a cover-up. Photographs of the balloon wreckage had been carefully staged, while the actual spacecraft was spirited away for investigation. At the same time, everyone connected to the incident was sworn to silence.

Researchers tracked down several witnesses who corroborated that a crashed alien spaceship had indeed been salvaged and taken to the enigmatic Area 51 in Nevada where technicians had subsequently reverse-engineered it for the US military.

Not only that, but it was said that extraterrestrial beings had been retrieved from the crash site and had been subjected to autopsies.

What is the source of the theory?

To understand the origins of the Roswell incident, historian and broadcaster, David Clarke, believes it is necessary to begin two weeks earlier on 24 June 1947 and over 1,000 miles northwest.

“Kenneth Arnold, who was a private pilot, was out flying a small aircraft over the Cascade [Range] mountains in Washington state,” says Clarke, who was speaking on our Conspiracy podcast series. “As he was flying towards Mount Rainier, in the distance he saw what he described as a formation of ‘strange aircraft’. They were flying in echelon formation, the way that geese or ducks [do].”

Arnold reckoned that these strange vessels, which he later described as ‘batwing-shaped’, were travelling at supersonic speed. Incidentally, the sound barrier would not be broken until 14 October later that same year by US Air Force officer, Charles Yeager.

“He radioed Yakima airbase and when he landed … [it had been] transmitted all around the United States that this guy had seen some weird objects in the sky. He was surrounded by newspaper reporters,” says Clarke.

His description of the objects’ movement as being akin to a saucer skipping over a pond caught journalists’ imagination, who coined the term ‘flying saucer’.

“The story went viral to use a modern expression,” says Clarke.

“Within 48 hours of Kenneth Arnold reporting what he’d seen, flying saucers were on the newswires across the United States, across North America and Europe. And people started seeing and reporting saucer-shaped flying objects in the sky”.

It was during this craze that the RAAF dispatched Major Jesse Marcel and Captain Sheridan Cavitt to inspect the debris found near Roswell.

But whereas Cavitt maintained that the wreckage was ostensibly ‘normal’, Marcel convinced himself “that it was something very, very unusual and not something that was manufactured in the United States”, explains Clarke.

The reasons why the theory of the Roswell Incident took hold

The airbase’s correction, insisting that the discovery was in fact that of a weather balloon, negated the idea that something more peculiar had been found. That summer in New Mexico soon faded from popular memory – at least for the time being.

“I’ve got a huge collection of books on UFOs and flying saucers from the 1950s up to the present,” says Clarke, “the Roswell incident is not mentioned in any of those books and articles and magazines during the 1950s, during the 1960s”.

Decades later, after trust in the US government had been badly damaged in the wake of the JFK assassination and the unpopular Vietnam War, a more cynical audience was primed to reconsider the official narrative around the Roswell incident.

• Read more | How UFOs conquered the world – without firing a shot

Clarke believes that this context is the reason why the 1980 book The Roswell Incident by Charles Berlitz and William Moore was so successful in introducing the idea of a government cover-up.

“They went and re-interviewed some of the people who were there at the time. Jesse Marcel, for instance – there’s no other way to describe him – he was a UFO believer. He bought into the idea that flying saucers were craft from outer space,” says Clarke.

According to conspiracists like Marcel, the cover-up even entailed intimidating would-be whistle-blowers with murder: “‘Bullets are cheap’ was the phrase that was used,” explains Clarke.

“There are people who worked in the morgue at Roswell [who] said that they remembered this truck turning up with armed guards and these small bodies of creatures being offloaded”.

By the end of the 20th century, the Roswell incident had acquired an iconic status within the ufology community but also within popular culture generally. During the 1990s, the conspiracy was woven into the X-Files TV drama series and the blockbuster movie, Independence Day.

“That shows how much it’s become a part of the collective American imagination – almost to rival the JFK conspiracies,” says Clarke.

The evidence that debunks the Roswell Incident

The UFO ‘wreckage’ that Brazel came across on his ranch – and later confirmed by Cavitt – consisted of balsa wood, tinfoil, metal strips and other detritus.

As was officially established that summer, these materials, though certainly incongruous to the location in which they were found, were the remnants of a high-altitude balloon.

Clarke points out that “there was a cover-up in some respects, in that when they announced that this thing that had been found was just a weather balloon that wasn’t true because it wasn’t just a weather balloon, it was [part of] a top secret balloon experiment”.

In 1994, the US Congress launched an official investigation into the events of summer 1947. Its conclusions formed part of a two-volume report that revealed that a highly clandestine operation code-named ‘Mogul’ had been conducted at the time from Alamogordo Army Air Field, less than 150 miles west of Roswell.

“The US Navy and the CIA were launching enormous balloon trains from Alamogordo. Everyone will remember at the beginning of 2023, the Chinese spy balloon that was shot down by the US Air Force. A very similar thing was going on in 1947,” says Clarke, citing a recent incident that sparked speculation about alien aircraft visiting Earth.

With the Cold War just getting underway at the time, the US was keen to establish whether the Soviets were conducting nuclear tests.

“They were sending these enormous balloons up,” explains Clarke, “and they were riding the jet stream across the Atlantic, and they had a gondola underneath with cameras inside and a radiosonde where they could track the balloons”.

“One of these balloon trains in the logbook from Alamogordo was lost in the desert shortly before the debris [at Brazel’s ranch] was found,” says Clarke – though he stresses that a direct link between the two cannot be definitively made despite the circumstances.

A few years later, in 1997, the US Air Force published another report. One of its findings attributed the reports about humanoid ‘creatures’ turning up at facilities in and around Roswell to false memories.

According to Clarke, the report “tried to explain where some of the ideas about bodies being retrieved from the desert came from”.

As part of that later investigation, “it turned out that they were actually throwing dummies from aircraft over the desert”.

These tests were part of a secret programme to assess the effect on the human body if pilots ejected from aircraft and fell from high altitudes.

For Clarke, the Roswell incident also bears many of the age-old tropes about celestial visitors descending to Earth in a revelatory fashion.

“Effectively you could see the aliens in the flying saucer as being representative of gods or angels coming to give us their sacred knowledge. And they always crash in a remote area. They’re never crashing in Tunbridge Wells or anywhere like that. It’s always some remote area of desert”.

More than this, Clarke asserts that Roswell became an urban legend for the atomic age and that its DNA is typical of American folklore.

He cites the case of Aurora, Texas – where, in 1897, a UFO allegedly collided with a windmill. The locals “retrieved the body of this Martian pilot, buried it in the local cemetery, and they retrieved bits of metal from this airship that had hieroglyphics on it”.

Clarke says that this was in fact a hoax concocted to attract visitors to the small town after the railway had bypassed it, and he notes that the story is almost “a carbon copy of the Roswell incident”.

Perhaps the most expedient angle on Roswell is that the longevity of this conspiracy theory serves the US military’s interests and may even explain why some ex-military and ex-intelligence personnel have gone on record to suggest that extraterrestrials crashed there in 1947.

For example, ongoing rumours about Area 51 and the back-engineering of otherworldly technology makes for a formidable strategy.

“There’s no two ways about it that there’s some very good evidence that they just encourage that story because it’s a useful disinformation tool against an enemy … don’t mess with us because we’ve got alien technology,” says Clarke.

As conspiracy theories go, he believes that Roswell is among the more ‘harmless’ ones. “The idea that out there in the cold dead Universe there is someone who is interested in us, that we’re not alone, that they’re going to come and save us, that’s quite a comforting thought,” says Clarke, “and I think that out of all the conspiracy theories and myths, this is probably the most positive one of all”.

Earlier this year the US Government admitted that it has developed, tested and flown prototype aircraft some of which have been seen and reported as UFOs.

The Pentagon said “some of these systems had a ‘saucer’ or triangle-shaped appearance and were capable of hovering aloft”.

The US Department of Defence’s All Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), released the first volume of its historical investigation of UAP (unidentified anomalous phenomena) in February.

The report traces military technology linked to UFOs back to the end of the second world war and the famous Roswell incident of 1947. It says that all the evidence points to “misidentified authentic highly sensitive national security programs”.

{ https://www.historyextra.com/ }

26-05-2024 om 21:03 geschreven door peter  

Lieutenant Colonel Charles Halt was deputy base commander at RAF Bentwaters in Suffolk at the time of the Rendlesham Forest incident in 1980 and blew the whistle after an extraordinary sequence of events

Two airmen carrying out patrols of the nuclear base were sent into the forest to investigate a strange object seen to land there. What they saw that night became one of the most compelling UAP military sightings mysteries of all time, anywhere in the world.

READ MORE: 

• Agonising last moments of tragic teen who made fatal mistake and instantly knew

American commander Lieutenant Colonel Charles Halt added credibility to the sightings, when he recorded a memo claiming he saw another unidentified object in the forest two nights later.

The memo found its way into the British military archives and was eventually declassified and released by the US government. It described an encounter with an apparent UFO in the forest.

The sighting even made a News of the World front page story proclaiming " UFO LANDS IN SUFFOLK, And that's OFFICIAL"

But the Ministry of Defence said the event posed no risk to national security and was never investigated as a security matter. Government agents were later accused of a cover up.

7NEWS Australia journalist, Ross Coulthart interviewed Lt Col Halt in 2009 and reposted his chat on YouTube earlier this week, attracting almost 200,000 views at the time of writing.

In it, Lt Col Halt recalls witnessing a glowing object that was metallic in appearance, "bright-orangeish-red like fire" with coloured lights.

As he attempted to approach it, it appeared to move through the trees sending animals on a nearby farm "into a frenzy."

He said: "The first thing I saw out of the ordinary was when we were standing at the site, measuring and taking radiation readings and trying to ascertain what this thing was.

"I looked up through the forest and towards the coast. I can best describe it as something looking like an eye with a black centre. The object at first was very stable, still. But it was the equivalent of dripping molten metal. Something was shedding off it and drifting onto the ground."

From 200m away, he added: "When the object started moving towards us, it moved forward from the field into the forest...it's moving thorough the trees going up and down...it was under some kind of intelligent control. It had to be to avoid the trees.

"Then it came towards us at one point and then it receded. It went away. It went back into the field and stayed there for a few seconds and then silently it exploded into white objects and they just disappeared."

Lt Col Halt added: "We went out into the field after the object disappeared and we're searching around with our flashlights looking for some evidence because obviously something was dripping off this object, or appeared to be. And I thought there has be be some slag, some residue, something on the ground or some burn marks or something. And the only thing we found is evidence of being cattle there.

"We didn't find anything at all. And while we were out there searching around, we saw objects in the sky to the north. They were bright objects, they changed shape from half moon to elliptical to full circles."

Lt Col Halt said he requested air traffic experts check radar systems which drew a blank. He descrbed the beams as moving at "very high speed," adding: "They were sort of synchronised. They would move in sharp angular movements as though they were doing a grid search or something...It didn't make any sense to me and I'm puzzled at this point.

"Then we turned and looked, somebody saw one to the south, and then another one to the south...it was closest to us (and) came almost directly overhead at very high speed and stopped. It was stationary.

"We were standing there in awe then all of a sudden, a beam came down (from more than 1,000ft above), right to the side of us. It was an interesting beam, it was concentrated, it did not radiate. It came down like a laser.

"It illuminated a spot on the ground around 10 or 12ft away...I'm thinking is this a warning? Is this communication? What is this? What do we do now? And just as abruptly as it came on, click, it went off."

Police were called to the scene but reported that the only lights they could see were from the nearby Orford Ness lighthouse.

The next morning, servicemen returned to a small clearing and found three small impressions on the ground in a triangular pattern as well as burn marks and broken branches on nearby trees, but police concluded the indents had been made by an animal.

Lt Col Halt, who held one of the highest positions in the US military, made a 20-minute tape recording of his sighting and wrote a memo just days later which he sent to the Ministry of Defence.

But he claims there was a cover-up by a clandestine agency.

In his new introduction to the interview, journalist Ross Coulthart states: "...what he (Halt) told me stunned me. He was a man, one rank below a general, revealing what he believed was a conspiracy by the US military and the British military to conceal what was clearly some kind of intelligently controlled, highly technologically advanced object moving through a forest, immediately adjacent to a base crammed full of dangerous nuclear weapons.

"Why on earth would the Americans and the British want to supress such an incident?

"There's a great story told by an author called Georgia Bruny and she tells of how she met the British prime minister at the time, Margaret Thatcher, and she asked her about the Rendlesham Forest incident....Margaret Thatcher leaned across to her at a dinner party and said: 'You can't tell the people.'"

Nearly half a century on, mystery still surrounds the incident dubbed "Britain's Roswell" - named after the alleged UFO crash in the New Mexico desert in July 1947.

Sceptics have disregarded the sightings as nocturnal lights, the Orford Ness Lighthouse, bright stars or a possible hoax.

Since then, the sightings have been the source of much debate and speculation among UFO enthusiasts and the subject of numerous books, articles and TV programmes.

The forest even has its own official UFO trail, complete with a life-size replica of a flying saucer.

After the fascinating story resurfaced on YouTube, hundreds of viewers flocked to share their thoughts.