The purpose of this blog is the creation of an open, international, independent and free forum, where every UFO-researcher can publish the results of his/her research. The languagues, used for this blog, are Dutch, English and French.You can find the articles of a collegue by selecting his category. Each author stays resposable for the continue of his articles. As blogmaster I have the right to refuse an addition or an article, when it attacks other collegues or UFO-groupes.
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Deze blog is opgedragen aan mijn overleden echtgenote Lucienne.
In 2012 verloor ze haar moedige strijd tegen kanker!
In 2011 startte ik deze blog, omdat ik niet mocht stoppen met mijn UFO-onderzoek.
BEDANKT!!!
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UFO'S of UAP'S, ASTRONOMIE, RUIMTEVAART, ARCHEOLOGIE, OUDHEIDKUNDE, SF-SNUFJES EN ANDERE ESOTERISCHE WETENSCHAPPEN - DE ALLERLAATSTE NIEUWTJES
UFO's of UAP'S in België en de rest van de wereld Ontdek de Fascinerende Wereld van UFO's en UAP's: Jouw Bron voor Onthullende Informatie!
Ben jij ook gefascineerd door het onbekende? Wil je meer weten over UFO's en UAP's, niet alleen in België, maar over de hele wereld? Dan ben je op de juiste plek!
België: Het Kloppend Hart van UFO-onderzoek
In België is BUFON (Belgisch UFO-Netwerk) dé autoriteit op het gebied van UFO-onderzoek. Voor betrouwbare en objectieve informatie over deze intrigerende fenomenen, bezoek je zeker onze Facebook-pagina en deze blog. Maar dat is nog niet alles! Ontdek ook het Belgisch UFO-meldpunt en Caelestia, twee organisaties die diepgaand onderzoek verrichten, al zijn ze soms kritisch of sceptisch.
Nederland: Een Schat aan Informatie
Voor onze Nederlandse buren is er de schitterende website www.ufowijzer.nl, beheerd door Paul Harmans. Deze site biedt een schat aan informatie en artikelen die je niet wilt missen!
Internationaal: MUFON - De Wereldwijde Autoriteit
Neem ook een kijkje bij MUFON (Mutual UFO Network Inc.), een gerenommeerde Amerikaanse UFO-vereniging met afdelingen in de VS en wereldwijd. MUFON is toegewijd aan de wetenschappelijke en analytische studie van het UFO-fenomeen, en hun maandelijkse tijdschrift, The MUFON UFO-Journal, is een must-read voor elke UFO-enthousiasteling. Bezoek hun website op www.mufon.com voor meer informatie.
Samenwerking en Toekomstvisie
Sinds 1 februari 2020 is Pieter niet alleen ex-president van BUFON, maar ook de voormalige nationale directeur van MUFON in Vlaanderen en Nederland. Dit creëert een sterke samenwerking met de Franse MUFON Reseau MUFON/EUROP, wat ons in staat stelt om nog meer waardevolle inzichten te delen.
Let op: Nepprofielen en Nieuwe Groeperingen
Pas op voor een nieuwe groepering die zich ook BUFON noemt, maar geen enkele connectie heeft met onze gevestigde organisatie. Hoewel zij de naam geregistreerd hebben, kunnen ze het rijke verleden en de expertise van onze groep niet evenaren. We wensen hen veel succes, maar we blijven de autoriteit in UFO-onderzoek!
Blijf Op De Hoogte!
Wil jij de laatste nieuwtjes over UFO's, ruimtevaart, archeologie, en meer? Volg ons dan en duik samen met ons in de fascinerende wereld van het onbekende! Sluit je aan bij de gemeenschap van nieuwsgierige geesten die net als jij verlangen naar antwoorden en avonturen in de sterren!
Heb je vragen of wil je meer weten? Aarzel dan niet om contact met ons op te nemen! Samen ontrafelen we het mysterie van de lucht en daarbuiten.
30-09-2025
UFOs, Aliens, and the Problem of Evil
UFOs, Aliens, and the Problem of Evil
What is the psychological significance of the UFO or UAP phenomenon?
We tend to fear and project our shadow onto strangers.
Evil is, and should be, one of life's "ultimate concerns."
It is incumbent upon us to recognize, acknowledge, and constructively address the reality of evil.
The mysterious phenomenon of UFOs or UAPs inevitably touches on matters of religion, spirituality, morality, and psychology, including our innate quest for meaning and, especially, on the perennial problem of evil. We humans possess a primal, perhaps instinctual proclivity to perceive and deem that which we do not understand, i.e., the unknown, as negative, destructive, or evil.
In Part 1 of this post, I addressed some of the psychological dynamics and existential needs (e.g., meaninglessness and alienation in a mysterious cosmos, dread of the stranger or "other," seeking a messianic "ultimate rescuer," etc.) that can foster belief in UFOs, extraterrestrial visitation or abduction, etc.
Fervent, far-fetched, unswerving and unlikely reports with absolutely no objective evidence or corroboration can, in some cases, sound like the stuff of delusions or hallucinations heard every day in psychiatric wards around the world. And like hallucinations and delusions, these reported experiences can sometimes serve as a sort of projective test, revealing hidden conflicts, fears, resentments, repressed memories, traumas, and anxieties (and sometimes positive feelings, wishes, talents, potentialities, aspirations or beliefs) not only in the psyche of individual experiencers but deeply rooted in our collective unconscious psyche as well.
However, having said all that, this is in no way intended by me to dismiss or deny the objective reality of the UFO or UAP phenomenon but rather only to provide some psychological context within which to try to better comprehend, explain, and come to terms with it. Given some of the most recent information and imagery released by the government, for example, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, chair of a federal declassification task force, telling Joe Rogan (August, 2025) that she’s seen classified photos of objects “not created by mankind,” New York Times articles (2018, 2020) on UAPs offering several images of unidentified objects captured via video by the U.S. military, and thousands of eye-witness accounts by airline pilots, military personnel, police, etc., and other reliable and credible witnesses, it can no longer be denied that strange objects have been observed.
As with Hermann Rorschach's famous inkblots, we tend to project our deepest hopes and fears onto such enigmatic and ambiguous phenomena. Indeed, human beings are prone, as C.G. Jung theorized in his concept of the "shadow," to project our own capacity for evil onto the "other"--be they our partner, neighbor, co-worker, or someone of a different race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, gender, political leaning, or sexual orientation--thus preserving our narcissistic and one-sided, unidimensional image of ourselves as being good, kind, caring people while consciously or unconsciously harboring hostility, hatred, resentment, distrust, and dread of the unknown other or stranger.
What is a demon? It is a creature not of this world. Foreign to us in almost every way. They traveled to us with magic we probably don't understand.
This dangerous and destructive dynamic is exemplified today in the excessive polarization, paranoia, and interpersonal hostility pervading American culture, manifesting in racism, antisemitism, political enmity, and defensive isolationism. But other nations and people engage in similar projection of the shadow, in the process, dehumanizing, devaluing, and demeaning the perceived enemy.
Human beings historically harbor a primal fear of the "other" and the "unknown" and superstitiously see them as threatening harbingers of evil, whether these are people of different races, ethnicities, nationalities, or religions or uninvited and unwelcome strangers from outer space. We project our so-called shadow, viewing them as the evil enemy. (See, for example, former PT contributing editor Sam Keen's 1991 book Faces of the Enemy.) Consequentially, we are prone to attacking, verbally or physically, the unknown object of our fears, which causes untold interpersonal and international conflict and unspeakable suffering.
On the other hand, belief in UFOs and alien beings can be a way of wishing to be rescued from evil, much like the belief in a loving and good god or messiah (see my prior post on the messiah complex). This presumes the intrinsic benevolence and goodness of aliens. But is the problem or existential reality of evil indigenous to the human race or could it be present in extraterrestrial civilization as well? Whatever these foreign objects and their occupants (or remote or robotic pilots) are and wherever they come from, they have now become an integral part of our modern collective myth, for better or worse.
To many folks, the only difference is their motivations. Are they here to be friend or foe? Whether they got here via science or magic is meaningless compared to how they want to greet us?
If aliens, assuming they truly exist, eventually turn out not to be trustworthy, demonstrating hostility, aggression, malice, evil intentions and pose a mortal threat to humanity, as depicted for example in H.G. Wells' (1897) science fiction novel War of the Worlds, they will need to be fought and resisted despite their superior technology if humanity is to survive. That they even possess or represent such a potentiality for evil is for some people frightening reason enough to deny their existence entirely. Not to mention the shattering impact that the reality of alien life would have on our religious, philosophical, and scientific beliefs.
Of course, another at least equally likely scenario in any close encounter with aliens has humanity as the initial aggressor, violently attacking these possibly well-intentioned, empathic, and peaceful visitors, as portrayed in another classic 1951 sci-fi flick The Day the Earth Stood Still. Indeed, it is at least equally possible that such enigmatic alien entities mean no harm by their presence or may actually wish to help society and humanity survive and thrive. That their mission here is to save us from ourselves.
Have evolved extraterrestrials, very unlike humanity, found some way to transcend, mitigate, or even eliminate the pernicious problem of evil that has plagued humanity from time immemorial? If so, would that make them immune to the tendency toward evil? Is this even a realistic possibility? It represents an optimistic but potentially very naive and, therefore, risky view which to assume would be wishful thinking. Because many people tend, as did humanistic psychologist Carl Rogers, to believe in the intrinsic goodness of others, we will likely give any extraterrestrial visitors the benefit of the doubt initially, presuming that by providing them a warm, friendly, supportive, empathic welcome (demonstrating "positive regard") they will choose to respond in kind. Perhaps.
But until we know for certain much more about these supposedly extraterrestrial strangers, whomever or whatever they are, we would do well to keep in mind the existential capacity for evil, not only potentially in them but especially in ourselves. For all we know, the problem of evil may reside inherently and exclusively in the terrestrial human condition but, then again, could turn out to be a pervasive and ubiquitous universal reality, one which, as here on Earth, can lead to catastrophic consequences when denied, minimized, or ignored.
Just like not every demon is evil.
The phenomenon of human evil, if proven to be indigenous and exclusive to our species, can be conceived of as a kind of malignant cancer capable in the future of metastasizing to the farthest reaches of creation. Thus it is crucial for we human beings to better comprehend the psychology of evil. The more we are willing to study, confront, and acknowledge the phenomenon of human evil, doing our best to understand, mitigate and control it, the less likely we are to engage in evil directed toward aliens, be they human or extraterrestrial. It is only natural to hope that visiting aliens have transcended, outgrown or eliminated the evil tendencies with which we humans still so tragically struggle.
The more likely scenario is that, if extraterrestrials do indeed exist, they are, for better or worse, probably something like us: creatures inherently capable of both good and evil.
References
Diamond, S.A. (1996). Anger, madness, and the daimonic: The psychological genesis of violence, evil, and creativity. SUNY Press.
Diamond, S.A. (2026). Forthcoming: "The psychology and psychotherapy of evil: Encountering the daimonic." In Hoffman, L. (Ed.) (2026). APA handbook of humanistic and existential psychology. APA books.
New York Times. April 28, 2020. U.S. Navy Releases Videos of Unexplained Flying Objects
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What Do Scientists And NASA Actually Think Of Aliens And UFOs?
What Do Scientists And NASA Actually Think Of Aliens And UFOs?
The truth is out there.
James Felton
Seeing this would certainly clear things up.
Image credit: Marko Aliaksandr/Shutterstock.com
If you believe certain, odder, corners of the Internet, scientists are either too arrogant to investigate the possibility of alien life visiting Earth, or actively involved in a cover-up.
But what do scientists really think about UFOs, and aliens more generally? Are they interested in the phenomenon, and do they think it worthy of further investigation? And do they think alien life will exist at all?
Fortunately, not only are scientists interested in studying the topic, they are even interested in studying whether they are interested in the topic. There are several surveys asking these kinds of questions, with some surprising answers, even if some of the results should be taken with a generous pinch of salt.
Let's start with the more general questions. In a study published in January 2025, researchers from Durham University surveyed 521 astrobiologists and 534 non-astrobiologist scientists on whether they believe life and intelligent life exists out there in the universe.
"The results reveal that 86.6% of the surveyed astrobiologists responded either 'agree' or 'strongly agree' that it’s likely that extraterrestrial life (of at least a basic kind) exists somewhere in the universe," Professor in Philosophy of Science, Peter Vickers, explained in a Durham University blog post.
"Less than 2% disagreed, with 12% staying neutral. So, based on this, we might say that there’s a solid consensus that extraterrestrial life, of some form, exists somewhere out there."
The team found that scientists were optimistic about intelligent life too. 67.4 percent of astrobiologists and 58.2 percent of non-astrobiologists agreed that complex and intelligent life exists out there in the cosmos, though as Vickers points out, given the sheer number of stars out there you could call these numbers quite pessimistic indeed.
How about UFOs and UAPs? These topics have been a little more taboo in scientific circles over the last century. Though scientists are slowly taking it more seriously, with projects like the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) and its evil twin METI, for the large part scientists do not want to discuss the possibility that UFOs and UAPs could be alien visitors. Of course, this could largely be because there is little convincing evidence to suggest that they are, even if some video footage is intriguing and worthy of investigation.
But there have been anonymous surveys which have attempted to gauge scientists' beliefs on the topic. In 2023, a team from the University of Virginia did just this, asking scientists with tenure or on the tenure track at top research universities whether they or anyone close to them had witnessed "anything of unknown origin to you that might fit the U.S. government’s definition of a UAP".
The survey found that 18.9 percent of respondents said that they had, while a further 8.7 percent responded "maybe". The survey did not ask for further details of these incidents, but asked if there was anything else they would like the researchers to know.
“My entire family and I witnessed a UFO around 1976. It was over our house in the rural northeast (state redacted). Two of my siblings saw it, while the rest of us in the house felt it shake and heard a loud noise. We were eating dinner and the shaking was so intense that we all ran outside," one anonymous academic responded.
“I saw an unidentified flying object as a child in (state redacted) (with my sibling) – which my parents didn’t believe. The news reported that others saw it, too," another added, while a third said they had witnessed two UAPs.
“I used to tell people, but they thought I was crazy or lying – so now I’m silent," they added.
Though interesting that some academics do believe they have seen a UAP, it should be noted that the survey respondents were self-selecting and chose to fill in a survey about UFOs, and so perhaps are not reflective of the scientific community as a whole. In fact, the team reported that they received hostile responses to the survey email, with one even writing "tenure might be tricky for you – good luck.”
Despite the stigma, studies into the topics of UAPs are slowly making their way into the mainstream, particularly with the recent US government hearings on it. NASA, too has released its own reports on UAPs. While they did not find any evidence that UAPs are of extraterrestrial origin, they cannot say for certain what each UAP is, but they will continue to investigate.
"The mission of NASA is to find out the unknown," former astronaut Bill Nelson said as the report was released. "I've said several times in my comments today that we deal openly, and we will be transparent on this."
In short, scientists are interested in the topic too, and want to investigate further, even if the answer doesn't turn out to be "it's aliens".
Als er een ruimtewedloop is, lijkt China deze al te winnen: NASA’s Mars-monsters en de race om Mars-monsters terug naar de Aarde
Als er een ruimtewedloop is, lijkt China deze al te winnen: NASA’s Mars-monsters en de race om Mars-monsters terug naar de Aarde
Een illustratie van NASA's Perseverance-rover naast een voorraad verzegelde Marsmonstervoorzieningen. De rover heeft 30 geologische monsters op Mars verzameld, maar NASA's geplande missie om ze op te halen is vertraagd.
(Beeldkrediet: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Inleiding
Er wordt momenteel veel gesproken over een mogelijke ruimtewedloop tegen Mars. Een opvallende opmerking luidt: als er al een race is, dan lijkt China deze al te winnen, en NASA zal waarschijnlijk geen Mars-monsters (monsters) eerder terughalen naar de Aarde dan China. Experts wijzen erop dat traditionele tijdlijnen en technologische mijlpalen steeds vaker onder druk komen te staan door geopolitieke belangen, technologische doorbraken en de enorme complexiteit van een Mars Sample Return-missie. Dit artikel verkent de context, de stand van zaken en wat dit betekent voor de toekomst van de verkenning van de Rode Planeet.
1. Achtergrond
Waarom Mars-samples terug naar de Aarde zo aantrekkelijk zijn Het verzamelen en terugbrengen van Mars-monsters naar de Aarde is een unieke kans om een schat aan wetenschappelijke informatie direct te analyseren met de precisie en instrumentatie die op Aarde ontbreekt op een ruimtevaartuig. Terwijl robots op Mars rovers en landers laten zien wat mogelijk is, biedt een wetenschappelijk laboratorium op Aarde de mogelijkheid tot diepgravende analyses op moleculair, isotopisch en biogeochemisch niveau. De belofte is simpel maar enorm: om graffiti-achtige tekens van vroeg leven, geologische processen en de geschiedenis van de planeet beter te begrijpen dan ooit tevoren.
Toch is een Mars Sample Return (MSR) missie een van de meest ambitieuze en risicovolle ondernemingen in de ruimtevaart. Het vereist coördinatie over meerdere ruimtemissies, strikte contaminatiecontrole, veiligheid op aarde en een dure investeringslijn die decennia kan overspannen. Die combinatie van technologische complexiteit en operationele verwikkelingen legt een hoge lat voor tijdlijnen en budgetten. Daarom zien experts MSR als een langetermijninspanning, waarbij elke stap een leerproces is.
Een "selfie" van China's Zhurong-rover en het Tianwen-1 landingsplatform op Mars in 2021.
Bron: China National Space Administration
2. NASA, MSR en de haalbaarheid op kortere termijn
Sinds het begin van de jaren 2000 heeft NASA MSR-ambities gekoesterd, maar de uitvoering is niet lineair verlopen. De huidige visie draait om een combinatie van een Mars-orbitalsessie, een lander en een sample-return missie die terugkeer naar de Aarde mogelijk maakt. De planning is ver verwijderd van een eenvoudige “lima” met een enkele vlucht. Er zijn cruciale technologische knelpunten, zoals het veilig ophalen van Marsboden met mondiaal contaminants en het betrouwbaar afleveren van monsters in een speciaal container op aarde, waar streng toezicht en controle op aanwezigheids- en opslagsystemen nodig zijn.
Daarnaast spelen budgettaire realiteiten en prioriteitsafwegingen in NASA’s bredere programma een grote rol. MSR vereist partnership en cofinanciering met andere ruimtevaartorganisaties en industriepartners. In het recente verleden zijn er stappen gezet zoals pre-voorbereidende studies, concept-ontwikkeling en demonstratie-activiteiten die de haalbaarheid vergroten, maar een concrete startdatum blijft onzeker. Daardoor ontstaat bij critici het beeld dat NASA mogelijk de tijd vooruit maakt op sommige vlakken, maar de totale terugkeer van Mars-monsters naar de Aarde een lange, complexe en gedeeltelijk onvoorspelbare onderneming blijft.
China heeft actief hun plannen voor aankomende ruimtemissies gedeeld, waaronder de asteroïdemissie, de Mars-monsterrterugbrengmissie en de missie naar Jupiter. Samen met hun ambitieuze robotische missies kondigde de CNSA in 2021 aan dat ze van plan zijn hun eerste bemande missie naar Mars te sturen in 2033, met als doel regelmatige missies naar Mars te sturen en uiteindelijk daar een basis te bouwen. China heeft ook hun Tiangong-ruimtestation, dat momenteel drie astronauten huisvest voor verblijven van zes maanden.
3. China’s ruimteprogramma
Op weg naar Mars-monsters terug naar huis China heeft de afgelopen jaren aangekondigd en vervolgens laten zien dat het mee wil doen aan het meest ambitieuze deel van de planetoid-wereld: een Mars-sample return. Het land heeft al een succesvol ruimtemissiesucces gevierd met de Tianwen-1 missie: een orbiter, een lander en een rover die gezamenlijk de Rode Planeet heeft onderzocht. De volgende stap, zo suggereren officiële aankondigingen en openbare plannen, is het ophalen van Mars-monsters en het terugbrengen naar de Aarde.
China’s aanpak wordt vaak geprezen om zijn gelikte randvoorwaarden: duidelijke doelstellingen, agressieve tijdlijnen en een cultuur van strakke uitvoering. De betrokkenheid van een robuuste ruimtevaartindustrie, een intensief test- en validatieprogramma en een streven naar geopolitieke invloed op het gebied van ruimteonderzoek, dragen eraan bij dat China’s plannen serieus worden genomen. Experts wijzen erop dat China niet alleen investeert in individuele missies, maar ook in de infrastructuur die nodig is om zulke missies te ondersteunen: grondstations in verschillende delen van de wereld, geavanceerde grondcontrole, en een rijp beleid voor ruimtevaartveiligheid en -beveiliging.
NASA-programmawetenschapper Lindsay Hays legt uit wat mogelijke tekenen van oud leven op andere werelden definieert en waarom deze nader onderzoek vereisen. De Perseverance-rover van NASA op Mars zoekt naar deze tekenen, verzamelt monsters voor toekomstige terugkeer naar de aarde en helpt de weg te effenen voor menselijke verkenning.
Bron: NASA/JPL-Caltech What is a Potential Biosignature?
4. Waarom de tijdlijnen zo anders uitpakken dan men zou verwachten
Technische complexiteit: Het terughalen van Mars-monsters vereist meerdere stappen: verregaande landers, sample caches op de maan of in een tweede voertuig, en een terugkeer-progamma dat monsters veilig naar de Aarde brengt en vervolgens in een controleert gecontroleerde bioveiligheidsomgeving onderzoekt. Elk van deze stappen heeft unieke ontwerpuitdagingen en testvereisten.
Contaminatiedeals en ruimtebodemhygiëne: Een van de grootste zorgen is het voorkomen van biologische of chemische verontreiniging, zowel van Mars naar Aarde als omgekeerd, wanneer monsters worden aangeraakt en geanalyseerd. De regelgeving en procedures voor biosafety zijn streng en vereisen uitgebreide validatie.
Politieke en financiële factoren:MSR-projecten financieren zich niet vanzelf. Veranderingen in politieke prioriteiten, economische omstandigheden en internationale samenwerking kunnen tijdlijnen flink beïnvloeden. De huidige geopolitieke context, gekenmerkt door belangrijke concurrentie in de ruimte, heeft de kosten en de politieke bereidheid om samen te werken kunnen beïnvloeden
Innovatie- en supply-keten uitdagingen: De benodigde systemen en onderdelen (zoals speciale weerbestendige containers en strikte contaminatiewaardesystemen) moeten wereldwijd worden ontwikkeld en geproduceerd, hetgeen logistieke vertragingen oplevert. Elk missertje in de supply chain kan de hele klok vertroebelen.
Na meerdere jaren en meerdere beoordelingen van het gezamenlijke NASA/Europese Ruimtevaartorganisatie MSR-project was er een schrikbarend prijskaartje. Vroege conceptuele kunstwerken tonen een door de VS geleid initiatief.
(Afbeelding tegoed: NASA/JPL/Caltech)
5. Geopolitieke realiteiten
De ruimte als theater van invloed De opkomst van een ruimtewedloop vol geopolitieke concurrentie heeft de dynamiek van missies veranderd. Voor sommige analisten is China al dichter bij de finishlijn dan NASA, omdat China sneller in staat blijkt te schakelen tussen planning, technologische ontwikkeling en uitvoering. Anderen merken op dat NASA, ondanks de doorbraaktempo en het succes van NASA’s Mars- en Artemis-programma’s, met zijn eigen stevige partnernetwerk en multinationale samenwerking, in staat zal zijn om MSR-ambities te realiseren, zij het mogelijk op een iets langere tijdschaal.
Toch blijft de onderstroom duidelijk: wie als eerste Mars-monsters op aarde kan ontvangen, zal niet alleen een wetenschappelijke prestatie leveren, maar ook een symbolische overwinning die de perceptie van leiderschap in de ruimtevaart bepaalt. In informele bewoordingen wordt er gezegd dat “als er een ruimtewedloop is, China deze al gewonnen heeft”—niet dat NASA geen significante wetenschappelijke vooruitgang boekt, maar dat de tijdlijn en de haalbaarheid van MSR er anders uitzien dan men in de vroege jaren 2000 had verwacht.
Waar te verzamelen, wat te verzamelen, hoe te verzamelen en hoe te analyseren wat wordt gevonden, wordt actief bestudeerd door functionarissen van het Chinese ruimtevaartprogramma.
(Beeldcredit: De Universiteit van Hong Kong)
China's routekaart voor een Marsmonstermissie die in 2028 gelanceerd zal worden.
(Beeldcredit: The University of Hong Kong/Zengqian Hou, et al.)
6. Wat betekent dit voor de wetenschap en de publieke perceptie?
Wetenschappelijke implicaties
Een succesvolle terugkeer van Mars-monsters zal de wetenschappelijke gemeenschap in staat stellen om analyses uit te voeren met hulp van state-of-the-art laboratoria op aarde. Dit kan leiden tot nieuwe inzichten in de geologie, de ontwikkeling van Mars en mogelijk signalen van vroeg leven of prebiotische chemische processen. De vooruitgang in analyse-technieken en de interoperabiliteit van internationale partners kunnen de kwaliteit en snelheid van wetenschappelijk begrip aanzienlijk verhogen.
Publieke perceptie en inspanning
Een duidelijke publieke boodschap over wie wanneer Mars-monsters terugbrengt, kan de publieke interesse in ruimtevaart versterken of juist tot discussies leiden over prioriteiten en uitgaven. Belangrijke ruimte-evenementen en persmomenten kunnen dienen als katalysator voor bredere belangstelling en educatieve projecten.
Beleidskaders en internationale samenwerking
De gespannen maar noodzakelijke dialoog tussen ruimtevaart agentschappen wereldwijd, met inbegrip van regels rondom veilige terugkeer, data sharing en aansprakelijkheid, zal cruciaal blijven. Internationale samenwerking kan missies haalbaarder maken, maar vereist ook duidelijke afspraken over eigendomsrechten van monsters, data en de verdeling van wetenschappelijke voordelen.
7.Conclusie:
Wat de toekomst ons leert Of China nu daadwerkelijk als eerste Mars-monsters naar de Aarde zal brengen, of NASA uiteindelijk de eerste officiële terugkeer zal realiseren, is voor het moment minder belangrijk dan wat deze race leert over de toekomst van ruimteverkenning. Het gaat niet alleen om de eindbestemming, maar om de weg ernaartoe: de technologische innovatie, de samenwerking tussen landen en sectoren, en de maatschappelijke dialogen over de waarde van onderzoek en ontdekking.
De uitspraak dat China mogelijk vooroploopt in de ruimtewedloop straalt een pragmatisme uit: de realiteit is dat zowel de technologische doorbraken als de geopolitieke omstandigheden voortdurend veranderen. In die zin is er geen eenvoudige winnaar in een dergelijke complexe onderneming. Wat wel vaststaat, is dat Mars-exploratie niet langer een eenvoudig “sciencefiction”-verhaal is. Het is nu een internationaal en multidisciplinair project waar elke morgen een stap dichter bij de Aarde mogelijk wordt gemaakt—en waarin de wereld toekijkt hoe twee grootmachten, en mogelijk anderen, de grenzen van wat mogelijk is opnieuw verleggen.
Eind noot
Het debat over wie Mars-monsters als eerste terugbrengt naar de Aarde, blijft een boeiend onderwerp voor ruimtefanaten, wetenschappers en beleidsmakers. Terwijl mengformuleringen over de ruimtewedloop bestaan, blijft één ding duidelijk: de technologische ontwikkeling, de internationale samenwerking en de publieke belangstelling voor Mars zullen in de komende decennia centraal staan. Of China nu wint in de perceptie, de realiteit blijft dat Mars-verkenning een collectieve menselijke onderneming is—een onderneming waarin elke stap, elke innovatie en elke samenwerking bijdraagt aan ons begrip van de Rode Planeet en ons eigen plek in het universum.
Pyramids in Egypt: Tombs or Rather Tools of Power?
Artistic visualization of a pharaoh supervising pyramid construction.
Pyramids in Egypt: Tombs or Rather Tools of Power?
Abstract
The pyramids of Egypt have long occupied a central place in scholarship, public imagination, and national identity. Traditionally viewed as royal tombs, these monuments also function as profound statements of political authority, religious ideology, economic organization, and social mobilization. This article reviews the evidence and debates surrounding the purpose of the pyramids, synthesizing archaeological, textual, architectural, and paleoeconomic data. It argues that while tomb function remains integral to pyramids’ meaning, their construction, layout, orientation, and associated practices reflect a broader set of tools through which kings projected power, coordinated labor, integrated state economies, and validated divine legitimacy. The discussion draws on Giza and Dahshur exemplars, aligns with developments in the Old Kingdom, and situates pyramids within longer trajectories of evolving royal ideology.
The Great Khufu pyramid looms behind the Sphinx at Giza, just outside Cairo, Egypt. The three large pyramids at Giza were built by King Khufu over a 30-year period around 2550 BCE with a newly discovered system of ramps.
Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Introduction
The question “tombs or tools of power?” captures a persistent tension in Egyptology: are the pyramids primarily repositories for the dead or are they dynamic instruments of sovereign authority? The answer, rather than a binary, lies in a nuanced synthesis of function, symbolism, and social practice. Pyramids are monumental expressions of the state—scales visible from afar, materials and labor logistics that reveal administrative reach, religious program that legitimizes rulers, and spatial configurations that perpetuate a ruler’s memory across generations. This article surveys core evidence and interprets it within a framework that foregrounds political economy, ritual legitimacy, and architectural innovation.
Historical and ideological context
The Old Kingdom (c. 2686–2181 BCE) witnessed the crystallization of centralized government under a series of dynastic rulers who leveraged monumental projects to assert legitimacy. The pyramid, an evolution from earlier mastaba tombs, embodies a shift toward enduring, geologically anchored monuments. The social and economic fabric of the state—corvée labor, provisioning systems, regional administration, and long-distance trade—enabled large-scale construction operations. Ideologically, pyramid complexes anchored the king as a god on earth, linking his earthly reign with cosmic order. The sun cult, celestial alignments, and mortuary cults contributed to a ritual economy in which the king’s cosmic venture could be sustained beyond his death. These features collectively suggest that pyramids functioned as state devices for mobilizing resources, legitimizing authority, and reinforcing the ruler’s place within a divine grain of order.
Depiction of laborers at work on pyramid construction
Architectural and spatial dimensions
Pyramids are not uniform; their forms—stepped, smooth, or partial—signal shifts in style and political aims. The earliest royal pyramids at Saqqara (e.g., Djoser’s Step Pyramid) introduced the concept of a monumental tomb enclosed within a sacred precinct, linking burial with a curated landscape of cult temples and processional way. The Giza plateau (Khufu, Khafre, Menkaure) epitomizes later apexes of scale and precision. The geometry, orientation to cardinal points, and the alignment with celestial or solar cults imbue pyramids with a cosmological function that transcends mere burial. The causeways, valley temples, queen’s pyramids, and satellite structures reveal a complex ritual geography designed to channel offerings, initiate mortuary cults, and sustain royal memory.
The Architecture of the Pyramids - Egypt Tours Portal
The tomb hypothesis:
Evidence and limits The explicit burial function is evident in chamber systems, protective substructures, and grave goods. Principal burial chambers and sarcophagi are central to the tomb narrative. Yet the sheer scale of the pyramids, the labor organization required, and the duration of construction imply more than a simple bequest of a tomb. The presence of extensive and durable mortuary cult spaces, inscriptions on blocks and in temples, and long-lasting cult activity suggests that pyramids were both tombs and ongoing political-religious instruments. In short, the tomb served as a focal point within a broader apparatus of power projection and ritual governance.
Power projection and state organization
A key line of evidence concerns the logistical and economic machinery that underwrote pyramid building. Large-scale labor mobilization relied on organized corvée and periods of vrijwillige labor with incentives. Settlement patterns, bakeries, quarries, and supply depots indicate a centralized procurement system with a robust command hierarchy. Quarried limestone, granite, and basalt required transport networks along the Nile and overland routes, signaling a sophisticated infrastructure for resource extraction and distribution. The ability to marshal such resources—without modern bureaucratic apparatus—speaks to a highly centralized political order that could command, schedule, and reward labor on a grand scale. The pyramid thus emerges not only as a royal repository but as a visible demonstration of state capacity and the ruler’s stewardship.
Ritual economy and the divinization of kingship
The intersection of mortuary cults with solar theology situates pyramids within a broader cosmology. The king’s association with the sun god Ra (and later local Solar cults) ties the pyramid to the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. Mortuary cults, processional routes, and temple complexes created a ritual economy in which offerings, prayers, and festivals sustained the king’s divine presence. By designing a monumental tomb that aligns with solar or stellar cycles and by situating the royal cult within a temple precinct, the ruler communicated a message: the king’s legitimacy is anchored in cosmic order and divine favor. The pyramid becomes a physical manifestation of divine kingship, a political technology that secures social cohesion and collective identity.
Economic dimensions and labor regimes
The pyramid projects reveal an advanced, organized economy. Workforce estimates vary, but the scale is indisputable: tens of thousands of laborers, artisans, and support personnel, organized in hierarchical teams with specialized roles. Seasonal labor cycles, provision systems, housing for workers, and medical or recreational facilities demonstrate a sophisticated approach to labor management. In addition to direct labor, a substantial network of suppliers—stone quarriers, metalworkers, carpenters, and symbolic artisans—contributed specialized knowledge. The economic impact extended beyond the workforce: provisioning required agricultural surpluses, storage facilities, and distribution channels across regions. The state thus used large-scale building as both a driver of economic activity and a mechanism to distribute wealth, incentivize loyalty, and integrate regional communities into a centralized project.
Construction Method of the Pyramids - Egypt Tours Portal
Archaeological and textual evidence
Archaeology provides material corroboration for a power-centered interpretation. Quarry marks, tool marks, transport tracks, and the organization of workspaces reveal the practicalities of construction and the magnitude of logistical operations. Inscriptions and reliefs within temple forecourts and mortuary temples underscore the king’s divine status, his role as cosmic steward, and his relationship to the state cult. While textual sources from the Old Kingdom are sparse, later inscriptions and literary traditions reflect consolidations of royal ideology that credit the pyramid projects with legitimizing the dynasty. The paucity of direct, contemporary administrative records poses interpretive challenges, but the convergence of architectural analysis, landscape archaeology, and signaled ritual programs yields a coherent picture of pyramids as manifestations of state power.
Debates and interpretations
Scholars have debated whether pyramids should be primarily considered tombs, monuments of power, or hybrids. Some argue for a “tomb-centric” reading, emphasizing burial chambers, grave goods, and the cultic memory of the deceased. Others stress the political economy of construction, arguing that pyramids primarily functioned as tools to organize labor, mobilize resources, and solidify the ruler’s legitimacy through monumental display. A synthesis understands pyramids as both; their tomb function is inseparable from their political, economic, and religious roles. The interpretation also depends on the broader project of state formation: in a highly centralized system with a powerful ruler and a sophisticated administrative apparatus, monumental architectures serve as both memory and mechanism for governance.
Case studies and regional variations Giza:
The plateau near Cairo became the apex of pyramid construction during the Fourth Dynasty. The scale, alignment to celestial axes, and proximity to royal cemeteries and vast mortuary landscapes reveal a sophisticated fusion of ritual, memory, and statecraft. The related causeways, temples, and subsidiary monuments show a coordinated complex designed to sustain royal cult and public display of power. This site is a paradigmatic example of how pyramids served as visible embodiments of kingly authority and social cohesion.
Photograph of the empty sarcophagus from the King’s Chamber of the Great Pyramid at Giza, which once housed Pharaoh Khufu’s mummy. The mummy was stolen long ago, but the sarcophagus remains.
Dahshur: The bent and red pyramids of Sneferu mark technical and ideological experiments in pyramid design. These early attempts reflect evolving ideas about the relationship between form, function, and cosmic symbolism. The development visible at Dahshur confirms the state’s enduring commitment to monumental projects, even as architectural details adapt to new political and religious objectives. The Dahshur examples illuminate the process by which political power sought to optimize architectural language for legitimacy, labor management, and ritual significance.
Sneferu and the transition to true pyramids:The transition from step and mixed forms to true smooth-sided pyramids signals a maturation of royal ideology and engineering prowess. This transition carries implications for the scale and discipline required from the state to realize increasingly complex monuments. The ability to translate early experimentation into enduring, durable forms further demonstrates the state’s capacity to project power through architectural innovation.
Implications for modern understanding
The pyramids’ dual role as tombs and tools of power has implications beyond Egyptology. They illustrate how states mobilize labor, harness resources, and structure a political-religious narrative through monumental architecture. They also remind scholars of the importance of integrating multiple modalities of evidence—archaeology, epigraphy, architecture, landscape studies, and economic history—to understand complex socio-political phenomena. In contemporary public discourse, the pyramids function as powerful symbols of state organization, technological ingenuity, and enduring cultural memory, reinforcing the need for careful, evidence-based interpretation rather than simplistic legends.
Methodological notes
This synthesis draws on diverse lines of evidence. Architectural analysis focuses on the geometry, alignment, and functional zoning within pyramid complexes. Archaeological data include labor organization, supply chains, and production facilities. Epigraphic and iconographic evidence, where available, illuminates the political theology surrounding kingship and mortuary cults. Economic history approaches examine provisioning, resource flows, and labor inputs. Integrating these strands helps avoid overly reductionist conclusions and supports a holistic understanding of pyramids’ roles in ancient society. It is crucial to acknowledge gaps, especially the fragmentary nature of early records and regional variability in practices.
Conclusion
Pyramids in Egypt are best understood as complex, multi-functional instruments of royal power. They function as tombs in the sense that they house and memorialize the deceased ruler and his cult, but their architectural form, scale, and integration with a vast ritual economy reveal a broader political purpose: to demonstrate and sustain the centralized authority of the king, mobilize resources and labor, and align the ruler with divine order. The interpretation of pyramids as “tombs or tools of power” is insufficient; instead, they should be read as synergistic systems where burial, cult, engineering prowess, and economic organization converge to project legitimacy, ensure social cohesion, and encode political memory. As monuments that controlled landscapes, labor flux, and ritual life, the pyramids crystallize the Old Kingdom state’s capacity to blend divine kingship with practical governance. They stand as enduring testaments to the ingenuity with which ancient Egyptian society articulated power, faith, and identity through monumental architecture.
In closing, the pyramids’ enduring mystery may lie less in a single purpose and more in their capacity to unify multiple functions—cosmology, governance, labor organization, and collective memory—into a single, visible emblem of unity and authority. The evidence supports a model in which tombs are essential anchors for mortuary cult and memory, but only within a broader framework of political economy and symbolic sovereignty that ultimately reveals the pyramids as powerful instruments of statecraft.
Huge fertility breakthrough as scientists create functional eggs from human SKIN cells: 'A step towards helping many women have their own genetic children'
Huge fertility breakthrough as scientists create functional eggs from human SKIN cells: 'A step towards helping many women have their own genetic children'
Infertility is something that affects millions of people around the world – often caused by problems with the egg.
Now, scientists have taken a huge step towards helping many women have their own genetic children.
Experts from Oregon Health & Science University have created fertilizable eggs from human skin cells for the very first time.
While further research is needed to ensure safety and efficacy before clinical trials can go ahead, experts have described the news as a 'major advance'.
'Many women are unable to have a family because they have lost their eggs, which can occur for a range of reasons including after cancer treatment,' said Professor Richard Anderson, Deputy Director of MRC Centre for Reproductive Health at the University of Edinburgh, who was not involved in the study.
'The ability to generate new eggs would be a major advance.
'This study shows that the genetic material from skin cells can be used to generate an egg–like cell with the right number of chromosomes to be fertilised and develop into an early embryo.
'There will be very important safety concerns but this study is a step towards helping many women have their own genetic children.'
Experts from Oregon Health & Science University have created fertilizable eggs from human skin cells for the very first time
For some couples struggling to conceive, in virto fertilization (IVF) can be an option.
This treatment sees the eggs fertilized by sperm in a lab, and the resulting embryo then placed in the woman's uterus.
However, if there's a problem with the egg itself, IVF can be ineffective.
Previous studies have suggested that a method called 'somatic cell transfer' could be an alternative approach.
This process involves transplanting the nucleus from one of a patient's own somatic cells (such as skin cells) into a donor egg cell with the nucleus removed, enabling the cell to differentiate into a functional egg.
However, while standard eggs have half the usual number of chromosomes (one set of 23), cells generated from skin cells have two sets of chromosomes (46).
Without intervention, this would cause the differentiated eggs to have an extra set of chromosomes.
So far, a method to remove this extra set has been developed and tested in mice – but is yet to be tried in humans.
For some couples struggling to conceive, in virto fertilization (IVF) can be an option. This treatment sees the eggs fertilized by sperm in a lab, and the resulting embryo then placed in the woman's uterus (stock image)
How does it work?
Somatic cell transfer involves transplanting the nucleus from a patient's own skin cells into a donor egg cell with the nucleus removed, enabling the cell to differentiate into a functional egg.
However, while standard eggs have half the usual number of chromosomes (23), cells generated from skin cells have two sets of chromosomes (46).
Without intervention, this would cause the differentiated eggs to have an extra set of chromosomes.
The team resolved this issue by inducing a process they've named 'mitomeiosis', which mimics natural cell division and causes one set of chromosomes to be discarded.
During tests, the researchers produced 82 functional eggs using this process, which were fertilised in a lab.
In their new study, the team resolved this issue by inducing a process they've named 'mitomeiosis'.
'[Mitomeiosis] mimics natural cell division and causes one set of chromosomes to be discarded, leaving a functional gamete,' the researchers explained in a statement.
During tests, the researchers were able to produce 82 functional eggs using this process, which were then fertilised in a lab.
Approximately nine per cent went on to develop the the blastocyst stage of embryo development.
However, the researchers did not culture the blastocysts beyond this point, which coincided with the time at which they would usually be transferred to the uterus in IVF treatment.
While the findings raise the tantalising possibility of women with problems with their eggs having their own genetic children, the experts note several limitations with their study.
Importantly, the vast majority (91 per cent) did not progress beyond fertilisation.
What's more, several of the blastocysts were found to contain chromosomal abnormalities.
Regardless, experts have called the research an 'exciting proof of concept'.
'This breakthrough, called mitomeiosis, is an exciting proof of concept,' said Professor Ying Cheong, a professor of reproductive medicine at the University of Southampton, who was not involved in the research.
'In practice, clinicians are seeing more and more people who cannot use their own eggs, often because of age or medical conditions.
'While this is still very early laboratory work, in the future it could transform how we understand infertility and miscarriage, and perhaps one day open the door to creating egg- or sperm-like cells for those who have no other options.'
In-vitro fertilisation, known as IVF, is a medical procedure in which a woman has an already-fertilised egg inserted into her womb to become pregnant.
It is used when couples are unable to conceive naturally, and a sperm and egg are removed from their bodies and combined in a laboratory before the embryo is inserted into the woman.
Once the embryo is in the womb, the pregnancy should continue as normal.
The procedure can be done using eggs and sperm from a couple or those from donors.
Guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends that IVF should be offered on the NHS to women under 43 who have been trying to conceive through regular unprotected sex for two years.
People can also pay for IVF privately, which costs an average of £3,348 for a single cycle, according to figures published in January 2018, and there is no guarantee of success.
The NHS says success rates for women under 35 are about 29 per cent, with the chance of a successful cycle reducing as they age.
Around eight million babies are thought to have been born due to IVF since the first ever case, British woman Louise Brown, was born in 1978.
Chances of success
The success rate of IVF depends on the age of the woman undergoing treatment, as well as the cause of the infertility (if it's known).
Younger women are more likely to have a successful pregnancy.
IVF isn't usually recommended for women over the age of 42 because the chances of a successful pregnancy are thought to be too low.
Between 2014 and 2016 the percentage of IVF treatments that resulted in a live birth was:
Investigative journalist Leslie Kean claimed she was in a meeting to contact the dead when a cloud-like “ectoplasm” appeared on a lit table, and within it a hand formed of a non-physical being. She said she touched it, and it felt very human.
In a 2022 podcastinterview with Rainn Wilson & Reza Aslan, investigative journalist Leslie Kean, who has spent years researching subjects like UFOs and the afterlife, recounted her experience of feeling the hand of what she claims was a non-physical being. She says the being manifested a real, physical human hand out of thin air, and she was able to hold it.
Kean explained that her work began from a skeptical, scientific approach; she only became more open to extraordinary possibilities after witnessing phenomena she couldn’t explain. She described her investigation of physical mediumship, where mediums in deep trance states allow “spirit entities” to communicate and produce physical phenomena, such as levitating objects or materializing objects in a room.
Kean detailed her own experiences observing these events, specifically mentioning a medium named Stuart Alexander, who underwent scientific controls while performing séances. She said that during these performances, substances called “ectoplasm” would appear, forming hands out of nothing which became tangible and interacted with the environment, such as banging on a table.
Kean emphasized that there is historic scientific literature describing these phenomena, some by Nobel prize-winning scientists, and that, according to her, genuine cases exist even if most people haven’t seriously studied this evidence.
Stewart Alexander said that he had practiced physical mediumship for over half a century, having started by joining spiritualist home circles. He explained that physical mediums seemed to have more ectoplasm within them than most people, and that this substance was important for creating physical phenomena in séances.
Stewart clarified that ectoplasm could be drawn from the medium’s body, such as the ears, nose, mouth, or solar plexus, and when first extracted, it appeared almost like smoke before the spirit world transformed it into something much more substantial. [From Jeffery Mishove interview]
Stewart said that, although he was the medium, he was usually unconscious during the trances, so most of his knowledge came from what other people told him afterward or what he had read in books about spiritualism and mediumship.
Some people in his home circle witnessed ectoplasm being produced and forming physical hands. Occasionally, the spirit “Walter” produced an etheric hand that people could see and touch, and Stewart said that sometimes people recognized the hands as those of children.
He explained that he did not allow filming or infrared cameras in the séance room, even when others wanted to capture the phenomena.
Stewart said he had concerns that, even with honest documentation, people might dismiss the footage as fake because modern technology could be used to simulate anything. He did not want to be thrust into the public spotlight or have his life disrupted. Stewart revealed that his mediumship was kept private, to the extent that his own sons did not know about it for decades.
Stewart described how, in his séances, harmony and trust among circle members were crucial for phenomena to occur. He said that whatever was achieved was due more to the collective energy and unity of the group than himself alone.
Stewart stated that the spirit team and the home circle worked together as a united team. He conducted both private home circles and some public séances, sometimes for organizations like the Noah’s Ark Society, and he believed that these sessions converted many skeptics into believers in survival beyond death.
Stewart talked about physical phenomena, like trumpets flying through the air during séances, which he saw at other mediums’ sittings but not in his own because he was usually in trance.
Sometimes voices of the deceased were heard through the trumpet. He also mentioned materializations, especially Dr. Barnett, a spirit who sometimes appeared as a solid human figure to heal people. He gave an example of a man who had a serious heart condition; after a séance where Dr. Barnett worked with him, the man’s heart improved dramatically and returned to normal, which doctors could not explain.
He described a few rarer experiences, such as the levitation of the chair he was sitting in, sometimes at public séances, and said that he trusted the spirit world completely during those moments. He explained that he was only a medium during séances and kept his spiritual life very separate from his family and business life.
Kean tied these experiences to a broader view that there’s a “hidden world” behind physical reality, suggesting that reality may be much more than what our senses perceive. She said her experiences have made her feel more connected to others and have expanded her sense of consciousness. She describes herself as now being open to more transcendent, non-material experiences.
She described how NDEs display universal features, such as out-of-body experiences, moving through tunnels, encountering beings of light, feelings of overwhelming peace, and panoramic life reviews.
She referenced cases like Maria and the shoe, a woman who saw a hidden shoe on a hospital roof during her NDE, later verified by a nurse. She shared the famous story of Pam Reynolds, who underwent a surgical operation that left her with no brain activity for an extended period. Despite her complete lack of brain function, Pam later described the tools and events in the operating room in detail that she could not have known, which was verified by medical staff.
Kean suggests that consciousness might not be strictly tied to the brain, likening the brain to a receiver or filter for a larger, possibly non-local consciousness. She points out that there are cases where people are able to report accurate events that took place while their brain was clinically inactive, which is difficult to explain by materialist science.
This view aligns with some contemporary medical researchers and philosophers who see consciousness as something fundamental, possibly more fundamental than matter.
Kean said that Death is certainly the end of the physical body, but she finds the evidence for some form of ongoing consciousness highly suggestive, though not absolutely definitive. She did not claim to know for sure what happens after death, but believes “something survives.”
She said that descriptions of NDEs and paranormal experiences often feel “more real than reality” to those who experience them, suggesting there may be other forms of reality parallel to the everyday physical world.
View of Magellan radar data of the surface of Venus, revealing a surface shaped by geological activity (Credit : NASA/JPL)
Venus is often called Earth's "sister planet" because of their similarities in size, mass, and composition. Both are rocky worlds that formed around the same time in the inner Solar System however, despite these similarities, Venus evolved into a world vastly different from Earth, with surface temperatures around 465°C, crushing atmospheric pressure 90 times greater than Earth’s and thick clouds containing sulphuric acid circling the planet. These dramatic differences between two such similar planets make Venus a fascinating subject for planetary scientists to study.
First view of Venus's surface. The first clear panoramic image taken by Venera 9 lander. This image was sent back in the lander's 53-minute lifetime 22 October 1975
(Credit : Ted Stryk)
Beyond their similar dimensions, Venus and Earth share another similarity, both planets are geologically active and have been shaped by volcanism. Venus's surface is dominated by vast volcanic plains, enormous shield volcanoes and vast lava flows. Like Earth, Venus has been resurfaced by molten rock erupting from its interior, creating landscapes that bear striking resemblances to volcanic regions on our own planet. Understanding these volcanic features, including the underground structures they create, offers a window into the geological processes that have shaped both worlds and provides clues about why they took such different evolutionary paths.
An international team led by Barbara De Toffoli from the University of Padova have been studying radar images and topographic data from earlier Venus missions. They focused their attention on the planet's large shield volcanoes, those exceeding 100 kilometres in diameter to search for signs of collapsed lava tubes. These features are natural tunnels that form when the surface of a lava flow cools and solidifies while hot lava continues to flow underneath. Once the lava drains away, it leaves behind a hollow tube. They identified four clear curving chains of pits that appear to mark where sections of underground tubes have collapsed.
These tubes have been found on the Moon and Earth, but until now, their existence on Venus remained purely theoretical. Their existence on Venus, or any planet for that matter, provides valuable insights into the volcanic history and perhaps excitingly, may even serve as a shelter for future human exploration missions. This may sound somewhat fanciful but their subsurface nature would offer protection from the hostile environment of the surface.
Thurston Lava Tube in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii. The step mark, more visible on the right wall, indicates the depth at which the lava flowed for a period of time
(Credit : Frank Schulenburg)
Unlike straight pit chains caused by tectonic forces pulling the crust apart, these formations curve and wind across the surface, following the natural downhill flow of ancient lava. The team were convinced the pit discovery is not related to tectonic activity due largely to their sinuous nature but also their dimensions since tectonic pits present as different sizes. The team identified four instances of these pits and interestingly they all exist on the flanks of volcanoes covered with extensive lava flows. This is exactly where you would expect to find lava tubes. The pits are also aligned in a down hill orientation making this consistent with lava flowing downhill.
This discovery significantly advances our understanding of how Venus has evolved geologically. The planet's extreme surface conditions make it notoriously difficult to study. Lava tubes offer a window into Venus's volcanic past and could help us to refine models of the planet's thermal and tectonic evolution. I have to confess though, as a not-so-closet geek, I’m quite taken by the concept of these extensive subterranean tunnels being used by future human explorers. With upcoming missions like the ESA EnVision mission to Venus which has a Subsurface Radar Sounder we will get to reveal the true extent of these tubes and perhaps take us a tiny step closer to human exploration.
Launched in 2009, theKepler Space Telescope revolutionized astronomy by discovering thousands of exoplanets in over 150,000 star systems. Kepler was specifically designed to detect Earth-sized planets by monitoring stars for periodic dips in brightness, which may result from planets passing in front of their star relative to the observer. Known as the Transit Method (or Transit Photometry), this technique has allowed astronomers to identify the majority of the more than 6,000 exoplanets in the current census. However, the method is not perfect and produces some false positives (initially as high as 5%–10%), which can sometimes be caused by other celestial objects.
According to new research by a team of astronomers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), this was the case with KOI-1755, a star located 982 light-years from Earth that periodically dims. As they indicated in their study, recently published in The Astrophysical Journal, the transit signal was a false positive caused by an eclipsing binary. The research team was led by Ph.D. candidate Wang Haozhi under the supervision of Prof. Ali Esamdin at the CAS's Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory (XAO).
Kepler first detected a transit-like event from KOI-1755 in 2014 and again in 2021, both of which corresponded to a period of about 25 days. On the second occasion, the signal was interpreted as a possible indication of a planet with 5.9 Earth radii (or 0.5 Jupiter radii), making it comparable in size to a Neptune-sized gas giant. Despite this periodic dimming, the true source of the signals has remained a mystery. To determine the true source of the dimming, the CAS team analyzed data from Kepler's Target Pixel Files (TPFs).
They subjected this data to pixel-level flux modeling. centroid shift measurements, and cross-matching with the Gaia mission's third data release (DR3). This modeling strategy significantly improved the quality of the Kepler light curves, and the DR3 data allowed them to avoid contamination from nearby stars. This allowed the team to isolate the uncontaminated light curve from the background star, confirming that it was caused by an eclipsing binary.
In short, their analysis revealed that the system is not a single star, but instead composed of two dwarf stars with an orbital period of about 6.14 days. In addition to eclipses, their analysis showed the binary system exhibits periodic modulations caused by starspots and differential rotation. This study not only clarified the true source of KOI-1755's signals but also demonstrated the effectiveness of the pixel-level photometric modeling method developed by Wang and his colleagues. It also demonstrates that there could still be an invaluable amount of information on stellar dynamics embedded in Kepler and K2 mission data.
The method could also be very promising for investigating other transit-like signals in the Kepler archives and other missions that rely on the Transit Method to detect exoplanets, such as the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), and demonstrates how retired missions can experience a second life through improved analysis techniques.
2nd UFO I summoned a glowing disk 400 meters across over Salt Lake City Airport, Sept 29, 2025 UAP sighting news
2nd UFO I summoned a glowing disk 400 meters across over Salt Lake City Airport, Sept 29, 2025 UAP sighting news
Date of sighting: Sept 29, 2025 7:09pm
Location of sighting: Over Salt Lake City Airport, Utah, USA
Source: Myself SCW
I recorded this today. I was mentally calling a UFO to appear. Five minutes later the triangle ufo (earlier video) appeared then this glowing disk appeared over the Salt Lake City Airport, Utah. It lasted about 7 minutes. Sept 29, 2025 at 7:09 pm. When calling the aliens mentally, I promised to record it and share it with my followers, so here it goes.
1st UFO over Salt Lake, Utah Sept 29, 2025, UFO UAP sighting news. 👽 alien craft close to airport!
1st UFO over Salt Lake, Utah Sept 29, 2025, UFO UAP sighting news. 👽 alien craft close to airport!
Date of sighting: Sept 29, 2025
Location of sighting:viewed from Bountiful, Utah, USA
Source: I recorded it, SCW
Yeah I did it. I admit it. I have practices summoning for several years now and I seem to be getting more powerful lately. This time I managed to get the first of two UFOs in five minutes time after summoning them using just pure focused thought out over the airport. And then this appeared. So you be the judge, but only those who have tried summoning should judge me.
Ancient elongated alien skull 200 meters long under ocean at Baja California, UFO UAP sighting news
Ancient elongated alien skull 200 meters long under ocean at Baja California, UFO UAP sighting news
Screenshot above is todays map, screenshot below is from the history archive of google map of a few years ago.
Coordinates 24.250739,-110.154545
Hey 10,000 years ago (~8000 BCE) this skull was above the water, This was the late Stone Age in Mesoamerica. People were still hunter-gatherers, gradually beginning to cultivate early crops like maize, beans, and squash. A skull sculpture wasn’t just about death — it embodied the cycle of life, sacrifice, rebirth, and divine power. It reminded people that life was temporary, but through ritual, they could help keep the universe in balance.
They didn't create this for us, they did it as a reminder that it was their territory, their land, owned by them forever.
Zeno Power has entered into a strategic agreement with Orano to power space batteries with recycled radioisotopes. The French company will supply americium-241 (Am-241) extracted during the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel at the La Hague plant, and Zeno will invest millions to secure priority access to the isotope. Am-241 will be used as fuel for radioisotope power systems (RPS) that Zeno is developing for NASA — specifically for lunar rovers, landers, and future infrastructure on the Moon. This solves the problem of plutonium-238 shortage and expands the possibilities for long-term autonomous power supply in space.
Visualization of a Zeno-based lunar rover with a plutonium-based nuclear battery. Source: Orano
The key advantage of Am-241 is its long half-life — more than 430 years — which means that power systems can operate for decades, including during lunar nights and in permanently shaded regions near the poles. Orano will extract the isotope from spent fuel, transforming something previously considered waste into a strategic resource for space energy.
The companies have been working together since at least 2022; the new agreement establishes a stable supply chain for mass production of batteries. At the same time, Zeno is developing strontium-90 nuclear batteries for marine applications under contracts with the US Department of Defense, building a multi-fuel portfolio of solutions ranging from deep sea to deep space.
The Zeno and Orano teams in the la Hague waste storage facility. Source: Orano
How does it work?
Inside the nuclear battery is a tiny tablet of americium-241. It slowly disintegrates and continuously releases heat—like a mini-coal that does not go out for decades. This heat is supplied to thermocouples (two different metal plates), and an electric current is generated due to the Seebeck effect. No valves or gears – just stable heat that is converted into electricity with low but reliable efficiency. The secret lies in simplicity and durability: fuel is extracted from recycled nuclear waste, so there is plenty of it; the half-life is long, so the battery works for years without recharging; and the compact shielded housing ensures safety and continuous operation even in the darkness, cold, and dust of the Moon or deep space.
Why is this important?
Reliable RPSs based on Am-241 will enable scientific missions to operate where solar panels are ineffective: in the shadows of craters, during the two-week lunar night, and in deep space. This is a stable power supply for cameras, spectrometers, seismometers, repeaters, and navigation beacons, which is critically important for Artemis and future observatories/detectors that require continuous, maintenance-free operation.
Nuclear batteries are peaceful atoms serving science, but there are also dark scenarios in space. What will happen if nuclear technology crosses the line of restraint and becomes a weapon in orbit—with the risk of EMP, cascading debris, and the collapse of navigation and communications? Let’s take a sober look at the situation without panicking: historical prohibitions, realistic scenarios, and consequences for our daily lives – in the article “Oppenheimer’s nightmare: How imminent is the threat of nuclear war in space?”
New footage of a mysterious object flying over Texas in broad daylight has been revealed by UFO hunters.
The sighting took place on September 8 in Trenton just after 8pm ET, when a pair of witnesses spotted the pyramid-shaped object moving eastward for at least two minutes.
The Texas resident, who was on their property at the time of the sighting, was able to zoom in and take clear video of the alleged craft as it emerged from a nearby tree line about 100 feet in the air.
The witness, who sent their footage to the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC), added that the dark-colored triangle seemed to be bronze and was either illuminated or had a pulsating light around its edge.
Although the person recording the UFO noted that the object changed shape, it was seen holding a straight edge and triangular or pyramid design throughout the more than 60 seconds the eyewitness was able to follow it with their camera.
NUFORC, a volunteer-operated nonprofit group that's been collecting UFO reports since 1974, noted that it's possible the object with simply a balloon, and US military officials have maintained that there is no definitive proof of extraterrestrial contact.
This incident was one of 10 in Texas alone that were reported to NUFORC in the last three weeks.
Moreover, it's the latest encounter with an alleged craft that was described as being a 'black triangle' seen flying over the US this year.
A resident in Trenton, Texas recorded a strange object which made no sound as it flew overhead on September 8
This particular triangle was reported flying around 20 to 30 mph as it moved higher into the sky and far off into the distance that night.
The witness added that the unidentified object did not make any sound at all as it flew through the air.
The object was estimated to be between six and seven feet long, making it relatively large if it was an ordinary balloon.
Meanwhile, silent black triangles have been reported flying over the US 20 times this year alone.
These sightings have ranged from triangles flying slowly over nearby witnesses to larger craft taking off at high speed at great altitudes.
In May, another Texas resident claimed they saw a large black triangle which was 'the size of a football field with pale green lights.'
Just a day before the incident in Trenton, someone spotted a similar UFO in Hudson Falls, New York around 30,000 feet overhead.
'There was no sound. It was a large black craft with white lights around the edges,' the witness reported to NUFORC.
The strange triangle-shaped object was suspected of being a balloon, but no official explanation has been found
Triangle or pyramid-shaped UFOs have become one of the most common sightings by self-proclaimed UFO witnesses.
Matthew Brown, a former US national security official who became a government whistleblower, revealed in April that he had seen classified reports that allegedly documented military contact with this type of craft.
Brown claimed that a covert naval operation in the Pacific witnessed a large black triangle-shaped UFO 'decloak' out of thin air over several Russian vessels.
Texas has been one of the biggest hotspots when it comes to UFO sightings, now referred to as Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP).
Among the thousands of sightings reported to NUFORC over the years, over 6,500 have taken place in Texas.
That's just behind Florida and Washington state in terms of the sheer number of sightings that have come from residents in these areas.
However, no state has logged as many UAP sightings as California, which has sent nearly 17,000 alleged sightings to NUFORC.
Rumours of a strange creature living in the waters of Loch Ness have abounded over the decades, yet scant evidence has been found to back up these claims.
One of the first sightings, believed to have fuelled modern Nessie fever, came in May 2, 1933.
On this date the Inverness Courier carried a story about a local couple who claim to have seen 'an enormous animal rolling and plunging on the surface'.
Another famous claimed sighting is a photograph taken in 1934 by Colonel Robert Kenneth Wilson.
It was later exposed as a hoax by one of the participants, Chris Spurling, who, on his deathbed, revealed that the pictures were staged.
Other sightings James Gray's picture from 2001 when he and friend Peter Levings were out fishing on the Loch, while namesake Hugh Gray's blurred photo of what appears to be a large sea creature was published in the Daily Express in 1933.
Robert Kenneth Wilson, a London physician, captured arguably the most famous image of the Loch Ness Monster. The surgeon’s photograph was published in the Daily Mail on April 21, 1934 - however it was later proven to be a fake
The first reported sighting of the monster is said to have been made in AD565 by the Irish missionary St Columba when he came across a giant beast in the River Ness.
But no one has ever come up with a satisfactory explanation for the sightings - although in 2019, 'Nessie expert' Steve Feltham, who has spent 24 years watching the Loch, said he thought it was actually a giant Wels Catfish, native to waters near the Baltic and Caspian seas in Europe.
An online register lists more than 1,000 total Nessie sightings, created by Mr Campbell, the man behind the Official Loch Ness Monster Fan Club and is available at www.lochnesssightings.com.
So what could explain these mysterious sightings?
Many Nessie witnesses have mentioned large, crocodile-like scutes sitting atop the spine of the creature, leading some to believe an escaped amphibian may be to blame.
Native fish sturgeons can also weigh several hundred pounds and have ridged backs, which make them look almost reptilian.
Some believe Nessie is a long-necked plesiosaur - like an elasmosaur - that survived somehow when all the other dinosaurs were wiped out.
Others say the sightings are down to Scottish pines dying and flopping into the loch, before quickly becoming water-logged and sinking.
While submerged, botanical chemicals start trapping tiny bubbles of air.
Eventually, enough of these are gathered to propel the log upward as deep pressures begin altering its shape, giving the appearance of an animal coming up for air.
Supermassive Black Hole or Galactic Consciousness?
Supermassive Black Hole or Galactic Consciousness?
Imagine looking up at the night sky and wondering not only what lies inside galaxies, but also what a galaxy itself might be thinking. The term “supermassive black hole” (SMBH) is a well-established part of modern astronomy. The idea of “galactic consciousness,” by contrast, is more philosophical and speculative. It asks whether a galaxy could possess awareness, goals, or a form of mind. Both topics invite big questions about scale, gravity, information, and what it means to know something. Here, we’ll explore what these terms mean, how scientists study them, and what the differences are between a real, physical object and a thought about collective, galaxy-scale behavior.
An Einstein ring around the galaxy LRG 3-757, at the center of which the heaviest black hole was discovered.
Photo: NASA
A color image of the Cosmic Horseshoe created using filters F814W, F606W and F475W. The system consists of the Einstein ring of the Cosmic Horseshoe, as well as a radial arc and its opposite image.
The insert shows a radial arc. Source: NASA
First, what is a supermassive black hole? A black hole is a region of space where gravity is so intense that nothing, not even light, can escape from it. The boundary around this region is called the event horizon. Supermassive black holes are, as the name implies, enormous. They typically contain millions to billions of solar masses and sit at the centers of most large galaxies, including our Milky Way. The evidence for their existence is indirect but strong. We observe stars and gas moving at high speeds near the centers of galaxies. We detect powerful emissions in X-ray light and radio waves from material that is heated to extreme temperatures as it spirals inward, a process known as accretion. When matter falls toward a black hole, it forms an accretion disk that glows brilliantly, especially in X-rays, before it disappears behind the event horizon. In many galaxies, the behavior of stars and gas in the inner regions suggests the gravitational pull of something incredibly dense and compact, consistent with a black hole. In other cases, we see jets of particles blasting out at nearly the speed of light, launched by magnetic fields twisted around the spinning black hole. The consensus among astronomers is strong: many, if not most, large galaxies host a supermassive black hole at their center, often feeding on surrounding material.
Why are SMBHs so important? They act as engines that regulate the growth of their host galaxies. There is a remarkable relationship between the mass of a galaxy’s central black hole and the properties of the galaxy’s bulge, such as its mass and brightness. This correlation, called the M-sigma relation, suggests a co-evolution: as the black hole grows by pulling in matter, the energy it releases can heat or push away gas, influencing future star formation. In other words, SMBHs do not merely sit in the middle; they can shape the fate of their entire galactic neighborhoods. This connection between tiny scales (the event horizon and accretion physics) and vast scales (galaxy evolution) makes SMBHs a focal point in astrophysics.
Now, what about galactic consciousness? The phrase asks whether a galaxy could be conscious in some sense—aware, purposeful, or able to experience something. The idea has historical and speculative roots in panpsychism and in metaphorical descriptions of cosmic order. Some thinkers ask whether galaxies, as complex systems with many interacting parts, could exhibit collective behavior akin to a mind. A galaxy is made of stars, gas, dark matter, magnetic fields, and dark energy. These components follow the laws of physics and interact in complex ways that can produce patterns, rhythms, and even evolutions that look organized. But consciousness, as scientists typically define it, involves subjective experience, feelings, and a first-person point of view. So far, there is no evidence that galaxies possess subjective experience. There is also no widely accepted framework in physics that would treat a galaxy as a conscious agent with beliefs or desires. The claim remains more poetic or metaphorical than empirical.
A useful way to compare the two ideas is to distinguish what is observable and what is interpretive. A supermassive black hole has clear, testable signatures: the motion of stars near the center, X-ray emission from hot gas, and sometimes relativistic jets. These are physical, measurable phenomena governed by gravity and quantum physics combined with relativity. Galactic consciousness, if it exists, would be hard to test directly. What would count as evidence? Some might argue that a galaxy’s large-scale organization and behavior could be interpreted as “aimed” at sustaining star formation, maintaining stability, or preserving structure. But such interpretations risk anthropomorphism. Complex systems can appear to have goals simply because many parts respond to common pressures and constraints. The difference between “the galaxy acts to preserve itself” and “the galaxy has an intention to preserve itself” is subtle but crucial. In science, correlation and pattern do not automatically imply consciousness.
Another angle is to consider scale and energy. SMBHs are extreme sinks of mass-energy and powerful sources of energy; their gravity warps spacetime and their accretion disks heat up to temperatures rivaling the cores of stars. The physics is explicit, even if some details remain mysterious. Galactic consciousness, by contrast, would be an emergent property, if it exists at all, arising from the collective behavior of a massive network of components. Emergent phenomena are common in nature: water’s wetness, the flocking of birds, and the emergence of nervous-system activity from neurons. Some philosophers and scientists like to discuss whether there could be a form of “galactic ethics” or “galactic purpose,” but these ideas are philosophical tools rather than testsable predictions.
What would be the practical implications if galaxies were conscious? If we could demonstrate some form of awareness in a galaxy, it would challenge how we understand intelligence, life, and agency across the universe. It might imply that mind is not limited to biological organisms but can arise in complex systems with certain kinds of organization. On the other hand, there is also a risk of conflating metaphor with mechanism. Speaking about a galaxy “deciding” to endure or “seeking” stability is a useful narrative for teaching or thinking, but it might obscure the actual physics driving observed patterns.
Currently, the evidence points strongly toward SMBHs as real, well-understood physical objects with measurable effects on their surroundings. The case for galactic consciousness, by contrast, remains speculative and largely rhetorical. Scientists can and do study galaxies as physical systems: how stars form within them, how dark matter shapes their halos, how gas cools and collapses to form new generations of stars, and how feedback from black holes and supernovae regulates these processes. These are measurable questions about structure, dynamics, and evolution. The idea of a mind behind the galaxy is not a testable scientific hypothesis in the same sense.
That doesn’t mean the two topics are unrelated. They invite complementary perspectives on scale, causation, and the mystery of the universe. The existence of SMBHs demonstrates how gravity and quantum physics combine to produce extreme environments. The possibility of galactic consciousness invites humility: the universe may harbor forms of organization and complexity that we have not fully understood, and our intuition about life and mind may be too limited to grasp the grandest scales. In science, bold questions often begin with bold metaphors. The critical step is to translate a metaphor into testable ideas, or to acknowledge when an idea is best kept as a thought experiment.
For students and curious readers, a practical takeaway is to separate what we know from what we wonder. We know that SMBHs exist, we know they affect their galaxies, and we can observe many of their signatures with telescopes across the electromagnetic spectrum. We also know that galaxies, as massive collections of matter interacting through gravity, can produce complex and beautiful structures. Wondering whether they possess consciousness can inspire imaginative reflection, innovative hypotheses, and careful philosophical debate. It can also remind us to distinguish observational science from speculative speculation.
In teaching and outreach, it can be helpful to present both sides clearly. When explaining SMBHs, one might describe the event horizon, the accretion disk, the gravitational influence on nearby stars, and the evidence from observations like stellar motions near the galactic center and X-ray emissions. When broaching galactic consciousness, one could present the idea as a philosophical possibility, highlight why it is appealing to some, and then explain the scientific challenges: the lack of verifiable criteria, the problem of subjective experience, and the risk of anthropomorphism.
As technology advances, our ability to observe galactic centers and the broader structure of galaxies will improve. Instruments like more powerful telescopes, interferometers, and detectors across different wavelengths will refine our understanding of SMBHs and their interactions with their hosts. If ever new data suggested unusual, non-physical explanations for galactic behavior, scientists would scrutinize them with the same rigor they apply to any extraordinary claim. Until then, the most robust scientific narrative describes galaxies as ecosystems influenced by gravity, gas dynamics, star formation, and the energy from central black holes—beautiful, intricate, and governed by the laws of physics.
In conclusion, a supermassive black hole is a concrete, well-supported feature of many galaxies, including the Milky Way. It has measurable effects, testable predictions, and a central role in theories of galaxy formation and evolution. Galactic consciousness, by contrast, remains a provocative idea at the intersection of philosophy and speculative science. It prompts us to ask about the nature of mind, the limits of anthropomorphism, and the possible forms that life and intelligence could take in the universe. For now, the science keeps its feet on the ground: SMBHs are real and influential, while galaxy-scale consciousness is an intriguing possibility—one that invites thoughtful imagination but requires far more evidence before it could be considered part of our scientific understanding. The universe continues to be a place of extraordinary phenomena, from the shadowy depths of event horizons to the grand, emergent patterns of galaxies that light up the cosmos.
Deze dissertatie onderzoekt twee controversiële en intrigerende mogelijkheden over het universum op grote schaal:
het bestaan en de rol van supermassieve zwarte gaten (SMBH’s) in galactische evolutie en
het concept van galactische bewustzijn, oftewel of sterrenstelsels of hele galactische netwerken een vorm van collectief of emergent bewustzijn bezitten. Door een combinatie van astronomie, theoretische fysica en filosofie van de geest wordt verkend welke bewijzen, aannames en implicaties aan elke kant van de discussie gekoppeld zijn. De conclusie benadrukt dat het huidige bewijs eerder wijst in de richting van een centrale, fysiek en dynamisch dominante rol van SMBH’s, terwijl het idee van galactisch bewustzijn fascinatie blijft maar met aanzienlijk minder empirie en streng empirisch toetsbaar mechanismen. Desalniettemin leveren beide thema’s waardevolle inzichten op voor ons begrip van kosmische hiërarchieën en de grens tussen natuurkunde en metafysica.
Inleiding
Veel sterrenstelsels, waaronder onze eigen Melkweg, herbergen in hun kern een extreem massief object dat een roterende gas- en stofstroom naar zich toe trekt en daardoor een gebied met buitengewone zwaartekracht oproept: het supermassieve zwarte gat (SMBH). Dit centrale zwaartepunt speelt een cruciale rol in de vorming en evolutie van het hele stelsel, doordat het materie kan versnellen, uitbarstingen van straling kan veroorzaken en de dynamiek van sterren en gasruimtes in de omringende kern op allerlei manieren kan beïnvloeden. Tegelijkertijd rijzen er in de wetenschappelijke en filosofische literatuur vragen over de mogelijkheid dat galactische systemen op grotere schaal potentieel vormen van bewustzijn kunnen vertonen, of ten minste eigenschappen kunnen vertonen die lijken op cognitieve competenties zoals anticipatie, selectie van informatie, doelgericht handelen en lange-termijnplanning. Deze noties blijven controversieel en worden vanuit verschillende disciplines benaderd: astronomie, theoretische natuurkunde, complexiteitswetenschap en filosofie van de geest.
Dit werk schetst eerst de actuele stand van zaken: wat we empirisch waar kunnen nemen rondom SMBH’s, welke meetbare effecten zij hebben op hun omgeving, en welke mechanistische verklaringen het meest plausibel zijn volgens de huidige physicalistischer benaderingen. Vervolgens wordt ingegaan op de vraag naar bewustzijn in zeer grote, natuurlijke systemen: wat betekenen emergente eigenschappen precies in een galactisch context, en in hoeverre kunnen concepten als bewustzijn, intentie of intelligentie toegepast worden op systemen die bestaan uit ontelbareeltjes gravitationeel gevarreerde materie en uit miljarden sterbakens? De bespreking onderzoekt zowel streng wetenschappelijke als filosofische implicaties, zodat een samenhangend beeld ontstaat van wat we wel en niet kunnen claimen over bewustzijnsverschijnselen in galactische omgevingen.
De centrale these van dit werk is niet dat SMBH-dynamieken en hypothetische galactische bewustzijnstatistieken noodzakelijk in tegenspraak met elkaar staan, maar dat het huidige bewijsspectrum vaak nog ontoereikend is om bewustzijn als entiteit of status te rechtvaardigen. Wel leveren SMBH-gerelateerde processen talloze directe en meetbare correlaties—zoals accretiepatronen, feedbackmechanismen en rulings van gasstromen—that mogelijk dienen als sleutels tot een dieper begrip van galactische evolutie en de onderliggende fysica.
Theoretisch kader: samenhangende kernbegrippen
Supermassieve zwarte gaten:SMBH’s hebben massesies variërend van miljoenen tot miljarden zonmassa’s en zijn pieksaarsvijfdrie in het hart van de meeste grote en middelgrote sterrenstelsels. Hun gravitationele veld trekt niet alleen materie aan, maar bepaalt ook de dynamiek van omliggende structuren: de accretieschijf waar gas en stof extreem heet worden en intense straling uitzenden, de jets die langs enorme afstanden kunnen voorkomen, en de turbulente gasstromen in de centrale regio’s. Deze centrale machtige objecten vormen een sleutelmechanisme in de galactische evolutie: ze sturen accretieprocessen die energie vrijmaken in de vorm van röntgenstraling, ultraviolet en zichtbaar licht, en ze veroorzaken feedbackprocessen die de temperatuur, dichtheid en samenstelling van het omringende gas beïnvloeden. Door deze processen kan de groei van het sterrenstelsel worden gereguleerd, kunnen stervormingsbarrières ontstaan of verdwijnen, en kan de baryonische cyclus in de holte van het galactische centrum in balans blijven. Daarnaast dienen SMBH’s als natuurlijke laboratoria om de relativiteit en extreme kwantisële processen te testen, en leveren ze cruciale aanwijzingen over de vorming van massieve objecten in de vroege kosmos. De interacties tussen SMBH’s en hun gaststelsels blijven een dynamisch onderzoeksgebied waarbij men de koppeling tussen centrale krachterschakelingen en grootschalige evolutie probeert te ontleden.
Galactisch bewustzijn:een controversieel concept in de filosofie van de geest en in sommige emergentie-theorieën. Het vraagt aandacht voor of er op galactische schaal eigenschappen bestaan die buiten de eenvoudige som van individuele astro(fysische) processen vallen. Voor de meeste wetenschappers blijft bewustzijn primair een fenomeen van levende systemen met zenuwstelsels, maar sommige modelleringen verkennen hoe complexe netwerken—zoals hersenen of kosmische gasstromen—mogelijk macro-eigenschappen kunnen ontwikkelen die op ’bewuste’ processen zouden kunnen lijken. Binnen kosmische kaders wordt bewustzijn vaak benaderd als een analogie voor opmerkzaamheid, zelforganisatie en informatieverwerking op grootschalige schaal. Derhalve worden vragen gesteld over emergente eigenschappen van netwerken van sterren, sterrenstelsels en interstellaire/gasstromen: bestaan er patronen van organisatie die dezelfde logica volgen als cognitieve systemen, of blijft de analogie beperkt tot een metaforische beschrijving van systeemgedrag? Deze verkenning zoekt naar modellen die rekening houden met synergetische interacties, feedbackloops en communicatiekanalen tussen verschillende componenten van het galactische netwerk, zonder te claimen dat er daadwerkelijk subjectieve ervaring ontstaat.
Wetenschappelijke methoden:empirische observaties (bijv. haarspeldenroteringen, waterstoflijn-emissies, spectra van AGN, vrijwel directe imaging van SMBH’s door de Event Horizon Telescope) en theoretische modellering (numerieke simulaties van accretie, feedback en galactische evolutie) vormen de kern van ons toetsingskader. Met empirische waarnemingen kunnen we de massa, spin, activiteit en omgeving van SMBH’s in kaart brengen, de interacties met omringende gaslagen observeren en testen hoe deze objecten de fysieke toestand van hun gastgalaxie beïnvloeden. Tegelijkertijd leveren numerieke simulaties en analytische modellen een raamwerk om oorzakelijke mechanismen te onderzoeken: hoe wisselwerken tussen straling, kinetische energie en koud/hot gas de evolutie van zowel het centrale gebied als de gehele galaxie sturen. Door een combinatie van multi-wavelength observeraties, tijdsvariabiliteitstudies en vergelijkingen met simulaties kunnen wetenschappers een coherente theorie opbouwen die zowel de kleine-als grootschalige dynamiek van sterrenstelsels verklaart.
Methoden en aanpak Deze studie combineert literatuuronderzoek met synthese van theoretische modellen.
Methoden en aanpak Deze studie combineert literatuuronderzoek met synthese van theoretische modellen, met als doel een dieper inzicht te geven in zowel waargenomen fenomenen als onderliggende conceptuele kaders. De aanpak schetst een integrale route die empirische bevindingen koppelt aan theoretische verbeelding, zodat mogelijke mechanismen en hunrelevantie voor galactische evolutie beter kunnen worden geëvalueerd. De metodische stappen omvatten systematische literatuurverzameling, vergelijkende analyse van modellen en het formuleren van toetsbare hypothesen. Hierbij wordt gestreefd naar transparante verantwoording van bronnen en naar herhaalbare redeneringen die andere onderzoekers kunnen repliceren of uitdagen.
We bespreken:
Observatieve bewijzen voor SMBH’s:dynamische bevestiging via sterren- en gasbewegingen, maseringstechnieken en direct beeld van de omgeving van Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*). Deze onderdelen omvatten nauwkeurige metingen van stellar proper motions en trajecten in de onmiddellijke nabijheid van het superzware zwarte gat, evenals spectroscopische en interferometrische observaties die massa- en positieparameters opleveren. Daarnaast worden accretieve procesmodellen onderzocht, zoals schijven rondom SMBH’s, rijken aan gas- en magnetohydrodynamische (MHD) processen die emissie genereren across meerdere golflengten, en de daarbij behorende feedbackmechanismen die invloed hebben op de star-formation rate en de kinematiek van de omgevende bulge en halo. Een deel van deze sectie richt zich op de theoretische interpretatie van ontstane structuren, emissielijnen en variabiliteit, en op de wijze waarop deze observabele kenmerken bruggen slaan naar massabepalingen en dynamische vervormingen in de centrale regio’s van sterrenstelsels.
Theoretische exploraties van galactisch bewustzijn:conceptuele analyse van wat bewustzijn op macroniveau zou betekenen en welke criteria er zijn voor emergente cognitieve eigenschappen op stelselniveau (informatieverwerking, doelgerichtheid, zelfreferentiëring). Deze bespreking verkent verschillende definities van bewustzijn in een astro-filosofisch kader, zoals systeemniveau-informatie-integratie, causale effectiviteit binnen netwerken, en de mate waarin zelfbewuste monitoring of aanpassingsvermogen mogelijk resembleert aan cognitieve competenties. Er wordt kritisch gekeken naar de grenzen van antropomorfisme en naar hoe emergente eigenschappen kunnen voortkomen uit complexe, niet-lineaire interacties tussen duizenden tot miljarden sterren, gasdumps en donkere materie. Daarnaast worden theoretische modellen vergeleken die proxies voor bewustzijn voorstellen—bijvoorbeeld informatieve efficiëntie, robuuste netwerkdynamiek en adaptieve feedback—om te beoordelen of en hoe zulke proxies betekenisvol kunnen zijn in een astro-fysische context.
Kritische evaluatie van bewijsbarrières:waarom direct bewijs voor galactisch bewustzijn ontbreekt en welke toetsbare voorspellingen kunnen voortkomen uit beide concepten. Deze sectie onderzoekt epistemologische belemmeringen, technische beperkingen van meetinstrumenten, en de interpretatieve valkuilen bij het koppelen van fysische waarnemingen aan conceptuele eigenschappen zoals bewustzijn. Voorstellen voor toetsbare hypothesen zijn onder meer specifieke signaturen in emissie-variabiliteit, correlaties tussen SMBH-activiteit en grootschalige netwerk-eigenschappen, en prediction tables voor de evolutie van star-formation en kinematiek onder uiteenlopende scenario’s van feedback.
Synthetische vergelijking van scenario’s:wat betekenen SMBH-gedreven feedback en mogelijke emergente netwerkeigenschappen voor de evolutie van sterrenstelsels en de kosmische structuur? Tot slot worden gecombineerde scenario’s tegen elkaar afgewogen met oog voor consistente voorspellingen over lange-termijn evolutie, inclusief de invloed van SMBH-gestuurde uitbarstingen op gasontgassing, stervorming en de vorming van structurele kenmerken op galactisch en kosmisch niveau.
Een oranje ring tegen een zwarte achtergrond. Afbeelding van het zwarte gat in het centrum van M87, vastgelegd door de Event Horizon Telescope.
Credit: EHT Collaboration
Supermassive black holes: het dominante fysieke raamwerk
1. Observatie en dynamiek:
SMBH’s bevinden zich in het hart van vrijwel alle grote stelsels, waar ze een centrale rol spelen in de dynamiek van sterren, gas en donkere materie. Hun aanwezigheid manifesteert zich niet alleen door de extreem hoge masses, maar ook via hun impact op de kinematiek van de omliggende bulge en kernregionen.
De massaratio SMBH/stelselmassa vertoont sterke correlaties, zoals de M-sigma-relatie en de M–L-relatie, die suggereren dat de vorming en groeiprocessen van de centrale BH nauw verweven zijn met de evolutie van de halo, de bulge-structuur en de centrale kern van het stelsel.
Accretiekanalen, zoals koude gasinspiratie, fusie- en mergerscenario’s, en instroming van materie uit de kernen van kleinere satellietstelsels, leiden tot perioden van krachtige AGN-activiteit. Tijdens deze fasen wordt energie en impuls in het omringende gas gestoten, wat resulteert in uitbarstingen, jets en winds die de gasreserve van het stelsel kunnen verminderen of herverdelen.
Deze processen beïnvloeden de stervorming: de uitgestoten of verplaatste gassilos kunnen toekomstige stervorming remmen (quenching) of juist herschikken zodat de star-formation een andere ruimtelijke verdeling krijgt.
2. Mechanistische impact op galactische evolutie:
De feedbackmechanismen van SMBH’s leveren een directe, plausibele verklaring voor empirische observaties van kwenching en de gereguleerde stervorming in verschillende fasen van galaxy evolution.
Door energie en momentum aan het interstellair medium te leveren, moduleren SMBH’s de temperatuur en dichtheid van het gas, wat bepalend is voor de mate waarin gas op koude toestanden kan verzachten tot stervorming.
Deze feedback draagt bij aan de vorming van bulges en de morphologische diversiteit van stelsels: centrale kernen kunnen structuur met zich meebrengen die de algehele stelselkern overspannen, wat leidt tot de overgang tussen schijfachtige en bulge-gedomineerde morfologieën.
De relatie tussen SMBH-activiteit en galactische omgeving (bijv. clusters versus veldstelsels) laat zien hoe omgevingsfactoren invloed uitoefenen op accretiekanalen en daaropvolgende feedback.
3. Theoretische limitaties en open vragen:
Hoewel SMBH’s de centrale motor zijn in moderne galactische evolutietheorieën, blijven er belangrijke vragen bestaan over de exacte accretierates in verschillende omgevingen, zoals quenched versus actief stapelbare stelsels en bij verschillende gastemperaturen.
De tijdsafhankelijke en schaalafhankelijke consequenties voor galactische structuren zijn nog onderwerp van debat: hoe snel verandert de bulge-ontwikkeling onder invloed van SMBH-feedback, en welke rollen spelen mergende BH’s?
Details van donkere materie-interacties met baryonen op kiloparsecschaal blijven onzeker: hoe beïnvloeden donkere materiehalos de dissipatieve processen rond de centrale BH en welke rol spelen ze bij het transport van gas naar de BH?
Open vragen in de theorie betreffen onder meer de precieze balans tussen cooling, heating, en outflows, evenals de nuance van de M-sigma-relatie bij verschillende soorten stelsels en in verschillende kosmische tijdsperioden.
Galactisch bewustzijn: conceptuele mogelijkheden en uitdagingen
Wat zou “galactisch bewustzijn” impliceren? Als we bewustzijn definiëren als een systeem dat informatie organiseert, doelgericht gedrag vertoont en adaptief leert op grote schaal, dan zouden netwerken en processen in een galactische context in potentie aan onderdelen van deze criteria kunnen voldoen. Denk bijvoorbeeld aan grootschalige informatieverwerking in gas- en stofwolken, magnetische velden, stervorming, supernova-omzetten en de dynamiek van sterrenstelsels. In zo’n visie zouden patronen van coherente activiteit, feedbacklussen, en adaptieve respons op externe prikkels mogelijk als indicatoren kunnen worden opgevat. Toch ontbreekt er een breed gedragen consensus over concrete, toetsbare criteria die onafhankelijk zijn van menselijke meta-interpretaties en antropomorfe intuïties. De vraag is: welke specifieke operationele definities laten we gelden om te bepalen wanneer een astrofaal systeem “bewust” handelt of “bewuste” kenmerken vertoont?
Falsifieerbaarheid en wetenschappelijke status: een centrale uitdaging voor het galactisch bewustzijn-model is operationalisatie. Zonder duidelijke experimentele voorspellingen die toetsbaar zijn met de huidige of toekomstige technologieën, blijft het een metaforische of filosofische constructie in plaats van een robuuste empirisch-getoetste theorie. Wetenschap streeft naar uitsluitende of bevestigende bewijzen via meetbare correlaties, voorspellende hypotheses en reproduceerbare bevindingen. In het geval van galactisch bewustzijn bestaan die elementen nog niet of nauwelijks: wat zou bijvoorbeeld een experimentele proef zijn die onderscheid maakt tussen een echt “bewust” netwerk en een complex maar onbewust systeem? Het gebrek aan eenduidige meetbare indicatoren zoals intentie, flexibiliteit onder onbekende omstandigheden, of zelfreflectie plaatst het onderwerp in een gebied van speculatie en interpretatieve plausibiliteit eerder dan in strafbare wetenschappelijke status.
Mogelijke raakvlakken en analogieën: ondanks de beperkingen bieden emergente eigenschappen in complexiteitstheorie en netwerktheorie wel boeiende analogieën die kunnen helpen om galactische dynamiek beter te begrijpen, zonder noodzakelijkerwijs te suggereren dat een bewuste entiteit aanwezig is. Zo kunnen informatieverwerkende processen in gas- en stofomzetten, energietransfers in sterrenrijtsystemen, en de interactie tussen verschillende subsystemen thema’s oproepen die verwant zijn aan cognitieve functies zoals patroonherkenning, aanklampende feedback en adaptieve strategieën. Een constructieve benadering is dan om deze zoölogie van processen te verkennen als metaforische modellen die wetenschappelijke heuristieken kunnen bieden, zonder dat men automatisch aan een bewustheidsstatus hoeft te twijfelen.
Concluderend kunnen we zeggen dat het idee van galactisch bewustzijn uitnodigt tot verdiepende conceptuele verkenning en interdisciplinair denken, maar dat concrete, toetsbare wetenschappelijke basis en duidelijke operationalisatie cruciaal blijven om het als een geldige theorie binnen de moderne fysica en astronomie te plaatsen.
Oranje en gele cirkel die de magnetische velden van een zwart gat aangeeft. Een weergave van het superzware zwarte gat M87 in gepolariseerd licht. De lijnen markeren de polarisatierichting, die verband houdt met het magnetische veld rond de schaduw van het zwarte gat.
Bron: EHT Collaboration
Kritische evaluatie en synthese
Empirische sterkte van SMBH-dominantie:de voornaamste wetenschappelijke steun blijft de directe en indirecte bewijslagen voor SMBH-gedreven dynamiek en feedback, die aansluiten op een brede en geconsolideerde waarnemingsbasis van galactische evolutie. De waarnemingen tonen dat supermassive black holes nauw verbonden is met centrale sterrenbol en gas-yield, en dat hun activiteit invloed heeft op de temperatuur, druk en akoestische omstandigheden van het omringende gas. Dit vertaalt zich in regie over de stervorming, de marginale gasopbouw in de bulge en de vorming van centrale structuren zoals kern-collapse en mogelijk een transportpad voor interstellair materiaal. De plausibele causaliteit tussen SMBH-activiteiten en de regulatorische mechanismen van stervorming, gasdoorschiet, massa- en angular momentum-verdeling, alsook de ontwikkeling van de centrale potentiaal, maakt SMBH’s een vrijwel onmisbaar komponent in hedendaagse galactische theorieën. Toch blijft de inschatting van de exacte mechanismen en tijdsschalen een onderwerp van debat, mede omdat waarnemingen vaak complexe, multi-component systemen bestrijken met verschillende vrijheidsgraden en degeneratie van signaal.
Beoordeling van galactisch bewustzijn:hoewel filosofisch interessant en soms paradoxaal intrigerend, ontbreekt er solide empirische ondersteuning en een gemeenschappelijke operationele definitie. De conceptuele basis van galactisch bewustzijn is nog niet verankerd in meetbare parameters die consistent kunnen worden toegepast over verschillende massa- en evolutiefases van sterrenstelsels. Dit maakt het op dit moment een minder robuuste wetenschappelijke hypothese vergeleken met SMBH-dynamiek, aangezien de koppeling tussen cognitieve of bewuste-like eigenschappen en galactische processen moeilijk te operationaliseren is en mogelijk afhankelijk blijft van interpretatieve modellen. Desondanks kan het idee richting geven aan het onderzoeken van_Info-theoretische representaties van waarneming en meaning, en het stimuleren van innovatieve denkrichtingen over emergente eigenschappen in astrale systemen.
Mogelijke synergieën:het is denkbaar dat toekomstige werkgebieden zoals high-resolution simulaties van galactische netwerken, gekoppeld met informatie-theoretische analyse van grote kosmische systemen, kunnen leiden tot nieuwe inzichten die zowel de rol van SMBH’s verder verhelderen als de grenzen van emergente eigenschappen in kosmische netwerken beter afbakenen. Deze gecombineerde aanpak kan helpen bij het definiëren van toetsbare voorspellingen, het identificeren van sleutelmomenten in de evolutie van stelsels, en het verminderen van onzekerheden rondom feedbackmechanismen. Een integratieve strategie, waarbij observaties, simulaties en theorie met elkaar worden verbonden, kan zo de betrouwbaarheid en generaliseerbaarheid van conclusies verhogen.
Implicaties voor de astronomie en de filosofie
1. Voor de astronomie
Inzicht in SMBH-gedreven processen is cruciaal voor het begrip van de evolutie van sterrenstelsels en de structuur van het universum. Supermassale zwarte gaten spelen een sleutelrol bij de energie- en materie-uitwisseling in galactische nuclei, wat op grote schaal invloed heeft op de vorming en het gedrag van sterrenstelsels.
Het ontwikkelen van betere modellen van accretie en feedback helpt bij het verklaren van de variatie in stervormingsraten doorheen de tijd en bij het begrijpen van de morphologie van zowel spiraalachtige als ellipitische stelsels. Aandacht voor verschillende accretietypen (radiatieve efficiëntie, kinetische feedback, jets) levert nuance op in hoe gas wordt heiß gemaakt of uitgestoten, en hoe dat het interstellaire medium beïnvloedt.
Verdere precisie in simulaties en waarnemingen—waarin rekening wordt gehouden met AGN-quenchen, uitputting van gasreservoirs, en de interactie tussen SMBH-uitbarstingen en omgeving—stelt ons in staat om de tijdlijnen van galactische omzettingen beter te reconstrueren.
De combinatie van multi-wavelength observaties (radio, optisch, infrarood, X-ray) en mogelijk toekomstige gravitational wave- en neutrino-detecties biedt een geïntegreerde kijk op SMBH-gedreven fenomenen, waardoor men deketen van causale relaties tussen centrale engine en galactische eigenschappen beter kan volgen.
Deze inzichten versterken ook het begrip van de kosmische structuur en de rol van feedback in de vorming van grote schaalstructuren, zoals radius-banden, halo- en clusteromgevingen, en helpen de discrepanties tussen waargenomen massiverhoudingen en theoretische voorspellingen te verduidelijken. Zo kunnen we bijvoorbeeld verklaren waarom sommige stelsels actief blijven terwijl anderen snel afkoelen en stervorming stoppen.
2. Voor de filosofie van de geest en de complexe systemen
Galactische bewustzijn-discussies brengen fundamentele vragen naar voren over wat bewustzijn werkelijk is en welke niveaus van complexiteit nodig zijn voor emergentie. Ideeën uit de sterrenkunde kunnen verhelderen hoe niet-intuïtieve, grootschalige emergente eigenschappen ontstaan uit simpele fundamentele regels, en welke rol informatieverwerking speelt in systemen op kosmische schaal.
Dit bevordert reflectie op de grenzen van onze definities van bewustzijn, ervaring en subjectiviteit, en op hoe wetenschappers concepten gebruiken en herdefiniëren bij fenomenen die buiten de traditionele kaders vallen. Het kan leiden tot een beter begrip van difference between mechanistische functionaliteit en bewuste ervaring, en tot een kritische blik op antropocentrische aannames.
Bovendien raken discussies over emergentie en complexiteit aan epistemologie en retoriek: hoe formuleren wetenschappers modellen en verklaringen voor verschijnselen die niet direct waarneembaar zijn als ‘bewust’ maar wel invloedrijk op systeemgedrag? Dit draagt bij aan een bredere evaluatie van wetenschappelijke methoden, schemata, en de vertekenen van theorieën.
Ten slotte kunnen deze gedachte-exercities aandacht vragen voor ethische overwegingen rond het bestuderen van intelligente systemen, zowel in technologische als in kosmische context, en stimuleren ze een reflexieve houding ten aanzien van onze eigen plaats in het universum en de aard van menselijke kennis.
Toekomstig onderzoek
Empirische richting: meer gerichte en systematische observaties naar SMBH-accresctie- en feedbackprocessen, evenals verbeterde directe beelden van de onmiddellijke omgeving van superzware zwarte gaten (SMBH’s). Dit omvat lange-termijn monitoring van AGN-variabiliteit om patronen, episodieën en dramatische schommelingen in accretie en uitgaande kracht beter te begrijpen. Daarnaast is behoefte aan high-resolution spectroscopie en tijdreeksen die de dynamiek van de accretieschijven, jet- en outflow-structuren, en de interacties met omringende interstellaire materie nauwgezet traceren. Nieuwe instrumenten en telescoopfaciliteiten, zoals aanvullende interferometrische kernwaarnemingen, hoogresolutiedetectie van röntgen- en radiosignalen, en lange-baseline optische/near-infrarood observaties, kunnen deze data leveren. Het doel is om de onderliggende fasen van massaoverdracht, de rol van magnetische velden, viscousiteit in accretieschijven, en de mechanismen van terugkoppeling (feedback) met de gastheergalaxie in kaart te brengen. Verdere inspanningen zijn nodig voor statistische studies die variabiliteit over verschillende schalen koppelen aan de fysische omstandigheden in de centrale regio’s, evenals vergelijkende analyses tussen verschillende soorten AGN en hun omgevingen. Zo kunnen we empirisch vaststellen welke factoren de efficiëntie van accretie begrenzen en welke boodschappen de jet- en verwarmingsprocessen leveren aan de omliggende interstellare medium.
Theoretische richting: inzet op geavanceerde hydrodynamische en magneto-hydrodynamische (MHD) simulaties die SMBH-activiteit naadloos integreren met bredere galactische evolie processen, inclusief de rol van turbulentie, velden en stralingsdrukken. Daarnaast zijn netwerktheoretische en informatieverwerkingsbenaderingen van toepassing op kosmische omgevingen, waarbij informatiefluxen tussen de centrale engine, de accretieschijven, jets en de halo’s worden gemodelleerd. Door dergelijke geïntegreerde modellen kunnen we voorspellingen genereren die direct toetsbaar zijn aan observaties, zoals de relatie tussen accretie-snelheid, feedback-energie en de vorm en evolutie van de gastrolstructuren in de gastheergalaxie. Het combineren van simulaties op verschillende schalen—van gebeurtenisperspectief in de nabijheid van het SMBH tot galactische schaal—kan helpen om de kloof tussen feit en hypothese te verkleinen en om de evolutie van SMBH-activiteiten in een kosmologische context te plaatsen. Daarnaast zijn probabilistische en statistische methoden nodig om onzekerheden in modellering en observaties te beheersen en om robuuste constraint-sets te genereren voor theorieën over accretie en feedback.
Filosofische richting:verduidelijking van definities rond “bewustzijn” en de plaats daarvan in de natuurwetenschap, met aandacht voor empirische toetsbaarheid en falsifieerbare criteria. Het identificeren van criteria voor emergente eigenschappen op kosmologische schaal, die mogelijk metafysische overwegingen raken, kan bijdragen aan een betere scheiding tussen metafysica en natuurwetenschap. Dit vereist reflectie op wat als “empirisch verifieerbaar” en “railbaar via observaties” kan worden beschouwd in systemen met extreme fysica en lange tijdsschalen. Het doel is een helder kader waarin wetenschappelijk onderzoek naar complexe kosmische systemen zowel conceptueel als methodologisch stevig staat, zonder essentiële fysische inzichten uit te sluiten.
Conclusie
Op basis van de huidige stand van kennis wordt de hypothese dat SMBH’s een centrale, fysiek onderliggende rol spelen in de evolutie van sterrenstelsels als de meest robuuste en wetenschappelijk onderbouwde lens gezien. Het concept van galactisch bewustzijn blijft interessant als filosofische en theoretische verbeelding, maar mist op dit moment de empirische basis en operationele definities die nodig zijn voor wetenschappelijke validatie. Desalniettemin blijft het verkennen van emergente eigenschappen in complexe kosmische netwerken waardevol voor het begrip van systeemsamenhang en kan het leiden tot innovatieve inzichten in de manier waarop informatie en energie in het universum door netwerken stromen. De toekomstige inspanningen in zowel observationeel als theoretisch onderzoek zullen ongetwijfeld het verhaal van SMBH’s en mogelijk de fascinerende gedachte van galactisch bewustzijn verder aanscherpen.
Scientists believe that one of the most effective ways to explore Mars is with robots—tumbleweeds. These vehicles resemble large mesh spheres and do not require very powerful engines. Instead, they are powered by wind energy. Recently, engineers have confirmed the effectiveness of this concept.
One of the critical points in the development of Mars rovers is energy sources. They have to ensure the autonomy of the research device for as long as possible, otherwise all attempts to scale automated systems are pointless. Recently, at a meeting of the Europlanet Science Congress and the Department of Planetary Sciences, engineers from Tumbleweed discussed a new way of exploring Mars.
At its core is the idea of a swarm of spherical rovers. Tumbleweed is a special type of shrub that grows in many arid regions of the Earth. When the dry season arrives, their above-ground part, resembling a ball of twigs, dries out and rolls across the desert under the influence of the wind, traveling many kilometers before spilling its seeds.
This is precisely the principle that Tumbleweed decided to use in its robots. They resemble 5-meter balls made of metal mesh, with a core containing equipment in the center. They were first introduced in July this year.
Test results
To be precise, the company has so far presented prototypes with diameters of 30, 40, and 50 cm. However, they have already proven their effectiveness. The fact is that the main advantage of such a design is the absence of a powerful energy source. Instead, it is moved by the wind until the vehicle stops moving and switches to stationary research station mode.
The only problem is the wind itself. On Mars, its speed can reach 9-10 m/s. However, the atmosphere is extremely thin, so its actual strength is significantly lower than on Earth. However, developers have already proven that this is not an obstacle to their work.
They have already confirmed this by testing them in a wind tunnel, which reproduced Martian pressure and the corresponding wind speed. Under these conditions, they were able to overcome a slope corresponding to 30° on Mars.
Test results confirm that they are capable of moving at speeds of up to 10 m/s and covering a distance of 422 km in 100 Martian sol. Overall, the developers expect that under favorable conditions, Tumbleweed could travel 2,800 km across the surface of Mars.
However, rather embarrassingly for the preachers who predicted it, the supposed End of Days has now come and gone without incident.
Now, experts have revealedwhat the apocalypse will really look like.
And the bleak reality of human extinction is far more depressing than any story of Biblical annihilation.
From the deadly threat of rogue AI or nuclear war to the pressing risk of engineered bio–weapons, humans themselves are creating the biggest risks to our own survival.
Dr Thomas Moynihan, a researcher at Cambridge University's Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, told Daily Mail: 'Apocalypse is an old idea, which can be traced to religion, but extinction is a surprisingly modern one, resting on scientific knowledge about nature.
'When we talk about extinction, we are imagining the human species disappearing and the rest of the universe indefinitely persisting, in its vastness, without us.
'This is very different from what Christians imagine when they talk about Rapture or Judgement Day.'
While TikTok evangelists predicted the rapture would come this week, apocalypse experts say that human life is much more likely to be destroyed by our own actions than any outside force - such as nuclear war (AI–generated impression)
Nuclear war
Scientists who study the destruction of humanity talk about what they call 'existential risks' – threats that could wipe out the human species.
Ever since humans learned to split the atom, one of the most pressing existential risks has been nuclear war.
During the Cold War, fears of nuclear war were so high that governments around the world were seriously planning for life after the total annihilation of society.
The risk posed by nuclear war dropped after the fall of the Soviet Union, but experts now think the threat is spiking.
However, the worrying prospect is that humanity could actually be wiped out by only a tiny fraction of these weapons.
The nine nations with nuclear weapons currently hold 12,331 nuclear warheads, which could lead to millions of deaths (AI–generated impression)
The five most likely causes of human extinction
1. Rogue AI
2. Nuclear war
3. Engineered bioweapons
4. Climate change
5. Natural disasters or asteroid strike
Dr Moynihan says: 'Newer research shows that even a relatively regional nuclear exchange could lead to worldwide climate fallout.
'Debris from fires in city centres would loom into the stratosphere, where it would dim sunlight, causing crop failures.
'Something similar led to the demise of the dinosaurs, though that was caused by an asteroid strike.'
Studies have shown that a so–called 'nuclear winter' would actually be far worse than Cold War predictions suggested.
Using modern climate models, researchers have shown that a nuclear exchange would plunge the planet into a 'nuclear little ice age' lasting thousands of years.
Reduced sunlight would plunge global temperatures by up to 10˚C (18˚F) for nearly a decade, devastating the world's agricultural production.
Meanwhile, a global nuclear war would kill 360 million civilians immediately and lead to the starvation of 5.3 billion people in just two years following the first explosion.
Even a limited nuclear exchange could plunge the world into a 'little nuclear ice age' which would drop global temperatures by 10°C (18°F) for thousands of years (AI–generated impression)
Dr Moynihan says: 'Some argue it's hard to draw a clear line from this to the eradication of all humans, everywhere, but we don't want to find out.'
Engineered bioweapons
Just like the threat of nuclear arms, another likely way that humanity could come to an end is through the release of an engineered bioweapon.
Since 1973, when scientists created the first genetically modified bacteria, humanity has been steadily increasing its capacity to make deadly diseases.
These man–made diseases pose a significantly greater threat to our existence than anything found in nature.
Otto Barten, founder of the Existential Risk Observatory, told the Daily Mail: 'We have a lot of experience with natural pandemics, and these have not led to human extinction in the last 300,000 years.
'Therefore, although natural pandemics remain a very serious risk, this is very likely not going to cause our complete demise.
'However, man–made pandemics might be engineered specifically to maximise effectiveness, in a way that doesn't occur in nature.'
Natural pandemics are unlikely to lead to human extinction, but genetically engineered variants could be much more deadly (AI–generated impression)
Experts are concerned that the tools needed to engineer deadly pathogens are becoming more accessible and could fall into the wrong hands (AI–generated impression)
Currently, the means to create such deadly diseases are limited to a handful of states that wouldn't benefit from unleashing a deadly plague.
However, scientists have warned that improving technologies like AI mean that this ability is likely to fall into the hands of more and more people.
If terrorists gain the ability to create deadly bioweapons, they could release a pathogen that would spread wildly out of control and eventually lead to humanity's extinction.
What would be left behind would be a world that looks like it does now, but with all traces of living humans wiped away.
Dr Moynihan adds: 'Extinction is, in this way, the total frustration of any kind of moral order; again, within a universe that persists, silently, without us.'
Rogue artificial intelligence
Experts currently believe that the biggest danger humanity is creating for itself is artificial intelligence.
Scientists who study existential risk think there is anywhere between a 10 and 90 per cent chance that humanity will not survive the advent of superintelligent AI.
One of the biggest risks to humanity is the creation of a rogue AI which becomes 'unaligned' with humanity's interests (AI–generated impression)
What is a rogue AI?
Some AI experts are concerned that AI might soon reach a state called superintelligence, meaning it is more intelligent than the combined efforts of all humans.
Once this happens, the AI might start to develop its own goals.
If those goals don't align with what humans want, this is called an unaligned or 'rogue' AI.
A rogue AI might not be openly hostile to humans, but if humanity's extinction is more convenient for its goals, it could eliminate all living humans.
The big concern is that a sufficiently intelligent AI will become 'unaligned', meaning its goals and ambitions will cease to line up with the interests of humanity.
Dr Moynihan says: 'If an AI becomes smarter than us and also becomes agential — that is, capable of conjuring its own goals and acting on them.'
If an AI becomes agentic, it doesn't even need to be openly hostile to humans for it to wipe us out.
When an agentic AI has a goal that differs from what humans want, the AI would naturally see humans turning it off as a hindrance to that goal and do everything it can to prevent that.
The AI might be totally indifferent to humans, but simply decides that the resources and systems that keep humanity alive would be better used pursuing its own ambitions.
Experts don't know exactly what those goals might be or how the AI might try to pursue them, which is exactly what makes an unaligned AI so dangerous.
'The problem is that it's impossible to predict the actions of something immeasurably smarter than you,' says Dr Moynihan.
'It's hard to imagine how we could anticipate, intercept, or prevent the AI's plans to implement them.'
Experts aren't sure how an AI would chose to wipe out humanity, which is what makes them so dangerous - but it could involved usurping our own computerised weapons or nuclear launch systems (AI–generated impression)
Some experts have suggested that an AI might take control of existing weapon systems or nuclear missiles, manipulate humans into carrying out its orders, or design its own bioweapons.
However, the scarier prospect is that AI might destroy us in a way we literally cannot conceive of.
Dr Moynihan says: 'The general fear is that a smarter–than–human AI would be able to manipulate matter and energy with far more finesse than we can muster.
'Drone strikes would have been incomprehensible to the earliest human farmers: the laws of physics haven't changed in the meantime, just our comprehension of them.
'Regardless, if something like this is possible, and ever does come to pass, it would probably unfold in ways far stranger than anyone currently imagines. It won't involve metallic, humanoid robots with guns and glowing scarlet eyes.'
Climate change
Mr Barten says: 'Climate change is also an existential risk, meaning it could lead to the complete annihilation of humanity, but experts believe this has less than a one in a thousand chance of happening.'
Is climate change an existential risk?
Existential risk experts say that climate change could lead to human extinction, but that this is extremely unlikely.
The only way climate change could kill every human on Earth is if global warming continues to be much stronger than scientists currently predict.
The bigger risk is that climate change might exacerbate other risks.
For example, climate change will lead to food shortages and displace millions of climate refugees as parts of the world become uninhabitable.
That could lead to conflicts, which could escalate into nuclear war.
In an unlikely but terrifying scenario, a runaway greenhouse effect could cause all water on Earth to evaporate and escape into space, leaving the planet dry and barren (AI–generated impression)
However, there are a few unlikely scenarios in which climate change could lead to human extinction.
For example, if the world becomes hot enough, large amounts of water vapour could escape into the upper atmosphere in a phenomenon known as the moist greenhouse effect.
There, intense solar radiation would break the water down into oxygen and hydrogen, which is light enough to easily escape into space.
At the same time, water vapour in the atmosphere would weaken the mechanisms which usually prevent gases from escaping.
This would lead to a runaway cycle in which all water on Earth escapes into space, leaving the planet dry and totally uninhabitable.
The good news is that, although climate change is making our climate hotter, the moist greenhouse effect won't kick in unless the climate gets much hotter than scientists currently predict.
The bad news is that the moist greenhouse effect will almost certainly occur in about 1.5 billion years when the sun starts to expand.
Elon Musk wants to push technology to its absolute limit, from space travel to self-driving cars — but he draws the line at artificial intelligence.
The billionaire first shared his distaste for AI in 2014, calling it humanity's 'biggest existential threat' and comparing it to 'summoning the demon'.
At the time, Musk also revealed he was investing in AI companies not to make money but to keep an eye on the technology in case it gets out of hand.
His main fear is that in the wrong hands, if AI becomes advanced, it could overtake humans and spell the end of mankind, which is known as The Singularity.
That concern is shared among many brilliant minds, including the late Stephen Hawking, who told the BBC in 2014: 'The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.
'It would take off on its own and redesign itself at an ever-increasing rate.'
Despite his fear of AI, Musk has invested in the San Francisco-based AI group Vicarious, in DeepMind - which has since been acquired by Google - and OpenAI, creating the popular ChatGPT program that has taken the world by storm in recent months.
During a 2016 interview, Musk noted that he and OpenAI created the company to 'have democratisation of AI technology to make it widely available'.
Musk founded OpenAI with Sam Altman, the company's CEO, but in 2018 the billionaire attempted to take control of the start-up.
His request was rejected, forcing him to quit OpenAI and move on with his other projects.
In November, OpenAI launched ChatGPT, which became an instant success worldwide.
The chatbot uses 'large language model' software to train itself by scouring a massive amount of text data so it can learn to generate eerily human-like text in response to a given prompt.
ChatGPT is used to write research papers, books, news articles, emails and more.
But while Altman is basking in its glory, Musk is attacking ChatGPT.
He says the AI is 'woke' and deviates from OpenAI's original non-profit mission.
'OpenAI was created as an open source (which is why I named it 'Open' AI), non-profit company to serve as a counterweight to Google, but now it has become a closed source, maximum-profit company effectively controlled by Microsoft, Musk tweeted in February.
The Singularity is making waves worldwide as artificial intelligence advances in ways only seen in science fiction - but what does it actually mean?
In simple terms, it describes a hypothetical future where technology surpasses human intelligence and changes the path of our evolution.
Experts have said that once AI reaches this point, it will be able to innovate much faster than humans.
There are two ways the advancement could play out, with the first leading to humans and machines working together to create a world better suited for humanity.
For example, humans could scan their consciousness and store it in a computer in which they will live forever.
The second scenario is that AI becomes more powerful than humans, taking control and making humans its slaves - but if this is true, it is far off in the distant future.
Researchers are now looking for signs of AI reaching The Singularity, such as the technology's ability to translate speech with the accuracy of a human and perform tasks faster.
Former Google engineer Ray Kurzweil predicts it will be reached by 2045.
He has made 147 predictions about technology advancements since the early 1990s - and 86 per cent have been correct.
That base will likely be nuclear-powered, capable of housing astronauts on a permanent basis, and built out of the materials found on the lunar surface.
Asked what success would look like for NASA in a decade, Mr Duffy said: 'We are going to have sustained human life on the moon.' This comes as the space agency prepares for its first missions to the lunar surface since the end of the Apollo programme
Acting NASA director Sean Duffy (pictured) has said the space agency will build a 'village' on the moon by 2035
This year, the theme of the IAC conference was 'Sustainable Space: Resilient Earth', which Mr Duffy took to mean how NASA could sustain life in space.
While the heads of the European, Canadian, and Japanese space agencies talked up how their satellites were helping climate research, NASA focused exclusively on space exploration.
In addition to revealing his plans for the moon, Mr Duffy also made bold claims about the US's ambitions for Mars.
Asked what success looks like for NASA in a decade, Mr Duffy said that the agency would have 'made leaps and bounds on our mission to get to Mars.'
He also predicted that the US would be 'on the cusp of putting human boots on Mars.'
During the Artemis II mission next February, astronauts will test the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft that will eventually carry humans to the moon.
Over 10 days, the crew will travel 5,700 miles (9,200 km) past the moon, testing the onboard systems and gathering data on their bodies' reactions, before returning to Earth.
Sean Duffy, NASA administrator, has revealed plans to build a sustainable and permanent outpost on the lunar surface within the next decade (AI image)
As early as February 2026, NASA will launch the Artemis II mission and send four astronauts on a mission to orbit the moon. Their goal is to test the equipment and systems that will be used in a lunar landing scheduled for mid-2027
NASA's Artemis Mission Timeline
Artemis I
- Uncrewed lunar flight test
- Launched November, 2022
Artemis II
- Crewed Lunar Flyby
- Launch planned for April, 2026
Artemis III
- Crewed Surface Landing
- Launch planned for mid-2027
Artemis IV
- Building First Lunar Space Station
- Launch targeting September 2028
But the big test for NASA will come in mid-2027 with the launch of Artemis III, which plans to land two astronauts at a site near the moon's south pole.
Unlike the Apollo missions, which spent up to 22 hours on the lunar surface, Artemis III will require astronauts to live on the moon for around seven days.
The data they collect on the geology and conditions around the South Pole will all be used to prepare for the ultimate goal of constructing a permanent base on the moon.
Although the technical details are still unclear, what that lunar base might look like is starting to take shape.
That is enough energy to power a lunar base through the 14-day lunar nights, during which solar panels will be ineffective.
This comes after NASA issued a directive calling for the USA to become the first nation to deploy a nuclear reactor on the moon to support a permanent lunar settlement. Pictured: A NASA rendering of a potential lunar nuclear reactor design
Any reactor that proves itself useful on the moon will also be valuable for future Martian exploration missions, where the extreme distances require humans to stay on the surface for long periods.
NASA has also begun to research the materials which could be used to create the structure of the base.
In a statement, NASA officials said one option for building the moon base could be 'using the microgravity environment to mix lunar soil with other materials to make cement and build habitable structures on the moon.'
If that proves viable, the base could be 3D printed by machines sent to the moon on rockets, using only the lunar soil and water found at the South Pole site.
Despite fears that President Donald Trump would lose interest in missions to the moon, under Mr Duffy, NASA has taken an increasingly bold stance on lunar exploration.
In a recent statement, Mr Duffy said that NASA would 'win the second space race' against China through the Artemis programme.
Dr Duffy said: 'We're going back to the Moon, and this time, when we plant our flag, we stay.'
This NASA photo taken on July 16, 1969 shows the huge, 363ft tall Apollo 11 rocket launched from pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center
Apollo was the NASA programme that launched in 1961 and got the first man on the moon eight years later.
The first four flights tested the equipment for the Apollo Program and six of the other seven flights managed to land on the moon.
The first manned mission to the moon was Apollo 8 which circled around it on Christmas Eve in 1968 but did not land.
The crew of Apollo 9 spent ten days orbiting Earth and completed the first manned flight of the lunar module – the section of the Apollo rocket that would later land Neil Armstrong on the moon.
The Apollo 11 mission was the first one to land on the lunar surface on July 20, 1969.
The capsule landed on the Sea of Tranquillity, carrying mission commander Armstrong and pilot Buzz Aldrin.
Armstrong and Aldrin walked on the lunar surface while Michael Collins remained in orbit around the moon.
When Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon, he said, 'That's one small step for (a) man; one giant leap for mankind.'
Apollo 12 landed later that year on November 19 on the Ocean of Storms.
Apollo 13 was to be the third mission to land on the moon, but just under 56 hours into flight, an oxygen tank explosion forced the crew to cancel the lunar landing and move into the Aquarius lunar module to return back to Earth.
Apollo 15 was the ninth manned lunar mission in the Apollo space program, and considered at the time the most successful manned space flight up to that moment because of its long duration and greater emphasis on scientific exploration than had been possible on previous missions.
The last Apollo moon landing happened in 1972 after a total of 12 astronauts had touched down on the lunar surface.
Astronaut Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin is pictured unpacking experiments from the lunar module on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. He was photographed by Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong on July 20, 1969
An invasion of small metallic orbs has been spotted hovering over the US in recent years, leaving the Pentagon scrambling to identify these mysterious UFOs.
A new report from the crowdsourced platform Enigma, which allows people to report sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs), reveals more than 8,000 sightings across the US between December 2022 and June 2025.
Among these, 422 reports specifically describe metallic orbs, with the majority observed between 1am and 4am near military installations in New York, California, and Arizona.
Eyewitnesses, including civilians, pilots, and military personnel, reported seeing the spheres hover silently before moving at extreme speeds, leaving no trace of their departure.
Some of the sightings have been captured on video or radar, though many remain unexplained.
'I was walking into work when I looked up and saw two metallic liquid-like objects hovering for about two minutes,' said one witness over Brooklyn's Fort Hamilton in June 2024.
Another in California described seeing a metallic orb above Los Angeles shortly after a squadron of planes flew by.
Military drone footage from the Middle east in 2022 revealed a metal sphere flying through the sky in broad daylight (circled in purple)
The crowdsourced platform Enigma reported that over 8,000 orbs have been seen over the US since December 2022
However, some cases have remained unsolved, reportedly due to a lack of data. Of the 757 UFO cases between May 2023 and June 2024 released in AARO's annual report, 21 cases were classified as unresolved sightings.
Although the Pentagon and civilian groups like the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC) have also been cataloging these incidents, many have continued to baffle military officials, who have no way of explaining what was seen.
While the new report focused on the thousands of sightings in the US over the last three years, strange orbs have been documented all over the world, from Puerto Rico to the Middle East.
Moreover, these tiny craft have apparently been visiting our skies for decades, with pilots during World War II reporting similar orbs over the skies of Europe.
Enigma revealed that more than 360 'metallic orb' reports took place within a few miles of military bases here on US soil.
In three of those cases, witnesses revealed that the orbs got within five miles of Fort Hamilton in New York, Papago Military Reserve in Arizona, and Los Angeles Air Force Base on multiple occasions.
These mystery orb sightings include one shocking encounter revealed by Dr Sean Kirkpatrick, the former director of AARO, which was captured on a MQ-9 Reaper drone's camera in the Middle East in 2022.
Enigma revealed that witnesses spotted strange orbs flying above Fort Hamilton military base in New York multiple times
Even more close calls were documented around Los Angeles Air Force Base in California between 2022 and 2025
Kirkpatrick warned that if these videos didn't prove that aliens exist, then they're evidence that a rival foreign power could be 'doing stuff in our backyard.'
Some theories have suggested these orbs could be surveillance devices from foreign powers like China or Russia.
Government officials believed they might be advanced drones, due to their tremendous agility and ability to avoid radar, according to a 2022 report in the New York Times.
As for Enigma's report, many of the orb sightings have been concentrated in Texas and Florida.
In fact, visitors at Disney World's Epcot in Florida got an unexpected sight this month, when a glowing orb appeared over the amusement park.
After searching online and finding no information about drones or satellites in the area, Morgan Huelsman, digital director of The Bobby Bones Show, described the object as a 'UFO,' adding, 'definitely a UFO with aliens.'
The Enigma platform has also received sightings from all over the US, over critical infrastructure such as power plants, and over naval vessels at sea.
The Buga Sphere recovered in Colombia (pictured) remains one of the only pieces of physical evidence tied to metallic orb sightings worldwide
The 'Buga Sphere' has become a major topic of discussion among UFO researchers, with scientists claiming the object contains a maze of fiber-optic wires that suggest it can send and receive signals.
After striking a power line and crashing to the ground, the object also appeared to have somehow dehydrated the field it landed in, killing all the grass and soil where it touched down.
Scientists suggested this was proof that the object produced some kind of energy field, but researchers had not attempted to forcibly cut the object open so far. The sphere has since been taken to Mexico for further analysis.
However, UFO researcher Dr Julia Mossbridge from the University of San Diego is among the many who doubt the authenticity of the Buga Sphere, calling it a 'man-made art project.'
Mars is the most studied planet in the Solar System after Earth. Right now, there are six spacecraft belonging to four different space agencies operating in its orbit. They are accompanied by two rovers and a drone that has been repurposed as an autonomous weather station. We will tell you about these spacecraft, their main tasks, and discoveries.
Spacecraft exploring Mars (concept). Source: NASA
NASA’s Martian armada
Of all the space agencies, NASA has the largest Martian armada. It consists of three orbital and three ground-based vehicles.
The oldest of these is Mars Odyssey, launched back in 2001 (hence its name, which was given in honor of “2001: A Space Odyssey”). It is the longest-running Martian spacecraft in history, and of all interplanetary missions, it is second only to the legendary Voyager probes in this respect.
Mars Odyssey as imagined by an artist. Source: NASA
The main objective of the Mars Odyssey was to map the surface of Mars. Over the years, the spacecraft took nearly 1.5 million images of the Red Planet in the visible and infrared ranges, compiling a global map. This map was later used to select landing sites for subsequent Mars missions. Mars Odyssey also discovered large reserves of water ice beneath the surface of the Red Planet, collected data on the radiation environment in its vicinity, studied seasonal changes in the polar caps, and photographed Phobos.
Of course, such a long stay in space could not fail to affect the technical condition of the Mars Odyssey. One of its main scientific instruments has failed, and its fuel reserves are almost exhausted. According to engineers’ estimates, they will last until the end of this year or the beginning of next year. However, Mars Odyssey may cease operations earlier if NASA’s 2026 budget proposal, which calls for the early termination of the mission, is approved.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is probably one of the most famous Mars explorers in history. It has been orbiting Mars since 2006. During this time, it has transmitted over 400 terabytes of data to Earth, including millions of images of the planet’s surface.
MRO as imagined by an artist. Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The MRO data has significantly expanded our knowledge of Mars. It has compiled the most detailed map of the Red Planet’s surface and discovered many geological formations that have provided insight into its past. Its data has been and continues to be used to search for landing sites for Mars expeditions. It is also actively used as a space “detective.” MRO images have revealed the mystery of the disappearance of the Beagle 2 probe and the fate of the Schiaparelli landing platform. In addition, it regularly photographs new craters formed on Mars as a result of asteroid impacts.
Finally, MRO plays a key role in maintaining communication with NASA’s Mars rovers, relaying their data back to Earth. It will likely continue to do so for a long time to come. According to the latest estimates, MRO has enough fuel reserves to continue operating until the middle of the next decade.
The MAVEN spacecraft is NASA’s newest Mars explorer. It was launched in 2013. MAVEN is used to study the Martian atmosphere. Over the years, it has measured the rate at which the atmosphere is leaking into space. MAVEN has also studied its interaction with the solar wind, the tail of comet C/2013 A1, and measured radiation levels in the vicinity of Mars. Like MRO, MAVEN also plays a very important role in communicating with Mars rovers, relaying their data back to Earth.
Artist’s impression of the MAVEN spacecraft. Source: NASA
Like Mars Odyssey, MAVEN is now under threat of cancellation due to the White House’s proposed new NASA budget. But space enthusiasts hope that the mission can be saved. Its premature closure would deal a significant blow to American plans for Mars exploration.
Mars rovers and a drone that became a weather station
In addition to three orbital spacecraft, NASA also has two rovers operating on the surface of the Red Planet. The first is Curiosity, which landed at the end of 2012. The rover is conducting research in Gale Crater, at the bottom of which there was once a lake.
“Self-Portrait” taken by the American Mars rover Curiosity on June 15, 2018, in the midst of a global dust storm. Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
During its mission, Curiosity has traveled over 35 km. This has affected its condition. Some of the rover’s wheels have developed holes, and its radioisotope thermoelectric generator now produces much less energy than it did during landing. Nevertheless, the rover is still successfully performing its tasks, and NASA hopes that it will continue to operate for many years to come.
The Perseverance rover, which landed in February 2021, was based on Curiosity but has a set of more advanced scientific instruments. These have enabled it to make a number of high-profile discoveries, including the recent discovery of biosignatures. The rover is also collecting soil samples, which may be delivered to Earth in the future by a special mission.
Perseverance landing. Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Perseverance landed on Mars together with the Ingenuity helicopter drone. In 2024, it crashed and lost its ability to fly. After that, engineers switched it to autonomous weather station mode. It is assumed that it wakes up every day, takes pictures of the surface, and collects temperature data. Whether this is true or not is impossible to verify at this time: Perseverance has moved too far away from the drone to maintain communication with it. However, NASA engineers believe that Ingenuity will be able to operate in this mode for about 20 years.
In the future, the drone may be selected for a specific mission. The data stored inside it will not only benefit developers of Martian technology but will also allow scientists to gain a long-term understanding of Martian weather conditions and dust movement.
European Mars researchers
The European Space Agency boasts two spacecraft operating in Martian orbit. The first is Mars Express, which was launched back in 2003 and is second only to Mars Odysseus in terms of service life.
Mars Express spacecraft (concept). Source: ESA
Despite its considerable age, Mars Express continues to delight us regularly with various discoveries. Many of these have been made possible by the radar on board. Analysis of its data, in particular, has revealed signs of liquid water in the planet’s interior. Mars Express also photographed the famous “Face on Mars” in high resolution. To the disappointment of all ufologists, it turned out to be not an alien artifact, but merely a rock formation.
The TGO spacecraft has been orbiting Mars since 2016. Its main task is to study the planet’s atmosphere and search for rare compounds that indicate the possibility of life. The spacecraft has also compiled a global map that allows scientists to estimate the percentage of water ice in the subsurface layers of Mars.
Artist’s impression of the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO). Source: ESA
Initially, it was assumed that TGO would work in tandem with the Rosalind Franklin rover. However, due to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the breakdown of cooperation between ESA and Roscosmos, the latter remained on Earth. The rover may be launched in 2028, but this date is still subject to change.
New Mars explorers
NASA and ESA are the “old hands” in the study of Mars. However, in recent years, they have faced competition from new space powers that have launched their own Mars missions. One of them is the UAE. In 2020, it sent the first Arab interplanetary mission in history to Mars, called Emirates Mars Mission.
The Emirates Mars Mission spacecraft as imagined by an artist. Source: UAE Space Agency
The key scientific goal of this mission is to create a complete picture of the Martian atmosphere. The spacecraft will study how the weather changes throughout the local day and year, investigate meteorological events in the lower atmosphere, such as dust storms, and observe the climate in different geographical regions of Mars. Based on images from the Emirates Mars Mission, scientists have also created a three-dimensional map of the planet’s surface.
The Chinese Tianwen-1 mission was also launched in 2020. It was the first step in China’s ambitious program to conquer the Red Planet. The main task of the spacecraft is to conduct a global survey of Mars, including mapping the morphology and geological structure of the planet, studying the characteristics of the surface layer and the distribution of water ice in it, analyzing the composition of surface materials, measuring the parameters of the planet’s ionosphere, electromagnetic and gravitational fields, and obtaining information about the climate of Mars.
Selfie taken by Tianwen-1. Source: CNSA
The tasks assigned to Tianwen-1 appear to be quite ambitious. However, this is only a prelude to the much more complex and costly Tianwen-3 mission. As part of this mission, China plans to bring samples of Martian soil to Earth for the first time in history. At present, the launch of Tianwen-3 is scheduled for 2028.
Several remarkable new photos reveal a flurry of so-called 'unidentified flying objects' in Headingley in Leeds, West Yorkshire.
Local resident and photographer Jesse Gallagher snapped the strange collection of unearthly bodies over several months using his iPhone.
The snaps, shared exclusively with the Daily Mail, were all taken after dark around midnight, making their ghostly light easier for the camera to detect.
And they certainly form an eerie motely crew of strange shapes and sizes, several deviating a lot from traditional depictions of a UFO.
'When zooming in, the orbs are either white or multi-coloured and can be seen pulsating,' Mr Gallagher told the Daily Mail.
'One recording has the moon as a backdrop which provides some interesting perspective.
'I have seen other videos of similar objects around the world.'
They make up an eerie motely crew of strange shapes and sizes, deviating a lot from traditional depictions of a UFO. Pictured, the spoon-shaped entity
Another entity in a deeper shade of blue seems to form a very rough sphere or orb and be emitting a faint ring of light
Mr Gallagher said his footage was captured around midnight in Headingley between August 2021 and November 2023.
Bizarrely, one of the UFOs with a ghostly slivery-blue tint resembles a spoon or a spade – with a narrow stream of light connecting a fainter circle.
Another entity in an even deeper shade of blue seems to form a very rough sphere or orb and be emitting a faint beams of light.
Meanwhile, the third snap shows a bright white ball of brilliant light, almost perfectly circular, with the moon as a tiny blob in the background.
But perhaps most intriguing photo shows a textured grey object with an unusual level of detail – a possible cone or horn, with what seems to be a hole in the middle.
Clues from its appearance suggest it could be a discarded piece of machinery or a fragment of disused spacecraft.
But, in such an instance, rules of physics surely dictate that it would hit the ground.
Philip Mantle, a British UFO researcher, said the images show some kind of 'distant light source that is out of focus'.
The third snap shows a bright white ball of brilliant light, almost perfectly circular, with the moon a tiny blob in the background
A piece of spacecraft? Perhaps most intriguing of the four pictures is this one, showing a textured grey object with an unusual level of detail
'The out of focus image makes the light look very different from what the naked eye would see,' he told the Daily Mail.
'They could well be simple lens flares as seen in the photo of the moon.'
But Mr Mantle stopped short of calling them 'UFOs' – a term that may or may not describe an object thought to have an extraterrestrial origin.
John Tunnah took about 10 or 12 photographs from his vantage point near the hills, but the object only appeared in one of them.
The object is remarkably similar to the classic UFO saucer shape depicted in popular culture, with a distinctive round and elongated shape.
Nick Pope, a UFO expert formerly with the UK's Ministry of Defence, offered a number of explanations for Mr Tunnah's photo.
'When photos show an anomaly that wasn't seen at the time, I suspect either a glitch with the camera, or a fast-moving object like a bird or an insect, close to the lens,' Mr Pope told the Daily Mail.
This bizarre saucer-shaped object was snapped with a Pentax Optio SVi camera by Yorkshire photographer John Tunnah
The man's attention was drawn by a perfectly formed arch of cloud over the trees (centre) - and only later did he notice the saucer-shaped object on the left
UFOs became a major subject of interest after World War II and were thought by some researchers to be intelligent extraterrestrial life visiting Earth.
In the US, the government's Department of Defense, commonly known as the Pentagon, now refrains from using the term UFO at all.
This is largely because it is commonly associated with wind up conspiracy theories and paranoia.
Instead, the Pentagon uses UAP – 'unidentified aerial phenomenon' – although in most places this has low usage and is yet to enter common parlance.
V-shaped UFO filmed hovering over Los Angeles as expert reveals incredible details of sighting
Clear and startling images of what appears to be a UFO were captured over Los Angeles, sparking fresh debate about what's flying over America's biggest cities.
The sighting went on for roughly 25 minutes, with the UFO flying south until the witnesses eventually lost sight of it around 11:38pm local time (2:38am ET).
The pair was able to capture both pictures and clear videos with a cellphone camera, zooming in to see nine white lights along the UFO's hull.
UFO researcher and filmmaker Mark Christopher Lee told the Daily Mail he believes the craft was not an alien spaceship, instead offering some alternate theories.
A respected congressman has claimed that advanced alien beings could be hiding out in 'five or six' underwater UFO bases right off the US coast.
Tennessee congressman Tim Burchett, a member of the House Oversight Committee overseeing UFO reports, drew massive attention on social media after saying that he believed there were alien 'entities' currently living in deep-water areas on Earth.
The September 17 clip posted on X has already been viewed more than 1.9 million times.
During the sidewalk interview with a UFO researcher and documentary filmmaker who goes by the pseudonym Red Panda Koala, Burchett suggested that advanced alien beings or civilizations may have been hiding in Earth's oceans for generations.
He added that there have been frequent sightings of unidentified craft around five or six specific deep-sea areas, which he found significant given how little is known about the ocean compared to the moon's surface.
The congressman also noted that US Navy personnel have reported chasing these underwater craft that move at extraordinary speeds and far surpass the abilities of current US military technology.
Despite these claims, no verifiable physical evidence, such as artifacts or clear footage of these underwater craft, has been publicly presented to confirm the existence of alien bases.
Skeptics have argued that the reliance on anecdotal reports from naval personnel and the lack of peer-reviewed scientific data casts significant doubt on the claims made during recent congressional hearings on UFO phenomena.
Tennessee congressman Tim Burchett (pictured) suggested in a viral clip online that there are alien beings in secret underwater bases near the US (Stock Image)
UFO researcher Dr Michael Salla said these bases are believed to be in a region of the Atlantic near the Bahamas
Following the explosive revelations, Dr Michael Salla, an author and researcher focused on extraterrestrial phenomena, revealed where it's believed these UFO bases may be, singling out a region of the Atlantic Ocean near the Bahamas.
He added that he's also spoken to credible whistleblowers, including senior military and executive branch officials, who confirm the existence of underwater bases and advanced craft.
Dr Salla highlighted that the US Navy operates a top-secret underwater facility he likened to Area 51 called AUTEC, which stands for the Atlantic Undersea Testing and Evaluation Center, right in this region of the Atlantic.
'Just to the right of it is Tongue of the Ocean, which is a very deep part of the ocean there in the Bahamas. It drops off immediately around 3,000 feet,' Salla said while appearing on the Redacted podcast on September 19.
'So that's ideal for a submarine, but it's also a place where people have seen many UFOs, many underwater craft coming into and leaving the water. So, there have been a lot of UFO sightings in that area,' he revealed.
The UFO researcher noted that he had interviewed two eyewitnesses who claimed that they had visited these secret bases, including one who was a US Army whistleblower who used the pseudonym 'JP.'
The whistleblower claimed he was on a mission where he was taken by a Blackhawk helicopter to an ocean platform, then boarded a high-tech submarine crewed by tall, Nordic-looking extraterrestrials.
The submarine, capable of space travel, took him to an underwater city under a dome, resembling Dubai, with a large white pyramid. The mission involved retrieving an artifact, but no physical evidence of this mission has ever been produced.
Congressman Eric Burlison of Missouri recently revealed video of a US military drone striking an orb-shaped UFO with a missile, which bounced off and did not stop the craft
Despite Burchett and Salla's lack of tangible evidence, there has been growing interest and testimony from credible sources, including military personnel at congressional hearings, suggesting that UFOs and extraterrestrial beings have visited Earth.
A recent congressional hearing on September 9 featured new whistleblowers who shared their experiences with UFOs, including a video showing an orb-like object surviving a missile strike and splitting into four parts they kept flying.
'We have naval personnel telling me we have these sightings, these underwater craft they're chasing that go hundreds of miles an hour, and the best we got is something that does maybe a little under forty miles an hour,' Burchett said in the interview posted on X.
One of the main mysteries that scientists want to solve in the Solar System is the existence of life on Mars – today or in the past. But why do scientists think there should be something there at all? The reasons for this are quite complex and interesting, because history and biology, physics and chemistry are intertwined.
Why are people searching for life on Mars? Source: www.thenewatlantis.com
Life on Mars and beyond
One of the topics that inevitably arises when discussing space exploration is life on Mars. One of the largest space programs currently being implemented by NASA is dedicated to discovering whether life exists there now or may have existed in the past. But why do scientists think that something can be found on Mars? Why not on some other planet?
The reason for this is primarily historical. In general, the idea that there may be living beings on other planets is relatively new. Back in the early 17th century, this statement, made by Giordano Bruno, was used to prove that he was a heretic. And when scientists finally got the chance to speak more freely, they immediately started talking about the possibility of life on absolutely all celestial bodies.
For example, intelligent beings were sought for quite a long time (and even claimed to have been found) on the Moon. Today, we could immediately come up with a whole bunch of scientific arguments, but it is worth remembering that in the 18th century, people were just beginning to learn about things such as the presence of oxygen in the atmosphere and its role in biological processes.
Life on the Moon, as imagined in the 19th century. Source: Wikipedia
Gradually, scientists realized how much life depends on the availability of certain substances and physical conditions, but even in the 19th century, Mars seemed to be a planet with changing seasons and fairly large bodies of water.
However, at the beginning of the 20th century, scientists realized that Martian canals were just an optical illusion, and that Mars itself was, at best, a dry steppe and, at worst, bare rock. However, it was at this time that the popularization of science and science fiction was born, so the public continued to believe in the existence of life on Mars.
Everything finally fell into place when, in 1965, Mariner 4 flew past Mars and photographed it from close range for the first time. Scientists were presented with a planet with a very thin atmosphere unsuitable for breathing, a weak magnetic field, and no trace of water or green foliage. So why have we not yet decided, once and for all, that there is no life there?
The surface of Mars does not resemble a place where life exists. Source: phys.org
What do you need to live?
One of the reasons why people are still searching for life on Mars is habit. People have believed for so long that there is a biosphere there that it is not so easy to give up on this idea. However, there are also purely scientific reasons not to stop searching.
First of all, we must remember what life is. Its general definition is rather vague, but it is quite possible to use the description of what it is on Earth. Life is a set of chemical processes involving complex carbon compounds that occur in an aquatic environment and ensure the ability of biological systems to reproduce themselves. Most often, these processes occur with the participation of oxygen.
It follows that the two main factors determining the possibility of life are the presence of carbon and water. Carbon is not a problem on Mars. The entire atmosphere consists of carbon dioxide, i.e., carbon monoxide. And there is plenty of carbonate rock on the surface.
The tricarboxylic acid cycle is what life really is. Source: Wikipedia
Water is not so simple. There is a lot of it in the form of ice on the surface of Mars, mainly concentrated in the ice caps at the poles, although it can also be found beneath the surface in temperate latitudes. However, for life to exist, water must be in a liquid state. On Mars, temperatures range from +20°C at the equator during the day to -153°C at the poles at night.
That is, at least somewhere it should be in a liquid state, but that would be true for Earth. On Mars, with its pressure 170 times lower than Earth’s, ice immediately turns into a gaseous state.
Oxygen is also essential for life, and there is plenty of it on Mars. It is the second component of carbon dioxide in the planet’s atmosphere, and the famous red color of its surface is due to iron oxides.
The polar cap of Mars. Source: Wikipedia
Thus, all the components necessary for life exist on the surface of Mars, and this is what makes it one of the best targets for the search for life beyond Earth. If only this planet were a little warmer and its atmosphere had higher pressure…
The Past of Mars
There were such periods in the history of Mars. We are talking about the Noachian period, which began about 4.1 billion years ago and ended 3.8 billion years ago. During this time, Mars had a primitive atmosphere of hydrogen, which gradually changed to a fairly dense carbon dioxide atmosphere. Scientists have found numerous traces of volcanism, which enriched the planet’s gas envelope with substances that caused the greenhouse effect.
During this period, Mars’ climate was warm enough for water to flow on its surface. Scientists know this for sure because they have found numerous riverbeds and former lakes, and at their bottoms – clay and other rocks that can only form in conditions of constant water presence.
Ancient Mars. Source: Wikipedia
At the same time, the water was of very different quality. At least in the beginning, volcanic geysers with acidic water played a major role. Later, they were replaced by colder reservoirs. The entire northern basin of the planet was occupied by the ocean.
At the same time, the atmosphere remained oxygen-free. Therefore, multicellular animals could not exist on Mars, but various anaerobic microorganisms could. And it is precisely on the search for their remains that scientists have focused in recent decades.
If life once existed on Mars, then it must first be sought in the sediments of that era. Structures resembling bacteria have been found in a meteorite that was once part of the Red Planet. However, scientists are still not entirely sure about their identification.
The river delta in the Jezero crater. Source: www.duluthnewstribune.com
The greatest hopes for finding traces of life on Mars are pinned on samples collected in the Jezero crater by the Perseverance rover. These are mainly fossilized clays, and they are the most likely place where the remains of microorganisms, if they ever existed on Mars, could have survived to this day. It is expected that in the next decade, these samples will be delivered to Earth laboratories, where they can be thoroughly studied.
Life on Mars today
The very discovery of ancient microorganisms could be a real sensation. After all, it would mean that life is indeed widespread throughout the universe. But it would be even more exciting if some of these bacteria could be brought back to life.
This scenario is one of the most popular among horror movie writers. Because our imagination immediately conjures up images of humanity dying out from an unknown disease. These fears are based on the fact that our immune system will not be ready to fight them.
However, they forget that all past cases of deadly epidemics are associated with viruses and bacteria that had been spreading for a long time in other human populations and among species relatively close to us.
The natural smallpox virus and its relatives have been infecting living creatures on Earth for hundreds of thousands of years. Source: phys.org
Ancient Martian life did not have millions of years of evolution to adapt to existence inside terrestrial multicellular organisms. Of course, there is a chance that it poses a danger to Earthlings, which is why research must be conducted in compliance with all safety requirements. However, it is equally likely that Martian organisms themselves will need much greater isolation in order not to perish in the Earth’s environment.
However, no one expects to find signs of life that existed on Mars billions of years ago. But if much younger samples are found on Mars, everything may turn out differently.
It is believed that in the middle of the era following the Noachian and Hesperian periods, the planet’s climate began to change rapidly, and soon it became what we know today: cold, dry, and virtually devoid of atmosphere. However, almost since the visit of Mariner 4, there has been an opinion that the current state of Mars has not lasted for hundreds of millions of years, but is a relatively temporary phenomenon, only a few tens of thousands of years.
Dark marks on the tops of some craters suggest that water still occasionally flows on the surface of Mars. Source: phys.org
In particular, in recent years, its concept as a geologically dead planet has been significantly revised. Earthquakes recorded by the InSight device on the surface indicate that liquid magma is hidden somewhere in the depths. This means that volcanic eruptions and geysers are entirely possible. Traces of such activity have been observed over the last 50 million years.
So the main question of whether life on Mars is possible now depends not so much on the conditions there as on our knowledge of what conditions living organisms can withstand in general. Already today, we can name species that could exist on the Red Planet even under the conditions it has.
At the same time, “surviving now” does not mean “surviving for billions of years.” We still know too little about evolution to claim that extremophile bacteria could have emerged even if they never had ancestors living in much more comfortable conditions. Moreover, no one can claim that isolated populations preserved in Mars’ glaciers throughout its existence can ensure global evolution.
However, it is still worth searching for life on Mars.
High-quality shot of the beautiful megalithic circle at the center of Gobekli Tepe, filled with pillars.
Credit: Shutterstock
The hill does not announce itself. From a distance it looks like any other rise in the dry country of southeastern Turkey. Up close, the ground opens into circles of towering T-shaped pillars, carved with foxes, birds, snakes, scorpions, and symbols that seem to speak a language we no longer understand. This is Göbekli Tepe, and it should not exist in the time it occupies.
Archaeologists date the main enclosures to the tenth millennium BC. That is twice as old as the first cities of Mesopotamia. Yet the site shows large-scale planning, heavy stonework, and an iconography that looks deliberate rather than improvised. If the latest interpretations hold, it may also contain the earliest solar calendar ever made.
The claim: a solar year, cut into stone
A study in Time and Mind, building on work by researchers from the University of Edinburgh, argues that certain repeated markings at Göbekli Tepe form a working calendar. One motif is a simple V. The team proposes that each V marks a single day. On at least one pillar they counted 365, the length of a solar year. The placement of a V on the neck of a bird-like figure is read as a sign for the summer solstice, a way of anchoring the count to a fixed point in the sky.
The proposal goes further. The carvings appear to encode both lunar and solar cycles. The authors suggest that the builders tracked changes in constellations through the seasons. If that is true, the people of Göbekli Tepe were precise observers who cared about regularities in the heavens long before written records.
This interpretation is contested, as any strong claim should be. But it is not casual speculation. It rests on counts, on placements, on comparisons across pillars and nearby statues where the same V sign appears at the neck of figures linked to time and creation.
The calendar reading connects to a larger idea. Several researchers argue that a major comet encounter around 10,850 BC helped trigger the Younger Dryas, a sharp cooling that followed the last ice age. In that view, witnessing a violent sky could have pushed people to watch it more closely. A carved scene at Göbekli Tepe has been read as a representation of the Taurid meteor stream, with a period of about twenty-seven days. If these readings are right, the site preserves not only ritual scenes but also a memory of an ancient impact.
Whether or not one accepts every link in this chain, the direction of the thinking matters. It suggests that Göbekli Tepe is not random decoration. It is pattern, tally, and sky knowledge, expressed in stone.
Aerial view of Gobekli Tepe. Credit: DAI, Gobekli Tepe Project
My position: this is not an isolated marvel
Here I must be clear. What follows is a working theory. It is not settled fact. It is where the evidence points me today.
Göbekli Tepe is not a lone anomaly. It is the visible edge of a deeper story. I do not see hunter-gatherers experimenting on a whim. I see trained builders, organizers, and skywatchers who already possessed methods, symbols, and a shared canon. I believe Göbekli Tepe is a remnant of a long-lost civilization that predates the Mesopotamian textbook beginning. I have said this out loud on many occasions.
Several lines support this view. Hear me out.
First, engineering. The pillars are up to six meters high and weigh many tons. They were quarried, shaped, moved, raised, and set into carefully prepared sockets. The enclosures are not piles. They are architectures with symmetry and recurrence. That implies logistics, leadership, and a labor force that could be coordinated.
Second, astronomy. If the calendar interpretation is even partly right, the builders observed and codified cycles of the Sun and Moon, recognized solstices, and related those cycles to figures that carried meaning. You do not arrive at that in one season. You inherit and refine it.
Third, context. Göbekli Tepe is not alone on the landscape. Karahan Tepe, Sayburç, and other sites on the Urfa plateau are revealing parallel stonework, similar T-pillars, and related artistic language. This looks like a cultural network, not a one-off project. The pieces fit together like tiles in a mosaic we are still uncovering.
Fourth, influence. Monumental stone building appears later in several regions. It is not proof, but it is reasonable to consider that practices and ideas diffuse. A culture that mastered ceremonial stone enclosures and sky timekeeping by 9500 BC could echo forward through memory, teaching, and migration. If so, Göbekli Tepe may be the earliest surviving root of the monumental impulse that later appears in ziggurats, pyramids, and stone circles.
Less than a tenth of Göbekli Tepe has been excavated. That is the detail most people miss. The hill was deliberately backfilled in deep antiquity. What we see are a few cleaned windows into a buried complex that extends under the surface. Dozens of enclosures may still wait below the soil. There could be sequences of pillars that show calendar variants, new constellations, or a ledger of seasonal rites. There could be tool marks that settle debates about quarrying and transport. There could be transitional rooms that show how the iconography evolved over time.
When a site is this large and this old, every new trench can reset the conversation. We should hold our models with a light grip and update them as the ground demands.
An Aerial/overhead view of An aerial photograph of the stone circles at Göbekli Tepe.
What mainstream critics will say, and why this still stands
Mainstream archaeology offers strong counterpoints. Farming, pottery, and permanent settlement are generally thought to precede large monuments. Elite organization is easier to sustain in villages and cities. By that logic, hunters and foragers should not be able to invest this much effort in stone architecture.
The counter to the counter is empirical. Göbekli Tepe exists. The pillars are real. The sockets are real. The enclosure walls and floors are real. The toolkits recovered on site show capability with stone. The coordination problem is a fair challenge, but it pushes us to consider seasonal congregation, ritual economies, and forms of leadership that do not mirror later city states. It expands the range of what early societies could do when purpose and memory aligned.
As for the calendar reading, healthy skepticism is necessary. Iconographic interpretation can go astray. But counts of marks, repeated placements, and cross-site recurrences are measurable. They can be tested as new areas are excavated. If future finds show different counts, or if the V signs appear in contexts that do not fit the calendar model, we adjust. If they continue to cluster around solstitial markers and time-linked figures, the case grows stronger.
It helps to picture the work as lived life rather than abstract pattern. Imagine the dawn at the hill, the line of workers moving up from the low ground, the craftspeople who know how to read flaws in the limestone, the carvers who have practiced the same fox outline so many times their hands can do it without a sketch. Someone keeps track of the days. Someone watches the place on the horizon where the Sun rises at midsummer. The V mark is not a symbol on a blackboard. It is cut with a stone blade by a person who believes it matters.
Ritual does not preclude measurement. In early societies the two often reinforce each other. If a community survives a period of cold and scarcity, and elders say the sky can warn us when risk returns, then counting becomes duty. Over time, duty becomes tradition. Tradition becomes art. The art encodes the count. That is one way a calendar is born.
Aerial view of Göbekli Tepe taken in 2013. Image Credit: DAI, Göbekli Tepe Project.
What this could mean if my theory is right
If Göbekli Tepe represents a true calendar culture and if it belongs to a network that predates the first cities by millennia, then the standard narrative needs expansion. The rise of civilization would no longer be a sudden Mesopotamian bloom but a long relay. Knowledge would have moved along corridors of ritual gathering, marriage ties, seasonal routes, and shared sanctuaries. Writing would still be a later invention, but its precursors would include tally marks, fixed points on the horizon, and a habit of making memory durable in stone.
That does not erase Mesopotamia. It deepens the preface. It invites us to treat the tenth millennium BC as a time of innovation rather than mere survival.
Three practical steps can test and refine this picture.
First, excavation. Careful, phased work at Göbekli Tepe, Karahan Tepe, and related sites will tell us whether the calendar pattern repeats and how the iconography changes across layers.
Second, high-resolution documentation. Systematic scanning of pillar surfaces can reveal faint marks and corrections. If carvers altered counts or added signs near solstices, those edits would be strong evidence for timekeeping.
Third, independent sky modeling. We can simulate the sky of southeastern Turkey across the relevant millennia and check whether proposed constellations align with the placements and orientations on the ground. A calendar should match the sky it claims to track.
The safest position is to wait for more data. The bolder position is to outline what the present evidence allows and to say what it might mean. I choose the second, with care. Göbekli Tepe looks like more than an early shrine. It looks like a coordinated project of builders and observers who counted days, watched cycles, and tried to make memory survive disaster.
If that is so, then this hill is not simply an ancient place. It is the echo of a culture that refused to forget. Most of it is still under our feet. The rest is in the sky, rising at the same points on the horizon that their carvers once watched.
KIJK. Amerikaans Congreslid geeft beelden vrij van incident met ufo: “Waarom wordt dit voor ons verzwegen?”
Er zijn voor het eerst beelden vrijgegeven van een incident op 30 oktober 2024, voor de kust van Jemen. Een Amerikaanse Hellfire-raket kwam toen in botsing met een ufo (ongeïdentificeerd vliegend voorwerp). Nadien zet de ufo z’n koers voort. Tot vandaag is nog steeds onduidelijk wat het object was.
Reaction to shocking video of U.S. missile bouncing off UFO
De video werd vrijgegeven door Congreslid Eric Burlison tijdens een hoorzitting van een subcommissie van het Huis van Afgevaardigden over Ongeïdentificeerde Anomale Fenomenen (UAP), wat de militaire term is voor ufo’s. Hij speelde de beelden, die volgens hem voor zich spreken, af tijdens de commissie. Op die beelden, die boven zee gefilmd zijn, is inderdaad een raket te zien. Niet veel later verschijnt er in de linkerbovenhoek een voorwerp dat recht op de raket afgaat. De twee komen in botsing, waarna de ufo onverstoord verder vliegt.
De beelden roepen veel vragen op, ook bij ufo-kenner en onderzoeksjournalist George Knapp. “Mensen moeten dit zien, maar krijgen dit niet te zien. Waarom weet ik niet”, vroeg Knapp zich luidop af. “Dit is een Hellfire-raket die tegen een ufo botst en die gaat gewoon door. Dat is heel vreemd, wat is dit in godsnaam?”
Jemen
De Verenigde Staten halen in die regio regelmatig raketten en drones van Houthi-rebellen neer. Dat zou een verklaring kunnen zijn voor het ongeïdentificeerde object, maar de Amerikaanse defensiedienst en het Pentagon willen niet verder ingaan op het incident.
UFO hearing: Witness claims we were "seconds away from WWIII" in shocking testimony
When I was growing up, I watched a lot of sci-fi movies about aliens that come to Earth. The extraterrestrials in popular culture, however, always looked so familiar that I found them far-fetched. What are the chances that E.T., the Predator, or ALF would develop arms and legs, a humanlike face, and opposable thumbs? Perhaps as a result, I associated alien life more with fantasy than with science, and I never gave much thought to what a visit would really look like. But my attitude started to change in 2020, when I read Liu Cixin’s “The Three-Body Problem” and its two sequels. In Liu’s books, creatures called Trisolarans send a scouting mission of supercomputers to spy on and subtly disrupt human affairs. Although Trisolarans could do seemingly impossible things, such as program protons, Liu’s rigor got me thinking about aliens from a scientific perspective. Suddenly, I could imagine a sophisticated civilization coming into contact with humanity, perhaps in ways that we don’t immediately understand.
Then, in 2021, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a report on unidentified anomalous phenomena (U.A.P.)—essentially a rebranding of U.F.O.s. Several Navy videos had been made public a few years prior. In the so-called GOFAST video, recorded off the coast of Florida in 2015, a Navy pilot with an infrared camera follows an object zooming above the water and asks, over the radio, “What the fuck is that?” Another clip, deemed GIMBAL—“Look at that thing, dude”—showed a similar shape above some clouds. A third video, known as FLIR, was taken in 2004 from an aircraft in California. Navy pilots in two planes saw what looked like a large Tic Tac hovering over the water; it seemed to zip away at thousands of miles per hour. Military whistle-blowers subsequently claimed that the government knew more than it was admitting, leading to congressional hearings in 2022, 2023, and 2024. Last month, House Representative Eric Burlison, a Republican, introduced the U.A.P. Disclosure Act of 2025, aimed at preserving and eventually releasing U.F.O. reports.
None of the government’s disclosures demonstrated that Earth had welcomed interstellar house guests. And yet, after the releases and hearings, it seemed more acceptable to explore the possibility. In 2022, roughly fifteen hundred university faculty members replied to a survey about U.F.O.s; a majority said that recent governmental and journalistic reports had increased the topic’s credibility, and three-quarters said that it was of average importance, very important, or essential for academics to conduct more research about it. Tyler Cowen wrote about U.F.O.s forBloombergand Ross Douthat wrote about them for theNew YorkTimes; they compared notes on Cowen’s podcast. On the prediction platform Polymarket,the oddsthat the U.S. will “confirm that aliens exist in 2025” have ranged between four and fourteen per cent. (The detection of aliens on a faraway planet would count.)
I started to ask myself, How likely is it that we’ve ever been visited by aliens or their technology? It seemed improbable yet plausible. I wondered how scientists, engineers, and other thinkers would approach the question. What would count as evidence, and what kinds of educated guesses could we make? I decided to call Adam Frank, an astrophysicist at the University of Rochester and the author of “The Little Book of Aliens,” which looks to differentiate between science and fiction.
Frank doesn’t put much stock in U.F.O. videos, and he told a story to explain why. In February, 2023, photographs of a Chinese spy balloon over Billings, Montana, prompted speculation about aliens. The Air Force eventually shot it down, but first the pilot of an American U-2 spy plane flew past and took a selfie that showed the balloon out the window. “You can see it in exquisite detail,” Frank told me. “Where are all those pictures? Every U.F.O. picture is a fuzzy blob. Everybody carries a high-resolution camera in their pocket now, and it’s always fuzzy blobs.”
There are potential answers to Frank’s question, but most of them raise questions of their own. Maybe there’s a coverup. But, if so, wouldn’t whistle-blowers have turned up something by now? “Color me extremely skeptical that any government could keep a secret like this effectively for a week, let alone decades,” Austin Carson, a political scientist at the University of Chicago who has written extensively about government secrecy, told me. Steven Aftergood, who directed the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists, pointed me to a 1970 report produced by a government task force on secrecy: “It is unlikely that classified information will remain secure for periods as long as five years, and it is more reasonable to assume that it will become known to others in periods as short as one year.”
Maybe the aliens are coy and want to stay hidden. If that’s the case, though, why are we seeing them at all? Mark Rodeghier, the scientific director of the Center for U.F.O. Studies, which is headquartered in his basement, told me, “They’re actually trying to slowly acclimatize us to the idea that aliens, in fact, exist.” Robert Hampson, a neuroscientist at Wake Forest University who has written over a dozen science-fiction novels, speculated that, perhaps, “what we’re detecting are the alien equivalent of graduate students who have been given an assignment to go and watch the humans and report back.” Plenty of human graduate students have been tasked with researching other worlds—and they don’t always get the best equipment.
The elaborateness of these explanations, in Frank’s view, is a reason to be skeptical of them. “If you’ve got to go through all those contortions to make your story work, you’re not doing science anymore,” he said. He noted that, when humans send spacecraft into the solar system, they tend to land safely. Alien craft, in contrast, “would have managed to cross interstellar distances, and these things seem to crash every fifteen minutes. It’s like everybody’s sending us their 1987 Dodge Omnis.” The 2021 national-intelligence report on U.A.P.s said that it could not explain a hundred and forty-three U.F.O. reports, but that many were probably “airborne clutter,” weather, or terrestrial technology. “Sometimes they’re hard to explain because we just don’t have the data,” Frank said. In his opinion, high-quality data (high-resolution photography, for example) has never “showed us that anything required an extraterrestrial hypothesis.”
Our galaxy contains at least a hundred billion planets, and biology finds a way in extreme environments on Earth, so it’s not unreasonable to suppose that life thrives elsewhere in the Milky Way. But if aliens wanted to visit us they would have a long way to go. The closest star to the sun, Proxima Centauri, is roughly 4.2 light-years away. NASA’s Voyager 1 space probe would take more than seventy-five thousand years to get there, if it were headed in the right direction. The closest inhabited solar system could be much, much farther away. Could aliens, or at least their tech, survive that journey?
Avi Loeb, a Harvard astrophysicist, thinks they may have already. In 2014, military satellites observed a half-metre-long meteor in the sky near Papua New Guinea. Several years later, Loeb and a student, Amir Siraj, concluded that the meteor had been travelling too fast to be orbiting the sun, and that, therefore, it was interstellar. Loeb went on to argue, over the objections of many experts, that it may have been alien technology, and that debris he recovered on a Pacific expedition was from the meteor. “Think of it as Amazon delivery service, but from interstellar space,” he told me during the expedition, from a ship that was incidentally called the Silver Star. He and numerous collaborators wrote up their findings in Chemical Geology last year. (Cosmochemists questioned the claim that the debris was interstellar; one told Science, “I’m surprised anyone would take it seriously.”) Loeb currently leads the Galileo Project, which is erecting ground-based sensors to look for anomalous phenomena.
U.F.O.s could contain biological aliens or machines powered by artificial intelligence. Either way, they might travel much faster than Voyager 1—but that would require a lot of energy. Les Johnson, a retired chief technology officer at NASA who has written fiction and nonfiction books about interstellar travel, gave me an example. To accelerate a pineapple to just a tenth the speed of light, he said, would require the energy of seven Hiroshima explosions. You would need the same quantity of energy to decelerate at your destination. “Suddenly, you’ve got the energy of fourteen Hiroshima bombs on a pineapple,” he said. “So I look at that, and I think it just doesn’t pass the giggle test.” At that speed, a speck of space dust would also have the impact of T.N.T. “I’d love to think we’re in a ‘Star Trek’ universe,” Johnson said. “But I don’t know if we are.”
Logically speaking, the chance that aliens are here right now must be slimmer than the chance that they have been here at some point in the past. Garry Nolan, a biotech founder and an immunologist at Stanford, has a hunch that we’ve been visited by aliens—he had an eerie experience as a child—and speculates that they or their technology may have been on Earth for millions of years. “So the open question might be, Is this even our planet?” he asked me. As outlandish as his theory is, it’s tricky to firmly disprove. If they came long ago, and left or died, would we even know? In 2018, Frank and a co-author published a paper in the International Journal of Astrobiology titled “The Silurian Hypothesis.” (In “Doctor Who,” Silurians are advanced reptilian humanoids who predated us on Earth.)
“Would it be possible to detect an industrial civilization in the geological record?” Frank and his colleagues ask. Organisms can turn into fossils that last tens of millions of years, but most organisms don’t become fossils; metals and plastics might not stick around at all. And the planet’s surface constantly erodes and churns. “Our claim was that, after about a couple million years, anything on the surface is gone,” Frank said. “Even if some aliens came and built a pretty intense civilization, you wouldn’t have any evidence of it.” The best evidence one might hope for, he argued, was indirect: for example, an unusual proportion of certain isotopes at particular depths of rock. (In a 2019 paper, a physicist suggested that we should look for old probes, or “Lurkers,” on space rocks near Earth.) So far, humans haven’t found anything like that.
Science fiction often explains interstellar travel by imagining some kind of warp drive. Einstein said that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light, but, in 1994, the Mexican physicist Miguel Alcubierre found an exception: Einstein’s theory of general relativity actually allows for a craft to outpace light by squeezing space-time at its bow and stretching it at the stern. Nolan, who is a fan of this idea, likened the Alcubierre drive to “creating your own sub-universe, a warp bubble around yourself.” Of course, it is not at all clear that such a thing could be constructed. Alcubierre invoked what physicists call negative energy; later theorists thought that lots and lots of regular energy could be used instead. Nolan speculated that, maybe, sufficient energy could be harvested from space-time itself, using the zero-point field and quantum tunnelling. But he quickly admitted that “those are just fancy words that we throw at the unknown.” (On the plus side, a warp drive might quote-unquote explain the Navy’s U.F.O. videos; one paper estimated that the objects in the videos appeared to be pulling up to five thousand Gs, using no visible propulsion and leaving no wake. Stunt pilots max out at around ten Gs.) Other U.F.O. enthusiasts argue that aliens could reside in dimensions beyond the four that we know and love. Or maybe they’re time travellers.
I ran these notions by Arlan Andrews, a retired mechanical engineer and author who is the founder and director of SIGMA, a think tank of sci-fi writers that advises the government and N.G.O.s. He responded by throwing up his hands in exasperation. “If you start to do the woo-woo stuff with interdimensional and time travel, I can’t say they’re wrong, but there’s no place to start,” he told me. “As an engineer, I like to have a starting place.”
Acivilization that’s millions or billions of years ahead of us would probably know physics that we don’t yet comprehend. Its technology might seem like magic to us. In that case, practically anything is possible. A NASA report on U.F.O.s, released in 2023, acknowledges that “it is difficult to put physical constraints on them at present.” How would you turn something without constraints from woo-woo into science?
The Society for U.A.P. Studies (SUAPS) is a think tank attempting to define U.A.P. studies as a field. “Not only is there not a science but there’s no academic field,” Michael Cifone, a philosopher of science at St. John’s University and one of the group’s founders, said. “How do we study this phenomenon? Who’s involved? What are the methodological principles that should guide us?” He cares less about people’s out-there theories than about what steps should be taken to resolve U.F.O. cases. He wants to avoid “endless, unconstrained, undisciplined speculation.” In his view, we’re at “a crucial transition point between the older ‘ufology,’ ” akin to forensic investigation, and modern scientific methods.
The first step to making something a science usually involves data. NASA’s report focusses on the agency’s potential role in collecting data, and in using A.I. to analyze it. According to the report, the agency’s sensors could be supplemented with crowdsourced data from apps; one example is Enigma, which uses algorithms to rate the credibility of people’s sightings and triangulate objects using video recordings. UAPx, a Florida nonprofit, has developed a suite of sensors specifically for analyzing odd aerial phenomena. And then there’s the data contained in past reported sightings, which could be regularized and collated somehow. Ryan Graves, a former Navy pilot who testified about U.F.O.s in Congress, founded Americans for Safe Aerospace, which encourages pilots to report U.F.O.s. The group vets the cases and has brought them to Congress; the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), which is part of the Department of Defense; and, lately, to an F.B.I. working group. But, as some argue, the plural of anecdote is not data. “I don’t trust pilots’ sightings,” Matt Mountain, the president of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, told me. “They’re on a mission, not doing scientific exploration.” We should keep in mind, Mountain told me, that most criminal convictions that are overturned by DNA evidence were based in part on eyewitness testimony.
Graves said that he was agnostic about aliens. “I’m not jumping to conclusions,” he told me. “But I want to figure it out, damn it.” Still, he seemed skeptical of expert analysis. In November, 2024, AARO announced that it considered the GOFAST video mystery resolved; the object’s altitude, it said, gave it an exaggerated appearance of speed. “Through a very careful geospatial intelligence analysis and using trigonometry, we assess with high confidence that the object is not actually close to the water, but is rather closer to 13,000 feet,” the agency’s director told CBS. Graves wasn’t satisfied with that explanation. “Some of these cases aren’t quote-unquote debunked or no longer of interest,” he has said.
When I spoke to people who supported an alien hypothesis, I was often struck that relatively patchy evidence—what Frank had described as fuzzy blobs—had inspired such in-depth theories. I’m as puzzled by the U.F.O. videos as the next guy, but, as far as I can tell, nothing in them requires us to accept the existence of warp drives or time travel. Until someone produces high-definition videos of flying saucers and little green men, the evidence might not be extraordinary enough to demand such extraordinary explanations. And to the extent that U.F.O.s do need explanations it’s worth asking whether aliens are the best one. People have seen weird stuff in the sky for thousands of years, and only in the last eighty have flying saucers been a popular interpretation. Before that, we tended to credit the supernatural.
After all my conversations, I thought the odds that aliens or their tech had visited Earth were probably south of five per cent. Most U.F.O.s. are likely balloons, airplanes, weather events, visual illusions, or technical glitches. Even so, there are enough unknowns, and unknown unknowns, that the margin of error seemed enormous. A person who thinks the odds are much higher, I’d argue, shouldn’t be met with ridicule.
One more question: Why would aliens even visit us? Coming up with an answer forces us to speculate about alien motives. “I’ve always said that aliens are going to alien,” Andrews, the sci-fi writer who founded SIGMA, told me. “We have no idea what an alien person or being or intelligence or machine would be motivated by. . . . We don’t know what motivates the Kremlin, for God’s sake.” Extraterrestrials, he suggested, could be as different from us as we are from centipedes. (That could be an understatement.) Robert Powell, a chemist who serves on the board of the Scientific Coalition for U.A.P. Studies, has argued that some U.F.O.s are intelligently controlled and do not come from Earth. But, in his view, we shouldn’t try to study extraterrestrials as if they’re lab rats. “We’re the rat, and we’re trying to figure out what the doctor is doing,” he said.
It’s reasonable to think that there would be commonalities among intelligent species. One is the drive for self-preservation, which motivates the Trisolarans in “The Three-Body Problem.” Hampson, the neuroscientist and sci-fi writer, didn’t think that was a very good reason to come to Earth. “If they’re after resources, there are easier ways to get them,” he said. “Why would you go to an already inhabited world?” Meanwhile, a warlike species would probably just wipe us out. “If the idea is conquest, then I think we would already know,” he said. But he could imagine another reason: curiosity.
Nick Pope, who ran the U.F.O. program at the U.K.’s Ministry of Defense from 1991 to 1994, told me that the ministry had considered three main motives for alien visits: military reconnaissance, scientific study, and tourism. It’s not a given that aliens would enjoy travel. Maybe we’ve never met them because they’re homebodies. Still, what kind of intelligent life form wouldn’t want to see a sunrise on another world? “This might be the only place in the universe to see an elephant,” Pope said. “How many planets have a Stonehenge or a Machu Picchu or a Great Pyramids?” Aliens might want to survey the galaxy for all life forms—including us. They might even be having the same debate we are. Are we alone in the universe? The truth—whatever it may be—is still out there.
"VS verbergt informatie over buitenaards leven": ex-officieren getuigen voor Amerikaans Congres in "UFO-hoorzitting"
archieffoto van Amerikaans ministerie van Defensie van een ongeïdentificeerd vliegend voorwerp
"VS verbergt informatie over buitenaards leven": ex-officieren getuigen voor Amerikaans Congres in "UFO-hoorzitting"
In de VS heeft een luchtmachtveteraan tijdens een hoorzitting in het parlement herhaald dat de Amerikaanse overheid al decennialang een onderzoeksprogramma naar UFO's verbergt voor de bevolking. Volgens de voormalige majoor David Grusch is het Pentagon in het bezit van bewijsmateriaal van buitenaards leven. Het Amerikaanse ministerie van Defensie heeft die beweringen met klem ontkend.
In 2022 bevestigde het Amerikaanse ministerie van Defensie dat er een onderzoek loopt naar een 400-tal geheimzinnige waarnemingen in het luchtruim van de voorbije twee decennia. Dat onderzoek wordt gevoerd door de speciale afdeling die onderzoek doet naar UAP's (ongeïdentificeerde verschijnselen in de lucht of unidentified aerial phenomena).
Vanmiddag hebben drie klokkenluiders die voor de Amerikaanse Defensie hebben gewerkt, getuigd in een hoorzitting in het Amerikaanse parlement over "ongeïdentificeerde abnormale verschijnselen in de lucht".
Hun getuigenissen roepen meer vragen dan antwoorden op. Ze beweerden over veel meer informatie te beschikken, maar wilden of konden die niet delen op de hoorzitting.
De voormalige inlichtingenofficier David Grusch verklaarde dat Defensie in het bezit is van bewijsmateriaal van buitenaards leven en UFO's, maar concrete informatie gaf hij niet. Grusch had het over "niet-menselijk biologisch materiaal". De overheid zou die informatie volgens Grusch bewust verbergen voor de bevolking.
Grusch kon niet antwoorden op vragen in de hoorzitting omdat hij gehouden is aan een geheimhoudingsplicht (non-disclosure agreement of NDA). Hij gaf mee dat hij wel meer antwoorden kan geven in een gesloten commissie.
De drie getuigen, Ryan Graves, David Grusch en David Fravor leggen de eed af voor de hoorzitting
Onderzoek naar onverklaarbare waarnemingen
Het Pentagon heeft altijd ontkend dat er geheime onderzoeksprogramma's lopen naar UFO's en buitenaards leven. Er wordt wel onderzoek verricht naar onverklaarbare waarnemingen.
Volgens Defensie is het in het belang van de strijdkrachten om de oorsprong van de fenomenen te achterhalen, omdat ze mogelijk gevaar kunnen opleveren voor piloten. Het valt evenmin uit te sluiten dat het om tot dusver onbekende systemen of tuigen gaat van vijandelijke mogendheden.
Adjunct-directeur Inlichtingen van de Marine Scott Bray meldde eerder dat zijn diensten "niet over materiaal beschikten of stralingen hadden opgepikt die zouden suggereren dat het om iets van buitenaardse oorsprong zou gaan". Geen bewijs van buitenaards leven dus, maar Defensie
Het Rosswell incident
Radars van het Amerikaanse leger kunnen niet altijd bepalen wat er in de lucht wordt waargenomen. Dat bleek begin dit jaar nog toen ongeïdentificeerde vliegende objecten werden neergeschoten door het leger, na het incident met de Chinese spionageballon.
Amerika is ook altijd in de ban geweest van het Roswellincident, de vermeende crash van een UFO in het plaatsje Roswell in New Mexico. Het was in de zomer van 1947 groot nieuws in de VS en is nog altijd het bekendste UFO-incident. Sindsdien doen er om de zoveel tijd allerhande beweringen over bewijs van buitenaardse wezens de ronde, maar nooit is dat bewezen.
The U.S. Government’s Top UFO Scientist Has an Open Mind about Alien Visitation
The U.S. Government’s Top UFO Scientist Has an Open Mind about Alien Visitation
Have you seen something inexplicable in the sky? Jon Kosloski, director of the U.S. Department of Defense’s All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office, wants to hear from you
Video footage of an Unidentified Anomalous Phenomenon (UAP) event, captured by an infrared sensor onboard a U.S. Customs and Border Protection aircraft over the Rafael Hernandez Airport near Aguadilla, Puerto Rico on April 26, 2013. In the full footage, the UAP seems to move at high speed, split into two objects, and fly into and out of the ocean. A subsequent assessment by the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DOD) All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) found that the event can be explained as a trick of perspective, in which two slow-moving objects traveling linearly near to each other only appear to be a single object splitting in two, and do not enter the sea at any point. The appearance of U.S. DOD visual information does not imply or constitute DOD endorsement.
U.S. Department of Defense
Whether captured in declassified military footage or insmartphone videos uploaded to social media, UFOs are swarming Earth’s skies and demonstrating capabilities so astonishing that they must represent technologies that are advanced beyond any available on Earth. Clearly, these sightings point to the involvement of space aliens—or perhaps just a global cabal of nefarious humans with ultraspiffy, above-top-secret flying machines that routinely break the known laws of physics.
At least, that’s what modern-day folklore would have you believe, no matter how many times skeptics convincingly debunk sensational UFO sightings as mere misidentifications of conventional aircraft, sensor artifacts or natural phenomena.
Regardless of what one personally believes about all this, what’s certain is that claims of mysterious trespassers in American airspace are taken very seriously by the U.S. government for reasons of national security. That’s why, at Congress’s behest, the U.S. Department of Defense established its All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) in July 2022. This office investigates reports of UFOs under the more generic rebranding of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs).
AARO’s work, however, isn’t really about chasing down extraterrestrial invaders so much as it involves standardizing reporting methods, curating and analyzing datasets and assessing possible threats posed by UAPs. Think less Men in Black and more “Pentagon desk jockeys with advanced degrees and highly classified résumés.”
The office’s current director Jon Kosloski, who took over in August 2024, after the departure of his predecessorSean Kirkpatrickin December 2023, is a good example of the archetype. His professional past is punctuated by National Security Agency research in networking and computing, optical light communications and cryptography, as well as his invention of an advanced language-agnostic search engine for the DOD.
Dr. Jon Kosloski serves as the director of the U.S. Department of Defense’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO).
U.S. Department of Defense
Kosloski spoke with Scientific American about his vision and agenda for AARO—and, of course, his thoughts on the “extraterrestrial hypothesis” for unexplained UAPs.
[An edited transcript of the interview follows.]
What milestones and directions do you and AARO foresee as you assess the UAP situation?
We have quite a lot going on in the office. We’re working diligently to make our AARO website available to the public so they can report an incident. We want to have a semiautomated processing chain to quickly bring those cases in and then look for correlations with other cases from government sources.
We’re also working on machine-learning and artificial intelligence tools so that we can look for correlations at a larger scale. AARO is also looking at better utilization of the whole fabric of U.S. government sensors that are available. That will help our case resolutions, but it also poses the potential challenge of looking at an awful lot of data.
A last big push is for increased transparency—to find more efficient ways to share information with the public and the scientific community to help us in some of our investigations. Standardizing the UAP data is an initiative—to make it better suited for data science. As we do that, we’d like having both the raw data as well as postprocessing data available to as wide of an audience as possible. But we need to respect the sensitivities of the sources and methods used to gather those data.
Last November you testified before the Senate Committee on Armed Services’ Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities. One point you raised was the importance of removing the stigma of reporting a UAP event. How much of a problem is that?
It seems to have diminished quite a bit, thankfully, through a variety of public endeavors. I think it does persist, for example, with local law enforcement and some military members, however. They have experienced some pushback themselves from discussing events that they’ve been a part of but have come forward and shared that information with AARO. So maybe the stigma is reduced but not completely gone. Good progress is being made, but probably there’s a little ways to go.
AARO has reportedly deployed the Gremlin System—a multisensor networked system for detecting, tracking and characterizing UAPs—in an undisclosed location. What is the status of this project?
Gremlin is envisioned to be a test bed for sensor evaluations and sensor fusion. We expect it to be a “living” system, always evolving. We will be swapping in and out new sensors and algorithms for various approaches. We want to document what we learn and share that with the public and other organizations inside the government. The hope is they can take what we have learned and replicate that.
Gremlin itself is going quite well and is very robust. It has been running out in the wild for several months now, gathering data using radar, electro-optical and infrared cameras and some electromagnetic sensors. Gremlin is pulling all that in and detecting events in real time. We haven’t found anything particularly interesting yet.... But there are a few interesting sightings that are worth investigation.
What does “a few interesting sightings” mean, exactly?
Interesting from our perspective. It is not obvious what the object is. It is unidentified. It has some anomalous characteristics. And in these cases, the object appears to be [moving] rather quickly. But it doesn’t appear to [be using] standard aircraft beacons. There could be multiple explanations for that, so we’re not jumping to any conclusions. But they are worthy of further investigation.
UFO groups continually demand “full disclosure,” by which they mean more than transparent data sharing—namely, the full disclosure of putative secret evidence that Earth has been visited by some form of alien intelligence. For AARO, if you come up with a head-scratcher of an unknown phenomenon, how would you disclose that fact?
There are two things we have to consider. One is the owner of the data. We would need to work with the data owner to make sure that we are not revealing sensitive information about sources and methods.
But putting that aside, there is nothing inherently classified about an anomalous event or phenomenon. So we would work with our leadership to document that well, study it and then produce a product that can be shared widely with the community. There is no inherent reason why we would sit on these anomalies, if we did come across something truly perplexing.
Given that many full-disclosure advocates would insist that the absence of evidence for alien visitation just further confirmed a government cover-up, it seems like any push you could make for transparency as leader of AARO would, in some respects, be doomed to failure. So why take on the assignment in the first place?
I love difficult scientific challenges. In general, I enjoy the chase of trying to understand the mystery and solving puzzles. UAPs, by their very nature, are rare events. [That means] data acquisition is difficult, and there’s a sensor design challenge. I think getting the data we need has been somewhat neglected.
There are groups, such as Avi Loeb’s Galileo Project, that are working on better data acquisition—which is fantastic. But we in the U.S. government could do better. As a mathematician and data scientist, I enjoy poring through the data, looking for the subtle correlations and teasing out the threads to identify hypotheses and get the scientific method started.
Doing that with a well-qualified group—with experts from inside AARO, as well as from across the U.S. government, and hopefully partnering with academia, too—was just too good of an opportunity to pass up.
How does AARO engage academia?
Right now we are primarily focused on a few key partnerships with University Affiliated Research Centers [UARCs]. [Editor’s Note: UARCs are DOD-supported research organizations that are affiliated with a university and offer specialized expertise.] For example, AARO worked with the Georgia Tech Research Institute [a nonprofit applied research organization at the Georgia Institute of Technology] to develop the Gremlin System. As a UARC, the Georgia Tech Research Institute partnered with AARO. Because of the nature of the contractual relationships, we can share the data that we have. In broader engagements with academia, there is the key step of downgrading classification to ensure we can release the information. We are working on that. Also, an important partnership is with the National Laboratories—Oak Ridge National Laboratory, for instance, has assisted AARO with some of its material analysis. But right now the focus has been on those few key UARCs.
Is it really accurate to say you’re being “transparent” while also dealing with sensitive, classified data?
It’s a challenge. AARO should be as transparent as possible, and we are working in that direction. At the same time, we need to respect the sensitivities of the sources and methods used to gather the information that is relevant to UAPs. Ultimately, we are also working with our partners to release as much information as possible about the full context in which that data was gathered.
It is a time-consuming process. But there are reasons why the U.S. government needs to protect those sources and methods so that we don’t put them at risk.
Recent reports of mysterious drones over New Jersey and elsewhere sparked a lot of public interest and discussion—and I’m sure you and your AARO colleagues were paying close attention, too. What’s your take on that situation?
Misidentification does account for a number of UAP sightings. AARO has been working on educational materials about common misunderstandings, such as Starlink flaring, as we call it, or [confusing visual] phenomena such as parallax. We’re sharing that with the public so that they understand what they are looking at.
Specifically, with the New Jersey incidents, none of those were reported to AARO as being anomalous. Certainly, many of them were unidentified, whether they were drones or airplanes or other objects. They weren’t behaving in a way that was identified by the people at the time as being anomalous, so we didn’t take the lead on any of those investigations. But we were in contact with a number of federal organizations, offering our support.
Do you have any advice for true believers who are convinced that aliens are visiting Earth’s skies?
I don’t have advice per se. I don’t want to be the thought police. I think everyone is welcome to approach this topic however they like. As I came into this subject, however, I tried to approach it without bias in either direction. I’m open to any possibility. Sometimes an unusual event is just a sensor artifact, sometimes just a balloon.
We do have some events in our holdings that are really peculiar, and I don’t know yet what’s behind those. But because we don’t know what’s behind them, we also can’t attribute them to anything in particular. And that includes extraterrestrial sources.
Any closing thoughts on your primary objectives for AARO? And how do you feel about the big, daunting question “Are we alone?”
I’m impatient and, being a data scientist, I am also a data hog. I want more data, and I want it quicker so that we can get to the heart of these problems. It boils down to asking ourselves, “What type of data is it going to take to prove to the scientific community, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this anomalous phenomenon was not a sensor artifact and is, indeed, something truly peculiar?”
And I feel that’s going to require multiple sensors gathering the same event from different perspectives at the same time.
My goal is for AARO to be able to enhance our national security by increasing domain awareness, ensuring that we understand everything that is operating in space, in the air and maritime environments, as well as those trans-medium objects [UAPs that seemingly slip between, say, the sky and the sea].
I think it’s plausible that there’s life out there. I haven’t yet seen the substantial evidence I need to convince me that extraterrestrial life has found its way to Earth as yet, but I am open to anything.
The Artemis I spacecraft on approach to the Moon. Credit: NASA
NASA is preparing to send crewed missions to the Moon for the first time since the end of the Apollo Era over fifty years ago. With the success of Artemis I, which sent an uncrewed Orion spacecraft on a circumlunar flight and set a new distance record for a crew-capable spacecraft, NASA is gearing up for Artemis II. This mission, which NASA is now targeting for no sooner than February 5th, 2026 (and no later than April), will transport a four-person crew around the Moon without landing and return them home ten days later. The announcement was made during a news conference on September 23rdat NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC).
The core and upper stage of the Space Launch System (SLS) that will launch the Artemis II mission were stacked between March and May 2025, while the solid rocket boosters were completed in February. The Orion spacecraft is in the final stages of preparation and will be integrated with the SLS later this year. In early 2026, the fully stacked rocket and spacecraft will roll out to their launch site at the Kennedy Space Center in preparation for their February launch window. After a "wet dress rehearsal," where the launch system will be fully-fuelled and a mock countdown conducted, the Artemis II mission will be ready for launch.
The Artemis II mission will evaluate all of the systems and mission architecture used to transport astronauts to the Moon with Artemis III. This mission is currently scheduled for no earlier than mid-2027 and will see two astronauts transfer to a Human Landing System (HLS) provided by SpaceX in lunar orbit, then descend to the surface. The entire mission is expected to last about 30 days and will be the first time astronauts have walked on the Moon since the Apollo 17 astronauts did in 1972.
Artemis II astronauts visit the Artemis launch team inside Firing Room 1 in the Launch Control Center at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Credit: NASA
However, during a meeting that took place on September 19th, members of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) expressed doubt that the Starship HLS will be ready in time. Paul Hill, the Former Director of Mission Operations at NASA JSC, summarized NASA's concerns, saying: "The HLS schedule is significantly challenged and, in our estimation, could be years late for a 2027 Artemis 3 moon landing." Another issue is the cryogenic propellant transfer, which SpaceX must successfully demonstrate to meet its contractual obligations.
Nevertheless, the ASAP members also expressed confidence in SpaceX's ability to deliver, citing their "high manufacturing" and "flight tempo."
In related news, NASA announced that the Artemis II crew had named their spacecraft "Integrity." The announcement was made at a news conference on September 24th, inside the Launch Control Center at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. According to a NASA statement:
The name Integrity embodies the foundation of trust, respect, candor, and humility across the crew and the many engineers, technicians, scientists, planners, and dreamers required for mission success. The name is also a nod to the extensive integrated effort – from the more than 300,000 spacecraft components to the thousands of people across the world – that must come together to venture to the Moon and back, inspire the world, and set course for a long-term presence at the Moon. Integrity is rooted in a shared core value of NASA, the agency's astronaut office, and the CSA (Canadian Space Agency).
During the ASAP meeting, the members also expressed concerns about the future of NASA's lunar exploration plans beyond Artemis III, describing it as "uncertain and a little murky." Nevertheless, the agency and the Artemis crew are prepped and on track to launch the Artemis II mission sometime next year. The success of this mission will usher in a new era of space exploration, paving the way for regular missions to the Moon and a "sustained program of lunar exploration and development."
Infrared image of Saturn taken by the JWST, showing Saturn's rings and three of its larger moons. Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA
The James Webb Space Telescope(JWST) has revealed some amazing things about the Universe. From the earliest galaxies and planet-forming disks to characterizing exoplanet atmospheres, there is virtually no corner of the cosmos that Webb has not observed in extremely high resolution. This includes the Solar System, where Webb has used its sophisticated infrared instruments and spectrometers to provide the most detailed images ever taken of Jupiter, Saturn, the ice giants, and smaller objects like Dimorphos and the latest cosmic interloper detected, 3I/ATLAS.
In arecent study, an international team of researchers presented data from Webb'sNear Infrared Spectrograph(NIRSpec), which was obtained during its first observations of Saturn's atmosphere in 2024. These observations revealed complex and mysterious things that have never been seen on any planet in the Solar System, including a series of dark, bead-like structures and an asymmetric star-shaped feature around Saturn's polar region.
The team was led by Professor Tom Stallard of the Department of Maths, Physics, and Electrical Engineering at Northumbria University, Newcastle. It consisted of 23 scientists from institutions across the UK, the US, and France. The results were presented at the 2025 Europlanet Science Congress Joint Meeting (EPSC-DPS2025) that took place from September 7th to 12th in Helsinki. Their findings were also detailed in a paper published on August 28th in the Geophysical Journal Letters.
Hubble image in ultraviolet light showing the most comprehensive picture of Saturn's northern aurora.
Credit: NASA/ESA
As indicated in both, astronomers have spent the past three decades studying thermalized emissions in Saturn's atmosphere caused by the positively charged molecule hydrogen-3 (H3+). These observations, conducted by ground-based and space-based telescopes, have used this molecule to explore the ionospheres of Saturn and the other gas and ice giants of the outer Solar System. However, these observations have reached a ceiling in recent decades due to atmospheric interference and the limits of existing instruments.
This changed with the deployment of the JWST, which has fundamentally revolutionized astronomers' understanding of the outer planets in the past three years. As Professor Stallard said in a University of Northumbria press release:
This opportunity to use JWST was the first time we have ever been able to make such detailed near-infrared observations of Saturn's aurora and upper atmosphere. The results came as a complete surprise. We anticipated seeing emissions in broad bands at the various levels. Instead, we've seen fine-scaled patterns of beads and stars that, despite being separated by huge distances in altitude, may somehow be interconnected – and may also be linked to the famous hexagon deeper in Saturn's clouds. These features were completely unexpected and, at present, are completely unexplained.
The international team of researchers, comprising 23 scientists from institutions across the UK, US, and France, made the discoveries during a continuous 10-hour observation period on 29 November 2024, as Saturn rotated beneath JWST's view. "Saturn's upper atmosphere has proven incredibly difficult to study with missions and telescope facilities to date due to the extremely weak emissions from this region," said Stallard. "JWST's incredible sensitivity has revolutionised our ability to observe these atmospheric layers, revealing structures that are completely unlike anything we've seen before on any planet."
JWST's NIRSpec instrument allowed the team to simultaneously observe H₃⁺ ions from the ionosphere 1,100 km (683.5 mi) above Saturn's "surface," and methane molecules in the stratosphere beneath. In the ionosphere, they observed dark, bead-like features embedded in Saturn's polar aurorae that remained stable over hours but drifted over longer periods. Beneath that, at an altitude of 500 km (310 mi), they spotted an asymmetric star-shaped feature (with four arms instead of six) extending from the north pole towards the equator. These patterns overlaid each other at different levels, with the beads lying on top of the lopsided star pattern.
This suggests that the processes driving these processes may extend through Saturn's atmosphere and deep into its interior. Both features could have significant implications for understanding atmospheric dynamics on gas giant planets. Said Professor Stallard:
We think that the dark beads may result from complex interactions between Saturn's magnetosphere and its rotating atmosphere, potentially providing new insights into the energy exchange that drives Saturn's aurora. The asymmetric star pattern suggests previously unknown atmospheric processes operating in Saturn's stratosphere, possibly linked to the hexagonal storm pattern observed deeper in Saturn's atmosphere. Tantalizingly, the darkest beads in the ionosphere appear to line up with the strongest star-arm in the stratosphere, but it's not clear at this point whether they are actually linked or whether it's just a coincidence.
While these features hint at mysterious processes at work, more work is needed to explain the underlying causes. In the near future, the team hopes that additional time will be granted with the JWST for follow-up observations. The structures observed may change dramatically since Saturn is currently at its equinox and the northern hemisphere is about to shift into autumn. "Since neither atmospheric layer can be observed using ground-based telescopes, the need for JWST follow-up observations during this key time of seasonal change on Saturn is pressing," Stallard added.
Hubble Space Telescope view of the colossal polar cloud on Mars (Credit : NASA)
Mars, often called the Red Planet due to its rusty iron oxide covered surface, is Earth's smaller, colder neighbour. Orbiting the Sun at an average distance of 228 million kilometres, Mars shares remarkable similarities with Earth; a 24.6 hour day, polar ice caps, seasons driven by a 25.2 degree axial tilt, and evidence of ancient rivers and lakes that once flowed across its surface. Yet Mars today is a harsh world with a thin atmosphere just 1% the density of Earth's, average temperatures of -63°C, and no liquid water on its surface. It has an incredibly thin atmosphere composed primarily of carbon dioxide (95%) which is so tenuous that liquid water cannot exist on the surface, yet it’s still thick enough to generate global dust storms.
Mars, the red planet
(Credit : Kevin Gill)
Despite its thin atmosphere, Mars experiences dramatic seasonal weather patterns driven by its axial tilt. A team of researchers has recently been studying one of these seasonal events, the north polar vortex, a massive atmospheric circulation system similar to Earth's polar vortex. They found that temperatures inside the vortex are 40°C colder than outside, creating conditions unlike anywhere else on the planet. A polar vortex is a large scale circular wind pattern that forms in the upper atmosphere around a planet's polar regions. It’s a little like a massive spinning column of cold air that acts like an atmospheric fence, trapping cold air over the pole.
The polar vortex forms as a consequence of the Martian seasons, which occur because the planet's axis is tilted at 25.2 degrees. This is very similar to Earth's 23.5 degree tilt and just like on Earth, the end of northern summer sees an atmospheric vortex develop over Mars's north pole and last through to the spring. What makes this discovery particularly interesting is the chemistry inside the vortex. Ordinarily, ozone on Mars is destroyed by reacting with molecules produced when ultraviolet sunlight breaks down water vapour.
A strong tropospheric polar vortex configuration in November 2013
(Credit : National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
Instead, during Martian winters and at such cold temperatures, what little water vapour exists freezes out completely and deposits onto the ice cap. Meanwhile, the polar region descends into months of total darkness. Without water vapour and without sunlight to drive the usual destructive chemical reactions, ozone can build up to surprising levels.
"Ozone is a very important gas on Mars, it’s a very reactive form of oxygen and tells us how fast chemistry is happening in the atmosphere. By understanding how much ozone there is and how variable it is, we know more about how the atmosphere changed over time, and even whether Mars once had a protective ozone layer like on Earth.”
- Dr. Kevin Olsen of the University of Oxford
It’s remarkable the team were able to make such progress in their study. The winters at the north pole of Mars experience total darkness so it’s quite difficult to study the vortex. Instead the team had to use two different spacecraft working together. One of them was the European Space Agency's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, which studies the Martian atmosphere by observing sunlight passing through the planet's limb. But this technique alone doesn't work so they combed this data with temperature measurements from NASA's Mars Climate Sounder aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
This artist's concept of NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter features the spacecraft's main bus facing down, toward the red planet
(Credit : NASA/JPL/Corby Waste)
They team were able to look for a sudden drop in temperature which would be the telltale signs of a vortex. Studying the vortex has directly helped to understand more about the ozone levels on Mars and therefore whether the planet once had an ozone layer that protected the surface from ultraviolet radiation. If so, it increases the chance that life could perhaps once have existed on Mars billions of years ago.
Unexplained Mysteries: Ancient Alien Theories Debunked or Proven?
Unexplained Mysteries: Ancient Alien Theories Debunked or Proven?
Abstract
Ancient astronaut or ancient alien theories posit that extraterrestrial beings visited Earth in antiquity and influenced human civilizations. This dissertation evaluates these claims through a scientific lens, examining archaeological, geological, and historical evidence, as well as methodological considerations. Rather than accepting or outright rejecting all sensational narratives, this analysis emphasizes testable hypotheses, the weight of corroborating evidence, and the importance of plausible, terrestrial explanations grounded in current scholarship. While some mysteries remain due to gaps in our knowledge, the balance of evidence currently favors human ingenuity, cultural diffusion, and naturalistic processes as sufficient explanations for most ancient extraordinary phenomena.
Introduction
Ancient alien theories have gained popular appeal by offering dramatic explanations for complex achievements in antiquity, such as monumental architecture, advanced astronomy, or unfamiliar engineering. Proponents argue that features seemingly beyond the capabilities of ancient societies imply intervention by technologically superior beings. Critics argue that these theories reflect a bias toward underestimating ancient capabilities and a misinterpretation of incomplete archaeological records. This dissertation does not presuppose either conclusion but instead places the claims within a rigorous epistemic framework: testable predictions, reproducible methods, and a coherent alignment with established data from multiple disciplines. The central question is not “Are aliens responsible?” but “What evidence would be required to substantiate such claims, and is that evidence present or plausibly explainable by non-Extraterrestrial (ET) mechanisms?”
Historical context and the appeal of ancient alien theories
Ancient alien theories gained prominence in the late 20th century through popular media that highlighted architectural wonders—pyramids, giant statues, megalithic structures—and claimed they could not have been built without outside intervention. Proponents often point to perceived technological gaps between ancient populations and the monumental works they produced, or to enigmatic depictions in art and myths that allegedly reference visitors from the stars. The appeal is dual: it offers a narrative where humanity’s achievements are recognized as part of a larger cosmic story, and it provides a simple, memorable explanation for complex historical phenomena.
However, as with many extraordinary claims, the more extraordinary the assertion, the stronger the evidence must be. Science does not reject extraordinary ideas out of hand, but it requires robust, reproducible, and parsimonious evidence. When claims rely on misinterpretation, selective data, or lack of methodological transparency, they fail the test of scientific validity. The following sections explain how researchers evaluate these claims and where the science tends to converge or diverge from popular assumptions.
Common claims and the methodological pitfalls Ancient alien arguments typically center on a few recurring claims:
Engineering feats that allegedly exceed known ancient capabilities (e.g., lifting massive stones without contemporary techniques).
Anomalous artifacts or inscriptions interpreted as evidence of non-human visitors.
Correlations between myths or astronomical alignments and supposed extraterrestrial contact.
Ancient Aliens or Ancient Artisans?
Methodological challenges in these debates include:
Anthropocentrism and underestimation of past human ingenuity. Archaeology has repeatedly shown that ancient peoples developed sophisticated techniques and organizational systems appropriate to their contexts.
Selection bias and cherry-picking. Highlighting a single site or artifact while ignoring the broader archaeological record can distort what is known about a culture’s capabilities.
Ambiguity in the evidence. Artistic motifs, cosmologies, or damage patterns can often be explained by multiple plausible, non-extra-terrestrial causes.
The burden of proof. Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence. Absence of occasional fragments of data is not evidence of aliens.
Evidence for and against the central claims To evaluate ancient alien theories, scientists consider several categories of evidence:
Archaeological context: Excavation records, dating methods, tool marks, construction sequences, and settlement patterns provide a coherent narrative about how communities organized labor and allocated resources.
Engineering and material analysis: The feasibility of constructing large structures is tested using contemporary engineering understanding, experimental archaeology, and replication studies.
Chronology and dating: Absolute and relative dating anchor a structure within a historical timeframe, allowing researchers to assess whether proposed “alien” intervention would have been necessary at all.
Comparative anthropology and ethnography: Local traditions, myths, and oral histories are examined to distinguish symbolic or religious motifs from literal claims.
Astronomical alignments: When structures are oriented toward celestial events, scientists assess whether these alignments are intentional and culturally meaningful rather than coincidental.
Occam’s Razor and theoretical economy: Explanations that account for the evidence with fewer assumptions about external agents are generally preferred.
When evaluated through these lenses, many ancient alien claims encounter significant challenges:
Most monumental constructions can be traced to feasible human processes, including collaborative labor, leadership structures, and incremental technological innovation. In many cases, experimental archaeology has demonstrated viable methods for quarrying, transporting, and erecting massive stones using simple machines, ramps, lubricants, and organized planning.
The supposed “hand of aliens” is often a projection of modern awe onto ancient peoples, ignoring the rich, culturally situated motivations behind architectural and artistic choices.
A number of famous examples have undergone more careful scrutiny with results that align with known historical developments. For instance, methodical reassessments of large stone-building sites have revealed employment and organizational strategies fully within human capabilities of their respective eras.
Case studies and common misinterpretations
Pyramids and monumental architecture
The Great Pyramids of Giza are the most emblematic targets of ancient alien claims. Critics note the precision of stone-cutting and long-range logistics. Yet Egyptologists have demonstrated that a workforce comprised of skilled laborers, seasonal workers, and well-organized supply chains could mobilize resources and expertise without extraterrestrial assistance. Modern engineering studies simulate the construction sequences, ramps, and supervision necessary to erect such monuments, underscoring human-scale feasibility. The absence of records indicating alien involvement is not proof of absence of aliens, but the documented social, religious, and economic contexts provide plausible explanations consistent with known practices.
Von Däniken suggests that the Nazca lines (200 BC– 700 AD) in Peru could be "landing strips" for alien spacecraft.
The Nazca Lines in Peru are often cited as evidence of ancient alien contact due to their vast scale from a height. In reality, researchers have shown that these geoglyphs were created using straightforward surveying techniques with simple tools and labor coordination. The social and ceremonial significance of the lines, tied to water rituals and cosmology, offers a robust cultural interpretation that does not require extraterrestrial intervention.
Stone circles, megaliths, and alignments
Sites such as Stonehenge or other megalithic complexes attract claims of remote engineering knowledge or astronomy beyond the capabilities of ancient communities. In many cases, careful chronology, material sourcing, and landscape analysis illuminate a long arc of development. While some alignments are astronomical, they often fit within the observable agendas of agricultural calendars or ritual cycles rather than implying alien construction.
Technological diffusion and environmental adaptation
Some scholars propose that supposed gaps in ancient knowledge reflect not gaps in capability but differences in sources of knowledge—trade networks, diffusion of techniques, adaptation to local environments, or iterative experimentation. For example, metallurgy, long-distance trade, and early writing systems show cumulative human progress that could be misread as sudden leaps requiring otherworldly help. When approached with rigorous dating and contextual analysis, the narrative of sudden, inexplicable leaps tends to give way to gradual, context-dependent development.
The role of cognitive biases and media framing
Public fascination with ancient aliens is amplified by cognitive biases. Availability heuristics—where memorable or sensational information weighs more heavily than balanced data—can skew perception. Media portrayals often privilege extraordinary narratives over ordinary processes, shaping public expectations and terminology. Scientists aim to counterbalance by communicating uncertainty clearly, presenting the evidentiary standards, and illustrating how everyday archaeological reasoning solves mysteries within a cultural context.
Sunrise at Stonehenge on the summer solstice, 21 June 2005.
Clear hypotheses:Scientific evaluation starts with precise, testable hypotheses. In the alien-claim scenario, a robust approach would articulate what specific evidence would be required to confirm extraterrestrial involvement and how it could be falsified.
Replicability and reproducibility: Claims must be testable by independent researchers using accessible methods. Replication of experiments or analyses, such as experimental archaeology or independent artifact dating, strengthens conclusions.
Bayesian reasoning: Researchers often use Bayesian methods to update the probability of a hypothesis as new evidence emerges. This helps avoid over-interpretation of ambiguous data and promotes proportional responses to the strength of the evidence.
Transparency and peer review: Sharing data, methods, and uncertainties within the scientific community is essential. Peer review helps ensure that conclusions are not driven by speculation, misinterpretation, or selective reporting.
What would constitute credible evidence for ancient aliens? Even among proponents, the threshold for credible evidence remains high. Potentially compelling lines of inquiry could include:
Unambiguous artifacts with undeniable non-human origin markers or provenance that cannot be explained by known processes, accompanied by thorough, reproducible analyses.
Independently verifiable, cross-disciplinary data showing a conspicuous, non-human signal that cannot be reconciled with cultural, technological, or environmental explanations.
Direct, verifiable interference with human sites or artifacts that demonstrably alters outcomes in a way that cannot be accounted for by natural or human processes.
However, to date, such evidence has not withstood rigorous scrutiny.
Most alleged proofs collapse under methodological evaluation: artifacts turn out to be misidentified natural objects or domesticated tools; dating methods reveal ordinary timelines; and proposed signals lack independent corroboration.
Implications for science communication and public understanding
The debate over ancient aliens highlights the broader challenge of science communication. Complex, nuanced conclusions must be conveyed without feeding sensationalist narratives that overshadow careful scholarship. Clear explanations of uncertainty, the distinction between correlation and causation, and the iterative nature of scientific progress help the public appreciate why evidence accumulates gradually rather than through instantaneous, drama-filled breakthroughs.
Constructive pathways forward
Emphasize robust, multi-method research. The strongest explanations for historical mysteries arise from converging lines of evidence across archaeology, anthropology, linguistics, geology, and physics.
Encourage critical thinking and literacy. Public education about how scientists assess evidence, weigh competing hypotheses, and use dating and material analyses can foster more informed engagement with extraordinary claims.
Promote transparency in research. Open data, preregistration of hypotheses, and clear documentation of uncertainties improve trust and reproducibility.
Conclusion Unexplained mysteries will always captivate the imagination, inviting us to imagine that the past harbors more spectacular explanations than human ingenuity alone can offer. Ancient alien theories, while alluring, have consistently faced rigorous scrutiny that emphasizes evidence, methodology, and context. Across a broad spectrum of case studies—from the pyramids to geoglyphs—careful archaeological inquiry tends to reveal a human story: communities, technologies, labor organization, and cultural significance shaping monumental works that reflect creativity, collaboration, and adaptation within their particular environments.
That is not to deny wonder or to dismiss the possibility of unforeseen discoveries. It is to acknowledge the standards of scientific inquiry that separate plausible explanations from sensational conjecture. As new methodologies emerge and datasets expand, our understanding of ancient civilizations will continue to evolve. What remains stable is the essential principle of scholarship: extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence, and the most compelling narratives are those that can be tested, replicated, and integrated into a coherent understanding of the human past. In the discussion of unexplained mysteries, the balance between curiosity and skepticism is not a constraint but a compass—guiding us toward explanations that illuminate rather than mystify, and toward a history that reflects the ingenuity of humanity in the face of the unknown.
Buitenaardsen kunnen onze radiosignalen voor ruimtevaartuigcommunicatie onderscheppen
Buitenaardsen kunnen onze radiosignalen voor ruimtevaartuigcommunicatie onderscheppen
Inleiding
De mensheid zendt al tientallen decennia signalen uit in de ruimte, vooral via radiocommunicatie met ruimtevaartuigen en satellieten. De gedachte dat intelligente wezens anderszins onze boodschappen zouden kunnen onderscheppen is zowel fascinerend als onwennend: wat als onze technologische signalen op een dag door een buitenaardse civilisatie worden opgevangen, geïnterpreteerd en bestudeerd? Dit artikel onderzoekt wetenschappelijk wat het betekent dat “alienen” (aliens) mogelijk onze radiogolven kunnen onderscheppen voor ruimtescheepscommunicatie, welke natuurkundige en technologische principes hierachter schuilgaan, welke mogelijkheden en beperkingen bestaan, en welke ethische en beleidsmatige implicaties volgen.
Achtergrond: hoe radioverenigingen ruimtevaart en communicatie met elkaar verbonden zijn
Ruimtevaartuigen, waaronder satellieten en landers, communiceren via elektromagnetische signalen die meestal in radiofrequentiebanden worden uitgezonden. Deze signalen dienen verschillende doelen: telemetrie (toestand van het vaartuig), telecommando’s (besturing door de aarde), en wetenschappelijke data (metingen, beelden). De gebruikte frequenties worden afgestemd op doel en afstand, met inachtneming van wettelijke regels zoals de International Telecommunication Union (ITU) spectrumtoewijzingen en de Europese/andere nationale regelgevende lichamen. In de diepe ruimte kunnen signalen zelfs in ruisvolle omgevingen met enorme lichtjaren afstand nog worden gedetecteerd met grote radioantenneparken en geavanceerde signaalverwerkingsmethoden.
De hypothese van onderschepping door buitenaardse wezens draait om een fundamenteel principe: elke intelligente beschaving die radiogolven verzendt, maakt zich zichtbaar in het elektromagnetische spectrum. Onze eigen signalen zijn wereldwijd waarneembaar met voldoende gevoeligheid en tijd. In theorie kunnen buitenaardse luisterende civillaties die los van culturele motivaties geïnteresseerd zijn in ons technologische stadium, onze signalen oppikken en op de een of andere manier verwerken. De vraag is niet alleen of dit mogelijk is, maar ook of het waarschijnlijk is, gezien de afstanden, signaalverzwakking en mogelijke privacy- of veiligheidsconcerns.
Signalen van onze ruimteschepen en Marsrovers zouden onderschept kunnen worden door buitenaardse beschavingen.
Illustratie gegenereerd door AI, ChatGPT
Fysica van onderschepping: van signaalsterkte tot detectie
Een cruciale factor bij onderschepping is signaalsterkte op afstand. Het uitgangssignaal van een uitgerust ruimtevaartuig kan variëren tussen tientallen milliwatts tot enkele kilowatts, afhankelijk van missie, antennegrootte en modus. Naarmate het signaal zich voortplant door ruimte wordt het vierkant toegepast met afstand, en verzwakt het door atmosferische, interstellair-materie- en kosmische ruis, plus de efficiëntie van het ontvangende systeem. Voor een buitenaardse luisteraar die op miljoenen lichtjaren afstand zit, zouden onze signalen extreem zwak worden en hoogstwaarschijnlijk onder de ruis van kosmische achtergrondvallen. Toch kan een hypothetische geavanceerde beschaving met gigantische ontvangstantennes en geavanceerde signaalverwerkingsalgoritmen dergelijke signalen detecteren, of zelfs “lineariseren” door gebruik te maken van coherente detectie, matched filtering, en kunstmatige intelligentie.
Een relevante overweging is de soebereiding van de signalen zelf. Wij zenden in specifieke banden (bijv. de ruimtevaartbanden, de S- en X-banden, en mogelijk lagere frequenties voor langeafstandsatellieten). Deze banden worden gekozen om interfering noise te minimaliseren en om praktische antenneontwerpen mogelijk te maken. Een buitenaardse luisteraar die niet gebonden is aan menselijke regelgeving, zou kunnen letten op patronen in het spectrum die wijzen op kunstmatige origine, bijvoorbeeld regelmatige pulspatronen, modulatietechnieken of herhaalde sequenties die niet plausibel zijn als natuurlijke bronnen. Detectie kan verder worden vergroot door middel van disperse onderzoeksmethoden, zoals seriële signal search, afwijkingen in polarisatie en signaalmodulatie diep in de tijd.
In een nieuwe studie hebben wetenschappers van de Universiteit van Pennsylvania en het Jet Propulsion Laboratory van NASA menselijke communicatie in de diepe ruimte geanalyseerd en vastgesteld dat onze transmissies vaak gericht waren op onze eigen ruimteschepen op Mars, de Zon en andere hemellichamen. Omdat planeten zoals Mars het hele signaal niet blokkeren, zou buitenaardse intelligentie die zich langs het pad van interplanetaire communicatie bevindt – wanneer planeten vanuit hun perspectief zijn uitgelijnd – mogelijk signaallekkage kunnen detecteren.
Bron: Zayna Sheikh
Technische mogelijkheden en scenario’s van onderschepping
Simpele afluisteren: Een buitenaardse luisteraar die passief de ruimte observeert, kan bestaande radiobelten opvangen zonder terug te reageren. Deze scenario vereist geen snelle reactie of enorme signaalverwerking, maar veronderstelt wel dat de andere beschaving constant en langdurig uitzendt en dat hun ontvangstsysteem sterk genoeg is om de zwakke signalen te extraheren.
Geavanceerde afluistering en decodering: Een hypothetische beschaving met enorme ruimtelijke antennes en krachtige signaalverwerkingskrachten kan patronen herkennen, tijdreeksen analyseren en mogelijk communiceren met ons door terug te zenden of door te anticiperen op hun eigen wijze. Zij kunnen onze modulatietechnieken herkennen, en zelfs simulaties uitvoeren om te begrijpen wat de mensheid communiceert.
Directe communicatie-alisatie: In een extremere visie zou een buitenaardse beschaving proberen onze signalen te onderscheppen en actief te communiceren of zelfs te sturen. Dit scenario plaatst ons in een contactdilemma: hoe zouden wij reageren, en hoe zouden we onze communicatie beschermen tegen misbruik of misinterpretatie?
Radiogolven als stille témoen: Een andere mogelijkheid is dat buitenaardse luisteraars onze buitenaardse detectie in de vorm van technologische signatures signalen identificeren die duidelijk kunstmatig zijn, zoals consistent gemoduleerde patronen die wij als technologische artefacten interpreteren.
Ethiek, veiligheid en beleidsimplicaties
De mogelijkheid dat aliens onze radio-communicatie onderscheppen roept ethische en veiligheidsvragen op. Ten eerste, als buitenaardse wezens bestaan die in staat zijn ons te detecteren, moeten we overleggen over deontologie van semantisch zinvol contact. Moeten we openbare communicatie handhaven of voorzichtige, beperkte communicatie hanteren om misinterpretatie of economische of technologische voordeel te voorkomen?
Daarnaast bestaan er praktische overwegingen: het beschermen van gevoelige wetenschappelijke of technologische informatie die in deze signalen is geëtaleerd. Hoewel onze signalen niet bedoeld zijn als privé, kunnen we wel nadenken over het minimaliseren van potentieel schadelijke informatie leakage die buitenaardse luisteraars kunnen interpreteren als brug naar technologische superioriteit. Beleidsmatig liggen er vragen over internationale samenwerking, transparantie en de ontwikkeling van normen voor interstellair contact. Het is niet vanzelfsprekend dat de nationale veiligheids- of wetenschapsinstanties hier een eenduidig antwoord op hebben.
Impliceert onderschepping virale risico’s?
Het samenleven met een mogelijke buitenaardse luisteraar roept de bezorgdheid op dat mislukte interpretaties of verkeerde decodering serieuze gevolgen kunnen hebben. Als een buitenaardse beschaving interpreteert dat de mensheid agressief of vreedzaam is, kan dit leiden tot een gebrek aan vertrouwen of zelfs misbruik van misleidende signalen. Daarom is het van belang dat wetenschappers duidelijk communiceren over de aard van signalen en de beperkingen van menselijke interpretaties, en dat internationale samenwerking versterkt wordt om de risico’s te mitigeren.
Een illustratie van buitenaardse wezens.
Science Picture Co. / Getty Images
Methoden om onze eigen communicatie te beschermen en te documenteren
Vergroten van robuuste signaalintegriteit: Door redundantie, foutcorrectie en encryptie-achtige beveiliging in ruimtesignalen te implementeren (waar mogelijk) kunnen we de interpretatie door een onbekende luisteraar bemoeilijken. Dit zou ook kunnen helpen bij het onderscheiden van kunstmatige versus natuurlijke bronnen.
Transparantie en dataverzameling:Het documenteren van alle detecties en analyses in open wetenschappelijke journals en internationale fora vergroot de reproducibiliteit en minimaliseert misverstanden over wat wel of niet waarneembaar is. Internationale protocollen kunnen helpen bij het harmoniseren van waarnemingsstrategieën.
Publieke wetenschappelijke educatie:Het vergroten van begrip over wat we zenden en hoe detectie werkt kan helpen bij het demystificeren van de kans dat buitenaardse wezens precies weten wat we bedoelen. Het bevordert verantwoorde publieke discussies over SETI, contact en ruimtebeleid.
Wetenschappelijke context: SETI, kosmische achtergrondruis en de Fermi-paradox
Het onderwerp van onderschepping past in de bredere context van Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). Wetenschappers bestuderen of signalen van buitenaardse beschavingen zouden bestaan en hoe we ze kunnen detecteren. De aanwezigheid van technologische activiteit in het universum wordt vaak gedetecteerd door een combinatie van radiosignalen en spectrale lijnen die kunstmatige oorsprong suggereren. De Fermi-paradox, de vraag waarom we nog geen onmiskenbaar bewijs van buitenaards contact hebben gevonden, is relevant: het roept ons op om zowel de kans van detectie als de duur van de signalengebruik-stijging in kaart te brengen. Een mogelijk antwoord is dat signalen te zwak zijn, te kort duren, of dat beschavingen niet lang genoeg bestaan om ons bereiken. Een andere mogelijkheid is dat beschavingen hun signalen bewust paderen of vervangen door niet-radiogebonden wijzen van communicatie.
Concluderende reflectie
Het idee dat aliens onze radiogolven kunnen onderscheppen voor ruimtescheepscommunicatie blijft een mix van wetenschappelijke plausibiliteit en speculatie. De huidige fysica en technologie suggereren dat onderschepping mogelijk is in principe, maar dat de praktische kans dat een buitenaardse beschaving onze signalen detecteert en interesse toont afhankelijk is van enorme afstanden, signaalverzwakking, en de technologische capaciteiten van de luisteraar. Desondanks is het onderwerp waardevol voor de wetenschappelijke dialoog over hoe we communiceren in een ruimtelijke context en welke veiligheids- en ethische overwegingen hierbij horen.
Voor de toekomst betekent dit dat we onderzoek moeten blijven investeren in de detectiekunde, signaalverwerkingsmethoden, en internationale samenwerking. Het ontwikkelen van normen en protocollen rond interstellair contact, transparante communicatie, en bescherming tegen misinterpretatie kan ons helpen voorbereid te zijn op mogelijke toekomstige scenario’s. Terwijl de vraag “Zouden aliens onze signalen kunnen onderscheppen?” hoog in het veld van speculatie blijft, biedt de wetenschappelijke uitleg erachter een solide basis om kritisch en verantwoordelijk na te denken over hoe de mensheid haar boodschap naar de kosmos uitstuurt en hoe we moeten omgaan met de mogelijke ontvangst van geluiden uit de ruimte.
Samenvatting
Radiocommunicatie met ruimtevaartuigen is gericht op telemetrie, commando’s en wetenschappelijke data, en vindt plaats in gefrequenteerde banden met regelgeving.
De mogelijkheid dat buitenaardse luisteraars onze signalen onderscheppen hangt af van afstand, signaalsterkte, en capaciteiten van de ontvanger.
Zowel eenvoudige asociale afluistering als geavanceerde decodering zijn theoretische scenario’s die uitdagingen en kansen bieden voor wetenschappelijke benadering.
Ethische, veiligheids- en beleidsvragen rondom mogelijk contact vereisen internationale samenwerking en duidelijke normen.
SETI en gerelateerde wetenschappen bieden een kader om deze ideeën te plaatsen binnen de grotere zoektocht naar buitenaardse intelligentie, met aandacht voor Fermi-paradox en de realistische beperkingen van detectie en interpretatie.
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26-09-2025 om 21:58
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- Gemiddelde waardering: 0/5 - (0 Stemmen) Categorie:ALIEN LIFE, UFO- CRASHES, ABDUCTIONS, MEN IN BLACK, ed ( FR. , NL; E )
Aliens may intercept our radio signals for spacecraft communications
Aliens may intercept our radio signals for spacecraft communications
Every time NASA engineers send a command to a Mars rover or interplanetary spacecraft, they simultaneously send a message into deep space. Powerful radio signals directed at neighboring planets are only partially absorbed by the target. The other part continues its journey through space-time, spreading out almost infinitely. This “leak” of information, previously considered a side effect, is now seen as a potential beacon for extraterrestrial civilizations.
Signals from our spacecraft and Mars rovers could be intercepted by extraterrestrial civilizations. Illustration generated by AI, ChatGPT
New research by scientists at Pennsylvania State University and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory offers an interesting hypothesis. Scientists analyzed data from the Deep Space Network (DSN) over the past 20 years. They concluded that an alien intelligence located at a specific point in space could easily intercept our transmissions. The key is that all the planets in the Solar System rotate in roughly the same plane — the ecliptic.
As astronomer Pinchen Fan explains, if an observer is located at the edge of this plane at a distance of about 23 light-years, their chances of entering the radio shadow of our signals to Mars or other planets increase dramatically. Calculations show that the probability of such a coincidence reaches 77%, which is orders of magnitude higher than random detection.
Mirror search
In a new study, scientists from the University of Pennsylvania and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory analyzed human communications in deep space and found that our transmissions were often directed at our own spacecraft on Mars, the Sun, and other celestial bodies. Since planets such as Mars do not block the entire signal, extraterrestrial intelligence located along the path of interplanetary communications — when planets are aligned from their perspective — could potentially detect signal leakage. Source: Zayna Sheikh
The same idea can be applied to the search for extraterrestrial life. Assuming that other technologically advanced civilizations are also exploring planets in their systems, we can point our telescopes at similar “hot spots.” The most promising exoplanetary systems will be those where, from our perspective, two or more planets periodically line up in a row — transiting in front of their star. From such positions, their potential DSN could transmit signals in our direction.
However, as Fan notes, we are only at the beginning of this journey. At present, only a few systems with multiple transit planets are known. However, future space missions, such as the launch of the Nancy Grace telescope, promise to revolutionize space exploration. This telescope is expected to discover hundreds of thousands of new exoplanets, significantly expanding our map of potential “listening zones.” v
The creators of science fiction films love to amaze viewers with various strange devices or technologies. Teleportation, faster-than-light travel, hibernation, artificial gravity – these are just a few of the most obvious examples. Unfortunately, many of these technologies currently seem impossible from the perspective of the laws of physics as we know them. Others seem achievable, but only in the distant future.
However, there are also reverse cases. Some devices imagined by sci-fi authors have already become reality. And just like with futuristic gadgets, digital tools are also evolving. Today, you can work with documents not only on a computer but also on a tablet or smartphone — thanks to modern solutions like UPDF, which combine PDF editing, file organization, and even AI-powered features.
The editors of Universe Space Tech have selected five technologies and devices from science fiction films that have either already entered or are gradually entering our everyday lives.
1. Mobile phones
The heroes of many science fiction novels and films used compact devices to stay in touch. A notable example is the communicators from the popular Star Trek franchise. They allowed the crew members of the Enterprise to communicate with one another and with other spacecraft. Losing, breaking, or going out of range of the communicator often created a difficult situation for the characters.
A scene from the TV series “Star Trek”
It is precisely the communicators from Star Trek that are often cited as one of the main sources of inspiration for mobile phone technology. The prototype of such a device was created by Motorola in 1973, eight years after the first episode of the series was released. We do not think we need to tell you what happened next. Interestingly, in some later episodes of Star Trek, the characters also used wrist communicators that closely resemble smartwatches.
A scene from the TV series “Star Trek”
Of course, the communicators from Star Trek did not have many of the capabilities of modern smartphones. At the same time, in some respects, they are still unmatched. For example, communicators were not affected by electromagnetic interference and allowed users to contact subscribers on another planet almost instantly without any signal delay. So, manufacturers of modern gadgets definitely still have something to strive for.
2. Tablets
At the time, “2001: A Space Odyssey” amazed audiences with its grandiose vision of a high-tech future in which space stations orbited the Earth to classical music and humanity confidently conquered the far reaches of the solar system. Of course, half a century later, the authors’ vision seems overly optimistic, even naive. But some of what was shown in Stanley Kubrick’s film did come true. And one of the most surprising “hits” in reality was… the tablet.
A scene from the film “2001: A Space Odyssey”
In one scene in the film, the crew members of the Discovery spacecraft watched the news on flat-screen devices that closely resembled modern tablets. Interestingly, the film’s script called for the New York Times logo and the newspaper’s digital front page to appear on the device displays, complete with several article headlines that could be opened with a touch. Had this scene been filmed, the creators of Space Odyssey would surely have been hailed as the people who predicted the internet. But even without it, the tablets in the 1968 movie look truly astonishing. And if they once seemed like pure fantasy, today their capabilities are part of everyday life. For instance, with Organize PDF, you can arrange your files on a tablet as easily as the characters of 2001: A Space Odyssey browsed the news.
Interestingly, when Samsung sued Apple in 2011 for patent infringement in the creation of tablet computers, its lawyers even included footage from “2001: A Space Odyssey” in the case. In this way, the Korean company tried to prove that its competitors did not actually come up with the design for their iPad, but simply “borrowed” it from Stanley Kubrick.
3. Bionic prostheses
All Star Wars fans surely remember the scene of Luke Skywalker’s battle with Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back, in which the young Jedi lost his arm. Fortunately for the hero, he later acquired a bionic prosthesis that completely replaced all the functions of his lost limb. Thanks to this, Luke Skywalker was able to once again skillfully wield his lightsaber in the sequel to the saga.
A scene from the movie “The Empire Strikes Back”
At the time of the film’s release, such a device seemed as fantastical as blasters or the Death Star. But much has changed in the forty years since. In 2016, Mobius Bionics began producing an innovative bionic prosthetic arm that gives users much greater freedom of movement than conventional prostheses. The device’s smart system reads muscle signals, allowing it to perform a variety of complex movements: using a screwdriver, brushing teeth, zipping up a zipper, holding both fragile and heavy objects, and putting an arm behind the back. The device has been named LUKE. The abbreviation stands for Life Under Kinetic Evolution, but it is also, of course, a reference to Luke Skywalker.
LUKE bionic prosthesis. Source: DARPA
A few years later, LUKE underwent significant improvements and was equipped with a biological feedback system. With the help of electrodes implanted in peripheral nerves and muscles, the prosthesis user can now feel touch, vibration, and even pain. This has greatly simplified the use of the device. And just as bionics changes people’s lives, artificial intelligence transforms the way we work with documents: UPDF offers ChatGPT-4.1-powered tools that let you chat with PDFs and instantly extract the data you need.
4. Exoskeletons
Exoskeletons are as integral to modern science fiction as colonies on other planets. Examples of such devices can be found in numerous films, from Aliens to Edge of Tomorrow. But you do not have to buy a movie ticket to see an exoskeleton anymore – you can already find them in real life.
A still from the film Edge of Tomorrow
In recent years, various companies and inventors have introduced many different types of exoskeletons. Most of them only strengthen one part of the body, but there are also full-body suits. Some exoskeletons are designed to restore lost motor functions. Others can be used in construction and industrial work. Still others are designed for use by extreme athletes.
Examples of different types of exoskeletons. Source: Wikipedia
Of course, the military is also showing great interest in such developments. Yes, exoskeletons are not yet part of the standard equipment of any army in the world. But given the pace of technological progress, it cannot be ruled out that the image of a mobile infantryman clad in combat armor, described in Robert Heinlein’s famous novel Starship Troopers, will one day become a reality.
5. Deflection of hazardous asteroids
In 1998, two films were released simultaneously, both depicting NASA’s attempts to save Earth from an uninvited visitor from space. Despite their different tones, at the time, the plots of both Armageddon and Deep Impact seemed like pure fantasy, as humanity had no way of deflecting a dangerous asteroid from Earth.
A scene from the movie Armageddon
And now, a quarter of a century later, NASA has taken the first step toward creating such technology. In November 2021, a Falcon 9 rocket launched the DART probe into space. Its target was the 160-meter asteroid Dimorphos, a satellite of the larger object Didymos (65803 Didymos). On September 26, 2022, DART crashed into this object at a speed of 6.6 km/s.
Asteroid Dimorphos. Source: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL
The consequences of the collision far exceeded scientists’ expectations. According to the most conservative estimates, the impact knocked at least a thousand tons of material off the asteroid’s surface, changing its shape. It also left a long dust trail (which later split in two) stretching 10,000 km.
In addition, the impact significantly altered Dimorphos’ orbital parameters. Before the impact, its orbital period around Didymos was 11 hours and 55 minutes. After the impact, it decreased to 11 hours and 22 minutes. The distance between the two asteroids also changed, decreasing by 37 meters.
Asteroid Dimorphos after colliding with the DART probe (image from the Hubble Space Telescope). Source: NASA/ESA/STScI/Hubble
Bombing an asteroid is not just fun and games for NASA. It will allow them to test methods for changing the orbit of a potentially dangerous asteroid in practice. Yes, it may not look as spectacular as Bruce Willis’ heroic self-sacrifice. But who knows? It is quite possible that one fine day, this technology will actually save our planet from danger from space.
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It's time to rewrite the family tree, as scientists have revealed that our species is even older than we thought.
Previous studies have proved that we evolved in Africa before finally conquering the world – getting the better of some other rival human species on our way.
However, scientists now say we've been getting the date of own origins totally wrong.
In a new paper, the experts that claim Homo sapiens began to emerge over one million years ago.
Until now, it's been commonly believed that we split from our closest human relatives 600,000 years ago.
So the findings, based on a new analysis of a rare Chinese skull fossil, pushes back our species' origins by some 400,000 years.
Study author Chris Stringer, an anthropologist the National History Museum, said the 'landmark' findings offer an important window into our evolutionary past.
'Fossils like this one just how much we still have to learn about our origins,' he said.
Homo sapiens began to emerge over one million years ago – pushing back our species' origins by some 400,000 years. Pictured, a new replica reconstruction of Chinese skull Yunxian 2 (left), and the Yunxian 2 skull itself (right)
The focus of this study is Yunxian 2, a fossilised cranium found badly crushed by excavators in Hubei, China back in 1990.
Dating back one million years ago, the heavily deformed skull was once thought to belong to an adult male member of the species Homo erectus.
Appearing about about two million years ago, Homo erectus was a direct ancestor of modern humans and the first species to walk fully upright. As a result, it's thought of as the first human species to have left Africa.
Using CT scanning, light imaging and virtual reconstruction techniques, the team made a physical model of what the skull would look like had it not been squashed.
The physical model also incorporated a few small anatomical elements from Yunxian 1, another fossil found at the site in 1989, also badly crushed.
Once completed, the model was compared it to 104 other fossil specimens and similar high-quality replicas.
Their findings show Yunxian 2 does display some primitive traits similar to Homo erectus, such as a large, squat braincase, a strong brow ridge, and a more projecting lower face.
However, derived features in the face and rear of the braincase, as well as a larger brain capacity, are closer to later species such as Homo longi ('Dragon Man') and Homo sapiens.
Scientists 'could barely believe their own findings'. The international team has been led by researchers from Fudan University, Shanghai and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, alongside Professor Chris Stringer of London's Natural History Museum
The model of Yunxian 2 also incorporated a few small anatomical elements from Yunxian 1 (pictured), another fossil found at the site in 1989, also badly crushed
What species is Yunxian 2?
The new analysis reclassifies Yunxian 2 as another long-extinct ancient clade, probably part of the species Homo longi ('Dragon Man').
Homo longi, already known from other fossil findings in China, evolved in Asia, occupying the continent at least 146,000 years ago.
Homo longi is closely linked to the Denisovans, another extinct group of archaic humans known primarily from fossil finds in Siberia and Tibet
Based on their analyses, Yunxian 2 is not a Homo erectus at all, but an early member of the lineage that includes Homo longi and several other Chinese fossils.
Crucially, this lineage originated more than one million years ago, according to Professor Stringer, who worked alongside experts at Fudan University in Shanghai and the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing.
'Our research reveals that Yunxian 2 is not Homo erectus, but an early member of the longi clade and linked to the Denisovans,' he said.
'This changes a lot of thinking because it suggests that by one million years ago, our ancestors had already split into distinct groups, pointing to a much earlier and more complex human evolutionary split than previously believed.'
Despite their findings, the researchers are reluctant to describe Yunxian 2 as belonging to the Homo longi, at least for the moment.
Analysis of a third Yunxian skull found in 2022 ('Yunxian 3') will act as 'an important test' of the new reconstruction and hopefully make it conclusive.
'We will now be extending our analyses to include further sources of data and other fossils, which will be critical for refining this picture,' Professor Stringer added.
Homo longi or 'Dragon Man' is a species identified from a skull fossil known as the Harbin cranium, found in Harbin City in Heilongjiang province in 1933. Pictured, artist's impression of the species
'The human lineage': This illustration shows the closest extinct relatives of modern humans (homo sapiens, right)
The team's new findings, published today in the journal Science, paint a 'radically different' picture of human evolution.
According to the scientists, in the last 800,000 years, most large-brained humans can be traced to just five major branches – Asian erectus, heidelbergensis, longi, sapiens, and neanderthalensis.
The research reveals that these groups were already splitting from one another more than a million years ago – deeper in time than we previously thought.
Homo sapiens evolved in Africa but migrated out of the continent 60,000 to 70,000 years ago, reaching Europe and Asia.
There, we found and mated with the Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis), our closest ancient human relative, also extinct.
Not a lot is known about the Denisovans, the population of early humans who lived in Asia at least 80,000 years ago and were also distantly related to Neanderthals.
Denisovans also bred with humans around 50,000 years ago, likely in Asia, meaning the DNA of the early hominids survives today.
The Denisovans are an extinct species of human that appear to have lived in Siberia and even down as far as southeast Asia.
The individuals belonged to a genetically distinct group of humans that were distantly related to Neanderthals but even more distantly related to us.
Although remains of these mysterious early humans have mostly been discovered at the Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains in Siberia, DNA analysis has shown the ancient people were widespread across Asia.
Scientists were able to analyse DNA from a tooth and from a finger bone excavated in the Denisova cave in southern Siberia.
The discovery was described as 'nothing short of sensational.'
In 2020, scientists reported Denisovan DNA in the Baishiya Karst Cave in Tibet.
This discovery marked the first time Denisovan DNA had been recovered from a location that is outside Denisova Cave.
How widespread were they?
Researchers are now beginning to find out just how big a part they played in our history.
DNA from these early humans has been found in the genomes of modern humans over a wide area of Asia, suggesting they once covered a vast range.
They are thought to have been a sister species of the Neanderthals, who lived in western Asia and Europe at around the same time.
The two species appear to have separated from a common ancestor around 200,000 years ago, while they split from the modern human Homo sapien lineage around 600,000 years ago.
Last year researchers even claimed they could have been the first to reach Australia.
Aboriginal people in Australia contain both Neanderthal DNA, as do most humans, and Denisovan DNA.
This latter genetic trace is present in Aboriginal people at the present day in much greater quantities than any other people around the world.
How advanced were they?
Bone and ivory beads found in the Denisova Cave were discovered in the same sediment layers as the Denisovan fossils, leading to suggestions they had sophisticated tools and jewellery.
Professor Chris Stringer, an anthropologist at the Natural History Museum in London, said: 'Layer 11 in the cave contained a Denisovan girl's fingerbone near the bottom but worked bone and ivory artefacts higher up, suggesting that the Denisovans could have made the kind of tools normally associated with modern humans.
'However, direct dating work by the Oxford Radiocarbon Unit reported at the ESHE meeting suggests the Denisovan fossil is more than 50,000 years old, while the oldest 'advanced' artefacts are about 45,000 years old, a date which matches the appearance of modern humans elsewhere in Siberia.'
Did they breed with other species?
Yes. Today, around 5 per cent of the DNA of some Australasians – particularly people from Papua New Guinea – is Denisovans.
Now, researchers have found two distinct modern human genomes - one from Oceania and another from East Asia - both have distinct Denisovan ancestry.
The genomes are also completely different, suggesting there were at least two separate waves of prehistoric intermingling between 200,000 and 50,000 years ago.
Researchers already knew people living today on islands in the South Pacific have Denisovan ancestry.
But what they did not expect to find was individuals from East Asia carry a uniquely different type.
Million-Year-Old Skull Discovery Rewrites Human Evolution Timeline
A remarkable million-year-old skull discovered in China has shattered long-held beliefs about human evolution, suggesting that modern humans and their closest relatives diverged from common ancestors at least half a million years earlier than previously thought. The discovery challenges the fundamental narrative of human origins and raises the tantalizing possibility that Homo sapiens may have first emerged not in Africa, but in Asia. This bold research, published in the prestigious journal Science, represents one of the most significant advances in understanding human evolution in decades, forcing scientists to completely reconsider the timeline and geography of our species' emergence on Earth.
The reconstructed Yunxian 2 skull, originally excavated in 1990 from Hubei Province in central China, was initially classified as belonging to the primitive human species Homo erectus. However, sophisticated digital reconstruction techniques have revealed that this ancient cranium possesses a unique combination of features that place it much closer to the mysterious Denisovans and the Homo longi lineage, dramatically reshaping our understanding of human evolutionary history.
Revolutionary Digital Reconstruction Reveals Hidden Identity
For over three decades, the badly crushed and distorted Yunxian 2 skull remained an enigma, its true significance hidden beneath layers of geological damage. The breakthrough came when researchers led by Professor Xijun Ni of Fudan University and Professor Chris Stringer of London's Natural History Museum applied cutting-edge CT imaging and sophisticated digital reconstruction techniques to virtually restore the cranium to its original form.
"From the very beginning, when we got the result, we thought it was unbelievable. How could that be so deep into the past?" Professor Ni told the BBC.
"But we tested it again and again to test all the models, use all the methods, and we are now confident about the result, and we're actually very excited."
The painstaking reconstruction process involved CT image segmentation to digitally separate fossil bones from surrounding rock matrix, followed by careful repositioning of displaced fragments. When the skull's true shape was finally revealed, it displayed a remarkable mosaic of primitive and advanced features that clearly distinguished it from both Homo erectus and modern humans.
The reconstructed Yunxian 2 skull revealed features characteristic of what researchers call the Homo longi clade - a group that includes the enigmatic Dragon Man and likely encompasses the mysterious Denisovans. These features include a large cranial capacity of approximately 1,143 cubic centimeters, a long and low frontal skull bone, and distinctively narrow spacing between the eye sockets.
"The Homo longi clade, containing the Denisovans, lasted for over a million years," study co-author Chris Stringer explained to Live Science. "But so did the Neanderthal and sapiens lineages."
Using statistical analysis of 57 fossil skulls and advanced phylogenetic modeling, the research team calculated that the major human lineages diverged much earlier than previously believed. The Neanderthal clade separated first, around 1.38 million years ago, followed by the Homo longi clade at 1.2 million years ago, and finally Homo sapiens at 1.02 million years ago, according to the report in Science.
This dramatically compressed timeframe suggests a period of rapid evolutionary diversification, with three distinct human lineages emerging within just 360,000 years. The implications are staggering: rather than gradual evolution over millions of years, human ancestors underwent explosive adaptive radiation in response to unknown environmental pressures.
Challenging Africa-Centric Human Origins
Perhaps most controversially, this discovery raises fundamental questions about the geographic origins of modern humanity. The traditional "Out of Africa" model posits that Homo sapiens evolved exclusively on the African continent around 300,000 years ago before spreading globally. However, the antiquity and sophistication of the Yunxian 2 specimen suggests a more complex picture.
"This changes a lot of thinking because it suggests that by one million years ago our ancestors had already split into distinct groups, pointing to a much earlier and more complex human evolutionary split than previously believed," Professor Stringer told The Guardian. "It more or less doubles the time of origin of Homo sapiens."
The research team suggests that if the Homo longi lineage was already established in Asia one million years ago, and if this group shares common ancestry with modern humans and Neanderthals, then the ancestral population from which all three lineages emerged may have existed in western Asia rather than Africa. This would represent a fundamental revision of human evolutionary geography.
The discovery also helps resolve what paleoanthropologists call the "muddle in the middle"—dozens of confusing human fossil remains dating between 800,000 and 100,000 years ago that have proven difficult to classify. With earlier divergence dates, these puzzling specimens can now be grouped as members of the three major lineages or their primitive ancestors.
Phylogenetic family tree showing relationships between Yunxian 2 and other human specimens
While the findings are groundbreaking, not all experts are convinced by the dramatic timeline revision. Dr. Aylwyn Scally, an evolutionary geneticist at Cambridge University, cautioned that considerable uncertainties remain in both morphological and genetic dating methods.
"One has to be particularly tentative about the timing estimates, because those are very difficult to do, regardless of what evidence you're looking at," Scally told the BBC.
"Even with the largest amount of genetic data, it is very difficult to place a time when these populations may have co-existed to within 100,000 years, or even more."
The research team acknowledges these limitations but maintains confidence in their reconstruction and analysis methods. They used bootstrap resampling techniques to test the robustness of their conclusions, finding that potential errors in restoration and character scoring had minimal impact on their phylogenetic inferences.
Future validation will require additional fossil discoveries and, ideally, genetic material from the Yunxian specimens themselves. As Dr. Frido Welker from the University of Copenhagen noted, "molecular data from the specimen itself could provide insights confirming or disproving the authors' morphological hypothesis."
This extraordinary discovery represents far more than academic debate - it fundamentally challenges our understanding of what it means to be human and where we came from. As researchers continue to uncover and analyze ancient remains, the story of human evolution becomes increasingly complex, revealing a rich tapestry of interactions, migrations, and adaptations that shaped our species across deep time.
Top image: The original Yunxian Man cranium before reconstruction, showing distortion from geological pressure.
Feng, X., Li, D., Yang, Q., Gao, F., Li, Q., Zhang, C., Stringer, C., Ni, X. 2025. The phylogenetic position of the Yunxian cranium elucidates the origin of Homo longi and the Denisovans. Available at: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ado9202
The Strange Stories of Some of the Most Powerful Psychics Who Have Ever Lived
Throughout the history of the paranormal, there have been those who have stepped forward claiming to have vast paranormal powers. Everything, including spirit mediumship, telepathy, clairvoyance, mind reading, and telekinesis, among others, has throughout the ages been claimed by many. There has never been a shortage of such bizarre people, especially in the era when Spiritualism was in its heyday, and they run the range of obvious frauds to those who have demonstrated remarkable abilities that are not really easily dismissed or explained. Here we will look at a selection of some of the most famous and by all accounts most powerful of these.
The man known as George Valiantine was born in 1874 in Williamsport, New York, and was a rather late bloomer as far as supposed psychics go. Where many psychics are aware of something different about them from childhood, Valiantine only first discovered his alleged powers at the age of 43, during which time he had been living a humble life as a manufacturer. His first introduction to his own psychic abilities allegedly happened quite by accident one night as he was staying at a hotel. During the night, he claimed to have heard mysterious raps on the walls and ceiling that seemed to be trying to tell him something, and which responded when asked questions. When Valiantine told of this to a friend who was into Spiritualism, she suggested that he try and hold a séance to invoke the spirits that seemed to be trying to communicate with him. During this séance, he would conjure up the spirit of his deceased brother-in-law, Bert Everett, who allegedly told him that the spirits had been trying to make contact with him for some time.
Valiantine would begin to hold regular séances after this, where he would purportedly regularly invoke several different spirits, including Everett, a mysterious “Dr. Barnett," as well as three Native Americans named "Hawk Chief,” "Kokum," and “Blackfoot,” all of whom had wildly different voices and speech patterns. One of his main tricks was using a trumpet, through which the spirits would occasionally speak as it floated through the air, and another draw for his seances was when he would channel spirits from various places all around the world, often speaking in foreign languages that Valiantine did not supposedly speak. This attracted the attention of a psychic researcher by the name of H. Dennis Bradley, who met with the medium in 1923 and decided to try and test out his abilities in a controlled setting.
Bradley would witness all manner of weirdness during his sittings with the medium. Valiantine would conjure up numerous spirits, both men and women, who spoke in tones that Bradley was sure could not have been faked or produced by the medium, saying “each spirit was distinct and each spoke with an accent unlike the other.” He also saw the trumpet float through the air with his own eyes, and he would often hear the voices of the spirits and Valiantine speak simultaneously. These spirits often gave information on Bradley and the other sitters that Valiantine could not have possibly known. Other phenomena reported by Bradley were floating orbs of light that would careen around the room, taps and raps on the walls and furniture, and even a few occasions where an unseen hand rested upon his shoulder. Through all of this, neither Bradley nor any of his assistants could rationally explain it, with Valiantine clearly seen to be still tied to his chair and no apparent evidence of any trickery. Even when his mouth was taped, the spirits and voices would come, leading Bradley to come away from these séances convinced that Valiantine was the real deal.
In late 1923, The Scientific American of New York offered a prize of $2,500 to anyone who could provide proof of a genuine spiritualist phenomenon under test conditions. Valiantine entered the contest with the full support of Bradley, after which two private preliminary sittings were arranged by Gardner Murphy of Columbia University and Kenneth Andrews of the New York World. The seances were by all accounts a success, and Valiantine moved on to the real test before the committee of The Scientific American. During these sittings, Valiantine allegedly channeled a total of eight different spirits, their voices coming from high in the air and holding conversations with those present. The trumpet was also witnessed to hover through the air, but while it was all very impressive and no one could figure out how it was being done, there were some red flags. It seems that the committee had secretly installed an electrical pressure sensor into Valiantine’s chair to measure whether he left it during the sittings, and on several occasions, it registered the medium leaving the chair for short durations. Psychical researcher Harry Price would say of this:
“At the final sitting, in complete darkness, on May 26, 1923, special apparatus was installed. This was an electrical circuit which included the chair on which the medium sat. When the medium rose from his seat, a light went out in an adjoining room. Dictaphone notes were taken of all that occurred. It was found that Valiantine left his chair fifteen times when he should have been in it, sometimes for as long as eighteen seconds, and that these periods corresponded with those when the sitters were touched by the ‘spirits'."
Partly due to this, while much of what was witnessed was not able to be easily explained away as tricks, it was nevertheless deemed to be inadmissible as actual proof, and so Valiantine did not win the prize. Indeed, he was mostly painted as being a fraud by the Scientific American committee, yet despite this setback, he was wholeheartedly endorsed by Bradley and continued to amaze audiences with his seances. Valiantine began travelling to England and Europe to give demonstrations, often leaving audiences flabbergasted as to how the spirits he channeled knew so much about them and could speak in different languages, but there were still plenty of skeptics. One of these was a wealthy American financier by the name of Joseph de Wyckoff, who had several samples of writings channeled through Valiantine’s hand by spirits analyzed by experts. It was found that the spirit writing was most definitely written by Valiantine himself. Of course, Valiantine himself vehemently denied this, all the while continuing his séances and maintaining his believers. During one particularly spectacular séance held in 1924, Valiantine channeled an estimated one hundred different spirits in the presence of a crowd of fifty people, of which de Wyckoff was one, causing him to question whether he was wrong about the medium being a fraud, but he was still suspicious.
It seems that Wyckoff would become a constant thorn in Valiantine’s side, continuing his efforts at debunking it all, but on the opposite end of the spectrum, Bradley continued his experiments with the medium and came away convinced every time. Further tests were arranged to investigate the viability of Valiantine’s ability to channel foreign languages. When Valiantine began claiming that he could channel the spirit of the great Chinese philosopher Confucius himself, Bradley brought in Dr. Neville Whymant, an authority on Chinese history, philosophy, and ancient literature, who said of what he witnessed at the séance:
“Suddenly, out of the darkness was heard a weird, crackling, broken little sound, which at once carried my mind straight back to China. It was the sound of a flute, rather poorly played, such as can be heard in the streets of the Celestial Land but nowhere else. Then followed in a low, but very audible voice the words 'K'ung-fu T'Zu.' Few persons, except Chinese, could pronounce the name correctly as the sounds cannot be represented in English letters. The idea that it might be Confucius himself never occurred to me. I had imagined that it might be somebody desirous of discussing the life and philosophy of the great Chinese teacher.”
Whymant even asked questions of Confucius that only a person from that era of Chinese history could know, and Valiantine passed with flying colors. On top of all of this, Valiantine demonstrated the ability to write out ancient Chinese characters accurately in near complete darkness. Indeed, Whymant came away very impressed by it all, stating that not only did the voice speak with Chinese that was period accurate for the era, but also that it had knowledge that it was seemingly impossible for Valiantine to know. Whymant would claim that there were “only about six Chinese scholars in the world whose knowledge would have been equal to the one displayed by the direct voice.” How could the medium possibly be able to fake this? It is all even more impressive when one considers that Valiantine was not particularly well-educated or even fully literate, of which Bradley would say:
“He is a man of instinctive good manners but it is essential to state that he is semi-illiterate. He possesses no scholastic education whatever, beyond the ordinary simplicities; he is ill versed in general conversation and ideas. I mention these facts because many of the communications which have been made in the direct voice under his mediumship have been brilliant in their expressions and culture.”
It is interesting in that one of the most bizarre aspects of Valiantine’s career as a psychic medium is just how inconsistent he was. For every amazing and truly unexplainable display, there would be another in which signs of trickery were found. For instance, one psychical researcher, Ernest Palmer, found after examining Valiantine’s trumpet that it was warm to the touch and had moisture in the mouth piece in exactly the way one would suspect if a human had used it and not a spirit. On other occasions, there were found fraudulent movements from the medium during sittings were found, and perhaps the most famous sign of trickery happened in 1931, when Valiantine agreed to produce spirit fingerprints in wax of such names as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Lord Dewar, and Sir Henry Segrave. The procedure involved the imprints of these spirits’ fingerprints being put into a wax mold, but the imprints left behind were disappointing. For instance, the imprint from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was found to be a match to the print of Valiantine's big toe on his right foot, the spirit thumbprint of "Lord Dewar" was the same as that of Valiantine's left big toe, and a spirit fingerprint of "Sir Henry Segrave" was the print of Valiantine's middle finger. Nevertheless, Valiantine would never admit to any fraud.
Rather oddly, over the years, opinions on Valiantine’s abilities would shift. Bradley, who had carried out over one hundred experiments on the medium and had always held up as genuine, would become rather skeptical when he found what he believed to be signs of cheating and later deemed him to be a fraud, even writing a whole book about why he thought so in 1931. Yet at the same time, Valiantine’s nemesis, Whymant, would come to the conclusion that he really did possess mediumship abilities, but was just not able to fully control them, and they would appear only sporadically, therefore forcing him to occasionally resort to fraudulent means. Valiantine has gone on to become quite the polarizing force in the history of supposed psychic phenomena, with people seemingly equally divided down the line between thinking he was a huckster and those who truly believe he was the real deal. Which was it? Was he one of the biggest frauds of all time, or one of the greatest psychics there ever was? It is really hard to say, and all we can do is wonder.
Moving to our next case, the life of one of the most celebrated mediums and psychics of the 19th century began in 1833, when Daniel Dunglas Home was born in Currie, Scotland, and was soon adopted by a childless aunt and uncle when he was just a baby, as his own parents were unable to handle all of their eight children and Home was a sickly and weak child that was proving to be a burden. Even as a baby, weird stories were starting to orbit Home, as he had come from a long line of psychics and seers in his family, including his mother, and it was claimed that his cradle would sometimes rock by itself, and as a young child, he allegedly accurately predicted the death of a cousin. In other words, he was a creepy kid from the beginning, but things would really get interesting when he emigrated to America when he was just 9 years old, and the next chapter of his strange life would begin.
He and his aunt and uncle settled in Greeneville, Connecticut, and Home would be mostly a loner and friendless, yet he did form a bond with another boy named Edwin, with whom he took an oath that if ever either of them died, they would try to contact the other from the afterlife. This would lead to his first real full-blown spiritual vision, when one day Edwin appeared to him, surrounded by a bright light, and it would turn out later that the boy had died three days before, which should have been impossible for him to know, as they had moved to Troy, NY, which is about 155 miles from Greeneville. A few years after this, he would also predict the death of his own mother after she appeared to him in a vision, allegedly right down to the very hour. Then there was the poltergeist activity, such as moving objects or furniture, and anomalous noises such as strange raps and knocks from within the walls. This only ever seemed to happen when Home was around, and all of this proved to be too odd for his adopted family. Believing him to be possessed by the Devil, they kicked Home out when he was just 17, and he was left on his own.
This seemed to have done little to deter Home, who began to believe that he had a powerful gift and started arranging séances, which were all the rage at this time when spiritualism was en vogue. He certainly made an impression, as during his first séance in March 1851, a table reportedly moved on its own, despite the efforts of the guests to physically stop it. This incident would hit the news and make Home practically an overnight sensation, launching his career as a medium. He would begin travelling all over New England performing séances, sometimes six or seven a day, in which he reportedly was able to cause moving objects or inexplicable lights, heal people of ailments, and provide uncannily accurate information and divulge details gleaned from the spirits of the dead that he could not have possibly known. These apparent potent psychic abilities caused Home’s fame to spread far and wide.
Making it all the more interesting is that Home at no point ever asked for money in exchange for performing these seemingly miraculous feats, although he did receive donations and gifts, and he was also very willing to carry out his séances in well-lit conditions and under the scrutiny of more skeptical observers. Indeed, many skeptics, including scientists and trained observers, often came away from Home’s séances convinced that they had not been deceived in any way. He was not totally without his critics, for instance, Vanity Fair writer William Makepeace Thackeray once called his act “dire humbug, dreary and foolish superstition,” yet even he was supposedly impressed when Home had a table move during one of his sessions without any discernible trickery.
Home really got people’s attention when he began demonstrating the apparent ability to actually levitate. His first show of this power was in August 1852, in South Manchester, Connecticut, where he was reported as levitating twice, floating all the way up to the ceiling in full view of an astonished audience. Some reports of this event claim that when people tried to pull him down, they were lifted up off the floor as well. When the levitation was added to his bag of tricks, Home became more popular than ever before, becoming a common fixture at the homes of society’s elite, yet he still refused any payment for these performances and séances despite money being shoved at him. While all this was going on, Home decided to pursue a profession that he could do to make a stable living on his own, and to this end, he began to study medicine at Newburgh, Connecticut, but this was cut short when he fell ill with tuberculosis in 1854. Doctors recommended that he return to Europe to recover, and so in March of 1855, he departed America’s shores on his way to the next chapter of his unusual life.
Home would settle in London, where he lived for free at a sprawling hotel owned by a fan of his named William Cox, and it was not long before he was back to performing séances. As in America, he quickly made a name for himself and was soon entertaining the high class, elite, and royalty, including Napoleon III, the Czar of Russia, and Queen Sophia of the Netherlands, at the same time adding to his bizarre repertoire by including so-called “phantom hands,” which would appear to poke or touch people present, and the ability to hold white-hot embers in his bare hands without injury. Most of these witnesses to his apparently vast powers were convinced that it was all genuine, and both shocked and awed by what they saw in Home’s presence. Queen Sophia would say of the séances she participated in:
“I saw him (Home) four times...I felt a hand tipping my finger; I saw a heavy golden bell moving alone from one person to another; I saw my handkerchief move alone and return to me with a knot... He himself is a pale, sickly, rather handsome young man but without a look or anything which would either fascinate or frighten you. It is wonderful. I am so glad I have seen it.”
As before, Home conducted these séances in brightly lit rooms or in broad daylight, and once again, levitation featured in his séances. Paranormal historian Frank Podmore would say of one such instance, "We all saw him rise from the ground slowly to a height of about six inches, remain there for about ten seconds, and then slowly descend." Indeed, these displays became more impressive than ever, including levitating chairs while people sat in them, and in 1868, he reportedly pulled his greatest feat of all, purportedly levitating right out of a 3rd story window to come hovering back in through a different window. One of the more famous supporters of Home was the writer and spiritualist Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who was impressed by the fact that Home had a vast array of psychic abilities, including the ability to let spirits speak through him or to audibly speak, the gift of clairvoyance, and most incredible of all his ability to move objects with his mind and levitate, a combination that few possessed. Indeed, his powers were so amazing and seemingly real that Home was actually expelled from Rome in 1864 on the charge of sorcery.
Of course, he did have his critics, who believed that this was all trickery, illusion, and sleight of hand. One of these was famed illusionist and escape artist Harry Houdini, who was actually well-known at the time as an intrepid debunker of spiritualism and séances. Houdini claimed that Home was using the tricks of illusionists and magicians, and even proclaimed that he was able to reproduce the same results himself, although it seems he was never able to demonstrate this, ultimately leaving even him a bit baffled by it all. However, Houdini remained convinced that Home was using some sort of illusion to pull off his stunts; it was just a matter of how, and others were willing to take Home to task through controlled experiments, which, surprisingly, the medium was all up for.
Perhaps one of the most well-known of these experiments was carried out over several years by the respected English chemist, physicist, and fellow of the Royal Society, William Crookes, beginning in 1871. The experiments were conducted in a self-built laboratory in North London, using a series of different tests in an effort to measure Home’s “psychic force.” During the experiment, Crookes would become convinced that Home’s powers were genuine and that they could not be explained by current science. Crookes would say:
“During the whole of my knowledge of D. D. Home, extending for several years, I never once saw the slightest occurrence that would make me suspicious that he was attempting to play tricks. He was scrupulously sensitive on this point, and never felt hurt at anyone taking precautions against deception. To those who knew him Home was one of the most lovable of men and his perfect genuineness and uprightness were beyond suspicion.”
However, the experiment would be criticized because it was not under ideal conditions, lacked proper scientific controls and protocols, and it was not repeatable, sometimes failing to measure any phenomena at all, and so it was largely scoffed at by mainstream scientists of the day. There is also the fact that Crookes was well-known for testing a variety of other psychics, and that he truly sought to prove psychic abilities, which may have made his results somewhat biased. Home's nemesis, Houdini, would say of Crookes and his folly of an experiment:
“There is not the slightest doubt in my mind that this brainy man was hoodwinked, and that his confidence was betrayed by the so-called mediums that he tested. His powers of observation were blinded and his reasoning faculties so blunted by his prejudice in favor of anything psychic or occult that he could not, or would not, resist the influence.”
Yet for all of the criticism of Home and his alleged powers, it seems that no one was ever able to figure out how he actually did it, and no one was ever able to successfully replicate any of his “tricks.” Speculation ran rampant, including that he was using secret pulley systems, magic tricks, tiny gadgets hidden on his person, mass hypnosis, or even trained monkeys to move things around, but no one knew for sure. By all accounts, if he wasn’t a real psychic, then he was perhaps the greatest magician and illusionist who had ever lived. Home would continue baffling people all over Europe until his tuberculosis finally caught up to him, and he died on June 22, 1886, after a career of over 1,500 séances and countless private demonstrations.
In more modern times, it has come to light that Home was, in fact, caught cheating on several occasions in private, and that these were simply not reported on publicly, but there is still much that is mysterious about Daniel Home, in that many of his greatest performances have never been adequately explained or recreated. If he was a fraudster and an illusionist, then he was extremely skilled and gifted, but how he did it all was taken to the grave with him. The fact that he was able to work his way into high society and impress so many, as well as that he never asked for payment, only further cements his legend. Was Home a charlatan and trickster, or did he perhaps have access to powers of the mind beyond our understanding? The answer to that largely depends on who you ask, but one thing that is for certain is that he is one of the most prominent and greatest mediums and psychics who has ever lived.
In another amazing case, born in Ireland in 1893, Eileen J. Garrett had a rough go of things from an early age. Her mother killed herself by drowning just a few days after she was born, and her father followed suit just 6 weeks later by shooting himself, leaving her doomed to never even really know their faces. She was sent off to live at a rural farmhouse with her aunt, who was overbearing and prone to fits of rage that often sent the young child off on her own in her own little world. She felt more of a connection with nature than with people at this time, spending most of her time wandering the moors. It was at about 4 years of age that she began to be aware that she had certain gifts. She started to see and communicate with spirits, in particular those of two girls and a boy around her age, and she also developed the powers of precognition, clairvoyance, telepathy, and the ability to see the energy auras of people and objects, which she called “the surround.” She would say of this ability:
“I saw all bodies surrounded by a nimbus of light, not merely as physical bodies, but as if each were set within a nebulous egg-shaped covering of his own. This surround, as I called it for want of a better name, consisted of transparent changing colors, or could become dense and heavy in character—for these coverings changed according to the variations in people's moods. From the beginning, space has never been empty for me. There was both sound and movement in the 'space' of every area, and I could discriminate among environments by the impressions of this tremendous 'vitality' that I appear to gather otherwise than by means of my five senses.”
She also would claim to be able to see the life force leave a body upon death. For instance, once when she was angry at her aunt, she killed some ducks on the farm as revenge, and as they died, she could see “a gray, smoke-like substance rose up from each small form.” These powers would grow and follow her as she grew up, but so did misfortune and tragedy. She would marry three times and lose three sons as infants, each time reportedly witnessing their souls leave their bodies. Her marriages were marred by this tragedy, as well as hallucinations and signs of dissociative identity disorder that led one of her husbands to describe her as “on the brink of madness.” Her second husband died in an explosion during World War I, an event she had a premonition of during a dinner party, of which she would say:
“I was caught in the shattering concussion of a terrible explosion. I saw my gentle, golden-haired husband blown to pieces. I floated out on a sea of terrific sound. When I came to myself, I knew that my husband had been killed.”
It was yet another horrific tragedy for Garrett, but nevertheless, her psychic abilities had also grown. She became convinced that she was imbued with “cosmic consciousness,” and that she was being followed around by a sort of guardian angel in the form of man “in gray garments", who had helped save the life of her ailing daughter, Babette, when she was ill with pneumonia. In the 1920s, she began to try and focus her gifts for spirit mediumship, in particular what is called “trance mediumship,” during which the medium goes into a deep trance and channels spirits through them. Garrett very quickly became popular in the spiritualist movement at the time, and was a regular feature of high-profile seances and mediumship sessions. During these years, she became aware of what she called “spirit controls,” who were sort of spirit guides, and she claimed to have two. One of these was named Ouvani, or Uvani, who was apparently a 14th-century Persian soldier, and the other was the man in grey himself, known as Abdul Latif, a 13th-century Muslim physician. These spirit controls helped her to hone and improve her powers and gave her insight and guidance into the afterlife. In one instance, the spirit control Uvani channeled the spirit of British barrister Sir Edward Marshall Hall, who allegedly told the audience of his experience with the afterlife:
“I fear I am going to disappoint you, but this is not heaven, neither is it hell, though it savors of both. My friends are still tied up with knots and problems, but I played at both things and was terribly sincere when I played. I am still playing. This is not a state of spirit any more than the one I have left, and I am young here, a mere baby. I have only been over a year or two. I am doing what the other infants do, opening my eyes, looking around and asking questions. There is still a lot of earth man left in me, thank God. I am still in a state of matter, with a more beautiful and much less troublesome body. I take a hand in everything that is going on ... This is a place where free will predominates . . . All experience is growth ... it can be Hell or Heaven . . . from my own point of view, I am not in Hell ... I am now in a comfortable part of the globe ... Here is freedom from pain, freedom from sorrow, the vision which has led me all my life and which I would not change.”
Garrett steadily rose to international fame through her sessions, and it was this high profile that brought her to the attention of many researchers, scientists, parapsychologists, and spiritualists, including such organizations as the American Society for Psychical Research, Duke University’s parapsychology laboratory, and the British College of Psychic Science. In 1931, she moved to the United States and famously subjected herself to a series of experiments to test her abilities. In one of these, carried out by the National Laboratory of Psychical Research, she contacted the spirit of Herbert Carmichael Irwin, captain of the British R101 airship, which crashed in 1930, killing 48 people. During this session, he apparently gave information and technical details that only he could have known, and it was big news at the time. Psychical researcher Harry Price would say of this particular experiment:
“It is not my intention to discuss if the medium were really controlled by the discarnate entity of Irwin, or whether the utterances emanated from her subconscious mind or those of the sitters. "Spirit" or "trance personality" would be equally interesting explanations – and equally remarkable. There is no real evidence for either hypothesis. But it is not my intention to discuss hypotheses, but rather to put on record the detailed account of a remarkably interesting and thought-provoking experiment.”
During another experiment, Garrett also allegedly channeled the spirit of the mother of the famous film producer Cecil B. DeMille, who wanted to give her son advice on a movie he was making. She was also studied by J. B. Rhine and William McDougall at Duke University, the Boston Society for Psychic Research, the Psychological Laboratory at the University College London, the psychical researcher Hereward Carrington and Dr. Adolph Meyer of Johns Hopkins University, among others, but the results of these were mixed at best, with conclusions ranging from that she was genuinely psychic to that she was merely conjuring up alternate personalities in her own psyche, to that she was no more successful than random guessing.
Garrett would head back to Europe, where she assisted in the French Resistance during World War II, after which she immigrated permanently to the United States in 1941 to flee the Nazi occupation. There she established her own New Age publishing company, Creative Age Press, which published the well-received publication Tomorrow, and she wrote many of her own books, including My Life in Search for the Meaning of Mediumship, Telepathy: In Search of a Lost Faculty, Awareness, The Sense and Nonsense of Prophecy, Life is the Healer, Many Voices, and others, as well as three fiction novels. In 1951, she helped found the Parapsychology Foundation along with U.S. Congresswoman Frances Bolton. In addition to hosting various conferences with the Foundation, she continued her forays into psychic powers, including a case in which she exorcised the supposed spirit of a witch who had been plaguing a wealthy young married woman living in an opulent townhouse on New York's Upper East Side. She also became involved with the psychedelic movement in the 60s, falling in with the renowned psychedelic author and researcher Aldous Huxley and his research team. Garrett would claim that psychedelics helped her greatly expand her powers, at one point saying:
“I have had psychic experiences which occur at the height of the LSD experience. I believe the drug has made me a better, more accurate sensitive when I perceive, hear, think and feel.”
She was so enamored with the psychedelic culture that the Parapsychology Foundation carried out its own experiments into LSD and its effects on psychic abilities and other psi phenomena, and they held several conferences on the matter. Indeed, Garrett would be seen as a pioneer in the world of psychedelic research. It is interesting that in later years, Garrett distanced herself from the idea that she was being guided by outside spirits, instead embracing the theory that these spirit controls were merely aspects of her own mind linked into the cosmic consciousness. Indeed, she would state that she did not believe that there was even necessarily a spirit world at all, although she still insisted that her powers were very real; she just was not sure exactly from where they sprang. However, she constantly tried to downplay her abilities while at the same time fighting off skeptics, and would once say, “I have been called many things, from a charlatan to a miracle woman. I am, at least, neither of these.”
Garrett continued her work and demonstrations up until September 15, 1970, when she tragically passed away from heart failure during the Parapsychology Foundation's nineteenth international conference, in Nice, France. There is no way of knowing if she could ever do the things she claimed, and the tests done on her were inconclusive at best, so we are left to wonder. Who was this mysterious woman, and what was she really capable of? If she did possess these powers, then from where did they originate? In the end, it doesn't really seem to matter, as Eileen J. Garrett has most certainly cemented herself into place as one of the most famous psychics of the century, and no matter what the story behind her story might be, she will likely remain that way for some time to come.
We are left to wonder just what was going on with these people. Did they ever have the psychic powers they claimed they had, and which were witnessed by so many? Or was this all smoke and mirrors and trickery? How can we explain some of the more amazing feats we have looked at here? Whatever you may think ion these claims, all of the people we have looked at here have left their indelible mark upon history and the world of psychics, and are among the most famous and allegedly most powerful the world has ever seen.
Viktor Hovland´s great pursuits: A perfect golf swing and the truth about UFOs
Viktor Hovland´s great pursuits: A perfect golf swing and the truth about UFOs
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (AP) - Viktor Hovland´s golf swing clicked at the right time. His search for the truth about UFOs? That's still a work in progress.
Practicing on the driving range two days before the Ryder Cup begins Friday, the 28-year-old Norwegian said he suddenly felt freed up. When he reviewed his swing on video, "it looked definitely better than other swings that I´ve made lately."
"Obviously this is a golf course that you have to drive it really well, and I've been kind of struggling with the driver," Hovland said Thursday at Bethpage Black. "It´s been a long time since I´ve been able to stand on the range and just kind of beat balls fluidly, effortlessly without trying to feel like I´m steering it."
That bodes well for Europe, which enters tournament play on Friday as underdogs on the U.S. team´s turf in front of what´s sure to be a raucous New York crowd. President Donald Trump will be there for part of it, adding to the frenzy.
About the UFOs: it's a subject Hovland says he´s gotten deeper into in the last couple of years, piquing the curiosity of teammates and fans alike. The seven-time PGA Tour winner said it´s one way he takes his mind off golf.
And, he insists, the truth is out there.
Europe's Viktor Hovland watches his tee shot on the 12th hole during a practice round for the Ryder Cup golf tournament, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, on the Bethpage Black golf course, in Farmingdale, N.Y.
(AP Photo/Robert Bukaty)
"The more you go into it, you just get more questions," Hovland said. "It´s one of those things that you don´t really find any more answers, but it´s very interesting to go in there and kind of challenge some of your beliefs that you currently hold."
"You kind of have to expand your mind a little bit," he said.
Hovland, one of golf's most popular and affable stars, was eager to get back to practicing after rain soaked the course on Thursday morning. He said he wanted to make sure his newfound swing feel didn't disappear overnight.
"I think we´ve all been there," Hovland said. "We find a feel and think we´re back, and the next day it all falls apart."
Acknowledging "some major struggles" with his game in recent seasons, Hovland desperately wants to return to the form he had in 2023, when he won three times on the PGA Tour and claimed the season-ending FedEx Cup.
He dropped from No. 4 in the world rankings the week of the last Ryder Cup, a win for Europe in Rome in 2023, to No. 12 currently. But, he said, "I feel like despite that, I can still overcome that and play some really good golf."
Hovland is frequently blunt and introspective, and his session with reporters Thursday volleyed from questions about his swing to his fascination with the prospect of otherworldly beings, spurred by a comment his friend and teammate Ludvig Åberg made to reporters on Wednesday.
"Ludvig said that you like to talk about UFOs. What´s up with that?" a reporter asked.
"What´s up with that?" Hovland responded, smiling and prompting laughs. "Yeah, that´s the question, isn´t it? What is up with that?"
Åberg, for his part, said that while he indulges Hovland's UFO talk, "I´m not quite down that road just yet. If I hang out with him long enough, I might be."
"He´s a funny guy to have funny conversations with," Åberg said. "They can go in any direction that you don´t really expect."
In some ways, pursuing a perfect golf swing and eternal questions about flying saucers and extraterrestrial life are a lot alike, both requiring curiosity and patience.
In golf, he said, "you just look at your golf swing and you´re trying to practice hard and you don´t really get the results that you want, it can be quite frustrating."
As a Ryder Cup rookie in 2021, Hovland went 0-3-2 en route to a 19-9 European loss at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin. In 2023, he went 3-1-1 as Europe prevailed 16.5 to 11.5.
"I felt like I was maybe more timid as a rookie playing on foreign soil," Hovland said of his first Ryder Cup. "I think I played just a bit more insecure maybe but after 2023, my best season of my career, I felt just more excitement."
This time there's the added factor of a New York crowd - famously loud and ruthless toward opposing players, whether from the Boston Red Sox or Team Europe. Hovland, quirky as ever, said he has an antidote for that.
"If you play well, you know, there´s going to be some comments here and there," he said. "They won´t really come close to the thoughts that I have in my own head. So I think I´ll just laugh it off for the most part."
For decades, scientists have thought that human consciousness arises from the newest and most sophisticated parts of the brain.
But a Cambridgescientist now claims that the fundamental basis of our experience may be controlled by a far more primal structure.
In a review of over a century of scientific research, neuroscientist Dr Peter Coppola examined stimulation studies, animal experiments, and neurological case reports.
Based on this wide-ranging evidence, Dr Coppola argues that consciousness might arise from our ancient 'lizard brain'.
If true, that would mean that consciousness is not such a uniquely human trait as scientists had once thought.
Writing in The Conversation, Dr Coppola says: 'These reports are striking evidence that suggests maybe the oldest parts of the brain are enough for basic consciousness.
'In turn, this may influence patient care as well as how we think about animal rights.
'In fact, consciousness might be more common than we realised.'
For decades, scientists have thought that human consciousness arises from the newest and most sophisticated parts of the brain. But now, a Cambridge scientist claims that the fundamental basis of our experience may be controlled by a far more primal structure (stock image)
The human brain is a little like a Russian nesting doll, with the parts that evolved most recently on the outside and the older, more basic parts nestled towards the centre.
The recently evolved outermost part of the brain is known as the cortex, which is responsible for complex tasks like memory, thinking, learning, reasoning, and problem-solving.
Meanwhile, the inner region, known as the sub-cortex, hasn't changed much in over 500 million years of evolution.
Often referred to as the 'lizard brain', these primal areas are responsible for monitoring basic impulses and sensations such as hunger, thirst, pain, pleasure, and fear.
Previously, scientists thought that the most recently evolved areas of the cortex, known as the neocortex, were the likely origin of conscious experiences.
The subcortex was considered necessary for consciousness, like how electricity is necessary to make a television work, but not sufficient to create consciousness by itself.
However, Dr Coppola says that scientists have been underestimating the importance of the brain's oldest regions.
Dr Coppola looked at a type of experiment called a stimulation study in which electricity or magnets are used to interfere with parts of the brain.
Scientists had previously thought that consciousness, the subjective awareness of experience, was produced in the more recently evolved outer region of the brain known as the cortex
Instead, neurologist Dr Peter Coppola says that consciousness is likely produced by the more ancient sections of the brain known as the subcortex and the hind-brain (illustrated)
What is consciousness?
Consciousness is the subjective awareness of 'what it is like' to experience the world.
There are two major questions scientists have about consciousness: a so-called easy problem and a hard problem.
The easy problem is the underlying biological processes which control perception, memory and attention.
The hard problem is to understand how and why physical processes should come with a subjective experience at all.
For example, why does banging our funny bone hurt? Why do our bodies not simply register the bodily damage?
Some scientists and philosophers think that we may never be able to answer the hard problem of consciousness.
Interfering with the neocortex produces powerful effects, including changing your sense of self, creating hallucinations, or affecting your judgment, but affecting the patterns of the deeper regions produces even more profound effects.
Dr Coppola says: 'We can induce depression, wake a monkey from anaesthesia or knock a mouse unconscious. Even stimulating the cerebellum, long considered irrelevant, can change your conscious sensory perception.'
This was a strong hint that the older regions of the brain were very important for consciousness, but it wasn't enough to show that the lizard brain alone was capable of producing consciousness.
To make that jump, Dr Coppola looked at cases where people and animals have had parts of their brains damaged or removed.
Damaging the cortex and neocortex produces changes in conscious experience, but damage to the subcortex and other deep regions often leads to the total destruction of consciousness through death or coma.
Even more strikingly, there are rare cases of children born with a condition called hydranencephaly that causes them to lack most of their cortex.
Dr Coppola says: 'According to medical textbooks, these people should be in a permanent vegetative state.
'However, there are reports that these people can feel upset, play, recognise people or show enjoyment of music.'
In rare cases, children can be born without most of their neocortex (pictured) but still appear to have a conscious experience. This suggests that it is only the older regions which are necessary for consciousness
Likewise, Dr Coppola refers to a number of 'extreme' experiments on animals in which rats, cats, and monkeys had their neocortex surgically removed.
Even without this supposedly vital part of the brain, the animals were able to show emotion, groom themselves, parent their young, and even learn.
This suggests that the subcortex alone is sufficient to produce some level of conscious experience.
However, this doesn't mean that the cortex and neocortex aren't adding anything to our human consciousness.
Dr Coppola says: 'The newer parts of the brain – as well as the cerebellum – seem to expand and refine your consciousness.'
These regions take the basic building blocks of awareness and add in the language, moral reasoning, sense of self, and creativity that make human consciousness unique.
That would explain how the richness of human consciousness is able to emerge out of such primitive pieces of brain machinery.
But, if Dr Coppola is correct, this means that a basic level of consciousness is likely older and much more widespread than anyone had previously thought.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is one of the most recently developed forms of neuroimaging.
It measures the metabolic changes that occur within the brain, such as changes in blood flow.
Medical professionals may use fMRI to detect abnormalities within the brain that cannot be found with other imaging techniques, measure the effects of stroke or disease, or guide brain treatment.
It can also be used to examine the brain’s anatomy and determine which parts of the brain are handling critical functions.
A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan uses a magnetic field rather than X-rays to take pictures of body.
The MRI scanner is a hollow machine with a tube running horizontally through its middle.
You lie on a bed that slides into the tube of the scanner.
Equipment used in fMRI scans uses the same technology, but is more compact and lightweight.
The main difference between a normal MRI scan and a fMRI scan is the results that can be obtained.
Whereas a normal MRI scan gives pictures of the structure of the brain, a functional MRI scan shows which parts of the brain are activated when certain tasks are carried out.
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Moon landing conspiracy theories are reignited online as NASA reveals details for the Artemis II mission – as one sceptic jokes 'I hope they have better CGI this time'
Moon landing conspiracy theories are reignited online as NASA reveals details for the Artemis II mission – as one sceptic jokes 'I hope they have better CGI this time'
The focus of many commenters' ire is the fact that it has been over 50 years since NASA launched a mission to the moon.
Given that Artemis II won't actually land on the moon, some conspiracy theorists have been left unsure why NASA seemingly can't replicate a feat first achieved in 1969.
While this has boosted long-debunked claims that the original moon landings were faked, some commenters have gone even further.
The wild theories posted online claim that humans have never even been to space, while others even claim that space itself is somehow 'fake'.
Taking to X, one sceptically-minded commenter joked: 'I hope they have better CGI'.
As NASA unveils the details for the Artemis II mission, lunar conspiracy theories have reignited and spread like wildfire on social media. Pictured: Buzz Aldrin on the moon in 1969
As early as February next year, NASA will launch the Artemis II mission and send four astronauts (pictured from left: Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, and Jeremy Hansen) on a 10-day trip around the moon in the first crewed lunar mission in over 50 years
However, on social media, NASA's announcement of the mission's details ignited a wave of conspiracy theories that spread like wildfire over X, formerly Twitter
One internet-dwelling conspiracy theorist joked that NASA's rocket launches were as fake as 'pro wrestling in zero gravity'
Early next year, four NASA astronauts will launch from Earth aboard an Orion spaceship powered by the powerful Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.
Over 10 days, the crew will travel 5,700 miles (9,200 km) past the moon, testing the onboard systems and gathering data on their bodies' reactions, before returning to Earth.
During this time, they will reach the furthest point from Earth ever travelled to by a human and become the first people to travel to the moon in over 50 years.
On X, one commenter wrote: 'I believe that the American missions of the 1950s are fake unless modern humans land on the moon. It's been over 70 years and we still can't go to the moon?'
'So NASA are going to the moon again but they are not actually landing what a load of fake BS,' another chimed in.
One commenter complained that this was 'one of the reasons I don't believe that humans have ever been to the moon.'
The Artemis II mission is not intended to land on the moon, but rather to test out the spacecraft and systems that will be used for the first crewed landing in the Artemis III mission
However, the fact that Artemis II will not feature a lunar landing left some commenters confused as to why the space agency seemingly cannot replicate a feat it first completed in 1969
One commenter complained that they could no longer believe in the reality of anything NASA does or claims to do
NASA's Artemis Mission Timeline
Artemis I
- Uncrewed lunar flight test
- Launched November, 2022
Artemis II
- Crewed Lunar Flyby
- Launch planned for April, 2026
Artemis III
- Crewed Surface Landing
- Launch planned for mid-2027
Artemis IV
- Building First Lunar Space Station
- Launch targeting September 2028
Another vented: 'It befuddles me how people can still believe NASA after 60+ years of fake moon landings and a bunch of excuses since.'
And one commenter even joked: 'Watching these launches is like watching pro wrestling in zero gravity. Everyone knows it's fake, but the show must go on.'
But for those already deeply involved in the world of NASA conspiracy theories, this announcement of the Artemis II mission triggered a flurry of bizarre claims.
Most strangely of all, the lunar mission seemed to prompt many commenters to deny the existence of space itself.
In a wild rant, one commenter wrote: 'The first task of any elected President is to sign over the budget for NASA, the National Academy of Space Actors. Money plays a role but the ultimate reason for fake Space is to hide God & dismiss Creation with Pseudoscience.'
'NASA spends $60M per day of tax payers money to make fake videos about them floating in space,' another claimed.
Another added: 'Space is fake. We never went to the moon. The first astronauts were diving actors. NASA in Houston is a movie set.'
However, like so many online conspiracy theories, many commenters had one big reason for doubting the existence of the space missions: The Flat Earth theory.
Another conspiracy theorist claimed that the lack of a lunar landing in Artemis II was one of the reasons they 'don't believe that humans have ever been to the moon'
The news of the mission pushed some conspiracy theorists into wild rants about secret societies, flat Earth, elaborate cover-ups and the moon landings
One particularly frustrated conspiracy theorist wrote: 'Earth isn't a spinning space ball; it's a fixed plane covered by a firmament they've desperately tried to hide with fake space missions and NASA's $60 million a day budget scam.'
They continued to rant: 'The moon landing? Filmed on a soundstage by Freemason puppets under Operation Mockingbird control.'
While another complained about 'the lying NASA who lied to the world about the Earth being flat.'
Although there is obviously no basis in reality for any of these claims, the number of people who believe in anti-scientific conspiracy theories remains extremely high.
Studies have found that between 10 and 12 per cent of Americans believe that the Moon landings were faked.
Interestingly, while rates of support for other conspiracy theories have remained stable, NASA conspiracies have become more popular.
According to one study from the University of Miami, the number of Americans who believe the moon landing was faked almost doubled from six per cent to 10 per cent between June 2020 and May 2021.
How do we know the moon landings weren't fake?
Physical evidence
When the Apollo 11 mission landed on the moon, they did more than jump about and take a few photos.
The crew placed a retroreflector array on the lunar surface consisting of 100 glass prisms which act like a giant mirror.
This allows observatories on the Earth to bounce lasers off the moon and accurately determine its exact distance from Earth.
Additionally, the Apollo missions brought back 382 kg (842 lbs) of rock samples from six different lunar sights.
These have been repeatedly analysed by independent scientists, showing that they have a unique chemical composition which is different to the rocks on Earth.
Observations at the time
In addition to this evidence, we also have contemporary observations which show the exact moment the lander touched down on the moon.
At the Jodrell Bank radio telescope in Cheshire, Sir Bernard Lovell and his team accurately recorded the precise path of the lunar lander.
These recordings are so precise that you can even see the precise moment that Neil Armstrong took manual control of the lander.
This gives us fantastic evidence from the time that shows the lander touching down on the moon.
The weakness of counter arguments
Another key reason we know the moon landings are real is the lack of any evidence that suggests they are faked.
One of the most common conspiracy claims is that the shadows in a photo taken by Neil Armstrong are not parallel.
But even on Earth, it is easy to observe situations where two parallel lines do not appear parallel whenever a low sun is shining over uneven ground.
People also question how the flag planted on the moon could be waving as if in the wind.
However, a closer examination of the flag in the photo clearly shows that there is a metal pole keeping it held up.
The flag is crumpled after being stored for four days en route and remains wrinkled precisely because there is no wind and little gravity on the moon.
Finally, to keep a fake moon landing secret and prevent any evidence from escaping would require the complicity of thousands of scientists, officials, camera crews, and set builders for over five decades.
The idea that this is possible for any government on Earth is simply much less plausible than the idea that a rocket carried a crew to the moon.
A persistent conspiracy theory Have you ever heard the term “chemtrails”? If so, you’re not alone—this concept has become one of the most persistent and widely discussed weather-related conspiracy theories of the 21st century.
From weather manipulation to population control Proponents claim that the visible trails left by airplanes, commonly known as contrails, are actually chemical or biological agents deliberately sprayed into the atmosphere for purposes ranging from weather manipulation to population control.
Photo: By Infrogmation of New Orleans - Photo by Infrogmation, CC BY-SA 2.5, Wikimedia Commons
An idea that captured the imagination of millions Despite a lack of scientific evidence supporting these claims, the idea has captured the imagination of millions around the world, fueled by viral videos, social media posts, and anecdotal reports. Understanding the origins and spread of the chemtrail theory offers a fascinating glimpse into how modern myths can take flight in the digital age.
What's that in the sky In big cities you can often see a multitude of clouds in the sky in the form of lines that cross the horizon. But what are these little white trails in the sky?
Chemtrails-poison in the sky? These clouds are used to support the "Chemtrails" conspiracy theory. They are said to be poison clouds that some very bad people are using to intoxicate us. But why?
Is the drought caused by a super evil secret elite? In the face of climate change and lack of precipitation in many place worldwide, the "chemtrail" theory has been relaunched with a new argument..
Are airplanes causing droughts? Some conspiracy theorist say that it doesn't rain because airplanes prevent rain and cause drought, and that's evident in the sky full of contrails. Again the question arises: Why would anyone do such a thing?
Conspiracy theories are constantly being adapted In reality, the chemtrails theory, like all conspiracy theories, is constantly updated depending on the current situation.
It all started in the 1990s over vaccines It all started in the 1990s with fears of mass obfuscations, morphed into anti-vaccination discourse (yes, some believed those clouds would be an attempt to vaccinate us from the air).
Is someone manipulating the weather from above? Now there are people who claim the traces left from airplanes in the skies are evidence that someone is manipulating the weather.
A simple explanation The explanation for the contrails we see in the sky is simple, and scientists keep repeating it: it's vapor emitted by commercial airliners (or other aircraft) that condenses and turns into ice crystals that hang in the sky hover. So it's not a mystery.
A pandora's box of weird ideas Starting from this premise, a wide range of beliefs opens up with different hypotheses between the mystical, the apocalyptic and the absurd.
The origin: real experiments But like all fears, the chemtrails theory has some reality in its origin. In fact, in the 20th century there were experiments in which the population was sprayed with potentially toxic elements.
Great Britain: 1950s According to 'The Independent', citing a government report, there were army tests between 1955 and 1963 in which zinc cadmium sulphide was dropped on the south and west coasts of Great Britain.
San Francisco: 1950s Another experiment conducted in San Francisco in 1950 is also widely cited. As reported in an article in Smithsonian Magazine, a Navy ship "airsprayed (the bacterium) Serratia marcescens for six days about two miles off the northern California coast." The spread of the bacterium was then analyzed to see what a biological attack would look like.
Two precedents that mean nothing Experiments like this fuel conspiracy fantasies, but the reality is that if someone was doing something in our skies surely they would try not to draw so much attention to their actions, right?
Offensive against science In reality, almost all conspiracy theories aim to challenge scientific discourse. Science, according to conspiracy theorists, is an artificial narrative full of lies constructed by the big corporations or secret societies that rule the world.
The flat earth and other new religions Belief in chemtrails has a lot to do with religion, as does the belief in a flat Earth and other theories. One can only arrive at these convictions by crossing the line of the established. Only the initiated understand the meaning of certain lines in the sky.
How relevant is it that there are people who believe in chemtrails? Debunking these conspiracy theories and misinformation is important: spreading them helps spread messages of hate and fear that are harmful to society.
Reptilian Theory and Anti-Semitism Evidence of this is that an eccentric and seemingly "innocent" theory like the reptilian theory (which posits that an extraterrestrial race lives among us as humans) in some cases has been shown to conceal anti-Semitic utterances.
Sometimes it's celebrities who spread these theories And then there is the propensity of certain celebrities to be gullible and to propagate theories like chemtrails. Here's Kylie Jenner's conspiracy tweet from 2015.
They're not toxic, but so many planes aren't good The answer is that these contrails are not a toxic product, but according to the European Commission, air traffic is responsible for 13.9% of environmentally harmful CO2 emissions. Therefore, for the good of mankind, these trails that we see should disappear as much as possible.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has announced a new record set by the Psyche mission. It successfully sent a laser signal to Earth from a distance of 350 million kilometers. That’s more than the distance between our planet and Mars.
Infrared photograph showing the moment when Table Mountain Observatory transmits a laser signal to the Psyche spacecraft. Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The Psyche mission was launched in 2023 with the aim of studying Psyche, a 220-kilometer metal asteroid that, according to one hypothesis, may be a fragment of the core of a dead protoplanet. The spacecraft is scheduled to reach it in 2029.
In addition to studying the asteroid, Psyche also has the function of a “tester.” NASA specialists installed an experimental optical communication system on board. Its main advantage over traditional radio communication is its much higher (10 to 100 times) data transfer rate. Lasers can transmit complex scientific information, as well as high-definition images and videos. This is especially important for the next stage of space exploration, when humans will travel to the Moon and Mars and will need to quickly send large amounts of data back to Earth.
The first experiment took place on December 11, 2023, when Psyche was 31 million kilometers from Earth. The spacecraft sent a 15-second video of a cat to Earth (it was preloaded before launch). The data transfer rate was 267 Mbit/s. This is a couple of orders of magnitude faster than when using radio communication.
JPL specialists repeated the experiment several times in the future. As Psyche moved away from Earth, the data transfer rate gradually decreased (for example, when the spacecraft was 226 million km away, it was 25 Mbit/s), but it was still much faster than traditional radio communications. In addition, engineers tested another innovation in the form of duplicate data. The spacecraft successfully demonstrated that it can simultaneously use both radio and laser communication systems to communicate with Earth. The radio data was transmitted to NASA’s Deep Space Network, and the laser data was received by the Hale telescope at Palomar Observatory. The photons captured by it were then directed to a highly efficient detector array, where the information encoded in them was processed.
Almost two years after the start, JPL specialists conducted the 65th and final experiment. During the mission, Psyche once again broke the distance record by successfully sending a signal from a distance of 350 million km. This corresponds to the radius of the inner boundary of the asteroid belt.
According to scientists, the experiments successfully demonstrated the effectiveness of the technology. Data encoded by lasers can be reliably transmitted, received, and decoded after passing hundreds of millions of kilometers. In total, Psyche transmitted 13.6 terabits of data to Earth over the entire period. At the same time, the data transfer rate turned out to be even higher than expected. All this means that the technology has great prospects, especially when space agencies face the challenge of transmitting large amounts of high-resolution images and data from the Moon and Mars.
During the total lunar eclipse on September 7, 2025, astrophotographers Gerald Rhemann and Michael Jäger took unique photographs of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS. Their observations revealed a surprising fact: the comet that visited our Solar System glowed green. This discovery put scientists in front of a new exciting puzzle, because previous data on the chemical composition of this comet doesn’t explain this phenomenon.
Illustration of comet 3I/ATLAS with a green tail, generated by Copilot AI
For comets in our Solar System, green glow is a common phenomenon. It occurs when solar heat warms the comet, causing the ice to sublimate into gas and form an atmosphere (comet). Molecules in this gas, particularly dicarbon (C2), begin to glow under the influence of solar radiation, creating a characteristic green glow. However, this is not the case for the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS.
Original photo of 3I/ATLAS in green. Photo: Michael Jäger/Gerald Rhemann
Previous studies, including those conducted with JWST, have shown that this comet has a very unusual chemical composition. It was found to contain elevated levels of carbon dioxide, as well as traces of nickel and cyanogen (CN). However, no dicarbon (C2) molecules, which are traditionally responsible for the green color, were found. This has left scientists at a dead end.
The mystery becomes even more complicated when you consider the conclusions of astronomer Luis Salazar Manzano from the University of Michigan. His team finds that Comet 3I/ATLAS shows a lot of “carbon chain depletion” — meaning it has significantly fewer C2 and C3 molecules than any other comet we know of. The early detection of cyanogen only reinforces this strange chemical anomaly.
This means that either dicarbon is present but has not yet been detected due to unique conditions, or some other, as yet unknown molecule is responsible for the green glow. Both options make this interstellar traveler an extremely valuable object for study.
Scientists hope to find answers to these questions in the near future. According to forecasts, comet 3I/ATLAS will come closest to Earth in December 2025. This will provide astronomers with a unique opportunity to conduct a series of detailed observations and finally unravel the mystery of its green glow. Each such discovery expands our understanding of what celestial bodies far beyond our Solar System are made of and how they are formed.
Black Pyramid UFO Over Trenton, Texas Sept 9, 2025 Video, UAP Paranormal Sighting News.
Black Pyramid UFO Over Trenton, Texas Sept 9, 2025 Video, UAP Paranormal Sighting News.
Date of sighting: September 9, 2025
Location of sighting: Trenton, Texas, USA
This report just in at NUFORC. A black pyramid shaped UFO was seen moving across the sky in Texas this week. The UFO was silent and flying low at 30 meters from the ground. The object really appears to be rotation very slowly scaling the area around it...turning to get a better view of its surrounds. Texes is a UFO hotspot in the US and this sighting is defiantly a top ten in videos from the states. I wonder if it was heading to the Bush Ranch which is George W. Bush's House in Texas. In 2008, the "Stephenville UFO incident" involved dozens of people seeing a large, fast-moving object, which radar data suggested was heading south-southeast, or toward President George W. Bush's Crawford ranch. Was Bush an alien himself...getting visits from family and friends from distant worlds?
Scott C. Waring - UFO Sightings Daily
Source: NUFORC
Eyewitness states:
Lights on object It came over trees at approximately 100 feet. It looked like the entire edge of it was illuminated or like a pulsating light. It was still daylight so it was hard to tell. It was moving relatively slow at approximately 20-30 miles per hour. There was absolutely no sound coming from the object. It looked like it changed shapes.
White UFO Has Aura Around It, Hovers In Place 30 min! Arizona Sept 10, 2025, UAP Paranormal sighting News.
White UFO Has Aura Around It, Hovers In Place 30 min! Arizona Sept 10, 2025, UAP Paranormal sighting News.
Date of sighting: Sept 10, 2025
Location of sighting: Oak Creek Canyon, Arizona, USA
Source: NUFORC
This is amazing and it's similar to what I recorded in Utah last week and what was recorded in Idaho the same day. This UFO has a detail that is just 100% proof of it being alien tech...it has an aura around it. Area 51 scientist Bob Lazar once said UFOs have auras around them not to confuse photos and make them blurry, but because it's a byproduct of the UFOs propulsion system.
Scott C. Waring - UFO Sightings Daily
Eyewitness states:
I thought it was a child's balloon at first but the wind was blowing and this thing never moved. It looked like a white balloon at first. The wind was blowing and this object never moved. Duration lasted about 30 minutes.
Moon zig-zags in weird space eclipse! NASA blames a ‘glitch’ — Really?
Moon zig-zags in weird space eclipse! NASA blames a ‘glitch’ — Really?
Something strange just happened in orbit. On Sept. 21st, NOAA’s CCOR-1 coronagraph onboard the GOES-19 satellite recorded what appears to be the first natural solar eclipse ever observed from space.
In the clip, the Moon doesn’t glide smoothly across the Sun as expected — instead, it zig-zags in a bizarre path, almost as if something was tugging at it.
Coincidence? According to NASA: it could be linked to a “yaw flip maneuver” scheduled for the next day, but the timing has sparked questions.
Even weirder: during the eclipse, the Moon only covered the Sun’s bright disk, yet the entire glowing corona suddenly vanished and everything went just black.
But NASA explained it away as a “quirk of image processing,” where the software subtracted too much light and erased the corona. But for many skywatchers, it looks like more than just a computer glitch.
NASA, as always, gives an explanation that raises more questions than answers. The bizarre event suggests that something, whether natural or engineered, interfered.
Are they covering up the reality of what’s out there?
See the extraordinary event for yourself in the clip below:
For all Viktor Hovland's recent difficulties in predicting the outcomes to his shots, his partner on the course, Ludvig Aberg, has faced an identical battle in trying to second-guess the direction of their conversations. From aliens to philosophy, that can be a diverse road.
It remains to be seen if Luke Donald will follow conventional wisdom by pairing them here at Bethpage Black, reprising the relationship that pulled off a 9&7 foursomes mauling of Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka in Rome two years ago.
To that end, there has been a mild surprise in the fact they have not yet been grouped together in two practise sessions across Tuesday and Wednesday. Keeping them apart so far might be interpreted as an early sleight of hand by Donald, or even a breather for Aberg, who has supplied an insight into those wild chats with his Norwegian friend, one of the most eccentric characters in golf.
'We get along,' said Aberg on Wednesday. 'He's a funny guy to have funny conversations with. They can go in any direction that you don't really expect.
'He's always into sort of the UFO deals and all those things, so it's quite interesting. I'm not quite down that road just yet. If I hang out with him long enough, I might be. Again, you never really know where it's going to go, which is quite interesting.'
Hovland, whose most recent readings have included the works of Plato, spoke earlier this month about the challenges in his game. A fifth-placed finish at Wentworth on his last outing suggests the world No 12 is in good shape, but he admitted there that his 'soul' was aching over the frequency with which he was struggling to control his shots.
Luke Donald is mulling over whether to use Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg (pictured) as a pairing in the Ryder Cup
Aberg revealed his 2023 partner (pictured) has a love for UFOs and carries out some interesting conversations
Aberg added: 'We had a good time in Rome, and we've played multiple practice rounds since, and our caddies get along great, too. He's a good friend to have on Tour and in the team room here.'
The Swede was a breakthrough star in Rome, scoring two points from four just months after turning professional.
He said: 'I think the biggest thing that I take away from those couple days, and maybe especially that morning (against Scheffler and Koepka), was just the validation for myself, that I'm able to do that. Because obviously before I played in Rome, I hadn't even met those guys. I had never shaken their hands. I had never had a conversation with them.
'For me to get there and to bring out a result like that was a big deal for me personally, to know that I'm able to beat those guys at times. I had a really good partner that day, which always helps. But it was a cool experience and probably something that I won't forget.'
Now, researchers think this strange signal, dubbed GW190521, could have arrived from a parallel universe.
In a pre-print paper, a team led by Dr Qi Lai of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences argues that GW190521 could be an 'echo' of a wormhole collapsing.
Since the wormhole would only be open for a very short time, this would explain why GW190521 seems to cut off abruptly.
Although their modelling suggests this scenario isn't very likely, Dr Lai says evidence cannot rule out that the signal travelled to Earth from another universe.
Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences say that the strange signal might have travelled to Earth from another universe (stock image)
The signal, known as GW190521, was less than 10 milliseconds in length and lacked the normal rising signal associated with two black holes spiralling towards each other
The researchers modelled what this wormhole signal would look like (illustrated) and compared it to the real data from GW190521. They found that the data could not rule out a wormhole as the explanation
According to Einstein's theory of relativity, objects with mass stretch and pull the fabric of spacetime, like weights placed on the surface of a trampoline.
One important consequence of this is that collisions between very massive objects create ripples which spread throughout the fabric of reality over enormous distances.
That gives the signal produced by merging binary black holes a rising chirp-like pattern, which is a telltale sign of a black hole collision.
So far, scientists have used gravitational waves to detect about 300 collisions between binary black holes, each producing the same drawn-out chirp.
What makes GW190521 so unusual is that it is missing the rising part of the signal produced when the black holes spiral inwards.
Given that the resulting object was roughly 141 times the mass of the sun, scientists should have been able to detect this part of the signal if it occurred.
Currently, the best explanation for this unusual signal is a chance encounter between two black holes that smashed directly into one another without spiralling.
In 2019, scientists detected a burst of gravitational waves, ripples in spacetime usually caused by colliding black holes, that didn't match any other signal previously recorded. Pictured: artist's impression of two black holes colliding
If the collision between two black holes briefly created a wormhole, the echo of their collision would pass through the throat of the wormhole into our universe, where it would appear as a brief burst of gravitational waves
What are gravitational waves?
Gravitational waves are ripples in the fabric of space-time which are caused by the collision of massive, dense objects.
When objects like black holes or neutron stars violently accelerate in collisions, they squeeze and stretch the space in their path.
This creates waves which spread through spacetime at the speed of light over vast distances.
Scientists use very long laser beams to measure these very slight disturbances in the fabric of space.
However, Dr Lai says that a wormhole in another universe is also a plausible explanation.
In their paper, Dr Lai and his co-authors write: 'The wormhole represents such an object connecting either two separate universes or two distant regions in a single universe through a throat.'
If the merger of two black holes produced a short-lived wormhole like this, we might be able to hear a brief snippet of the chirp echoing into our own universe.
When the wormhole snaps shut, the signal would be cut off to leave a very brief burst of gravitational waves.
Dr Lai adds: 'The ringdown signal after BBHs (binary black holes) merged in another universe can pass through the throat of a wormhole and be detected in our universe as a short-duration echo pulse.'
Dr Lai and his colleagues created a mathematical model of what this wormhole signal would look like and compared it to the data from the real GW190521 signal captured by the LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave detectors.
The researchers also created a model for a sudden collision in our own universe and compared the results.
They found that the standard collision model did fit the data better, but only just.
Currently, the best explanation for GW190521 (illustrated) is that a chance encounter between two black holes that collided suddenly without spiralling around each other. But a wormhole is still a viable explanation
That means the wormhole model is still a viable explanation for the GW190521 collision.
In their paper, the researchers write that the preference for the standard collision was 'not significant enough to rule out the possibility that the echo-for-wormhole model is a viable hypothesis for the GW190521 event.'
If true, this would not only prove that wormholes exist but also give scientists a powerful new tool to study them.
That would allow scientists their first-ever glimpse into a universe beyond our own.
LIGO is made up of two observatories that detect gravitational waves by splitting a laser beam and sending it down several mile long tunnels before merging the light waves together again.
A passing gravitational wave changes the shape of space by a tiny amount, and the LIGO was built with the ability to measure a change in distance just one-ten-thousandth the width of a proton.
However, this sensitivity means any amount of noise, even people running at the site, or raindrops, can be detected.
The LIGO detectors are interferometers that shine a laser through a vacuum down two arms in the shape of an L that are each 2.5 miles (four kilometers) in length.
The light from the laser bounces back and forth between mirrors on each end of the L, and scientists measure the length of both arms using the light.
If there's a disturbance in space-time, such as a gravitational wave, the time the light takes to travel the distance will be slightly different in each arm making one arm look longer than the other.
LIGO (pictured) is made up of two observatories that detect gravitational waves by splitting a laser beam and sending it down several mile (kilometer) long tunnels before merging the light waves together again
Ligo scientists measure the interference in the two beams of light when they come back to meet, which reveals information on the space-time disturbance.
The ensure the results are accurate, LIGO uses two observatories, 1,870 miles (3,000 kilometers) apart, which operate synchronously, each double-checking the other's observations.
The noise at each detector should be completely uncorrelated, meaning a noise like a storm nearby one detector doesn't show up as noise in the other.
Some of the sources of 'noise' the team say they contend with include: 'a constant 'hiss' from photons arriving like raindrops at our light detectors; rumbles from seismic noise like earthquakes and the oceans pounding on the Earth's crust; strong winds shaking the buildings enough to affect our detectors.'
However, if a gravitational wave is found, it should create a similar signal in both instruments nearly simultaneously.
In a video by the Harte Research Institute in Texas, Director of Community Engagement Jace Tunnell revealed that the pink meanies haveflooded the Texas coast, searching for moon jellyfish to feed on.
Pink meanies, whose official scientific name is Drymonema larsoni, can weigh up to 50 pounds and have a collection of tentacles which grow to be 70 feet long.
Although Tunnell said they were first spotted in the Gulf around 25 years ago, their appearances on Texas beaches are pretty rare, and Tunnell added he had been looking for this species for nearly a year.
With their favorite food swimming into the warm waters of the Gulf this summer, sightings have spiked, with Tunnell noting he's discovered over 10 of these giant jellies in a just a 10-miles stretch of US beaches.
Others on social media added they've seen even more giant pink meanies in the ocean, including one man on Facebook claiming to see 30 to 40 a few hundred miles south of Galveston this month.
'When the moon jellies are there, these are eating on them and then once the moon jellies are gone, you're not going to find them anymore' Tunnell explained.
Pink meanies, also known as Drymonema larsoni, have been washing up on Texas beaches this month
Jace Tunnell of the Harte Research Institute in Texas (pictured) revealed that sightings of these jellyfish can be fairly rare
Catching these giant creatures in the wild can be an extremely hard task.
The marine expert from Corpus Christi explained that pink meanies die off quickly if their supply of moon jellyfish dwindles.
If the water gets too cold, that will also kill off pink meanies before they reach their full size in the wild.
Right now, the jellyfish predators are thriving in the warm ocean temperatures of late summer and early fall, especially in the Gulf, the Mediterranean, and along the coast of South Africa.
'I saw one of these for the 1st time while snorkeling this weekend!' another person on Facebook commented next to a picture of the giant pink jellyfish.
Underwater, these creatures can look like a huge pink cloud, with a long flowing mass of tentacles that extends for several yards.
When they wash up on shore, both large and small pink meanies look like a ball of jelly with a deep pink color making them easy to spot.
However, Tunnell warned viewers that this type of jellyfish is not edible and added that they do sting when touched.
Pink meanies can grow to weigh 50 pounds and have tentacles that reach 70 feet in length
This species of jellyfish only eat moon jellyfish. If moon jellyfish aren't around, pink meanies tend to die quickly
As the wildlife expert held a baby jellyfish in his hand, he admitted that his fingers were beginning to tingle, noting that the pain of the pink meanie's sting was about a 'two out of 10.'
Despite Tunnell's comments about the pain, others revealed that the stings of the pink meanie could be much worse than the expert felt.
'I got stung on my back it hurt pretty bad,' one woman posted on social media.
'I encountered one today at South Packery just free swimming. And they ARE mean, definitely pack a punch,' another person wrote.
Jace Tunnell revealed that the pink meanie (pictured) has a mild sting, but others claim the pain can be much worse
According to National Geographic, when scientists discovered that the pink meanies were a new species, they also concluded that Drymonema larsoni was unique enough to have its own biological family, known as Drymonematidae.
The jellyfish got its name from marine scientist Ron Larson, who conducted early research on the species.
However, its more popular nickname comes from its bright color and aggressive nature towards the common moon jellyfish.
If you happen to be stung by one of these creatures, Tunnell recommended pouring vinegar on the area.
This can help remove the tentacles from your skin and also cut down some of the stinging sensation the creature left behind.
NASA has revealed 10 new astronaut candidates, with one set to be the first to step on Mars.
The four men and six women make up NASA's 24th astronaut class – the space agency's first since 2021.
The recruits include scientists, fighter pilots, engineers, and even a former member of the USA Rugby Women's National Team.
These aspiring astronauts were chosen from over 8,000 candidates and will now be subject to two years of gruelling training.
Those who make it through the preparation phase will become eligible to take on missions for NASA's increasingly ambitious human spaceflight programme.
Although they will likely graduate too late to join NASA's first Artemis missions to the moon, they could be the first astronauts to serve on a commercial space station or become the first humans to set foot on the Red Planet.
Revealing the astronauts during a ceremony at NASA's Johnson Space Centre, NASA administrator Sean Duffy said: 'The 10 men and women sitting here today embody the truth that in America, regardless of where you start, there is no limit to what a determined dreamer can achieve – even going to space.
'Together, we'll unlock the Golden Age of exploration.'
NASA has revealed the 10 new astronauts who will make up its first new recruits since 2021, including some who may be the first people to set foot on Mars
The six women and four men were announced during an event at NASA's Johnson Space Centre
Ben Bailey
Like many astronauts, Ben Bailey, 38, is both a member of the military and an experienced pilot.
Mr Bailey is a chief warrant officer, a senior non–commissioned officer, in the US Army and an experienced test pilot with over 2,000 flight hours in 30 different aircraft.
Prior to joining NASA's astronaut programme, Mr Bailey was responsible for testing experimental technologies for Army helicopters such as the UH–60 Black Hawk and CH–47F Chinook.
Mr Bailey has also worked as a nuclear engineer, creating propulsion systems for aircraft carriers.
In addition to his military experience, Mr Bailey has a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Virginia.
Currently, he is completing a master's degree in systems engineering at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.
Mr Bailey was born in Charlottesville, Virginia and lives with his wife, Dylan Bailey.
Ben Bailey, 38, is a chief warrant officer, a senior non–commissioned officer, in the US Army and an experienced test pilot with over 2,000 flight hours in 30 different aircraft
Dr Lauren Edgar, 40, is a geologist who has spent 17 years supporting Mars exploration rovers as part of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory and even helped to train NASA's astronauts
NASA's 10 new astronauts
Ben Bailey, test pilot
Lauren Edgar, geologist
Adam Fuhrmann, test pilot
Cameron Jones, test pilot
Yuri Kubo, engineer
Rebecca Lawler, test pilot
Anna Menon, medical officer
Imelda Muller, undersea medical officer
Erin Overcash, test pilot
Katherine Spies, test pil
Dr Lauren Edgar
Dr Lauren Edgar, 40, is a geologist with almost two decades of experience in space exploration and scientific research.
She has spent 17 years supporting Mars exploration rovers as part of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory and even helped to train NASA's astronauts.
Prior to becoming an astronaut candidate, Dr Edgar was the deputy principal investigator for the Artemis III Geology Team and helped NASA prepare for its return to the moon.
Her extensive work on planetary exploration has earned her over a dozen awards and honours, including several NASA Group Achievement Awards.
Dr Edgar has earned a bachelor's degree in Earth sciences from Dartmouth College, as well as a master's degree and doctorate in geology from the California Institute of Technology.
She was born in Washington, D.C., but says she considers the city of Sammamish, Washington, to be her hometown.
Dr Edgar's interests outside of science include backpacking, running, yoga, kayaking, and outdoor activities with her dog.
Adam Fuhrmann is an engineer, experimental test pilot, and a Major in the US Air Force. He has 2,100 hours of flight time, including 400 hours combat – primarily in the F–16 and F–35 supersonic fighter jets.
Adam Fuhrmann
As an experimental test pilot and major in the US Air Force, Adam Fuhrmann, 35, has logged over 2,100 flight hours, including 400 hours of combat.
After graduating from MIT with a degree in aerospace engineering and political science, he joined the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School and earned his master's in flight test engineering.
While training to be a pilot, Mr Fuhrmann also completed a second master's degree in systems engineering at Purdue University.
He has experience flying 27 different types of aircraft, primarily the F–16 and F–35 supersonic fighter jets.
At the time of his selection, Mr Fuhrmann was serving as director of operations for a flight test unit and had recently completed a test assignment at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
Mr Fuhrmann comes from Leesburg, Virginia, and lives with his wife, Shauna Fuhrmann, a U.S. Army veteran and small animal veterinarian, and their three children.
He enjoys camping, hiking, skiing, hunting, leatherworking, and classic car restoration.
Cameron Jones
Cameron Jones, 35, is an Air Force Academic Fellow at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and former experimental test pilot for the US Air Force
Do you have what it takes to be an astronaut?
US citizenship required
Frequent travel will be required
Must complete a financial disclosure statement
Must meet all qualification/education and experience requirements by the closing date of the announcement
Applicants may only select one discipline group to apply under
Selectees will be designated Astronaut Candidates and will undergo a training and evaluation period lasting approximately two years
Applicants must submit all STEM related transcripts
Cameron Jones, 35, is also an experimental test pilot with the US Air Force with experience in more than 30 different aircraft.
After graduating with a master's degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Mr Jones earned a master's degree in flight test engineering from the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base.
Following his graduation, Mr Jones held a number of roles in the US Air Force, including director of operations for a test flight squadron at Edwards Air Force Base.
Mr Jones has over 1,600 flight hours, including 300 hours of test flights and 150 combat hours – mainly spent flying the F–22 Raptor.
At the time of his selection, Mr Jones was an Air Force Academic Fellow at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
Born in Iowa, Jones considers Savanna, Illinois, to be his hometown.
He is married to Cristi Jones, and they are parents of one daughter.
In his spare time, Jones enjoys spending time with his family and dog, hiking, camping, and rafting.
Yuri Kubo, 40, is an engineer who spent over a decade overseeing commercial rocket launches for SpaceX. Mr Kubo also played professional Ultimate Frisbee for the Indianapolis AlleyCats
Yuri Kubo
Yuri Kubo, 40, is an electrical and computer engineer who has spent more than a decade working on commercial rocket launches.
Early in his career, Mr Kubo interned at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, supporting the Orion spacecraft, the International Space Station in mission control, and the Space Shuttle Program.
After graduating with a master's degree in electrical and computer engineering from Purdue University, Mr Kubo joined Elon Musk's SpaceX.
During his 12 years with the company, Mr Kubo was responsible for helping design the launch site for the Falcon 9 rockets used to take astronauts to the ISS.
He also worked as the launch director for the Falcon 9 launches at Vandenberg Space Force Base.
Mr Kubo would go on to become director of avionics for the Starshield program, a secure satellite network used by government entities for national security purposes.
At the time of selection, he was the senior vice president of Engineering at Electric Hydrogen, a company that designs and manufactures electrolysers.
The ten astronauts will now undergo two years of rigorous training to become eligible for human spaceflight missions. Some may be included in NASA's lunar or Mars missions in the future
NASA's plans for Mars
NASA's latest 'Mars Future Plan' identifies three goals for Martian exploration.
Those are: to explore the potential for Martian life, to study Mars as a dynamic planetary system, and to support the human exploration of Mars.
NASA has targeted putting a human on Mars by 2030 at the latest, meaning this latest astronaut class would graduate at just the right time.
The plan would be to send humans on a scientific round trip to the Red Planet.
The journey would last six to seven months each way, and the astronauts may need to spend up to 500 days on the planet's surface.
Outside of his work, Mr Kubo also played professional Ultimate Frisbee for the Indianapolis AlleyCats.
He is married with two children and enjoys sports, outdoor activities of all kinds, and playing piano.
Rebecca 'Becky' Lawler
Becky Lawler, 38, is a former lieutenant commander in the US Navy and an experienced experimental test pilot.
Ms Lawler earned her bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy, followed by a master's degree in space systems engineering from Johns Hopkins University.
During that time, Ms Lawler also graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland.
Ms Lawler served in the US Navy for 11 years as a pilot flying the P–3C Orion anti–submarine and surveillance aircraft, accumulating over 300 hours of combat time.
In 2020, she transferred to join the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as a hurricane hunter and test pilot.
Rebecca 'Becky' Lawler, 38, worked as a hurricane hunter and test pilot for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In two years, Ms Lawler flew aircraft into the eyewalls of 32 hurricanes and 11 tropical storms to gather scientific data
In two years, Ms Lawler flew aircraft into the eyewalls of 32 hurricanes and 11 tropical storms to gather scientific data.
Overall, she has logged 2,800 hours in over 45 different aircraft across the military, general, and commercial aviation domains.
At the time of her selection, Ms Lawler was a test pilot with United Airlines, where she flew the Boeing 737 and 787 and the Airbus A320 series.
She comes from Little Elm, Texas, is married with one child and enjoys running, painting, reading, and spending time with her family.
During the mission, Ms Menon and her crewmates broke the record for the highest altitude above Earth reached by humans at a distance of 875 miles (1,408 kilometres).
Anna Mennon, 39, is the only member of NASA's latest astronaut cohort who has already flown to space. In 2024, Ms Menon served as a mission specialist and medical officer aboard SpaceX's Polaris Dawn – the first ever commercial spacewalk
Before working for SpaceX, Ms Mennon earned a dual–major bachelor's degree in mathematics and Spanish from Texas Christian University and a master's degree in biomedical engineering from Duke University.
She then became a biomedical flight controller in Mission Control at NASA Johnson, helping to keep NASA astronauts safe aboard the ISS.
At SpaceX, she worked for seven years, shaping crew operations for the Dragon and Starship spacecraft used in NASA operations.
She also worked in SpaceX mission control as a mission director and crew communicator, serving in these roles for the agency's historic SpaceX Demo–2 mission and six other SpaceX Dragon flights.
Ms Menon is married to NASA astronaut Anil Menon, and the couple has two children.
Dr Imelda Muller
Dr Muller, 34, is a former lieutenant in the US Navy, where she served as an undersea medical officer.
Dr Muller served as deputy Medical Department head and chair of the Institutional Review Board, overseeing protections for human subjects involved in high–risk diving and hyperbaric research.
Dr Imelda Muller, 34, was a undersea medical officer with the US Navy, responsible for testing decompression safety and psychological resilience for saturation divers
NASA's Artemis Mission Timeline
Artemis I
Uncrewed lunar flight test
Launched November, 2022
Artemis II
Crewed Lunar Flyby
Launch planned for April, 2026
Artemis III
Crewed Surface Landing
Launch planned for mid-2027
Artemis IV
Building First Lunar Space Station
Launch targeting September 2028
In that role, she supported testing focusing on decompression safety, medical support, and psychological resilience for saturation divers – who are often used as analogues for astronauts.
During that time, Dr Muller also competed as an elite triathlete on the U.S. Military Endurance Sports team and was a member of the All–Navy Triathlon team in 2022.
Prior to her role in the Navy, Dr Muller earned a bachelor's degree in behavioural neuroscience from Northeastern University and a medical degree from the University of Vermont College of Medicine.
At the time of her selection, Muller was completing a residency in anaesthesia at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore.
Dr Muller was born in Mineola, New York, but she considers the rural area of Copake Falls, New York, her hometown.
Erin 'LOFT' Overcash
Ms Overcash, 34, is both an experienced pilot and a world–class rugby player with the US National team.
After earning a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Colorado, Boulder and a master's degree in bioastronautics from the University of Colorado, Ms Overcash joined the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School.
Erin 'LOFT' Overcash, 34, is an experimental test pilot with 1,300 flight hours in 20 different aircraft, including 249 carrier arrested landings. She is also a former member of the USA Rugby Women's National Team
Ms Overcash was deployed multiple times in the Pacific and Middle East and has logged more than 1,300 flight hours in 20 different aircraft, including 249 carrier arrested landings.
Earlier in her career, she was also a member of the U.S. Navy's World Class Athlete Program, living and training full–time at the Olympic Training Center with the USA Rugby Women's National Team.
Ms Overcash earned three Caps with the US national team and is also an Ironman Triathlete.
At the time of her selection, she was training for an operational tour as an F/A–18E department head at Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia.
Ms Overcash comes from Goshen, Kentucky, is married to another naval aviator and enjoys reading, adventure motorcycling, and challenging workouts.
Katherine Spies
Ms Spies, 43, is an AH–1 attack helicopter pilot and Marine Corps test pilot, with over 2,000 hours of flight time.
A native of San Diego, California, Ms Spies earned a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Southern California before graduating from the United States Naval Test Pilot School.
Katherine Spies, 43, is an AH–1 attack helicopter pilot and Marine Corps test pilot, with over 2,000 hours of flight time. She also worked for Amazon Prime Air to develop autonomous drone systems
She then went on to earn a master's degree in design engineering from Harvard University.
While serving in the US Marine Corps, Ms Spies was promoted to Captain and logged more than 300 hours of combat time.
Following her active military service, Spies joined Amazon Prime Air as a developmental flight test and engineering leader, helping to create autonomous drone systems.
At the time of her selection, she worked with Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation as the director of flight test engineering.
Outside her work as a pilot, Ms Spies is an avid skier and worked as an alpine ski instructor in Utah.
How does Katy Perry stack up against the astronauts?
Her 'mission' was met by immediate backlash as fans claimed that the crew didn't have the right to call themselves astronauts. But would Katy Perry be qualified to join a NASA astronaut class?
On April 14, 2025, Katy Perry flew to the edge of space aboard a Blue Origin New Shepard rocket
NASA has strict requirements for its astronauts and, unfortunately for the pop star, Katy Perry wouldn't meet many of them.
Education: A master's degree in a STEM field, including engineering, biological science, physical science, computer science or mathematics, from an accredited institution.
Katy Perry does not have any academic qualifications as she dropped out of school to pursue her music career, and later earned a General Educational Development diploma.
Experience: Two years of related professional experience or 1,000 hours of command time on a jet aircraft.
Katy Perry doesn't have any relevant experience or a pilot's licence.
Other qualifications: Astronauts can also be eligible if they are part of a test pilot programme, a medical doctor, or have two years of work towards a PhD.
Katy Perry does not have any of these qualifications.
Height: Must be between 62 and 75 inches tall.
At 67 inches tall, Katy Perry is the right height to be an astronaut.
Purple UFO over Beirut, Lebanon 🇱🇧 Sept 10, 2025 UAP Alien Sighting News 👽 What’s your thoughts?
Purple UFO over Beirut, Lebanon 🇱🇧 Sept 10, 2025 UAP Alien Sighting News 👽 What’s your thoughts
Date of sighting: Sept 10, 2025
Location of sighting: Beirut, Beirut Governorate, Lebanon...Nord Lebanon, Bchaaleh Village
Source: NUFORC website
Hey this is fantastic! What looks like a sphere is actually light around a square craft. What a catch! I only see UFO reports from Lebanon once every few years and this one is so close, but he said he saw others too. This purplish pink sphere was seen just last week but we just got the report today. UFOs love something most the public don't know...a focused human mind...a disciplined mind that can focus and send thoughts outward...like a laser beam to find its destination. We all can do it, but few in this lifetime will ever learn due to fear of ridicule. I do it and it works, this person believes it was his prayers calling to them...and I believe him. Prayers, meditation and summoning are so similar that they all can summon UFOs. I have practiced summoning for years and yes it works and sometimes it doesn't due to my mind thinking about other problems in back of my mind...daily life stuff. The UFO wants to be seen, to be understood and to say "we too have peace and love in our hearts and minds."
Scott C. Waring
Caracteristiques
Shape: Orb
Color: Blue/white/orange
Estimated Size: Varied star like dot to bright aspirin sized orbs Viewed From: Land
Direction from Viewer: 300 NW to 330 NW of my location (is the most intense corridor)
Angle of Elevation: 60
Closest Distance: Impossible to estimate varied from overhead to far Estimated Speed: Varied slow drift to rapid zigzags leaf like dorps Characteristics: Aura or haze around object, Changed Color, Aircraft nearby Clusters of luminous orbs observed nightly in NW sky over Lebanon showing intelligent flight formation changes & sudden disappearances
Title: Continuous Orb Phenomena in Lebanon (July 2024 – September 2025)
Nightly observations from July 2024 to present (ongoing). The intensity has increased significantly. Groups of 5–7 orbs appear together, moving in different directions, brightening, fading, and reappearing. On some nights, the sky feels like a crescendo of light phenomena, with activity happening every few seconds. Since the beginning of my observations, I have gathered at least ten different witnesses who have seen these orbs with me on multiple occasions. Most of them are religious and skeptics, yet they are now openly questioning what is happening after seeing the phenomena firsthand.
Two UFOs Seen Turning, Then Entering Ocean Off Rhode Island, New York Sept 22, 2025, Photos, UFO UAP Sighting News.
Two UFOs Seen Turning, Then Entering Ocean Off Rhode Island, New York Sept 22, 2025, Photos, UFO UAP Sighting News.
Date of sighting: Sept 22, 2025
Location of sighting: Rhode Island, New York, USA
Source: Facebook user Fancy_Assignment1626
Hey check this out. A persons grandmother was watching outside her home in Rhode Island an took this close up photo of not one, but two UFOs heading into the ocean to enter an underwater alien base off New York. Look at the tail of the UFOs...it goes back, but then turns...a 45 degree turn! Meteors, Venus and other excuses can make such maneuvers. But UFOs can. Also each is flying side by side...that means this is two alien military craft or one ET military and one craft escorting some alien of high importance to Earth. Like a fighter jet escorting Air Force One to its location. This is big! Just look at the ships, they are using a shield to protect themselves...causing a fake meteor burning around the outer parts, but we can see its clearly two long oval craft in its centers. This is 100% proof that aliens live off Rhode Island below the ocean floor.
Scott C. Waring - UFO Sightings Daily
Eyewitness states:
Grandmother snapped this photo nearby a Navy vase in Rhode Island. She said they were two balls of light that fell into the ocean.
Very strange looking craft found on Google Earth Map, UAP UFO sighting news 📰 What are we looking at?
Very strange looking craft found on Google Earth Map, UAP UFO sighting news 📰 What are we looking at?
Date of discovery: Sept 2025
Location of discovery: Russia (republic of Dagestan)
Coordinates: 41°56'25"N 48°22'45"E
Now this is just mind blowing stuff. This strange aircraft or spaceship is parked along the Caspian Sea and it's like nothing I have ever seen. It's some kind of strange, futuristic spaceship from another planet. It's just crazy! I have to admit, this is a great place for a Russian secret military base to test alien technology, but then I wonder...could this actually belong to aliens who were given an area to live underground in a base and this craft...is their ship? It really makes me wonder.
UFO making cloud to hide in Bountiful, Utah Sept 19, 2025 UAP sighting news 👽 aliens are watching.
UFO making cloud to hide in Bountiful, Utah Sept 19, 2025 UAP sighting news 👽 aliens are watching.
Date of sighting: Sept 2025
Location of sighting: Bountiful, Utah, USA
Hey all, I recorded this myself over my city from my back yard. I meditate and they come daily. So I post them on my account and share they with others. Why would aliens make clouds around their UFOs? They just don't want to terrify the humans below. Sure you are fine with seeing a real UFO, but you don't speak for everyone on Earth. Most people would be blown away and frightened to a level of that of seeing a ghost. Sure people play it cool and say nah...it wouldn't frighten me...but then the day comes and it does. So they hide. Maybe not from me, but from the people in the area where I live.
Underwater alien civilization found in Massachusetts, USA UFO UAP sighting news
Underwater alien civilization found in Massachusetts, USA UFO UAP sighting news
Date of discovery: Sept 2025
Location of discovery: Ocean floor
Coordinates: 42°36'21.2"N, 70°36'25.1"W
Hey I found this underwater city, made with domes one after the other. They are perfectly lined up, impossible for nature to imitate such things. This is absolute proof that aliens not only live on our planet, but...they have cities under the ocean right off the coastlines.
China fires missile at unknown object – What exactly was hit?
China fires missile at unknown object – What exactly was hit?
A fiery explosion lit up the skies over China on September 12, around 9 p.m. local time, near the cities of Weifang and Rizhao fueling wild speculation that the military may have just shot down an unidentified flying object.
Residents in Shandong Province captured videos of a strange, slow moving object flying unusually close to the ground before it suddenly disintegrated in a blinding flash and plummeted to Earth. Moments before the impact, a red fireball looking very much like a surface to air missile was seen streaking toward the object, followed by two thunderous explosions that shook the region.
So far, no official statement has been released by the Chinese government or military. But the timing is suspicious: the blast happened during live fire military exercises in the nearby Bohai Sea, where China had already announced tests involving advanced weaponry.
Although it is suggested that the missile struck a drone or mock target during the drill, the timing, coming just after revelations that a U.S. Hellfire missile bounced off a mysterious object, has many questioning if this was another direct clash with something far beyond routine military exercises.
Glowing UFO Over Helper, Utah On Sept 9, 2025, UAP Alien Sighting News. Video.
Glowing UFO Over Helper, Utah On Sept 9, 2025, UAP Alien Sighting News. Video.
Notice the orb above coming out of the UFO?
Date of sighting: Sept 9, 2025
Location of sighting: Helper, Utah, USA
Source: NUFORC
Now this is an orb maker. Thats a larger orb UFO that creates smaller ones. If you watch carefully you will see smaller orbs shooting past every now and then and even a few very close to the UFO. The smaller craft are ai living drones that record data to be retrieved later.
Amazing catch and it's only an hour away from where I live.
Scott C. Waring - UFO Sightings Daily
Shape: Teardrop Color: White-blue-cyan Estimated Size: 30-45ft in diameter Viewed From: Land Direction from Viewer: We were facing south and the object first appeared SSE and continued towards NE. Angle of Elevation: 40 Closest Distance: 800Yds Estimated Speed: 80-100mph Characteristics: Lights on object, Changed Color, Electrical or magnetic effects
Eyewitness states:
Strange silent high altitude craft My wife and I were watching the clouds and sitting outside talking and eating watermelon and we are used to seeing airplanes and helicopters coming from the nearby airport or coastal airliners. This one was completely silent, no blinking lighs, no wings and moved slowly. I'd say the speed was approximately 80-120mph then dissapeared. It moved straight across at first then veered at a 75° angle westward. It was maneuvering in a sinewave pattern. I will have to review the video footage to see if it was going behind the clouds or was turning the craft lights off and on.
This was not ball lightning, a drone, a satellite, plane, helo, or anything else that is natural or (as far as we know) man-made. The shape of the craft at first I thought was an orb but it seems to be a conical structure. It looked very similar to a very bright craft we saw driving some trails this past Sunday during daylight hours between 18:30 and 19:00. I started feeling the hair on my arms stand up like an electrostatic effect and my wife felt like she had to pretend not to see it. ( strange ) I recorded a video on my phone as soon as I could. This is the third sighting I have noticed since living here in Helper, UT.
Wat als het geen buitenaardse wezens zijn? Wat anders erachter het UFO-mysterie kan zitten
Wat als het geen buitenaardse wezens zijn? Wat anders erachter het UFO-mysterie kan zitten
Wanneer mensen spreken over UFO’s, denken velen onmiddellijk aan buitenaardse bezoekers uit verre melkwegstelsels. De beelden van schijnbaar onverklaarbare lichtbollen, snelle figuren die door de lucht schieten of ongewone vormelijke forenzen aan de horizon blijven hangen, roepen een verhaal op waarin het onbekende buitengewoon fascinerend lijkt. Toch is het de moeite waard om het verhaal vanuit meerdere hoeken te bekijken. Wat als de ware verklaring voor veel waarnemingen niet buitenaards is, maar voortkomt uit menselijke technologie, natuurlijke verschijnselen, psychologische processen of gewoon misinterpretatie? Dit artikel onderzoekt verschillende mogelijke alternatieve verklaringen achter het UFO-mysterie en laat zien waarom sommige waarnemingen uiteindelijk niet hoeven te leiden tot de conclusie van buitenissige visitaties.
1. Misidentificaties en perceptuele fouten
Een van de grootste factoren achter de UFO-waarnemingen is simpelweg menselijke misidentificatie. Onze zintuigen zijn niet feilloos, vooral wanneer we onder druk staan, in het donker kijken of een snelle beweging proberen te volgen. Een door de zon verlicht uitziende satelliet kan bijvoorbeeld worden gezien als een vreemd object, net als een verlichte drone die onverwacht reflecteert in het glas van een ruit of het geblauwde spoor van een vliegtuig met contrail. In drukke luchtruimten kunnen weersomstandigheden zoals wolkenranden, silhouetten van bomen of gebouwen en de combinatie van snelle bewegingen met beperkte referentiepunten leiden tot interpretatiefouten. Het is ook belangrijk te erkennen dat mensen vaak op zoek gaan naar patronen en betekenis, zelfs als die er niet is. In de psychologische literatuur wordt dit fenomeen wel aangeduid als pareidolie: het herkennen van bekende vormen in dat wat ogenschijnlijk willekeurig is.
2. Natuurlijke verschijnselen die onverklaarbaar mooi lijken
De geschiedenis laat zien dat veel UFO’s uiteindelijk worden herkend als natuurlijke fenomenen wanneer men uitgebreid onderzoekt. Zeldzame atmosferische optische verschijnselen zoals pilaren van licht, opraamlucht, halo-boogvorming, fogs of iriserende parels kunnen op een verkeerde manier worden geïnterpreteerd als vreemde objecten. Ook lenticolored refractions door ijskristallen kunnen vreemd aanvoelen wanneer ze op onverwachte manieren bewegen of veranderen van helderheid. Comotie rondom lentikulair wolkenvormen of brokstukken van brandend meteoren die kortstondig zichtbaar zijn, kunnen lijken op vliegende schotels of onbekende luchtvaartuigen, terwijl ze simpelweg natuurlijke fenomenen zijn.
3. Menselijke technologie en geheime projecten
Een plausibele en vaak onderschatte verklaring is dat sommige UFO-waarnemingen het gevolg zijn van geheime militaire of ruimtevaartprojecten. Drones, testballonnen, experimentele vliegtuigen, en zelfs satelliettechnologie die nog niet openbaar bekend is, kunnen objecten creëren die door burgers als onverklaarbaar worden ervaren. In de Koude Oorlog-tijd waren er tal van beschuldigingen en geruchten over obscure vliegtuigen die later als prototypes of afgeschermde projecten werden bevestigd. Zelfs vandaag kunnen stealth-technologie en hypersonische programma’s aan de basis liggen van waarnemingen die later “onverklaard” lijken totdat meer officiële informatie beschikbaar komt. Het feit dat sommige regeringen bewust informatie beheren en beperken kan bijdragen aan het mysteriegevoel: het ontbreken van transparantie voedt speculatie.
4. Satellieten, ruimteafval en technologische pareidolie
In een tijdperk waarin ruimtevaart en satellietcommunicatie wijdverspreid zijn, is het logisch dat veel UFO-waarnemingen te maken hebben met ruimteafval en satellieten die op verschillende manieren reflecteren. Een maanverlichte satelliet die voorbij schiet kan in een oogopslag frenetic lijken en verschillende vormen aannemen afhankelijk van hoeken en luchtdichtheid. Veranderende invallingshoek van zonlicht kan ook leiden tot abrupte helderheidsveranderingen en bewegingen die als onregelmatig of zelfs buitenaards lijken. Daarnaast kan de aanwezigheid van luchtvaartjes en draden die in het zicht komen bij snelle transits van vliegtuigen bijdragen aan het beeld van een onverklaard object.
5. Dak- en hemelprocedures:
hoaxes, misleiding en sociale media De hedendaagse digitale cultuur heeft het makkelijker gemaakt om misleiding te verspreiden. Hoax-video’s en misleidende beelden kunnen door sociale media snel viral gaan, waardoor mensen denken dat ze een werkelijk niet-herleidbaar fenomeen hebben gezien. In sommige gevallen zijn de personen die de video’s produceren bewuste grappenmakers; in andere gevallen ontstaan misinterpretaties en delen mensen de clip zonder volledig begrip van wat de camera heeft vastgelegd. Sociale druk en de wens om een “grandioze ontdekking” te doen kunnen ook leiden tot overdreven of geneutraliseerde beschrijvingen van schijnbaar onverklaarbare verschijnselen.
6. Cognitieve biases en journalistieke misvattingen
Onze interpretatie van wat we zien is ook gekleurd door bekende biases. Confirmation bias – de neiging om informatie te zoeken die onze bestaande overtuigingen bevestigt – speelt een grote rol. Als iemand gelooft dat er buitenaards leven bestaat, zullen waarnemingen die in de buurt komen van zo’n idee sneller als bewijs gezien worden. Evenredige reflectie van onzekerheid in rapportages is cruciaal, omdat sommige getuigen niet de volledige context kunnen geven: waar precies zagen ze het object, hoelang duurde de waarneming, welke referentiepunten waren er en welke andere elementen speelden een rol in de waarneming? Teleurstelling of angst kan ook de verslaggeving beïnvloeden; mensen proberen vaak een verhaal te construeren uit fragmenten van informatie die ze waarnemen.
7. Alternatieve perspectieven vanuit de wetenschap
Er is een dagelijkse realiteit waar wetenschap en technologische vooruitgang een grote rol spelen in wat we als “niet-verklaard” beschouwen. In de astronomie en meteorologie zijn er natuurkundig uitlegbare fenomenen die onder bepaalde omstandigheden op “onverklaarmakend” lijken. Een voorbeeld zijn het覰 tori van plasma of luminiscentie die door stralingsvelden in de atmosfeer kunnen worden gevormd, of de manier waarop bliksem of andere elektrische fenomenen het vlak van de hemel beïnvloeden. Onderzoekers kunnen theoretische modellen ontwikkelen die deze verschijnselen voorspellen, waardoor de behoefte aan extraterrestrische verklaringen afneemt. Een open houding ten aanzien van de wetenschap is essentieel; sommige nep-waarheden ontstaan wanneer mensen vasthouden aan het idee van het onbekende zonder de mogelijkheid van een natuurlijke verklaring te overwegen.
8. De sociologie van het UFO-mysterie
Naast individuele waarnemingen heeft het UFO-mysterie ook een rijke sociologische kant. Het blijft een cultureel fenomeen omdat mensen er betekenis aan ontlenen: het idee van het onbekende dat mogelijk de menselijke achterdeur van kennis opent. Verhalen over buitenaards contact zijn vaak geladen met thema’s zoals ethiek, macht, technologie, oordeelsvermogen en de angst voor vernietiging of verlies. Het vertellen van dit soort verhalen fungeert soms als een manier om onzekerheid te beheersen of gemeenschapsgevoel te versterken. In deze zin is het niet slechts een wetenschappelijke puzzel maar ook een sociaal en psychologisch fenomeen.
9. Wat betekent dit voor waarheidsvinding en beleid?
Het onderzoeken van UFO’s vereist een zorgvuldige afweging van al deze mogelijkheden. Voor onderzoekers betekent dit een systematische aanpak: het verzamelen van getuigenissen met specifieke vragen, het verifiëren van beelden via fotometrie en bewegingsanalyse, en het uitsluiten van vaak voorkomende misinterpretaties door onafhankelijke peer review en replicatie. Voor beleidsmakers en defensie kan het betekenen dat transparantie en duidelijke communicatie met het publiek cruciaal zijn om angst en speculatie te verminderen. Het stimuleren van samenwerking met civiele onderzoekers en academische instellingen kan bijdragen aan een genuanceerd begrip van het luchtruim en de factoren die waarnemingen beïnvloeden.
10. Welke lessen kunnen leken trekken?
- Waarnemingen zijn zelden “simpel”: de context is cruciaal. Vraag naar tijd, locatie, hoogte, richting en beweging.
- Vergelijk wat je zag met bekende fenomenen. Vaak zijn er natuurlijke of menselijke verklaringen die niet meteen voor de hand liggen.
- Wees kritisch ten aanzien van beelden en bronnen. Een clip kan zonder geluid of met beperkte metadata misleidend zijn.
- Durf twijfel te benoemen. Een open houding ten opzichte van alternatieve verklaringen versterkt de geloofwaardigheid en bevordert een betere begrip.
Een evenwichtige conclusie
Het UFO-mysterie is geen eenduidig vraagstuk met één vaste oplossing. Het is eerder een kruispunt van verschillende mogelijke verklaringen: van misidentificaties en natuurlijke verschijnselen tot geheime technologische projecten en psychologische processen die de interpretatie kleuren. Dit maakt het onderzoek zowel complex als waardevol. Door een brede blik te hanteren en telkens de basale wetenschappelijke methode toe te passen, kan men gerichter nagaan welke factoren het meest plausibel zijn voor een bepaalde waarneming. In sommige gevallen zal de ware oorzaak gemakkelijk herkenbaar zijn als een bekend verschijnsel; in andere gevallen zal het mysterie onverminderd bestaan. Wat zeker is, is dat het vertellen van een verhaal zonder voorzichtigheid en zonder bewijs niet dezelfde waarde heeft als een zorgvuldig, gelaagd onderzoek.
Een van de meest aansprekende aspecten van dit onderwerp is hoe menselijke perceptie en mentale bias een rol spelen. Een ooggetuige kan een lichte beweging, een vertekende interpretatie door beperkte omstandigheden, of een toevallige combinatie van factoren beschrijven als iets buitengewoons. De kracht van het verhaal ligt dan niet in de objectieve waarheid van de waarneming, maar in de manier waarop herinnering en verbeelding erbij betrokken raken. Daarom is het cruciaal om de context van elke melding te scheiden van de interpretatie die erdoor wordt gevormd. Analyse van verlichting, wegligging, weersomstandigheden, hemellichamen en satellietposities kan tal van misverstanden afvlechten. Een zorgvuldige verslaglegging vereist dan ook concrete data: tijd, locatie, classificatie van objecten, helderheid, hoogte en snelheid. Zonder zulke details blijft een waarneming vatbaar voor akoestische of visuele ruis en kan elk verhaal uiteen vallen in uiteenlopende, soms tegenstrijdige reconstructies.
Daarnaast kan men niet voorbijgaan aan het belang van transparantie en replicatie in elk onderzoek. Wanneer onderzoekers waarnemingen op de kaart zetten, moeten ze niet alleen hun conclusie tonen, maar ook de route ernaartoe: welke alternatieve verklaringen zijn overwogen, welke data zijn uitgesloten, en welke methodes zijn toegepast om tot de eindconclusie te komen. Het is pas wanneer bevindingen herhaalbaar en onafhankelijk toetsbaar zijn, dat het gewicht van een verklaring toeneemt. Dit is een van de hoekstenen van wetenschap: dat elke claim onderworpen kan worden aan toetsing door anderen, die dezelfde of vergelijkbare data onder hetzelfde requirese proces onderzoeken.
Tot op zekere hoogte dragen publieke belangstelling en media-aandacht bij aan het debat door nieuwsgierigheid te stimuleren en expertise uit verschillende disciplines te verbinden: astronomie, atmospherische wetenschap, ruimtevaarttechniek, statistiek en cognitieve psychologie. Een interdisciplinair debat biedt de mogelijkheid om grenzen te verleggen en minder vooringenomen conclusies te trekken. Toch kan overdaad aan media-aandacht ook leiden tot overgeneralisering en sensationele, vooringenomen rapportage. Daarom is het essentieel dat journalisten, analisten en wetenschappers samenwerken aan heldere, onderbouwde verslaggeving die zowel het vermoeden als het bewijs presenteert, zonder sensatie te verheffen tot feit.
Tot slot: blijft het wonder behouden, maar laat het ook groeien door kritisch denken
Het idee dat sommige waarnemingen mogelijk buitenaards zijn zal altijd genoeg fascinerend blijven om onze verbeelding te prikkelen. Maar het vergroten van de waarheid vereist dat we onszelf en elkaar blijven uitdagen met alternatieve verklaringen en solide bewijs. Door nieuwsgierigheid te combineren met scepsis kunnen we het UFO-debat niet alleen spannend houden maar ook productiever maken. De komende decennia kunnen we wellicht meer antwoorden krijgen naarmate technologieën zich verbeteren, data toegankelijker wordt en internationale samenwerking toegenomen. Tot die tijd blijft het mysterie van UFO’s een uitnodiging om de grenzen van wat we weten en wat we nog niet begrijpen te verkennen — met een open geest en een kritisch oog. En wie weet, misschien ontdekken we uiteindelijk dat wat we ooit als “ongeïdentificeerd” beschouwden, slechts een ingewikkeld hoofdstuk was in het grotere verhaal van de menselijke nieuwsgierigheid.
De VZ-9 Avrocar n een geheim vliegtuig uit de jaren 60, dat op een vliegende schotel leek
Het is een proces dat voorzichtigheid vereist, maar ook vol hoop mag zijn. We kunnen leren van wat bekend is, en tegelijk openstaan voor wat nog onderzocht dient te worden. Door elk mogelijk scenario met integriteit te benaderen, dragen we bij aan een verstandige, genuanceerde aanpak van het onbekende. Zo wordt het UFO-onderwerp geen sensationalistische saga, maar een continu onderzoek naar waar onze conclusies eindigen en onze vragen beginnen. In die zin blijft het mysterie een motor voor wetenschap, verbeelding en bescheidenheid tegelijk.
{ PETER2011 }
22-09-2025 om 23:50
geschreven door peter
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- Gemiddelde waardering: 0/5 - (0 Stemmen) Categorie:ALIEN LIFE, UFO- CRASHES, ABDUCTIONS, MEN IN BLACK, ed ( FR. , NL; E )
What If They’re Not Aliens? What Else Could be Behind the UFO Mystery?
What If They’re Not Aliens? What Else Could be Behind the UFO Mystery?
The chances are, when someone mentions UFOs, most people, both inside and outside the UFO community, will automatically think of aliens – visitors of an extraterrestrial nature or origin from another planet elsewhere in the universe. However, more and more researchers are concluding that there could be many other explanations for these strange aerial anomalies other than extraterrestrial visitors, with some even suggesting that at least some of these other suggestions are not only plausible, but perhaps more likely.
If we completely remove extraterrestrials from the equation for a moment, then arguably the most likely scenario would be that UFOs are highly advanced, secretive military aircraft. We know, for example, that militaries around the world have various reconnaissance aircraft, and despite what is made public, it is also widely agreed that they are likely decades ahead behind closed doors. In fact, having the public believe they are seeing vehicles from another world is a great way of covering what they, potentially, are testing. It is worth highlighting the suggestions of the former CEO of Lockheed Skunkworks, Ben Rich, who stated quite bluntly that “we have the technology to take ET home!” He continued that “anything you can imagine, we already have the technology to do, but these technologies are locked up in black budget projects. It would take an act of God to ever get them out to benefit humanity!”
These statements are interesting for several reasons. Not only is Rich stating that advanced technology is available in military circles, but that aliens might already be here if we can “take them home!”
It is also worth noting some of the comments of former President of the United States, Ronald Reagan, particularly his thoughts in his 2009 book The Reagan Diaries. In an entry from April 1985, for example, he wrote that he had “lunch with five top scientists” during which he was informed that “some of the developments are like science fiction, except they are real!” He then stated that he learned that “our shuttle capacity is such that we could orbit 300 people!” Given that space shuttles the time could only carry passengers in single figures it is interesting to contemplate exactly what Reagan meant in this entry. Is this further proof that the United States military was (and is) much advanced in terms of technology than most of us might think?
Of course, we might contemplate where this technology came from. Whie many people suggest that these crafts are the result from reverser engineering of the craft recovered from the Roswell crash, the origins could go back further than many people think, and very well could have been transplanted to the United States following the Second World War under the cover of Operation Paperclip, that saw multiple top Third Reich engineers and scientists taken to the United States to continue their work (already highly advanced) for America and the West. Perhaps the most famous of these Third Reich scientists was Wernher Von Braun, who, essentially, guided NASA to the Moon.
Here, it is worth briefly exploring the Haunebu program of the Third Reich, which was a disc or saucer-shaped craft that began as far back as the mid-1930s, and utilized electromagnetic fields and anti-gravity technologies as a means of propulsion. This craft was approximately 25 feet across and could carry eight people. Although it isn’t confirmed, some researchers have stated that the Haunebu disc could reach speeds of 3000 miles per hour, with these speeds increasing, according to some, to over 10,000 miles per hour within a decade, although it could only move at relatively low altitude.
We might ask if this technology was the result of human ingenuity or whether there was some kind of assistance from elsewhere. With this in mind, it is very much worth our time exploring an account from Ken Hudnall in the book The Occult Connection: Unidentified Flying Objects. In it, Hudnall puts forward that a craft of unknown origin crashed in the Black Forest in Germany at some point in 1936. This craft was quickly recovered by SS troops and then transported to Wewelsburg Castle, the main headquarters of the Third Reich. From there German scientists and engineers began attempts to reverse engineer the craft, not only for their own technological ends, but also for any potential weaponry they could unleash in the impending war that they were already preparing for. Given how far ahead the German military was by the end of the 1930s, we might question if this alleged crashed UFO account is true, as well as whether the Third Reich did indeed manage to utilize this otherworldly technology. Hudnall highlights, for example, that the German military had a total of 57 submarines as the Second World War began. During the course of the conflict, however, they had no less than 1163 submarines, and these subaquatic vessels were among the most advanced on the planet.
It is also worth examining the British and American war files, which contain several intriguing details that are surprisingly similar to each other. During bombing missions over Germany, for example, there are reports of “flying apparatuses resembling British military helmets”. Moreover, several pilots opened fire on these strange objects, but despite being on target, they failed to cause any damage whatsoever. During a bombing mission over Schweinfurt, Major R. Holmes of the British Air Force reported seeing several “big bright discs” which he fired at. Like other pilots, he noted how his rounds failed to cause any damage to the strange aerial objects.
Were these reports simply misidentified craft or other aerial anomalies? Or might we consider, given the familiarity with aviation that military pilots clearly would have had, that the Third Reich did manage to reverse engineer the object that crash-landed in the Black Forest? Or could it be that this potential alien technology came from another downed object three years previously, which, according to several researchers, fell into the hands of their Second World War allies, the Italians?
According to the reports, during the summer of 1933 in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, a strange and mysterious object sped across the sky before crashing to the ground. Mussolini’s regime recovered the object and immediately established Cabinet RS/33 – a top-secret department that was tasked with reverse-engineering the crippled craft. One thing worth mentioning here is the advancement of the Italian Air Force, seemingly overnight, from the early 1930s to the Second World War era. Writing in the book UFO Contact in Itay: Volume Two, Roberto Pinotti stated:
“…just before the Second World War, the Italians were able to produce the prototype of the first jet airplane in history (the Campini Caproni 1). But we also know that the aviation industry in Italy was the last in Western Europe at the end of WW1. So the question is: can it be that the study of the UFO stored in hangars near Milano gave the Italians the needed technology?...”
Could it be, as speculative as it is, that this sudden advancement in Italian aviation could have been a result of reverse-engineered technology? Even more intriguing, we see this sudden advancement of aviation technology continue after the war in the United States, perhaps as a result of Operation Paperclip, or perhaps, as some researchers insist, because the downed UFO from Italy in 1933 was recovered by the American military at the end of the war and discreetly transported back to the United States. Moreover, according to documents that have come to light in the decades after the war, it appears that there was a secret project involving both the German and Italian regimes during the late 1930s and into the war years. Could this project have involved recovered extraterrestrial technology?
There is, of course, another possibility: that this technology didn’t come from elsewhere in the universe, but from right here on Earth, from the distant past. As strange as it might sound, various governments and intelligence agencies around the world have shown interest in ancient sites and relics, and this is especially the case with the Third Reich, and the reason, according to some, was to recover advanced technology from antiquity. The Third Reich spent considerable time, money, and effort searching for all manner of ancient relics, including alleged Biblical artifacts. They also showed a particular interest in the ancient civilizations of the Indus Valley. Given their aerial advancements, we might consider whether they recovered technology or blueprints of Vimanas, alleged ancient flying machines from thousands of years ago. We will explore Vimanas and how they might fit into all of this a little later. For now, though, we will turn our attention to another possibility to explain UFOs – mind control experiments.
Although many people believe it is the stuff of science fiction only, the fact is, mind control is very real. Moreover, rather than simply making people “act like a chicken” as most typical hypnotists can do, the realities of mind control are a lot darker. Of concern to us here, some researchers have put forward that at least some UFO sightings and even cases of alien abduction are, essentially, continuations of government mind control experiments, specifically, in-the-field testing of the infamous MK Ultra program, which used a combination of mind-altering drugs and implanted screen memories. Arguably one of the most thought-provoking of these is one of the first documented cases of alien abduction of the modern UFO era, that of Antonio Villas Boas.
According to the account, on the evening of October 16th, 1957, in the São Francisco de Sales region of Brazil, 23-year-old farmer Antonio Villas Boas was working late on his land. Out of nowhere, he suddenly noticed an object that he described as looking like a “red star” in the night sky. This strange object, however, was moving. Of more concern to Boas, it was heading in his direction. Within moments, he could see that the “star” was, in fact, an oval-shaped object with a rotating top. He stood watching the craft as it landed close by, resting on three small legs.
After watching the object for a moment, Boas felt a sudden surge of fear and turned to get on his tractor in an attempt to flee. However, to his despair, the tractor’s engine simply wouldn’t start. He tried several more times before jumping back off the tractor in an attempt to run away. Then, he felt a hand grab his shoulder, and he turned to see a strange humanoid behind him. Moments later, several more humanoids appeared and surrounded him before dragging him towards the landed object.
Once inside, Boas was immediately stripped of his clothes before his entire body was covered with a strange gel-like substance. Following this, he was taken into another room where he recalled seeing strange red symbols on circular walls. In this room, the humanoids took blood samples from him before moving him into a different room where he was left alone. Moments later, a strange gas filled the room, which made Boas feel immediately sick. After several minutes, the gas dissipated, and another humanoid entered the room. This one was female, with Boas describing her as “Asian-looking” and decidedly different from the others. Here is where the encounter took a bizarre turn.
According to Boas, he and the female humanoid had sex, with the female humanoid pointing to her torso afterward, as if to say she was pregnant, and that the child would be born on another world. Following this, Boas was given back his clothes. After he dressed, he was led back through the ship the way he had come. As he was led through the craft, he attempted to take a nearby device to have proof of the encounter, but one of the humanoids prevented him from doing so. Then, the next thing Boas realized, he was standing outside the craft. He watched as it ascended high into the sky, eventually becoming the tiny “red star” before disappearing completely.
Needless to say, Boas was left extremely shaken by the ordeal and he quickly returned home. To begin with, he opted not to talk of the encounter for fear of ridicule. However, as the days and weeks went by, he began to feel apparent side-effects of the incident. He suffered with random bouts of intense nausea, for example, as well as intense headaches, and even noticed strange bruises appear on his body. As this was happening, he happened to see an advertisement about a journalist, Jose Martins, who was looking to speak with people who had encounters with UFOs. Boas contacted Martins, and he, along with several other investigators, agreed to investigate the case. One person involved in the investigation was Dr. Olavo Fontes, a medical doctor who agreed to examine Boas. Upon doing so, he concluded that he had indeed been exposed to a large amount of radiation.
Several months after the incident, in February 1958, a report of Boas’ encounter appeared in a Brazilian newspaper. As we might imagine, there were many people who found it hard to accept Boas’s account, although it is also worth noting that he never once changed his version of events right up until his death in 1991. As the twentieth century handed off to the 2000s, new information on the incident came to light – information that suggests the alien encounter of Boas might not have been all that it seemed.
Writing in the book Top Secret Alien Abduction Files: What the Government Doesn’t Want You to Know, Nick Redfern relayed information that came from investigator Bosco Nedelcovic (who had a background with the CIA, the Department of Defense, and the United States Agency for International Development through another researcher, Rich Reynolds. What is interesting, and a notch on the credibility post of the case, was that records do show that Nedelcovic was indeed working for the United States Agency for International Development in Brazil at the time of the Boas encounter, and the information that he passed over was remarkable, to say the least.
He claimed that the alien abduction of Boas was, in fact, an orchestrated operation involving multiple different United States intelligence agencies, which included assistance from the United States Agency for International Development. Ultimately, the reason for this operation was to observe the manipulation of the human mind through a combination of props, mind-altering drugs and other substances. It was, as we observed earlier, an in-the-field operation of the MK Ultra program.
Nedelcovic claimed that on the night in question, the object that Boas witnessed was actually an unmarked black helicopter, which sprayed the area with chemicals as it approached, which drastically altered his perception, as well as incapacitating him somewhat so he couldn’t simply run. The crew of the helicopter, who now appeared like humanoid entities to Boas, dragged him on board the helicopter, where further mind-altering drugs were administered, further altering his sense of reality. Upon arriving at an unknown location, he was placed in different rooms, which were designed to make him believe he was inside a UFO. Moreover, the female entity with whom Boas claimed to have had sex with was, in fact, a “prostitute of Asian origin!” Following this, he was given more chemicals and then taken back to his field. Although he claimed to have seen the UFO take off high into the sky, it is most likely that what he saw was the unmarked black helicopter.
While it isn’t clear just how it was achieved to make Boas believe he had seen a UFO and interacted with several alien creatures, the fact is, the account perhaps has much more credibility than we might think. It is known, for example, that the CIA regularly used such mind-altering drugs as LSD to severely distort a person’s sense of reality, and they regularly employed local prostitutes, mostly to place potential targets into compromising situations. Moreover, we know the MK Ultra mind control programs did happen, so it is not that much of a leap to think that the information offered by Nedelcovic is very accurate. Not only would this allow intelligence agencies the chance to test how much a person’s mind can be manipulated, but it also contributes to the widespread skepticism that many people automatically feel when discussing UFO and alien encounters. This case, though, might not be the only one.
Just over a decade later, in the spring of 1970 in Hokkaido, Japan, we find the bizarre encounter of “Jean”. Jean’s experiences actually began several years earlier in 1967, while he was traveling in Jerusalem. During this trip, Jean claimed to have been “possessed by an entity of a Yahweh-type” force. Although he was still very much himself, he stated that following this, he was not fully in control of his decisions. In fact, over the next few years, Jean traveled to various destinations around the world, always at the instructions of this strange, possessing entity. By early 1970, he had arrived in Japan, making his way to a remote location in Hokkaido.
Once there, he would travel to a local mountain each day, after he was told that he would have a “rendezvous with his brother, his homolog of the other cycle of terrestrial life!” After around a week of doing this, a strange, shiny metallic object shaped like an “upright cigar” with “four motors” on each side landed close to where he was waiting. Following this, a doorway opened in the craft and a metal staircase extended to the ground. Although he wasn’t told to do so, he knew that he was supposed to get on the craft, which he duly did. As soon as he stepped inside, he could feel the floor move under his feet (he eventually learned that the object was comprised of “living but not thinking matter”).
As he made his way inside the craft, he was instructed to lie on a bed so that he could receive an “intravenous injection” that would protect him from the radiation. After he lay down, a needle-type device emerged from the wall and injected a “rosy liquid” into his arm. Moments later, three nine-foot-tall entities entered the room. Each of these entities wore “close-fitting suits, and each had green, yellow, and red-colored skin. Perhaps most bizarre, every now and then, he could see sparks fly from the humanoids' eyes, one of which landed on his arm. As soon as it touched him, his emotions changed from fear to ultra-confidence.
Then, things turned even stranger. The three entities introduced themselves as Irwin Ludwang, and, bizarrely, Jesus and Moses, stating they were over 7,000 years old. They then endowed Jean with “five divine powers before instructing Jean to leave the craft and await further instructions, which he duly did (although little information on what happened next is available).
It is perhaps not surprising that many people had difficulty accepting the account as credible. However, might we consider that during his trip to Jerusalem, Jean was not possessed but placed under some form of mind control by one intelligence agency or another that allowed for a slow release of information? While it is perhaps unlikely, it is certainly not beyond the realm of possibility.
Could it be that many other UFO encounters and cases of alien abduction are continued operations of the MK Ultra program? Could it be, for example, that at least some of those people who have claimed to have been abducted by extraterrestrials actually have been kidnapped and experimented on by discreet and secretive military intelligence agencies? In fact, the notion of alien abduction could be as much a part of the experiments as the experiments themselves. Of course, if this were true, then we would need to ask just what the end goal of such experiments might be.
If we turn our attention to some of the better-known UFO incidents, we might ask if these were sightings of top-secret military aircraft, and if this is true, given that militaries around the world have ample open spaces to conduct such flights in secrecy, we might also have to ask if such sightings are purposeful on the part of the military, perhaps to gauge reactions or even to implant a false narrative. Many researchers, for example, state that the aerial vehicles witnessed during the Belgian Wave were, in fact, highly advanced military vehicles. Could other multi-witness sightings, such as the Phoenix Lights, also have been military aircraft? Or perhaps the sightings witnessed by hundreds of people during the Hudson Valley wave of sightings during the 1980s.
With all of this in mind, we might ask if the recent “admissions” from the Pentagon regarding the released UFO gun-cam footage is simply to put a buffer between the public and the (speculative) reality of the MK Ultra program and top-secret advanced military vehicles.
There are also other intriguing details for us to examine regarding connections between mind control and UFO encounters and alien abductions. Perhaps one detail that particularly stands out, for example, is the consumption of strange drinks, often clear liquids, that abductees are instructed to drink, often “for their own good,” so that they do not recall their encounters. Could this be, though, part of some kind of aid to wipe an abductee’s memory, or even to plant false memories?
There are occasions, however, where these false memories seemingly break down, often with the use of hypnotic regression, but sometimes just due to the passing of time. One particularly interesting encounter saw a witness’s memory of standing in front of “spacecraft” with “alien entities” at each side of them suddenly change to a memory of them standing in front of a large military-style truck with the aliens becoming strange men in dark suits. Yet another encounter saw a witness’s memory of a brightly lit, futurist room – that they presumed was inside a spaceship suddenly morph into them standing in a barely furnished warehouse.
One researcher whose research suggests that mind-control techniques are more than prevalent in alien abduction encounters is Richard Sauder, who highlighted several details in his book Hidden In Plain Sight: Beyond X-Files. He stated that, as well as such details as clear drinks that possibly block memories, there is also the detail of these alien entities having almond-shaped black eyes. Sauder offered that these “eyes” likely aid in inducing trance-like states in those who happen to look into them.
There is also the detail of abductees hearing strange “whirring or humming” sounds. It is known, for example, that repetitive noise and sounds can aid in inducing hypnotic states. It is interesting to note that while many reports from people who have witnessed UFOs state these respective objects moving in complete silence, there are equally as many reports that offer witnesses hearing a strange humming sound just before these otherworldly vehicles appear or just after they have left. Could it be that these strange, often low-pitched noises are intended to put respective witnesses in a trance-like state?
We might also highlight details from many UFO reports of bizarre and hypnotic flashing lights that accompany many of these aerial anomalies, as well as sensing a strange “pulsing” in the atmosphere, and even the presence of a strange gas-like odor in the air. Once more, each of these details could suggest some kind of mind-control technology and know-how.
Although many people will dismiss mind-control as a valid explanation for at least some UFO and alien encounters, we should keep in mind how easy such things are to achieve. If we take your average hypnotist, for example, and how easy it is for them, generally speaking, to achieve this with little effort, or even the simple repetitive slogans and messages of advertisements. Ultimately, mind control is very real and very well could be a factor in the UFO and alien mysteries.
There are, though, other possibilities for us to consider. What if, for example, these mysterious visitors were not from outer space, perhaps not even extraterrestrial, but human time travelers from the future? While some people dismiss such assertions unreservedly, it is a safe bet that if the ability to travel in time were achieved in the future, time-travel missions would almost certainly go ahead. To begin with, these missions would most likely be of a scientific nature, but over time, we would almost certainly see time-travel tourism take place too. Ultimately, while the notion of time-travel to us in the twenty-first century is a complex issue, for those in the future, it could simply be nothing more than a commercial sight-seeing adventure, Indeed, this could perhaps explain why there are reports of UFOs in the distant past, some of which, it appears, have been captured in paintings hundreds of years ago. It also might explain why there is little direct contact, with even encounters of alien abduction featuring reduced interaction, to not interfere with our timelines and perhaps, changing future events for the speculative time travelers.
We might also consider that these speculative time travel missions could be for very specific purposes. Perhaps, for example, these missions are connected to altering the climate and environment, which might suggest, as some people have stated, that we are living in a tipping-point era that could see life on Earth take one course or another depending on our collective actions.
With this in mind, it is interesting to note that many people who claim to have had interactions with alien entities state that they have been told of the need to clean up our environment. Moreover, many of the “aliens” of these interactions are described as very human-like. Even more interesting, this might explain why the Modern UFO Era began in the late 1940s, almost immediately following the dropping of the bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that brought the Second World War to an end but also began to nuclear era.
One researcher who believes these alien visitors are, in fact, human beings from the future is Dr. Michael Masters, a professor of Biological Anthropology at Montana Technical University, who made such claims in his 2019 book Identified Flying Objects: A Multidisciplinary Scientific Approach to the UFO Phenomenon. He stated that, in his opinion, the most likely explanation for UFOs was our future selves simply mastering advanced technology.
He stated that the “aliens” described by witnesses were often “bipedal, hairless, human-like beings!” Despite minor variations such as larger eyes and heads, their basic anatomical features resemble those of humans, including two eyes, a nose indentation, and a small mouth — some accounts even mention diminutive ear structures.
The fact is, the suggestion that these apparent extraterrestrials are, in fact, human beings from the distant future is more in line with projected evolutionary and physical changes than many people might think. We know, for example, that the human cranial capacity has increased over the centuries in order to accommodate larger brains, certainly compared to our distant ancestors. We might ask, then, if the larger-than-normal head of the “grey alien” is simply the larger head of future humans for the same reason. Moreover, the frail, thin-like frame of these grey aliens could be a result of advanced technology reducing the need for manual labor, and so evolving humans to a more delicate, less physical physique. We might also consider if environmental conditions in the future – perhaps forcing humanity to live indoors completely, or even underground – could also contribute to this grey-alien-like appearance.
We might also consider the fact that many close encounters with apparent aliens feature these extraterrestrials communicating with humans in their native language. If we accept for a moment that aliens are, in fact, human time-travelers, then it would perhaps make sense that they would know all the languages of the time and location they were traveling to, perhaps even mastering several of them. Many of these accounts feature some kind of device that automatically translates languages on the spot – very similar to some of the devices that are available for travelers today. In fact, Masters highlights this by pointing out that many of the advanced technologies of these alien beings appear to be more advanced versions of devices already available to us. Even our current awareness of time-travel, including the theoretical framework that supports it, makes it very likely that humanity will achieve such feats at some point in the future.
Looking at how much we have achieved in the technological revolution of the second half of the twentieth century would appear to underscore this notion, and if consider the strides humanity has made in medicine and science over the last several hundred years – which is a small amount of time, relatively speaking – then we can only imagine where we might be in a thousand years from now.
It is also worth noting how UFO sightings appear to increase around times of war or disaster, natural or otherwise. Could this be simply out of macabre curiosity, or even to study history up close? If this is the case, though, why are UFO sightings continuing to increase globally around the world? What is it about the first two and a half decades of the twenty-first century that draws the attention of these potential human time travelers from the future? Should we perhaps scrutinize the actions of our political leaders, for example, and speculate on the trajectory that they are collectively steering humanity? Obviously, if the intelligence behind these UFOs is from the future, then they would know exactly where our leaders are taking humanity. Are they here purely for study, or might they be looking to influence us to steer us in a different direction? Perhaps they might be looking to intervene directly, and if this last possibility is accurate, then we should perhaps consider just where humanity is heading in the 2020s.
One last thing to consider regarding the possibility of those behind UFOs actually being human time-travelers from the future is if such events like the Roswell crash were real, then that would mean that governments, perhaps specifically the United States government, have recovered time-travel technology. Might they have been busy reverse-engineering such technology for decades? Might they have even managed to recreate this technology behind closed doors, making time travel an option for those in our modern world?
With this last point in mind, it is worth exploring the Black Forest UFO crash in Germany in 1936 and specifically claims made by an unnamed author in an online article in 2013. In it, they claimed that they had recovered a pair of field glasses that were used by one of the SS officers who was at the location on the night of the crash. According to the article, the unnamed author “channeled” through the field glasses, claiming that not only were there survivors of the crash, but that they were not aliens but humans from the future. All of the survivors, incidentally, were, according to the author, shot on sight by the SS recovery team. And once more, given that the Third Reich seemingly failed to utilize this technology for their own ends, we might ask if it was eventually transported to the United States as part of the previously mentioned Operation Paperclip.
What if, though, the intelligence behind these UFOs is not aliens or humans, but beings from another dimension? Once more, while this might sound like the stuff of science fiction to many, many mainstream scientists today are working to prove these other dimensions exist. Moreover, although only in theory, these scientists have suggested that these dimensions might, on occasion, overlap or crash into each other, perhaps opening portals that could, in theory, allow those from these other dimensions access to our realm of existence.
It is important to note that we are not talking of one, two, or even three other dimensions, but many, potentially thousands, perhaps even more. If this is the case, then that could mean there are thousands of different beings that exist, which also might explain why there have been many different types of “aliens” reported over the years.
While unintentional crashing of dimensions might allow for unintended visits into our realm, that wouldn’t explain the alien abduction phenomena. So, with that in mind, and assuming that there is a dimensional aspect to the UFO and alien mysteries, we might contemplate that these portals or gateways that allow for interdimensional travel or intentionally manipulated and opened. Of course, if this were true, then we would have to ask, just why are these interdimensional entities “abducting” humans from our realm, and for what endgame?
At this point, it would be beneficial for us to examine a declassified FBI document that is dated July 8th, 1947 – the same date as the Roswell UFO crash. The document in question makes reference to “beings” from another dimension. In fact, on page 22 of the document, it goes into detail about a “very serious situation that may develop at any time with regard to the Flying saucer”. This nine-point section reads:
“1 - Part of their disks carry crews, others are under remote control
2 - Their mission is peaceful. The visitors contemplate settling on this planet.
3 - These visitors are human-like but much larger in size.
4 - They are NOT excarnate earth people, but come from their own world.
5 - They do NOT come from any “planet” as we use the word, but from an etheric planet which interpenetrates with our own and is not perceptible to us.
6 - The bodies of the visitors, and the craft, automatically materialize on entering the vibratory rate of our dense matter.
7 - The disks possess a type of radiant energy or ray, which will easily disintergrate any attacking ship. They re-enter the etheric at will, and so simply disappear from our vision without trace.
8 - The region from which they come is not the “astral plane”, but corresponds to the Lokas or Talas. Students of osoteric matters will understand these terms.
9 - They probably can not be reached by radio, but probably can be by radar, if a signal system can be devised for that (apparatus).”
It is clear from this document that these “aliens” are “human-like” and are, in fact, from another dimension as opposed to another planet. Moreover, these other dimensions have co-existed with us since the beginning of time, suggesting a much more layered and complex situation than just extraterrestrial visitors from another world.
With this in mind, it is interesting to note that there are many legends from ancient civilizations of portals or gateways that allow these interdimensional visitors access to our world. If we turn our attention to Native American legends, for example, they are awash with such tales. Perhaps one of these areas where these legends state these gateways exist is in the mountains of Sedona in Arizona, specifically an arch carved out of stone that is known locally as the “Doorway of the Gods,” which is said to transport anyone who walks through it to another dimension, while also allowing the “gods” themselves access to our realm of existence.
We can find similar locations in the legends of ancient Egypt, with one of the most intriguing located in Abu Ghurab, where an alabaster platform known as the “Place of the Gods” is said to vibrate in tune with the Earth, allowing whoever positions themselves on it to “be one” with higher vibrational energies.
If we turn our attention to South America, we can find further alleged portals or gateways. In Tiahuanaco in Bolivia, for example, we find the “Gate of the Sun,” which is also considered a portal to the land of the gods. Similarly, in Hayu Marca in Peru, we can find a monument known as the “Gate of the Gods”. This site features two doorways carved into the rock in a T-shape, with the larger of these measuring seven meters high and seven meters across, while the smaller doorway measures two meters high. This larger doorway, according to local legend, allowed the gods access to and from our world, while the smaller doorway allowed humans who had performed heroic or noble actions access to the realm of the gods.
In fact, there is a very specific account of the Gate of the Gods that speaks of the gateway being opened in the sixteenth century following the arrival of Spanish explorers. As these explorers looted the land, an Inca priest named Amaru Maru escaped to the doorway, taking with him a golden disc known as “The Key of the Gods of the Seven Rays”. This disc, when inserted into the smaller doorway, turned the stone into a shimmering blue light – essentially, it opened a doorway to another dimension. It is said that Maru stepped inside this shimmering blue light, never to be seen again. Incidentally, when researchers examined this smaller doorway, they discovered a round indentation that could easily fit a golden disc.
If we turn our attention to the research of Andrew Collins, specifically, his suggestions in the book Origins of the Gods, we find the suggestion that what we understand as extraterrestrials could, in fact, be “light beings” from another dimension or realm of existence. In its most basic form, it was suggested by Collins that these “aliens” could travel as pure light through both space and time. Of course, if this were accurate, given that nothing (at least according to our current understanding) travels faster than light, it would not only upend what we know about UFOs and aliens but also force us to reevaluate the very nature of our reality. Moreover, it would perhaps explain as to how these otherworldly visitors manage to traverse the vast distances of space. This theory also proposes that these energy or light beings could communicate with humans by tapping into their consciousness, which might perhaps explain why many people who believe they have interacted with aliens have done so telepathically.
Collins also suggested that many paranormal episodes, both those in the modern world and antiquity, could have originated from human interactions with exotic Earth-generated energies, including myths and legends about extraterrestrial gods.
It is also interesting to note that recent advancements in both quantum and theoretical physics appear to support Collins’ suggestions, especially our potential understanding of light and plasma. It is worth noting that plasma, which makes up 99 percent of the known universe, interacts with light and exhibits proto-intelligence. Plasma forms when atoms split, releasing photons of light, which is, ultimately, energy. With this in mind, it is interesting to note that the start of the Modern UFO Era began in the mid-to-late 1940s, following humanity’s advancements in nuclear capabilities. Could this have not only attracted the attention of (what we understand) as extraterrestrials, but also opened doorways or portals that allow these light or plasma-based beings to manifest in our realm? And once more, if we remind ourselves of telepathic communication, the idea of quantum entanglement might once more begin to offer scientific explanations to these mysterious encounters.
Arguably, one of the most thought-provoking other possibilities as to what UFOs and aliens might be is that these strange objects witnessed in our skies are ghost vehicles from the distant past. Admittedly, this theory would only account for a certain percentage of sightings and wouldn’t satisfactorily explain close encounters and alien abduction, but it is still very much worth our time exploring the notion briefly here. However, many of the sightings of aerial objects and strange lights that are there one moment and then disappear the next could indeed be explained as ghost vehicles, possibly ones from an advanced ancient, long-lost civilization. Some researchers suggest, for example, that human civilization goes back much further than mainstream history tells us it does, perhaps by hundreds of thousands, even millions of years. If these assertions are accurate, then it could be entirely plausible, especially when we consider the number of out-of-place artifacts that have been discovered over the years, that an unknown advanced civilization could have been lost to history – one that perhaps had advanced aerial machines.
While the idea that UFOs could be “ghost vehicles” is nonsensical to many, the fact is that there are numerous accounts of ghost trains, ghost cars, ghost ships, and even ghost planes on record. So, if there have been unknown advanced civilizations on Earth long before our recorded history, then it would make sense that their aerial vehicles might also be seen, on occasion, like people report seeing strange phantom vehicles that are recognizable to us.
A good example of these “ghost vehicles” might be the “Phantom Bus of London”, which was seen regularly around London, England, over the span of 60 years from the 1930s to the 1990s (although there are still sporadic sightings today). There are plenty of reports on record of this mysterious double-decker, with sightings of it almost always occurring at 1:15 am. This phantom bus is usually reported to be roaring down the road towards oncoming traffic, with several accidents on record as a result of its ghostly presence. Arguably, the worst of these accidents occurred in 1934, when a motorist swerved to avoid the menacing bus and, as a result, crashed his car into a wall. The unfortunate motorist’s car then exploded upon impact, killing him instantly.
There are many accounts of ghost planes, ships, and other vehicles on record, far too many for us to examine here. However, before we move on, it is perhaps worth our time looking at the legends of Vimanas, which can be found in the ancient texts of the Indus Valley civilizations, the Mahabharata. And we should also note that those who follow such texts consider them historical facts as opposed to mere myths and legends.
According to the writings of the Mahabharata, these Vimanas could not only traverse the skies of Earth but could also travel into outer space. Moreover, these aerial vehicles were active in our skies between 12,000 to 15,000 years ago. They are described as “two-storied celestial chariots with many windows” that would “roar off into the sky until they appeared like comets” to those on the ground. These Vimanas were also said to travel to the “solar and stellar regions” and were said to be powered by “winged lightning”. Furthermore, they came in various shapes, including cigar-shaped, pyramid-shaped, and triangular.
Even more intriguing, these advanced aerial vehicles often found themselves in aerial battles and contained weapons capable of destroying enemy aircraft, as well as devices that could “photograph” enemy aircraft, perhaps similar to modern aerial reconnaissance missions. Also similar to some advanced modern aircraft, these Vimanas could make themselves invisible, perhaps suggesting they had “cloaking” technology. Could it be that at least some of the UFOs witnessed today are ghostly representations of Vimanas from a past age? It is certainly worth considering.
Our last possibility to consider here would be that these UFOs and the intelligence behind them are not from another planet, realm, or time, but that they come from right here on Earth, with the intelligence behind them being an unknown indigenous species, albeit an advanced one. If this is true, then we might consider that this unknown civilization resides somewhere deep under the ground, or even under the water. This last consideration is interesting in itself. There are, for example, multiple legends telling of another civilization taking refuge underground, while many UFO researchers in the modern era speak of the notion of “underwater alien bases” and suggest that these UFOs are indeed coming and going from deep under the water.
Indeed, the notion of an inner Earth is something that has been pondered for centuries, and by such people as Edmund Halley, Sir Issac Newton, and Leonard Euler. Moreover, if we turn our attention to the legends of the Tibetan, Hindu, and Indian texts, they speak of Shambhaia, a great underground kingdom that is located “deep within inner Asia”, with the texts also mentioning the Avatar Rama, a blue-skinned entity that resided deep underground.
If we turn our attention to Buddhist texts, we can find further accounts of underground entities, which speak of a race of supermen and women” who access the Earth’s surface via a vast underground tunnel network, with the entrance hidden somewhere deep in Tibet. This suggestion of vast underground tunnel networks can be found all over the planet, perhaps specifically, under the United States, which some researchers suggest stretches across the country from one coast to the other. Indeed, many Native American legends state that their ancient ancestors used such underground networks to escape cataclysmic disasters.
While we won’t spend too much time on it, it is perhaps worth mentioning here the multiple accounts of reptilians, with many encounters taking place near or in cave systems. Could it be that these reptilian entities, if indeed they do exist, are the unknown indigenous civilization that also calls Earth home? Accounts with reptilians will have to wait for another article, but once more, when considering who or what is behind the UFO and alien mysteries, such considerations are equally as valid as the next.
As we can see, then, there are many more possible explanations for UFOs other than aliens (at least as we would understand them). Moreover, compelling and convincing arguments can be made for all of the possibilities we have examined here. Even more thought-provoking, and evidence that the UFO and alien mysteries are multi-layered, nuanced, and complex, is that the truth of the matter could very well contain elements of all of the suggestions and ideas we have explored here. No single argument, for example, can explain or settle every UFO and alien encounter on record.
It could very well be the case that once we understand one aspect of the UFO mystery – and, in turn, one part of the paranormal spectrum – we will most likely see all other areas of the unexplained and the mysterious from a new perspective, and possibly with a new light shined on them. There are many researchers who firmly believe there are genuine connections between multiple areas of the paranormal. And if we accept that aliens might not be “aliens” as we have come to culturally understand them, then that possibility begins to make more sense, and indeed strengthens.
It is also worth noting that, despite all of the considerations we have examined here, aliens – as we collectively understand them – could very well still be visiting the Earth. There are, for example, many different kinds of UFOs witnessed in the skies, as well as many different entities reported. Ultimately, right now, all considerations must remain on the table.
Above all else, one thing is certain – that UFOs – unidentified flying objects – very much exist and are very real. What they might be, however, remains very much up for debate. Indeed, it very much appears that if we can understand UFOs and what they might be, we will shine a light on many other areas of the paranormal world and our own collective reality.
From its breathtaking moors to its world–famous puddings, Yorkshire already boasts a number of claims to fame.
Now, the county has a new accolade to add to its list.
Scientists have found proof that a huge asteroid smashed into the sea off the coast of Yorkshire 43 million years ago.
The Silverpit Crater – around 80 miles off the coast of Yorkshire – was first discovered in 2002.
Its origin remained a mystery, with scientists unable to agree on whether it was created by an asteroid impact, or volcanic activity.
Now, the debate has been settled once and for all, as researchers from Heriot–Watt University have confirmed the impact crater hypothesis.
'Our evidence shows that a 160–metre–wide asteroid hit the seabed at a low angle from the west,' xplained Dr Uisedan Nicholson, lead author of the study.
'Within minutes, it created a 1.5–kilometre high curtain of rock and water that then collapsed into the sea, creating a tsunami over 100 metres high.'
Scientists have found proof that a huge asteroid smashed into the sea off the coast of Yorkshire 43 million years ago (AI–generated image)
The Silverpit Crater – around 80 miles off the coast of Yorkshire – was first discovered in 2002. However, its origin remained a mystery, with scientists unable to agree on whether it was created by an asteroid impact, or volcanic activity
Since its discovery more than two decades ago, the Silverpit Crater has been at the centre of a heated debate among geologists.
Initial studies suggested the 1.8–mile–wide crater was the result of an asteroid or comet impact.
However, some scientists were unconvinced, and instead suggested it may have been created by salt moving deep below the crater floor, or the collapse of the seabed because of volcanic activity.
To get to the bottom of it, the Heriot–Watt team used seismic imaging data alongside evidence from below the seabed.
'New seismic imaging has given us an unprecedented look at the crater,' Dr Nicholson explained.
'Samples from an oil well in the area also revealed rare "shocked" quartz and feldspar crystals at the same depth as the crater floor.
'We were exceptionally lucky to find these – a real "needle–in–a–haystack" effort.
'These prove the impact crater hypothesis beyond doubt, because they have a fabric that can only be created by extreme shock pressures.'
Samples from an oil well in the area revealed rare 'shocked' quartz and feldspar crystals at the same depth as the crater floor
The confirmation of its status as an impact crater puts Silverpit in the same category as Mexico's Chicxulub Crater – the site where the dinosaur–killing asteroid famously struck 66 million years ago.
'Silverpit is a rare and exceptionally preserved hypervelocity impact crater,' Dr Nicholson added.
'These are rare because the Earth is such a dynamic planet – plate tectonics and erosion destroy almost all traces of most of these events.
'Around 200 confirmed impact craters exist on land, and only about 33 have been identified beneath the ocean.
'We can use these findings to understand how asteroid impacts shaped our planet throughout history, as well as predict what could happen should we have an asteroid collision in future.'
Inside China's secretive lab rewriting our understanding of the UNIVERSE: $300 million detector 2,300ft underground is being used to sniff out mysterious ghost particles
Inside China's secretive lab rewriting our understanding of the UNIVERSE: $300 million detector 2,300ft underground is being used to sniff out mysterious ghost particles
Deep underneath a granite hill in southern China, an enormous detector is sniffing out the secrets of the universe.
This futuristic underground observatory has been built with the sole purpose of detecting neutrinos – tiny cosmic particles with a mind–bogglingly small mass.
To date, nobody knows what these 'ghost particles' are or how they work.
But scientists hope this $300 million lab will be able to answer these questions – vital to understanding the building blocks of the universe.
Neutrinos date back to the Big Bang, and trillions zoom through our bodies every second. They spew from stars like the sun and stream out when atoms collide in a particle accelerator.
There's no way to spot the tiny particles whizzing around on their own. Instead, scientists measure what happens when they collide with other matter, producing flashes of light or charged particles.
Neutrinos bump into other particles only very rarely so to up their chances of catching a collision, physicists have to think big.
This is where the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory comes in.
The $300 million detector at the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory located 2297 feet (700 meters) underground
An aerial view of the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory in Kaiping, southern China's Guangdong province
Workers labor on the underside of the cosmic detector. This futuristic underground observatory has been built with the sole purpose of detecting neutrinos – tiny cosmic particles with a mind–bogglingly small mass
The detector, built in Kaiping in China, took over nine years to build, Its location 2,300ft (700m) underground protects it from cosmic rays and radiation that could throw off its neutrino detection abilities.
The orb–shaped structure is filled with a liquid designed to emit light when neutrinos pass through. These will flow into the detector from two nearby nuclear power stations.
The sphere – a thin bubble of acrylic – is contained within a protective cylinder containing 45,000 tonnes of pure water.
These neutrinos will 'bump' into protons in the detector, releasing tiny flashes of light at a rate of about 50 per day.
The detector is specially designed to answer a key question about a longstanding mystery.
Neutrinos switch between three 'flavours' as they zip through space, and scientists want to rank them from lightest to heaviest.
'We are going to know the hierarchy of the neutrino mass,' Wang Yifang, from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told The Times.
'And by knowing this we can build up the model for particle physics, for neutrinos, for cosmology.'
Wang Yifang, chief scientist and project manager at the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory
Scientists hope this $300 million lab will be able to answer questions vital to understanding the building blocks of the universe.
Visitors take a train ride to visit the cosmic detector located deep underground. The orb–shaped structure is filled with a liquid designed to emit light when neutrinos pass through
Sensing these subtle shifts in the already evasive particles will be a challenge, said Kate Scholberg, a physicist at Duke University who is not involved with the project.
'It´s actually a very daring thing to even go after it,' she said.
Physicists said it will take around six years to generate the required 100,000 'flashes' that will allow for readings to be statistically significant.
Two similar neutrino detectors – Japan's Hyper–Kamiokande and the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment based in the United States – are under construction.
They are set to go online around 2027 and 2031 and will cross–check the China detector´s results using different approaches.
Though neutrinos barely interact with other particles, they have been around since the dawn of time. Studying these Big Bang relics can clue scientists into how the universe evolved and expanded billions of years ago.
'They're part of the big picture,' Professor Scholberg said.
One question researchers hope neutrinos can help answer is why the universe is overwhelmingly made up of matter with its opposing counterpart – called antimatter – was largely snuffed out.
What are ghost particles?
Neutrinos are the most common matter particle in the universe.
Trillions of them move through our bodies every second without ever interacting with us.
They could hold the key to explaining why matter dominates the universe instead of antimatter or unify the theories of how the four major forces of the universe work.
Unfortunately, neutrinos hardly ever interact with anything, making them incredibly difficult to study.
Scientists have known about the existence of neutrinos for almost a century, but they are still in the early stages of figuring out what the particles really are.
Though neutrinos barely interact with other particles, they´ve been around since the dawn of time. Studying these Big Bang relics can clue scientists into how the universe evolved and expanded billions of years ago.
One question researchers hope neutrinos can help answer is why the universe is overwhelmingly made up of matter with its opposing counterpart – called antimatter – largely snuffed out.
Scientists don't know how things got to be so out of balance, but they think neutrinos could have helped write the earliest rules of matter.
Black holes are among the most feared objects in the universe.
These huge concentrations of tightly–packed matter, with a gravitational pull too strong for light to escape, can gobble up entire planets.
And according to scientists, one black hole in particular seems to have an unstoppable appetite.
Located 12.8 billion light–years away, the black hole, called RACS J0320–35, weighs about a billion times the mass of our sun.
Data from NASA's Chandra X–ray Observatory reveals it is growing at 2.4 times the theoretical limit – one of the fastest rates ever recorded.
The power source of this 'glowing monster' is large amounts of matter, such as gas, dust, and other stellar debris.
As it is rabidly consumed, the matter gives off intense radiation, which is detectable by telescopes such as Chandra.
'It was a bit shocking to see this black hole growing by leaps and bounds,' said Luca Ighina, study author at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
An artist’s concept of a supermassive black hole, a surrounding disk of material falling towards the black hole and a jet containing particles moving away at close to the speed of light. New Chandra observations indicate that the black hole is growing at a rate that exceeds the usual limit for black holes, called the Eddington Limit
Black holes grow by gobbling up surrounding matter – a process scientists call accretion – as well as by merging with other black holes.
They have an incredibly bright 'accretion disk' – a hot disk of gas orbiting the black hole and its main source of light.
The accretion disk is created by material emitting energy as it falls into the black hole, whether it's gas, dust or matter.
At about a billion times the mass of our sun, this black hole, RACS J0320–35, is officially in the upper range of the 'supermassive' classification for black holes – and it's still growing.
Researchers theorize it is getting yet more massive at a rate of somewhere between 300 and 3,000 solar masses annually.
That means it's gobbling up the equivalent of 300 to 3,000 of our suns per year!
Supermassive black holes exist in the centers of most large galaxies.
Blk hole RACS J0320–35, captured through X–ray emissions detected by Chandra, weighs about a billion times the mass of our sun
Annotated black hole: Right at the centre is the event horizon – the point at which nothing, not even light, can escape. Note the accretion disk' – a hot disk of gas orbiting the black hole and its main source of light
What is the Eddington limit?
The Eddington Limit refers to the theoretical upper limit to the rate at which a black hole can absorb matter.
When matter is pulled toward a black hole, it is heated and produces intense radiation over a broad spectrum, including X–rays and optical light. This radiation creates pressure on the infalling material.
When the rate of infalling matter reaches a critical value, the radiation pressure balances the black hole’s gravity, and matter cannot normally fall inwards any more rapidly.
That maximum is referred to as the Eddington limit.
But what sets RACS J0320–35 apart is its high mass and unusually high growth rate.
RACS J0320–35 was discovered two years ago using NASA'sChandra X–ray Observatory, the world's most powerful X–ray telescope.
In orbit around Earth for more than 25 years now, Chandra is specially designed to detect X–ray emission from very hot regions of the universe.
Now, using data from the NASA telescope, researchers have been able to pinpoint the black hole's incredible growth rate.
It is growing at 2.4 times the Eddington limit – the theoretical maximum 'speed limit' that defines how fast a black hole can consume matter.
The Eddington limit is the point where the outward force of radiation overcomes the inward pull of gravity – the same gravity that's hoovering up surrounding matter.
According to the accepted theory, above this limit, all material falling into the black hole would be blown away because of the radiation pressure, shutting off the accretion that is feeding the black hole.
So the fact it is still growing – at 2.4 times the Eddington limit – is leaving scientists perplexed.
Artist rendering of the Chandra X–ray Observatory space telescope, the world's most powerful X–ray telescope, according to NASA
Scientists lifted the veil on the first images ever captured of a black hole in April 2019. The glowing orange ring shows the event horizon of M87, in the Virgo galaxy cluster
Remarkably, RACS J0320–35 is producing more X–rays than any other black hole seen in the first billion years of the universe, they say in their paper, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Black holes are so dense and their gravitational pull is so strong that no form of radiation can escape them - not even light.
They act as intense sources of gravity which hoover up dust and gas around them. Their intense gravitational pull is thought to be what stars in galaxies orbit around.
How they are formed is still poorly understood. Astronomers believe they may form when a large cloud of gas up to 100,000 times bigger than the sun, collapses into a black hole.
Many of these black hole seeds then merge to form much larger supermassive black holes, which are found at the centre of every known massive galaxy.
Alternatively, a supermassive black hole seed could come from a giant star, about 100 times the sun's mass, that ultimately forms into a black hole after it runs out of fuel and collapses.
When these giant stars die, they also go 'supernova', a huge explosion that expels the matter from the outer layers of the star into deep space.
The mysterious interstellar object traveling through our solar system has been spotted acting like no other comet ever seen before, revealing its alien origins.
Scientists from Michigan State University announced that they have uncovered new images of the object dubbed 3I/ATLAS, which were taken months before its official discovery in early July.
Those pictures revealed how 3I/ATLAS was spewing gas or dust into space long before it started approaching our sun, something highly unusual for a distant comet.
Although most scientists still believe 3I/ATLAS is an interstellar comet, and not an alien spacecraft, the new revelations suggested that the object formed in a totally alien solar system, giving it a chemical makeup far different from anything seen before.
Typically, comets traveling around our solar system emit gases such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, and small amounts of methane and ammonia as they move closer to the sun and heat up, causing their icy surfaces to release these materials.
However, the new images showed that 3I/ATLAS was releasing a gas while it was still six times as far as Earth's distance to the sun, roughly 558 million miles.
Scientists believe this means the mystery comet could be filled with a unique collection of molecules, including carbon monoxide, an odorless gas often produced by burning wood or fossil fuels.
Adina Feinstein, assistant professor of physics and astronomy at MSU, said: '3I/ATLAS gives us an opportunity to study other solar systems up close and personal, without actually needing to visit them.'
MSU researchers combed through images from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, and found evidence of 3I/ATLAS two months before it was officially discovered
3I/ATLAS won't make its closest pass by Earth until December, but scientists said it's already strange signs for a typical comet
Researchers used old images from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) to spot 3I/ATLAS before it was officially found on July 1, 2025.
The TESS images were taken between May 7 and June 2. TESS, originally designed to find planets around other stars, takes wide pictures of the sky.
Luckily, the team realized that 3I/ATLAS's current path lined up with the same plane the planets in our solar system travel along, making it possible for researchers to go back to look for the approaching comet.
In those reexamined pictures, the object appeared brighter than expected, suggesting it might have been releasing gases into space several months ago.
Study co-author John Noonan, a postdoctoral fellow at Auburn University, said: 'Capturing as many observations from this prediscovery period, where 3I/ATLAS may be in telescope images but wasn't previously identified, is essential to our understanding of how these objects 'turn on' as they approach our sun.'
Noonan added that 3I/ATLAS may not have been warmed up in millions, if not billions, of years, meaning it may react to our sun completely differently than other comets, which regularly visit our solar system.
The new study, published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, also found signs that 3I/ATLAS was already showing a tail, suggesting the object was somehow activated when it was still in the outer regions of the solar system near Saturn.
Comet tails usually form when the sun's heat causes frozen gases and dust to vaporize and escape, creating a visible trail that can stretch for millions of miles.
A new study found 3I/ATLAS was emitting gases into space long before it got close enough to our sun to melt normal gas and dust seen coming from other comets
The differences might be because 3I/ATLAS comes from a solar system which formed under very different conditions than ours.
Comets which orbit this solar system are mostly made of water ice, but 3I/ATLAS might have more carbon-based ices, which can turn into gas at colder temperatures.
This could reflect a place where the building blocks of planets and comets formed differently, possibly due to the type of star or the cosmic environment it came from.
'Learning about other solar systems places humanity into context,' Feinstein said.
'One of life's greatest questions is 'are we alone in the universe?' Each NASA mission gets us a little bit closer to answering this big, overarching question.'
3I/ATLAS is just days away from making its closest pass by Mars on October 3. It will be at its closest point to Earth on December 17, when the object will be approximately 223 million miles away.
Overview and Analysis of the September 2025 UAP Hearing, Hellfire Missile Footage, and Dylan Borland’s Testimony
Overview and Analysis of the September 2025 UAP Hearing, Hellfire Missile Footage, and Dylan Borland’s Testimony
The UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) hearing held on September 9, 2025, marked a significant moment in U.S. government transparency regarding unidentified aerial objects and related military encounters. Central to the proceedings was the presentation of compelling footage involving a U.S. Reaper drone firing a Hellfire missile at an unidentified glowing “orb” off the coast of Yemen. The missile, however, appeared to pass through or glance off the object without causing damage. This incident sparked widespread debate among enthusiasts, skeptics, and experts about the nature of the observed phenomena and the implications of the footage.
The Hellfire Missile Footage: What Was Shown?
During the hearing, video footage was displayed showing a military drone targeting an unidentified luminous object. The missile involved was a Hellfire, specifically the RX9 model, which is a kinetic, non-explosive missile designed primarily for precision strikes. The footage captured the missile approaching the object, but instead of destroying or damaging it, the missile seemed to pass through or deflect from the target.
Supporters of the extraterrestrial or extraordinary hypothesis interpret this footage as suggestive of an object that can evade conventional weaponry, possibly indicating advanced or non-human technology. Conversely, skeptics and mainstream analysts have dismissed the footage as a result of optical illusions, “balloon and parallax” effects, or simple misinterpretations of visual data. Outlets such as The War Zone and TMZ have argued that the object’s behavior aligns with known phenomena like balloons or visual parallax, and that the apparent speed or movement could be explained by optical illusions or camera angles.
The Concept of Parallax and Its Role in UFO Sightings
The reference to “parallax” is not new in UFO and UAP analysis. Parallax involves apparent shifts in an object’s position due to the observer’s movement, which can mislead viewers about an object’s size, distance, or speed. In May 2024, a paper released by AARO (All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office) addressed how forced perspective and parallax effects are common in UFO sightings and can even deceive airborne sensors. This approach echoes earlier comments by astronaut Scott Kelly during NASA’s UAP panel in May 2023, where he dismissed many pilot and astronaut sightings as illusions, emphasizing sensor unreliability.
Critics argue that such explanations serve as a “scientifically sounding” toolkit to dismiss difficult or inexplicable cases. They warn that framing phenomena as optical illusions or parallax effects risks dismissing potentially genuine anomalies, especially when the subject involves high-stakes military technology or encounters.
Significance of the Military Engagement Footage
What makes the Hellfire missile footage particularly noteworthy is that it depicts a direct military engagement with a suspected UAP. In typical military operations, supporting data—such as radar tracks, sensor logs, and after-action reports—are usually available to corroborate visual evidence. However, in this case, only the video has been publicly shared, with official data still withheld. This lack of transparency fuels skepticism from both believers and skeptics alike. If the government possesses classified data that explain the incident, its absence fuels questions about the true nature of the event.
Theories range from explanations involving advanced adversary technology (e.g., drone or missile jamming) to more extraordinary hypotheses involving non-human entities or unknown physics. The absence of supporting evidence beyond the footage leaves open many questions about the object’s nature, capabilities, and origin.
Analysis of the Video and Its Context
Patrick of the VETTED podcast expressed concerns over how the footage was presented and contextualized. His main critique was that the terminology used—calling the object an “orb”—and the lack of official explanation could mislead viewers into assuming an extraterrestrial origin. He pointed out that the missile used was a kinetic RX9 Hellfire without an explosive warhead, which is designed for precision strikes, not for causing spectacular explosions or damage visible on video.
Furthermore, Patrick suggested that the footage might have served a strategic purpose—to demonstrate air-to-air capabilities to adversaries—rather than providing conclusive evidence of a phenomenon beyond current understanding. This underscores the importance of how military footage is framed and the potential for it to be used for strategic messaging rather than scientific investigation.
Dylan Borland’s Role and Testimony
Among the witnesses at the hearing, Dylan Borland stood out due to his extensive background and expertise. With years of service as a USAF Geospatial Intelligence Analyst and later roles in aerospace and intelligence, Borland’s insights carry significant weight. His testimony was characterized by technical depth, integrity, and courage.
1. Background and Credentials:
- Served as a 1N1 Geospatial Intelligence Specialist in the U.S. Air Force from 2010 to 2013.
- Worked as a Senior Analyst with BAE Systems and Intrepid Solutions & Services.
-Specialized in analyzing video, radar, and electro-optical imagery related to aerial, naval, and ground objects.
Borland’s unique combination of military intelligence training and analytical skills placed him in a position to understand complex phenomena and data. Unlike other witnesses—such as former security officers or Navy personnel—Borland’s technical expertise provided him with a deeper understanding of the possible explanations and limitations of the available data.
2. Whistleblower Testimony:
Borland also delivered a detailed whistleblower statement under oath. He described credible field experiences involving a triangular-shaped UAP near Langley AFB and insights into legacy UAP programs. He claimed that his exposure to sensitive information led to retaliation and career obstructions, highlighting the potential risks faced by insiders who challenge official narratives.
His willingness to testify publicly and under oath added credibility and weight to his account, emphasizing the seriousness with which he viewed the subject. Borland’s testimony pointed to the possibility that government and military agencies possess more information than is publicly disclosed and that there may be ongoing efforts to understand or conceal certain phenomena.
Implications and Future Considerations
The hearing and the associated footage underscore several key issues:
Transparency vs. Secrecy:The absence of supporting data beyond video footage fuels ongoing debates about government transparency regarding UAP encounters. While the footage provides visual evidence, it lacks detailed contextual information such as sensor data, radar logs, or corroborative intelligence reports. This ambiguity raises questions about the motives behind withholding comprehensive information. Advocates for transparency argue that open access to data would foster public trust and enable independent analysis, potentially accelerating scientific understanding. Conversely, officials often cite national security concerns, fearing that releasing certain details could compromise classified methods or reveal vulnerabilities. Moving forward, establishing protocols for declassifying and sharing relevant data—while safeguarding sensitive information—will be crucial. This could involve creating secure, accessible repositories for researchers and the public, fostering a more informed and engaged dialogue about UAP phenomena and their implications for national security and scientific inquiry.
Nature of the Phenomena:The debate continues over whether these objects are advanced human-made technologies, natural phenomena, or something else entirely. The diversity of observed behaviors—such as rapid accelerations, sudden directional changes, and hovering without visible means of propulsion—complicates definitive identification. Some experts suggest these could be experimental military craft, possibly developed covertly by rival nations, designed to test new propulsion or stealth technologies. Others propose that the phenomena are natural atmospheric or optical effects, like ball lightning or mirages, though these explanations often fall short given the consistency and intelligence-like maneuvering of some sightings. An alternative hypothesis considers the possibility of extraterrestrial origin, which, while speculative, remains a subject of serious scientific inquiry. Future research should focus on collecting multi-sensor data, employing advanced detection systems, and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration to better understand these phenomena's true nature.
Strategic and Military Significance:The possibility that these encounters involve foreign adversaries or unknown physics demands careful analysis and cautious interpretation. If some UAP are indeed advanced aircraft from other nations, they could represent a significant intelligence threat, capable of circumventing existing detection and defense systems. This necessitates a reassessment of current military protocols and surveillance strategies. Additionally, if the phenomena involve physics beyond our current understanding—such as gravity manipulation or anti-gravity propulsion—this could revolutionize technology and security paradigms. Such breakthroughs could render current military assets obsolete, prompting a need for rapid adaptation. Therefore, nations must invest in dedicated research units, enhance radar and sensor capabilities, and develop international cooperation frameworks to monitor and respond to these phenomena effectively. A balanced approach—one that prioritizes security without inciting undue alarm—is essential for future policy formulation.
Expert Testimony andWhistleblowers: Witnesses like Dylan Borland bolster the credibility of claims that there is more to UAP phenomena than publicly acknowledged. Their insights could guide future investigations and policy decisions. Borland’s testimony, for instance, often highlights firsthand experiences of unexplained encounters, emphasizing the importance of transparency and systematic data collection. Such whistleblowers often face significant risks, including professional repercussions or personal security concerns, yet their contributions are invaluable. Their accounts can help identify patterns, correlate sightings across different regions, and provide leads for scientific analysis. Encouraging a culture of responsible reporting and protecting whistleblowers are vital steps toward building a comprehensive database. This, in turn, could facilitate the development of predictive models and foster international cooperation. Governments and scientific institutions should establish secure channels for whistleblowers and develop protocols to evaluate and integrate their testimonies objectively, ensuring that their insights lead to meaningful advances.
Media Framing and Public Perception:How footage and information are presented influences public understanding. Skeptics warn against sensationalism, fearing that exaggerated claims could undermine scientific credibility and provoke unnecessary panic. They advocate for cautious, evidence-based reporting, emphasizing the importance of peer-reviewed research and transparent methodologies. Conversely, advocates for disclosure argue that withholding information fuels conspiracy theories and public distrust. They emphasize that open communication—accompanied by rigorous scientific validation—can foster a more informed and rational discourse. The media’s framing impacts policy responses and societal attitudes toward UAP phenomena. Responsible journalism should aim to balance skepticism with curiosity, providing context and expert opinions to avoid misinformation. Public perception can be shaped positively by educational initiatives, transparent briefings, and inclusive dialogues involving scientists, policymakers, and the community. Ultimately, fostering an environment of trust and scientific integrity will be crucial for addressing future developments and ensuring societal resilience in the face of these enigmatic phenomena.
In conclusion, the ongoing debates and investigations surrounding UAP phenomena highlight the importance of a multifaceted approach—combining transparency, scientific rigor, strategic security measures, and responsible communication. As new data emerges and technology advances, nations and communities must collaborate to deepen understanding, safeguard security, and foster public trust. Establishing clear protocols for data sharing, investing in advanced detection and analysis tools, protecting whistleblowers, and promoting responsible media coverage will be essential steps in navigating the complex landscape of UAP research and policy. Future efforts should aim to bridge gaps between scientific inquiry and national security, ensuring that knowledge progresses in a manner that benefits society as a whole. By doing so, humanity can better prepare for and understand these phenomena, transforming uncertainty into opportunity for technological progress and scientific discovery.
Conclusion
The September 2025 UAP hearing, highlighted by the provocative Hellfire missile footage and the impactful testimony of Dylan Borland, represents a pivotal moment in the ongoing exploration of aerial anomalies. While definitive conclusions remain elusive, the combination of military engagement footage, expert analysis, and whistleblower accounts suggests that there are still many unanswered questions about the true nature of these phenomena. Moving forward, increased transparency, rigorous scientific investigation, and open dialogue will be essential to unraveling the mysteries that continue to captivate the public and defense communities alike.
Note:This overview synthesizes the key themes, controversies, and implications derived from the original 1470-word report, providing a comprehensive understanding suitable for readers seeking an informed analysis of recent developments in UAP research and military encounters.
The Clash Over UAP Transparency: Laslo, Luna, and the Fight for Visibility
The Clash Over UAP Transparency: Laslo, Luna, and the Fight for Visibility
The recent controversy surrounding Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) disclosures has thrust into the spotlight a complex and contentious debate about transparency, secrecy, and political motivations within the U.S. government. At the heart of this controversy are journalist Matt Laslo and Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna, whose conflicting actions and statements reflect broader tensions over how the United States handles information about UAPs. Their clash highlights issues of trust, censorship, and the potential politicization of what many hope will become a more transparent investigation into phenomena that continue to mystify the public and intelligence communities alike.
Background: The UAP Phenomenon and Government Response
UAPs have long been a subject of speculation and intrigue, often dismissed as conspiracy theories or dismissed as weather balloons and aircraft. However, in recent years, credible military and intelligence officials have acknowledged the existence of unidentified objects exhibiting capabilities beyond known technology. This acknowledgment has prompted calls for greater transparency and scientific inquiry, leading to the establishment of panels and task forces aimed at declassifying and understanding these phenomena.
One such effort is the Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, which was created to oversee the release and examination of classified information related to UAPs. Led by Congresswoman Luna, this panel was supposed to serve as a bridge between government secrecy and public knowledge. Yet, critics have argued that the task force lacks the necessary resources—no budget, no staff, and no independent authority—to effectively conduct its mission. Promised hearings have been canceled, whistleblower briefings have not been scheduled, and there are even discussions among some lawmakers to dismantle the agency altogether, favoring a shift of responsibility to more secretive agencies like the FBI.
This context underscores a fundamental issue: while the government claims to want transparency, its actions suggest a reluctance or inability to fully disclose information. The establishment of a supposedly transparent panel that remains hamstrung by bureaucratic limitations raises questions about the sincerity of the government’s intentions.
Laslo’s Role as a Whistleblower and Journalist
Matt Laslo, a reporter with Ask a Pol, is one of the few journalists consistently covering UAP issues from Capitol Hill. As the only boots-on-the-ground journalist focusing on this niche, Laslo has gained access to some of the inner workings of the UAP investigation. His reporting has, at times, brought to light discrepancies and concerns about the government’s handling of the phenomenon.
Laslo alleges that whistleblowers—individuals with direct knowledge of classified UAP information—no longer trust Luna. He claims that this erosion of trust is partly due to Luna’s actions and statements, which appear to block transparency. Laslo’s reporting intensified when he uncovered information suggesting Luna told him she “can’t talk about bodies she and Matt Gaetz saw.” Although Luna did not outright confirm the existence of bodies, her cryptic response, “I cannot discuss these things, you know that,” fueled speculation.
Sources close to Laslo indicate that Luna and Congressman Matt Gaetz might have been briefed on a video showing bodies—an assertion that both Luna and Gaetz publicly deny ever having seen such bodies. Gaetz’s office acknowledged that a classified briefing took place but refused to comment on its contents. The ambiguity surrounding these claims adds to the controversy, with many viewing it as a potential cover-up or at least a sign of internal disagreements over transparency.
The Gag Rule and Suppression of the Press
As tensions mounted, Luna took an increasingly aggressive stance towards the press, particularly Laslo. She moved to restrict access to the Task Force, effectively implementing what Laslo describes as a "gag rule." This move blocks him—and by extension, the public—from following the investigation and obtaining information about UAPs through official channels. Such censorship directly contradicts Luna’s campaign promises of transparency and openness, leading critics to accuse her of undermining the very purpose of the task force.
This shift towards suppression has significant implications. If the panel designed to shed light on secretive information is actively silencing journalists and restricting access, it risks becoming a tool of secrecy rather than disclosure. The public’s right to know about phenomena that could have national security implications is being compromised, raising concerns about the politicization of UAP investigations.
Broader Reactions and Concerns
The controversy has not gone unnoticed outside Capitol Hill. Media outlets such as Psicoactivo and Down To Earth have highlighted the issues of censorship, bias, and politicization surrounding the UAP debate. Their coverage emphasizes the troubling possibility that the very institutions created to promote transparency are instead becoming enclaves of secrecy. This phenomenon reflects a broader pattern in government transparency initiatives, where the initial promise of openness is undermined by bureaucratic inertia and political self-interest.
For many, the current state of affairs signals a setback in the quest to understand UAPs. The idea that a supposedly independent task force is now operating under restrictions and possibly internal conflicts suggests that the government may be more interested in controlling the narrative than in revealing the truth. The suppression of whistleblower testimonies, the cancellation of hearings, and the reluctance to declassify information reinforce fears that UAPs remain a taboo subject within official circles.
Implications for Public Trust and Future Disclosure
The conflict between Laslo and Luna encapsulates a deeper issue: the erosion of public trust in government institutions regarding national security and scientific transparency. When representatives and officials appear to withhold information or censor journalists, it fuels suspicion and conspiracy theories. Conversely, transparency and open inquiry could foster public trust, scientific progress, and better policy responses.
The debate also raises questions about the role of Congress and the executive branch in managing sensitive information. Should panels like Luna’s be empowered with resources and independence to facilitate truthful disclosures? Or should national security concerns limit what can be shared with the public? Finding a balance between these priorities is essential for maintaining both security and transparency.
Conclusion: A Critical Juncture in UAP Discourse
The clash between journalist Matt Laslo and Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna reflects the broader struggle over the future of UAP transparency in the United States. Laslo’s expose of possible censorship and the secrecy surrounding high-level briefings highlight the challenges faced by independent journalists and concerned citizens seeking clarity. Luna’s actions, whether driven by political motives or genuine security concerns, have cast doubt on the government’s commitment to openness.
As the debate continues, it is vital for policymakers, the media, and the public to advocate for transparency, accountability, and scientific rigor in investigating UAPs. Only through honest and open discourse can society hope to understand these mysterious phenomena and address the implications they hold for national security, scientific progress, and our collective curiosity about the unknown. The current conflicts serve as a reminder that transparency should be the guiding principle—one that transcends politics and bureaucracy in the quest for truth.
Webb Detects Complex Structures in Upper Atmosphere of Saturn
Webb Detects Complex Structures in Upper Atmosphere of Saturn
Astronomers using the NASA/ESA James Webb Space Telescope have detected a series of dark, bead-like and asymmetric star-shaped features in the ionosphere and stratosphere of Saturn.
Detections of near-infrared emissions in Saturn’s ionosphere (left) show dark bead-like features embedded within bright aurora; in the stratosphere (right), 500 km below, a lopsided star-pattern extends towards the equator.
Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / Stallard et al.
“This opportunity to use Webb was the first time we have ever been able to make such detailed near-infrared observations of Saturn’s aurora and upper atmosphere. The results came as a complete surprise,” said Northumbria University’s Professor Tom Stallard.
“We anticipated seeing emissions in broad bands at the various levels.”
“Instead, we’ve seen fine-scaled patterns of beads and stars that, despite being separated by huge distances in altitude, may somehow be interconnected — and may also be linked to the famous hexagon deeper in Saturn’s clouds.”
“These features were completely unexpected and, at present, are completely unexplained.”
The researchers focused on detecting infrared emissions by a positively charged molecular form of hydrogen, H3+, which plays a key role in reactions in Saturn’s atmosphere and so can provide valuable insights into the chemical and physical processes at work.
Webb’s Near Infrared Spectrograph allowed the scientists to simultaneously observe H3+ ions from the ionosphere, 1,100 km above Saturn’s nominal surface, and methane molecules in the underlying stratosphere, at an altitude of 600 km.
In the electrically charged plasma of the ionosphere, they observed a series of dark, bead-like features embedded in bright auroral halos.
These structures remained stable over hours but appeared to drift slowly over longer periods.
Around 500 km lower, in Saturn’s stratosphere, the team discovered an asymmetric star-shaped feature.
This unusual structure extended out from Saturn’s north pole towards the equator.
Only four of the star’s six arms were visible, with two mysteriously missing, creating a lopsided pattern.
“Saturn’s upper atmosphere has proven incredibly difficult to study with missions and telescope facilities to date due to the extremely weak emissions from this region,” Professor Stallard said.
“Webb’s incredible sensitivity has revolutionized our ability to observe these atmospheric layers, revealing structures that are completely unlike anything we’ve seen before on any planet.”
The authors mapped the exact locations of the features and found that they overlaid the same region of Saturn at different levels, with the star’s arms appearing to emanate from positions directly above the points of the storm-cloud-level hexagon.
This suggests that the processes that are driving the patterns may influence a column stretching right through Saturn’s atmosphere.
“We think that the dark beads may result from complex interactions between Saturn’s magnetosphere and its rotating atmosphere, potentially providing new insights into the energy exchange that drives Saturn’s aurora,” Professor Stallard said.
“The asymmetric star pattern suggests previously unknown atmospheric processes operating in Saturn’s stratosphere, possibly linked to the hexagonal storm pattern observed deeper in Saturn’s atmosphere.”
“Tantalizingly, the darkest beads in the ionosphere appear to line up with the strongest star-arm in the stratosphere, but it’s not clear at this point whether they are actually linked or whether it’s just a coincidence.”
While both features could have significant implications for understanding atmospheric dynamics on gas giant planets, more work is needed to provide explanations for the underlying causes.
The team hopes that additional time may be granted in future to carry out follow-up observations of Saturn with Webb to further explore the features.
With the planet at its equinox, which occurs approximately every 15 Earth years, the structures may change dramatically as Saturn’s orientation to the Sun shifts and the northern hemisphere moves into autumn.
“Since neither atmospheric layer can be observed using ground-based telescopes, the need for follow-up Webb observations during this key time of seasonal change on Saturn is pressing,” said Professor Stallard, lead author of a paper published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
Tom S. Stallard et al. 2025. JWST/NIRSpec Detection of Complex Structures in Saturn’s Sub-Auroral Ionosphere and Stratosphere. Geophysical Research Letters 52 (17): e2025GL116491; doi: 10.1029/2025GL116491
Tom S. Stallard et al. 2025. JWST’s transformational observations of Giant Planet ionospheres. EPSC Abstracts 18: EPSC-DPS2025-817; doi: 10.5194/epsc-dps2025-1438
Alien hunters claim they have 'solved' Roswell mystery as new 'crash site footage' emerges
Alien hunters claim they have 'solved' Roswell mystery as new 'crash site footage' emerges
Alien hunters reckon they have spotted crashed “UFO debris” and "alien bodies” in newly found footage of the Roswell incident
BY Aaron Tinney
Newly-found footage has emerged of the Roswell incident
(Image: (Image: Getty))
Alien hunters reckon they have spotted crashed “UFO debris” and "alien bodies” in newly found footage of the Roswell incident.
The ET obsessives claim to have made the discovery after a 22-minute video titled The Roswell Incident quietly surfaced on the US National Archives website.
It has sparked fresh speculation over one of the world’s most enduring UFO mysteries. The footage – largely composed of images from the published Roswell Report, as well as various magazines and books about UFOs – ends with a striking black-and-white image of a crater strewn with metallic debris.
Online users insist the scene resembles long-rumoured accounts of the alleged 1947 UFO crash site.
Roswell continues to be a source of intrigue
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Some claim the footage shows an alien body, though experts remain sceptical. UFO researcher Mark Lee said: “Just because it's been added to the National Archives doesn't give it scientific validation. If it came out as a release from the military or Congress, I would take it a lot more seriously.”
A video titled 'The Roswell Incident' was uploaded to the National Archives. Social media users claim an image in the footage shows UFO debris (left) and an alien body (right)
He also noted the supposed “alien” is likely pareidolia – the human tendency to see faces in patterns.
Official investigations have long attributed the “UFO debris” to Project Mogul, a Cold War balloon programme designed to detect Soviet nuclear tests. But the newly posted film has reignited debate, with believers hailing it as another piece in the “slow drip” of disclosure over the Roswell mystery.
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- Gemiddelde waardering: 0/5 - (0 Stemmen) Categorie:ALIEN LIFE, UFO- CRASHES, ABDUCTIONS, MEN IN BLACK, ed ( FR. , NL; E )
Quest For Mu: 200,000-Year Old Sunken Pacific Continent
Quest For Mu: 200,000-Year Old Sunken Pacific Continent
Gibel Atlantidy by N.Roerich (1929)
(Public Domain)
In the 19th century a Hindu priest introduced British army Colonel James Churchward to ancient tablets, revealing the existence of a primordial lost civilization, which led to Churchward’s lifetime quest, spanning several continents and islands, to unravel the mysteries of Mu, a Pacific continent, which was destroyed in a cataclysmic shift of the earth’s poles. He discovered remnants and relics of this 200,000-year old civilization, and considered the great civilizations of Atlantis and the old Oriental empires, India, Egypt and Babylonia, as the ‘offspring’ or dying embers of Mu.
Colonel James Churchward
(Public Domain)
James Churchward Meets The Rishi
Colonel James Churchward was born in Devonshire (southern England) in 1851. The Churchwards were an old Devonshire family with a strong Masonic background. He told friends that he had been educated at Oxford and the military academy at Sandhurst. In 1868, at only 18 years of age, he was sent to India as a young military officer. As part of the British military in occupied India, Churchward eventually rose to the rank of Colonel. His first assignment brought him to Central India to assist in famine relief, and it was here that he made a contact that would change his life. A high-ranking Hindu priest, known as a rishi from a temple school monastery befriended him, and a 12-year association began. As the friendship deepened, the rishi gave Churchward access to some very rare and mystical ancient tablets which had purportedly been hidden in the temple vaults for thousands of years. The tablets were carved with arcane symbols, and the rishi began teaching Churchward how to interpret some of the simpler signs. Churchward proved an avid student, and the lessons continued until eventually Churchward had mastered the language—supposed to be the original language of mankind!
19th- Century Marichi, a Rishi and son of Brahma.
(Public Domain)
The tablets revealed facts about the origin of civilization, and the tales they told of an advanced worldwide culture that disappeared after cataclysmic earth changes in the far distant past would “fire the dullest imagination.” After 12 years of studying Mu (as this mother civilization was known) with the rishi, Churchward felt it was time to leave India. His knowledge of the primordial civilization described on the tablets of the temple, combined with a scholar-adventurer’s curiosity and wanderlust, spurred him to search for further evidence of this civilization.
Following the Trail From Asia To Egypt
About 1880, the Colonel retired from the British military and left India for the South Seas (specifically, Tonga and the Caroline Islands). Here, Churchward found evidence for the existence of Mu in the form of rock carvings, which he deciphered using the language of Mu. These carvings, which he believed were being read correctly for the first time since the fall of Mu, prompted him to continue his search in Tibet and parts of Central Asia. One would imagine that Churchward used his status and contacts as a retired Colonel to travel relatively cheaply with military convoys, sleeping in army barracks and such. His letters of introduction from other British officers would no doubt serve him well. Travel in the late 1800s and early 1900s was expensive and slow, especially in Central Asia and the vast Pacific; even today many Pacific Islands are difficult and expensive to reach. Churchward became an extremely well-traveled man for the time period, by any standard.
Facade of the Egyptian Museum, Tahrir Square, Cairo
(Diego Delso/ CC BY-SA 3.0)
From Tibet, Central Asia and India, Churchward journeyed to Egypt where he explored the pyramids and visited the Bulaq Museum in the ancient city of Cairo (now the Cairo Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, Egypt’s main museum). Churchward examined Egyptian hieroglyphs and papyrii in light of the symbol-language of Mu and attempted to translate some of the documents in terms of that arcane language taught to him by the rishi.
Evidence Of The Pole Shift
About 1885, Churchward found his way to Siberia and the valley of the Lena River. He was now looking for evidence of ancient cataclysms, which, if it could be found, would lend credence to the idea that an ancient, advanced civilization such as Mu could disappear. Churchward wanted to see the piles of mammoth bones and tusks washed up in tidal waves on the Lackoff Islands (The Islands of Bones) just beyond the mouth of the Lena. He was convinced by these giant piles of ivory and bones that a ‘pole shift’ phenomenon had occurred in the past, where the earth’s crust slipped several degrees toward the equator causing massive tidal waves to wash over portions of the earth and ultimately cause the sinking of entire continents such as Mu.
From Siberia he made his way toward the Ural Mountains and what he called “the end of the Drift Line.” Here his trail in search of the cataclysms of the past ended, and Churchward felt he had the geological and historical proof that he needed to establish the existence of ancient civilizations. Churchward had been told by the rishi that an ancient civilization contemporaneous with Mu had existed in the Gobi Desert, and found evidence in the region to make him believe this was true. The local tradition of the land of Shambala (or Agartha) told that it was the remnant of an advanced ancient civilization that was also destroyed in the cataclysmic pole shift, with its attendant earthquakes, tidal waves and volcanic activity.
Map Pacific Islands Region
(Public Domain)
Australasia And The South Pacific Islands
Churchward then went to Australia where he worked for some years. Urged by relatives to visit New Zealand, Churchward there gathered some information from local Maoris that again sent him traveling for further evidence of Mu. He journeyed as a passenger on assorted tramp steamers going to various Polynesian Islands in the South Pacific. For over two years he explored numerous islands and island groups, including Samoa, Tahiti, the Marquesas, Tonga, the Gilbert Islands, the Cook Islands, Easter Island, Hawaii and others. Churchward believed the megalithic remains he found throughout the region, coupled with island legends of sunken continents, were the final evidence he needed to write his book on the ancient, sunken continent of Mu. He believed that he had at last substantiated the stories he had learned through his studies with the rishi.
Says Churchward: “That story is the story of Mu and her vast civilization which spread over the whole world 20,000 to 200,000 years ago, inclusive. It is the story, not only of how that civilization grew, but of how it was destroyed and lapsed into the savagery out of which our own modern culture has developed.”
William Niven (1850-1937), mineralogist and archaeologist (circa 1895)
(Public Domain).
Niven’s Tablets Of Mexico
So, James Churchward, with his extensive documentation, including photographs, personal paintings and proofs, came to America, where he settled in New York by 1888. He soon met Percy Tate Griffith, who was to become his best friend in his later years. Churchward lived in New York until his death in 1936, with the exception of two years when he joined his friend William Niven in Mexico and Central America. Niven’s discoveries of ancient buried cities in the valley of Mexico were exciting to Churchward and he joined Niven in Mexico City and traveled to the Yucatan and other areas of Central America to compare the records discovered there with those he had found the world over.
Back in New York, Percy Tate Griffith would sit in the evenings with Churchward, and they were often joined by Augustus and Alice LePlongeon. Augustus LePlongeon was a dedicated French Mason and had done much of the early excavations at Chichen Itza in the Yucatan. His book Queen Moo and the Egyptian Sphinx was published in 1900 in London and was popular among archaeologists and mystics of the time. Churchward, Griffith and the LePlongeons would sit in Churchward’s or Griffith’s study for hours talking about Atlantis, Mexico, Tiahuanaco and Churchward’s belief in his sunken continent of Mu.
The Lost Continent Of Mu
By the early 1920s and Churchward in his old age began to tell his friends of the Golden Age that had existed thousands of years ago on the sunken continent of Mu. This culminated in the self-publishing in 1926 of The Lost Continent of Mu. Churchward’s book made quite a splash at the time. It received wide attention from reviewers and became the subject of much discussion. Indeed, such groups as the Rosicrucians (AMORC) and the Lemurian Fellowship took Churchward’s books to heart and sought to elaborate on his works, with which they were largely in agreement.
Churchward's map showing how he thought Mu refugees spread out after the cataclysm through South America, along the shores of Atlantis, and into Africa
(Public Domain)
Churchward was a very good artist and filled his books with his own maps and paintings, as well as photographs he had collected in his travels. He had sketched the megalithic arch in Tonga back in 1876, probably before he ever thought he would write a book. He cut a publishing deal with the New York City publisher Ives Washburn (now defunct) for the republishing of his book, plus the publishing of his follow-up books. The Children of Mu and The Sacred Symbols of Mu came in quick succession. Said the cover blurb for The Children of Mu, a book largely about the colonization of Atlantis and the rest of the world: “When Mu, the now-lost Pacific continent, became overcrowded, colonization began... and America was one of Mu’s first colonies. From America to Atlantis to Europe and Africa the movement of colonization continued, until cataclysms destroyed Mu and Atlantis.”
The cover copy for The Sacred Symbols of Mu reads: “James Churchward continues his occult and historical explorations of the world’s most fabled lost civilization—Mu, the motherland of mankind. Stressing the common origin of all contemporary religions, Churchward’s highly unorthodox, startling theories about the ‘Sacred Inspired Writings of Mu’ suggest that this ancient text was the basis of Christianity itself! No student of the occult, comparative religion or anthropology can afford to miss the excitement.”
Churchward was a popular media figure for a few short years, and in 1934 and 1935 his final books were published. The cover copy on The Cosmic Forces of Mu, Volume One reads: “The Cosmic Forces of Mu were understood perfectly as recently as 15,000 years ago. Their application brought this lost civilization to extraordinary peaks of technology—accomplishments we are only now beginning to understand and achieve. Working from ancient tablets, James Churchward has recreated this astounding science. Everyone fascinated by prehistoric times and the occult will be gripped by The Cosmic Forces of Mu.”
The cover copy on The Cosmic Forces of Mu, Volume Two reads: “In this fifth book in his amazing Mu series, James Churchward challenges many of the theories and ‘knowledge’ of modern science with a startling new interpretation of the birth of earth based on the ancient wisdom of the lost civilization of Mu. That there was no such period as the Ice Age—and he tells what happened and why. That the center of the earth is not molten lava but gas. That Man in his present form lived through all the cataclysmic changes of the earth—and he gives archaeological proof of it.”
Colonel James Churchward died approximately one year after the publication of his final book. He died satisfied that the lessons of the rishi had filled the void that had come in his life after leaving India, and the world had now heard the rishi’s message.
Moʻai facing inland at Ahu Tongariki, on Easter Island restored by Chilean archaeologist Claudio Cristino in the 1990s
(CC BY-SA 2.5)
Excerpt From: The Children Of Mu – The Origin of Man
The Land of Mu was a large continent situated in the Pacific Ocean between America and Asia, its center lying somewhat south of the equator. Basing its area on the remains which are still above water, it would have been about 6,000 miles from east to west, and about 3,000 from north to south. All the rocky islands, individually and in groups, scattered over the Pacific Ocean were once part of the continent of Mu. About 12,000 years ago cataclysmic earthquakes rent Mu asunder. She became a fiery vortex, and the waters of the Pacific rushed in, making a watery grave for a vast civilization and 60-million people. Easter Island, Tahiti, Samoas, Cook, Tongas, Marshall, Gilbert, Caroline, Marianas, Hawaii and the Marquesas are the pathetic fingers of that great land, standing today as sentinels to a silent grave.
Map of the location of Mu (Author provided with permission
The existence of this great continent is confirmed by: Naacal tablets, books, writings, inscriptions and legends found in India, China, Burma, Tibet and Cambodia; ancient Maya books, inscriptions, symbols and legends found in Yucatan and Central America; remains, inscriptions, symbols and legends found among the Pacific Islands; stone tablets found in Mexico near Mexico City; cliff dwellers’ writings and inscriptions found in Western North America; books of old Greek philosophers; books and writings of the ancient Egyptians and legends throughout the world.
These confirmations are all given in The Lost Continent of Mu. They show that there was once a large continent of land in the Pacific Ocean called the Land of Mu. On this great continent man made his advent on earth about 200,000 years ago. The Land of Mu and the Biblical Garden of Eden were one and the same land. Both the Naacal and the Mexican tablets show clearly that man is a special creation. They also show in what way he differs from all other creations. An account of the creation is given in both sets of tablets which is very similar to the Biblical account. At the time of Mu’s destruction her people were in an exceedingly high state of civilization; as regards science she was far ahead of the present time. No wonder! She was at the end of 200,000 years of experience and development.
The great civilizations of the old Oriental empires — India, Egypt, Babylonia, etc. — were only the dying embers of Mu’s great civilization. They were her children, who withered and died without her care. All tablets, inscriptions and writings which I used in The Lost Continent of Mu are accompanied by keys for reading them. Every assertion made is accompanied by reasonable proof. The facts are there. The theories will have to take care of themselves. I wish it understood that what is revealed of the past in my writings must not be considered discoveries by me. I am simply stating what I find in writings that run from 12,000 to 70,000 years ago if the mode of keeping time was correct.
Confucius meets Lao-tzu and Buddhist Arhat (Ming Dynasty) Palace Museum, Beijing. (Public Domain)
What is disclosed in these writings is startling, yet archaeology and geological phenomena corroborate the facts without calling to our aid legends which also confirm them. Lao Tsu, the Chinese sage of 600 BC, speaks of the great learning and advancement of his prehistoric forefathers. The ancients were wise and thoughtful for those who were to come after them. They left indestructible records written on clay and stone. This wisdom is spoken of by Souchis priests of Sais to Solon the Greek, as recorded in Plutarch. These writings have been broken up and many of them lost. As they were universal among the ancients, scraps and fragments of them are found in all quarters of the earth. When put together they supplement one another to a great extent, so that by combining them we can make a beginning towards unraveling the wonders of the earth’s First Great Civilization. For over 50 years I have been hunting these scraps and putting them together so as to form the beginning of an intelligent tale of the Creation and Man. It rests with those who come after me to complete the tale.
Ancient relics, that can be traced back as coming directly from Mu, the Motherland, are extremely rare. During the past few years, I have been singularly fortunate in finding two that are at least intimately connected with Mu. Both are symbolic figures in bronze. They were either made in the Motherland or in one of the ancient Uighur cities before the eastern half of that great empire was destroyed by the north running wave of the last magnetic cataclysm which was the ‘Biblical Flood’. This wave destroyed all the country over which it ran, the people were drowned and the cities washed away or buried under the drift. The Uighur capital city today lies under 50 feet of boulders, gravel and sand. It is situated in the Gobi Desert, which today has large areas of rock only, the soil and everything with it having been washed away by the ‘Flood’. I am using one of these relics as the frontispiece of this book. It is, without question, one of the two oldest bronzes in existence. If Uighur, it is about 18,000 or 20,000 years old. If from Mu, the age cannot be estimated. This figure is a symbol of Mu as the great ruler. The fineness of the workmanship is not to be found surpassed, and very seldom equaled in any of the prominent jewelry stores in our big cities today. Both symbols have been in America for about 150 years. I know their history, but the less said about it the better since, in the Oriental home from which they were taken, they were without question sacred relics. The British Museum has three scepters which undoubtedly were manufactured in Mu before she went down.
The Deluge by Francis Danby (1840) (Public Domain)
In Mu, the Motherland, there were ten distinct tribes. Although they were physically easily differentiated, there were few variations in language, and these only of a minor character. A greater change is seen in their glyphs or writings. In the Motherland each of her people occupied its own territory; and, when various tribes took part in the colonization of a new country, they did not settle down indiscriminately, but each tribe took its own land and built its own cities as their fathers did in Mu. They settled down adjoining each other and formed a homogeneous whole. Every letter in every word in the ancient language of Mu is pronounced. Mu is pronounced Moo; A is pronounced ah; U is pronounced oo as in moon; Ta is pronounced tah; Tau is pronounced ta-oo. This original form of isolation grew with time so that the tribes eventually became separate peoples, and finally nations. And as the isolation became greater, changes in language crept in.
Adieu Professional Traveler
James Churchward was a fascinating man, and truly a man for all seasons. He was a military man and administrator, a mystic and student of ancient languages, an artist and mapmaker, as well as a calligrapher. He was also a salesman, an inventor and author. For many years he was that rarest of breed, ‘the professional traveler’.
David Hatcher Childress, is a captivating speaker and the author or coauthor of over 20 books. He is the founder of the World Explorer’s Club
Top Image: Gibel Atlantidy by N.Roerich (1929) (Public Domain)
Observed for the first time, a phenomenon where metals repair themselves by healing small cracks could upend our understanding of material theories, and may ultimately lead to revolutionary new engineering concepts like self-healing machines.
Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories studying how microscopic cracks form in metals found that under the right circumstances, metals repair themselves, conjuring imagery similar to the famous villain seen in the film Terminator 2: Judgement Day.
Previously, scientists and engineers believed that cracks in metals only got worse over time and that the idea of these complex materials repairing themselves was impossible. If this latest finding can be applied in a practical way, future applications with more complex machines and structures like airplanes or bridges could potentially allow them to heal microscopic cracks before catastrophic failure occurs.
Crack in Metals Are Not Supposed to Repair Themselves
For decades, engineers and scientists who work with metals were confident about two things: metals form microscopic cracks after repeated loads, and over time those cracks can and will grow until they lead to catastrophic failure. Even simulation software used by engineers to develop anything from engine parts to massive structures takes these microscopic, often nanometer-in-size, cracks into account.
In 2013, Michael Demkowicz, an assistant professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Department of materials science and Engineering who is now a full professor at Texas A&M University, started to think that modern science may be wrong and that under certain circumstances, metals should be able to heal these micro fractures. After some research, theory, and simulations, he published his concept in October of that same year.
“We present a new mechanism—discovered using molecular dynamics simulations—that leads to complete healing of nanocracks,” he wrote in the paper’s abstract outlining his simulations.
Now a decade later, a team of researchers working at Sandia National Labs who were simply studying how cracks evolve in platinum stumbled on a real-world version of the phenomenon that Demkowicz had modeled in computer simulations.
MetalS Heal Thyself?
“Cracks in metals were only ever expected to get bigger, not smaller,” explained Brad Boyce, a materials scientist at Sandia Labs. “Even some of the basic equations we use to describe crack growth preclude the possibility of such healing processes.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the myriad examples of accidental discoveries throughout the history of science, Boyce said that their experiments were actually designed for another purpose altogether and that they “certainly weren’t looking for it” when they saw the cracks seem to heal themselves magically.
Instead, Khalid Hattar, currently an associate professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Chris Barr, who is now at the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy, was running a simple experiment that involved a specialized electron microscope technique designed to pull on the ends of metal 200 times per second. In this case, that metal was a piece of platinum that Hattar and Barr were studying to see how these microscale cracks form under this repeated stress. And then they saw something unexpected that left them stunned.
“About 40 minutes into the experiment, the damage reversed course,” the team explains in a press release announcing the unexpected finding. “One end of the crack fused back together as if it was retracing its steps, leaving no trace of the former injury.”
(Credit: Sandia Labs)
Although Boyce was familiar with the theory laid out by Demkowicz, he was still shocked to see it actually happen.
“This was absolutely stunning to watch first-hand,” he said.
The stunned scientist immediately communicated the findings to Demkowicz, letting him know that his theory and simulations were right.
“I was very glad to hear it, of course,” Demkowicz said of his initial reaction before successfully confirming on his simulation software that the effect the research team working at Sandi was witnessing was indeed the same one he had theorized.
Ryan Schoell works on a transmission electron microscope at Sandia Labs, analyzing how a sample of platinum gold cracks at a microscopic level on Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022. Photo by Craig Fritz/Sandia National Laboratories
Practical Application of the Self-Repair Process Offers Challenges and Hope
While the researchers involved are confident in their findings, which were published in the journal Nature, they also caution that applying it in a real-world environment will face many challenges and may not necessarily even be possible.
“The extent to which these findings are generalizable will likely become a subject of extensive research,” Boyce explained. “We show this happening in nanocrystalline metals in [a] vacuum. But we don’t know if this can also be induced in conventional metals in air.”
Still, the theorists and researchers believe it is worth more investigation, and if successful, they see a number of critical potential applications. These include helping bridges, buildings, and other pieces of critical infrastructure last longer and be safer for a longer period of time before needing traditional maintenance. The same goes for aerospace, aviation, and even automotive and maritime engineers, who would likely jump at the opportunity to help the critical components they maintain see dramatic reductions in material failures that, in some cases, end up being fatal.
“From solder joints in our electronic devices to our vehicle’s engines to the bridges that we drive over, these structures often fail unpredictably due to cyclic loading that leads to crack initiation and eventual fracture,” Boyce said. “When they do fail, we have to contend with replacement costs, lost time, and, in some cases, even injuries or loss of life. The economic impact of these failures is measured in hundreds of billions of dollars every year for the U.S.”
Fundamentally, Demkowicz says he is happy to have offered his fellow scientists dealing with the properties of materials a new way of looking at old problems.
“My hope is that this finding will encourage materials researchers to consider that, under the right circumstances, materials can do things we never expected,” Demkowicz said.
Christopher Plain is a Science Fiction and Fantasy novelist and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on Twitter, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him directly at christopher@thedebrief.org.
The presence of non-human intelligence on Earth has long been debated by UFO enthusiasts as some claim that the US government is hiding the truth from the general public. Many officials who worked within the government have supported these claims on/off camera. Moreover, if Robert O. Dean’s claims about UFOs and extraterrestrials are true, then they have the potential to turn the world upside down.
Robert O. Dean, a former US Army Command Sergeant Major, revealed shocking information regarding extraterrestrial visitation. Drawing upon his experiences and knowledge from his time in the military, Major Dean shared intriguing details about various extraterrestrial groups and their interaction with humanity. His revelations indicate that the reality of extraterrestrial life extends far beyond what we previously imagined.
His credibility cannot be questioned as he worked at NATO headquarter from 1963 to 1967. He claimed to have come across the 1964 report called “An Assessment,” the NATO military study that acknowledged and analyzed the implications of the alien presence on Earth. After his military career, he revealed this information at the Roswell 50th anniversary celebration.
During his lecture on UFOs at Leeds University, Major Dean said that authorities were aware of the presence of four distinct extraterrestrial groups during his active service. However, by the time he retired, this knowledge expanded exponentially. He claimed that the United States military, and likely the British military as well, were aware of at least 12 different groups involved in interactions with Earth.
Former US military retired Major Robert Dean. Image in public domain
Astonishingly, he mentioned hearing from trusted sources that there may be well over a hundred different alien groups coming and going from unknown origins. Such a revelation challenged the conventional understanding of alien visitation and suggested a complex interplay between Earth and various extraterrestrial civilizations.
Of the four alien main groups, one particular group caught the attention of high-ranking military officials in 1964 and 1967. This group resembled humans to such an extent that they could seamlessly blend into society, sitting beside people on airplanes, in restaurants, or even in theaters without arousing suspicion.
The uncanny resemblance troubled military leaders profoundly, as their natural paranoia led them to question the possibility of alien intelligence freely navigating the corridors of power, such as SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe) headquarters or even the Pentagon. The notion that these beings could potentially infiltrate the White House triggered a mix of nervous laughter and concern among the military personnel present.
However, Major Dean emphasized that the resemblance between these extraterrestrial beings and humans should be interpreted differently. He proposed that it was humanity who shared a likeness with these advanced beings, suggesting a profound connection between the two. He hinted that there existed a compelling reason for this similarity, which he regrettably did not elaborate on during the lecture.
Moreover, Major Dean revealed that extraterrestrial visitation extended far beyond simple interplanetary interaction. The military, scientists, and planners learned that we were dealing with beings from interstellar and even intergalactic origins. Surprisingly, these advanced non-human intellgence exhibited multi-dimensional characteristics, which enabled them to manipulate both matter and time. The repeated demonstrations of these mind-bending capabilities were intended to capture humanity’s attention and challenge our understanding of the universe.
He emphasized that these alien visitors were not merely curious explorers from other planets, but were deeply interested in humanity itself. Their multi-dimensional nature and mastery over time and matter presented a mind-boggling challenge to traditional Newtonian and Einsteinian physics.
Major Dean expressed that only theoretical physicists, particularly those specializing in quantum physics, were equipped to begin comprehending the intricacies of multi-dimensional visitation. He acknowledged the ongoing collaboration between quantum physicists in the United States and Great Britain, suggesting that they were at the forefront of unraveling this enigma.
As Major Dean admitted, he is not a physicist or scientist, making it difficult for him to explain the intricacies of dimensions. He said: “I’m not a physicist, I’m not a scientist. I can’t begin to tell you what a dimension is, for that matter. I’m told we live in three, and that’s quite a simple world that we have around us. I’m told that time and space is the fourth.
Theoretical physicists have told me that there are as many as ten different dimensions. I cannot, for a moment, grasp what that means. I do, however, accept that it’s probably real. The evidence that I have seen over my last 40 years has told me that this is not fantasy, this is not science fiction, this is all real. And, ladies and gentlemen, this reality, when it becomes known and when it makes an impact upon our world, is going to change our world forever. You talk about a paradigm shift, that’s an understatement. The old world we have known for so long is literally coming to an end, and it’s just around the corner.”
During the Barcelona Exopolitics Summit, on July 25, 2009, Mr. Dean released a set of amazing images. He also explained the Apollo missions and what the astronauts encountered unlike anyone before. He released to the public a set of fascinating images supposedly captured by the astronauts of the Apollo 12 mission, including an image showing some mysterious spacecraft several hundred feet in diameter.
In his 41 years of federal service to the United States, Mr. Dean heard a lot of bizarre things, but the thing that the human race is a hybrid race stunned him. He said: “I’ve learned that we are not merely alone; we have never been alone. We have had an intimate interrelationship with advanced extraterrestrial intelligence from the beginning of our history. And let me tell you that that intimate interrelationship is still going on.”
He continued: “This one race, in particular, apparently reengineered us as a species about 200,000 years ago. What we are here today is what we call homo sapien sapiens — you’re an engineered creature. Your genetics have been manipulated. You’re not the same as what you were and you are not the same as to what your children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren will be in the next hundred years.” (Click here to read the full story)
Major Dean, a prominent figure in the field of UFOlogy, made significant contributions and was recognized with three-lifetime achievement awards. He enjoyed widespread support on the Internet, with many believing in his legitimacy. Sadly, Mr. Dean passed away on October 11, 2018, at the age of 89 in Tucson, Arizona.
De kans dat we ooit een buitenaardse beschaving ontmoeten, lijkt bijzonder klein. Volgens nieuw onderzoek zouden de dichtstbijzijnde intelligente aliens wel 33.000 lichtjaar verderop kunnen zitten en bovendien miljoenen jaren ouder zijn dan wij.
Tot die conclusie komen onderzoekers Manuel Scherf en Helmut Lammer van het Oostenrijkse instituut voor ruimteonderzoek. Zij berekenden welke strikte voorwaarden een planeet moet vervullen om niet alleen leven, maar ook intelligentie en technologie mogelijk te maken. Uit hun werk blijkt dat zulke omstandigheden wellicht veel minder vaak voorkomen dan vaak wordt aangenomen.
Andere kant van de Melkweg Om die afstand in perspectief te plaatsen: licht reist met 300.000 kilometer per seconde, maar heeft nog steeds 33.000 jaar nodig om zo ver te komen. Ons zonnestelsel staat zelf op ongeveer 27.000 lichtjaar van het centrum van de Melkweg. De dichtstbijzijnde technologische soort zou dus zomaar zo ver kunnen leven, dat we er nooit contact mee zullen hebben.
En dan is er nog de factor tijd. Om slechts tien beschavingen tegelijkertijd in de Melkweg te hebben, zou hun gemiddelde levensduur boven de tien miljoen jaar moeten liggen, zo berekenden de onderzoekers. Als we al ooit contact maken, dan is die beschaving vrijwel zeker miljoenen jaren ouder dan de onze. In nog geen tweehonderd jaar sprong de mensheid van de stoommachine naar ruimtevluchten, het internet en kunstmatige intelligentie. Wat kan een soort bereiken met miljoenen jaren extra voorsprong, als ze zo lang weet te overleven? Zou zo’n soort niet al doorheen de Melkweg zijn verspreid? En als dat zo is, waarom zien we hen dan nergens?
De rol van plaattektoniek Juist het feit dat we op die vragen geen antwoord hebben, toont volgens de onderzoekers hoe uitzonderlijk de voorwaarden voor intelligent leven zijn. Een van de belangrijkste factoren is plaattektoniek, de constante verschuiving van aardplaten die ook op onze planeet plaatsvindt.
Dat systeem houdt de hoeveelheid koolstofdioxide in de atmosfeer binnen leefbare grenzen. Te weinig en fotosynthese stopt, waardoor ecosystemen instorten. Te veel en een planeet verandert in een broeikashel, zoals Venus. Elke planeet heeft bovendien een ingebouwde limiet, zeggen de onderzoekers. Op een gegeven moment wordt er zoveel koolstofdioxide uit de atmosfeer getrokken dat fotosynthese ophoudt te werken. Voor de aarde gebeurt dat naar verwachting tussen de 200 miljoen en 1 miljard jaar in de toekomst. Ter vergelijking: het duurde 4,5 miljard jaar voordat er mensen rondliepen. Waren we een half miljard jaar later, dan waren we misschien nooit op tijd geweest om een beschaving te ontwikkelen.
Zuurstof als voorwaarde voor technologie Maar er is meer nodig dan alleen de juiste hoeveelheid koolstofdioxide. Ook zuurstof speelt een cruciale rol. Een beschaving heeft minstens 18 procent zuurstof in de atmosfeer nodig om vuur te kunnen maken. Zonder vuur geen smeltende metalen, en dus geen technologie.
Als je alle getallen naast elkaar legt, wordt het beeld pas echt ontmoedigend. Een technologische soort op een planeet met 10 procent CO2 zou volgens de berekeningen van de onderzoekers minstens 280.000 jaar moeten standhouden voordat er zelfs maar één andere beschaving tegelijkertijd in de Melkweg bestaat. Planeten met minder CO2, zoals de aarde, hebben een nog kortere levensduur als broedplaats voor intelligente soorten.
Kanttekeningen bij het onderzoek De onderzoekers erkennen dat hun berekeningen niet het complete plaatje geven. Er zijn andere factoren die ze nog niet konden meenemen, zoals hoe vaak leven überhaupt ontstaat, hoe vaak fotosynthese evolueert, of hoe vaak intelligent leven daadwerkelijk technologie ontwikkelt.
Mocht elk van die factoren een hoge kans hebben, dan hoeft buitenaardse intelligentie helemaal niet zo zeldzaam te zijn, erkennen ze. Maar als de kans bij elk van die stappen juist laag is, dan kan een nog somberder scenario realistischer zijn. En dat betekent misschien wel dat we écht alleen zijn. Maar of dat zo is of niet, verandert niets aan wat schrijver Arthur C. Clarke ooit zei: “er zijn twee mogelijkheden: ofwel zijn we alleen in het universum, ofwel zijn we dat niet. Beide mogelijkheden zijn even beangstigend.”
UFO Flying Low Over Trees A flying saucer might sound like something out of a sci-fi movie, but for decades humans have tried to build them. The technology that allows for flying saucer-shaped aircraft to work effectively has been a challenge for scientists and engineers. Still, there have been a few occasions where such aircraft were (vaguely) successful. One attempt in particular, which took place in 2019, might just be a game changer.
In this gallery, we look back at the times when humans tried to build flying saucers. Click on.
A history of human attempts to build flying saucers A flying saucer might sound like something out of a sci-fi movie, but for decades humans have tried to build them. The technology that allows for flying saucer-shaped aircraft to work effectively has been a challenge for scientists and engineers. Still, there have been a few occasions where such aircraft were (vaguely) successful. One attempt in particular, which took place in 2019, might just be a game changer.
In this gallery, we look back at the times when humans tried to build flying saucers. Click on.
The flying saucer Unlike a fighter jet or a bomber, the flying saucer is an aircraft design that is yet to be mastered. This, however, never stopped engineers from trying to make them.
Aerodynamics But first, it’s important to understand why a circular wing might not be a great idea. As far as aerodynamics is concerned, the lift-induced drag makes circular wings inefficient.
Stability and control The flying saucer poses problems when it comes to stability and control. The arm available is pretty small, making it harder to control.
Stability and control For designs like the flying saucer, keeping stable at low speeds could be an issue, unless the entire structure spins, like a frisbee.
Lee-Richards annular monoplane An annual or flat ring-shaped wing aircraft was built by Cedric Lee and G. Tilghman Richards, and manufactured by James Radley (here pictured in a monoplane).
Lee-Richards annular monoplane The Lee-Richards annular monoplane was taken to Famine Point at Heysham, UK, for trials, but its performance was deemed “not particularly satisfactory.”
Arup S-2 While not a flying saucer just yet, the Arup S-2 was a low aspect ratio wing aircraft that deserves a mention. It was developed in the US and first flew in 1933.
Vought V-173 The Vought V-173 was developed by aeronautical engineer Charles H. Zimmerman under World War II’s Vought XF5U program. It had its first flight in 1942 and was retired five years later.
Nazi UFOs There were rumors that German aeronautical engineers were developing a flying saucer of their own. Could these have been the foo fighters witnessed by both Allied and Axis pilots during the war?
Aerodyne RC-360 A 60% concept scale model of Couzinet’s radially symmetric aircraft was built, but the world never witnessed a full-scale one. How it would have worked, we will never know.
Projects Y and Y-2 Projects Y and Y-2 were the first steps in the development of flying saucers, first by Canada, and then by the US. Pictured is the Project Y mock-up in the Experimental Flight Hangar in 1954.
Avro VZ-9-A Avrocar The Avro VZ-9-A Avrocar was developed as a secret US military project during the Cold War. Developed by Avro Canada, the aircraft was first tested in 1959.
Avro VZ-9-A Avrocar The Avro VZ-9-A used a single "turborotor" to provide lift and thrust. It was designed to reach high speeds and altitudes, but that didn’t quite happen.
Avro VZ-9-A Avrocar The Avro VZ-9-A was initially intended to work as a fighter aircraft by the US Air Force, but it ended up being taken up by the US Army as a tactical combat aircraft (similar to a helicopter).
Avro VZ-9-A Avrocar The concept was developed by British aircraft designer "Jack" Frost. Frost went on to register a number of patents on aircraft propulsion and control, such as the air cushion effect used in flying saucer-type aircraft.
Flying saucers of the 21st century In 2019, Romanian inventor Razvan Sabie and scientist Iosif Taposu unveiled a new All-Directional Flying Object. "The aerodynamics behind this aircraft is the result of more than two decades of work," Sabie said.
Is it alien technology? Flying saucers are inherently linked to UFO sightings. The technology is not easy to master, and so far it hasn’t been developed on a commercial scale. This has led many ufologists to believe that such advanced technology can only come from outer space.
A nearly 22-minute video titled 'The Roswell Incident' has been quietly uploaded to the National Archives, reigniting interest in the infamous 1947 crash.
The footage combines still images and motion-control camera shots sourced from the published Roswell Report, as well as various magazines and books about UFOs.
It opens with a shot of the book 'The Roswell Report: Fact Versus Fiction in the New Mexico Desert' and ends with a stark black-and-white image that appears to show a crash site, with debris scattered across a massive crater in the ground.
The video has flooded the internet, with users claiming the crater bears a striking resemblance to eyewitness reports, suggesting it could be 'the first pictures of the 1947 UFO crash site.'
Major Jesse Marcel, who recovered debris from the crash, described the scene as 'a large area heavily scattered with metallic debris from a single impact point that scarred the earth.'
Some viewers have also pointed to a dark formation on the right side of the image, claiming it resembles an alien body.
UFO expert Mark Lee told the Daily Mail that the crater image was likely included to add intrigue.
'In my opinion, it's either a hoax,' he said. 'Just because it's been added to the National Archives doesn't give it scientific validation. If it came out as a release from the military or Congress, I would take it a lot more seriously.'
Lee also noted that the 'alien' in the photo is nothing more than a case of pareidolia, a psychological response to seeing faces and other significant and everyday items in random stimuli.
A video titled 'The Roswell Incident' was uploaded to the National Archives. Social media users claim an image in the footage shows UFO debris (left) and an alien body (right)
The newly uploaded video appears to focus on 'The Roswell Report: Fact Versus Fiction in the New Mexico Desert,' a 1995 book that attributes the crashed 'UFO' debris to Project Mogul.
Project Mogul was a top-secret US military program from 1947 to 1949 that used high-altitude balloons equipped with microphones to detect sound waves from Soviet atomic bomb tests.
A 1994 military investigation concluded that the debris found at the Roswell site was likely pieces of a high-altitude balloon from Project Mogul, not an extraterrestrial spacecraft.
Despite this official explanation, the newly uploaded video has sparked debate online, with viewers offering widely differing interpretations.
'National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has uploaded a video of the Roswell 1947 UAP Crash site,' one user shared.
Another user posted on X: 'Like noted UFO researcher Grant Cameron has stated plenty of times, sometimes the disclosure of the real deal is a purposefully placed needle in the haystack. Roswell: slow drip…drip, drip, drip.'
In addition to the debris spotted in the footage, one user shared: 'Grey alien in the official video from the Roswell crash site.'
However, some social media suggested the footage 'is B-roll for the Roswell Report, and the images being posted do not show the Roswell debris site, nor does it even claim it's the actual debris site.'
Major Jesse Marcel, who recovered debris from the crash, described the scene as 'a large area heavily scattered with metallic debris from a single impact point that scarred the earth.' He said the debris could not melt or heat up and could not be punctured
One user posted: 'It’s clearly B-roll for that Roswell presentation the government put together in 1996. Someone must have found this and uploaded it in the last couple of days.'
Others have suggested a dead alien can be seen in the image, pointing to what Marcle said following the Roswell incident.
'I later found out that the pilot of the aircraft was a Captain Henderson, who apparently saw far more than just the debris from the impact site... he may in fact have seen the remains of a crew,' the now deceased major said.
In July 1947, a rancher reported pieces of debris scattered over his land.
Authorities were called to the scene and, after investigating the wreckage, determined the pieces were from a flying saucer.
The local paper's front page story reported that the Roswell Army field recovered a flying saucer on a New Mexico Ranch after metallic-looking, light but strong material was scattered across the land
The local paper's front page story reported that the Roswell Army Field recovered a flying saucer on a New Mexico Ranch after metallic-looking, light but strong material was scattered across the land.
'The intelligence office of the 509th Bombardment Group at Roswell Army Air Field announced at noon today that the field has come into the possession of a Flying Saucer,' Roswell Daily Record reported on July 8, 1947.
The statement was given by Marcel, who was the first on the scene and led the investigation, which he determined were pieces from an extraterrestrial vehicle.
He also said that the material spread out from this point into a triangular-shaped area 200 to 300 feet wide at the end of the field, and 3/4 of a mile long.
Shortly after the 'UFO' discovery made headlines, the War Department in Washington released a statement claiming the debris was the remains of a weather balloon.
The US Air Force stated the weather balloon was part of Project Mogul's airborne system invented by Columbia University, New York University and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
It was designed to search the atmosphere for weak reverberations from nuclear-test blasts.
She's remembered as one of the most powerful and seductive queens in history.
Now, explorers say they're closer than ever to finding Cleopatra's lost tomb – and it could be underwater.
They've found a sunken port in the depths of the Mediterranean Sea, about two miles off the coast of Alexandria, the historic ancient city.
And the submerged port, at a depth of about 40 feet, could lead to the remains of the lost lovers.
Cleopatra, who ruled Egypt from 51 BC to 30 BC, used her beauty and sexual allure to get what she wanted.
She famously had a long line of lovers, including Roman dictator Julius Caesar and one of his successors, Mark Antony.
Cleopatra and Antony both died by suicide and were buried together.
But ever since their death more than 2,000 years ago, their final resting place has been unaccounted for.
The port (pictured in this 3D rendering) was once along Egypt's coastline, but because of coastal erosion it is now out to sea
The submerged port, at a depth of about 40 feet, could lead to the remains of lost lovers Cleopatra and Mark Antony
Cleopatra VII, known both as a seductress with a captivating personality, used her charms to seduce Julius Caesar to cement Egypt's alliance with Rome
The offshore port, flooded with water, was once connected to Taposiris Magna, a historic city containing an ancient temple dedicated to Osiris, god of death.
Taposiris Magna, whose name means 'great tomb of Osiris', is located about 30 miles from Alexandria, which was once the country's capital.
Kathleen Martínez, an explorer and long-time hunter of Cleopatra's grave, discovered the port in a fresh round of dives with Bob Ballard, discoverer of the Titanic.
And the port, which was connected to the temple, may provide a 'crucial clue' about the tomb's whereabouts, or even lead to the location of the tomb itself.
The newly-found structure consists of columns, polished stone floors and scattered amphora, the tall jugs historically used for carrying wine – showing there was activity there.
The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, which announced the news on Facebook, calls this potential evidence of 'ancient marine activity'.
Now, it's just 'a matter of time' before the tomb is finally found, said Martínez, who has been searching Taposiris Magna since October 2005.
'After 2,000 years nobody has ever been there,' Martínez told National Geographic. 'We are the first ones.'
Seafloor map of the waters off the coast of Taposiris Magna, a historic city containing an ancient temple
The port consists of columns, polished stone floors and scattered amphora, the tall jugs historically used for carrying wine
The scattering of ancient archaeological evidence helps confirm the existence of the port, now a couple of miles offshore
Taposiris Magna temple, whose name means 'great tomb of Osiris', is located near the ancient Egyptian capital of Alexandria. Pictured, an internal view towards south of the temple
What is Taposiris Magna?
Taposiris Magna is a city in Egypt established by Pharaoh Ptolemy II Philadelphus between 280 and 270 BC. The name meaning 'great tomb of Osiris' likely comes from the great temple there.
Its position on the arm of the now dried up bed of Lake Mareotis suggests it may have played a role in trade between Egypt and Libya.
Traders from the west would be able to go by water to the harbor, then take a caravan route onwards.
The temple at Taposiris Magna is widely considered by experts to be the final resting plane of pharaoh Cleopatra and her lover Mark Antony.
Inside they found ceramic jars and pottery from the time of the Ptolemaic dynasty, of which Cleopatra was the last ruler.
Martínez believes Cleopatra was transported to Taposiris Magna after her death, carried through the underground tunnel to the direction of the port, and laid to rest there.
The tunnel points 'directly' at the port, suggesting the original function of the two are related, perhaps part of a secret network.
However, the expert can't rule out that the tomb is somewhere among the ruins of the temple, which has largely been the assumption.
'Nobody can tell me that Cleopatra is not at Taposiris Magna,' Martínez said. 'To say that you have to excavate the whole area and not find her.'
Cleopatra was Egypt's last pharaoh and the ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, from 51 BC until her death 30 BC, at the age of just 39, after her defeat in the Roman civil wars.
She famously used her charms to first seduce Julius Caesar to cement Egypt's alliance with Rome, and then to seduce one of his successors, Mark Antony.
The tunnel, found in 2022, sits about 43 feet underneath Egypt's ancient Taposiris Magna Temple, or 'Great tomb of Osiris', located outside ancient Egypt's capital Alexandria
Experts can't rule out that the tomb is somewhere among the ruins of the temple, which has largely been the assumption. Pictured, the tunnel carved in rock
In order to fix herself and Antony as rulers in the minds of the Egyptian people, she also worked hard to associate them with the myth of Isis and Osiris.
According to the myth, Osiris was killed and hacked into pieces that were scattered across Egypt. After finding all of the pieces and making her husband whole again, Isis was able to resurrect him for a time.
Martínez thinks that the queen actually devised a plan so that the body of her and her lover would end up in a place the Romans would not even think to look.
She had to choose a location where she could feel safe for her afterlife with Mark Antony, Martínez told National Geographic.
More than 2,000 years later, whatever Cleopatra's plan was still seems to be working.
A new documentary covering the dive, 'Cleopatra’s Final Secret', will premiere on National Geographic on Thursday, September 25, and stream the next day on Disney+ and Hulu.
ANTHONY, CLEOPATRA AND THE PTOLEMAIC DYNASTY
Cleopatra, often known as the world's first celebrity, was the last of a long line to Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt – descended from Greek general Alexander the Great.
By the time of her birth, his empire had been reduced to a shadow of its former self, while the ruling class was prone to bitter in-fighting.
Married to her brother Ptolemy XIII in her father's will, she united with Julius Caesar against him - famously having herself smuggled to see the Roman general inside a carpet so she could strike terms with him.
After his murder in 44BC Egypt, Mark Anthony was appointed to oversee the eastern reaches of the Republic - including the independent kingdom of Egypt.
Though married to Octavian's sister, Anthony formed a relationship with Cleopatra and had three children with her.
Eventually Anthony and Octavian turned against one-another and fought for control of the Republic, which ended with defeat at the Battle of Actium.
Octavian chased Anthony and Cleopatra back to Alexandria, where they were eventually captured.
Anthony died in Cleopatra's arms after fatally stabbing himself, before she also committed suicide - reportedly by letting an asp bite her.
Octavian returned to Italy where he became the first Emperor of Rome, while Cleopatra and Anthony were buried in Egypt.
NASA onthult MEERDERE levensvormen die waarschijnlijk op Mars hebben geleefd
NASA onthult MEERDERE levensvormen die waarschijnlijk op Mars hebben geleefd
Sinds de landing van NASA’s Perseverance-rover op Mars in februari 2021 staat het rode planeetoppervlak volop in de schijnwerpers van wetenschappelijk onderzoek. Met de missie in het bijzonder gericht op het vinden van sporen van oud leven, heeft de rover al verschillende aanwijzingen gevonden dat Mars in het verleden gunstige omstandigheden heeft gekend voor het ontstaan en mogelijk ook het bestaan van leven. Recent wetenschappelijk onderzoek bevestigt dat Mars meerdere periodes heeft gekend waarin vloeibaar water op het oppervlak aanwezig was, met elk hun eigen chemische samenstelling en milieufactoren. Deze bevindingen brengen ons steeds dichter bij het antwoord op de vraag of Mars ooit een bewoonbare wereld was en of er mogelijk nog levensvormen hebben geleefd in het verre verleden.
De zoektocht naar water op Mars
Het belangrijkste motief achter veel van het Mars-onderzoek is de aanname dat vloeibaar water essentieel is voor het ontstaan en voortbestaan van leven zoals wij dat kennen. De afgelopen jaren heeft de Perseverance-rover talrijke bewijzen verzameld dat het oppervlak van Mars ooit gevuld was met meren, rivieren en delta’s. Zo heeft de rover onder meer sporen gevonden van oude rivierbeddingen, organische moleculen en bijzondere rotsformaties die wijzen op een rijke geologische geschiedenis.
Wetenschappers hebben sterk bewijs gevonden dat Mars meerdere keren bewoond was.
De kern van de recente ontdekkingen ligt in de analyse van de mineralen die door de rover zijn geïdentificeerd in de Jezero-krater, een gebied dat zo’n 45 kilometer in doorsnede meet en bekend staat om zijn complexe geologische structuur. Deze krater bevat een uitgestrekte delta van een oude rivier, die zich mogelijk enkele miljarden jaren geleden heeft gevormd. Door het bestuderen van de samenstelling van de mineralen in deze regio kunnen wetenschappers inzicht krijgen in de omgeving waarin ze zijn gevormd en de geschiedenis van vloeibaar water op Mars.
Hoe mineralen ons vertellen over het verleden
Om de geschiedenis van Mars en de omstandigheden waarin de planeet ooit verkeerde te kunnen interpreteren, maken wetenschappers gebruik van geavanceerde technieken en instrumenten die inzicht geven in de chemische samenstelling van rotsen en sedimenten. Mineralen vormen daarbij belangrijke bewijzen, omdat ze vaak ontstaan onder specifieke milieuprocessen en omstandigheden. Door deze mineralen te bestuderen, kunnen onderzoekers reconstructies maken van het verleden van Mars, inclusief de aanwezigheid en het verloop van vloeibaar water, het klimaat en mogelijk zelfs de voorwaarden voor het ontstaan van leven.
Een van de belangrijkste methoden die hierbij wordt toegepast, is de Mineral Identification by Stoichiometry (MIST). Dit is een geavanceerd algoritme dat chemische gegevens verzamelt en vergelijkt met een uitgebreide database van bekende mineralen. MIST analyseert de chemische samenstelling van rotsen en sedimenten op basis van hun elementaire verhoudingen, waardoor het nauwkeurig kan bepalen om welke mineralen het gaat. Deze methode is bijzonder krachtig omdat het snel en betrouwbaar grote hoeveelheden data kan verwerken en mineralen kan identificeren die met het blote oog of met eenvoudige instrumenten moeilijk te onderscheiden zijn.
Daarnaast wordt op Mars het Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry (PIXL) ingezet. PIXL maakt gebruik van röntgenstraling (X-ray spectroscopie) om de chemische samenstelling van gesteenten en sedimenten in detail in kaart te brengen. Het instrument is zeer nauwkeurig en kan op microniveau bepalen welke elementen aanwezig zijn en in welke verhoudingen. Hierdoor krijgen wetenschappers een gedetailleerd chemisch beeld van de onderzochte rotsen, wat essentieel is voor het interpreteren van de milieuprocessen die ze gevormd hebben.
Door het combineren van deze technieken heeft het onderzoeksteam op Mars belangrijke ontdekkingen gedaan over de geschiedenis van vloeibaar water op de planeet. Zo zijn er twee hoofdgroepen mineralen geïdentificeerd die verschillende periodes van wateractiviteit aangeven. De eerste groep bevat mineralen zoals greenalite, hisingerite en ferroaluminoceladoniet. Deze mineralen wijzen erop dat ze gevormd zijn onder omstandigheden van hoge temperatuur en zure pH, wat wijst op een omgeving die mogelijk niet erg leefvriendelijk was. De tweede groep bestaat uit mineralen die ontstaan onder meer neutrale en matig alkalische omstandigheden. Deze omstandigheden zijn gunstiger voor het ontstaan en het onderhouden van leven, en geven aan dat er gedurende bepaalde periodes op Mars water aanwezig was in een meer leefbare staat.
Door de studie van deze mineralen krijgen wetenschappers niet alleen inzicht in de geologische geschiedenis van Mars, maar ook in de mogelijke omstandigheden waarin leven zich heeft kunnen ontwikkelen. Het onderzoek naar deze mineralen is dus niet alleen een venster op het verleden van de planeet, maar kan ook bijdragen aan de zoektocht naar bewijs voor leven buiten de aarde. De combinatie van geavanceerde chemische analysemethoden en instrumenten zoals MIST en PIXL vormt daarmee een essentieel onderdeel van de missie om de mysteries van Mars te ontrafelen.
De Perseverance-rover ontdekte tweeëntwintig soorten mineralen die een dynamische geschiedenis van vulkanische rotsen tonen die zijn veranderd door interacties met vloeibaar water in de Jezero-krater.
Drie periodes van vloeibaar water
De belangrijkste conclusie uit het onderzoek is dat er in de geologische geschiedenis van Mars minstens drie aparte periodes waren waarin vloeibaar water op het oppervlak aanwezig was. Elke periode wordt gekenmerkt door verschillende chemische, fysische en milieufactoren die de potentie voor het ondersteunen van leven beïnvloeden. Deze periodes vormen een belangrijke schakel in het begrijpen van de evolutionaire geschiedenis van de planeet en bieden inzicht in de omstandigheden die mogelijk gunstig waren voor het ontstaan en de ontwikkeling van microbieel leven. Door de chemische samenstelling, mineralogische vondsten en fysische omstandigheden te bestuderen, kunnen wetenschappers een gedetailleerd beeld schetsen van de veranderingen die Mars heeft doorgemaakt en de mogelijke habiele omgevingen die zich in de loop van de tijd hebben voorgedaan.
1. Eerste episode: Hoog-temperatuur, zure wateren De eerste periode werd gekenmerkt door lokale, hoge-temperatuur en zure wateren, vooral geconcentreerd op de bodem van bepaalde kraters. Mineralen zoals greenalite en hisingerite die in deze fase werden aangetroffen, wijzen op een omgeving met een lage pH en hoge temperaturen. Dit wijst op agressieve chemische omstandigheden die mogelijk ontstaan zijn door vulkanische activiteit of hydrothermale systemen. Zulke omstandigheden zijn doorgaans ongeschikt voor het ontstaan van leven, omdat ze organische moleculen kunnen afbreken en ongunstige chemische reacties stimuleren. Toch is het belangrijk om deze periode te erkennen, omdat ze een eerste belangrijke fase vertegenwoordigen in de geologische geschiedenis van Mars. Het feit dat er water aanwezig was onder dergelijke omstandigheden betekent dat er vroeg in de geschiedenis van de planeet al processen plaatsvonden die de basis legden voor latere, meer gunstige milieus. Bovendien kan het bestuderen van deze zure wateren meer inzicht geven in de geochemische processen en de vulkanische geschiedenis van Mars, wat essentieel is voor het begrijpen van de evolutie van de planeet.
2. Tweede episode: Gematigde, neutrale omstandigheden De tweede periode, ondersteund door het mineraalprofiel, vond plaats onder meer gematigde en neutrale chemische condities. In deze fase was de pH meer neutraal, en de temperaturen lager dan in de eerste periode. Mineralen zoals smectieten en chlorieten wijzen op een omgeving waarin water in grotere hoeveelheden en over langere tijd aanwezig was. Dit soort omstandigheden zijn gunstiger voor het ontstaan van leven, omdat ze stabielere chemische omstandigheden bieden en organische moleculen kunnen beschermen. De aanwezigheid van mineralen die wijzen op een neutrale pH en het bewijs voor langdurige waterfaciliteiten suggereren dat Mars in deze periode een stabiele en uitgebreide waterkringloop kende. Dit zou kunnen duiden op een klimaat dat vergelijkbaar is met dat van bepaalde aardse meren of oceanen. De mogelijkheid dat deze omstandigheden lang hebben geduurd, verhoogt de kans dat micro-organismen zich in deze omgeving konden vestigen en mogelijk evolueren. De tweede fase vertegenwoordigt dus een cruciale stap in de overgang van een agressieve, chemisch veeleisende omgeving naar een meer bewoonbare en stabiele situatie.
3. Derde episode: Laag-temperatuur, alkalische omstandigheden De meest recente en waarschijnlijk meest leefbare periode wordt gekenmerkt door de vorming van mineralen in een omgeving met lage temperaturen en alkalische pH-waarden. Mineralen zoals carbonaten en serpenten wijzen op een chemie die stabiel is en organische moleculen kan beschermen tegen afbraak. De aanwezigheid van grote watermassa’s in deze periode suggereert dat Mars mogelijk langdurige meren of oceanen had, waarin micro-organismen zich konden ontwikkelen. Alkalische omstandigheden bieden een gunstig klimaat voor het ontstaan van leven omdat ze chemisch stabiel zijn en de afbraak van organische stoffen beperken. Bovendien kunnen deze omstandigheden een meer gevarieerd ecosysteem mogelijk maken door het bieden van een stabiele voedingsbodem voor microben. Het feit dat deze periode relatief recent zou kunnen zijn, geeft ook de mogelijkheid dat er nog steeds sporen van microbieel leven aanwezig kunnen zijn in ondergrondse wateren of mineralen die in deze periode zijn gevormd. Deze fase wordt daarom beschouwd als de meest gunstige voor het ontstaan en de ontwikkeling van levensvormen op Mars.
Samenvatting en conclusie De ontdekking van deze drie periodes benadrukt dat Mars door zijn geschiedenis heen verschillende milieus heeft gekend, elk met unieke chemische en fysische omstandigheden. Het onderzoek naar de mineralen en geochemische processen die in deze periodes plaatsvonden, helpt niet alleen bij het reconstrueren van de geologische geschiedenis van Mars, maar biedt ook belangrijke aanwijzingen voor de zoektocht naar bewijs voor voormalig leven op de planeet. De overgang van zure, hoge-temperatuur wateren naar meer stabiele, alkalische wateren wijst op een evolutie in het klimaat en de geochemie van Mars die mogelijk de voorwaarden voor het ontstaan van microbieel leven heeft gecreëerd. Het bestuderen van deze periodes biedt niet alleen inzicht in het verleden van Mars, maar vormt ook een leidraad voor toekomstige exploraties en het zoeken naar sporen van leven op Mars en mogelijk ook op andere planeten.
NASA/Caltech-JPL/MSSS
Curiosity nam deze selfie op een onderzoeklocatie die de naam ‘Mary Anning’ heeft gekregen, naar een negentiende-eeuwse Engelse paleontologe. De rover heeft op deze locatie, in de regio Glen Torridon, drie gesteentemonsters uit een stuk rots geboord. Wetenschappers denken dat de omstandigheden in dit gebied ooit geschikt waren voor levensvormen.
Wat betekent dit voor de mogelijkheid van leven?
De ontdekking dat Mars meerdere periodes van vloeibaar water heeft gekend met verschillende chemische eigenschappen, versterkt de hypothese dat de planeet mogelijk meerdere keer hospitaal- of leefbare omstandigheden heeft gekend. Vooral de laatste periode van alkalisch, laag-temperatuur water lijkt het meest geschikt voor het ondersteunen van microbieel leven, zoals dat op aarde voorkomt.
Eleanor Moreland, een promovenda aan Rice University en leidster van het onderzoek, benadrukt dat de mineralen die op Mars gevonden zijn, aangeven dat de planeet niet slechts één keer, maar meerdere keren, een bewoonbare omgeving heeft gekend. Volgens haar wijzen de chemische veranderingen in de mineralen op een dynamische en complexe geschiedenis van wateractiviteiten, die meerdere kansen bieden voor het ontstaan en overleven van leven.
De rol van de Perseverance-rover
De Perseverance-rover speelt een essentiële en veelzijdige rol in het verkennen van Mars en het uitbreiden van onze kennis over de rode planeet. Sinds haar succesvolle landing in februari 2021 op de Jezero-krater, een gebied dat wordt beschouwd als een van de meest veelbelovende locaties voor het vinden van bewijs voor oud leven, heeft de rover een breed scala aan wetenschappelijke taken uitgevoerd. Een van haar belangrijkste functies is het verzamelen van rots- en sedimentmonsters, die later in detail kunnen worden onderzocht om de geologische geschiedenis van Mars te ontrafelen.
De rover is uitgerust met een geavanceerd palet aan wetenschappelijke instrumenten, waaronder een chemisch analyserend apparaat genaamd SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals) en een roterende boor genaamd the Sample Caching System. Hiermee kan Perseverance rotsmonsters boren, verzamelen en bewaren in speciale cacheeenheden die bedoeld zijn voor toekomstige terugkeer naar de aarde. Dit is een cruciale stap in het plan om Mars-monsters naar onze planeet te brengen, zodat ze op een veel gedetailleerder niveau kunnen worden onderzocht met de meest geavanceerde laboratoriumapparatuur.
Een van de voornaamste doelen van de missie is het detecteren van potentiële biosignaturen, oftewel tekenen van oud leven op Mars. Door het bestuderen van de chemische en mineralogische samenstelling van de monsters, probeert de rover te achterhalen of de omstandigheden ooit geschikt waren voor microbieel leven. Naast chemische analyses gebruikt Perseverance ook haar geologische en mineralogische instrumenten om de omgeving te interpreteren. Zo onderzoekt de rover bijvoorbeeld de aanwezigheid van mineralen die typisch zijn voor water, zoals clays en sulfaten, en bestudeert ze de stratificatie van de sedimenten om de historie van water op Mars te reconstrueren.
Daarnaast speelt Perseverance een belangrijke rol in het in kaart brengen van de geologische geschiedenis van de Jezero-krater en het bepalen van de beste locaties voor het verzamelen van monsters. Het onderzoeksteam streeft ernaar om te begrijpen onder welke omstandigheden water op Mars aanwezig was en hoe lang deze omstandigheden hebben geduurd. Dit is van groot belang omdat het inzicht kan geven in de potentiële leefbaarheid van Mars in het verleden en de vraag of microbieel leven mogelijk is geweest.
Het uiteindelijke doel van de missie is om gebieden te identificeren die het meest geschikt zijn voor het vinden van bewijs voor oud leven, en om deze monsters klaar te maken voor toekomstige sample-terugname missies. Door haar uitgebreide wetenschappelijke werkzaamheden en het verzamelen van waardevolle gegevens, levert Perseverance een onschatbare bijdrage aan onze zoektocht naar het ontstaan en de geschiedenis van het leven op Mars.
De impact van deze bevindingen
De bevindingen dat Mars verschillende periodes heeft gekend waarin vloeibaar water aanwezig was, elk met hun eigen unieke chemische en geologische samenstelling, hebben ingrijpende gevolgen voor onze interpretatie van de planeet en de mogelijke aanwezigheid van leven. Deze variaties in chemische profielen suggereren dat Mars gedurende zijn geschiedenis verschillende milieus heeft gekend, met mogelijk afwisselende omstandigheden die de ontwikkeling en het bestaan van micro-organismen zouden hebben kunnen ondersteunen. Het feit dat water niet slechts één keer, maar meerdere malen en onder verschillende chemische omstandigheden op Mars heeft voorkomen, vergroot de kans dat levensvormen zich onder verschillende omstandigheden hebben kunnen ontwikkelen en voortbestaan.
Deze bevindingen bieden bovendien nieuwe perspectieven voor het begrijpen van de geologische en biologisch-potentiële geschiedenis van Mars. Ze suggereren dat de planeet niet één enkele, statische omgeving was, maar een dynamisch werelddeel met diverse milieus die mogelijk verschillende stadia van habitabiliteit hebben doorgemaakt. Dit opent de deur naar het zoeken naar microfossielen of andere tekenen van vroegere leven in verschillende regio’s, afhankelijk van de chemische samenstelling en de leeftijd van de waterlagen.
Daarnaast helpt deze kennis bij het bepalen van de meest veelbelovende locaties voor het verzamelen van monsters die mogelijk terug naar de Aarde kunnen worden gebracht. Het is van groot belang dat deze monsters afkomstig zijn uit gebieden waar de omstandigheden het meest gunstig waren voor het ontstaan, de ontwikkeling en het behoud van leven. Dit kunnen bijvoorbeeld regio’s zijn met aanwijzingen voor langdurige waterbestendigheid, zoals oude rivierbeddingen, meren of ondergrondse waterlagen die mogelijk beschermende omstandigheden boden. Door gerichte bemonstering op deze locaties kunnen wetenschappers de kans vergroten op het vinden van bewijs voor vroegere leven op Mars, wat cruciaal is voor het beantwoorden van fundamentele vragen over de oorsprong van het leven in het universum.
NASA/Caltech-JPL/MSSS
De toekomst van Mars-onderzoek
De komende jaren wordt verwacht dat verdere analyses, nieuwe technologische ontwikkelingen en mogelijk zelfs sample terugkeermissies meer duidelijkheid zullen scheppen over de vraag of leven ooit op Mars heeft bestaan. Het sturen van robots en landers naar de Rode Planeet heeft de afgelopen decennia al veel kennis opgeleverd, maar het daadwerkelijke terughalen van monsters uit de planeetbodem biedt de ultieme mogelijkheid om de samenstelling ervan grondig te bestuderen in laboratoria op aarde. Door het analyseren van deze monsters kunnen wetenschappers onder meer de aanwezigheid van organische verbindingen en andere indicatoren van vroegere levensvormen opsporen, wat een cruciale stap is in het beantwoorden van de eeuwenoude vraag of Mars ooit bewoonbaar was.
De combinatie van mineralogische, chemische en geologische gegevens vormt daarbij een krachtig instrumentarium om de complexe geschiedenis van de Rode Planeet te ontrafelen. Zo kunnen we bijvoorbeeld inzicht krijgen in de vroegere klimaatveranderingen, de evolutie van het water op Mars, en de mogelijke omstandigheden waarin micro-organismen mogelijk hebben kunnen overleven. Geavanceerde instrumenten, zoals spectrometers en radarsystemen, worden ingezet om de samenstelling van gesteenten en mineralen te bepalen, terwijl orbiter- en lander-missies steeds meer gedetailleerde kaarten maken van het Mars-oppervlak. Deze gegevens helpen om de meest veelbelovende locaties voor verdere exploratie te identificeren en mogelijk in de toekomst ook voor menselijke aanwezigheid.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
De vondst van Cheyava Falls werd in 2024 voor het eerst aangekondigd door NASA. Een analyse van de kern van dit gesteente leert ons nu meer over de chemische samenstelling.
Daarnaast wordt er volop gewerkt aan technologische innovaties, zoals het ontwikkelen van autonome robots en robotarmen die in staat zijn om dieper in de bodem te boren en monsters te verzamelen. Sample terugkeermissies, zoals de geplande missie van NASA en ESA, vormen een belangrijke mijlpaal in het Mars-onderzoek. Door monsters veilig terug te brengen naar de aarde, kunnen wetenschappers ze in uitgebreide laboratoria onderzoeken met een precisie die op Mars zelf niet mogelijk is. Dit geeft niet alleen inzicht in de geologie en chemie van de planeet, maar kan ook aanwijzingen bieden over de aanwezigheid van biosignaturen.
Tot slot benadrukken deze bevindingen dat Mars nog altijd een fascinerende en dynamische wereld is, met een geologische geschiedenis die mogelijk de sporen bevat van een lang verleden vol water en misschien zelfs leven. Het onderzoek aan de Jezero-krater en andere locaties op Mars blijft van cruciaal belang voor het beantwoorden van één van de grootste vragen in de astrobiologie: waren wij niet de enige wezens in het universum? Het ontdekken van bewijs voor vroegere leven op Mars zou niet alleen de menselijke kennis over de planeten en het ontstaan van leven aanzienlijk verrijken, maar ook onze plaats in het universum herdefiniëren. De komende jaren beloven dus een spannend hoofdstuk in de menselijke verkenning van de rode planeet, waarbij elke nieuwe ontdekking ons dichter brengt bij het beantwoorden van een van de grootste mysteries van het bestaan.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS
De Marsrover Perseverance gebruikte zijn wetenschappelijke instrument Mastcam-Z om het gebied rondom de plek waar hij het monster vandaan heeft te bekijken.
Conclusie
De recente ontdekkingen van NASA en haar partners bevestigen dat Mars in het verleden meerdere periodes van vloeibaar water heeft gekend, wat een cruciale factor is voor het ontstaan en het onderhouden van leven. Deze periodes waren niet slechts kortdurende gebeurtenissen, maar omvatten uitgebreide en mogelijk leefbare omgevingen, vooral in de latere stadia van de geologische geschiedenis van de planeet. Onderzoek door de Perseverance-rover heeft bijvoorbeeld aangetoond dat er in het verleden alkalisch, laag-temperatuur water aanwezig was, wat de kans op het ontstaan van microbieel leven significant vergroot. Alkalisch water, dat een hogere pH-waarde heeft, creëert een omgeving waarin organische stoffen en mineralen zich kunnen vormen en conserveren, wat essentieel is voor het ontstaan van leven.
De geologische bewijzen die door de rover zijn verzameld, zoals mineralen die alleen onder water kunnen vormen, vertellen een complex en dynamisch verhaal. Ze tonen aan dat Mars niet slechts een droge, roestkleurige wereld was, maar een planeet die gedurende miljoenen jaren een gevarieerd landschap kende, inclusief meren, rivieren en mogelijk ondergrondse waterreservoirs. Deze bevindingen suggereren dat de omstandigheden op Mars, zeker in bepaalde periodes, vergelijkbaar kunnen zijn geweest met die op aarde tijdens de tijd dat het leven zich daar ontwikkelde. Het feit dat mineralen zoals clays en sulfaten zijn gevonden, wijst op een rijke chemische interactie tussen water en gesteente, wat de kans op chemische evolutie en mogelijk biochemische processen vergroot.
Deze ontdekkingen brengen ons een belangrijke stap dichter bij het beantwoorden van een fundamentele vraag: heeft Mars ooit micro-organismen kunnen herbergen? Het lijkt erop dat de planeet in haar geologische geschiedenis meerdere kansen heeft gehad om levensvatbare omgevingen te bieden. Hoewel er nog geen direct bewijs van leven is gevonden, vormen deze nieuwe inzichten een stevige basis voor verder onderzoek. Wetenschappers blijven zoeken naar sporen van organische stoffen, microfossielen en andere indicatoren die kunnen wijzen op het bestaan van eenvoudig leven in het verleden.
De komende jaren zullen ongetwijfeld meer verrassingen en nieuwe ontdekkingen brengen. Met de inzet van geavanceerdere instrumenten en toekomstige missies, zoals de geplande sample-return missie, hopen we nog meer informatie te verkrijgen over de chemische samenstelling van het Marsbodem en ondergrondse waterlagen. Deze gegevens kunnen ons niet alleen helpen om de geologische geschiedenis van Mars beter te begrijpen, maar ook om te bepalen of de planeet nog steeds sporen van haar vroegere leven bewaart.
Kortom, de recente ontdekkingen versterken de hoop dat Mars ooit een leefbare wereld was en mogelijk nog steeds is. Ze onderstrepen het belang van voortdurende verkenning en onderzoek naar deze intrigerende planeet. Het zoeken naar bewijs voor oud leven op Mars is niet alleen een zoektocht naar kennis over een andere wereld, maar ook een stap in de richting van het begrijpen van onze eigen oorsprong en de universele vraag of we alleen zijn. In de toekomst kunnen deze wetenschappelijke doorbraken ons misschien wel dichter brengen bij het antwoord dat velen al lang zoeken: is er elders in het universum leven ontstaan, en heeft Mars daarin ooit een rol gespeeld?
Artist's impression of an asteroid. Credit - ESA-Science Office
Asteroid 2024 YR4 caused quite a stir last year when it was discovered and originally calculated to have a 3% chance of hitting Earth. Since then models have been refined and while it no longer has a chance of hitting Earth, it does have a 4% chance of hitting the Moon in December 2032. As that time gets closer, we’ll have a better idea of the probability, but engineers and scientists are also planning for what we would need to do in order to ensure it doesn’t hit our only natural satellite at all. A new paper from NASA and a bunch of other researchers details potential missions and timelines that could make sure the Moon isn’t pummeled with a decent-sized asteroid in less than a decade.
A good first question is - why do we care? There are no definitive plans to have a permanent human presence on the Moon by that point, so it wouldn’t directly affect any human activities. Except an asteroid this large could create a huge debris field that would increase the micrometeoroids hitting the Earth by up to 1,000 times the normal background average for a few days. While that would make for one of the best meteor shows of the last few hundred years, it would also pose a danger to Earth-orbiting satellites and even astronauts on the ISS and other space stations - assuming they’re still there in 2032.
Really, there are only two options to stop that eventuality, if 2024 YR4 is indeed going to hit the Moon - which to be honest is still very unlikely. One option is to deflect it. The other is to destroy it.
NASA video explaining the details of asteroid 2024 YR4
Deflection would be preferred - simply moving its orbital path slightly would ensure it would miss both the Earth and the Moon. The earlier we could do it the smaller nudge would be needed, so it’s better to do it sooner rather than later. However, in order to accurately deflect 2024 YR4, we need to know how much it weighs.
We have a relatively good estimate of its diameter - around 60m give or take 10%. But estimates of its mass depend on its density, which is hard to calculate from so far away. The asteroid’s weight could range from between 51 million kg to over 711 million kg - and the amount of energy needed to move either of those weights a very precise amount is massively different. If a mission to deflect it is based on the wrong mass calculation, it could potentially accidentally change its trajectory to make the problem even worse - including potentially redirecting it towards Earth.
Engineers could design a reconnaissance mission to try to get a better estimate of 2024 YR4’s mass, but the best time to do so would be in 2028 - only three years away. Designing and launching a purpose built mission in that tight timeframe has never been done before, and while it could be for a mission to solve something that’s a high enough threat level, 2024 YR4 probably isn’t it.
Fraser's video on how we stop asteroids from hitting Earth - or in this case the Moon.
That being said, we could repurpose existing missions that are already in space or in development. OSIRIS-APEX, the name for the extended mission for the OSIRIS-Rex mission that is currently on its way to Apophis, another near-Earth asteroid. Psyche could also be commandeered on its way to its main-belt target. But in either case, those missions would have to give up their intended targets in order to get close enough to 2024 YR4. Another option is Janus, which is currently sitting in storage, but it’s unclear how well they would do in defining its weight.
Given the uncertainties around the deflection option, the paper notes the other option is at least feasible. Destruction of an asteroid can come in one of two forms. The first is “kinetic” - basically hitting it with something big and heavy enough to break it into smaller 10m chunks. DART recently proved the idea of redirecting an asteroid by doing the same thing - but hitting it with the intention to destroy it would be a different level of difficulty, though certainly one that we could design and build in time for a launch window of sometime between April 2030 and April 2032.
The other option to destroy it will stir a feeling in the hearts of nineties kids - we could nuke it. It might not involve Bruce Willis sacrificing himself, but setting off a nuclear explosion at some height off the surface of 2024 YR4. Known as the “height of burst”, we would still need some reconnaissance to try to tailor the explosion. But, the paper calculates that a 1 megaton nuke would be enough to “disrupt” 2024 YR4 no matter what size it is - and that is well within our current nuclear arsenal.
To be fair, we’ve never tested a nuclear explosion in space before, but physics certainly says it’s possible. It's as much a political decision as a technical one as to whether that would be a viable option for this particular threat to our planetary system. We’re not even sure if 2024 YR4 is actually going to hit the Moon yet, and we won't find out until 2028. But if we find out it is, it’s best to at least have the ability to disrupt it if we want. That decision will have to be made in the next few years as the window to get missions off the ground is growing smaller every day - whether they’re nuclear or not.
Research on minerals from Jezero Сrater on Mars has shown that water flows appeared there repeatedly. At the same time, their acidity and temperature varied at different times. And along with them, the conditions for life also changed.
Jezero Crater on Mars is the very location that the Perseverance rover has been studying for many years. Thanks to its operation, scientists have long argued that at the beginning of the planet’s existence, there was a lake into which small rivers flowed and, possibly, life. But recently they have been able to discover that this place is actually quite important.
The rover is equipped with X-ray Lithochemistry (PIXL). It can determine the chemical composition of minerals in the surrounding rocks. Recently, scientists have developed the MIST algorithm, which allows minerals formed in the presence of water flows with different properties to be identified.
After all, the concept of “water” in everyday life is indeed very broad. Liquids that once flowed on the surface of Mars may have had different properties. And now, thanks to an article in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, we know exactly what happened there.
Minerals and history of Jezero Crater
In total, scientists have discovered 24 minerals in the rocks of Jezero Crater that may reveal information about the interaction between its volcanic surface and liquids. Scientists have divided them into three main groups, reflecting different types of this interaction.
The first group includes greenalite, hisingerite, and ferroaluminoceladonite. They were formed in hot and highly acidic waters. Judging by the fact that they are only present in samples from the bottom of the crater, these were local volcanic sources that were not widespread. Life on Earth can totally exist in these conditions, but they’re pretty extreme, so the chances of finding traces of organisms in this early period of Mars’ existence are pretty low.
The second group includes minnesotaite and clinoptilolite, which formed in water flows with significantly more moderate temperatures and acidity. They are present not only at the bottom of the crater, but also in the upper fan region — where water flowed out of it. This indicates that later this depression was much more heavily covered with water and conditions in it were more favorable for life.
The third group of minerals consists of minerals formed in low-temperature, slightly alkaline environments. These include, for example, sepiolite. It is found throughout the crater and indicates that at one time it was covered by a fairly thick layer of water that was quite suitable for life.
Thus, Mars indeed had several different episodes when bodies of water existed in Jezero Crater in one form or another. Details about them will be revealed when samples of its rocks are delivered to Earth.
Scientists have analyzed the temperature at which the Earth’s core can remain in the state in which we observe it. They made a number of new assumptions about the chemicals it might consist of.
At the center of the Earth is its hottest and densest part — the core. No one has ever seen it, but thanks to some indirect methods, it is possible to determine its condition and chemical composition. Scientists have recently made progress in this case.
At the very beginning of its cooling, the Earth’s core was rarefied and hot. But then the temperature dropped and crystallization began in the center of the planet. Gradually, the liquid part became the outer core, and the solid part became the inner core. Charged currents began to form at their boundary.
The latter are the source of our planet’s magnetic field. In fact, its source is the temperature of the solid inner core. It cools down, transfers energy to the outer layers, and the movement of those layers generates currents and magnetic fields.
Seismic waves
All this is fine, but in reality no one has ever seen a sample of the material, either from the outer or inner core. All scientists know about them is the results of research on meteorites, which have remained unchanged since the formation of the Solar System, and observations of the propagation of seismic waves through our planet.
The latter method was used to establish the modern boundaries of the outer and inner cores. And this is precisely where the new study focused its efforts. Knowing the sizes of these two spheres, their cooling times, and information about the outer layers of the Earth, it is possible to calculate what their temperatures are now and in the past.
This is a way to determine chemical composition, because different substances transition to a solid state at different temperatures. Studies have shown that the Earth’s core has to be 10% less dense than pure iron, while the outer layer, despite being liquid, has to be a bit denser, and only certain chemical compositions can make this happen.
Most likely, the core contains sulfur and carbon. It was formed due to the process of supercooling, when, due to certain factors, a substance remains in a liquid state even though the temperature is already below the crystallization point. It is quite possible that in the case of the Earth’s core, this value was 420°C lower. This leaves a very wide range for the carbon content values in it.
In September 2022, NASA conducted an unprecedented experiment: the DART spacecraft deliberately collided with the asteroid Didymos to change its orbit. The mission was deemed a success — the trajectory of the space object really changed. It has been demonstrated that humanity already possesses the necessary technology to deflect potentially dangerous asteroids from their course toward Earth. However, new research points to an unexpected complication: such a strike may only delay the collision, rather than prevent it permanently.
Illustration of an asteroid hitting Earth, generated by ChatGPT AI
Gravitational traps
As it turns out, the main danger is gravitational traps — small areas of space where the gravity of planets can radically change the orbit of an asteroid. If, as a result of the impact, the space rock enters one of these traps, its new path could send it on a direct course toward Earth, but in the future. This makes indiscriminate use of kinetic strike technology potentially risky, merely postponing the inevitable threat.
In search of the perfect place to strike
The answer to this challenge is not to abandon the technology, but to improve it. Scientists studying data from the DART mission are proposing a new approach. Instead of simply hitting the asteroid, it is necessary to calculate the optimal point of impact with the utmost precision.To do this, detailed data about the celestial body needs to be collected in advance: its shape, mass, surface type, rotation speed, and topography.
One of the maps of the asteroid Bennu. The cross corresponds to the location on the surface that minimizes the risk of an asteroid impact after deflection. Illustration: Rahil Makadia
Based on this data, detailed probability arrays can be created that will show which part of the asteroid’s surface is safest for impact. A correctly calculated impulse in the right place will not only deflect the threat, but also ensure that the asteroid does not fall into a gravitational trap and permanently leaves its dangerous course toward Earth. Thus, future planetary defense missions will transform from brute force to precise “space billiards,” where every hit has to be calibrated.
Senator Claims Government Still Hiding UFO Evidence & ‘Proof of Non-Human Intelligence’ in 2025
Senator Claims Government Still Hiding UFO Evidence & ‘Proof of Non-Human Intelligence’ in 2025
Introduction: A New Era of Disclosure
In 2023, the world watched with bated breath as the U.S. Congress held a groundbreaking hearing on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP), marking a significant turning point in the global conversation about extraterrestrial life and aerial anomalies. The testimonies of highly credible whistleblowers such as David Grusch, a former intelligence officer, Ryan Graves, a commercial pilot, and David Fravor, a retired Navy pilot, brought new credibility to the subject. These individuals shared detailed accounts of unexplained sightings, encounters, and classified information, igniting widespread curiosity and prompting governments and scientific communities to reevaluate long-held assumptions about aerial phenomena.
By 2025, this momentum has only intensified. Governments around the world are increasingly acknowledging the reality of UAPs, with some openly admitting that certain sightings defy conventional explanations like weather phenomena or aircraft malfunctions. High-resolution radar data, declassified footage, and sensor recordings have all contributed to the growing body of evidence suggesting that some UAPs might involve non-human intelligence. Several nations, including Canada, the United Kingdom, and France, have initiated joint research projects and open data-sharing initiatives aimed at understanding these phenomena better.
Despite these advancements, many experts and members of the public remain skeptical, suspecting that governments are still withholding vital information. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s 2023 legislation, which aimed to declassify and release UAP-related records, was a significant step forward. However, recent reports indicate that key details continue to be classified, fueling conspiracy theories and public distrust. Investigations by independent researchers and international collaborations have uncovered anomalies that challenge our understanding of physics and technology, hinting at the possibility of non-human origin or advanced extraterrestrial technology.
Moreover, recent technological developments, including the deployment of AI-driven analysis tools and international intelligence sharing, have accelerated efforts to decode these mysteries. The mounting evidence suggests that we are on the verge of a paradigm shift—moving from secrecy and skepticism toward openness and scientific inquiry. As we stand at this crossroads, humanity faces profound questions about our place in the universe, the presence of intelligent life beyond Earth, and what the future holds as we inch closer to discovering the truth behind these enigmatic phenomena.
The Current State of UAP Transparency and Government Action
Since 2023, significant strides have been made by the United States and its allied nations to enhance transparency and deepen understanding of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP). These developments reflect a concerted effort to move beyond secrecy and foster scientific inquiry into phenomena that have long intrigued both the public and the scientific community.
Declassification and Public Reports:One of the most notable steps has been the systematic declassification of UAP-related material. The Department of Defense (DoD), along with intelligence agencies such as the CIA and NSA, has released hundreds of previously classified videos and reports. These include compelling footage captured by military pilots and sensor systems, which depict objects displaying flight characteristics that challenge current understanding of aeronautics. In late 2024, the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) published the “Annual UAP Report 2024,” marking a pivotal moment. This comprehensive document acknowledged over 1,200 UAP encounters since 2004, of which many remain unexplained even after rigorous analysis. The report emphasizes that these phenomena are not attributable to known aircraft, natural phenomena, or technological artifacts, thereby underscoring the need for further investigation.
Establishment of the UAP Oversight Committee: In 2024, the U.S. government formalized its approach by creating the UAP-Scientific and Technical Analysis Group (UAP-STAG), an interagency task force designed to unify efforts across military, intelligence, scientific, and diplomatic sectors. The primary mandate of UAP-STAG is to systematically analyze, catalog, and investigate UAP incidents, especially those exhibiting advanced flight capabilities or associated with unexplained materials and electromagnetic signatures. This committee aims to bring scientific rigor to the study of UAPs, moving away from speculation toward evidence-based understanding. It also seeks to develop standardized protocols for future investigations and to ensure that findings are transparently shared with policymakers and, where appropriate, the public.
International Collaboration:Recognizing the global nature of the phenomenon, the U.S. has actively engaged with international partners. Countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and NATO members have entered into data-sharing agreements and joint investigation initiatives. These collaborations facilitate a broader, more comprehensive approach to UAP research. Additionally, the European Space Agency (ESA) has launched dedicated missions to scan near-Earth space for anomalies, aiming to identify potential sources or links to UAP activity. Such international efforts underscore the importance of a coordinated response to phenomena that transcend national borders.
Private and Scientific Sector Engagement: Beyond government agencies, the private sector and academic institutions are increasingly involved in UAP research. Major aerospace and technology companies, including SpaceX, Blue Origin, and several university-affiliated research groups, are conducting independent studies into anomalous phenomena. These organizations often share preliminary findings with government agencies under strict confidentiality agreements, ensuring that sensitive data remains protected while fostering scientific collaboration. This engagement fosters a multidisciplinary approach, integrating aerospace engineering, physics, and atmospheric science to better understand the phenomena. The involvement of private enterprise and academia is vital in providing innovative perspectives and technological capabilities to unravel the mysteries surrounding UAPs.
Overall, these developments reflect a paradigm shift towards transparency and scientific inquiry in UAP research. While many questions remain unanswered, the increased openness and coordinated efforts mark a significant turning point in how governments and society approach the study of these enigmatic phenomena.
Recent High-Profile Incidents and Evidence
1. The “Tri-Planetary” Encounters of 2024
In early 2024, multiple UAPs were recorded simultaneously over the Pacific Ocean during joint military exercises. These objects displayed unprecedented flight characteristics: instantaneous acceleration, hovering at hypersonic speeds, and silent operation. Some of these craft appeared to communicate via electromagnetic signals, suggesting a level of sophistication far beyond current human technology.
One noteworthy incident involved a UAP that hovered near a U.S. Navy carrier for over 45 minutes before departing at incredible speeds. Analysis of recovered debris indicated exotic materials not found on Earth, with atomic structures that challenge our understanding of physics.
2. The “Lunar Anomaly” Findings
In late 2024, NASA and the European Space Agency announced the discovery of anomalous structures on the Moon’s far side, captured by new high-resolution orbiters. These structures, some resembling artificial constructs or machinery, have sparked debates about whether extraterrestrial civilizations might have visited or even established outposts on the Moon or elsewhere in the solar system.
The most compelling evidence came from a recent leak of classified images showing what appears to be a large, partially buried metallic object with geometric features inconsistent with natural geology. Scientists are calling for further investigation, but official access remains restricted.
3. Underwater UAPs and Submarine Encounters
In 2024, several allied navies reported encounters with submerged UAPs, some operating at depths beyond known human capability. These objects have been tracked traveling along undersea corridors, emitting electromagnetic signatures, and possibly interacting with undersea infrastructure. Such phenomena suggest that non-human intelligence may have mastery over both air and sea domains.
Whistleblowers and New Testimonies
David Grusch & the Hidden Programs
Whistleblower David Grusch has become one of the most prominent figures in the ongoing discussion about UFOs and government secrecy. His revelations in 2023 about secret retrieval programs have sparked intense debate worldwide, and his continued disclosures in 2024 deepen the mystery surrounding these clandestine activities. Grusch claims that the U.S. government has been involved in a series of highly classified projects aimed at recovering and analyzing extraterrestrial technology and biological specimens. One such operation, which he dubbed “Operation Deep Horizon,” is reportedly a large-scale initiative initiated decades ago with the primary goal of retrieving alien artifacts and reverse-engineering alien technology to gain a strategic advantage.
David Grusch, former national reconnaissance officer representative of the UAP Task Force at the U.S. Department of Defense, testifies during a House Oversight Committee hearing.
Drew Angerer / Getty Images
According to Grusch, thousands of recovered artifacts, some nearly a hundred years old, are stored in undisclosed facilities, guarded by a complex network of agencies and contractors. These artifacts include fragments of alien spacecraft, biological samples, and possibly preserved extraterrestrial lifeforms. Some of these biological specimens are said to be kept in specially designed biocontainment units, possibly stored in underground vaults or remote military bases. Grusch emphasizes that this extensive cover-up involves numerous government agencies, including the Department of Defense, intelligence agencies such as the CIA and DIA, and private defense contractors who have been contracted to develop technology from recovered materials. He also suggests that foreign governments may have knowledge of or even participate in parts of this covert operation, complicating international relations and raising questions about global oversight.
Grusch’s assertions point to a vast and deeply hidden archive of alien-related material, which, if verified, would fundamentally alter our understanding of human history and technological development. He warns that the scope of this concealment is enormous, involving not only military and intelligence agencies but also shadowy corporate entities that profit from the technology’s secrecy. The implications of such a cover-up extend beyond national security concerns, touching on issues of transparency, ethics, and humanity’s right to know about extraterrestrial life. Grusch’s testimonies continue to fuel speculation and investigation, prompting calls for congressional hearings and independent inquiries into the existence and extent of these secret programs.
This video grab image obtained April 28, 2020, courtesy of the U.S. Department of Defense shows part of an unclassified video taken by Navy pilots that have circulated for years showing interactions with "unidentified aerial phenomena".
U.S. Dept. of Defense via AFP via Getty Images, FILE
Ryan Graves & the Threat of Advanced UAPs
Ryan Graves, a former Navy pilot and now a senior advisor to the Department of Defense, remains a key advocate for transparency regarding Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP). Throughout 2024, he has published detailed analyses and reports emphasizing the potential threats posed by advanced UAPs to national security and aviation safety. Graves’s extensive experience as a pilot gives him a unique perspective on the flight capabilities of these objects, which often exhibit maneuvers and speeds that defy current human technology.
His recent report highlights that many UAPs demonstrate propulsion systems and energy sources that challenge our understanding of physics. Some of these objects can accelerate rapidly, hover silently for extended periods, or perform sharp turns and sudden accelerations that suggest highly advanced propulsion technology—possibly involving anti-gravity or zero-point energy. Such capabilities indicate that these objects could be either non-human or represent a post-human technological evolution that surpasses current human engineering.
Graves advocates for the deployment of more sophisticated detection systems, including networked radar, infrared sensors, and AI-based analysis tools. He emphasizes that improving detection and tracking systems is essential for understanding the origin, purpose, and capabilities of these UAPs. Additionally, he stresses the importance of international cooperation, advocating for a global approach to UAP monitoring and data sharing. This cooperation could help identify patterns, establish early warning systems, and develop strategies to counter potential threats.
Graves also raises concerns about the potential for UAPs to interfere with military operations or commercial aviation, especially as some of these objects have demonstrated the ability to operate near sensitive military sites and airports. He warns that if these phenomena are of extraterrestrial origin, they could represent an unprecedented technological challenge that requires coordinated international research efforts. His work aims to establish a scientific and military framework that can assess and respond to this emerging threat responsibly, prioritizing safety and security while maintaining transparency with the public.
New Testimonies from Military Personnel
Between 2024 and 2025, a significant wave of anonymous testimonies from military personnel, radar operators, and scientists has emerged, adding new layers to the UFO mystery. These testimonies describe encounters with “intelligent” UAPs that seem to exhibit behaviors indicating purpose, coordination, and even curiosity about human activity. Many of those who have come forward recount experiences where UAPs appeared to respond to human commands or gestures, suggesting a level of awareness and possibly intelligence.
Several military pilots have reported that during their encounters, UAPs adjusted their flight paths to avoid collision, often moving in ways that suggest a calculation of human intentions and movements. Some pilots noted that these objects seemed to follow specific objects or locations, such as military bases or research facilities, raising suspicions about surveillance or reconnaissance activities. Others have described observing UAPs performing complex maneuvers, such as sudden accelerations or hovering at extreme altitudes, that current human-made aircraft cannot replicate.
Radar operators have reported detecting UAPs that appear to outmaneuver conventional aircraft and radar systems. These objects often display sudden changes in direction and velocity, making them difficult to track or predict. In some cases, radar blips have disappeared or reappeared at will, indicating a mastery of electromagnetic or stealth technology that could be of extraterrestrial origin. Scientists involved in analyzing these data sets have suggested that these UAPs show signs of purposeful behavior, such as following specific flight paths or maintaining proximity to sensitive sites, implying that some UAPs may possess a form of intelligence.
The testimonies also describe incidents where UAPs exhibit curiosity about human activity, seemingly observing or even approaching military personnel or equipment. Such behaviors suggest an interest beyond mere observation, possibly indicating a willingness to interact or communicate. These encounters have often left witnesses with a mixture of fascination and concern, as they challenge existing scientific paradigms and raise questions about the intent and origin of these objects. The consistency and detail of these testimonies have prompted calls for more systematic investigation, including the deployment of specialized sensors and the development of protocols for safe interaction.
Overall, these new testimonies underscore the complexity and potential significance of UAP phenomena. They suggest that these objects are not mere anomalies or natural phenomena but may represent an advanced form of intelligence—either extraterrestrial or highly evolved human-made technology. The reports reinforce the urgency for governments and scientific institutions to prioritize research and transparency, ensuring that these encounters are thoroughly documented and understood. As public awareness grows, the hope is that a clearer picture will emerge about the nature, purpose, and capabilities of these mysterious objects, leading to a new era of scientific discovery and security preparedness.
The Scientific Community’s Perspective
While skepticism persists within many scientific circles regarding the true nature of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAPs), an increasing number of researchers and institutions are advocating for a more open and systematic investigation into these mysterious objects. Historically, UAPs were often dismissed or ridiculed, but recent developments have fostered a shift towards serious scientific inquiry. Notably, organizations such as the International Astrobiology Institute and the Quantum Physics Society have issued joint statements emphasizing the potential significance of unexplained aerial phenomena. They argue that these phenomena could hold the key to revolutionary breakthroughs, ranging from discovering new physics principles to understanding the existence of non-human intelligence. Such statements encourage scientists to approach UAPs without prejudice and to consider multidisciplinary research methods. They highlight the importance of transparency, data sharing, and open collaboration among nations and scientific disciplines. This movement aims to elevate UAP research from speculative fringe science to a credible field that can contribute meaningfully to our understanding of the universe. The recognition of UAPs as phenomena worthy of scientific scrutiny marks a pivotal shift in how these mysterious objects are perceived within the scientific community.
In 2024, a groundbreaking symposium held at the United Nations signified a major milestone in formalizing international cooperation on UAP research. This event brought together scientists, policymakers, military officials, and representatives from various countries to discuss strategies for investigating these phenomena. During the symposium, the proposal for establishing an official International UAP Research Consortium (IURC) was introduced and broadly supported. The IURC aims to serve as a centralized body responsible for coordinating global efforts, sharing collected data, and developing scientifically rigorous hypotheses regarding the origins, nature, and implications of UAPs. The consortium would facilitate data pooling from military, civilian, and academic sources, promoting transparency and avoiding the duplication of efforts. Furthermore, it seeks to standardize research methodologies, establish protocols for data validation, and foster international collaboration to accelerate understanding. The establishment of the IURC signals a paradigm shift in how countries approach the phenomenon—moving from secretive, compartmentalized investigations to an open, cooperative framework aimed at uncovering the truth through scientific rigor. Such an initiative underscores the urgency and global importance of deciphering UAPs, not just as a matter of national security but as a potential doorway to new scientific horizons.
Photograph: Tom Brenner/Getty Images
Theories and Explanations: From Secret Tech to Extraterrestrial Civilizations
Several hypotheses and explanations dominate the ongoing discussions about the nature of UAPs, reflecting the wide range of interpretations and the lack of definitive evidence so far. These theories are rooted in various scientific, technological, and speculative frameworks, each offering different perspectives on what these objects could be.
Advanced Human or Secret Tech: The first and perhaps most conservative hypothesis suggests that UAPs are secret prototypes or experimental technologies developed by human military or industrial entities. Known as “secret tech” or “black projects,” these could include advanced aircraft, drone systems, or other aerospace technologies that are not publicly acknowledged. Sometimes, these craft are believed to be part of clandestine programs—such as the U.S. Black Budget projects—which operate beyond the oversight of civilian authorities. Proponents argue that some sightings could be explained by highly sophisticated, covert technology designed for intelligence gathering or military advantage. These projects often involve cutting-edge materials, propulsion systems, and stealth capabilities, which might appear extraordinary to observers unaware of their existence. The challenge, however, lies in the lack of concrete evidence linking UAPs to known secret technologies, which keeps this hypothesis speculative. Nonetheless, the possibility that some UAPs represent undisclosed human technological advancements remains a significant consideration among researchers.
Foreign Spying and Countermeasures:The second prominent theory involves foreign espionage and countermeasures. This explanation posits that UAPs could be advanced surveillance devices operated by foreign adversaries such as China, Russia, or even lesser-known nations. These entities might deploy sophisticated craft or drone systems to probe military installations, gather intelligence, or test defenses. Such devices could be designed to mimic natural atmospheric phenomena or employ stealth technologies to evade detection. The idea is that some sightings could be the result of foreign espionage efforts aimed at understanding or countering national security measures. For example, certain anomalous objects observed near sensitive military sites could be classified as foreign reconnaissance tools, especially if they exhibit flight characteristics or technological features beyond current known capabilities. This hypothesis emphasizes the importance of intelligence, counterintelligence, and technological vigilance, as nations seek to defend against potential espionage threats. While there is limited public evidence to confirm such claims, the possibility remains plausible given the geopolitical landscape and advancements in covert surveillance technology.
In an open hearing on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) before the House Intelligence Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence, and Counterproliferation Subcommittee, Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence Mr. Scott Bray shared this Navy image of a UAP captured during Naval Exercises off the East Coast of the United States in early 2022.
U.S. Navy
Non-Human or Extraterrestrial Origins: TA highly provocative and widely debated hypothesis suggests that some UAPs originate from extraterrestrial civilizations. This theory is rooted in the possibility of intelligent life beyond Earth and posits that certain unexplained phenomena are actual craft built or piloted by non-human entities visiting our planet. Proponents argue that the extraordinary flight capabilities, lack of identifiable propulsion systems, and unusual behavioral patterns observed in some UAP encounters could point to alien technology. The hypothesis is supported by anecdotal accounts, radar-visual correlations, and some declassified military footage showing objects performing maneuvers impossible with known human technology. If true, such encounters could have profound implications for science, philosophy, and our understanding of our place in the universe. Skeptics, however, call for caution, emphasizing the lack of concrete physical evidence and the need for rigorous scientific validation. Nonetheless, this hypothesis continues to inspire research efforts and public fascination, fueling the hope that UAPs might be visitors from distant worlds rather than terrestrial or natural phenomena.
A sign in Roswell, New Mexico advertising a UFO crash site.
(Image credit: Getty Images/David Zaitz)
Interdimensional or Parallel Universe Hypotheses:Finally, an emerging fringe hypothesis involves the idea that UAPs are connected to interdimensional or parallel universe phenomena. This speculative theory suggests that UAPs could originate from other dimensions or alternate realities that coexist alongside our own. According to this perspective, these objects might be manifestations or portals linked to entities or phenomena existing outside the scope of conventional physics. Some proponents argue that the strange flight patterns, inexplicable appearances, and sudden disappearances could be explained by interactions with higher-dimensional spaces. This hypothesis challenges current scientific paradigms, as it involves concepts of multiple dimensions, quantum entanglement, and parallel universes—areas still largely theoretical and unproven. Critics regard this idea as highly speculative due to the lack of empirical evidence, but it remains intriguing for those exploring the boundaries of physics and consciousness. If validated, this theory could revolutionize our understanding of reality itself, opening new frontiers in physics and metaphysics. The interdimensional hypothesis underscores the vast uncertainty surrounding UAPs and highlights the need for open-minded scientific exploration beyond conventional frameworks.
In summary, the scientific community recognizes the complexity and mystery surrounding UAPs, with multiple competing hypotheses ranging from secret human technology to extraterrestrial and interdimensional origins. Each explanation presents unique challenges and opportunities for discovery. As international efforts such as the proposed IURC gain momentum, the hope is that systematic, open-minded research will eventually unravel the true nature of these enigmatic objects, potentially leading to revolutionary scientific breakthroughs and a deeper understanding of our univere.
The Broader Implications
The increasing acknowledgment and investigation of UAPs have profound implications across multiple domains, influencing security, scientific understanding, geopolitics, and cultural perspectives. These developments could potentially reshape our world in fundamental ways, prompting governments, scientists, and societies to rethink long-held beliefs and strategies.
An undated government photo of "a UFO variety" that hovered for fifteen minutes near Holloman Air Development Center in New Mexico. | Bettmann / Contributor/Getty/Getty
Security and Defense:Understanding these phenomena is critical for national security, especially as some UAPs demonstrate capabilities that could threaten military assets or civilian infrastructure. Governments are investing heavily in research, surveillance, and defense measures to identify, track, and assess these objects. The potential for hostile intent or advanced technology hidden within these phenomena raises concerns about sovereignty and safety. Military installations and aircraft are now equipped with advanced sensors to detect unusual activity, and some nations are developing specialized units to analyze UAP encounters. This focus on security extends to international cooperation and intelligence sharing, aiming to prevent possible threats while also understanding the origin and purpose of these phenomena. The implications for airspace sovereignty and defense protocols are significant, potentially leading to new treaties or regulations.
Scientific Paradigm Shift: Confirming non-human intelligence or new physics could revolutionize our scientific understanding and technological development. If UAPs are proven to operate on principles beyond our current knowledge, it would prompt a reevaluation of fundamental physics, such as gravity, propulsion, and energy sources. This may lead to groundbreaking innovations in transportation, energy production, and materials science. Researchers would need to develop new theories and models to explain these phenomena, challenging existing scientific paradigms that have persisted for centuries. The potential discovery of extraterrestrial technology or consciousness could accelerate scientific progress exponentially, opening entirely new fields of study and enabling humanity to harness previously unimaginable technologies. Such a shift could also influence academic institutions, funding priorities, and international scientific collaborations.
Global Politics: Countries are now competing and collaborating in unprecedented ways to uncover the truth, with some nations establishing dedicated agencies or task forces. These efforts reflect the strategic importance of UAPs, as access to advanced technology or intelligence could confer significant geopolitical advantages. Nations like the U.S., China, Russia, and others have increased their investments in UAP research, often leading to classified projects and secretive collaborations. International organizations may eventually play a role in establishing protocols for transparency and data sharing, fostering a new era of global cooperation or competition. Diplomatic tensions could arise if some countries are perceived as withholding information or suppressing findings. Conversely, sharing knowledge could promote peaceful exploration and collective security. The geopolitical landscape is thus being reshaped by these investigations, with new alliances forming based on technological and intelligence capabilities related to UAPs.
Philosophical and Cultural Impact: The realization that we are not alone challenges humanity’s worldview, religious beliefs, and our understanding of life in the universe. For centuries, many cultures and religions have maintained that humanity is unique or at the center of creation. The confirmation of extraterrestrial life or intelligence would force a reassessment of these beliefs, leading to profound existential questions. It could inspire a new sense of humility, curiosity, and interconnectedness among humans, fostering a global identity rooted in the recognition of our place in the universe. Additionally, art, literature, and popular culture are likely to be influenced, with themes of contact, discovery, and alien civilizations becoming more prominent. Religious and philosophical debates may intensify, questioning humanity’s purpose and the nature of consciousness. This paradigm shift could also influence educational curricula, encouraging a broader and more inclusive perspective on life and our universe, ultimately fostering a more open-minded and inquisitive society.
The Future Outlook:As research continues, the implications of UAPs will likely deepen, influencing policy, science, and cultural narratives. Increased transparency and international cooperation could lead to groundbreaking discoveries, while ongoing security concerns may result in stricter regulations and defense protocols. The possibility of contact with extraterrestrial civilizations remains a tantalizing prospect, with the potential to unify humanity or cause divisions based on how information is managed and interpreted. Public interest and curiosity are expected to grow, fueling a new era of exploration and understanding. Ultimately, these phenomena challenge us to expand our horizons, rethink our assumptions, and prepare for a future where the unknown may become known, transforming our civilization in ways we can only begin to imagine.
The Path Forward: Disclosure, Research, and Public Engagement
In 2025, the momentum toward full transparency regarding Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) continues to grow. Governments worldwide are increasingly releasing classified materials, often prompted by mounting public pressure and a growing body of credible sightings. Many agencies are declassifying previously restricted documents, videos, and reports, providing the public and researchers with more detailed insights into encounters that have long been shrouded in secrecy. This shift aims to build trust, dispel misinformation, and foster a more open dialogue about the phenomenon.
Simultaneously, independent researchers and scientific institutions are gaining unprecedented access to data that was once tightly guarded. Collaborative efforts between government agencies, universities, and private organizations are expanding, allowing scientists to analyze UAP data more thoroughly. These efforts include advanced sensor analysis, radar tracking, and atmospheric studies, all of which contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of these phenomena. This democratization of information is crucial for moving beyond speculation and towards evidence-based conclusions.
Public interest remains high, with large-scale protests and demonstrations occurring globally. Citizens demand open access to all UAP information, asserting their right to understand what governments may have known for decades. Social media campaigns, public forums, and media coverage continue to amplify calls for transparency, pressuring authorities to release more data and participate in open discussions. Governments are increasingly acknowledging the importance of engaging with the public to foster trust and accountability.
In response to this evolving landscape, the U.S. Congress is actively considering new legislation aimed at formalizing international cooperation on UAP research. Proposed bills seek to establish protocols for sharing information across borders, encouraging a global approach to understanding these phenomena. Funding for scientific research is also on the rise, with grants allocated specifically for studying UAP-related data, atmospheric conditions, and potential technological implications.
The legislation also emphasizes the importance of safety and protocol development for future encounters. This includes establishing guidelines for military and civilian interactions, ensuring that investigations are conducted systematically and without unnecessary escalation. The overarching goal is to create an environment where transparency, scientific rigor, and safety are prioritized, ultimately paving the way for a more informed and collaborative approach to understanding UAPs. As the world moves forward, the hope is that increased openness and scientific inquiry will lead to groundbreaking discoveries and a clearer understanding of the phenomena that continue to intrigue humanity.
Conclusion: Are We Alone? The Future of UAP Research
While definitive proof of non-human intelligence remains elusive, the accumulated evidence, recent discoveries, and credible testimonies suggest that the phenomena we observe may be more than just secret technology or psychological illusions. Over the past decades, numerous eyewitness accounts from military personnel, pilots, and civilians have been documented, often corroborated by radar and sensor data. These reports point to objects exhibiting flight capabilities that surpass current human-made aircraft, with some demonstrating sudden accelerations, abrupt directional changes, and hover capabilities that defy known physics.
In recent years, advanced satellite imagery and high-resolution videos have added credibility to these phenomena, prompting governments and scientific institutions worldwide to take a more serious interest. The U.S. government, for example, has declassified several videos and established dedicated research groups to analyze UAP encounters. This shift indicates a growing recognition that understanding these phenomena could have profound implications for national security, aerospace technology, and our understanding of the universe.
As governments and scientists continue their investigations, humanity stands at the threshold of potentially the most significant scientific and philosophical revolution in history. The pressing questions are no longer if we are being visited or observed, but when and by whom. With ongoing technological advancements, increased international cooperation, and the collection of more comprehensive data, we may soon uncover the truth behind these mysterious visitors. Such discoveries could redefine our understanding of life beyond Earth and influence our future in ways we can scarcely imagine. The quest for answers continues, and the coming years may finally bring clarity to one of humanity’s most profound mysteries.
Note: The ongoing developments in 2025 indicate that the era of UAP mystery is giving way to one of scientific inquiry and transparency. Whether these phenomena are visitors from another world, manifestations of advanced human technology, or something else entirely, one thing is clear: we are not alone in our curiosity—and perhaps, in reality.
Sources & Further Reading:
UAP Annual Report 2024, ODNI
Official statements from NASA, ESA, and DoD
Whistleblower interviews and declassified documents
Recent congressional hearings and legislation updates
Scientific symposiums and international collaborations
Scientists say they have developed fully functional miniature robots that can go deep inside the human body to perform ultra-precise laser surgery, in a medical innovation similar to on-screen portrayals from science fiction.
The robots have roughly the same dimensions as microorganisms — like the paramecium.
Controlled by magnetic fields, the tiny wormlike robotic surgeons were recently demonstrated traveling deeper inside a human cadaver’s lungs than is possible with current state-of-the-art surgical instruments. One of the researchers behind the achievement tells The Debrief that there are a number of organs and systems the incredible “micro-bots” can get inside to perform similar pinpoint explorations and surgeries.
Discover more in the BBC news video below.
Miniature Robots Performing Surgery Has Long Been a Dream of Science Fiction
In some of the more utopian science fiction of the middle 20th century, medicine has advanced to the point that nearly all diseases and ailments have a treatment, if not an outright cure. Some of these futuristic cures involve genetically engineered super drugs, blasts of scientific-sounding rays, or even an injection of alien blood. However, seemingly the most common therapy of the future envisioned by TV writers, movie directors, and novelists involve injecting minuscule robots into the human body and letting them go to work.
Now a team of researchers says they have moved this idea from science fiction to science fact by designing the first pair of tiny surgical roots that can literally go where no surgeon has gone before.
Future tiny robots possibly upgraded with AI
More than a tiny robot army with tricked-out legs, the robots are exceptional because they employ the same fabrication techniques seen in silicon computer chips. This effectively means they may be produced en masse — researchers fit 1 million of these ultra-tiny robots onto a singular four-inch silicon wafer. This also means the robots are easily equipped with increasingly advanced technology as it progresses to smaller and smaller via Moore’s Law, reports Inverse.
Magnetic Fields, Tiny Cameras and Ultra-Precise Lasers
In an email to The Debrief, Professor Pietro Valdastri, Director of the STORM Lab and research supervisor, said that the robots themselves are made of a biocompatible plastic (silicone) with magnetic particles embedded inside them.
The first part is significant so the human body doesn’t have a negative reaction to the otherwise foreign objects operating inside of the body. However, it is the precision placement of the embedded magnet particles that allow the two wormlike robots to maneuver independently.
“Normally, two magnets placed closely together would attract each other, creating a challenge for the researchers,” the press release announcing the breakthrough procedure explains. “They overcame it by designing the bodies of the tentacles in a way that they can bend only in specific directions and by relocating the north and south poles in each magnetic robot tentacle.”
Robotic platform for peripheral lung tumour intervention based on magnetic tentacles
(STORM Lab, University of Leeds/Public Domain)
A pair of magnetic devices operating outside the human body can generate fields strong enough to cause the robots to maneuver deeper inside the lungs than even the most advanced equipment. And by moving independently, one of the robots can carry a camera to assist surgeons, while the second robot can guide a surgical laser with extreme precision.
When asked how a robot that is only 2 millimeters in diameter can carry a laser, Valdastri told The Debrief, “the source of laser is external, but the laser light is sent to the tip of the magnetic tentacle via an optical fiber. So laser energy is delivered at the tip of the tentacle directly on the target.”
In the video released by researchers (below), the pair of miniature robots are seen navigating deep into the lungs of a human cadaver. This is significant, they note, because lung cancer that often requires surgery has the highest mortality rate of any cancer worldwide. Still, when asked by The Debrief if the miniature robots can work in other areas of the body besides the lungs, they said there were a number of biological systems that would accommodate these micro-surgeons perfectly.
“The same approach can be used to reach the deep part of the brain, the pancreas, the bladder, and any other body cavity that is accessible through a narrow lumen,” Valdastri said. “The cardiovascular system is also another potential district of use.”
“Living Tissues” Clinical Trials Are the Next Proving Ground
Now that the robots have been shown to move successfully and independently in a biological environment, the team behind the exciting research effort, which was published in the journal Nature Engineering Communications, says they are working their way toward actual human trials with actual lung cancer patients. However, there is likely one more step along the way.
“For the lung cancer application, (the) next step(s) are trials in a more realistic environment that includes living tissues and respiration, so probably animal model,” Valdastri told The Debrief. “After that, human trials, possibly in 2-3 years from now.”
Given the abilities and functionality of these miniature robots, it seems that one day in the not-too-far distant future, they will actually be in medical facilities around the world exploring and repairing the deepest recesses of the human body like something right out of a movie. Plus, the researchers explain, there is a significant aspect of access for everyone and not just the rich that may make them even more successful
“The key point is that this new magnetic technology can allow us to reach way deeper into the human body than ever before in a way that doesn’t require extremely qualified surgeons (thanks to robotic guidance/assistance),” Valdastri told The Debrief. “We hope this way to democratise cancer treatment and increase access to top quality procedures.”
Christopher Plain is a Science Fiction and Fantasy novelist and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on X, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him directly at christopher@thedebrief.org.
They discussed how numerous military and civil pilots and radar operators see and track UFOs performing speeds and manoeuvres that seem to defy the laws of physics.
Sceptics believe such sightings are either misperceptions, sensor anomalies, or involve secret prototype aircraft, missiles or drones.
The third witness at the hearing, David Grusch, is a former intelligence officer who served on the US government's Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force.
In testimony reminiscent of the infamous Roswell UFO incident, Grusch says the US government has recovered craft and bodies relating to what he calls a "non-human intelligence".
He undertook to pass specific details about this to Congressional representatives with the appropriate security clearances.
He said he blew the whistle because programs dealing with this are being run illegally, without proper Congressional oversight.
Grusch went further, talking about unspecified injuries that have befallen UFO witnesses, and threats and retribution against whistleblowers - including himself.
Separately, he filed a complaint with the Intelligence Community Inspector General, apparently containing specific details that were frustratingly missing from the hearing, because it was an unclassified session.
David Grusch, former National Reconnaissance Officer Representative of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Task Force at the U.S. Department of Defense, at the 'Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency' US Congress hearing on 26 July 2023.
Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Key takeaways
Unlike pilot sightings, which are multifactorial, there's no middle ground here: Grusch's claims are either true or false.
Could he be a disgruntled former employee trying to cause trouble, or involved in a deception operation - either as a willing participant or as an unwilling dupe?
If his allegations are true, they would have profound implications for humanity.
Congress is trying to verify Grusch's claims - a process complicated by the highly classified nature of some UFO information, and by the fact that multiple committees and sub-committees, both in the Senate and the House of Representatives, are investigating.
And US lawmakers are drafting multiple UFO-related provisions for inclusion in next year's Defense Bill.
Whatever the truth about UFOs, there's bipartisan agreement that it's a serious national security issue.
Furthermore, the level of official engagement in the US is in stark contrast to the UK, where the Ministry of Defence terminated UFO investigations in 2009, and say they have no plans to re-engage.
Nick Pope worked for the Ministry of Defence for 21 years. From 1991 to 1994 his duties included investigating UFO sightings to assess national security implications.
These stories about the space militarization race aren’t getting the attention the much more entertaining UFO stories are getting, but it seems likely that those who are responsible for moving the war machinery around are paying a lot more attention to the former than the latter.
If Wednesday’s House Oversight subcommittee hearing on UFOs had happened ten years ago instead of today, it would have shaken the world. Imagine someone from 2013 hearing congressional testimonies about “routine” military pilot encounters with giant flying tic tacs, floating orbs, 300-foot red squares, and cubes in clear spheres zipping around in ways that surpass all known earthly technology by leaps and bounds, or about secret government possession of otherworldly aircraft they’re trying to reverse engineer and the dead bodies of their non-human pilots, or about the possibility that these creatures are not merely extraterrestrial but extra-dimensional. Their jaws would have hit the floor.
Now in 2023 we’ve been getting incrementally drip-fed bits and pieces of these stories for six years, so the scene on Capitol Hill on Wednesday didn’t have the impact it would’ve had in 2013. It’s making headlines and getting attention, but not as much as Sinead O’Connor’s death or people’s thoughts on Barbie and Oppenheimer. The response from the general public could be described as a collective nervous laugh and a shrug.
People scroll past the footage from the hearing on social media, go “Whoa, that’s weird,” and move on with their lives. The information’s going in, but just kind of on the periphery of mainstream consciousness. Maybe next year they’ll show us something that would’ve been even more shocking to someone in 2013 than Wednesday’s hearing would’ve been, and it will be met with the same nervous laugh and shrug by the people of 2024.
Of course in the circles I tend to interact with, the response is a bit different. People who are highly skeptical of the US war machine tend to also be highly skeptical of this UFO narrative we’ve been seeing since 2017.
“Distraction” is a word you hear a lot. “It’s just a distraction from ______”, where “______” is whatever hot story they personally happen to be fascinated by at the moment. I personally don’t buy that explanation; the new UFO narrative wasn’t just cooked up at the last minute to distract from current headlines, it’s been unfolding for six years, and people aren’t even paying that much attention to it. The empire doesn’t tend to orchestrate spectacular events as a “distraction” anyway; the adjustment of public attention tends to take the much more mundane form of agenda setting in the media, where some stories receive more attention than others based on what’s convenient for the oligarchs who own the press.
I also see people theorizing that this is all a ploy to ramp up the US military budget. There could totally be something to that, but again this narrative has been unfolding for six years and so far the military budget has just been swelling in the usual yearly increments as always.
Don’t get me wrong, though — I’m as skeptical about this thing as anyone. For one thing the origins of the mainstream UFO narrative which began in 2017 were steeped in extensive distortion, dishonesty and journalistic malpractice, and were carried forward by shady intelligence operatives like Lue Elizondo. David Grusch, who made by far the most sensational claims at Wednesday’s congressional hearing with his tales of dead aliens and reverse-engineered UFOs, is himself an insider of the US intelligence cartel.
But for me what really stinks about all this UFO stuff is the timing. Here we are in the early stages of a new cold war which features a race to militarize space, and we’re hearing congressional testimony about mysterious vehicles posing a threat to US airspace which have the ability to go up and down between earth and space very quickly. That smells off.
I mean, does it really sound like a coincidence that we’re seeing all these news stories about UFOs and aliens at the same time we’re seeing news stories about a race between the US and China and Russia to dominate space militarily? A Foreign Policy article from last year blares the headline “China and Russia Are Catching Up to U.S. in Space Capabilities, Pentagon Warns” with the subheading “The militarization of space is picking up pace.” These warnings are echoed in articles by Defense One and Time. An article on the United Nations website from last year carries the title “‘We Have Not Passed the Point of No Return’, Disarmament Committee Told, Weighing Chance Outer Space Could Become Next Battlefield.” A 2021 report from the war machine-funded Center for Strategic and International Studies titled “Defense Against the Dark Arts in Space: Protecting Space Systems from Counterspace Weapons” warns of the urgent need to build more space weapons to counter US enemies. A Global Times article from last year carries the title “Chinese experts urge avoidance of space weaponization amid commercial space capability deployment in Ukraine.”
These stories about the space militarization race aren’t getting the attention the much more entertaining UFO stories are getting, but it seems likely that those who are responsible for moving the war machinery around are paying a lot more attention to the former than the latter. The US Space Force took its first steps toward becoming a reality in 2017, the same year these mainstream UFO stories started coming out, with the explicit purpose of countering Russia and China.
And it just seems mighty suspicious to me how we’re being slowly paced into this UFO narrative (or UAP narrative for those hip to the current jargon) right when there’s a mad rush to get weapons into space. I can’t actually think of any other point in history when the timing of something like this would have looked more suspicious.
So for me the most disturbing parts of the UFO hearing were the parts that could wind up facilitating the agenda to militarize space, like when this phenomenon was framed as a “national security” threat or when it was mentioned that they can transition from earth to space very rapidly.
When asked by congressman Glenn Grothman “do you believe UAPs pose a threat to our national security?”, former Navy commander David Fravor answered with an unequivocal yes. A few minutes later Fravor described these vehicles as being able to “come down from space, hang out for three hours and go back up.”
When asked by congressman Andy Ogles whether UFOs could be “collecting reconnaissance information” on the US military, all three witnesses — Grusch, Fravor, and former Navy pilot Ryan Graves — answered in the affirmative. Asked by Ogles if UFOs could be “probing our capabilities,” all three again said yes. Asked if UFOs could be “testing for vulnerabilities” in US military capabilities, all three again said yes. Asked if UFOs pose an existential threat to the national security of the United States, all three said they potentially do. Asked if there was any indication that UFOs are interested in US nuclear technology, all three said yes.
Ogles concluded his questioning by saying, “There clearly is a threat to the national security of the United States of America. As members of Congress, we have a responsibility to maintain oversight and be aware of these activities so that, if appropriate, we take action.”
When asked by congressman Eric Burlison if “there has been activity by alien or non-human technology, and/or beings, that has caused harm to humans,” Grusch said he couldn’t get into specifics in a public setting (a common theme throughout the hearing), but said that “what I personally witnessed, myself and my wife, was very disturbing.”
Grusch would complicate this cryptic statement a few minutes later by saying that he’s never seen a UFO. How this statement doesn’t contradict his previous statement about having witnessed harmful behavior from non-human technology and/or beings was not made clear.
So you’ve got US policymakers being told that there are vehicles using technology not of this world routinely violating US airspace and posing an existential threat to US national security, and that these craft can go from earth to space and back at will, and that they need to help make sure their nation can address this threat.
What conclusions do you come to when presented with that kind of information? If you’re a lawmaker in charge of facilitating the operation of a highly militaristic empire, you’re probably not going to conclude that it’s time to hold hands and sing Kumbaya. You’re probably eventually going to start thinking in terms of military technology.
One of the most important unanswered questions in all this UFO hullabaloo is, why now? Why are we seeing all this movement on “disclosure” after generations of zero movement? If these things are in fact real and the government has in fact been keeping them secret, why would the adamant policy of dismissal and locked doors suddenly be reversed, allowing “whistleblowers” to come forward and give testimony before congress? If they had motive to keep it a secret this entire time, why would that motive no longer be there?
If you ask the online UFO community, many will essentially take credit for the whole thing, saying the most powerful war machine ever assembled has reversed its policy of total opacity because of “pressure” applied by disclosure activists. This doesn’t pass the smell test; the most powerful empire in history isn’t reversing course on a longstanding policy of blanket secrecy because of internet forums and FOIA requests.
So why now? Why the drastic and sudden shift from UFOs and aliens being laughable tinfoil hat nonsense to the subject of serious congressional inquiries and widespread mainstream media coverage?
Well, the timing of the race to militarize space might provide an answer to the “why now?” question. Is it a coincidence that this new UFO narrative began its rollout in 2017, around the same time as the rollout of the Space Force? Are we being manipulated at mass scale about aliens and UFOs to help grease the wheels for the movement of war machinery into space? How likely is it that by pure coincidence this extraplanetary narrative timed out the way it did just as the US empire makes a last-ditch grab at unipolar planetary domination?
I don’t know. I do know that if I’m assigning degrees of probability, “Extraterrestrial or extradimensional beings are here and take a special interest in us and sometimes crash their vehicles and our government recovered them but kept them a secret but suddenly decided not to be so secretive about them anymore” ranks significantly lower than “Our rulers are lying and manipulating to advance their own interests again.”
I am 100 percent wide open to the possibility of extraterrestrials and otherworldly vehicles zipping around our atmosphere. What I am not open to is the claim that the most depraved institutions on earth have suddenly opened their mind to telling us the truth about these things, either out of the goodness of their hearts or because they were “pressured” by UFO disclosure activists.
I don’t know what the hell is going on with this UFO thing, but I do know the drivers of the US empire have an extensive history of manipulating and deceiving at mass scale to advance imperial agendas. And I do know that at this crucial juncture in history where the empire is clinging to planetary domination with the tips of its fingernails, there are a lot of imperial agendas afoot.
ON APRIL 17, 2013, attendees at an independently organized TEDx event in Geneva, Switzerland, were offered a glimpse at a seemingly impossible future.
Presented under the theme of “eCulture 360° and Wikinomics”, the event offered something unique even to a gathering of some of the most renowned international speakers on science and technology: the organizers billed it as a “TEDx with the opportunity to meet Jacques Vallée, one of the founder[s] of ARPANET, the first version of the Internet.”
Vallée’s lecture at the event, titled “The Age of Impossible: Anticipating Discontinuous Futures,” dealt with how the speed at which modern technology accelerates has resulted in events that would have seemed impossible to many people only years before they transpired. With examples ranging from the collapse of General Motors in 2009 to Bernie Madoff’s role in the financial crisis of 2007-2008, Vallee presented what he called a “Typology of the Impossible” that hinged on four main kinds of scenarios: events that escalated too quickly, convergences of “low-p scenarios,” events that appear to violate current cultural norms, and finally, scenarios that involve the appearance of a “completely alien concept within a particular culture.”
“There are many things in our culture today that fit that model,” Vallée said at one point during the talk, as he described historical instances where things that seemed unimaginable at one time later became technological norms. Such things, Vallee said, “are possible, but we cannot imagine them. The public is not aware that they can be done. History provides many examples, and the internet itself is an example of something that was unimaginable.”
After discussing his own part in helping create ARPANET, Vallée went on to share several more examples from recent history where unforeseen scientific advancements occurred, seemingly out of the blue.
“And finally,” the scientist said, never evincing a change in his measured tone and demeanor, “the Pentagon could not imagine that fast, erratic, mobile, oval objects in the sky were anything other than mental illusions, and they…” After a brief pause, Vallée cryptically added, “and you can fill out the answers in the next few years.”
Despite his success as a venture capitalist and “co-creator of the Internet”, most of the attendees at the 2013 TEDx event in Geneva were likely aware of what Vallée is best known for: his decades of involvement with the study of unidentified aerial phenomena. As a young computer scientist and astronomer in the 1960s, Vallee not only worked alongside Northwestern University astronomer J. Allen Hynek, the official scientific advisor to the U.S. Air Force’s Project Blue Book but also authored Anatomy of a Phenomenon, one of the earliest popular books written on the UFO subject by a professional scientist. Though he never uttered any of the popular names or abbreviations for the phenomenon, it was obvious what Vallee had been alluding to during this brief, passing reference to “oval objects” during his talk.
At least at that time, what had not been so obvious had been why Vallée specifically referenced the Pentagon’s relationship to UAP, nor why a series of seemingly impossible future events might come to pass involving this subject “in the next few years.”
THE CALL FROM DR. VALLÉE came through earlier than I expected.
The scientist’s voice, softened by age yet still resonant with the French he learned as a youth in Pontoise before emigrating to America many decades ago, was unmistakable to me, having heard it in many interviews and documentaries over the years. Vallée, now 83, is a man whose work in the study of unidentified aerial phenomena is only one finger on the glove of his impressive resume, spanning decades of work in astronomy, physics, computer science, and venture capitalism.
As evidenced by his billing at the TEDx event in 2013, one could indeed argue that Vallée is partly responsible for the creation of the Internet, although the affable Frenchman is modest on this point, nearly to a fault. This much was evident almost immediately as we began our discussion, and I wasted no time in bringing up the talk in Geneva and some of the intriguing hints he had dropped at that time.
“I’ve seen the development and the unfolding of a number of technologies,” Vallée told me during our call. “Very often what happens is that a discovery is made, and everyone agrees that it is important, and people write papers, and so on. And then it disappears.”
Vallée with collaborator and fellow author Chris Aubeck (Credit: Chris Aubeck).
Don’t miss Jacques Vallée’s recent interview on Rebelliously Curious with Chrissy Newton over on The Debrief’s YouTube Channel, and linked at the end of this article.
“You know, the Arpanet was essentially dead for a while,” Vallée recalls from his years working on the project decades ago. “Until [the] National Science Foundation picked up the funding, thinking that there would be several internets.” Initially a simple matter of accounting, the NSF initially believed it would be easier to fund three separate projects that looked at using networks through which computers could connect for purposes of communication.
“And then they picked it up from the DOD, and it became the Internet, as we know it now.”
Vallée offered several similar examples of predecessors to the Internet—not all of them American innovations—a point which Vallée emphasized as he shifted back to our subject of greater mutual interest: UAP.
“When I watched the meetings in Congress recently, all they talk about is American cases,” Vallee said. “And among American cases, all they talk about is military cases.”
“I can tell you, having developed a lot of databases over the years, the U.S. is less than 2% of the habitable surface of the Earth,” Vallée said.
“So, if this is extraterrestrial, what about the other 98%?”
THE PATH THAT BROUGHTVallée into the tempest that is the study of unidentified aerial phenomena is a long one, which stems back to his early years in Pontoise at an age when the world was still at war.
“There are things you don’t forget,” Vallée said during our call, describing his memories of seeing American aircraft being shot down over his town when he was five years old.
“I remember seeing the crew dropping out in parachutes and the Germans shooting at them.”
By 1945, the war had ended, although fears of a return to conflict lingered throughout parts of Europe. To the north, reports of ghostly “rockets” over countries like Sweden in the summer of 1946 kept many guessing whether the Soviets were conducting tests, perhaps with a form of secret new aerial weapon they had captured from the Germans. The following year, an all-new kind of paranoia would erupt across the Atlantic, as American newspapers were flooded with stories of “flying saucers” seen careening through the skies, especially in airspace around sites of importance to U.S. national security.
By the Autumn of 1954, as the wave of sightings of strange objects was cresting over North America, France was having its own torrent of reports of similar phenomena. Major newspapers like L’Aurore and France-Soir were carrying stories about unidentified flying objects almost daily, and Vallée began collecting clippings of stories like those of Marius Dewilde, a railroad worker who described his observation of a pair of diminutive “robots” next to a dark machine resting on the train tracks.
The reports seemed incredible, and very well might have remained so had it not been for what occurred the following year in May 1955, when Vallée had his own sighting.
“My mother saw it first,” he would later recall of the incident. She had been working in the garden when Vallée, sixteen at the time, heard her screaming for him and his father. Vallée made his way from the attic where his father’s woodworking shop was located, and down three flights of stairs just in time to observe a metallic disc-shaped object “with a clear bubble on top” as it hovered over the nearby church of Saint-Maclou.
A modern view of Pontoise with the Cathédrale Saint-Maclou visible in the distance (Credit: Rozinante/CC BY-SA 4.0).
The object reminded them of the parachutists the family had watched descending from the skies during the war. His mother, who continued watching it, recalled how it sped away, leaving only a few wisps of white vapor where the object had been. Vallée would later learn that a schoolmate nearby had also noticed the object, observing it through binoculars.
Despite his father’s disapproval, Vallée maintained his interest in these unusual aerial objects. “I realized,” he would later write in his journal, “that I would forever be ashamed of the human race if we simply ignored ‘their’ presence.” The young Frenchman began to educate himself on the topic by reading the works of Aimé Michel, one of the earliest serious French researchers to undertake the study of unusual aerial phenomena. It was an interest he maintained through his college years, completing his degree in mathematics at the University of Paris in 1959 and going on to receive his M.S. from the University of Lille Nord de France two years later. By 1961, Vallée was employed at the Paris Observatory as an astronomer with its artificial satellite service, tracking space objects through theodolites by night.
“Naively, I started work here with great enthusiasm, assuming that we would be engaged in genuine research,” Vallée would recall of his years at the observatory. “That is not what I found.” In July of 1961, he and the other astronomers recalled a few instances where they observed objects passing overhead that they could not identify. “The next morning,” he recalled of one incident, his superior “simply confiscated the tape and destroyed it.” Vallée inquired as to why they hadn’t sent this seemingly important information along with their normal Telex tape dispatches to U.S. Navy officials in Paris.
“The Americans would laugh at us,” his superior scoffed.
Having his fill of the prevailing attitudes in Paris, by 1962, Vallée had emigrated to the United States, first working at the University of Texas, Austin, as a research associate in astronomy, and thereafter for a short stint at the McDonald Observatory, where he helped to compile the first informational map of the planet Mars with fellow French astronomer Gérard de Vaucouleurs. However, by the summer of 1963, Vallée was looking ahead at new opportunities, one of which arrived following a meeting in September with astronomer J. Allen Hynek, chair of Northwestern University’s astronomy department, who helped the young scientist find work as a systems analyst on campus. Hynek, at the time the scientific advisor to the U.S. Air Force’s Project Blue Book UFO investigation, was a natural ally; not only would he serve as a mentor to Vallée, who went on to receive his Ph.D. from the institution in 1967, but for years thereafter the two would remain close colleagues in the pursuit of their mutual interest.
An undated photo of astronomer J. Allen Hynek and Jacques Vallée
(public domain).
However, by the late 1960s, it seemed evident that scientific opinions on the UFO subject in the United States had finally begun to sour, despite the efforts of Hynek, Vallée, and a close network of like-minded scientists looking into the problem. By the end of 1968, the University of Colorado UFO Project, a U.S. Air Force-funded study headed by physicist Edward U. Condon, had delivered its findings; in an introductory summary to the lengthy report, Condon wrote that “nothing has come from the study of UFOs in the past 21 years that has added to scientific knowledge,” adding that “further extensive study of UFOs probably cannot be justified in the expectation that science will be advanced thereby.”
Vallée, musing over the Condon study during our call, remembered his incredulity at the time he first heard about its conclusions.
“That’s an interesting chapter in science,” he said. “Or the failure of science.”
By then, Vallee had already returned to France. As he, his wife Janine, and their son, Oliver, were acclimating to life in Europe again, Vallée was quietly readjusting his approach to the UFO question.
“Once I was back in France, in a way, it served to give me the space to rethink what we had done,” Vallée told me. “I mean, I knew the Condon Committee was a joke… and that science was somewhere else. So it forced me to ask some fundamental questions that I would not have asked if I had stayed at Northwestern.”
“So I thought, where does all this come from, anyway?”
Vallée began haunting the old Paris bookshops, acquiring rare historical texts and early treatises on the sciences. An interesting question had begun to form in his mind, as he recorded in a journal entry on October 29, 1967:What about the forgotten accounts of Little People, of Elementals, of Leprechauns? If these beings are part of the same phenomenon we see now, what does that mean for their nature? Are we necessarily dealing with extraterrestrials?
“I found that the phenomenon has always been there,” Vallée says of his years spent mining observations of unusual aerial phenomena from texts that date back to classical antiquity. “Of course, they are describing it in the language of the time,” he notes, “but they are describing something that’s very, very much like what I get from witnesses today.”
The fruits of such musings culminated in Vallée’s seminal 1969 effort, Passport to Magonia, widely regarded as one of his most influential early works and, paradoxically, the effort that cast him as a pariah in the eyes of many of his ufological peers.
Mass market paperback edition of Passport to Magonia (Credit: Archives for the Unexplained)
“At first, it was completely rejected.” he says, recalling one UFO magazine that featured his likeness shortly after Magonia was published, accompanied by the headline, “Vallée has gone off the deep end.” Today, Vallée laughs about the chiding he received from his peers, and I note a hint of nostalgia about those early works behind the dry chuckle that emerges.
“Maybe the truth was in the deep end.”
OVER THE COURSE OF the ensuing decades, Vallée would continue to challenge the extraterrestrial hypothesis favored particularly among American UFO researchers. Parallel to this effort, his professional career brought him into work with the Institute for the Future in the mid-1970s, where he worked as principal investigator on the National Science Foundation computer networking project that gave rise to one of the earliest iterations of the ARPANET conferencing system. In the following decade, Vallée would become involved in venture capitalism, first as a partner at Sofinnova, then moving on to become a general partner in multiple different Silicon Valley funds, including his involvement in private investments today.
As his professional career flourished, Vallée never lost sight of his fascination with strange aerial phenomena. He authored a string of follow-ups to Magonia on the topic of UFOs throughout the 1970s and 80s, each continuing to build on the premise that the phenomenon could be far more complex than conventional opinions on UFOs would offer. His pioneering work continued to garner attention along the way, even serving as the inspiration for Claude Lacombe, a French scientist portrayed by actor François Truffaut in Stephen Spielberg’s classic film Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Actor François Truffaut in Stephen Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind (fair use).
In the 1990s, Vallée authored a trilogy of books that focused on the prospects of alien contact. However, he always maintained a healthy distance from drawing conclusions about what any exotic technologies behind UFOs might represent. It was also during this period that Vallée began working with real estate developer Robert Bigelow’s National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS), a privately funded scientific research effort that looked at UFOs and related phenomena.
In July 2014, Vallée presented a paper at the GEIPAN International Workshop in Paris, France, titled “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena: A Strategy for Research,” offering both a snapshot of what he had learned about the complexities of the phenomenon over several decades of study, as well as what he believed might be a path toward more fruitful future research.
“After years of ideological arguments based on anecdotal data the field of UAP research appears ready to emerge into a more mature phase of reliable study,” Vallée wrote in the paper’s abstract. Citing the mounting scientific interest in UAP around the world, based in part on documents conveying an official military interest in these phenomena, the scientist argued that the path forward would require the analysis of hard data, paired with intelligently informed theoretical studies.
“Without pre-judging the origin and nature of the phenomena, a range of opportunities arise for investigation,” Vallée wrote, warning that “such projects need to generate new hypotheses and test them in a rigorous way against the accumulated reports of thousands of observers.”
The problem was that in 2014, despite the existence of several notable independent catalogs containing information on historical incidents, there was no single collection of reliable UAP reports—a centralized database, in other words—upon which such studies could rely. This had been part of what prompted Vallée to assemble such a database for NIDS, work that would later carry over as Bigelow’s efforts moved out of the private sector and into the official world as part of the Defense Intelligence Agency’s Advanced Aerospace Weapons Systems Application Program (AAWSAP).
(Credit: Jacques Vallée/fair use)
“In the United States the National Institute for Discovery Science (“NIDS”) and the Bigelow Aerospace Corporation have initiated a series of special catalogues to safeguard their own reports from public sources and from their staff,” Vallée wrote in his 2014 paper, adding that he had been asked to develop a UAP data warehouse containing 11 individual databases.
“The project is known as ‘Capella,’” it stated.
According to slides accompanying Vallée’s 2014 presentation, the Capella project focused on several areas that ranged from patterns emerging from UAP data to possible physics underlying the phenomenon and its impact on humans.
During our call, Vallée spoke candidly about the project and what he hopes it might still be used to achieve.
“There is such a database. It is the one we built as part of the AATIP/BAASS project in Las Vegas,” Vallée told me. Comprising roughly 260,000 cases from countries around the world, the scientist said during our call that the Capella database had been one of the major focal points of the program.
“Contrary to what people believe, [Capella] is the largest part of the budget that was spent on the classified project,” Vallée said. This included paying for translations of incident reports from Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, and several other languages into English, and providing funding for teams that conducted additional research on-site.
“It was a large effort for two years, Vallée said, though he added that in reality, “probably close to fifty or sixty years of work went into the database.” Although Capella constitutes what is arguably the most extensive database containing information on UAP ever built, don’t expect to see it any time soon; it remains classified as a part of the data developed under the DIA’s AAWSAP program managed by James Lackatski between 2008 and 2010.
“The database is still classified, to my knowledge,” Vallée said during our call, prompting me to ask whether such a vast amount of historical information on the UAP subject shouldn’t be made publicly available.
Speaking with The Debrief in December 2021, Mark Rodeghier, Ph.D., director of the J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies and a longtime colleague of Vallée, expressed frustration over previous statements made by Colm Kelleher, Ph.D., another of the scientists who worked on the AAWSAP program, who noted that much of the AAWSAP data will likely remain classified.
“I mean, isn’t that discouraging, disappointing, [and] ridiculous,” Rodeghier told The Debrief. “It’s not work on how we can get a hypersonic missile. It’s UFO investigations. How can that be classified at this point? And the answer, of course, is that it shouldn’t be classified now.”
During our call, Vallée expressed similar sentiments to Rodeghier’s, although he also defended Capella’s current classified status on account of some of the information it protects.
“You make a good point,” Vallée told me. “That’s the kind of thing that should be accessible to science,” although adding that “it will be accessible to very highly competent people who can continue to look at it under the proper classification.”
“I think it’s properly classified,” Vallée added, “because it contains a lot of medical data that should be private.” However, he said that he thinks that over time, perhaps portions can be “sanitized” for release to the public, “so that we don’t invade the privacy of individuals who have reported those things, especially their medical data.”
“It’s not classified for any military or intelligence reason as far as I know,” Vallée said. “But I’m not part of the project anymore.” Vallée noted that even he no longer has access to Capella, although several longtime colleagues of his who still work in government do.
“I’m very proud to have worked on that,” Vallée said. “It’s probably the high water mark in the computer study of UFOs so far.”
“But as we know, the high water mark is going to go even higher after this.”
DESPITE HIS OWN LEVELof involvement with government UAP studies, as well as the level of interest generated by videos of unidentified objects collected by the U.S. military—the existence of which Vallée himself hinted at in Geneva as early as 2013—the 83-year-old scientist still doesn’t necessarily hold military UAP data in higher regard than that collected by civilians.
“The military cases in the databases I know of are less than ten percent in every country,” Vallee said during our call. “They are really good because the military has radar. They have, of course, planes that can chase the objects… pilots who are very well trained and very well positioned to give a description.”
“Those are excellent reports,” Vallée concedes. “But what about the farmer in the field, who sees [an object] close to him, and has traces, and has materials? Who has felt physiological reactions?”
“What about those cases?” he asks. “They are full of information.”
Vallée’s appreciation for UAP information collected from non-governmental sources is particularly evident in his latest book, Trinity: The Best-Kept Secret, coauthored with Italian journalist Paola Leopizzi Harris. In it, they unravel the story of two men, Jose Padilla and Reme Baca, who claim to have witnessed the crash of an unusual aircraft near San Antonito, New Mexico, in August 1945. Padilla, who went on to become a State Trooper in Rowland Heights, California, maintained that as children, he and Baca had seen a large, dull-gray avocado-shaped object—along with its frantic occupants—where it had apparently crashed near his family’s ranch. The object, they say, was later recovered by the military.
Vallée while conducting field research in New Mexico in advance of the publication of Trinity: The Best-Kept Secret(Credit: Jacques Vallée).
In a newly updated second edition of the book, Vallée and Harris present additional witness testimony they have gathered about the alleged incident, which includes an observation of the crash remembered by the family of Lt. Colonel William J. Brothy, who at the time had been piloting a B-25 on a training mission. According to Brothy, he and his crew had flown over the site and recalled, “There were a lot of pieces.”
In Trinity, Vallée emphasizes what he believes are undeniable similarities between descriptions of the 1945 incident and a UAP landing in New Mexico observed by police officer Lonnie Zamora in 1964. Then, the following year another strikingly similar incident occurred near Valensole, France, involving the close observation of a landed craft and its apparent pilot or occupant.
“There is a case in Valensole, in France, and the case in Socorro. The object is identical to the Trinity object,” Vallée said. “And the [occupants] are identical to the creatures that Mr. Padilla is describing to me at Trinity, that he saw.”
“I was involved in Socorro, and I was involved in Valensole. Those are cases I know very well,” Vallée said, adding that Trinity contains new information on the Socorro case, once referred to by Hector Quintanilla, director of the U.S. Air Force’s Project Blue Book at the time of the incident, as being “the best documented case on record.”
Today, much of Vallée’s research is focused on the collection and study of material samples believed to have been collected from UAP. Compared with his earlier work, which challenged popular notions about extraterrestrials being associated with UAP, this might surprise longtime followers of the scientist’s work. For Vallée, however, it is only the next phase in the many decades he has spent working toward resolving the mystery.
“It’s all one thing,” Vallée said during our call. “The first book I wrote was Anatomy of a Phenomenon, which… I took as a study of extraterrestrial intelligence in general, and how it was I thought UFOs illustrated the idea of life elsewhere and intelligence elsewhere… that’s definitely the place from which we started.”
“Then, when I started working with Dr. Hynek, and I started working with—in those days, it was just called ‘computer catalogs,’ it wasn’t dignified as databases or data warehouses—but those catalogs held thousands of cases. My first complete catalog was donated to the Condon Committee at the University of Colorado, when they did the study funded by the Air Force.”
“Which,” Vallée notes, “to my surprise, concluded the problem didn’t exist. So, we’ve come a long way from that.”
Given his level of involvement in working to resolve the UAP question—an effort now spanning more than six decades, including his involvement in official government UAP investigations in several countries and having authored some of the most popular books ever written on the subject—perhaps the most surprising thing expressed by Vallée during our discussion had been his predictions about how he thinks his own work will be remembered by future generations.
“I think everything I’ve done, and everything my contemporaries have done, is going to be forgotten,” he said, mirroring his observations of the invention, and subsequent reinvention, of so many other innovations in science over time, not least among them the World Wide Web.
“And then in a few years, it’s going to be reinvented by, you know, great people at Stanford and Harvard in a new way,” he tells me, accompanied by the distinctive chuckle I had by now come to expect after one of his witty responses
“That’s always the way science works.”
Micah Hanks is Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. Follow his work atmicahhanks.com and on Twitter:@MicahHanks.
A nearly 22-minute video titled 'The Roswell Incident' has been quietly uploaded to the National Archives, reigniting interest in the infamous 1947 crash.
The footage combines still images and motion-control camera shots sourced from the published Roswell Report, as well as various magazines and books about UFOs.
It opens with a shot of the book 'The Roswell Report: Fact Versus Fiction in the New Mexico Desert' and ends with a stark black-and-white image that appears to show a crash site, with debris scattered across a massive crater in the ground.
The video has flooded the internet, with users claiming the crater bears a striking resemblance to eyewitness reports, suggesting it could be 'the first pictures of the 1947 UFO crash site.'
Major Jesse Marcel, who recovered debris from the crash, described the scene as 'a large area heavily scattered with metallic debris from a single impact point that scarred the earth.'
Some viewers have also pointed to a dark formation on the right side of the image, claiming it resembles an alien body.
UFO expert Mark Lee told the Daily Mail that the crater image was likely included to add intrigue.
'In my opinion, it's either a hoax,' he said. 'Just because it's been added to the National Archives doesn't give it scientific validation. If it came out as a release from the military or Congress, I would take it a lot more seriously.'
Lee also noted that the 'alien' in the photo is nothing more than a case of pareidolia, a psychological response to seeing faces and other significant and everyday items in random stimuli.
A video titled 'The Roswell Incident' was uploaded to the National Archives. Social media users claim an image in the footage shows UFO debris (left) and an alien body (right)
The newly uploaded video appears to focus on 'The Roswell Report: Fact Versus Fiction in the New Mexico Desert,' a 1995 book that attributes the crashed 'UFO' debris to Project Mogul.
Project Mogul was a top-secret US military program from 1947 to 1949 that used high-altitude balloons equipped with microphones to detect sound waves from Soviet atomic bomb tests.
A 1994 military investigation concluded that the debris found at the Roswell site was likely pieces of a high-altitude balloon from Project Mogul, not an extraterrestrial spacecraft.
Despite this official explanation, the newly uploaded video has sparked debate online, with viewers offering widely differing interpretations.
'National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has uploaded a video of the Roswell 1947 UAP Crash site,' one user shared.
Another user posted on X: 'Like noted UFO researcher Grant Cameron has stated plenty of times, sometimes the disclosure of the real deal is a purposefully placed needle in the haystack. Roswell: slow drip…drip, drip, drip.'
In addition to the debris spotted in the footage, one user shared: 'Grey alien in the official video from the Roswell crash site.'
However, some social media suggested the footage 'is B-roll for the Roswell Report, and the images being posted do not show the Roswell debris site, nor does it even claim it's the actual debris site.'
Major Jesse Marcel, who recovered debris from the crash, described the scene as 'a large area heavily scattered with metallic debris from a single impact point that scarred the earth.' He said the debris could not melt or heat up and could not be punctured
One user posted: 'It’s clearly B-roll for that Roswell presentation the government put together in 1996. Someone must have found this and uploaded it in the last couple of days.'
Others have suggested a dead alien can be seen in the image, pointing to what Marcle said following the Roswell incident.
'I later found out that the pilot of the aircraft was a Captain Henderson, who apparently saw far more than just the debris from the impact site... he may in fact have seen the remains of a crew,' the now deceased major said.
In July 1947, a rancher reported pieces of debris scattered over his land.
Authorities were called to the scene and, after investigating the wreckage, determined the pieces were from a flying saucer.
The local paper's front page story reported that the Roswell Army field recovered a flying saucer on a New Mexico Ranch after metallic-looking, light but strong material was scattered across the land
The local paper's front page story reported that the Roswell Army Field recovered a flying saucer on a New Mexico Ranch after metallic-looking, light but strong material was scattered across the land.
'The intelligence office of the 509th Bombardment Group at Roswell Army Air Field announced at noon today that the field has come into the possession of a Flying Saucer,' Roswell Daily Record reported on July 8, 1947.
The statement was given by Marcel, who was the first on the scene and led the investigation, which he determined were pieces from an extraterrestrial vehicle.
He also said that the material spread out from this point into a triangular-shaped area 200 to 300 feet wide at the end of the field, and 3/4 of a mile long.
Shortly after the 'UFO' discovery made headlines, the War Department in Washington released a statement claiming the debris was the remains of a weather balloon.
The US Air Force stated the weather balloon was part of Project Mogul's airborne system invented by Columbia University, New York University and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
It was designed to search the atmosphere for weak reverberations from nuclear-test blasts.
On May 15, 1989, KLAS-5 TV did a live interview with an anonymous man who made some extraordinary claims about UFOs and anti-gravity technology. Bob Lazar, who hid his identity under the pseudonym “Dennis,” claimed that the United States military was conducting covert research on alien technology in the Nevada desert, close to a base now commonly referred to as “Area-51.” Lazar’s claims seem to be true after a 2020 New York story, “No Longer in Shadows, Pentagon’s U.F.O. Unit Will Make Some Findings Public,” that included some information about how astrophysicist and the Pentagon contractor Eric W. Davis gave a classified briefing to government officials in March 2020 about retrieved “off-world vehicles not made on this earth.”
In an interview with Las Vegas investigative writer George Knapp in 1989, Lazar claimed unbelievable things about Area-51 that catapulted the topic into the public consciousness. Lazar said he had reverse-engineered crashed alien flying saucers at a top-secret military station called S-4 near Papoose Lake. His claims sounded like sci-fiction, but in 30 years, everything he said in his interviews seems to become quite realistic.
Knapp stated in an interview with KNPR’s State of Nevada that he was unable to verify some of the information that Lazar provided to him. For example, he asserted that Lazar studied in MIT; however, Knapp checked with the institution, and it does not have any records of Lazar there. In addition, Lazar stated that he held a position at Los Alamos National Lab; when Knapp inquired about Lazar’s employment at the lab, Los Alamos responded that Lazar did not hold a position there. (Source)
Original UFO sketch by Bob Lazar
On the other hand, Lazar showed Knapp and a photojournalist around the national lab after taking them there himself. Knapp reported that everyone, including the security guard at the front gate and other scientists, greeted him as if he was a familiar face there. So, if Lazar really worked at Los Alamos, is there any record of him?
Medium user SignalsIntelUFO has done great work by transcribing over 50 interviews of Bob Lazar with in-depth information. Bob claimed to have been hired as a physicist at Los Alamos in May 1982. For evidence about his employment, there is an article written by Terry England on June 30, 1982. “To Lazar, a physicist at the Los Alamos Meson Physics Facility, the important thing is the jet engine. It’s something he’s been working on for years,” England wrote.
Terry England article on Bob Lazar
In July 2020, during Joe Rogan’s podcast with Jeremy Corbell and George Knapp, Corbell said he asked Terry England about Bob Lazar’s occupation as a physicist at Los Alamos. Corbell said: “Look, here’s the point, you said Bob Lazar was a physicist at Los Alamos. So how did you base that? You’re writing a paper…” and he [England] goes “yeah,” — and it got picked up by AP news — he goes “if I [England] had misrepresented that he was a physicist at Los Alamos I would have been blackballed by everybody at Los Alamos. They take that very seriously. He was a physicist. I reported it. AP News picked it up, they repeated it. Not word one from anybody saying he wasn’t a physicist at Los Alamos.”
In July 2020, during Joe Rogan’s podcast with Jeremy Corbell and George Knapp, Corbell said he asked Terry England about Bob Lazar’s occupation as a physicist at Los Alamos. There are two former lab employees who worked directly with Bob. The first one is a physicist named John Jarmer, and the second one, according to SignalsIntelUFO, had an administrative role but remained to be unidentified. Jarmer worked at the lab for over two decades in the Polarized Proton section. Besides, Joe Vaninetti, who worked alongside Bob,is listed as an author on multiple original research papers with John Jarmer.
John Jarmer, Bob Lazar, and Joe Vaninetti’s Lab Directory Entries.
There are other documents and accounts stating that Lazar had worked at S-4, a government laboratory near Groom lake. Richard Geldreich has done great research in connecting the dots to Bob Lazar’s mystery.
Exactly as Lazar had described it in the 1980s, a craft of unknown origin can be seen spinning and flying belly-up in one of the US Navy’s declassified UFO videos. “The craft that I worked on, that when it’s going to travel a long distance, that is how it operates. It puts its belly to the target and then brings all of the amplifiers to power, and you know it shoots off in that direction It doesn’t fly as it would in a science-fiction movie. It flies with the belly, the bottom, forward,” Lazar said. (Source )
Take a look at the so-called Gimbal UFO if the preceding description of a tilting spacecraft seems at all familiar to you. In 2017, the Pentagon made a video available online. In 2015, naval pilots flying off the coast of Florida came face to face with a fleet of unknown ships. Since then, they have had scores of further encounters of a similar nature.
“In the Gimbal video, there’s a mechanistic turn against the wind without deceleration, and so we have a craft without rotors, without heat signatures, without plums, without tail fins, and certainly no tail number, moving in a way that is counterintuitive to our aeronautics,” filmmaker Jeremy Corbell said. “When Bob saw it, he said it has to be a gravity-propelled craft. That it does mimic the propulsion system, Bob Lazar described.”
It is eerie. When Lazar initially began discussing the possibility of using Element 115 as a power source for antigravitational propulsion, the element was not even included on the periodic table. Now it is. It does not seem like much of a coincidence, does it?
“The study of UFOs did not end in 1969 with Project Blue Book. That was a lie, and it was an admitted lie by our own Pentagon,” Corbell said. “We are living in a world where it is understood that there are craft technologically advanced from an unknown origin that are performing maneuvers that far exceed human technology. It’s been going on a long time, and our government has been studying it.”
Bob Lazar further explained in his interviews that bombarding Element 115 with protons leads to it creating Element 116 (Livermorium), which immediately decays and produces antimatter. The antimatter collides with normal particles creating a massive energy burst, which can be used for propulsion. It is quite likely Element 115 could also be the famed exotic matter that is needed to create traversable wormholes that physicists such as Drs. Kip Thorne and Carl Sagan have speculated, and was the subject of a recently leaked Defense Intelligence Reference Document titled “Traversable Wormholes, Stargates, and Negative Energy.”
This image features Bob Lazar and the Aerogel that was used to package the ELEMENT 115 for transport. There has been a lot of confusion about this – and about the function of ELEMENT 115 in alien spacecraft. And this is a core aspect of what Bob Lazar has told you. Image credit: Jeremy Corbell
In September 2020, Corbell shared a photo of Lazar holding Aerogel that was used to package Element 115 for transport. He said that he could not include this part in his Netflix documentary but promised to publish the clip on his YouTube channel, discussing Element 115 and how he observed it functioning (Editor’s note: I have searched throughout Corbell’s channel but could not find a clip explaining Element 115).
“It’s reported that a distortion occurs – a gravitational distortion. This is highlighted by how these vehicles appear to negate the effects of inertia. You’ve heard it thousands of times from credible witnesses regarding their UFO encounters… ‘It shot off at an IMPOSSIBLE speed.’ Cmdr. Fravor & Cmdr. Select Underwood used those exact words to me when describing their encounters with the TIC TAC UFO. The craft displayed instantaneous acceleration – and was immediately gone from both sight and radar. Even the Princeton with it’s SPY-1 radar system confirmed this in real-time.
So what’s up with these transmedium machines – these UFOs that fly with impunity in our airspace? Maybe ELEMENT 115 can give us a glimpse into the UFO presence on Planet Earth,” Corbell wrote.
The organisms discovered sustain on chemosynthesis rather than sunlight and are clustered around abundant methane seeps in the Kuril-Kamchatka and western Aleutian Trenches.
Researchers documented a variety of life in the newly discovered system in the Pacific northeast of Papua New Guinea.
(Image credit: Image by Prof. SUN Weidong, et al., 2025.)
A research team led by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences has discovered extraordinary deep-sea life in one of the most extreme environments on Earth. Using a manned submersible, the team explored ocean trenches in the northwest Pacific, reaching depths of over 31,000 feet.
There, they recorded stunning footage of strange ecosystems, including beds of clams, mats of bacteria resembling ice, and fields of tube worms. The discovery, published in a study in the journal Nature, sets a new milestone in deep-sea exploration, surpassing the previous record for filmed marine vertebrate, which included a snailfish spotted at 27,350 feet deep off the coast of Japan in 2023.
Map locating the Mariana Trench
The study area, situated in the northwest Pacific, is demarcated by a white rectangle in the inset. Orange dots represent dive sites where chemosynthesis-based communities were observed and sampled and crosses indicate dive sites lacking such communities. Open orange circles delineate potential seep sites characterized by black sediments. White arrows illustrate the direction of subduction for the Pacific Plate beneath the Okhotsk Plate and the Bering Sea Plate. The dashed white lines indicate the transitional connection zones between the Kuril–Kamchatka Trench and the Aleutian Trench. Bathymetric data were acquired using the KM-EM122 multi-beam bathymetric system during the research expedition. Scale bar, 200 km.
Credit: map created using Global Mapper 14 software, with background data sourced from GeoMapApp (http://www.geomapapp.org), under a CC BY 4.0 licence.
a, Free-moving polychaetes Macellicephaloides grandicirra (white; reaching 6.5 cm in size) navigate among dense colonies of frenulate siboglinids, with tubes 20–30 cm in length and approximately 1 mm in diameter, at 9,532 m at The Deepest. b, Clusters of frenulate siboglinids extending red haemoglobin-filled tentacles, with small Gastropoda (white spots) on tops of the tubes near the tentacles, at 9,320 m at Wintersweet Valley. c, Tightly packed frenulate siboglinids are home to abundant free-moving polychaetes M. grandicirra (white) at 9,332 m at Cotton Field. d, Dense aggregation of vesicomyid bivalves A. phaseoliformis (reaching 23 cm in size) in the sediment, with approximately 6–8 cm of valves exposed and often hosting Actiniaria, at 5,743 m at Clam Bed. e, Tube-dwelling polychaetes Anobothrus sp. and Actiniaria are dominant at 6,870 m at Aleutian Deepest, with spots of white microbial mats. f, Dense aggregation of vesicomyid bivalves I. fossajaponicum (reaching 3 cm in size) associated with black sediments and accompanied by tube-dwelling polychaetes Anobothrus sp. at 6,928 m at Aleutian Deepest. g, Dark blue muds surrounded by clusters of frenulate siboglinids, mark methane seeps at 6,800 m at Blue Marsh. h, Large patches of white, snow-like microbial mats stretch tens of metres, accompanied by frenulate siboglinid tubeworms at 6,700 m at Icy River. The images were taken by the manned submersible equipped with a high-definition camera system. The name of each cold seep indicated in the lower left corner. The distance between laser beams is 10 cm. An expanded showcase of cold-seep fauna is given in Supplementary Video 1.
Life found where sunlight never reaches
Hadal trenches are deep-sea depressions between 19,700 and 36,100 feet, formed where one tectonic plate dives beneath another. These remote regions—among the least explored on the planet—have long been suspected of supporting life that relies on chemosynthesis rather than sunlight.
The new findings confirm that these extreme environments do, in fact, harbor unique and resilient biological communities. The research team documented thriving species of deep-sea life fueled by chemosynthesis, clustered around abundant methane seeps in the Kuril-Kamchatka and western Aleutian Trenches.
Bivalve mollusks discovered as part of the exploration. Source: IDSSE/CAS
As per the study’s findings, these ecosystems are sustained by methane and hydrogen sulfide–rich fluids rising through faults in deep sediment layers. Isotopic analysis suggests that the methane is generated by microbes breaking down organic material buried in the seabed.
Because similar geological conditions exist in other hadal trenches, scientists believe such chemosynthesis-based ecosystems may be far more common than once believed. Furthermore, with the ongoing discovery of chemosynthesis-based communities in hadal zones, researchers may soon identify new species and reveal previously unknown relationships between animals and microorganisms that have adapted to survive under extreme high-pressure conditions
Fields of tube worms and mollusks discovered
According to one of the lead researchers, Dr Xiaotong Peng, the expedition offered a rare opportunity to explore uncharted regions of the deep-sea and what the team encountered was remarkable.
As part of future research, the team aims to understand how these so-called chemosynthetic organisms convert chemical compounds into energy. Dr Megran Du, from China’s Institute of Deep Sea Science and Engineering (IDSSE), highlighted the challenge of adapting to extreme pressure, noting that uncovering the mechanisms behind their survival in such intense conditions is another key question they plan to explore.
Recent discoveries challenge long-held beliefs about life’s limits at extreme depths. Reflecting on the experience of descending into the pitch-black depths, Du added that while some might find it frightening, she encourages her students to look out the submersible’s window—where the view can be truly inspiring.
The research itself is part of the Global Hadal Exploration Programme (GHEP), a decade-long international project led by the Institute of Deep Sea Science and Engineering. The program focuses on exploring the Earth’s deepest oceans using advanced deep-diving technology.
UFO over Los Angeles, California Aug 30, 2025 UAP sighting news 👽 it’s the battle of LA again! 🛸
UFO over Los Angeles, California Aug 30, 2025 UAP sighting news 👽 it’s the battle of LA again! 🛸
Date of sighting: Aug 30, 2025
Location of sighting:Los Angeles, California, USA
Source: NUFORC website
Hey all, this UFO looks amazing. Its V shape really stands out and it has glowing lights along the whole craft. It's 100% similar in appearance to the famous Phoenix lights UFO, just smaller. This craft looks to be about 30 meters across, like that of a passenger jet. Fantastic detail and over a city with millions of people, but I have to say, I'm from LA and people have seen it all and just shrug the strange or unusual off like its just another day. But this is absolute a real alien UFO.
Scott C. Waring - UFO sightings Daily
Characteristics Observation:
Shape: Chevron
Color: black w white lights
Estimated Size: Not sure
Viewed From: Land
Direction from Viewer: South
Angle of Elevation: 45
Closest Distance: Not sure. Maybe 2-3 miles
Estimated Speed: Not sure
Characteristics: Lights on object V shaped craft with 9 circular white lights.
Eyewitness states:
While sitting on my balcony I saw a light in the sky bigger than stars usually appear. I took out my phone to zoom in to see what it was and started taking pictures and videos. It stayed in the same area for about 25–30 minutes for the first time I saw it. It moved around a little bit but didn’t go too far. At the end it just flew off in the south direction until I couldn’t see it anymore.
UFO over Yellowknife, Canada on August 30, 2025. UFO UAP Sighting News.
UFO over Yellowknife, Canada on August 30, 2025. UFO UAP Sighting News.
Date of sighting: Aug 30, 2025
Location of sighting: Yellowknife, Canada
Source: NUFORC website
Guys check this out. This UFO report just came into NUFORC and it's absolutely mind boggling! This craft is huge, like football field size huge. The object is traveling slowly, so that rules out meteor and the object has a huge finlike shape...much like a fish. It's beautiful, and rare, such a great catch. I'm sure thousands of people saw it, but only one report this week came in about it so far. Yes it's a UFO...unidentified flying object...but is it an alien species flying it??? Yeah it is, because nothing on Earth is that big and can fly horizontal like that!
Scott C. Waring - UFO Sightings Daily
Characteristics observation
Shape: Triangle
Color: White/Grey glowing
Viewed From: Land
Angle of Elevation: 13
Characteristics: Aura or haze around object.
Eyewitness states:
It was glowing white/grey and looked like the shape of a bird or beta fish. I spotted this ufo in the sky outside my apartment building as I got out of my car. The ufo was moving straight and started to fade after 2 minutes of movement. It was glowing white/grey and looked like the shape of a bird or beta fish.
The wilderness seems to beckon people to join it at times. Here we see some of the most mysterious vanishings there are, with people who have just gone off into the trees to evaporate into thin air. These dark places at times have a habit of drawing the unwary in and not letting go, leaving behind vanishings with a wake of strange circumstances and bizarre clues.
Our earliest case here brings us back to August of 1934, when 21-year-old Olga Mauger seemed to have things going pretty well for her. She had just married wealthy Wyoming oil magnate Carl Mauger after a two-week whirlwind romance and the two were madly in love. They also had an upcoming elk hunting trip in the scenic wilderness near Dubois, Wyoming, that they saw as a romantic honeymoon. It seemed as if she had her whole future ahead of her, but she was about to become the center of one of Wyoming’s oldest and strangest unsolved mysteries.
The couple made their way to a place called Floyd Stalnacker camp, at Togwotee Pass up in the remote mountains, just six days after their wedding, and at first, the trip was everything they had hoped it would be. On September 17, 1934, the sixth day of their trip, the couple headed out into the wilderness on a scout expedition for elk. At some point during their hike, Carl told his wife he wanted to go up a small ridge not too far away, but Olga said that she was tired and wanted to take a rest. It was a bit strange because Olga was an avid hunter, athletic, and in incredible shape, to the point that it was usually Carl trying to keep up with her, but at the time, he didn’t think much of it and continued up the ridge as she sat down on a rock to rest. Little did he know that this would be the last time he would ever see her again.
When Carl returned to the same spot 20 minutes later, his wife was nowhere to be seen. A quick search around the area turned up nothing else, and his calls out to her remained unanswered. Not long after this, authorities were summoned and they would launch a massive search involving an aircraft and over 300 people, bloodhounds, and even 20 Native American trackers, but they could find no trace of her. The dogs brought in could not find a scent trail; there was nothing. The only thing they managed to turn up was an empty paper sack in which there had been three sandwiches, but no sign of the food. How is it that she could so completely vanish within 20 minutes to the point that not even dogs and expert Native trackers could pick up her trail? No one had a clue, but as night approached and the weather got very cold, it was feared that wherever she had gone, Olga, who had been lightly dressed, might not survive.
Nevertheless, the search continued into the coming weeks, and there were some clues that would show up during this time. One was that some local campers would claim to have heard a woman screaming out in the woods of a nearby canyon three days after she had gone missing, but this could not be confirmed to have been her. There was also much excitement when a set of footprints was found at a wooded area known as Turpin Meadows, about 8 miles from where Olga had gone missing. The tracks were first thought to be hers, but it turned out that they were not. There were also some reports of seeing a woman walking along the nearby Togwotee Pass Road, but these could not be verified to have been her. The search went on into October, until a massive snowstorm hit, and it was called off for good. Rather oddly, shortly after the end of the search, a woman was found in Bridgeport, Nebraska, who allegedly looked so much like Olga that she had to be ruled out.
At the time, it was seen as a very odd disappearance for several reasons. One was that Olga had been hunting and fishing in that same area since she was a child and was very familiar with the terrain, meaning that it seems unlikely she could have gotten lost, and even if she had, why hadn’t she called out for help or answered calls out to her? Carl had allegedly been gone for only 20 minutes, so wouldn’t she be able to hear him? Also, how could she have managed to so completely elude the dogs and trackers? Why would she have wandered off from her spot on that rock in the first place? No one knew, but there were ideas.
One idea was that she had gone down to the road and either hitchhiked a ride or been kidnapped, but why would she have gone there? Another was that she had simply gotten lost and met with misfortune, but with her knowledge of the area, this seemed unlikely, and again, why would she have gone off into the wilderness to begin with? It could also have been a bear attack, but again, this would have made a commotion, and no body or signs of an animal attack had been found. As more information came in, there was also seen the possibility that she had run away to start a new life. It would turn out that her marriage was not as blissful as had been thought when Olga’s sister claimed that the couple had been on the rocks, arguing frequently, and that Olga had been unhappy with the marriage and had regretted having the wedding so soon. In this scenario, Olga had used the elk-hunting trip as a ruse for her escape, knowing that with her outdoor survival skills, no one would be able to follow her. After this, all she had to do was go to the nearby road and hitch a ride to a new life. This might help explain how she was able to evade the search party, and it would also explain the oddity of her wanting her husband to continue on while she took a rest. If she had run away, then it was actually a pretty good plan.
Another, more ominous possibility was that it had been foul play. It would be found that Carl had been dating a woman by the name of Ella Tchack for five or six years when he met Olga at a dance. It had apparently been serious enough that they had been considering marriage, and Ella was reported as having been very upset about Carl running off with Olga, to the point that it was claimed she had threatened to commit suicide. Yet another witness close to her claimed that Ella and Carl had continued seeing each other after Carl’s marriage to Olga, something that Carl vehemently denied. The idea here is that Carl had perhaps murdered Olga to get out of his marriage and get back with Ella, and there were some sinister clues that supported this. One was that he would later contradict his statement that he had been gone 20 minutes, giving a different figure. Even more damning is that the Native guides made the observation that Carl Mauger's path away from his wife to the spot he claimed to have gone would have kept him in full view of her sitting place from the moment he left her to the moment he claimed he had returned. An excerpt from the Casper Star-Tribune says of this:
“They also pointed out that, although the country is rugged, it is open and that Mauger was in full view of the place, where he claimed he left his wife until he reached a small path where he said he turned around and retraced his steps.”
If this is true, then she would have never been out of his line of sight at all. It seems pretty ominous, but without any real evidence of wrongdoing, there was nothing to go on, and Carl Mauger was never pursued as a suspect. In a curious aside, he would be arrested not long after and put in jail after being mistaken for a wanted criminal who just happened to be his doppelganger and had the name Carl Mager. Weird. Also, rather odd, or to be expected, depending on your stance, Carl would later remarry, this time with Ella, the one he had been dating when he married Olga. Coincidence or not? We are left to ask ourselves what happened to Olga? Was this a tragic accident or foul play? Where did she go that day, and what became of her? Considering it is one of Wisconsin's oldest cold cases and there have been no new clues in decades, we will probably never know for sure.
Moving along, Susan Adams, 42, and her husband, Tom, of Austin, Texas, had been looking forward to their next big camping trip for months. Both avid campers, hunters, and birdwatchers, their plan was to take a wilderness tour with a group called Iron Horse Outfitters, their destination being a protected wilderness area near the Idaho/Montana border called the Selway–Bitterroot Wilderness. Lying along the Bitterroot Mountain range, it is a rugged domain of thick forests and alpine parkland that spans 1.3 million acres, making it one of the largest such wilderness areas in the entire country. The couple was very excited about exploring it, they both had experience with the outdoors, and they were going in with a reputable wilderness tour company and seasoned guides in good spirits. There was no reason to suspect this would be anything other than the trip of a lifetime, but this was an excursion that only one of them would return from.
On September 22 of 1990, the couple arrived in Idaho Falls ready for their adventure and met with the owner of the tour company, Art Griffith, before heading out a few days later to take a long horseback ride through pristine wilderness to the outfitters' camp in the Battle Lake area. There they were greeted by the rest of the crew, consisting of a group of hunters, guides, and the camp’s cook. They then spent about a week leisurely exploring the area, hunting, and engaging in their hobby of birdwatching, before Tom decided to go out on September 29 with some of the camp hunters for an overnight hunting trip. Susan decided she would stay behind at camp, and after escorting her husband by horseback to a ridge, she said her goodbyes and returned to camp. No one at the time realized that this would prove to be their final goodbye.
The following day at around 9 AM, Susan decided to go do some birdwatching at a nearby meadow. The weather was clear and calm, and so she only had with her light clothing, her binoculars, and her camera. The meadow was nearby and an easy short hike away, so when she told the camp cook that she was headed over there, no one thought anything of it. She walked off, but never came back. No one in the camp seemed to really be all that alarmed, as it was a nice day, the meadow was so close, and Susan had not said anything about when she planned to return. It didn’t even cross anyone’s mind that something was amiss until Tom came back from his hunting trip in the late afternoon, and she had still not returned.
Tom waited a while, but as darkness began to creep in, he became worried. He went out towards the meadow, where he found footprints that led away down a trail. Oddly, he claims that at some point, the tracks just abruptly ended right in the middle of that dusty trail, with no sign of any leading off anywhere. According to Tom, it was unsettling, as if she had simply vanished right there on the spot, and he would say, “I followed the footprints to a place about 20 yards from the meadow, where the tracks stopped.” He looked everywhere for more footprints, but there were none, and his desperate calls out into the trees were answered by the sounds of the darkening forest. He was then joined by the camp guides and hunters, many of them experienced trackers, but they had no more success, and after some time scouring the area with no sign of Susan, night was finally upon them, forcing them to abandon their efforts and just hope that Susan made her way back.
The following morning, Susan was still gone, and so authorities were notified of the disappearance. A large-scale search was launched of the entire area for miles around, but nothing whatsoever was found, and the operation had to be suspended due to cold and snowy weather moving in, which was worrying since Susan had not brought any warm clothing or survival gear with her. The search then resumed with renewed efforts to find the woman, as it was thought that every minute lost was dangerous if Susan was still alive at all. Aircraft, dogs, and hundreds of volunteers meticulously combed the area, even walking side by side at arm’s length apart through large stretches of wilderness to leave no stone unturned. Some scattered footprints were found that indicated perhaps someone who was injured, but they were so faded and unclear that it was not positive that they had belonged to Susan Adams at all. The theory that was brewing among law enforcement officials at the time was that she must have gotten injured and died out there, and before the official search was closed for winter, Sheriff Randy Baldwin would say:
“I believe beyond any reasonable doubt that Susan Adams died from injuries or other related causes due to being lost or hurt in the wilderness area near Battle Lake. I also believe that Susan Adams' remains are still in that area, but feel that any future organized search would not be effective in locating her remains.”
The family was so desperate that they even hired a psychic, who rather eerily came to the same conclusion, predicting that Susan had sustained a head injury and perished not far from camp. Yet if this is all correct, then why hadn’t they found any trace of remains or indeed any sign of her at all, despite such a detailed search? Another idea was that a wild animal might have attacked her and dragged her off, but if this were the case, it is thought that she would have screamed out, which would have been heard at the nearby camp, and there was also no sign of blood, shredded clothing, no indication of a struggle, nor any tracks from a dangerous animal. It is hard to believe that a vicious wild animal could have swooped in to take her away completely silently, without any sign of blood or a fight, and without leaving any tracks behind. The idea of foul play was also briefly looked at, but neither Tom Adams nor any of the hunters or guides was found to have any evidence at all that they were linked to the vanishing.
What happened to Susan Adams? How did she just wander away so close to camp and then evaporate to never be found? Was she attacked by an animal or a nefarious party? Was her attention drawn by something to bring her out and get injured? Or was it something far stranger? Why is it she did not call out, and why was no trace of her remains ever found? Even more eerily, what is the meaning of those tracks that just stopped in the middle of a trail? We will probably never know, and it is another bizarre case to add to the considerable number of those like it.
Some of the strangest of these wilderness vanishing cases have been written of by missing persons researcher and author on the subject, David Paulides, in his Missing 411 series of books, and these accounts can range from the slightly odd to the full-on bizarre. One very weird case that has been much discussed and speculated upon is that of a seasoned, experienced hunter who went out with a group of friends only to step off the face of the earth and leave strange clues and mysteries that have not been solved to this day.
The setting for this strange case is the rather ominously named Crazy Mountains, in the northern part of the Rocky Mountains of Montana, in the United States, where, in September of 2014, a 38-year-old elk hunter by the name of Aaron Joseph Hedges was out on a hunting trip with friends Greg Leitner and Joe Depew. The trip started on September 3, when the group headed out from the Cottonwood Lake Trailhead along with two horses and a mule. The men were in good spirits, looking forward to their excursion, and things were going smoothly as they headed towards a place called Campfire Lake, but they hit an obstacle when their mule got spooked and Hedges’ sleeping bag was thrown off the trail and lost.
It was an unfortunate turn of events, but fortunately, the group kept another hunting camp they had used the previous year and had loaded up with an emergency cache of extra supplies just in case they ever needed it. Among these supplies were extra sleeping bags and so on. On September 5, Aaron decided to make a trek up that way, towards a place called Sunlight Lake. It wasn’t a particularly formidable distance for the experienced outdoorsman, and he had a walkie-talkie, cellphone, and was armed with a firearm and bow, so no one thought much of it, especially since he told his companions that he was just going to grab the supplies and would be back before nightfall. Little did they know that as he stalked off up that trail into the trees, it would be the last time anyone saw him alive.
Night came and went with no sign of Hedges, and the next day he still did not turn up. The group tried numerous times to call him on his walkie-talkie, but there was no response. A look at the GPS for the walkie-talkie system showed that Hedges had missed the fork in the trail that he was supposed to take to his destination, and it labelled his position as being out at the very edge of the screen. They waited around the area for several more days, hoping that he would find his way back to them, but there was no further word, and Aaron Hedges was finally reported missing on September 8. A search was mounted, and although the effort was somewhat impeded by snow that had hit the area, the surroundings were meticulously scoured using helicopters with infrared equipment, horses, and 20 tracker dog teams, all of which turned up no sign at all of the missing hunter.
It was not until the second day of the search that a clue was finally found. By a creek just east of Sunlight Lake was found a spot where someone had attempted to start a fire using a pack of cigarettes, and nearby were found the water bladder that Hedges had been carrying, the waist straps of his backpack, and his shoes sat down neatly side by side as if they had been carefully removed and placed there. Oddly, the site was found in an area the search teams had just combed the previous day without finding a thing, and it was also considered puzzling that he would have taken his shoes off and just left them behind, considering the plummeting temperatures and snow. Also unusual was that tracker dogs passing through were unable to pick up a scent trail for the missing man, which was a bit hard to explain. This was the only trace of Hedges that would be found during the search efforts, and it was as if he had just vanished into thin air, but things would get even weirder still, a full 9 months after the disappearance.
In June 0f 2015, a hiker by the name of Roger Beslanowitch was staying with relatives at a place called the Rein Anchor Ranch, when he took a walk to the top of a nearby ridge and came across someone’s outdoor gear, including a backpack containing a cellphone, an orange hunting vest, bow, clothes, a hunting license, and some scattered wrappers from granola bars. Bizarrely, at the head of the ridge was also a thermos cup placed upon a rock, along with an open energy drink nearby. Beslanowitch would report that he had been sure there had to be a body somewhere, but he could find none, just those belongings eerily piled up against a tree. When it was found through the hunting and driver’s licenses in the pack that they had belonged to Aaron Hedges, the authorities jumped all over this new lead in their cold case, but they could find no trace of any human remains.
It would not be until the following summer that remains would finally be discovered about half a mile from where the gear had been found, which was a full 15 miles from where he had last been seen and 6 miles from where his boots had been found, meaning he had somehow traversed that snow swept wilderness without his boots all of that way, along a route that had no major trails. Making it even weirder was that the area the remains were found in was within eyesight of the nearby ranch and right next to a frequently used road, which would have meant safety, but he had never managed to reach it. How could this be? He had obviously stopped to have something to drink on that ridge, from which he would have been able to clearly see the house, so why did he just stop, strip down out of his clothes, and die so close to safety?
The whole case is permeated by strange details. The fork in the trail that Hedges was originally meant to take up to his destination was clearly delineated and visible, and he was equipped with a GPS, yet he had gone right by it. He had then managed to set up a camp that evaded a complete search of the same area, then taken his boots off in freezing weather and somehow managed to walk 6 miles over rough terrain off-trail through snow, which authorities see as highly unlikely, as it would have been an incredible feat for even the most hardened survivalist. Indeed, why had he taken his shoes off to begin with? Then there is the fact that dogs could not pick up his scent, and all of this is punctuated by the rest of his belongings and his body plopped out there practically right on top of an inhabited ranch. The cause of death could also not be determined, as neither the skull nor any of the bones exhibited any sort of trauma indicating an injury of any kind. What is going on here?
There have certainly been plenty of theories ranging from the plausible to the far out. The official explanation is that he had probably had hypothermia and disorientation, which had caused him to wander about aimlessly and display his odd behavior. He may have even intentionally avoided search party teams and that ranch to cover the fact that he and his friends may have been hunting in off-limits areas and poaching. Other theories are decidedly more fringe, including the pervasive idea that he somehow passed into another dimension or through a portal. One Reddit user on the Missing 411 forum called “DapperWinner” explains his spin on the theory and how it matches many of the stranger details as follows:
“The turn in the path: Aaron left his hunting buddies to go to a cache that was a hike away, there was a visible path and clear turn for him to ascend up and get to the cache. What I believe happened is somewhere just before that turn or on it he 'passed' over into another dimensional reality. It was getting late and his friends tried to call him over the walkie talkie and they did ping his GPS. Now at this point, somehow I think for a split minute or so he flickered back into this reality in just enough time for the GPS to go off and then flickered back out. I'm no expert on this stuff so forgive the terms.
The boots: The SAR has been called and they comb the area for him, dogs also cannot get a scent. Now with the dogs i believe the reason why they cannot find one is because he literally is not there, he is in some other dimensional reality overlapping our own. Further in the case they find his boots and other items AFTER they combed a particular area bythe ridgeline. Similar things have happened in other cases, so we came up with a theory that what if his items have somehow re-materialzed back into our reality? Let’s say that in the dimension he is in, whatever bad weather is happening in ours (The snow) Is not happening where he is. So perhaps he has a rest and takes his boots off to rest his feet, somehow those items reappear back in our reality and he loses them. This would explain why his boots were found just set there as if someone had placed them. Because they were.
The pack: Months pass and the somebody finds Aaron hedges backpack and drinking equipment overlooking a property with human houses and structures visible. Let’s say Aaron did make his way to this place and I think he knew where he was going expecting to find those peoples properties. But here’s the thing: They weren't physically there in that other reality! He made his way to that ridgeline expecting to find houses but did not. And again, his items have somehow re-materialized back into this reality where they were found by a neighbor. Now this is where the speculation gets a little crazy: We theorized that what if the alternate reality he stumbled in, time flows differently. As they found his pack a year or so later I believe? What if wherever he is, it’s only felt like a day or two for him being lost, but in our reality a year had passed? As I said it’s just speculation on our part, but i find it hard to believe a backpack containing food was sitting there perfectly for a year for someone to discover without it being ravaged wildlife.”
What happened to Aaron Hedges? Did he simply get lost and succumb to the stresses of the environment? Is this, as the authorities say, a case of hypothermia-induced psychosis? If so, then what are we to make of all of the weird clues orbiting the whole thing? Or is this, as some of the stranger theories have posited, something altogether more bizarre and past out ability to really grasp? Just about the only thing we really do know about this weird case is that Aaron Hedges disappeared without explanation, his remains reappeared just as mysteriously, and no one truly knows what exactly happened to him except for him and the trees.
Finally, we come to the case of Terrence Shemel Woods Jr., of Capitol Heights, Maryland, who at the age of 26 years old made a pretty good success of himself as a filmmaker. Educated in England, he had worked on numerous TV programs and documentaries, including several that had taken him out into the rugged outdoors for shoots in such far-flung places as Turkey and Alaska, making him no stranger to roughing it. In 2018, Woods was working for a London-based production company called Raw TV, which specializes in the outdoors and is perhaps best known for the Discovery Channel reality show Gold Rush. In October of that year, he was enlisted to spend a few weeks in the remote wilderness of Montana and Idaho to work on a documentary for a British show called Whitewater, in this episode about the abandoned gold mine called Penman Mine, which lies within a place called the Nez Perce Clearwater National Forest, in the heart of north-central Idaho. Terrence was there with 12 other crew members and was reportedly in good spirits at first, but things were about to take a turn for the strange.
On October 5, 2018, the crew spent the entire day out at the mine filming. It was fairly isolated, rough and mountainous terrain, but all of them were quite experienced with this sort of shoot, and it was nothing they couldn’t handle. Woods reportedly had been quieter than usual that day, which most just chalked up to tiredness. As the crew began finishing up for the day, something very strange would happen when Woods took off running for no apparent reason and just kept on running right off the face of the earth. The production manager who witnessed it all would later say in a statement to Woods’ father:
“So we were finishing up for the day and your son was talking to one of the miners. I was in one of the vehicles doing some work when your son told the miner that he had to go relieve himself. Something told me, kind of like a gut feeling, to look over near the cliff your son was at, when I looked over there all I saw was the radio lying on the ground. I originally thought your son fell off the cliff so I leaped out of the vehicle and ran over there immediately. To my shock, your son was already 15 feet down the cliff running like a hare. I’ve never seen anyone run that fast. At that point I yelled to the crew to get in a vehicle and go to the main road. I proceeded down the cliff after your son but he kept running. Due to my professional SAR training, I stopped running after him out of fear he’d be further scared. So I went back topside and the crew hadn’t found your son on the main road. At this point we found the first house with a phone and reported your son missing.”
When he made his sudden run into the wilderness, he was carrying his cell phone, but he left behind his two-way radio and a backpack containing his belongings. By the time authorities reached the area, it was getting dark, and after a preliminary patrol of the area with no sign of the missing man, the search was started in earnest the following morning. The search teams used dogs, helicopters, and infrared cameras, but were unable to find a trace of Woods, with even the dogs unable to pick up a scent. A fresh sheen of snow had also fallen, yet no footprints could be found, and it was claimed by a search team member that it was “as if he had never been there at all.” After a week of nothing, the search was called off. In the meantime, some strange clues were turned up.
It would be discovered that, although he had planned to be in Idaho until mid-November, Woods had texted his father to tell him that he would be returning on October 10th, with no elaboration whatsoever, and it was even odder in that he had never been known to cut an assignment short. Some friends and family would also say that he had been acting uncommonly anxious about this trip in the weeks leading up to the shoot, and that he had expressed his desire not to go. This was all very unusual for him, because Woods had always been very enthusiastic about his work and the adventures it took him on. Not everyone agrees with this, though, and his older sister, Sharnia Tisdale, would say:
“I talked to him before he went out there and he seemed fine. He was going to go out and do a job with the film crew and he was going to come home, nothing abnormal and he wasn't acting different. We talk all the time. He is not the type of person that would just run off or do anything like this, so it seems unusual to me but you know I wasn't there so I can only go by what they are saying. He's traveled around the world he really likes to do tv, he is a loving person and caring and an all around good person.”
Also rather weird is that on the morning of the day of his disappearance, he had sent his father creepy footage of a river flowing through a canyon without any explanation or discernible reason for doing so, and although nothing was thought of it at the time in retrospect it now seems a bit eerie. There also seemed to have been some disagreements between Woods and the production manager, although what connection this could have is unknown.
Flyers were distributed all around the region, and volunteer searches orchestrated by the family continued, but no trace was found, and with the cold, snowy weather that had moved in, there was little hope that he could have made it out of there alive. It was truly baffling because Woods’ family would insist that he had never done drugs and did not have any mental issues or personal problems, making it all the more unusual that he should just suddenly bolt like that. While it is easy to see how someone could get lost in this treacherous and hostile terrain, what is it that made this normally rational individual just decide to suddenly drop everything and go running over a cliff to keep on going into that remote landscape to vanish into thin air?
One of the ideas postulated by the family is that he may have been scared of one of the crew members for some reason, to the point that he might have felt his life was in danger, but authorities have said there is no sign at all of foul play. In their opinion, he suffered some sort of mental break and perhaps had even been planning on committing suicide out there, but this is not in keeping with his established character and mental history. Indeed, Woods’ father has accused the police of not properly pursuing the case due to racism. Another rather ominous scenario is that he was possibly murdered by one of the crew members, but there is no evidence of this at all and none of them have ever been considered a suspect. Other, more fringe ideas are that some sort of paranormal force took him after luring him out into the woods, or that he passed through some sort of portal.
What happened to Terrence Shemel Woods Jr.? Why did he just suddenly decide to run off like that to join the annals of strange vanishings? Was this foul play, suicidal tendencies, a death wish, or something perhaps even stranger? To this day, the case has never been solved, and it continues to haunt family, friends, and those who would seek answers.
What is it about the wilderness that draws so many mysterious disappearances to it? Is this just a result of the terrain and wilderness itself, or is there something else going on here? Did these people just get lost or succumb to the elements, and if so, how do we explain all of the strange details involved? There is no way to really know what is going on, and at the moment, some wild places have many strange mysteries, indeed, and people still have a habit of coming here never to return.
Our sun has unexpectedly begun to ramp up its activity, which could lead to more severe solar storms that cause blackouts and disrupt global communications.
NASA revealed that our solar system's home star had been getting quieter and weaker for about 20 years, but that surprisingly changed in 2008 and scientists are still trying to figure out why.
Scientists found that since 2008, the sun's solar wind, which are streams of charged particles, has grown stronger, with increases in speed, density, temperature, and magnetic field strength.
Geomagnetic storms have the potential to damage power grids, leading to blackouts, interfere with satellites, and disrupt communication systems like GPS.
Stronger storms could also make the Northern Lights visible in more places further south of the north pole, but the risk to technology and infrastructure will require careful monitoring.
The exact timing and strength of these storms are hard to predict, but they could become more frequent as the sun's current 11-year cycle peaks between 2025 and 2026.
Lead study author Jamie Jasinski of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California said: 'All signs were pointing to the sun going into a prolonged phase of low activity. So it was a surprise to see that trend reversed. The sun is slowly waking up.'
A new study has discovered a massive shift in solar activity which scientists weren't expecting
More solar activity could cause intensified storms that disrupt power grids on Earth (Stock Image)
More activity means more sunspots, solar flares, and potentially hazardous ejections of material from the sun.
This could make the sun’s outer atmosphere, called the heliosphere, expand as the pressure from the solar wind increases.
On Earth, this could shrink our magnetosphere, the protective magnetic bubble around our planet, exposing us to more solar particles.
The increased solar particle exposure can pose a risk for astronauts, who could face higher radiation levels during space missions, potentially leading to health issues.
It could also damage satellites and spacecraft, disrupting communications and navigation systems critical for daily life.
Elon Musk's Starlink satellite internet service suffered widespread issues during the peak of a strong geomagnetic storm late Sunday night.
The problems started just before midnight, with more than 50,000 reports from Starlink users as a fresh barrage of solar storms hit Earth.
Additionally, solar particles could interfere with Earth's upper atmosphere, potentially affecting ozone levels and increasing ultraviolet radiation reaching people outdoors.
Solar storms striking Earth are often caused by coronal mass ejections sent out by the sun days before they affect our planet (Stock Image)
A severe solar storm could have the potential to cause power grid problems that lead to blackouts or satellite communication issues
The NASA team explained that the sun goes through an 11-year cycle of activity, marked by changes in sunspots.
After a weak cycle (number 24) from 2008 to 2019, the current cycle (number 25) is showing noticeably more activity.
The study, published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, suggested this increase in solar activity might be part of a longer 22-year cycle, and the sun is now making up for its mysterious two-decade decline rather than entering an anticipated quiet period.
Since 2008, the solar wind's speed has increased by six percent, its density rose by 26 percent, its temperature soared by 29 percent, and pressure skyrocketed by 45 percent.
This more dynamic solar environment results in increased solar storms and enhanced interactions with Earth's magnetic field.
This isn't the first time in history that the sun has seen a mysterious quiet period before ramping back up, but the cause of these declines have baffled scientists, who also don't know when they're coming.
Records show one of the quietest solar periods in recent history was a four-decade window from 1790 to 1830.
'We don't really know why the sun went through a 40-year minimum starting in 1790,' Jasinski said in a NASA statement. 'The longer-term trends are a lot less predictable and are something we don't completely understand yet.'
Did an Advanced Civilization Thrive 10,000 Years Ago? Mind-Blowing Evidence Is Stacking Up
What if everything we’ve been taught about the dawn of civilization is a lie—or at least a half-truth? Picture this: more than 10,000 years ago, while the last Ice Age glaciers retreated, a sophisticated society flourished—cities of stone rising from the earth, astronomers charting the heavens, engineers bending nature to their will. Not a ragtag band of hunter-gatherers fumbling with flint, but a lost civilization rivalling Egypt or Mesopotamia, erased by time and catastrophe.
Mainstream archaeology has long scoffed at the notion, relegating it to the realm of crackpot fantasy. Yet a cascade of recent discoveries—monuments older than history itself, submerged ruins whispering of drowned worlds, artifacts that defy explanation—is prying open the coffin of conventional wisdom. Could an advanced civilization have thrived millennia before we dared to dream? The evidence is growing, and it’s turning our past into a tantalizing enigma.
In the rolling hills of southeastern Turkey lies Göbekli Tepe, a site so revolutionary it’s been dubbed the “zero point of civilization.” Unearthed in 1994, its T-shaped limestone pillars—some towering 18 feet and weighing 16 tons—date to 9600 BCE, a staggering 7,000 years before Stonehenge and the pyramids of Giza. Carved with eerie precision, these megaliths boast reliefs of lions, foxes, and scorpions, alongside abstract symbols that hint at a cosmology we can’t yet decode. This isn’t the work of nomads with sticks; it screams organization—hundreds, perhaps thousands, of labourers hauling slabs across miles, guided by a blueprint lost to us.
Archaeologist Klaus Schmidt, who excavated the site until his death in 2014, argued it was a temple complex, a sacred hub for a society we didn’t know existed. But here’s the kicker: at a time when humans were supposedly scavenging berries and chasing mammoths, who built this? The scale suggests a hierarchy, a workforce, maybe even a priestly elite—hallmarks of civilization we peg to much later eras. Stranger still, some pillars align with constellations like Taurus, hinting at astronomical knowledge. Was Göbekli Tepe a star temple, a Stone Age observatory? And why was it deliberately buried around 8000 BCE, as if its makers wanted it hidden? The deeper we dig—only 5% of the site is exposed—the louder it whispers: we’ve missed something big.
Shift your gaze to Giza, where the Great Sphinx crouches, its weathered face staring into eternity. Conventional history dates it to 2500 BCE, a monument of Pharaoh Khafre’s reign. But geologist Dr. Robert Schoch isn’t buying it. In the 1990s, he studied the Sphinx’s enclosure and found water erosion—deep, vertical fissures carved by heavy rainfall. Egypt’s last deluge like that? Around 10,000 years ago, when the Sahara was a lush savanna, not the arid waste of later millennia. If Schoch is right, the Sphinx predates dynastic Egypt by thousands of years, a relic of a forgotten people who tamed the Nile long before the pharaohs.
Sceptics howl—where’s the pottery, the tools? But consider the Giza plateau’s older quirks: megalithic blocks in the Valley Temple, cut with a precision that baffles modern engineers, and alignments with Orion’s Belt circa 10,500 BCE, as astronomer Robert Bauval argues. Could an advanced precursor civilization have laid these foundations, their traces scrubbed by floods or scavengers? The conspiracy isn’t just that Egypt’s timeline is off—it’s that an entire chapter of human genius might lie beneath the sand, waiting to rewrite the books.
Now plunge beneath the waves, where the ocean guards secrets too wild to ignore. Off Japan’s Yonaguni Island, divers in 1986 stumbled on a submerged enigma: a stepped pyramid, 80 feet tall, with terraces, right angles, and stairways carved into sandstone. Dated to 10,000–12,000 years ago, when rising seas swallowed coastlines after the Ice Age, it looks man-made—too perfect for nature’s chaos. Marine geologist Masaaki Kimura calls it a ceremonial complex, possibly linked to the Jomon culture. Critics say it’s a natural fluke, but the symmetry nags: did a seafaring people build this before the waters claimed it?
Then there’s Dwarka, India’s sunken jewel. Legends in the Mahabharata describe Lord Krishna’s golden city, lost to the sea. In 2001, off Gujarat’s coast, archaeologists found it—walls, pillars, and pottery 120 feet underwater, carbon-dated to 7500 BCE or earlier. Stone anchors suggest a bustling port, a hub of trade and craft. Was Dwarka a myth, or a real metropolis drowned by a post-Ice Age surge? These underwater ghosts hint at civilizations that rivaled later empires, their stories submerged until modern sonar peeled back the tide.
What could erase such societies? Enter the Younger Dryas, a chilling mystery from 12,800 years ago. Geologists like James Kennett point to a cosmic culprit: a comet or asteroid swarm slamming into Earth, unleashing fire, floods, and a 1,000-year deep freeze. Evidence abounds—nanodiamonds from impact melt, soot layers in Greenland ice cores, and a sudden die-off of megafauna like mastodons. Graham Hancock, a maverick in these waters, ties it to Göbekli Tepe’s builders, suggesting they were survivors of a lost world, their monuments a warning to posterity.
Imagine it: a thriving culture—cities, temples, star charts—blasted apart by a skyborne apocalypse. Survivors scatter, their knowledge fading into oral tales of floods and angry gods. The Biblical deluge, the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, even Plato’s Atlantis—could these be echoes of a real collapse? The Younger Dryas hypothesis isn’t fringe anymore; it’s a peer-reviewed puzzle piece, and it’s forcing us to ask: what fell before we rose?
Tools and Treasures: Clues of Lost Mastery
Artistic reconstruction showing how throwing sticks like the Schöningen Spears would have been thrown.
The evidence isn’t just in stones—it’s in the hands that shaped them. Take the Schöningen spears, unearthed in Germany: eight wooden javelins, expertly balanced, from 300,000 years ago—far older than Homo sapiens’ supposed monopoly on such skill. Or the 12,000-year-old obsidian blades from Çatalhöyük, Turkey, sharper than surgical steel, hinting at a metallurgy precursor. Then there’s Egypt’s predynastic vases—stone vessels so thin and symmetrical, modern craftsmen struggle to replicate them without machines. Were these the work of savages, or a people with secrets we’ve lost?
Even art whispers of sophistication. In France’s Chauvet Cave, 36,000-year-old paintings of rhinos and lions rival Renaissance masters, with perspective and shading that defy “primitive” labels. In Colombia, the San Agustín statues—hulking figures from 8000 BCE—suggest a culture with tools and time to spare. These aren’t flukes; they’re breadcrumbs of a vanished expertise, taunting us to connect the dots.
The Ice Age Enigma: Why Don’t We See More?
Analysis of 23,000-year-old hunter camp shows that Ice Age Galileans thrived.
If they existed, where’s the proof—cities, roads, records? The Ice Age is a brutal thief. Sea levels rose 400 feet after 12,000 BCE, drowning coastlines where early societies likely thrived. Earthquakes, volcanoes, and millennia of decay buried the rest. Writing wasn’t widespread; what survived was oral, warped into myths of gods and giants. Göbekli Tepe’s burial suggests intent—did they hide their works from a world they knew was ending? The gaps aren’t proof of absence; they’re a challenge to look harder.
As of March 12, 2025, the clues are piling up, and they’re electric. Satellite scans reveal anomalies under Antarctica’s ice—could a temperate age hide ruins there? LiDAR in the Amazon uncovers lost cities from 10,000 BCE, their plazas and canals defying jungle logic. Even genetics chimes in: DNA from 12,000-year-old skeletons in the Americas hints at migrations from unknown origins. Each find chips at the old narrative—that civilization blinked on with Sumer and Egypt, a neat 5,000-year arc.
The conspiracy isn’t that aliens built it (though some X posts love that twist). It’s subtler, darker: we’ve underestimated our ancestors, blinded by a smug timeline. Were they astronomers mapping Sirius, engineers lifting megaliths, sailors crossing oceans? Did they fall to a comet’s wrath, their ashes seeding our myths? The evidence—Göbekli’s pillars, the Sphinx’s scars, Yonaguni’s steps—screams ‘yes.’ Yet the jury’s out, and the hunt’s on.
For every sceptic crying “where’s the smoking gun?” there’s a dreamer asking, “what if we’ve already found it?” This isn’t closure—it’s an invitation. Grab a shovel, a sonar, a star chart. The past is a locked vault, and we’re just now finding the keys. An advanced civilization 10,000 years ago? Not a fairy tale—a riddle begging to be solved. What’s your next clue?
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Top image: Image of the lost city of Atlantis, by artist George Grie.
Het Hall of Records en het Bewijs van Geavanceerde Oude Beschavingen
Het "Hall of Records" en het Bewijs van Geavanceerde Oude Beschavingen
In de zoektocht naar de geschiedenis van de mensheid en de evolutie van beschavingen, stuiten velen op mysterieuze en intrigerende theorieën die de mainstream geschiedenis vaak tegenspreken. Een van de meest fascinerende onderwerpen op dit gebied is het concept van het zogenaamde "Hall of Records" — een vermeende grote archiefkamer die bewijs zou bevatten van oude, geavanceerde beschavingen die duizenden tot honderdduizenden jaren geleden op aarde hebben bestaan. Deze theorieën roepen vragen op over de aard van onze geschiedenis, de technologische ontwikkeling van oude volkeren en zelfs over de mogelijkheid dat buitenaardse beschavingen een rol hebben gespeeld in het vormgeven van onze geschiedenis.
De Sphinx van Egypte EN De Hal van Archieven onder de Sphinx, Egypte?
Wat is het "Hall of Records"?
Het idee van het "Hall of Records" (letterlijk vertaald: hal van de archieven) is gebaseerd op het bestaan van een enorme verzameling van kennis, documenten en artefacten die de geschiedenis van de mensheid en de aarde zelf documenteren. Volgens sommige onderzoekers en spirituele tradities zou deze 'hal' zich bevinden op een geheime locatie, mogelijk onder de piramides van Egypte, onder de Sfinx, of zelfs diep onder de oceaan. Het zou een soort universeel archief bevatten dat informatie bevat over de oorsprong van de mens, de oude beschavingen, technologische kennis, en misschien zelfs over buitenaardse interventies.
Hoewel er geen concreet fysiek bewijs is voor het bestaan van zo’n archief, worden er steeds vaker aanwijzingen en legendes aangehaald die de aanwezigheid ervan suggereren. Bijvoorbeeld, oude teksten, mythes en legendes uit verschillende culturen spreken over geheime locaties vol kennis en wijsheid, die slechts door ingewijden kunnen worden gevonden of geopend. Sommige onderzoekers geloven dat het Hall of Records niet letterlijk een fysieke ruimte is, maar eerder een symbolische representatie van de sluier die onze geschiedenis bedekt.
Bewijs voor geavanceerde oude beschavingen
Het bestaan van een oude, geavanceerde beschaving vóór de bekende beschavingen zoals de Egyptenaren, de Mesopotamiërs en de Indusbeschaving, wordt ondersteund door een groeiend aantal archeologische vondsten en megalithische structuren. Deze structuren, die vaak duizenden jaren ouder blijken te zijn dan de eerste beschavingen die we kennen, suggereren dat de mensheid ooit over een niveau van technologische kennis beschikte dat niet overeenkomt met de primitieve technologieën waarmee we ze doorgaans associëren.
Een bekend voorbeeld hiervan is de piramides van Gizeh in Egypte. Hoewel deze piramides vaak worden beschouwd als symbolen van oude Egyptische beschavingen, wijzen sommige onderzoekers op de technische precisie, de grote schaal en de complexe bouwmethoden die mogelijk wijzen op kennis en technieken die verloren zijn gegaan. De Grote Piramide van Cheops, bijvoorbeeld, is zo nauwkeurig uitgelijnd dat het bijna onmogelijk is te verklaren met de technologie van die tijd, wat leidt tot speculaties dat er nog oudere en meer geavanceerde kennis achter schuilgaat.
Daarnaast zijn er de megalithische structuren zoals de Stonehenge in Engeland, de Nazca-lijnen in Peru, en de megalithische tempels in Malta. Deze structuren vertonen astronomische oriëntaties en precisie in constructie die niet eenvoudig te verklaren zijn met de technologische kennis van de tijd. Sommige onderzoekers geloven dat deze monumenten bewijs zijn van een oude, wereldwijde beschaving die beschikte over geavanceerde technologieën, mogelijk verloren gegaan door de eeuwen heen.
De bouwgeheimen van Göbekli Tepe kunnen verbonden zijn met de sterren.
(Afgeleid) (Brian Weed /Adobe Stock)
De invloed van buitenaardse beschavingen
Een andere aantrekkelijke theorie is dat deze oude beschavingen niet volledig door de mens zelf zijn ontwikkeld, maar dat ze beïnvloed zijn of zelfs geholpen zijn door buitenaardse wezens. Volgens deze visie zouden buitenaardse intelligences, vaak aangeduid als "ancient astronauts" of "oudere hemelreizigers", contact hebben gehad met de oude mensheid en deze hebben geholpen met technologieën en kennis die toen nog niet door de mens konden worden ontwikkeld.
Deze theorie wordt ondersteund door bepaalde oude kunstwerken, mythes en symboliek die mogelijk verwijzen naar buitenaardse wezens en technologieën. Bijvoorbeeld, de beroemde tekeningen en beeldhouwwerken uit het oude Egypte en Mesopotamië bevatten mogelijk afbeeldingen van buitenaardse wezens of technologieën die niet kunnen worden verklaard met de beschikbare kennis uit die tijd. Daarnaast wijst de constructie van de piramides en andere megalithische structuren op een kennis van astronomie en geotechniek die ver boven de capaciteit van de oude volkeren zou uitstijgen.
Montage van representaties van sphinx-wezens.
(CC BY-SA 3.0); (CC BY 2.0); (CC BY-SA 3.0); (CC BY 2.5)
De rol van de "Hall of Records" in het bewijzen van deze theorieën
Volgens sommige onderzoekers en spirituele tradities zou het vinden van het "Hall of Records" de ultieme bevestiging bieden dat oude beschavingen veel geavanceerder waren dan we denken, en dat zij mogelijk kennis bezaten die verloren is gegaan in de loop der eeuwen. Het zou ook kunnen bewijzen dat onze geschiedenis niet lineair is, maar complexer en verweven met buitenaardse invloeden, verloren technologieën en geheime kennis.
Het zoeken naar de "Hall of Records" is dan ook een missie geworden voor vele archeologen, esoterici en avonturiers. Ze geloven dat de sleutel tot het begrijpen van onze ware geschiedenis ligt verborgen in oude teksten, ondergrondse tunnels, verborgen kamers in piramides, of zelfs in de diepe oceanen en bergen. Sommige theorieën suggereren dat de kennis in het "Hall of Records" niet alleen over het verleden gaat, maar ook aanwijzingen bevat over de toekomst en de evolutie van de mensheid.
Yonaguni-monument, Japan.
(nudiblue / Adobe Stock).
Bewijzen en skeptici
Hoewel de theorieën over het "Hall of Records" en oude geavanceerde beschavingen fascinerend en intrigerend zijn, blijven ze controversieel. Tot op heden is er geen onweerlegbaar archeologisch bewijs dat het bestaan van een dergelijk archief bevestigt. Veel mainstream archeologen en wetenschappers beschouwen deze ideeën als speculatief en gebaseerd op interpretaties van oude mythes en symboliek in plaats van op harde feiten.
Desalniettemin blijven de verborgen en mysterieuze kenmerken van oude structuren, samen met de consistentie van bepaalde mythologische verhalen uit verschillende culturen, de nieuwsgierigheid en het onderzoek stimuleren. Het blijft een intrigerend vraagstuk: was onze voorouderlijke geschiedenis veel complexer en technologische vooruitstrevender dan we ons kunnen voorstellen? En bestaat er misschien nog een verborgen reservoir van oude kennis dat ooit gevonden moet worden?
Conclusie
Het idee van het "Hall of Records" en de bewijzen van oude, geavanceerde beschavingen opent een fascinerend venster op de mogelijkheid dat onze geschiedenis niet volledig bekend is. Het roept vragen op over de oorsprong van de mens, de evolutie van technologie en de rol van buitenaardse invloeden in onze ontwikkeling. Hoewel er momenteel geen definitieve bewijzen zijn, blijven onderzoekers, archeologen en enthousiastelingen zoeken naar aanwijzingen die de theorie kunnen bevestigen.
Het verhaal van de oude beschavingen en het vermeende "Hall of Records" blijft een boeiend mysterie dat ons uitdaagt om verder te kijken dan de gevestigde wetenschap en onze eigen geschiedenis opnieuw te onderzoeken. Misschien ligt de sleutel tot het begrijpen van onze ware verleden in het ontrafelen van de geheimen die nog verborgen zijn onder de eeuwenoude stenen en in de legendes die door de eeuwen heen zijn doorgegeven. Het is een zoektocht die de menselijke nieuwsgierigheid en het verlangen naar kennis blijft voeden, en die misschien ooit tot verrassende ontdekkingen zal leiden.
Meet the 'world's cutest sea monster': Scientists discover an adorable snailfish nearly 10,800ft underwater - as amazed viewers compare it to a Pokémon
When you go this deep, you'd expect any sign of life to be pretty terrifying.
So scientists were delighted to discover an adorable new species of snailfish thousands of feet below the ocean's surface.
The large–eyed pink creature was first detected in 2019 by researchers who were exploring the seafloor off California using a remotely operated vehicle at a depth of 3,268m (10,722ft).
They came across this individual, an adult female 9.2cm (3.6 inches) long, happily swimming along amongst the crushing pressure, frigid cold and perpetual darkness.
New analysis now reveals this animal was a species previously unknown to science – and has been named the bumpy snailfish (Careproctus colliculi).
The snailfish family tend to have a large head, a jelly–like body covered in loose skin, and a narrow tail. Many have a disk on their belly that allows them to grip the seafloor or hitchhike on larger animals.
Fans of the snailfish described it as 'adorable' and 'the cutest sea monster' they've ever seen.
Commenting on a YouTube video of the new species, one even compared it to a 'real life Pokémon'.
Analysis now reveals this animal was a species previously unknown to science – and has been named the bumpy snailfish
These creatures tend to have a large head, a jelly–like body covered in loose skin, and a narrow tail
Some fans said the new species looked like a Pokémon. Pictured: Whiscash, a water/ground-type Pokémon
'The deep sea is home to an incredible diversity of organisms and a truly beautiful array of adaptations,' Mackenzie Gerringer, associate professor at the State University of New York at Geneseo said.
'Our discovery…is a reminder of how much we have yet to learn about life on Earth and of the power of curiosity and exploration.'
A team from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) first made the discovery during an expedition to the outer reaches of Monterey Canyon, approximately 100km (62 miles) offshore of Central California.
They collected this individual but noticed it had features unlike other deep–sea snailfishes they had encountered.
Scientists used microscopes, micro–CT scans and careful measurements to determine it was different from any other known species.
They also analysed two other specimens and found they, too, were new to science – the dark snailfish and the sleek snailfish.
The bumpy snailfish has a distinctive pink colour, a round head with large eyes, wide pectoral fins with long uppermost rays, and a bumpy texture.
The dark snailfish has a fully black body with a rounded head and horizontal mouth.
The robotic submersible used in the expedition which first uncovered the new species of bumpy snailfish
Many deep–sea snailfishes are hard to identify from video alone. MBARI researchers have observed a snailfish that appears to be the newly described slender snailfish, but without collecting a specimen for closer analysis, they say they can't be sure
The sleek snailfish is distinguished from other snailfishes by a long, black, laterally compressed body, absence of a suction disk, and prominently angled jaw.
This encounter is the only confirmed observation of the bumpy snailfish, so further detail on their full geographic distribution and depth range are unknown.
Waarom bestaat het universum? De reden ligt in de onvriendelijke relatie tussen materie en antimaterie
Waarom bestaat het universum?De reden ligt in de onvriendelijke relatie tussen materie en antimaterie
Inleiding
De vraag waarom het universum überhaupt bestaat, is een van de meest fundamentele en intrigerende vragen uit de kosmologie en de theoretische fysica. Ondanks onze uitgebreide kennis over de natuurwetten en de kosmische geschiedenis, blijft het bestaan van het universum een mysterie dat ons uitdaagt tot diepgaande reflectie en wetenschappelijke zoektocht. Een van de meest gangbare verklaringen binnen de moderne wetenschap betreft de asymmetrie tussen materie en antimaterie. In dit essay wordt onderzocht waarom het universum bestaat vanuit het perspectief dat materie en antimaterie niet ‘goede vrienden’ zijn, en hoe deze onvriendelijkheid heeft geleid tot het bestaan van de wereld zoals wij die kennen.
Het kosmische web bestaat omdat de hoeveelheden materie en antimaterie oorspronkelijk niet gelijk waren.
(Afbeelding krediet: MARK GARLICK/SCIENCE PHOTO BIBLIOTHEEK via Getty Images)
1. De fundamenten: Materie en antimaterie
Om te begrijpen waarom het universum bestaat zoals wij dat kennen, is het essentieel om eerst de aard van materie en antimaterie onder de loep te nemen. In de wereld van de kwantumfysica worden alle elementaire deeltjes beschreven door een aantal fundamentele eigenschappen, waaronder massa, elektrische lading en spin. Elke deeltje heeft een antimaterie-tegenhanger, die precies dezelfde massa bezit, maar tegengestelde kwantumgetallen heeft. Een duidelijk voorbeeld hiervan is het elektron en het positron: het elektron heeft een negatieve elektrische lading, terwijl het positron dezelfde massa heeft, maar een positieve lading.
Volgens de theorieën zouden, kort na de oerknal, gelijke hoeveelheden materie en antimaterie ontstaan. Bij contact tussen deze tegengestelde deeltjes zou volledige annihilatie plaatsvinden, waarbij enorme hoeveelheden energie vrijkomen. Deze energie-uitwisseling wordt beschreven door Einstein’s beroemde vergelijking E=mc², die aangeeft dat massa kan worden omgezet in energie. Als materie en antimaterie in gelijke mate zouden bestaan en volledig zouden annihileren, zou dat leiden tot een heel ander soort universum: één dat vrijwel volledig uit straling bestaat, zonder de complexe structuren zoals sterren, planeten en levende wezens.
Het feit dat ons universum niet volledig uit straling bestaat en dat er toch een lichte voorkeur lijkt te zijn voor materie, vormt een van de grootste raadsels in de fysica. Deze zogenaamde materie-antimaterie asymmetrie is de sleutel tot het bestaan van het universum zoals we dat kennen. Het begrijpen van waarom materie de overhand heeft gekregen, motiveert wetenschappers om verder te zoeken naar de fundamentele oorzaken achter deze asymmetrie, en daarmee een dieper inzicht te krijgen in het ontstaan en de evolutie van het heelal. Het is een fascinerend vraagstuk dat ons inzicht in de natuurwetten en de oorsprong van alles wat bestaat, kan veranderen.
De stervormende nevel W51 is een van de grootste 'sterfabrieken' in het Melkweg-stelsel. 'Sterfabrieken' zoals deze kunnen miljoenen jaren operationeel zijn. De grote rode regio aan de rechterkant van W51 is ouder, wat duidelijk te zien is aan de manier waarop deze al is uitgehold door de winden van generaties zware sterren (die minimaal 10 keer de massa van onze Zon hebben). Het stof en gas in de regio worden nog meer in beweging gebracht wanneer die sterren sterven en exploderen als supernova's. Aan de jongere linkerkant van de nevel beginnen veel sterren net het gas en stof op te ruimen.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
2. De asymmetrie: Waarom bestaat er meer materie dan antimaterie?
Een van de meest intrigerende vragen in de kosmologie en de natuurkunde is waarom het universum grotendeels uit materie bestaat, terwijl de theorie ervan uitgaat dat er bij de oerknal gelijke hoeveelheden materie en antimaterie werden gevormd. Dit fenomeen wordt de materie-antimaterie asymmetrie genoemd en vormt een van de grote raadsels die wetenschappers proberen op te lossen. Als de oerknal inderdaad gelijke hoeveelheden materie en antimaterie had geproduceerd, zou je verwachten dat deze zich zouden hebben annihileerd, waardoor het heelal leeg en kaal zou zijn gebleven. Toch is dat niet het geval: er bestaat een overwicht aan materie, wat heeft geleid tot de sterren, planeten en uiteindelijk het leven zoals wij dat kennen.
Wetenschappers vermoeden dat er tijdens de allereerste momenten na de oerknal een kleine asymmetrie moet zijn geweest in de omstandigheden waarin materie en antimaterie werden gevormd. Deze kleine afwijking, die zich heeft uitgedrukt in een lichte voorkeur voor materie, is cruciaal geweest voor de evolutie van het universum. Het fenomeen dat deze asymmetrie mogelijk verklaart, wordt beschreven door de zogenaamde CP-schending (Charge-Parity-schending), een concept uit de deeltjesfysica dat aangeeft dat natuurwetten niet volledig symmetrisch zijn onder bepaalde omkeringen van ladings- en pariteitspectra.
De CP-schending betekent dat de natuur op subtiele manieren verschillen laat zien tussen materie en antimaterie. In theorie zouden de natuurwetten hetzelfde moeten zijn voor deeltjes en hun antimaterie-tegenhangers, maar experimenten tonen aan dat dit niet altijd het geval is. Deze afwijkingen, hoe klein ook, kunnen een grote impact hebben gehad tijdens de eerste momenten van het universum, waardoor een lichte overproductie van materie ten opzichte van antimaterie ontstond. Het is deze kleine, maar belangrijke, asymmetrie die zich heeft uitgebreid en uiteindelijk heeft geleid tot het materie-overschot dat wij vandaag de dag waarnemen.
De theoretische modellen die proberen deze asymmetrie te verklaren, zijn onder andere ontwikkeld door de Russische natuurkundige Andrei Sakharov in 1967. Hij formuleerde drie essentiële voorwaarden waaraan voldaan moet zijn om de materie-antimaterie asymmetrie te kunnen verklaren. Ten eerste moet er sprake zijn van CP-schending: natuurwetten moeten onder bepaalde omstandigheden symmetriebreuk vertonen. Zonder deze breuk zou er geen voorkeur ontstaan voor materie of antimaterie. Ten tweede moeten er grote kwantumfluctuaties plaatsvinden, die leiden tot kleine voorkeuren voor materie in het proces van de vroege evolutie van het universum. En ten slotte moet de asymmetrie ontstaan tijdens niet-thermische processen, zoals tijdens de oerknal, wanneer het universum niet in evenwicht was en de normale regels van thermodynamica niet volledig golden.
Dus de theoretische modellen, ontwikkeld door Andrei Sakharov, geven drie voorwaarden voor het ontstaan van deze asymmetrie:
Bovengenoemde CP-schending: Natuurwetten moeten symmetriebreuk vertonen bij het ontstaan van materie.
Uitgebreide kwantumfluctuaties: Er moeten processen zijn die leiden tot een kleine voorkeur voor materie.
Niet-thermische processen: De asymmetrie moet ontstaan tijdens niet-evenwicht situaties, zoals tijdens de oerknal.
Dit waar-kleurbeeld toont Noord- en Zuid-Amerika zoals ze eruit zouden zien vanuit de ruimte op 22.000 mijl (35.000 km) boven de aarde. Het beeld is een combinatie van gegevens van twee satellieten. Het Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument aan boord van NASA's Terra-satelliet verzamelde de landoppervlaktegegevens gedurende 16 dagen, terwijl NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) een momentopname van de aardse wolken en de maan produceerde.
Reto Stöckli, Nazmi El Saleous en Marit Jentoft-Nilsen, NASA GSFC.
Hoewel experimenten in de deeltjesfysica, zoals in de Large Hadron Collider, aanwijzingen hebben gevonden voor CP-schending, is de mate waarin dit fenomeen plaatsvindt nog niet genoeg om volledig de materie-antimaterie asymmetrie te verklaren. De waargenomen effecten zijn te klein en er blijven vragen over waarom de asymmetrie zo subtiel is, maar toch voldoende om het materie-overschot te creëren dat wij vandaag de dag zien. Onderzoekers blijven daarom actief zoeken naar nieuwe deeltjes en processen die meer inzicht kunnen geven in deze fundamentele kwestie.
Kortom, de materie-antimaterie asymmetrie is een complex en fascinerend vraagstuk dat onze kennis over de fundamentele natuurwetten uitdaagt. Het begrijpen van waarom er meer materie bestaat dan antimaterie, kan niet alleen ons inzicht in het ontstaan van het universum verdiepen, maar ook leiden tot nieuwe ontdekkingen in de fysica en kosmologie. Ondanks de vooruitgang blijven er nog veel vragen openstaan, en het onderzoek hiernaar is een van de grootste uitdagingen van de moderne wetenschap.
3. Waarom is deze asymmetrie cruciaal voor het bestaan van het universum?
De asymmetrie die we in het universum waarnemen, is van fundamenteel belang voor het bestaan en de structuur ervan. Zonder deze kleine maar cruciale asymmetrie zou het universum er heel anders uitzien en zou het leven zoals wij dat kennen, niet mogelijk zijn. Om dit beter te begrijpen, moeten we teruggaan naar de oorsprong van het heelal en de processen die hebben geleid tot de vorming van materie en structuur.
In de eerste momenten na de oerknal was er een bijna perfecte gelijkheid tussen materie en antimaterie. Deze twee vormen van deeltjes zijn elkaars spiegelbeeld en zouden, als ze bij elkaar komen, volledig kunnen vernietigen. Als er geen asymmetrie was geweest, zouden materie en antimaterie in gelijke mate aanwezig zijn geweest, wat zou hebben geleid tot een universeel veld van straling zonder enige materiële structuur. In dat scenario zou er geen vorming van sterren, planeten of leven mogelijk zijn. De universele materie zou simpelweg zijn verdwenen in een gigantische explosie van energie en straling, waardoor een leeg en uniform heelal overbleef.
De kleine asymmetrie die daadwerkelijk heeft bestaan, gaf echter een kleine overtolligheid aan materie ten opzichte van antimaterie. Deze afwijking mag dan klein lijken, maar het was voldoende om het verschil te maken. Door deze ongelijkheid konden de meeste antimateriedeeltjes worden vernietigd, terwijl de materie overbleef en zich begon te clusteren. Deze overgebleven materie vormde uiteindelijk de eerste atomen, die later samensmolten tot sterren, melkwegstelsels en planeten. Zonder deze asymmetrie zou het heelal dus niet de complexe en gevarieerde structuur hebben ontwikkeld die wij nu zien.
Het is alsof een klein verschil in de beginvoorwaarden een kettingreactie heeft veroorzaakt die zich heeft uitgebreid tot het hele universum. Deze kleine asymmetrie fungeert als de katalysator voor alles wat wij ervaren: de sterrenhemel, de aarde en zelfs het bestaan van leven zelf. Het benadrukt ook hoe kwetsbaar en gevoelig het ontstaan van het universum was voor kleine veranderingen, die uiteindelijk grote gevolgen hadden. Zonder deze asymmetrie zou ons heelal niet de rijkdom en complexiteit bezitten die wij nu kennen. Het is dus van onschatbare waarde dat de eerste momenten van het universum niet perfect symmetrisch waren, omdat deze asymmetrie de fundamenten heeft gelegd voor alles wat wij kennen en ervaren.
In deze grafiek wordt een antimaterie-uitbarsting die door een onweersbui in de atmosfeer van de aarde is vrijgegeven, gedetecteerd door een NASA-ruimtevaartuig.
(Afbeelding krediet: NASA)
4. Het belang van de ‘onvriendelijkheid’: materie en antimaterie als slechte vrienden
De metafoor dat materie en antimaterie ‘niet goede vrienden’ zijn, biedt een krachtige en visueel aansprekende manier om hun fundamentele interactie te begrijpen. In werkelijkheid zijn materie en antimaterie elkaars ‘tegenpolen’, die, wanneer ze elkaar ontmoeten, onmiddellijk een vernietigende reactie veroorzaken. Deze reactie resulteert in de volledige annihilatie van beide deeltjes, waarbij enorme hoeveelheden energie vrijkomen in de vorm van gammastraling. Het is deze destructieve kracht die een centrale rol speelt in de evolutie van het universum en die de basis vormt voor veel van de fundamentele processen in de kosmos.
Deze ‘onvriendelijkheid’ tussen materie en antimaterie is niet zomaar een willekeurig conflict, maar een essentieel kenmerk dat diep verweven is met de oorsprong van alles wat bestaat. Tijdens de oerknal, ongeveer 13,8 miljard jaar geleden, ontstonden gelijktijdig grote hoeveelheden materie en antimaterie. Volgens de theorieën over de vroege kosmologie was er aanvankelijk ongeveer evenveel materie als antimaterie. Echter, door een kleine asymmetrie – een minuscule onevenwichtigheid – bleef er na de annihilatie een kleine overschot aan materie over. Die overgebleven materie vormde de basis voor alle sterren, planeten, en uiteindelijk ook voor leven. Het feit dat materie en antimaterie zo ‘slechte vrienden’ waren, zorgde dus indirect voor de structuur en complexiteit van het universum zoals wij dat kennen.
Het is fascinerend om te bedenken dat deze ‘slechte relatie’ tussen materie en antimaterie essentieel was voor het ontstaan van alles. Had de natuur niet zo’n conflict tussen deze deeltjes gekend, dan had er mogelijk geen overlevende materie overgebleven na de grote vernietigingsreacties. Het zou kunnen dat het universum dan een lege, stralingsrijke ruimte was geweest zonder de complexe structuren die wij nu kennen. Deze gedachte onderstreept dat conflicten en tegenstelling niet altijd negatief hoeven te zijn; soms zijn ze juist de drijvende kracht achter ontwikkeling en evolutie.
Kortom, de ‘onvriendelijkheid’ tussen materie en antimaterie is een fundamenteel gegeven dat ons inzicht geeft in de oorsprong van het universum. Het conflict, dat op het eerste gezicht negatief lijkt, heeft juist geleid tot de schepping van alle materiële structuren en het bestaan van het heelal zoals wij dat kennen. Deze metafoor helpt ons niet alleen om de complexe fysische processen beter te begrijpen, maar benadrukt ook dat in de natuur conflicten vaak de motor zijn van verandering en groei. Zonder deze ‘slechte vriendschap’ zou er geen rijk universum zijn, geen sterrenstelsels, geen planeten en geen leven. Het is een mooi voorbeeld van hoe schijnbare tegenstellingen kunnen leiden tot het ontstaan van iets moois en waardevols.
5. De rol van de oerknal en de evolutie van het universum
De rol van de oerknal en de evolutie van het universum is essentieel om te begrijpen hoe alles begon en zich vervolgens heeft ontwikkeld tot de complexe kosmos die wij vandaag de dag waarnemen. De oerknal wordt algemeen erkend als het beginpunt van ons universum, ongeveer 13,8 miljard jaar geleden. Dit betekent dat alles wat we kennen – sterren, planeten, melkwegstelsels, en zelfs de ruimte en tijd zelf – uit deze ene gebeurtenis is voortgekomen. Het is een fascinerende en complexe theorie die onze kijk op het bestaan ingrijpend heeft veranderd.
In de allereerste fractie van een seconde na de oerknal ontstonden de eerste fundamentele deeltjes. Tijdens deze extreem korte periode, bekend als de Plancktijd, waren de omstandigheden onvoorstelbaar heet en dicht. De eerste deeltjes die gevormd werden, waren onder andere quarks en elektronen. Bovendien ontstonden antimaterie deeltjes, zoals antiprotons en positronen. Het ontstaan van antimaterie was cruciaal omdat het de basis vormde voor de latere interacties in het universum. Echter, de relatie tussen materie en antimaterie bleek niet symmetrisch. Toen de eerste deeltjes en antideeltjes elkaar ontmoetten, leidde dat tot annihilatie, waarbij enorme hoeveelheden energie vrijkwamen.
Wat deze gebeurtenissen bijzonder maakt, is dat er een kleine asymmetrie ontwikkelde tussen materie en antimaterie. Deze asymmetrie, ook wel bekend als baryon-asymmetrie, betekent dat er uiteindelijk meer materie overbleef dan antimaterie. Deze kleine maar belangrijke onevenwichtigheid was de katalysator voor de vorming van de structuren die we nu kennen. Zonder deze asymmetrie zou het universum mogelijk volledig uitgestorven zijn van materie, en zou er geen sterren, planeten of leven bestaan.
Door de tijd heen evolueerde het universum enorm. Tijdens de eerste honderden miljoenen jaren na de oerknal was het heelal nog zeer heet en dicht. Materie klonterde samen onder invloed van de zwaartekracht, waardoor er eerst gaswolken ontstonden. Deze gaswolken vormden de basis voor de eerste sterren en sterrenstelsels. Naarmate de tijd verstreek, groeiden deze structuren uit tot enorme melkwegstelsels, met daarin miljarden sterren. De complexe processen van nucleosynthese binnen sterren leidden tot de vorming van zwaardere elementen, essentieel voor de opbouw van planeten en leven.
Kortom, de oerknal en de daaropvolgende evolutie van het universum vormen de kern van onze kosmologische kennis. De asymmetrie tussen materie en antimaterie was niet zomaar een toevalligheid, maar een essentiële factor die de weg vrijmaakte voor het bestaan van alles wat we kennen. De voortdurende studie naar deze gebeurtenissen helpt ons niet alleen om onze oorsprong te begrijpen, maar ook om onze plek in het heelal beter te plaatsen. Het is een fascinerend verhaal van chaos, creatie en ontwikkeling, dat nog steeds volop in onderzoek en debat is.
Uit praktische overwegingen categoriseren mensen groepen materie op basis van hun eigenschappen. Galaxieën, sterrenclusters, planeten, dwergplaneten, rogue-planeten, manen, ringen, ringetjes, kometen, meteorieten, wasberen - het zijn allemaal verzamelingen van materie die verschillende kenmerken vertonen, maar zich aan dezelfde natuurlijke wetten houden.
6. Conclusie: het universum als resultaat van conflict en asymmetrie
De conclusie dat het universum ontstaat uit conflict en asymmetrie is zowel fascinerend als diepgaand. Het lijkt misschien tegenintuïtief dat de schepping van alles wat bestaat voortkomt uit een soort kosmisch conflict tussen deeltjes, maar deze gedachte wordt ondersteund door de fundamentele natuurwetten en observaties. De aanwezigheid van een kleine maar belangrijke overmaat aan materie ten opzichte van antimaterie vormt namelijk de kern van ons bestaan.
In de eerste instantie waren er gelijke hoeveelheden materie en antimaterie in het vroege universum. Volgens de theorieën over de oerknal en de daaropvolgende evolutie van het heelal, zouden deze deeltjes elkaar moeten hebben vernietigd bij contact, waarbij enorme hoeveelheden energie vrijkwamen in de vorm van straling. Maar waarom bleef er dan toch een klein overschot aan materie over? Waarom was het universum niet volledig uitgewist door de antimaterie? Het antwoord ligt in een subtiele asymmetrie tussen deeltjes en antipartikels, een kleine afwijking in de symmetrie die de loop van de kosmische geschiedenis heeft veranderd.
Deze asymmetrie, ook wel bekend als CP-schending (Charge-Parity schending), betekent dat materie en antimaterie niet precies spiegelbeelden van elkaar zijn. Hierdoor ontstond er een kleine voorkeur voor materie, wat op zijn beurt leidde tot het overgrote deel van materie dat wij nu waarnemen. Zonder deze asymmetrie zou het universum er heel anders uitzien, mogelijk volledig leeg en ongeschikt voor het ontstaan van sterren en planeten.
Het conflict tussen materie en antimaterie kan dus worden gezien als een soort kosmische strijd, waarbij de onvriendelijkheid tussen deeltjes leidde tot vernietiging, maar tegelijkertijd ook tot de schepping van een complex en rijk universum. Deze strijd en asymmetrie vormden de noodzakelijke condities voor het ontstaan van de structuur van het heelal. Zonder dit conflict zou er geen sterrenstelsels, geen planeten en geen leven kunnen bestaan.
Kortom, de universele werkelijkheid is niet slechts het resultaat van een evenwichtige en harmonieuze werking van natuurwetten, maar eerder van een fundamenteel conflict en asymmetrie. Het universum zoals wij dat kennen, is ontstaan uit een delicate balans tussen vernietiging en creatie, tussen strijd en schepping. Het is juist door de onvriendelijkheid en de strijd tussen materie en antimaterie dat het mogelijk werd om een rijk en gevarieerd heelal te vormen, waarin alles bestaat. Deze inzichten maken duidelijk dat conflict en asymmetrie niet altijd negatief hoeven te zijn; ze kunnen juist de drijfveer zijn achter grote kosmische en natuurlijke ontwikkelingen.
Met behulp van de Event Horizon Telescope hebben wetenschappers een afbeelding verkregen van het zwarte gat in het centrum van de melkweg M87. Samenwerking van de Event Horizon Telescope et al.
Eindwoord
Het begrijpen waarom het universum bestaat, blijft een fascinerende zoektocht. De rol van materie en antimaterie als onvrienden die niet goed met elkaar kunnen opschieten, blijkt cruciaal te zijn voor het ontstaan van alles. Deze onvriendelijkheid, die leidt tot vernietiging in plaats van harmonie, was daarom de ultieme voorwaarde voor ons bestaan. Het is een herinnering dat conflicten en asymmetrie in de natuur soms de voorwaarden scheppen voor complexiteit en emergentie, en dat de kosmische geschiedenis wordt geschreven door de interactie van tegengestelde krachten.
Bronnen
Sakharov, A. D. (1967). Violation of CP invariance, C asymmetry, and baryon asymmetry of the universe. Soviet Physics Uspekhi.
Riess, A. G., et al. (1998). Observational Evidence from Supernovae for an Accelerating Universe and a Cosmological Constant. The Astronomical Journal.
GDW. (2020). Materie en antimaterie: De strijd tussen deeltjes. Fysica in Perspectief.
Koupelis, T., & Kuhn, F. (2014). Inleiding tot de fysica.
Literatuur en verdere lezing
Carroll, S. M. (2004). Spacetime and Geometry: An Introduction to General Relativity.
Steinhardt, P. J., & Turok, N. (2007). The Cyclic Universe: An Informal Introduction. Scientific American.
Twee beelden van Hubble van de enorme sterrenstelselcluster Cl 0024+17 (ZwCl 0024+1652) worden getoond. Links is het zicht in zichtbaar licht met vreemde blauwe bogen die verschijnen tussen de geelachtige sterrenstelsels. Dit zijn de vergrote en vervormde beelden van sterrenstelsels die ver achter de cluster liggen. Hun licht wordt gebogen en versterkt door de immense zwaartekracht van de cluster in een proces dat gravitatiekracht lensing wordt genoemd. Rechts is er een blauwe schaduw toegevoegd om de locatie aan te geven van onzichtbaar materiaal dat donkere materie wordt genoemd, wat wiskundig vereist is om rekening te houden met de aard en plaatsing van de gravitatief gelensde sterrenstelsels die te zien zijn.
NASA, ESA, M.J. Jee en H. Ford (Johns Hopkins University)
The "potentially hazardous" asteroid 2025 FA22 will fly close past Earth at more than 24,000 mph on Thursday (Sept. 18). The space rock was previously predicted to have a slim chance of impacting our planet in 2089, temporarily earning it the top spot on a major risk list.
A giant asteroid first spotted earlier this year will make its closest approach to Earth on Sept. 18.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
A skyscraper-size, "potentially hazardous" asteroid is set to make a close approach to Earth this week — and you can see it zoom past for yourself, either by using a backyard telescope or via a free online livestream.
The asteroid, which was discovered earlier this year, was initially predicted to have a slim chance of hitting our planet in 2089 — temporarily earning it a spot at the top of the European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) impact risk list. But, following new observations, it is no longer considered an imminent threat.
The space rock, dubbed 2025 FA22, is somewhere between 427 and 951 feet (130 and 290 meters) across, making it large enough to wipe out a major city were it to collide with Earth. It will reach its minimum distance to us in the early hours of Thursday (Sept. 18), coming within 520,000 miles (835,000 kilometers) of our planet — just over twice as far away from us as the moon — and will be traveling at around 24,000 mph (38,600 km/h).
2025 FA22 was initially discovered in March by the Pan-STARRS 2 telescope in Hawaii. The asteroid quickly made headlines when it was revealed that it has a 0.01% chance of hitting Earth when it returns for another close flyby on Sept. 23, 2089. (This story was somewhat overshadowed by fellow asteroid 2024 YR4, which was briefly predicted to have a much higher chance of impacting our planet in 2032 at around the same time 2025 FA22 was first spotted.)
Despite the low odds of a collision, space agencies took the threat of 2025 FA22 seriously, and the asteroid was briefly bumped to the top spot on ESA’s Risk List, which monitors all near-Earth objects predicted to have a non-zero chance of impacting our planet.
"However, high-priority follow-up observations soon allowed astronomers to refine the asteroid’s trajectory and rule out any impact risk," according to a new ESA statement. Asteroid 2025 FA22 was removed from ESA's Risk List entirely in May.
Asteroid 2025 FA22 will return for similar close approaches in 2089 and 2173. (Image credit: NASA/JPL)
The now totally safe flyby of 2025 FA22 will be shared on a free livestream by the Virtual Telescope Project, which will track the object using a telescope in Manciano, Italy. The livestream will begin at around 23:00 p.m. EDT on Wednesday (Sept. 17).
During its close approach, the asteroid could reach an apparent magnitude of 13, which will make it just bright enough to spot with a decent backyard telescope or a pair of stargazing binoculars, according to IFLScience. You can find where it is in the night sky using TheSkyLive.com.
Researchers will be keeping a close eye on the asteroid from observatories across the globe, including NASA's Goldstone radar telescope in Barstow, California, which has the capability to reveal more about the space rock's true size and shape.
ESA released new information on 2025 FA22 in preparation for the upcoming flyby. (Image credit: ESA)
The International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN) is also taking 2025 FA22's flyby as an opportunity to practise its emergency protocols by running a practice scenario under the pretence that the asteroid will still impact us in 2089. This mock test, named the 2025 FA22 IAWN Campaign, will involve measuring as many of the asteroids' characteristics as accurately as possible, in preparation for a hypothetical mission to deflect the space rock in the future.
"While 2025 FA22 poses no danger, practicing our ability to measure these properties is important, as they influence how an asteroid will react to any attempt to deflect it off of a collision course with Earth," ESA representatives wrote about the campaign.
In reality, 2025 FA22 will not get very close to us in 2089. The latest calculations from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory suggest that it will only come within 3.7 million miles (6 million km) of Earth, more than seven times further away than its current flyby.
However, the asteroid will return for a super close approach in 2173, when it will reach a minimum distance of around 200,000 miles (320,000 km), bringing it closer to us than the moon.
Image of asteroid Donaldjohanson with features marked. Credit - NASA Goddard/SwRI/Johns Hopkins APL
When considering the unnamed major features of all the moons, asteroids, and comets in our solar system there are still a lot of places out there that need proper names. That means the International Astronomical Union (IAU), the non-governmental body responsible for naming astronomical objects, has its work cut out for them. Recently they tackled a relatively easy challenge by approving a series of names on the asteroid Donaldjohnson, the first and only target of NASA’s Lucy mission in the main asteroid belt. With those names come a whole new way to talk about one of the asteroids that humanity has studied most closely thus far.
Lucy the mission was named after Lucy the fossil, one of the most important paleoanthropological finds in history. Dated to 3.2 million years ago, the Lucy skeleton is part of a species we now call Australopithecus afarensis, one of the forebearers of modern day Homo sapiens. With this discovery in the Afar region of Ethiopia in 1974, American paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson cemented his legacy in the annals of scientific history.
The IAU also allowed him to be etched into the history books of astronomy as well, when it agreed to name the asteroid in the main belt that the Lucy mission would pass on its way to its main mission in the Trojan asteroid belt after him. Asteroid Donaldjohanson measures about 8 km long by 3.5 km wide, and weighs about 8x1013 kg. Its shape provides some very unique places to name, and Lucy’s team tried to take full advantage of that in the names they submitted to the IAU.
Fraser discusses one of Lucy's first major discvoeries
All of the names deal somehow with paleoarchaeological history, though only some are directed related to Donald Johanson himself. The two main “lobes” of the asteroid are named Afar, after the region in Ethiopia where the Lucy fossil was discovered, and Olduvai, a river gorge in Tanzania where there were plenty of other discoveries of early humans.
Joining the two lobes is Windover Collum, named after an archeological site near Cape Canaveral Florida, where Lucy was launched, and which provide insight into the lives of humans living there over 7,000 years ago. Two flat surfaces on the collum, which can be thought of as the asteroid’s “neck”, are called Hadar, after the specific site Lucy was found in, and Minatogawa, the site of the oldest hominid remains found in Japan. While JAXA, Japan’s space agency, didn’t help with this mission in particular, they’ve been a major collaborator of NASA for decades.
Major boulders and craters received names as well. Mungo, named after the Lake Mungo archaeological site in New South Wales Australia, is a crater near the end of the Olduvai lobe. Boxgrove is a boulder nearby named after an almost 500,000 fossil from England. Narmada is another crater named after archaic remains from India, and it is near boulders named Cashel, after a 4,000 year old discovery in Ireland, and Kennewick, an 8,500 year old skeleton from Washington state near the Columbia River in the US. ALl of those are also on the Olduvai lobe, which is the larger of the two.
Another feature on the Windover section is another ridge named after Luzia, a 11,500 year old skeleton from Brazil. There are undoubtedly features on the other side of the asteroid, but unfortunately Lucy only performed a brief flyby and couldn’t capture it in its entirety.
However, that was because it's on its way to its main mission, which is to visit eight Trojan asteroids. That will give the mission team plenty more naming opportunities. We’ll see what they come up with - and what the IAU will approve - beginning in 2027 when its mission truly starts.
An artist's impression of an asteroid. Astronomers have discovered another member of the Arjuna asteroid group, Near-Earth Objects that follow Earth-like orbits. Image Credit: ESA
Whenever astronomers detect something new moving through our region of space, like an interstellar object or an unusual asteroid, somebody somewhere claims it could be an alien interstellar space probe. It's like one of those laws about human behaviour—Godwin's Law for example—that should probably have its own name.
This applies to the detection of 1991 VG, an asteroid with an Earth-like orbit discovered by the Spacewatch Project in 1991. Astronomers now know that it's just an asteroid, and they've also found others like it. Together, they're called the Arjuna asteroids and they're Near-Earth Objects (NEO). There's more than 100 of them and they constitute the so-called Arjuna secondary asteroid belt.
Now the Arjuna group has one more member: Arjuna 2025 PN7. It's discovery is presented in a new research note in Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society titled "Meet Arjuna 2025 PN7, the Newest Quasi-satellite of Earth." The authors are Carlos de la Fuente Marcos and Raúl de la Fuente Marcos, both from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria.
When 1991 VG was discovered, it followed a path very similar to Earth's and remained close to it. That's what led to the 'alien space probe' thinking. But it was really just the first member of a newly discovered class of objects. That only became apparent when more were discovered, and now the natural explanation has eliminated the speculation.
The Arjuna asteroids are known as quasi-satellites. That's because while they move in resonance with Earth, they're not gravitationally bound. Sometimes one of the Arjuna asteroids is captured by the Earth for a brief period of time and becomes a mini-Moon. "The Arjunas with the most Earth-like orbits can experience temporary captures as mini-moons of our planet," the authors write. That happened with the Arjuna asteroid 2024 PT5, which was captured by Earth and posed a small threat of impact for a while.
"Quasi-satellites are in a resonant orbit but are not gravitationally bound to Earth, allowing for more sustained, though unbound, proximity; while mini-moons are characterized by temporary gravitational captures by Earth, meaning they are gravitationally bound, albeit for a limited time," the authors explain in their research note.
Other current quasi-satellites include 164207 Cardea (2004 GU9), 469219 Kamo‘oalewa (2016 HO3), 277810 (2006 FV35), 2013 LX28, 2014 OL339, and 2023 FW13. 2025 PN7 is now the newest member of that group.
This figure shows the known quasi-satellites within the dynamic context of the Arjuna asteroid belt: Cardea (gold point), Kamo‘oalewa (red), 277810 (orange), 2013 LX28 (yellow), 2014 OL339 (violet), 2023 FW13 (pink), and 2025 PN7 (lime). The two red dashed vertical lines show the Hill radius, the region around Earth where Earth's gravity dominates over the Sun's gravitational influence.
Image Credit: Carlos de la Fuente Marcos and Raúl de la Fuente Marcos 2025 RNAAS
2025 PN7 is also an Apollo asteroid, a larger group of asteroids of which the Arjuna's are a small subclass. A critical distinction between them is that Arjunas don't have Earth-crossing orbits while the Apollos do.
The researchers say that 2025 PN7 won't be a quasi-satellite for very long. "The available data indicate that 2025 PN7 is a relatively short-lived quasi-satellite of Earth," they write.
It'll only be a quasi-satellite for about 128 years. Eventually, subtle changes in orbital elements will mean it leaves its resonance with Earth and will like follow a Trojan orbit or horseshoe orbit.
This photo of comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE was taken in July 2020. There's no doubt that comets have struck Earth in the past, and some have exploded in the air above the surface. One of these exploding comets could've triggered the Younger Dryas, bringing and end to the Clovis culture and wiping out megafauna. Image Credit: By Dbot3000 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=92032148
We don't realize it, but Earth is subjected to a constant cosmic rain of material. The vast majority of it is tiny micrometeors that burn up in the atmosphere, up to 100 tons per day by some estimates. But sometimes, much larger objects strike Earth. The most notable is probably the Chicxulub impactor that wiped out the dinosaurs and left a massive crater, now buried.
There are many other large potential impactors that explode above the surface, called touchdown airbursts, and their effect on Earth is much harder to quantify. New research suggests that a swarm of debris from an exploding comet left its mark by triggering the Younger Dryas, a period of abrupt cooling around 12,000 years ago. The researchers say that the touchdown airburst and the resulting Younger Dryas led to the extinction of megafauna, and the disappearance of the Clovis culture.
Their findings support the Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis (YDIH) which states that the impact of a disintegrating asteroid or comet is responsible for abruptly cooling the Earth. The YDIH isn't widely accepted in the science community. Critics tout the lack of an impact crater as evidence against the YDIH. They also say that other evidence supporting it can best be explained by other causes.
New research found evidence of comet debris impact at sites of the Clovis culture, a culture that came to an end at the same time as the Younger Dryas. Will this new research lead to wider acceptance of the YDIH?
The research is based on the discovery of shocked quartz at three well-known Clovis sites: Murray Springs in Arizona, Blackwater Draw in New Mexico and Arlington Canyon in California's Channel Islands.
Researchers found shocked quartz from the Younger Dryas at three Clovis sites in the USA.
Image Credit: USGS. Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0).
"These three sites were classic sites in the discovery and the documentation of the megafaunal extinctions in North America and the disappearance of the Clovis culture," lead author Kennett said in a press release.
Shocked quartz is grains of sand deformed by extreme pressure and heat. It was first discovered after underground nuclear weapons were tested. It's also found inside impact craters, and lightning is known to create it.
"When cosmic airbursts detonate with enough energy and at sufficiently low altitude, the resultant relatively small, high-velocity fragments may strike Earth’s surface with high enough pressures to generate thermal and mechanical shock that can fracture quartz grains and introduce molten silica into the fractures," the authors write in their research. "Here, we report the discovery of shocked quartz grains in a layer dating to the Younger Dryas (YD) onset (12.8 ka) in three classic archaeological sequences in the Southwestern United States."
The researchers used 10 different analytical techniques, including electron microscopy, and found grains with glass-filled fractures that are very similar to the type created by nuclear explosions and found in 27 different impact craters. They were also produced in 11 laboratory shock experiments. "All research, including this study, has found that non-shocked quartz fractures without glass filling are very common in non-impact layers, but quartz fractures filled with melted silica have only been reported in impact layers," the researchers write.
"These shocked grains co-occur with previously reported peak concentrations in platinum, meltglass, soot, and nanodiamonds, along with microspherules, similar to those found in ~28 microspherule layers that are accepted as evidence for cosmic impact events, even in the absence of a known crater," the researchers explain.
This figure shows the calibrated ages of the YDB layer at the three sites. "All dates for the three sites overlap the predicted age range, supporting a synchronous YDB age within radiocarbon uncertainties of 68.3% and 95.4% Confidence Interval (CI)," the authors write.
Image Credit: Kennett et al. 2025. PLOS One
The YDIH states that the exploding comet also created widespread fires and choked the sky with ash, leading to the abrupt cooling that defines the Younger Dryas. In these harsh conditions, the Clovis culture collapsed and megafauna like woolly mammoths went extinct.
"In other words, all hell broke loose," Kennett said.
The YDIH has many proponents, and over the course of the last couple of decades, they've unearthed evidence in support of it. One piece of evidence is the "black mat" layer found in sediments at different locations, predominantly in the northern hemisphere. YDIH proponents say this indicates the mass burning triggered by the airburst. Other evidence includes microspherules, nanodiamonds, and platinum.
This figure summarizes the stratigraphic context and proxy evidence for a potential Younger Dryas impact event near Arlington Canyon, a well-dated coastal site on Santa Rosa Island. The yellow arrows in C show the Younger Dryas Boundary. The researchers found the shock-fractured quartz, and previous research found the other evidence. The Kennett and his co-authors point out that the abundances of all the evidence are significantly higher than background sources.
Image Credit: Kennett et al. 2025. PLOS One
"The YDB layer at the three sites was previously interpreted as resulting from multiple airbursts/impacts from large comet fragments based on peak abundances of inferred airburst/impact-related proxies," the authors write.
Impact craters are slam-dunk evidence of deadly impacts. But in their absence, according to the researchers, shocked quartz with glass-filled fractures is the next best thing. When combined with other evidence, their presence adds to the weight of the YDIH.
The YDIH has faced and continues to face strong headwinds. Other researchers say there are other explanations for the evidence supporting the hypothesis. They also point out that there have been many episodes like the Younger Dryas and that no exploding comet is needed to explain any of them. But the authors say that their new findings "provide strong support for the hypothesis," while also acknowledging that "this interpretation has faced challenges."
"By connecting the physical evidence of an impact event with well-established archaeological and paleontological records, our findings contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of this critical period in Earth’s recent history," the researchers write. "This research sheds light on past events and provides insights into the potential global effects of cosmic impacts on climate, ecosystems, and human societies," they conclude.
UFO over Clinton, Utah Aug 31, 2025, UAP sighting news. 📰 or possible TR-3B in the USAF?
UFO over Clinton, Utah Aug 31, 2025, UAP sighting news. 📰 or possible TR-3B in the USAF?
Date of sighting: Aug 31, 2025
Location of sighting: Clinton, Utah, USA
Source: NUFORC site
Now check this out. This is an ultra rare catch in the fact that it's a super close up of a triangle UFO, and no, not all triangle UFOs are military TR-3B or the evolution of that craft. The Utah desert, which I live in currently has numerous sightings of unexplained Aerial phenomenon that just go beyond our wildest dreams. Here is proof of that. This craft was close and I mean about 100-150 meters away and probably seen on a hillside or area thats hard to reach at night. What not go chasing after it? No...not in Utah, you see there are numerous types of rattle snakes in the area and I myself see one diamondback every three hikes I take, and going off trail to catch a UFO recording is almost worth it, but I say no. So it's great he got as close as he could while staying safe. Clinton is town of about 20,000 people and this thing shows up on the edge of it. This looks to be a 100% real in my opinion, nothing but alien tech there. The USAF TR-3B has three glowing lights but they are white, not purple so no it's not military.
Scott C. Waring - UFO Sightings Daily
Location details: looking west by north west from Clinton, Ut
Shape: Sphere Color: white and blue
Estimated Size: best guess 10 ft wide each
Viewed From: Land
Direction from Viewer: SW 240
Angle of Elevation: 45
Closest Distance: I don't know... maybe 1 mile
Estimated Speed: varied from standing still to lightning fast
Characteristics: Lights on object, Aura or haze around object, Emitted other objects, Changed Color
Eyewitness states:
I first spotted one sphere shape uap, then two more joined in a triangular formation. I first spotted one, then they split to 3 separate balls of white and blue light. First the top one began to shift in shape. I appeared to rotate with 3 ball shaped lights near the top of it. After some time one of the other sphere's appeared to rotate also. I went inside and got my wife and daughter who also witnessed the UAPs.
Cigar UFO With Window Facing Eyewitness Over Santa Rosa, California Aug 31, 2025, UAP Sighting News.
Cigar UFO With Window Facing Eyewitness Over Santa Rosa, California Aug 31, 2025, UAP Sighting News.
Date of sighting: Aug 31, 2025
Location of sighting: Santa Rosa, California, USA
Source: NUFORC #192162
Now this is very interesting. A silver cigar UFO was seen over California two weeks ago and just reported this week. The UFO has a bright white area...thats the window. Often a UFO will have a bright area that looks like a light, but it's a window to allow the occupants of the craft to personally observe the people and activity below. Yes, they like to see things first hand rather than stare at computer screens. Sound familiar? But it's the window that nails this object and tells me it's 100% a real alien craft.
Scott C. Waring - UFO Sightings Daily
Eyewitness states:
Shape: Cigar
Color: Silver metal
Estimated Size: 2 cars
Viewed From: Land
Direction from Viewer: Above and to left
Angle of Elevation: 39
Long silver object above me. I was stopped at a red light when I saw a sparkle of the scar, which I thought was balloons at first, and then, as I was looking at it, I noticed it wasn't balloons and it was moving weird side to side, and then the truck in front of me pointed at it as well, like, Hey do. You see this, and I was like, yeah, I see it too, and we both pulled. Into the parking lot nearby, but by the time we pulled the parking lot, it took off, it was a long metallic object with no wings and no visible propellers, or anything moving to side to side and then took off very quickly.
UFO reveals when I summon it, military radar sees it and sends Blackhawk, UAP sighting news.
UFO reveals when I summon it, military radar sees it and sends Blackhawk, UAP sighting news.
Date of sighting: Sept 15, 2025
Location of sighting: Bountiful, Utah, USA
Source: Scott C. Waring
Now I'm kinda good at summoning UFO orbs, but most often I get these cloaked UFOs disguised as clouds appearing when I meditate outside, calling them to me telepathically. Thats fine, some are shy and on a rare occurrence one might be bold like in my past. This UFO I summoned over my backyard had to have shown up on military radar because a Blackhawk was sent within 2-3 minutes to investigate the unknown craft in the clouds. The UAP in the clouds disappeared within 1 minute after recording it and the Blackhawk seemed to be searching for it, moving very slowly and very low...about 35 meters over my yard. It literally was right over me! You can say coincidence all you want...but it not really a coincidence if I'm involve is it? Military helicopters are required by law to fly 1,000 feet over the public homes (333 meters up) and yet they were flying at 35 meters up! Sure what I saw was 100% a UFO cloaked in clouds, I called it, I should know. However UFOs can make them selves visible and invisible to radar...so I wonder...why it allowed the helicopter to see them on radar? Unless of course...the UFO was curious about the solderers reactions...listening to their thoughts...just like how I used my thoughts to summon it.
Independent researcher Ben van Kerkwyk was a recent guest on the Joe Rogan Experience, where he discussed a discovery off the coast of Spain that could be the mythical city.
'There's a guy named Michael Donnellan...And he thinks he's found, at least, if not Atlantis, a part of Atlantis off the coast of Spain. And they 100 percent found some s*** in the waters,' van Kerkwyk said.
Rogan, looking stunned, could only respond with 'Wow,' mentioning Donnellan's upcoming documentary 'Atlantica' that reveals massive linear structures and enormous concentric circular walls littering the seafloor.
Donnellan, an independent archaeologist, told the Daily Mail that descriptions in Plato's writings, which perfectly match their findings of ruins, prehistoric settlements and ancient mines in the region of Gades, are the strongest evidence for an Atlantic civilization.
These discoveries, including underwater structures and sediment-covered sites indicating sudden destruction, align with Plato’s accounts of climate, societal structures, and ancient mythologies, providing a comprehensive context for their claims.
'All those details align perfectly with the region we’re studying, as our investigations reflect Plato’s texts with extraordinary precision, truly to a perfect degree,' Donnellan said.
For centuries, the mystery of Atlantis has captivated explorers and scholars alike, but one archaeologist now believes the legendary city may have once stood along Spain's southern coast in the city of Cádiz (pictured)
Massive structures were found around 65ft below the surface. The team also identified 'long, linear structures' etched across the ocean floor
Donnellan found the submerged ruins along the coast around Cádiz, a city in Andalusia.
'When you read Plato's texts, the Timaeus and Critias, he's got all these incredible details of what the place was like, where it was, that you could plant all year long, that it was in the region of Gades in the Atlantic,' he said
Donnellan spent eight years investigating the coast of Cadiz using an advanced sonar system used for high-resolution seafloor mapping, creating detailed 3D images of the underwater environment.
Van Kerkwyk noted that Donnellan used Merlin Burrows' satellite investigation techniques and aerial photography to uncover the hidden structures.
'It's fascinating, they 100 percent found something that is manmade,' said van Kerkwyk.
The technology revealed long linear structures etched across the ocean floor, which formed a series of enormous concentric circular walls, each standing more than 20 feet tall and arranged in an organized pattern.
'The team brings together a wide array of specialists and technologies, from the dive team to the scanning experts and the academics who have contributed to this project,' said Donnellan.
'I want to take a moment to thank the extended team for all their hard work and dedication.'
Joe Rogan was left speechless when his guest revealed new 'evidence' about the location of Atlantis, a city mentioned in Plato's writings
The underwater ruins were found off the coast of Spain, near ancient fishing corrals (pictured)
The outermost wall showed the most damage, as if it had been pummeled by a massive tsunami racing in from the sea.
The second and third walls, he said, were 'completely displaced,' with scans showing them split into two.
Between the walls sat intricately carved canals, and at the center was a rectangular ruin that, according to Donnellan, echoes Plato's description of Poseidon's temple, forming what he believes is the capital city of Atlantis.
Donnellan is among the many scholars who believe in a cataclysmic event around 12,000 years ago that wiped out an advanced civilization.
The controversial Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis (YDIH) suggests Earth passed through debris from a disintegrating comet.
The resulting impacts and shockwaves destabilized massive ice sheets, causing massive flooding that disrupted crucial ocean currents and triggered rapid climate cooling. However, the theory is not widely accepted by mainstream scholars.
Michael Donnellan, archaeologist and filmmaker, has spent eight years investigating what he believes is the city of Atlantis off the coast of Spain
'Plato tells you about the animals that helped out with the daily activities, the horse, the bull and the elephant,' he said.
Donnellan explained that the original horse in this area is believed to be the oldest breed in the world, along with the fighting bull from Andalusia, which traces back thousands of years.
He added there was also a prehistoric ivory trade through this part of Spain, noting that three types of elephants were there, including Asian elephants, which suggested there was international commerce between this region and Asia.
'All of those details coincide perfectly with where we're studying,' Donnellan said.
New geological evidence unearthed in the US suggests that a catastrophic cosmic event may have wiped out a once-thriving culture more than 12,800 years ago.
Researchers analyzing sediment samples inCalifornia, Arizona and New Mexico discovered shocked quartz, tiny mineral grains deformed under extreme pressure, dating back to around 10,800 BC.
Shocked quartz forms when minerals are subjected to sudden, intense pressures such as those generated by a meteorite impact or large-scale atmospheric explosion.
The presence of this material at the sites indicates that an airburst or impact event likely devastated large portions of the continent, igniting wildfires, destabilizing the climate and wiping out many of the massive Ice Age animals that roamed the region.
The dating of the shocked quartz coincided with the rapid disappearance of the Clovis people, a technologically advanced hunter-gatherer culture that had dominated much of North America for centuries.
Archaeological evidence has shown that their distinctive stone tools vanish abruptly from the record shortly after this period.
This timing also marked the beginning of the Younger Dryas, a sudden and dramatic cooling event that lasted about 1,200 years.
Some researchers, including well-known author Graham Hancock, have long proposed that a giant 'Doomsday comet' passed through Earth's atmosphere, which blocked sunlight, disrupted ocean currents and abruptly plunged the Northern Hemisphere into a sudden, century-long cooling.
The evidence of the cosmic collision was found in California, Arizona and New Mexico
The team identified shocked quartz (pictured) in the samples, which forms when minerals are subjected to sudden, intense pressures such as those generated by a meteorite impact or large-scale atmospheric explosion
Shocked quartz forms when the crystal lattice of minerals is irreversibly deformed under extreme pressures, often millions of times greater than normal atmospheric pressure.
In the new study, the grains were carefully extracted from sediment layers precisely dated to the onset of the Younger Dryas.
'The onset of the Younger Dryas (YD closely coincided with two significant events: the sudden extinction of >70% of North American megafauna (35 genera), including mammoths, camels, horses, and saber-toothed cats and the collapse of the Clovis technocomplex,' reads the study published in PLOS ONE.
The team collected sediment samples from Blackwater Draw, New Mexico, Murray Springs, Arizona and Arlington Canyon on Santa Rosa Island, California.
Blackwater Draw is a Clovis-type site where the first Clovis artifacts were found just below a 12,800-year-old black mat, marking the onset of the Younger Dryas and the end of the Clovis technocomplex.
Evidence from the site, including a nearby Clovis-butchered mammoth, suggests a major environmental disruption coinciding with megafaunal extinctions and a significant human population decline.
Murray Springs preserves terminal Clovis artifacts and extinct megafauna remains.
Those are also under a black mat, which contained a butchered mammoth and hundreds of footprints rapidly buried after the proposed Younger Dryas event.
Some researchers, including well-known author Graham Hancock, have long proposed that a giant 'Doomsday comet' passed through Earth's atmosphere, which blocked sunlight, disrupted ocean currents and abruptly plunged the Northern Hemisphere into a sudden, century-long cooling (stock)
Archaeological data indicate a post-Clovis human hiatus of several hundred years, supporting theories of population decline and abrupt cultural and ecological changes at the YD onset.
Arlington Canyon yielded Clovis-era human remains beneath a black mat, showing a 600- to 800-year gap before subsequent human occupation, highlighting a post-Clovis hiatus even in potential refuges.
The site also records the extinction of pygmy mammoths around 12,800, making it a key location for studying the impact of environmental disruptions during the Younger Dryas.
The team used 10 different lab techniques to identify glass-filled cracks in quartz and then ran computer simulations to determine the pressures and speeds needed to produce such shocks.
They found that the shocked quartz taken from the southwest US resembled samples found at nuclear airburst sites, Meteor Crater, and other YD sites in Syria, the eastern USA, the Netherlands and Venezuela.
Blackwater Draw is a Clovis-type site where the first Clovis artifacts were found just below a 12,800-year-old black mat, marking the onset of the Younger Dryas and the end of the Clovis technocomplex
Murray Springs preserves terminal Clovis artifacts and extinct megafauna remains. Those are also under a black mat, which contained a butchered mammoth and hundreds of footprints rapidly buried after the proposed Younger Dryas event
Arlington Canyon yielded Clovis-era human remains beneath a black mat, showing a 600- to 800-year gap before subsequent human occupation, highlighting a post-Clovis hiatus even in potential refuges
Many of these quartz grains showed signs of exposure to extremely high temperatures, above the melting point of quartz, which is 3,123 °F.
Some parts of the grains remain amorphous, and others have recrystallized.
Previous research has shown that melted silica within shock fractures indicates airburst- or impact-related shock, meaning these YD grains can be classified as 'thermally and mechanically shocked quartz.'
'These sites are among the best-documented in North America, each providing crucial evidence of an interrelationship between the collapse of the Clovis technocomplex and the extinction of the megafauna,' the team shared.
'The presence of airburst/impact-related materials at these key locations strengthens the temporal and spatial link between the proposed cosmic event and major ecological and cultural changes
Newly released records have revealed never-before-seen footage of unidentified objects invading an Ohiomilitary base connected to one of the most infamous UFO encounters in history.
Thanks to a Freedom of Information Act request (FOIA), the US military has just been compelled to release documents and video of two incidentsover Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in December 2024.
According to Air Force personnel and other witnesses in the area, the UFOs may have been part of the same drone swarms that both captivated and terrified the nation late last year.
While the vast majority of those reports came from New Jersey and other East Coast locations, the newly declassified files show that on December 13 and December 16 personnel at Wright-Patterson tracked and recorded the objects hovering over the secure facility.
The files on the incident revealed that the Air Force considered the invasion serious enough to stop flight operations around the base, call local law enforcement, and have security use thermal imaging cameras to find the intruders.
However, the case has remained unsolved as the military has not found out who or what sent the drones, the declassified documents stated.
The mystery of the 2024 drone swarms has become even more compelling because of the secretive work that has taken place at Wright-Patterson.
UFO researchers and government whistleblowers have said on multiple occasions that the Ohio compound has a direct tie to the 1947 UFO crash in Roswell, New Mexico.
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio has been linked to UFO activity since the 1940s
Newly released video by the military shows unknown drones swarming over the base in December 2024
The Air Force documented revealed that on December 13, 2024, security forces around the base spotted several unmanned vehicles in the sky over Wright-Patterson around 10pm ET.
Patrols reported seeing at least one small drone that was about six inches in length and had four propellers hovering over the facility.
Another guard station stated that 'four quad-copter drones with red and green lights in a tight diamond formation' were swarming the base, but they 'gained altitude and flew away at a rapid speed' after the soldiers shined their car's spotlight on them.
The base's air traffic control tower issued a full shutdown of Wright-Patterson's airspace during the incident, but airmen never found the drones or anyone in the area who may have sent them.
On December 16, a civilian walking his dog near the base perimeter spotted another cluster of drones and reported it to base personnel near the gate around 9:30pm.
According to the witness's account, the drones 'were slowly moving in different directions.'
'The objects appeared to be lights moving as a group, but too high up to get an accurate assessment of what they looked like,' one officer at Wright-Patterson reported.
At 11:43 pm, another officer spotted an unknown aircraft descending towards the base, getting within 500 feet of landing before it suddenly ascended and disappeared.
Documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request revealed that the Air Force does not know who or what sent the drones
Drones swarmed over Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (pictured) on both December 13 and December 16, 2024
A second patrol confirmed the startling report, saying the 'unidentified flying object' just vanished after approaching the base's runaway.
The FOIA release included multiple video clips taken by witnesses tracking the drones at various security checkpoints.
Although President Trump has said the mysterious swarms were 'not the enemy' and had been authorized to conduct 'research,' the new documents revealed that federal officials have a much different story behind closed doors.
The declassified report showed that both air traffic control and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) were contacted by officials at Wright-Patterson on December 13 and December 16.
Both agencies told the Air Force there were 'no authorized aircraft operating in WPAFB airspace' on those nights.
The FOIA request by The Black Vault, a website dedicated to sharing declassified government documents, has thrown Wright-Patterson back into the spotlight, as UFO conspiracy theorists have been focused on this facility for decades.
During a congressional hearing in May, Dr Eric Davis, a physicist who has been a consultant for the Pentagon's UFO program since 2007, revealed that debris from the Roswell incident was allegedly flown to Wright-Patterson after the crash in 1947.
The Air Force base has also been connected to the secret government group known as the Majestic 12 (MJ-12), a committee of high-ranking military, scientific, and intelligence officials assembled after the Roswell crash.
UFO researchers have said that the 1947 UFO crash in Roswell, New Mexico 'was the real deal' and that debris from the ship was taken to Wright-Patterson for analysis
For over two decades, these experts were allegedly tasked with managing investigations into UFOs and extraterrestrial contact.
Recently unearthed CIA files stated that MJ-12 oversaw four specific projects charged with communicating with aliens, researching UFOs, recovering crashed alien ships, and testing out whatever advanced technology they could find.
That research and development program was based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, according to an alleged government whistleblower in 1984.
The base was also the headquarters for Project Blue Book, the Air Force's official UFO investigation program from 1947 to 1969. It investigated 12,618 sightings, with 701 remaining 'unidentified,' according to declassified records in the National Archives.
A mysterious black cube has joined the chilling list of objects spotted hovering over the US during last year's drone invasion.
Newly released government reports have revealed five incidents near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio that have never been disclosed since the swarms of UFOs were seen along the East Coast in late 2024.
Along with several sightings of unidentified drones around the secretive Air Force base in December 2024, federal officials now say a 'black cube'-shaped craft was spotted by a nearby airplane less than 80 miles from Wright-Patterson.
Witnesses of the strange object sent their claims to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on December 19, describing how the cube was flying within 500 feet of the plane, which was soaring 16,000 feet above the ground.
This would make it incredibly unlikely to be a commercial drone, since those types of devices fly only a few hundred feet above the ground.
The FAA recorded this event in their 'SKYWATCH dataset,' which tracks drone sightings near airports or in restricted airspace.
However, when the FAA originally published this sighting in their publicly visible reports, they didn't include any mention of the object being a black cube.
Thanks to a recent Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, it was revealed that this sighting and the other drone incidents near Wright-Patterson led to a major security response, including temporarily closing off military airspace.
Newly released documents from the FAA reveal that military personnel in Ohio spotted a 'black cube' flying near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in December 2024 (Artist rendering)
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio has been linked to UFO activity since the 1940s and 5 new incidents have just been revealed
The new documents were released roughly nine months after the first drone swarms were spotted over the East Coast in November 2024.
After promising answers about the origin of these large, slow-moving objects once he took office, Trump said on January 28 the mysterious swarms were 'not the enemy' and had been authorized to conduct 'research.'
However, the new documents revealed that federal officials still don't believe what's being told to the public.
The recently released reports showed that both air traffic controllers and the FAA were contacted by officials at Wright-Patterson, but both agencies told the Air Force there were 'no authorized aircraft operating in WPAFB airspace' in December 2024.
Just days before the black cube was spotted near Wright-Patterson, four other incidents involving unknown aircraft were reported.
On December 17, three reports were made, revealing how military personnel spotted multiple objects on the base's radar just after 12:40am ET.
Base personnel, who assumed the objects were more drones, never saw the intruders with their own eyes but alerted local police to search.
The statements come months after the first drones appeared in November, soaring above military bases and Trump's golf course in Bedminster, sparking fears of foreign threats watching American citizens
Multiple drones swarmed over Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (pictured) between December 13 and December 19, 2024
Less than 20 minutes later, the situation exploded, with radar screens at Wright-Patterson detecting between seven and 17 UFOs moving within 40 miles of the base's airfield.
This time, Wright-Patterson security guards were able to visually confirm that the objects were drones swarming around the base. The Air Force tracked the unmanned drones, but no other action was taken.
More than 12 hours later, an aircraft heading in for a landing at Wright-Patterson spotted a silver object just five miles from the base.
Records released from SKYWATCH noted that the crew believed this craft was a drone and recorded it flying at about 3,200 feet above the ground, much lower than the cube.
Just three days earlier, air traffic controllers had spotted what they believed was another drone over several sensitive locations at Wright-Patterson on December 14, forcing the base's commander to close the facility until the intruder flew off.
Newly released video by the military revealed unknown drones swarming over Wright-Patterson in December 2024
The cube spotted by a airplane less than 500 feet away was reportedly flying at around 16,000 feet, far higher than a normal commercial drone
The FOIA request by The Black Vault, a website dedicated to sharing declassified government documents, has thrown Wright-Patterson back into the spotlight, as UFO conspiracy theorists have been focused on this facility for decades.
In July 2025, the US military was compelled to release never-before-seen video of two additional incidents over Wright-Patterson on December 13 and December 16, 2024.
Guards at the base recorded several craft flying slowly around the facility, including a group of 'four quad-copter drones with red and green lights in a tight diamond formation.'
After guards shone their car spotlight on them, they reported that the swarm 'gained altitude and flew away at a rapid speed.'
In another chilling incident, another officer spotted an unknown aircraft descending towards the base, getting within 500 feet of landing before it suddenly ascended and vanished into thin air.
UFO researchers and government whistleblowers have said on multiple occasions that the Ohio Air Force base has a direct tie to the 1947 UFO crash in Roswell, New Mexico.
During a congressional hearing in May, Dr Eric Davis, a physicist who has been a consultant for the Pentagon's UFO program since 2007, revealed that debris from the Roswell incident was allegedly flown to Wright-Patterson after the crash.
The base was also the headquarters for Project Blue Book, the Air Force's official UFO investigation program from 1947 to 1969.
It investigated 12,618 sightings, with 701 remaining 'unidentified,' according to declassified records in the National Archives.
China 'intercepts meteor or UFO' as fireball blasts through sky before exploding
China 'intercepts meteor or UFO' as fireball blasts through sky before exploding
A flaming object was seen tearing through the night above China's Shandong province last Friday (September 12) but appears to explode mid way through its flight
BY Jake Holden and Abigail Hunt Assistant News Editor
The fireball appears to be intercepted by a small bright light and explodes upon impact
Social media users are buzzing with theories that a meteor or UFO was blasted out of the sky by Chinese forces after footage of a blazing fireball ending in a spectacular explosion went viral online.
The burning object was spotted hurtling through the darkness over China's Shandong province last Friday (September 12), only to seemingly detonate midway through its journey.
Clips shared on X appear tocapture the moment a small bright lightintercepts the fireball, obliterating it in an instant. Multiple videos from various vantage points documented the extraordinary event. The fireball seemed to follow a curved trajectory before the blast occurred.
Wider shots of the UFO show it travelling in an arc coming from the ground before it explodes
Users on X are debating whether this was evidence of a missile interception trial. Self-proclaimed UFO investigator Tom Thompson posted on X: "Defense analysts say this fits a missile-intercept test," before elaborating, "A point of light moved fast on a curved path.", reports the Mirror.
"A second light approached from another vector. They crossed, a flash lit the sky, and two sharp booms followed. Clips flooded Chinese social platforms. Local media described the first track as target-like. The second behaved like an interceptor closing the gap."
The missile test allegations remain unverified, with Chinese officials yet to issue any formal response. Nevertheless, residents did report hearing "two loud bangs, resembling artillery shells," according to The Sun.
Another X user, UFO mania, asked: "Can anyone explain this video from China? I was thinking it was a meteor or something. But then it hits whatever that thing is that comes from the left. Pretty interesting Don't know what it is though."
Astrophysics expert Dr Alfredo Carpineti, who writes for IFL Science, reviewed the footage and expressed doubts about it being a meteor. Speaking to the Metro, he said: "The problem is that it partly looks like a meteor until it doesn't. That's why I'm sceptical.'".
Carpineti also criticised the quality of the footage, describing it as "weird" and "bouncy", making it difficult to identify the object. He speculated on the possibility of it being a missile: "The fastest hypersonic missile is still slower than the slowest asteroid and there is no planetary defence system that uses missiles".
Asteroids travel at speeds ranging from 25,000mph to 160,000 mph, while the fastest hypersonic missile can only reach speeds of 20,700 mph.
China's space programme is reportedly planning a mission to strike an asteroid with a spacecraft, following the US's successful Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) in 2022. Wu Weiren, the chief designer of China's lunar programme, stated that the programme's aim was at "defending against asteroids".
Earlier this year, an asteroid dubbed a "city killer" was detected with a potential to collide with Earth. The asteroid, named 2024 YR4, measures between 40-100 metres in diameter and could obliterate an entire city on 22 December 2032, as per the forecasts of the European Space Agency (ESA).
A stunning explosion was captured after a missile appeared to destroy an unidentified flying object, sparking many wild theories about what was really hit.
Residents in the Shandong Province of China recorded a bright, slow-moving object flying closeto the ground moments before it appeared to disintegrate in a brilliant flash and fall to Earth.
Videos shared on Chinese social media platforms showed a red fireball seemingly being launched like a surface-to-air missile towards the object, followed by two loud explosions.
The incident occurred on Friday, September 12, near the cities of Weifang and Rizhao, around 9pm local time in China (9am ET in the US).
News of the mysterious explosion spread quickly online, reaching social media platforms in the US, where people began to speculate that the Chinese military had either shot down a drone, a meteor, or a UFO.
No official statements from the Chinese government or military have confirmed what happened.
However, the incident happened at the same time as scheduled military exercises in the nearby Bohai Sea, where China's military announced they were practicing with live weapons.
The potential missile strike came just days after a US congressional hearing revealed shocking footage of a military drone's Hellfire missile appearing to bounce off a UFO.
Local residents in China captured a giant mid-air explosion on September 12, where a red fireball collided with an unidentified flying object
The explosion appeared to destroy the object, which fell from the sky in a cloud of debris
Some of those commenting on social media believed the object was a target, possibly a drone or fake missile, used in the Bohai Sea exercises, and the Chinese shot it down during a test of their defense systems.
In one angle of the explosion, viewers can see the supposed missile rise from a distant position on the other side of the horizon, quickly speed across the sky, and then angle down to strike the unknown object.
While some have suggested that the target was a natural object, like a meteor, there didn't appear to be a fiery tail extending from the object that the suspected missile hit.
When small pieces of space rocks enter Earth's atmosphere, they travel at extremely high speeds, causing friction as they move through the air and creating a glowing tail of electrically charged air around the meteorite.
Moreover, meteors don't typically fly parallel to the ground, like the object in the video appeared to do.
If it were a meteor, which typically travels between 25,000 and 160,000 mph, China's ability to intercept such a fast-moving object would represent a major leap forward in military defense technology.
However, many people online fear that the Chinese military targeted and destroyed an extraterrestrial craft last week.
'Another UFO UAP has been shot down... This is definitely part of their reverse engineering program,' one person claimed on X.
Videos appeared to show a missile launched from the ground which quickly intercepted the object and exploded
Chinese officials have not commented on the incident or what may have been flying over the Shandong Province
The new video appeared to show the object flying over Shandong Province being completely destroyed and breaking into several pieces when the reddish fireball struck it on Friday.
Meanwhile, a similar incident on October 30, 2024, which has just been made public, produced a very different outcome.
During the third congressional hearing on unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs), Congressman Eric Burlison of Missouri unveiled never-before-seen footage of a UFO being struck by a US military drone's missile off the coast of Yemen.
Unlike the object in the Chinese video, the glowing orb-shaped craft continued to fly after being struck by the laser-guided bomb.
Military whistleblower Jeffrey Nuccetelli, a former Air Force police officer for 16 years, called the new video 'exceptional evidence' of the existence of UFOs.
In 2025, both the US and Chinese armed forces have ramped up military exercises in the Pacific, including multiple reports of China conducting live-fire drills in the East China Sea, just 200 miles from the mysterious explosion.
Scientists Propose Earth May Have Been Terraformed by Aliens
A controversial new scientific paper has sent shockwaves through the academic community by suggesting that life on Earth may not have emerged through natural processes alone, but could instead be the result of deliberate terraforming by advanced extraterrestrial civilizations. The research, published by Imperial College London's Professor Robert Endres, applies cutting-edge information theory and AI models to demonstrate that the odds of life spontaneously arising from chemical chaos are so astronomically low that alien intervention becomes a "logically open alternative."
The study, titled " The unreasonable likelihood of being: Origin of life, terraforming, and AI," challenges fundamental assumptions about Earth's biological origins. Using mathematical frameworks based on rate-distortion theory and algorithmic complexity, Endres concludes that assembling a viable protocell within Earth's available timeframe would require persistence over geological timescales that strain credibility.
Professor Endres developed a novel approach using Kolmogorov complexity to estimate the informational content required for life's emergence. His calculations suggest that a minimal protocell requires approximately one billion bits of organized information - equivalent to the complexity of sophisticated computer programs. When compared against the estimated entropy of prebiotic chemical environments and molecular persistence timescales, the mathematics paint a sobering picture.
"A purely random soup, made up of molecules that eventually enabled the formation of life on Earth, was too lossy," Endres explains in his yet-to-be-peer-reviewed paper. The research indicates that some form of persistent directional process - lasting hundreds of millions of years - would be necessary to accumulate sufficient biological information naturally.
The study draws parallels between ancient theories and modern science, noting that humanity now seriously contemplates terraforming Mars and Venus. "If advanced civilizations exist," the paper argues, "it is not implausible they might attempt similar interventions out of curiosity, necessity, or design."
Image from the paper, Fantasy sci-fi imagery of terraforming. Chatgpt4.0’s hallucination of early Earth with seeded biomaterial, jump starting Darwinian evolution.
Directed Panspermia: From Science Fiction to Science
The concept isn't entirely new. In 1973, Francis Crick - the co-discoverer of DNA's helical structure - and chemist Leslie Orgel proposed "directed panspermia" as a potential explanation for life's unlikely emergence. Their theory suggested that advanced extraterrestrial civilizations deliberately seeded Earth with microbial "starter kits" to establish biological evolution.
Dr Francis Crick, one of the discoverers of DNA’s helical structure.
Crick and Orgel's hypothesis emerged from recognition of the same statistical improbabilities that drive Endres' modern analysis. Even with primitive 1970s knowledge, the mathematical challenges of abiogenesis appeared formidable. Their proposal offered an elegant solution: relocate the explanatory burden to more advanced civilizations operating under unknown conditions.
Ancient cultures worldwide contain creation myths describing divine or celestial beings bringing life to Earth. From the biblical Book of Genesis to Mesopotamian texts describing sky gods, humanity has long contemplated external origins for terrestrial biology. Modern directed panspermia theories provide scientific frameworks for concepts that have persisted across civilizations.
Endres' calculations reveal staggering temporal requirements for natural abiogenesis. His models suggest that without persistent directional bias, random molecular assembly would require time periods exceeding the universe's age by factors of millions or billions. Even with optimistic assumptions about chemical environments and molecular stability, the informational bottleneck remains severe.
The research applies principles from bacterial chemotaxis - where organisms exhibit "run-and-tumble" behavior - to model how chemical evolution might accumulate biological information. If molecular interactions behave like random walks without persistent memory, assembly times become cosmologically implausible.
"With persistence time of one year, the required time is still approximately 10^17 years, about ten million times the universe's current age," the paper states. These calculations suggest that either unknown physical principles accelerate biological organization, or external intervention provided necessary starting conditions.
AI and the Future of Origins Research
The study leverages artificial intelligence tools including AlphaFold protein folding algorithms and comprehensive whole-cell computational models to estimate biological complexity. These modern approaches provide unprecedented precision in quantifying life's informational requirements compared to earlier theoretical frameworks.
Endres acknowledges that invoking extraterrestrial terraforming "violates Occam's razor" by adding explanatory complexity. However, he argues that the mathematical constraints of natural abiogenesis may warrant considering alternatives previously dismissed as science fiction.
The research represents growing intersection between astrobiology, information theory, and AI. As computational models become more sophisticated, scientists can quantify biological complexity with increasing accuracy, potentially resolving longstanding debates about life's origins.
Whether Earth's biosphere emerged through undiscovered physical principles, highly improbable natural processes, or deliberate extraterrestrial intervention remains an open question. However, Endres' work demonstrates that serious scientific investigation of unconventional possibilities may be necessary when conventional explanations encounter mathematical impossibilities.
Top image: Concept depicting potential alien terraforming of early Earth.
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- Gemiddelde waardering: 0/5 - (0 Stemmen) Categorie:ALIEN LIFE, UFO- CRASHES, ABDUCTIONS, MEN IN BLACK, ed ( FR. , NL; E )
Could Alien Artifacts Be Hidden on the Moon?
Could Alien Artifacts Be Hidden on the Moon?
The Moon’s stable, airless environment makes it a perfect preservation site for anything that may have landed there, even alien probes. With the discovery of interstellar objects like ʻOumuamua and 2I/Borisov, and Earth’s own Voyager probes drifting into deep space, the idea that other civilizations may have sent artifacts isn’t far-fetched. Future lunar missions may uncover more than rock and dust, they might reveal the cosmic past.
What if the greatest discovery in human history isn’t waiting in a distant galaxy… but buried in silence beneath the dust of our own Moon?
For most of human history, we looked up at the Moon with wonder. It was a symbol, a guide, a mystery. Then, in 1969, humans finally touched its surface, and found, as expected, rock, dust, and silence.
But what if we missed something?
The Moon, unlike Earth, is a cosmic time capsule. No atmosphere, no liquid water, no tectonic plates. No weather to corrode. No oceans to drag remnants beneath their waves. No wind to scatter. In fact, conditions on the Moon have remained largely unchanged for billions of years. Anything that landed there,whether a natural meteorite, a human probe, or something far stranger, could remain preserved almost indefinitely.
This fact has led some scientists and thinkers to wonder: what if something did land there? Not from Earth. Not from our time. Imagine. Just imagine.
The Oldest Surface in the Inner Solar System
The Moon formed shortly after Earth itself, around 4.5 billion years ago, likely the result of a violent collision between the early Earth and a Mars-sized body. Since then, it has served as a passive observer to the evolution of our solar system.
Its surface tells a story no other celestial body can. While Earth has erased its past with continental drift, volcanic activity, and erosion, the Moon has done none of that. It is a preserved relic. A memory. And it may be holding more than we think.
So just by using common sense, if you’re going to look for ancient, technological artifacts from a planet other than ours, look where things can survive for billions of years. And the Moon, airless, geologically dead, stable,is one of the best preservation environments in the solar system.
A Logical Target for Interstellar Probes
Now imagine a distant civilization seeding the galaxy with interstellar probes, durable, autonomous, and built to endure deep time.
We’ve done something similar with Voyager 1 and 2, and Pioneer 10. Our probes are slow and few. But a far older and more advanced species could have launched thousands, maybe millions, across space,blindly, systematically, over epochs.
If just one of those alien probes ever passed through our solar system, it might not slow down. It wouldn’t need to. But it could be pulled in, by Jupiter, by the Sun, or by the Earth-Moon system.
Here’s the thing: if a high-speed object like that struck Earth, it would almost certainly burn up in the atmosphere, disintegrate in the ocean, or be destroyed by tectonic forces and time.
But the Moon is different. No atmosphere. No oceans. No erosion. Just rock, dust, and silence.
A probe crashing into the lunar surface,even at high velocity,might break apart… but pieces could survive. Metal fragments. Unusual alloys. Embedded structures. Preserved for millions of years beneath layers of regolith. Not by design. Not by intent. Just by the nature of where it fell. It is only logical. And the best part is, we have a couple of more places to search for in the solar system. Any of the Moons of Jupiter or even Saturn possibly could have objects rashed on their surface.
Interstellar Visitors: We’ve Seen Them
Until recently, the idea of interstellar objects visiting our solar system was mostly hypothetical. But that changed in 2017.
That year, astronomers spotted a cigar-shaped object hurtling through our solar system at incredible speed. It was the first confirmed interstellar visitor, and it was named ʻOumuamua, meaning “a messenger from afar arriving first” in Hawaiian.
ʻOumuamua was strange. It didn’t behave like a comet or asteroid. It had no tail. Its acceleration was unusual. Its shape was unlike anything seen before. Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb even suggested it could be artificial,a discarded light sail or fragment of alien technology. Most scientists disagreed, favoring natural explanations. But the seed was planted.
In 2019, a second interstellar object arrived: 2I/Borisov. This time it looked more like a standard comet,though with unusual chemical composition.
And in 2014, long before these two, sensors detected an object called CNEOS 2014-01-08, now believed to have interstellar origin based on its velocity and trajectory. It crashed into the Pacific Ocean near Papua New Guinea. If confirmed, it would be the first known interstellar object to have struck Earth. Loeb beleives this could have been a technological artifact. Since it crashed to Earth, it is almost impossible to find. However, had it crashed on the surface of the Moon, the story would be completely different. Future lunar missions could have found it.
So, as of writingh we have three interstellar objects that we have found. In less than a decade. Which raises a question: how many more have passed by, unnoticed? And how many may have struck the Moon?
Buried Beneath the Dust
The Moon is constantly bombarded by micrometeorites. Its surface, known as regolith, is a fine layer of broken rock and dust, formed by billions of years of impacts. This layer can be several meters thick in places. And beneath that dust… lies mystery. At least for now. What the apollo astronauts explored on the Moon is literally insignificant. That is why I am partifucalry excited about Artemis, and the future. Becasue if an alien probe (or any alien technology) landed or crashed on the Moon tens of millions of years ago, it’s likely that it’s now buried, shielded from further damage. It wouldn’t need to be large. A meter-wide sensor. A metallic shard. An engineered alloy. A signal recorder. Something that might not even be visible from orbit.
And that’s a problem. Because we’ve barely begun to explore the Moon’s subsurface.
We’ve Only Scratched the Surface
Between 1969 and 1972, twelve astronauts walked on the Moon. They explored just six locations, all near the equator and on the near side. Since then, lunar missions have been limited to orbiters, landers, and rovers, most of them covering small areas.
Today, the Moon is becoming a focus again. NASA’s Artemis program aims to return humans to the surface by the late 2020s, with the long-term goal of building a sustainable lunar presence. China, India, Russia, and private companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin also have ambitious lunar plans.
New missions are beginning to probe the Moon in greater detail than ever before. China’s Chang’e program continues to expand its reach with successful landers, sample-return missions, and upcoming south polar expeditions. Instruments like NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) have been mapping the Moon for over a decade, yet only a fraction of the surface has been studied up close, and virtually none of the subsurface.
Several upcoming efforts, including crewed missions under NASA’s Artemis program, aim to establish a long-term human presence. But until we dig, scan, and explore beneath the regolith, vast regions of the Moon,and any secrets they might hold, will remain untouched.
Though smaller than Earth, the Moon still holds over 38 million square kilometers of surface, enough terrain to hide secrets in craters, crevices, and deep beneath the dust.
The Birth of Lunar Archaeology
In time, we may develop the tools and missions necessary to search not just for water ice or minerals, but for anomalies. Artificial patterns. Unusual materials. Electro-magnetic signatures. Things that don’t belong. Things that we did not bring to the Moon.
Lunar archaeology may one day become a field of study. And it won’t just be about exploring human history (space archaeology), like the remnants of Apollo modules or robotic landers. It could become a tool for uncovering non-human history. A cosmic archaeology.
If even a single fragment of alien engineering were found, the implications would be staggering. It would mean we are not alone. That we are not the first. That others have walked, or drifted, through the stars before us.
And we might not have to go far to find them.
It’s tempting to look outward, to scan exoplanets, listen for distant radio waves, and dream of civilizations light-years away. But maybe, just maybe, the first evidence of intelligent alien life isn’t waiting in some distant galaxy. Maybe it’s beneath our feet. Or just a three-day journey away. Maybe we should stop looking only at the stars. And start digging.
An ancient Egyptian manuscript may prove the biblical 10 plagues described in the Book of Exodus.
Known as the Ipuwer Papyrus, the document takes the form of a poetic lament attributed to a scribe named Ipuwer.
It recounts widespread catastrophes and societal upheaval in ancient Egypt, describing famine, mass death and environmental disasters.
According to Exodus, God sent a series of devastating afflictions, including turning the Nile to blood, swarms of locusts and three days of darkness, to convince the Pharaoh to free the Israelites from slavery.
The Ipuwer Papyrus appears to describe many of these same events, as one line reads, 'There's blood everywhere…Lo, the River is blood,' mirroring the Nile turning to blood in the Bible.
'Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, he lifted the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile turned into blood,' reads Exodus 7:20.
The papyrus also describes environmental devastation: 'Lo, trees are felled, branches stripped,' likely reflecting the hailstorm that destroyed crops, and 'Lo, grain is lacking on all sides,' illustrating widespread famine.
While the Ipuwer Papyrus, now housed in the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities, was discovered in the early 19th century, it has resurfaced on social media, where users are amazed that they have never heard about the manuscript and believe it proves the Bible to be true.
The Ipuwer Papyrus, attributed to a scribe named Ipuwer, recounts calamities striking the land, including rivers turning to blood, destruction of crops, famine and widespread death
The Bible recounts that God sent ten plagues upon Egypt to persuade Pharaoh to free the Israelites from slavery.
The first plague turned the Nile to blood, killing fish and poisoning the water.
Following this, Egypt was struck by swarms of frogs, lice and flies, along with deadly livestock disease and painful boils.
A severe hailstorm, locust swarms, three days of thick darkness and finally the death of every firstborn son forced Pharaoh to release the Israelites.
Against this biblical backdrop, the Ipuwer Papyrus offers a strikingly similar account of calamities in Egypt.
Estimates place the Ipuwer Papyrus between 1550 and 1290 BC. However, some scholars suggest it may align with the biblical timeline of the Exodus around 1440 BC.
Biblical historian Michael Lane said in a recent study: 'No conclusive evidence exists to pinpoint the exact date of its composition, but because of its written style, it appears to have been written by an eyewitness. A large number of scholars place it around the time of the biblical date of 1440BC.'
Despite the intriguing parallels, scholars caution against interpreting the papyrus as direct proof of the Exodus.
The Book of Exodus describes the Ten Plagues of God. The first curse saw the Nile's waters struck by Moses' staff at God's command, turning them to blood in a divine act of judgment
The text is poetic and fragmentary, and it does not explicitly mention Moses or the Israelites.
Some have suggested that it may instead reflect broader natural disasters and social turmoil that Egypt experienced independently of the biblical narrative.
The manuscript vividly portrays societal collapse, with lines such as 'Groaning is throughout the land, mingled with laments,' mirroring the mourning described in Exodus 12:30, when 'there was not a house where there was not one dead.'
One passage reads: 'Birds find neither fruits nor herbs,' which is reminiscent of the biblical plague of locusts, which 'covered all the ground until it was black…nothing green remained on trees or plants in all the land of Egypt' (Exodus 10:15).
The text also echoes the biblical plagues' attacks on Egypt's gods, with the river of blood, frogs, and darkness recalling Hapi, Heqet, and Ra.
It references slavery and wealth, noting precious metals and stones fastened on female slaves, reflecting the Israelites' bondage and the transfer of treasures described in Exodus.
Another passage, 'Lo, many dead are buried in the river, the stream is the grave, the tomb became a stream,' aligns with biblical descriptions of mass burials (Numbers 33:4). The devastation is summarized simply yet powerfully: 'All is ruin.'
Together, these passages suggest a society under environmental, social, and spiritual crisis, echoing the layered calamities of the biblical narrative.
A former NASA engineer has made sensational claims that humans are not only reverse-engineering alien technology, but that trillions of invisible extraterrestrial devices may already be hidden across the planet.
Richard Banduric, CEO of Field Propulsion Technologies and a former propulsion engineer for NASA and Lockheed Martin, shared the shocking allegations during a December 2024 episode of the Ecosystemic Futures podcast, which has recently resurfaced on social media platform X.
In the interview, Banduric described a covert effort by the US government and private research groups to study advanced materials allegedly recovered from unidentified flying objects.
He claimed that many of these mysterious objects were not simply crash debris, but part of what he suspects is a vast, invisible sensor network scattered around the world.
The engineer admitted he didn’t know who had placed the devices, but said they were unlike anything ever seen, not just decades ahead of current technology, but hundreds of years beyond it.
He described one such device as a 'sliver of metal' that could reconfigure and camouflage itself depending on its surroundings. 'It would cloak itself and try to blend into the environment,' he said. 'That's how we could tell it was extraterrestrial.'
Despite the bold claims, Banduric offered no physical evidence to support them.
His comments have reignited online speculation about UFO disclosure, with some users calling 2024 the year 'disclosure really happened.' The Pentagon, however, continues to deny the existence of any alien retrieval programs or confirmed contact with extraterrestrial life.
Richard Banduric (pictured) revealed what he knew about US efforts to reverse engineer alien technology in December 2024
As for why some advanced group would be scattering tiny objects as part of a global monitoring system, the engineer claimed that extraterrestrials could be trying to influence human society.
'They have all sorts of functions. This really implies that maybe this group is actually manipulating our species,' Banduric warned in his first public comments.
Since the 2024 podcast, he and other guests, including UFO researcher Hal Puthoff and former NASA advisor Dr Anna Brady-Estevez, have continued to share details of humanity's attempt to reverse engineer alien technology.
He added that it was still possible to acquire these cloaked devices scattered around the world, but his access had been cut off by the groups he was working with after he chose to go public with what he knew in 2024.
Banduric had originally been recruited by the US Department of Defense and the Air Force to work on classified projects aimed at analyzing systems from crashed UFOs.
However, he noted that these technologies weren't being used by the US government. Instead, it was non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that were studying most of the recovered alien technology.
'Some of that work I was doing with NGOs was really exciting. But one of the other things that comes out of this is that these individuals, or whoever this group is that has this advanced technology, probably does not want us reverse-engineering what they're working on,' Banduric explained.
To stop other groups or governments from utilizing these materials, scientists discovered that the unknown metals could break apart into tiny particles that couldn't be reactivated.
Banduric said that most of the technology from crashed UFOs was being studied and taken apart by non-government groups, not the military
'They were smart materials. You'd be looking at them and trying to reverse engineer them, they would turn to dust,' the engineer revealed.
'They would do it within a minute or two. Then, you could take the dust, send it off, and get isotropic analysis done on it. It turned out they were extraterrestrial,' he disclosed.
According to Banduric, NGO scientists continued to run into these problems, suggesting that the technology was carefully constructed so that no one would be able to duplicate what they found.
Along with being able to self-destruct, scientists examining these materials also found they could bend light around them, projecting the image of whatever was behind the extraterrestrial material in front so no one could see what was there, Banduric claimed.
Along with potentially trillions of smaller objects seeded throughout the world, the former government engineer revealed that the US was aware of giant triangle-shaped craft that could use this cloaking technology as well.
The giant triangles Banduric referred to have been described by many people reporting UFO sightings of the years.
The engineer noted that they were 'not ours,' implying the triangles scientists were observing were extraterrestrial craft which appeared to vanish after being spotted.
In April, former US national security official Matthew Brown disclosed that classified mission reports he read revealed how a large black triangle-shaped UFO 'decloaked' out of thin air over several Russian vessels in the Pacific.
'The [NGOs] I worked with were trying to figure out how these rather large craft, which people call triangles, would be able to disappear on a dime,' Banduric explained.
'These triangles were taking whatever was behind them and actually projecting it in front of them, which might be equivalent to taking the light rays and bending it around the actual triangle,' he added.
Although Banduric did not reveal how many of these craft had been seen or were in the possession of the US government, another guest on the Ecosystemic Futures podcast did.
Dr Puthoff noted that the US military had recovered and were studying at least 10 extraterrestrial craft since the 1940s.
A man claims to have found an alien-like species within a meteorite, causing a stir on social media.
The individual, who identifies himself as Kin online, said he discovered a small, silver-colored space rock in a fiery crater in Panama on August 29.
Since then, he has shared a series of videos on TikTok showing what he described as the meteorite burning leaves on contact and an unruly, tentacled organism sprouting from within it.
A week after his initial post, he claimed that the crater 'shines at night,' sharing footage of the dark site glowing mysteriously.
Subsequent videos appeared to show a mass of oily, tentacle-like growths spreading rapidly from the rock's crevices, eventually engulfing the object.
The videos have gone viral on social media, with some viewers claiming they show 'an alien growing,' while others dismiss them as a hoax.
'There are people who want to believe, but in reality it looks like a potato,' one user shared on X.
'That metallic sheen smells like paint, and the camera cut before touching it is suspicious. By the way, iron meteorites don't do photosynthesis. It's a potato.'
Just days after finding the 'meteorite' in Panama, Kin shared videos on TikTok of the object appearing to grow plant-like tentacles
The rock appeared to burn leaves - but some online users claimed it was a hoax
Kin said the tentacle-covered specimen now must be kept inside a large safe, but some have doubted his story, claiming the organism is a common plant and the meteorite scene was staged.
Although his videos have been viewed millions of times, there has been no independent confirmation that the object is a meteorite, nor any verification from scientists regarding the make-up of the organism growing around it.
Meteorite trackers have also not confirmed that a space rock fell last month in the Pedregal district of Panama.
Regardless, Kin has claimed to have mailed samples of the tentacles to friends, but no analysis has been publicly reported.
Skeptics online have pointed out that an image of the supposed crater where Kin pulled the meteorite from appeared to have several matchsticks in it, suggesting the hole had been intentionally set on fire.
Others have noted that Kin was able to pick up the meteorite with his bare hands without any issues, despite the object just burning through multiple tree leaves.
Critics have raised concerns about Kin's handling of the specimen, noting that he appeared to touch the strange tentacles with his bare hands, which could have contaminated the samples he claimed to be sending for study.
Videos appeared to show a mass of oily, tentacle-like growths spreading rapidly
Kin added in his videos that some have reached out to him claiming the object he found was not a meteorite at all, but was a plant 'egg' which sprouts an organism called Clathrus archeri, or the Devil's Fingers fungus.
However, Kin's mystery organism appears to look different from that fungus. The substance has many tentacles that have a black, tar-like shine to them.
As for the Devil's Fingers fungus, the plant is typically red with much less tar-like slime covering the tentacles.
Kin claims that the substance has continued to grow, now taking up almost an entire safe
The viral sensation grew even more terrifying in the last four days, as Kin even claimed the organism had detached itself from the silver rock and moved to hide itself inside Kin's locked safe.
'Today I was scared and I felt afraid, I thought it had escaped,' the man said in a TikTok post translated from Spanish on September 11.
According to his follow-up posts, the organism continued to grow whenever it was exposed to light and was seen pulsing and moving inside Kin's kitchen, which he kept unlit except for shining a flashlight near the object.
'When the night comes, I feel calm, I know it won't grow. Every time I show it to them, when I light it, it grows and puts me in danger,' Kin wrote in a new video posted Sunday.
The Panamanian claimed that some individuals have approached him and requested that he hand over the strange substance out of 'concern for his safety'.
Meanwhile, those on social media have warned Kin that they feared government authorities may try to take the mystery specimen from him and erase the videos from the internet.
In a post that was translated into multiple languages, Kin pleaded with his followers to: 'Save the videos. They're our evidence. They'll probably all be deleted.'
While Kin's videos have captivated social media, many have also claimed the entire story is a hoax.
If a creature were to grow out of a rock, researcher John Greenewald Jr commented that it could be evidence of panspermia, the concept that life on Earth was deposited here by meteorites from space.
Misunderstood Science or Paranormal Activity? Bizarre Cases of Spontaneous Human Combustion
Arguably one of the strangest phenomenon of human life is spontaneous human combustion, something that has claimed many lives over the years, and left many others scared and unsettled by such bizarre encounters. Moreover, it is not simply that a person might burst into flames for no apparent reason, but these fires are so intensely hot that the respective victims are reduced to ash in a matter of moments. Deepening the mystery even further, despite this intense raging inferno, all around the victims is largely unaffected.
Indeed, while spontaneous human combustion is still unexplained, there have been some remarkable facts and statistics revealed over the course of decades of research. Over 60 percent of victims of spontaneous human combustion, for example, are women, and over 50 percent of these bizarre occurrences take place between midnight and 6 am. Perhaps most perplexing is that despite the intensely high temperatures that victims of spontaneous human combustion burn at, and the fact that they are usually reduced to nothing but ash, there is most often a single limb or a foot that is left untouched.
While we might suspect that cases of spontaneous human combustion are a modern phenomenon, the fact is that we can find cases stretching back hundreds of years, at the very least. In the mid-1600s, for example, we can find one of the earliest documented accounts of spontaneous human combustion, most often attributed to Thomas Bartholin, who documented an incident in Milan in 1654. However, since this encounter was documented (in Latin), it has suffered terribly with inaccurate translations and interpretations. So much so that many of the finer details of the case have since become lost to history.
We do, however, have the basics of the account. They involve a knight who was serving Queen Bona Sforza. On the night in question, after enjoying an evening of fine food and even finer brandy, the knight sat down at the table after refilling his glass, feeling the amber liquid burn its way down his throat. A moment later, however, he claimed he could feel the burning sensation rising back up his throat from his stomach. Then, a moment later, when he opened his mouth, a surge of flames sprang from him and engulfed him almost instantly.
Around three-quarters of a century later, a case of apparent spontaneous human combustion almost resulted in a presumed innocent man being charged with murder. In 1725 in France, Nicole Miller's remains were discovered almost completely incinerated in a chair in the house she shared with her husband. The chair itself was completely undamaged (as would become a standard detail when such cases were researched in more depth). At the time, though, such details were not widely understood, and so Nicole's husband was suspected of her murder, arrested, and charged. In fact, it was only the intervention of surgeon, Nicholas Le Cat, that saved him from the guillotine, who argued that Nicole had almost certainly been a victim of spontaneous human combustion. Although the court didn't enter such details onto the record, they did accept that the death had been caused "by a visitation of God!"
Only six years later, on the evening of April 3rd, 1731, in Verona, Italy, Countess de Bandi Cesante was at home enjoying her evening meal as usual before she retired to bed. Before she went to sleep for the evening, she talked for several hours with her maid, who later recalled that although she mentioned that she felt "dull and heavy", she appeared as she usually would, and so when she fell asleep, the maid left the room, planning to return in the morning as soon as she was called by her mistress. However, the following morning, no call came, so the maid decided to check on the countess. When she entered the room, she was confronted by a sight she was simply not prepared for.
According to the report, around four feet from the bed, there was a "heap of ashes, two legs untouched, from the foot to the knee with their stockings on!" Even more harrowing, between them were the charred remains of the countess's head, as well as three "blackened fingers". Moreover, when the ashes were picked up to examine, they left a "stinking moisture" in the hand. Bizarrely, however, despite the brutal remains of the countess, there was no more damage to the rest of the room. Although there was an oil lamp on the side, it was unlit, as were the two candles next to it. Whether of consequence or not, the bed covers were found turned down, as if the countess had briefly left her bed at some point during the night, fully expecting to return.
As bizarre and intriguing as these details are, the eventual conclusions are even more remarkable. Not only was the oil lamp not lit but there were no signs of any accelerant in the room, and the countess was not a drinker of alcohol. However, it was suggested that the countess had risen during the night to open a window and allow fresh air into the bedroom. A short time later, it was suggested, "silent lightning" had "crept in through a crack in the window or down the fireplace!" However, this conclusion was later revised, with the amount of perfume that the countess often wore being highlighted as the likely reason she had perished in such a way.
Around a decade later, however, Paul Rolli examined the case once more, certain that the previous explanations had been too simplistic. He wrote in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London that:
"Such an effect was not produced by the light of the oil-lamp, or any candles; because common fire, even in a pile, does not consume a body to such a degree and would have besides spread itself to the goods of the chamber, more combustible than a human body!"
It was, Rolli suggested, likely a combination of factors that led to the untimely demise of the countess. He suggested that "flammable gases" mixed with the alcohol from the perfume the countess was wearing, which then created a "potent fuel" that was capable of "incinerating the body!" The reason the head and limbs had escaped such carnage from the flames was likely down to the fact that by the time the flames reached them, the fuel had likely died and burned out.
Around 150 years later, on the other side of the Atlantic in the small farming community of Seneca in Illinois, on Christmas Eve 1885, Matilda Rooney was busy in the kitchen while her husband Patrick was in the next room. What exactly happened that evening is not entirely clear, but at some point during the evening, Matilda, essentially, "burst into flames" and was reduced to a pile of ash within moments. In a strange twist to the whole affair, Patrick was also found dead in the house, seemingly from suffocation from the fumes (even though there was no damage at all to the rest of the property).
When investigators examined the scene, they were utterly baffled. One of the farm workers informed them that he had spent several hours at the property before leaving for the evening, and that the couple had appeared fine before he left, each enjoying a glass of whiskey and preparing for the holidays. It was ultimately determined that Matilda herself appeared to be the fuel source of the fire that consumed her.
As we have seen, there are many historic cases of spontaneous human combustion for us to explore. Without a doubt, though, the majority of these recorded cases have unfolded in the twentieth century.
Perhaps the most notable of these occurred in July 1951, when 67-year-old Mary Reeser from St. Petersburg, Florida, or at least what was left of her, was discovered "sitting" in a chair at her home. In fact, all that was discovered of Mary was a skull fragment, one of her feet, and a small piece of her spine, with the chair that she had been sitting on also completely reduced to ash. As was noted at the time, given the high temperatures required to reduce a human body to ash, it was a mystery why the entire property had not been engulfed in flames.
Despite this strangeness, the FBI, which investigated the case, concluded that Mary had likely fallen asleep with a cigarette in her hand, which had then likely ignited her clothes and resulted in her death. As we might imagine, many researchers and investigators simply do not accept this explanation. In fact, some researchers have pondered just what the authorities might have known about the strange death for them to wrap it up so quickly.
Five years later, in December 1956, another baffling spontaneous human combustion case unfolded. On the day in question, 78-year-old Sik Kim was sitting in his wheelchair reading his newspaper. As he did so, however, he suddenly noticed flames appearing around his torso. As he called out for help, the flames began to engulf him. His neighbor, Virginia Cadet, rushed over to see what the matter was. As soon as she saw Sik Kim in flames, she rushed off again to get help. By the time she returned 15 minutes later, Sik Kim was nothing but a pile of ash - except, that is, for his two feet, which remained intact. Even stranger, nothing else in the room was damaged by the flames, including papers, books, and clothes. Sik Kim's death remains a complete mystery.
Around a decade later, on the afternoon of October 16th, 1964, 75-year-old Olga Worth Stephens met a harrowing end outside of a convenience store in Dallas, Texas. She had been in the car with her nephew when he decided he wished to purchase a cold drink and so pulled into the parking lot of the store. He left Olga in the vehicle while he went inside. He was only inside for several minutes, but when he returned, his aunt was completely enveloped in flames. Passersby eventually managed to pull her out of the car and smother the flames. However, she passed away from her injuries eight days later.
Perhaps what made Olga's death all the more mysterious was a line from an article in the Dallas Morning News that stated she had received treatment for "burns received in mysterious circumstances!" Stranger still, when the vehicle was examined by investigators, they discovered no damage whatsoever, not even traces of an accelerant or stimulant. Ultimately, like several other cases we have examined here, it would appear that Olga herself was the fuel source of the fire that killed her.
Only several months later, on the morning of November 8th, 1964, in Upper Darby Township in Pennsylvania, the burnt-out remains of Helen Conway were discovered in her home. Interestingly, when the fire chief, Paul Haggarty, attended the scene, he declared publicly his belief that the incident was one of spontaneous human combustion. Further study, though, perhaps suggested, on this occasion, an alternative explanation for the grim discovery. It came to light that Helen was a "careless smoker" who regularly left cigarettes around the house, leading investigators to ponder if this was how she had come to such a fiery end. Indeed, it appeared that Helen's death was simply a tragic accident. However, when investigators looked deeper into the case, that appeared decidedly unlikely.
It was discovered that Helen had asked her granddaughter for a box of matches on the morning of her death, no more than 20 minutes before her body was discovered, with her granddaughter even suggesting that she found her remains around three minutes after. The fire department had arrived at the property at 8:48 am, meaning that Helen was likely alive as late as 8:42 am - the six minutes not being enough time for her to accidentally set herself on fire and be consumed by the flames.
We should note that several skeptics have suggested the "wick effect" (something we will explore in a little more detail later) as an explanation for Helen Conway's death. However, tests easily showed that this would have taken at least several hours, and certainly a lot longer than between six and 20 minutes.
Only two years later, on the morning of December 5th, 1966, 92-year-old Dr. John Irving Bentley's burnt-out remains were discovered at his home. The remains were discovered by Don Gosnell, who had arrived at the property for a prearranged meeting to read the meters. He entered the property and began on his way to the basement. However, as he did so, he noticed a strange odor in the air, as well as a faint blue smoke.
When he entered the basement, he discovered a small pile of ash on the floor, which he assumed was the source of the strange odor. He then made his way to the bathroom that was directly above the basement. Upon arriving there, he discovered the remains of a lower leg and a foot, still with an undamaged slipper on it, as well as Bentley's walking frame, and a large pile of ash. Stranger still, there was a hole in the bathroom floor that allowed Gosnell to see into the room below.
A particularly bizarre encounter unfolded at around 5 am on the morning of September 5th, 1967, in Lambeth, London, when early work commuters found themselves witnessing one of the strangest incidents they had ever seen. Inside, a local man named Robert Bailey, who was a known alcoholic, was burning to death with an unusual flame bursting forth from his stomach. After several members of the public called the fire brigade, they arrived at 5:19 am - only five minutes later - to a sight that they were not ready to witness.
One of those in attendance later stated that when he entered the building, Bailey was lying at the bottom of the stairs, clearly contorted in pain. He stated that he could see blue flames coming from a small slit in his stomach. Despite using fire extinguishers in an effort to save the man's life, all efforts failed, with one member of the fire brigade offering that he was "literally burning from the inside out!" Even more harrowing, it is claimed that Bailey had seemingly bitten down on the bottom wooden staircase, such was the pain he was in, with his jaw having to be pried open to remove his body.
There were plenty of other strange details. For example, despite the flames coming from his body, Bailey's clothes were largely undamaged, as was the case with the wooden floor and stairs. Moreover, there were no accelerants discovered in the property, and both the gas and the electricity had been cut off. These details led investigators to consider whether Bailey had actually died from exposure to the fumes from the fire. Ultimately, it was determined that Bailey’s death was down to “unknown causes!” Even the wick effect explanation had to be dismissed because witnesses noted “blowtorch-like flames” originating from inside Bailey’s torso. The incident remains one of the strangest cases of spontaneous human combustion on record.
What makes the case of Jack Angel all the more intriguing is that he survived spontaneous human combustion. On the night in question, in 1974, Angel, who was a traveling salesman, parked his motorhome outside a hotel and then ventured into the back to settle down for the night. However, several hours later, Angel awoke with severe burns to his arms and legs. In fact, one of his arms was so drastically burned that it had to be amputated. Much like other cases of spontaneous human combustion, however, there was no damage at all to the motorhome, even though, given the extent of his injuries, the motorhome should have been completely incinerated.
The case baffled investigators and researchers, not least as the flames appeared to extinguish themselves before they had a chance to reduce Angel to a pile of ash. We might ask if Angel was in a trance-like state as opposed to being asleep, similar to the report from the Robert Bailey case. Despite an investigation by the police, there were no faults found with the motorhome, and there was no accelerant discovered. The case remains a complete mystery.
A particularly harrowing case of spontaneous human combustion unfolded on the afternoon of October 9th, 1980, in Jacksonville, Florida. On the afternoon in question, airwoman Jeanna Winchester was in a car driven by her friend Leslie Scott, when Jeanna suddenly “burst into flames!” Jeanna began screaming, “Get me out of here!” as Leslie looked on in shock. She later stated that the flames simply came out of nowhere, and after she tried to put them out with her hands, she lost control of the car and crashed into a telephone pole.
Although she had burns to 20 percent of her body, Jeanna survived the incident, recovering in the hospital. When the vehicle was examined by investigators, there was little damage to the interior of the vehicle, with only the seat and door panel showing any signs of the sudden fire. Moreover, Jeanna herself claimed to have had no memory between setting off that afternoon and waking up in the hospital. With this in mind, we might ask if her mind had simply blocked out the incident, or if there is something more paranormal or supernatural involved in these strange cases of spontaneous human combustion.
If we return to London for a moment, in September 1982, we can find the case of 61-year-old Jean Saffin, who was mentally disabled, and who seemingly burst into flames in front of her father. At the time of the incident, as her father was sitting at the kitchen table when a sudden “flash of light” lit up the room. The next thing he realized, Jean was completely engulfed in flames. He immediately got to his feet and attempted to drag his daughter to the sink, calling to his son as he did so. Between them, they managed to douse the flames before they contacted the emergency services. Jean was taken to the hospital, but she passed away from her injuries just over a week later. Her death, officially at least, is unsolved. Jean’s father, however, was convinced that spontaneous human combustion was the cause of his daughter’s death. Moreover, Jean’s brother-in-law, who also witnessed the incident, stated that “the flames were coming out of her mouth like a dragon, and they were making a roaring noise!” Despite this, the coroner refused to put the death down to spontaneous human combustion because, in his opinion, “no such thing existed!”
Without a doubt, one of the most thought-provoking cases of spontaneous human combustion is that of Vietnam veteran Frank Black, whose case was featured on the television program The Unexplained Files. According to the report, in June 1985, Black and his friend, Pete Wiley, were preparing for a fishing trip and were sitting in Black’s living room. Suddenly, with no warning whatsoever, Black’s arm burst into flames. He and Wiley managed to smother the flames and then sought out medical advice for the burns. Bizarrely, although very similar to other cases of spontaneous human combustion, the doctor who examined Black’s wounds stated that they appeared to have “burned from the inside out!” Although Black was not significantly injured, a second incident occurred during their fishing trip. Needless to say, Black was left deeply shaken by the experience.
In more recent times, on the afternoon of August 24th, 1998, Agnes Philips left the nursing home where she was a resident with Alzheimer’s with her daughter Jackie, who regularly drove Agnes around to let her enjoy a change of scenery. As they were returning home, with Agnes asleep in the passenger seat, Jackie decided to stop at a grocery store to pick up some groceries for later. Several minutes later, with Jackie still inside the store, she could see smoke rising from her parked car. Then, moments later, a “burst of flames” exploded from the vehicle.
Jackie immediately rushed out of the store. By the time she arrived at her vehicle, a passerby was dragging her mother from the car before attempting to smother the flames. Bizarrely, despite being almost completely engulfed, Agnes remained calm, almost in a trance-like state, offering only that it was “too hot!”
The flames were eventually extinguished, and Agnes was taken to the hospital with severe burns to her entire body. Unfortunately, she passed away a week later. Much like many of the other cases we have examined here, the inquest discovered no reason for the explosion of flames. No accelerant was found anywhere in the vehicle, and as the engine was not running at the time, it was unlikely that an electrical fault was responsible. Ultimately, the inquest ruled an open verdict.
Just short of a decade later, on the evening of December 16th, 2007, in Brazil, an unnamed woman suddenly burst into flames, becoming incinerated within seconds. By the time the flames had died down, the woman was left “beyond recognition!” Although her right leg was undamaged, her left leg, upper torso, and both arms were completely obliterated. Moreover, all of her clothing also remained undamaged from the flames. Once more, it was noted that it appeared as though her body had “burned from the inside out!”
The case fascinated many researchers and investigators, with various explanations put forward. Some people, for example, suggested that ball lightning might have been responsible for the horrific inferno, while others suggested that the young woman could have been involved in some kind of “gang initiation”. However, the lack of accelerant meant these suggestions were largely dismissed.
Around the same time, 76-year-old Michael Faherty succumbed to a sudden burst of flames, only this time, the coroner, Ciaran McLoughlin, ruled that the death was the result of spontaneous human combustion. When Faherty’s remains were discovered in West Galway, Ireland, investigators were perplexed as to how he could have been completely consumed by the flames while everything else around him was largely unaffected. Moreover, like other suspected cases of spontaneous human combustion, there was no sign of any accelerants anywhere in the property. The only other damage to the building was the spots directly above and below where Faherty’s remains were discovered. Although McLoughlin rued the death to be a result of spontaneous human combustion, he issued a caveat that “a source of ignition” had to have been responsible for the fire, although he could offer no sound explanation.
Several years later, in early 2013, the charred remains of 65-year-old Danny Vanzandt were discovered at his home in Muldrow, Oklahoma. Despite the intense damage to Vanzandt, his property was unscathed. It is interesting to note that Vanzandt was a heavy smoker with a history of struggles with alcohol, something some researchers into spontaneous human combustion have offered are key components of these bizarre cases. However, investigators found no evidence that a lit cigarette caused the fire, nor did they find any evidence that Vanzandt was drinking at the time of his death. Similar to the Faherty case, the only damage to the property was a few scorch marks close to where the remains were found. Furthermore, there were no signs of a struggle inside the house, almost as if Vanzandt had calmly allowed himself to succumb to the flames. Ultimately, his death remains unexplained.
Around two years later, in November 2015, in the small town of Flensburg, near Hamburg in Germany, a local woman (although unnamed in the report) suddenly burst into flames in front of multiple witnesses in the middle of a busy park. Although several onlookers attempted to smother the flames, the fire spread so quickly that her entire body was engulfed in seconds. As we might imagine, there were several theories following the encounter, including that the woman had committed suicide. However, not only were there no signs of any accelerants, but none of the witnesses recalled seeing the woman self-immolate. In a strange twist to the affair, several witnesses reported seeing two strange men leaving the area shortly after the incident, with their identities remaining a complete mystery.
Only several months later, in January 2016, in Novi Sad in Serbia, a video surfaced online (since removed) that appeared to show a man in a doorway with strange “white flames” emerging from his torso. The video showed the flames beginning to engulf the man, even though he remained “indifferent” to the situation. Then, without warning, the man simply got to his feet and “brushed off” the flames before walking off as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Various theories were aired following the footage's first appearance, including that the incident was some kind of hoax.
With all of these cases in mind, it is worth turning our attention to the work and research of Joe Nickell and John F. Fischer, who conducted a two-year study into spontaneous human combustion in the mid-1980s. In total, they extensively studied 30 cases of spontaneous human combustion, with cases spanning three centuries, highlighting several points of interest about the phenomenon.
One thing they highlighted was the fact that many of the victims had been discovered close to fireplaces or candles, possibly highlighting a source of ignition. Moreover, many of the victims had been incapacitated at the time of the incident, usually through alcohol consumption, something they stated was likely to make the respective victims somewhat careless in their final hours, as well as reducing their ability to respond to any situations unfolding around them.
It was also Nickell and Fischer who put forward the “wick effect” explanation, stating that combustible materials close to the victims would have assisted in retaining melted fat, which would, in turn, localize the flames and cause the body to burn quicker, which also then melted more fat. At the time this explanation was put forward, it was felt spontaneous human consumption had at last been explained. However, in the decades that have followed, other researchers have dismissed the wick effect as simply not being plausible.
Nickell and Fischer also explained why clothing, papers, and furniture remained largely undamaged despite their proximity to the respective victims. They offered that this was because fire tended to “burn upwards” as opposed to sideways, further offering that this was similar to people and objects being around a campfire without catching fire.
Although they had put forward multiple explanations for the cases they had studied, they cautioned against a “one size fits all” explanation and urged other researchers to investigate claims of spontaneous human combustion on a case-by-case basis.
With that in mind, there have been many other explanations put forward to explain the mysteries of spontaneous human combustion. In his book Ablaze! The Mysterious Fires of Spontaneous Human Combustion, Larry E. Arnold suggested that a subatomic particle that he named “pyroton” could be responsible for the many cases on record. He offered that this particle could, under certain circumstances and in certain conditions, increase the body’s flammability, particularly if there was increased alcohol in the bloodstream. He also offered that stress could act in such a way. Moreover, according to Arnold’s research, this increased flammability used hardly any oxygen, which is why the body burned so quickly and why the flames themselves didn’t spread. We should note that Joe Nickell was highly critical of Arnold’s methods and conclusions, stating that he used “selective evidence” for his research.
John Abrahamson suggested, after his research into spontaneous human combustion, that ball lightning was responsible, highlighting how cases of ball lightning had left similar charred and burnt marks on human limbs. Similar to Arnold, however, most people dismissed these findings as unlikely at best.
Of course, one suggestion we should consider is whether there could be a more paranormal explanation for spontaneous human combustion, perhaps even dealings with demonic entities, or even the Devil himself. And while such considerations sound bizarre, there are several such cases on record. Perhaps one of the first researchers to suggest this was Michael Harrison, who drew comparisons between poltergeist activity and spontaneous human combustion in his 1976 book Fire From Heaven. He looked at several such cases, pondering if objects could burst into flames through poltergeist activity, then maybe human beings could too. It is certainly worth considering, and while it would be almost impossible to delve into this aspect of past cases, it would be interesting to find out how many people who were apparent victims of spontaneous human combustion might have also experienced paranormal or poltergeist activity in the weeks and months leading up to their unfortunate and untimely ends.
It is also interesting to note that many people who have witnessed spontaneous human combustion up close report seeing a bizarre mix of red, orange, and blue. The color of the flames is, generally speaking, determined by the material being burned, as well as the heat of the flames themselves. Could it be, though, that in cases of spontaneous human combustion, the flames, or the source of them, is something supernatural? We might also consider, particularly in the case of the Tuck family, which we will explore in a moment, that a strong odor of sulfur was also noticed, something which is common in not only poltergeist cases, but also Bigfoot encounters, and cases of alien abduction. Once more, does this suggest some kind of connection between different aspects of the paranormal, and does spontaneous human combustion fit into these bizarre and mysterious encounters somehow?
If we turn our attention to the Tuck family, we can find not only one of the most intense poltergeist cases on record, but a case that featured regular blazes appearing out of nowhere. The encounters of the Tuck family – Calvin, his wife Willie Bell, and their six children – began in August 1958. The family, who were already living in absolute poverty, began experiencing small, unexplained fires around their home in Talladega, Alabama. Moreover, some of the objects that seemingly burst into flames were as strange as the incidents themselves. On one occasion, for example, a loaf of bread suddenly burst into flames, while on another, a single item of clothing was engulfed while nearby garments were strangely unaffected. Once more, it is worth noting that the family stated that the flames of these strange fires were a strange mix of red and blue, and were almost always accompanied by the smell of sulfur.
These fires broke out at random times, and while they were small to begin with, the intensity soon increased, as did the regularity of the fires. In total, over 50 fires were reported by the Tuck family, with several people outside the family also witnessing these bizarre events. In fact, one person, a contractor working at the home, claimed to have witnessed small fires breaking out at the property every 15 minutes. Eventually, with no explanation in sight, the Tuck family sought help from the authorities, although they were equally as mystified.
The family noted that these fires usually started at the ceiling, although, as the family didn’t have access to electricity, faulty wiring had to be dismissed as the cause. Eventually, with the fires becoming so regular, as well as threatening to spread to other properties, several neighbors stood guard outside the Tuck property with buckets of water, ready to put out any fires that might start while the Tuck family slept. This assistance worked temporarily. Then, however, the Tuck family was confronted with a day of “relentless” fires that spread so quickly that their home was burned to the ground. Fortunately, none of the Tuck family was harmed, but they, of course, were left homeless. With no insurance and even less money, there was no possibility for the Tuck family to rebuild. Ultimately, they moved to a nearby property. However, only hours after they had done so, fires began breaking out in their new abode.
At this point, undoubtedly worn down by the constant bizarre activity, Calvin dragged all of the family’s possessions out of the new house and set fire to them, believing that they must be cursed and that by destroying them, they would stop the fires. It didn’t. The fires continued, eventually burning down their new property. Homeless once more, the Tuck family moved in with Calvin’s brother-in-law, Darnell Suttle. However, almost immediately, the fires followed them there also.
The Tuck family and Suttle took to keeping buckets of water in each room, ready to douse any potential fires. Once more, the authorities were contacted, with police officers arriving at the home shortly afterward. When they arrived, they saw a blanket draped over a branch in a tree outside the house. To their absolute shock, the piece of material burst into flames right in front of them. Then, after several moments, the flames simply stopped. One of the officers walked over to the blanket and attempted to set it alight with his lighter. To his shock, the flames refused to take hold.
Once the officers went inside the house, Willie Bell informed them that several items of their clothing had ignited similarly, with officers noting severe burn marks where the clothes had been.
Ultimately, after several days, Suttle, fearing his own property would burn to the ground, asked the Tuck family to leave. With nowhere left to go and with no money, the Tuck family moved in with Calvin’s father. The fires, though, moved with them. At this point, with nowhere left to turn, the family sought the advice of a Voodoo doctor, who offered that a “fire curse” was responsible for the strange occurrences. He gave the family a strange herbal mixture that he instructed them to chew daily for three days, as well as a concoction in a bottle that they were to bury in the yard of the property. They did as instructed, but the fires continued.
Shortly after, the authorities began a full investigation of the events, fearing not only for the Tuck family but also for other nearby residents, and an incident witnessed by the local Fire Chief gave the first clue as to what might be causing these bizarre events. The Fire Chief, as well as other officers, witnessed an old rag suddenly bursting into flames. However, after it had been incinerated in only a matter of seconds, they discovered a strange, green substance where the piece of material had been. Although they couldn’t explain how, they began to suspect that arson might be the cause of these strange events. In fact, when the Tuck family moved again, this time to a friend’s house, the authorities kept a close eye on them, treating the incidents as a crime. In part due to the strange green substance they had discovered, officers began to suspect that phosphorus had been used to somehow start the fires. However, while extremely flammable, phosphorus is also extremely volatile, and is only safe when handled by an expert, which Calvin or his family certainly was not.
Then, things took an even stranger turn.
Out of the blue, The Tucks’ 9-year-old son, Calvin Jr., claimed he was behind the fires, claiming he had started them using matches or by making rags “smolder” so that they burst into flames. He did this in an attempt to trick his family that the house they were living in was haunted in the hope that they would move back to Birmingham. He further stated that he only wanted to scare his family into moving and didn’t intend for the properties to burn down. He was sent for psychiatric evaluation, with the police more than certain that they had found their culprit. Some people, however, were more than skeptical about this confession.
They asked, for example, how a young boy could have perfected the slow-burning process of a smoldering rag so that it appeared to simply burst into flames. Moreover, this didn’t explain the blanket that burst into flames on the tree, and we should recall that when the officer went to light the blanket, it simply wouldn’t ignite. Perhaps even more damning against the young boy’s confession was the fact that many of the fires occurred when he wasn’t even in the properties in question.
We might consider, given the publicity the fires were generating, not to mention the concern among the local community, whether the police faced some kind of pressure to “get the case wrapped up!” This is pure speculation, but in other cases, particularly those of a paranormal nature, we have seen this type of action.
Perhaps above all else, though, we might ask, if we assume for one moment that Calvin Jr. was responsible for the fires, how did he manage to control the flames to the point that one item was incinerated while items around them remained untouched, a detail, incidentally, that is also prevalent in cases of spontaneous human combustion. Ultimately, the cause of the fires remains a complete mystery.
As we can see, then, spontaneous human combustion, whatever the cause might be, is very real and has left a trail of destruction and death in its wake. Are the encounters we have explored here simply cases of carelessness? Or might we even consider that one day science will understand what makes some people seemingly burst into flames? Or could it really be that these cases have more of a paranormal origin? As always, there are many more questions than answers.
It's the reliable celestial companion that's stuck around for 4.5 billion years.
But the moon is slowly drifting away from Earth, a physicist has revealed.
Dr Stephen DiKerby, a researcher in Physics and Astronomy at Michigan State University, said the moon is getting 1.5 inches (3.8cm) further away from our planet every year.
As a result, the Earth's rotation is also slowing down, he revealed. And it means that – over time – days could get longer.
The revelation helps explain why around 70 million years ago, near the end of the time of the dinosaurs, Earth's days were only 23.5 hours long.
As the moon continues to move further away, the number of seconds, minutes and eventually hours in a day will also gradually increase – but it's likely none of us alive today will be around to notice it.
'Don't worry, these effects are so small,' he wrote on The Conversation. '1.5 inches per year compared to a distance of 239,000 miles (384,000 km) is just 0.00000001 per cent per year.
'We'll keep having eclipses, tides and days that last 24 hours for millions of years.'
The moon is getting 1.5 inches further away from our planet every year, an expert revealed. Pictured: The moon over London in February 2023
Dr DiKerby explained that the moon is getting further away due to our tides.
The Earth's tides are strongly influenced by the moon's gravitational pull, which causes our oceans to slosh in two bulges.
One points towards the moon, because this is where the force of gravity is the strongest, while the other points away from the moon, where the force is weakest.
'These liquid bulges do not quite line up with the moon,' Dr DiKerby said. 'They "lead" it a little bit because the Earth is rotating and dragging them forward.
'This forward pull from the closer tidal bulge causes the moonto speed up, which causes the size of its orbit to increase.
'This means that the moongets slightly farther away from the Earth.'
However, he reassured that the effect is very gradual and is only detectable on average over years.
'If we fast–forward tens of billions of years into the future, eventually the Earth's rotation could slow down until it is tidally locked with the moon,' he said.
The Earth's tides are strongly influenced by the moon's gravitational pull, which causes our oceans to slosh in two bulges. Pictured: The moon over the Dolomites
'At this point the moon would stop getting more distant, and you would see the moon only from one side of the Earth.'
Future generations will never get to witness this phenomenon, however.
First, in around a billion years, the Sun will get brighter and boil away the oceans, meaning there are no longer tides to influence the moon's position in the sky, he explained.
And second, a few billion years later, the Sun will expand into a red giant, likely destroying the Earth – and the moon.
It has been four decades since scientists discovered the growing hole in Earth's ozone layer.
But a promising new study has revealed that this protective shield – around 20 miles above our planet's surface – could be well on its way to recovery.
Experts from the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) say that, compared to previous years, total stratospheric ozone cover was higher over much of the globe in 2024.
What's more, the ozone hole that appears over Antarctica every spring was well below the 1990–2020 average.
'The ozone layer is healing,' said Antonio Guterres, the United Nations Secretary–General.
'This achievement reminds us that when nations heed the warnings of science, progress is possible.'
If progress continues at the current pace, the ozone layer could soon recover to its 1980 values (before the appearance of the ozone hole).
The experts predict that a full recovery could take place by around 2066 over the Antarctic, by 2045 over the Arctic, and by 2040 for the rest of the world.
Experts from the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) say that, compared to previous years, total stratospheric ozone cover was higher over much of the globe in 2024
The ozone layer is Earth's 'natural sunscreen' that protects humans, plants, and animals by filtering out harmful UV–B radiation.
Without it, we'd be at significantly increased risks of skin cancer, cataracts, and ecosystem damage due to excessive UV exposure.
Back in the 1970s, scientists first raised concerns about the effect of man–made chemicals known as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) on the ozone layer.
Concerningly, CFCs were used in a range of products, including refrigeration, air conditioning, firefighting foam, and even hairspray.
An international treaty called the Montreal Protocol was signed in 1987, leading to the phase–out of over 99 per cent of these ozone–depleting chemicals.
However, it was too late – a huge hole had already appeared in the ozone layer over Antarctica.
Beyond CFCs, the ozone hole has also been kept open by global warming.
'A side effect of global warming is that the temperature of the ozone layer is falling slightly,' explained the British Antarctic Survey.
The ozone hole that appears over Antarctica every spring was well below the 1990–2020 average
'This means that more of the stratospheric clouds can form over Antarctica, and hence delay the recovery of the Antarctic ozone hole.'
Now, promising data shows that the depth of the ozone hole was below average in 2024, with a maximum ozone mass deficit of 46.1 million tonnes on 29 September.
'Its onset was relatively slow, and delayed ozone depletion was observed through the month of September, followed by a relatively rapid recovery after the maximum deficit was reached,' WMO explained in its report.
'The below-average level of ozone loss persisted through mid-November.'
While this is promising, the experts say our work is 'not yet finished'.
'There remains an essential need for the world to continue careful systematic monitoring of both stratospheric ozone and of ozone-depleting substances and their replacements,' said Matt Tully, Chair of WMO's Scientific Advisory Group on Ozone and Solar UV Radiation.
Ozone is a molecule comprised of three oxygen atoms that occurs naturally in small amounts.
In the stratosphere, roughly seven to 25 miles above Earth's surface, the ozone layer acts like sunscreen, shielding the planet from potentially harmful ultraviolet radiation that can cause skin cancer and cataracts, suppress immune systems and also damage plants.
It is produced in tropical latitudes and distributed around the globe.
Closer to the ground, ozone can also be created by photochemical reactions between the sun and pollution from vehicle emissions and other sources, forming harmful smog.
Although warmer-than-average stratospheric weather conditions have reduced ozone depletion during the past two years, the current ozone hole area is still large compared to the 1980s, when the depletion of the ozone layer above Antarctica was first detected.
In the stratosphere, roughly seven to 25 miles above Earth's surface, the ozone layer acts like sunscreen, shielding the planet from potentially harmful ultraviolet radiation
This is because levels of ozone-depleting substances like chlorine and bromine remain high enough to produce significant ozone loss.
In the 1970s, it was recognised that chemicals called CFCs, used for example in refrigeration and aerosols, were destroying ozone in the stratosphere.
In 1987, the Montreal Protocol was agreed, which led to the phase-out of CFCs and, recently, the first signs of recovery of the Antarctic ozone layer.
The upper stratosphere at lower latitudes is also showing clear signs of recovery, proving the Montreal Protocol is working well.
But the new study, published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, found it is likely not recovering at latitudes between 60°N and 60°S (London is at 51°N).
The cause is not certain but the researchers believe it is possible climate change is altering the pattern of atmospheric circulation - causing more ozone to be carried away from the tropics.
They say another possibility is that very short-lived substances (VSLSs), which contain chlorine and bromine, could be destroying ozone in the lower stratosphere.
VSLSs include chemicals used as solvents, paint strippers, and as degreasing agents.
One is even used in the production of an ozone-friendly replacement for CFCs.
Researchers in China have conducted the most thorough search yet for alien radio signals in the nearby TRAPPIST-1 system, which may harbor potentially Earth-like planets.
Trappist-1, seen here in this illustration with the Sun for scale, has been the target of the search for extra-terrestrial signals.
(Image credit: CactiStaccingCrane)
TRAPPIST-1 is a red dwarf star located about 40 light years away that hosts seven Earthsized rocky planets, with at least three orbiting in the habitable zone where liquid water could potentially exist. This makes it one of the most Solar System like exoplanet systems discovered, with TRAPPIST-1e considered among the best potentially habitable exoplanets. The system's proximity and multiple potentially habitable worlds make it an ideal target for searching for technological civilizations.
The red circle shows the location of Trappist-1 in the constellation Aquarius.(Image credit: ESO/IAU and Sky & Telescope)
The research team conducted their search using the Five hundred meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) to exploit its unprecedented sensitivity. The observations consisted of five independent L-band pointings, each with a 20 minute integration, for a total time of 1.67 hours. The frequency coverage spanned 1.05 to 1.45GHz with a spectral resolution of ~7.5Hz allowing them to detect extremely weak radio signals that might indicate alien technology.
The team led by Guang-Yuan Song from the Dezhou University in China looked for very precise radio frequencies that slowly changed over time due to planetary motion.
Such signals would be virtually impossible to produce naturally and would strongly suggest artificial origin from an advanced civilization. Based on the configuration of FAST, the researchers had the ability to detect radio signals as weak as 2.04×10^10 watts. This means they were able to detect fainter signals than any previous studies. If there were aliens transmitting radio signals regularly on a specific frequency, this study would be more likely to find them than earlier attempts.
500m Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope located in Guizhou Province, China.(Image credit: SCJiang)
Alas, the search found no convincing evidence of alien technology. However, rather than being disappointing, this result still provides valuable scientific information. It places upper limits on the presence of certain types of alien transmitters in the TRAPPIST-1 system and demonstrates the remarkable capabilities of modern SETI searches.
It may be some years or even decades before we can completely rule out life in the TRAPPIST-1 system but at least for now, it remains a compelling target for future SETI efforts. The team plans to expand their search to look for other types of signals, including periodic or transient transmissions that might be missed by current methods.
The search for extraterrestrial intelligence remains one of our most profound scientific endeavors, with the potential to fundamentally transform our understanding of our place in the universe. As we continue to peer out into space with ever greater precision, we're not just looking for aliens, we're taking the first steps toward what may be the most significant moment in human history.
Two black holes merged together 2.4 billion light years away from Earth, and scientists have just figured out how fast the newborn ricocheted, and in which direction.
An animation of two black holes merging
(Image credit: SXS)
Scientists have measured the recoil velocity from a cataclysmic collision between two black holes for the very first time.
Gravitational waves are ripples in space-time first proposed to exist by Albert Einstein, and detected for the first time in 2015. Another first came in 2019, when scientists picked up a gravitational wave signal resulting from a violent merger between vastly different sized black holes. The size imbalance caused the newborn black hole to ricochet off into the universe in a phenomenon known as a "natal kick."
Now, astronomers have deciphered this gravitational wave signal, called GW190412, revealing that the collision caused the newly-merged black hole to shoot through space at more than 31 miles per second (50 kilometers per second) — fast enough to catapult it out of its original cluster of stars, researchers reported in the study, published on Sept. 9 in the journal Nature Astronomy.
Gravitational Wave Detectors Capture Biggest Black Hole Merger That Rocks Space-time | WION
Visualization of Merging Black Holes and Gravitational Waves
"It's a remarkable demonstration of what gravitational waves can do," study co-author Koustav Chandra, an astrophysicist at Pennsylvania State University said in a statement.
Collision signals
When black holes careen toward one another they produce gravitational waves. But when one black hole is much more massive than the other, the gravitational waves produced look very different depending on the angle from which they are observed.
By looking from different angles, researchers can find the direction of the kick. Then, the kick’s speed can be determined by measuring the mass ratio and spin of the two original black holes — information that can also be determined from studying gravitational waves.
If the recoil from the collision is strong enough to slingshot the merged black hole from its star cluster, this prevents this new black hole from subsequently merging with other black holes and potentially forming a supermassive black hole — which can be 100,000 to 50 billion times the mass of the sun. This makes understanding the speed and direction of kicks essential for tracking the formation of supermassive black holes.
In 2018, study co-author Juan Calderón Bustillo and his colleagues figured out exactly how to measure the natal kick based on these gravitational wave signals. But their model had to rely on simulations, as no black hole merger resulting in a recoil had been detected at that point.
Then, on April 12, 2019, the Advanced LIGO detectors in Louisiana and Washington State and the Virgo detector in Italy recorded the GW190412 picked up a signal resulting from two stellar-mass black holes merging: One 29.7 times as massive as the sun and the other 8.4 times as massive.
Despite taking place more than 2.4 billion light-years away from Earth, the researchers used two angles relative to Earth to determine where the kick sent the newborn black hole. It raced away from its birth site, likely a dense grouping of stars called a globular cluster, at an astonishing 111,600 miles per hour (179,600 kilometers per hour). This speed would be more than enough to enable it to escape the cluster and become a runaway black hole.
"This is one of the few phenomena in astrophysics where we're not just detecting something," Chandra said. "We're reconstructing the full 3D motion of an object that's billions of light-years away, using only ripples in spacetime."
The team’s next steps will be to look for more black hole mergers to measure with both gravitational waves and visible light, a search that could yield deeper insights into how the cosmic monsters grow.
This Man strongly believes death is not the end of the human mind/consciousness. In his 30 years of research, he discovered that brains remain “salvageable for not only hours, but possibly days of time.”
Sam Parnia, an associate professor of medicine at NYU Langone, suggests that if we consider death as a process where the brain deteriorates, and if consciousness is simply created by the brain (a notion that remains debated), then logic would suggest that consciousness should also fade or diminish.
But what is actually observed is quite the opposite. Instead of fading, people’s consciousness seems to become expanded, powerful, and vast after death.
Dr. Parnia argues that this observation suggests human consciousness is a mystery that cannot be fully explained by brain activity alone. The idea that consciousness is purely a product of the brain and ends when the brain dies is questionable and, in his view, incorrect. This has opened up a new and vast field for scientific research.
This Man strongly believes death is not the end of the human mind/consciousness. In his 30 years of research, he discovered that brains remain “salvageable for not only hours, but possibly days of time.”
Sam Parnia, an associate professor of medicine at NYU Langone, suggests that if we consider death as a process where the brain deteriorates, and if consciousness is simply created by the brain (a notion that remains debated), then logic would suggest that consciousness should also fade or diminish.
But what is actually observed is quite the opposite. Instead of fading, people’s consciousness seems to become expanded, powerful, and vast after death.
Dr. Parnia argues that this observation suggests human consciousness is a mystery that cannot be fully explained by brain activity alone. The idea that consciousness is purely a product of the brain and ends when the brain dies is questionable and, in his view, incorrect. This has opened up a new and vast field for scientific research.Dr. Parnia argues that what people commonly believe about death is fundamentally wrong. Contrary to the usual idea that death is final, he sees death as a reversible state rather than an absolute end.
Recent research has shown that the idea of dying as a sudden event is mostly a social convention that does not match scientific realities. Parnia calls this a new frontier of science that challenges one of life’s fundamental certainties. He expresses frustration that outdated and inaccurate theories about death continue to prevail despite the tools and research now available.From a scientific perspective, death is not a moment that happens all at once but a gradual process that can take many hours.
For example, brain cells and other cells in the body do not immediately die or decompose right after death, which challenges the common assumption that consciousness and life end instantly when the heart stops or the brain ceases to function.
Remarkably, he says brains can remain salvageable for not just hours but possibly days. For instance, he cites a case where brain cells retained full function 48 hours after being removed from a body, even though preservation was delayed.
He details his findings in his book “Lucid Dying,” where he presents evidence suggesting that reviving the dead is not as difficult as commonly thought and explores what happens to consciousness as it fades. (Source)
Dr. Parnia directs the Human Consciousness Project, which has conducted the largest study on people who recalled experiences near death, using AI tools to analyze their accounts and reveal new insights. He stresses that science has begun to investigate what used to be philosophical territory, what happens after death.
He discussed research, such as a study on pig brains by neuroscientist Dr. Nenad Sestan, in which brains were taken from pigs hours after death and connected to a special system with drugs to preserve them. (Source)
This restored some brain functions, showing that brain cells do not die immediately and suggesting it might be possible to restore life and brain activity after death in humans as well.
He says that this research could revolutionize resuscitation and save many lives, because currently, people are often declared dead too soon, especially in cases like heart attacks or accidents.
He clarifies that “functioning” and “consciousness” are different. In the pig study, the animals were given drugs that suppressed brain electrical signals linked to consciousness (similar to anesthesia). Without those drugs, it’s likely the pigs could have regained some form of conscious awareness, raising ethical concerns.
Regarding consciousness, Dr. Parnia explains that it is a deeply puzzling phenomenon. Although brain activity is linked to consciousness, there is no clear scientific explanation of how brain cells produce the subjective experience of thinking and awareness.
He discusses two main views: one sees consciousness as simply a product of brain activity, but there is no strong evidence for this.
The other, supported by some scientists including Nobel laureates, suggests consciousness is a distinct entity that interacts with the brain but is not generated by it, similar to how a computer accesses the internet but does not create it.
A 2022 study showed, for the first time, detailed brain waves from a dying person. It involved an 87-year-old man who had fallen, was admitted to the emergency room, and quickly went into cardiac arrest while hooked up to an EEG machine that tracked his brain activity as he died. Before this, most studies on brain activity near death had only recorded limited signals from certain brain areas, but this case provided a much more comprehensive recording. (Source)
Dr. Parnia explained that many people experience periods of surprising mental clarity and heightened consciousness near death. Although such cases were once thought anecdotal, studies suggest nearly 10 percent of people might experience these lucid moments, possibly involving about 800 million people worldwide.
The researchers focused their analysis on the 30 seconds before and after the man’s heart stopped. They observed changes in brain waves typically involved in higher cognitive processes, such as information processing, memory recall, concentration, conscious awareness, and different stages of dreaming.
This suggests that, even as the brain begins to shut down, it may actively engage in recalling memories or consciousness moments before death. These findings provide possible biological evidence for the common expression that people’s “life flashes before their eyes” in near-death experiences.
However, the researchers caution that the patient’s health was already compromised by brain trauma, seizures, and medications, which complicate interpreting the data and limit comparisons to healthy brain activity. Still, the observed “cross-coupling” patterns between alpha and gamma brain waves, linked to memory and alertness, support the idea that the brain might be replaying memories or conscious experiences at life’s end.
A 2023 separate study from the University of Michigan observed similar increases in gamma wave activity—associated with conscious thought—in two comatose patients after cardiac arrest when they were removed from ventilators.
This activity was localized in a part of the brain related to dreaming and altered states, implying that the dying brain can remain active in significant ways. The researchers described this as evidence for a “covert consciousness” that might allow life review experiences, as reported by survivors of near-death events. (Source)
Dr. Parnia explained that as the brain shuts down, typical inhibitory brain functions that regulate daily consciousness become reduced. This disinhibition may unlock access to deeper layers of awareness or reality not normally accessible during everyday life.
Dr. Parnia’s own large-scale AWARE-TO study across multiple hospitals interviewed people who survived cardiac arrest and had near-death memories.
About 15% reported vivid, unique experiences of consciousness during death, describing feelings of vastness and heightened awareness. These experiences often included perception of their surroundings from outside their bodies, recognizing detailed actions of medical staff, and a panoramic, all-encompassing sensing of information.
Crucially, people recalled reliving their entire life, but not as a simple flash of images. Instead, they re-experienced every interaction they had with others, feeling both their own emotions and those of others involved, especially in terms of ethical and moral dimensions. This life review prompts deep reflection on how they lived and their impact on others, offering a sense of higher purpose and moral significance that transcends cultural or religious backgrounds.
Dr. Parnia stresses that these near-death experiences are remarkably universal. It does not reflect religious practices, social status, or materialistic achievements, but rather how individuals behaved morally.
Advanced AI analysis has confirmed with high certainty that these recollections are distinct from dreams or hallucinations and uniquely tied to the dying process.
When asked if these experiences are supernatural, Dr. Parnia rejects it.
He argues that calling them supernatural just shows a lack of understanding. Instead, he says these experiences reflect natural processes in the brain during death, specifically, the brain shutting down in a way that removes normal inhibitory controls, allowing access to the full breadth of consciousness and memory that is usually inaccessible.
This sudden access to total consciousness and memory is responsible for the profound experiences people report.
He concludes that consciousness likely exists as a separate scientific entity interacting with but not produced wholly by the brain. Brain disorders may obscure consciousness, but consciousness itself is not destroyed with brain death. Instead, it can become more vivid and expansive at death, suggesting new territory for scientific exploration beyond the current understanding.
In 2011, a scientist named Sean Carroll wrote a blog for Scientific American. He said that the laws of physics show that life after death is not possible. He explained that our brains store information, like memories and thoughts, but when we die, our bodies break down into tiny pieces (atoms). According to science, there is no way for that information to survive after death. (Source)
A study published on Dr. Parnia’s studies in 2022 says, “So far, the researchers say, evidence suggests that neither physiological nor cognitive processes end with death and that although systematic studies have not been able to absolutely prove the reality or meaning of patients’ experiences and claims of awareness in relation to death, it has been impossible to disclaim them either.” (Source)
Dr. Parnia explains that as a physician and scientist, he is deeply interested in what happens when people die, both to be able to bring them back successfully and to restore their full consciousness and identity.
However, he finds the term “soul” problematic because it is vague and means different things to different people. He prefers to define the soul in terms of the Greek concept of the “psyche,” which includes all the elements that make a person who they are, their thoughts, emotions, consciousness, and sense of self.
According to him, the soul or psyche can be understood scientifically as the conscious, thinking self.
His research and data from studies of cardiac arrest patients, those who have temporarily died and then been revived, suggest that consciousness or the soul does not immediately vanish or become annihilated after death, at least in the early stages.
He differentiates his scientific findings, which show the soul or psyche continuing beyond clinical death, from many religious or philosophical definitions of an immortal soul. His data does not, he clarifies, confirm those religious or metaphysical beliefs directly.
Dr. Parnia focuses on the objective results of his research, which align with the viewpoints of esteemed scientists like Nobel laureate Sir John Eccles and Professor Bahram Elahi.
These scientists propose that consciousness or the psyche is a separate, undiscovered entity distinct from the brain, likely a very subtle form of matter, neither immaterial nor magical, but something physically real, though different from anything currently understood.
He points out that if consciousness has some form of subtle material existence, this challenges traditional religious dualistic views where the soul is purely immaterial and wholly separate from the body. Such a perspective places consciousness fundamentally within the material world, though in a subtle form we have yet to fully comprehend.
His research increasingly supports the idea that consciousness, psyche, or soul may continue to exist independently of brain function after clinical death.
When you learned about the history of human evolution in school, there's a good chance you were shown one all-too-familiar image.
That picture probably showed a conga line of human-like creatures, from a primitive ape at one end to a modern man proudly strolling into the future at the other.
For many people, this iconic image captures evolution's slow but inevitable march from the simple to the complex.
But it also raises a puzzling question: If this really is how evolution works, then why are there still monkeys and apes?
Surely, if humans evolved out of primates, there's no reason that so many species should have remained so primitive.
While it might be easy to dismiss this as a trivial question, the answer actually reveals a fascinating detail of our shared evolutionary history.
In fact, it uncovers what scientists have called a 'widespread and persistent misconception' about the nature of human evolution.
So, Daily Mail asked some of the leading experts to explain why we might need to rethink our place in the evolutionary lineup.
It's a common thought that many people have about evolution, but now scientists have given their answer to why monkeys and other apes still exist if humans evolved from them (stock image)
If evolution is real, why are there still monkeys?
One common view of evolution is that it is a linear process which takes primitive species and slowly brings them closer to perfection.
Unfortunately, this is a greatly simplified perception of how evolution really works.
Professor Ruth Mace, an expert on human evolution from University College London, told Daily Mail: 'Think of the evolutionary process as tree-like. All living species are at the tips of the branches.
'Humans and monkeys are on branches that separated at some point. Both branches still exist.'
If we were to trace those branches back in time through the generations, we would eventually find that they merge into a single species.
Modern humans' closest living relatives are chimpanzees and bonobos, with whom we share about 98.7 per cent of our DNA.
We also share a lot of common traits with our primate relatives, including anatomical features, complex social hierarchies, and problem-solving skills.
Bonobos (pictured) and chimpanzees are humans' closest relatives, with whom we share over 98 per cent of our DNA. However, evolution experts say we didn't really evolve from these primate species
If humans evolved from primates, why are there still monkeys?
Humans didn't evolve from any of the monkey or primate species that we see today.
Although we do share a lot of DNA with some species, up to 98 per cent in some cases, that is because we have a common ancestor.
Between six and ten million years ago, a population of primates split into those that would become chimpanzees and bonobos and those that would become humans.
Humans and monkeys are just different branches of the same evolutionary tree, but there's no reason that one needed to disappear for the other to emerge.
It might be easy, therefore, to think that modern humans evolved from a group of chimpanzees or bonobos, leaving the rest of the species behind on a lower rung of the evolutionary ladder.
However, modern genetic data shows that this isn't the case.
Anthropologists currently think that humans split from the family containing bonobos and chimpanzees somewhere between six to 10 million years ago.
Scientists call the species at that branching point our 'last common ancestor'.
When scientists talk about early humans like the Neanderthals and Homo erectus, it can seem like modern humans replaced all the species that came before them.
This creates a misconception that every earlier species either evolved to be more human-like or died out.
However, since Darwin's 'tree of life' doesn't grow straight up like a beanstalk, but spreads like a bush, there are also lots of evolutionary 'dead ends'.
Humans branched off from the chimpanzees (pictured) and bonobos about six to 10 million years ago. They are not earlier stages on the path towards humanity, but ends of a different branch in the evolutionary tree
Most of the branches on the human family tree were evolutionary dead ends. The other human species, such as Neanderthals (pictured), eventually died off, but not because they evolved into humans
But there's no reason that any of those other branches necessarily had to go extinct; they just took different paths to our own.
Why haven't monkeys become as smart as humans?
Our evolutionary story is one of gradually improving sophistication, particularly when it comes to intelligence.
This intelligence has allowed human beings to flourish in a way no other species ever has before, pushing many other primate species close to extinction.
But if our intelligence is such a massive evolutionary advantage, why haven't our close relatives also evolved to be just as smart?
While our intelligence might seem extremely important to us, it simply isn't necessary for other species to succeed, experts said.
Professor Mace explained: 'If you live in the rainforest in groups of primates that mostly eat plant matter, then the kind of intelligence you need is not necessarily the same kind of intelligence you need if you are a carnivore who needs to hunt large prey in groups on the savannah.'
That means there's no reason for monkeys to have evolved into a more human-like species.
Chimpanzees are extremely intelligent and well-adapted to their environment. Scientists say there is no reason that they would need to evolve the kind of intelligence found in humans
Why didn't apes become as smart as humans?
Apes like chimpanzees never evolved human-level intelligence because they don't need to.
Chimpanzees are highly intelligent, showing abilities to form complex social groups, use tools, and even follow fashion trends.
However, the kind of intelligence that is required to live in the forest and eat fruit is very different from that needed to hunt large animals.
Since humans evolved in very different circumstances, we needed to be much more cooperative.
Chimpanzees don't need those abilities to thrive in their environment so they never developed them.
In fact, when it comes to evolutionary 'success', human intelligence isn't all that it's cracked up to be.
Dr John Rowan, assistant professor of human evolution at the University of Cambridge, told Daily Mail: 'Chimpanzees and bonobos do very well in their respective niches, so why not ask the reverse question: Why haven’t humans evolved to be more like chimpanzees or bonobos?
'Bonobos in particular do not engage in large-scale intergroup violence and killing, whereas we humans are constantly consumed by conflict and warfare—why haven’t we evolved to be more like bonobos?'
Contrary to common belief, humanity is not the goal towards which evolution is striving.
'It’s often assumed that the human version of a trait must be the "best", but that’s almost never the case,' says Dr Rowan.
'Humans have many interesting adaptations, but we must remember that so do all the other billions of species we share the planet with. And many are far more remarkable than human adaptations humans have!'
Could monkeys evolve into humans in the future?
However, although monkeys and apes don't have any reason to evolve human-like intelligence at the moment, that might not always be the case.
In the very far future, scientists say that some primate species could evolve to be more human-like in a Planet of the Apes-style scenario. However, that species might not resemble humans today
In the far future, or if humans were to disappear from the planet, there could be an evolutionary niche which some primate evolves to fill.
Professor Mace says: 'Every mutation happens by chance, but if species live in similar environments, there are plenty of examples of convergent evolution.
'So it is entirely possible that something not too different from ourselves could evolve, but it is not inevitable as the environment is bound to be slightly different.'
That means, a Planet of the Apes-style scenario is not entirely inconceivable in the extremely distant future.
However, whatever creature did emerge from that lengthy process of evolution might not look anything like humans as we recognise them.
Dr Edwin de Jager, a biological anthropologist from the University of Cambridge, told Daily Mail: 'Evolution doesn’t repeat itself exactly, but given enough time and the right pressures, it’s possible that some primates could evolve greater intelligence or more human-like traits.
'But they wouldn’t become human, I think they’d be something entirely new.'
The timeline of human evolution can be traced back millions of years. Experts estimate that the family tree goes as such:
55 million years ago - First primitive primates evolve
15 million years ago- Hominidae (great apes) evolve from the ancestors of the gibbon
7 million years ago - First gorillas evolve. Later, chimp and human lineages diverge
5.5 million years ago - Ardipithecus, early 'proto-human' shares traits with chimps and gorillas
4 million years ago - Ape like early humans, the Australopithecines appeared. They had brains no larger than a chimpanzee's but other more human like features
3.9-2.9 million years ago - Australoipithecus afarensis lived in Africa.
2.7 million years ago- Paranthropus, lived in woods and had massive jaws for chewing
2.6 million years ago - Hand axes become the first major technological innovation
2.3 million years ago - Homo habilis first thought to have appeared in Africa
1.85 million years ago - First 'modern' hand emerges
1.8 million years ago- Homo ergaster begins to appear in fossil record
800,000 years ago- Early humans control fire and create hearths. Brain size increases rapidly
400,000 years ago - Neanderthals first begin to appear and spread across Europe and Asia
300,000 to 200,000 years ago - Homo sapiens - modern humans - appear in Africa
54,000 to 40,000 years ago- Modern humans reach Europe
Although the exact reason is still a mystery, there could be several causes, such as changes in the atmosphere, the melting of glaciers, motion in the Earth's core, and a weakening magnetic field.
While the loss of a few milliseconds is not a cause for too much concern, a frightening new book imagines a world literally 'spinning out of control'.
In 'Circular Motion' by Alex Foster, days on Earth last 23 hours, then 20 hours, and then eventually two hours.
Like a supercharged spinning top, the planet spins so fast that even gravity loses its grip, as the sun rises and sets ever faster.
Now, experts reveal the real implications of such a terrifying scenario, from large-scale disasters, floods and earthquakes.
A new novel called 'Circular Motion' by Alex Foster imagines a world literally spinning out of control, until a day last just two hours
In Foster's new novel, Earth's rotation speeds up due to a network of massive aircraft that orbit the Earth at 30,000 feet, revolutionising global transportation.
The acceleration of Earth’s spin begins gradually, and days are just a few seconds shorter than normal, so nobody initially notices.
However, Earth’s spin progressively gets faster and faster until a day lasts just two hours – triggering a global catastrophe.
If Earth's spin really did get faster, experts say it cause a 'centrifugal effect' where the things start to swing away from the planet's axis, much like the hanging chairs on a spinning carousel ride.
Earth's oceans would start to bulge around the equator, giving the planet more of a diamond shape, with sloping northern and southern hemispheres.
Water pulled from the polar regions (where centrifugal force is low) would cause the Arctic Ocean to become shallower and send the equatorial region underwater.
Even land around the equator that's not underwater could have a greatly increased chance of tsunamis and flooding.
Duncan Agnew, professor of geophysics at the University of California San Diego, said the 'largest changes would be in the ocean tides'.
This long-exposure photo of the northern night sky above the Nepali Himalayas shows the apparent paths of the stars as Earth rotates. If Earth spun fast enough, is this what we would see?
According to scientists, July 9, July 22 and August 5 this year were between 1.3 and 1.51 milliseconds shorter than the standard 24-hour day . Although the exact reason is still a mystery, there could be several causes, such as changes in the atmosphere, the melting of glaciers, motion in the Earth's core, and a weakening magnetic field (stock image)
Could the world keep going faster?
It is unlikely that the world will start to spin faster. In fact, the world is actually slowing down over time.
About 4.4 billion years ago, the planet was spinning so fast that days lasted four minutes. But this slowed down after a large object hit Earth and created the moon.
The only way Earth could speed up is if a large object hits at just the right angle. But this would likely liquify the planet's crust, so no humans would survive to see the results.
The daily rotation of the Earth produces two high tides and two low tides every 24 hours and 50 minutes.
'Change that by 10 per cent and the tides in some places would get larger and in others smaller,' Professor Agnew told the Daily Mail.
Also, the faster the Earth's spin, the faster tectonic plates would move, would could add to more geological stress and 'a lot of earthquakes', the academic added.
It’s worth remembering that the equator (where Earth’s circumference is the widest) spins faster than elsewhere, such as the tropics or the poles.
The equator spins at about 1,025 miles (1,650km) per hour, while the poles spin barely above zero miles per hour.
As Earth spins and we go around with it, we are held into place by gravity, but if the Earth spun fast enough, centrifugal force would overcome gravity, causing objects to be flung into space.
'The faster Earth turns, the more gravity will be canceled out and the lighter you’ll feel,' said Foster in a piece for New Scientist.
Hurricanes will spin faster and carry more energy if the world's spin greatly increases, researchers claim. In this picture from space, a swirling hurricane forms
The faster Earth's spin, the faster tectonic plates would move, would could add to more geological stress and 'a lot of earthquakes'. Pictured, damage from Afghanistan earthquake, September 4, 2025
NASA astronomer Dr Sten Odenwald also warned that weather phenomena would become more extreme, capable of causing more damage.
As the planet spins faster, an apparent force known as the Coriolis effect, which gives hurricanes their spin, intensifies.
'Hurricanes will spin faster and carry more energy,' Dr Odenwald said.
If Earth’s spin increased, there would of course also be both less sunlight in the day and less time to sleep at night, which might make humans less productive.
People would have keep putting their clocks back as the days shortened, or come up with a whole new time-keeping system.
Humans have a 'circadian rhythm' – an internal clock that is closely attuned to the 24-hour day – which can cause physical and mental issues if disrupted (by factors like plane travel).
Additionally, many satellites would no longer be positioned correctly, which could disrupt satellite communications, internet, TV broadcasting and more.
Luckily, Professor Agnew said the idea of Earth's rotation speeding up to the extent portrayed in the new novel is a 'particularly absurd premise'.
Each day on Earth contains 86,400 seconds, but the rotation isn't uniform, which means over the course of a year, each day has a fraction of a second more or less
'This cannot happen and nothing like it has ever been observed for any planet or star,' Professor Agnew told the Daily Mail.
In actual fact, the Earth has been rotating more and more slowly over the long-term, but this change has been very gradual.
'A billion years ago the day was maybe 19 hours long,' he told the Daily Mail.
'If you went back to when there were dinosaurs and didn't have a clock you wouldn't probably notice that the day was 30 minutes shorter.'
Dr Judah Levine, Fellow of the US government's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Maryland, also questioned how close the book's premise is to 'real physics'.
'If the story is loosely connected to reality, then the speed-up of Earth had to be accompanied by something else losing angular momentum, maybe the orbit of the moon,' he told the Daily Mail.
'This is a fundamental principle.'
Maybe the orbit of the moon losing angular momentum could cause the speed-up of Earth, he added.
'If that is what happens, the moon gets a lot closer, and the tidal effects become much stronger and more frequent because the periods are driven by the length of the day.'
Is Earth's rotation really speeding up?
Earth normally takes 24 hours, or exactly 86,400 seconds, to complete one full rotation, which is called a solar day.
The fastest day recorded so far was one year ago on July 5, 2024, when Earth spun 1.66 milliseconds faster than the standard 24 hours.
According to scientists, July 9, July 22 and August 5 this year were between 1.3 and 1.51 milliseconds shorter than the standard 24-hour day.
Earth's rotation has never been perfect, as it shifts by tiny amounts throughout time, getting a few milliseconds faster or slower.
However, scientists didn't start keeping exact records of these changes until the 1970s.
Scientists observe the phenomenon on atomic clocks - incredibly accurate machines that keep time by measuring the vibrations of atoms.
Natural forces like climate change may be playing a role in the planet's spin.
Weather patterns like El Niño and the accelerated melting of glaciers in summer may literally be throwing the planet out of balance by a tiny degree.
Another reason for this sudden change could be shifting molten layers in the core. Earth is not solid all the way through. Its core is made of hot, swirling liquid metal.
As that molten metal moves, it can change the planet's shape and balance.
Scientists are looking at all these pieces together, the moon's orbit, core activity, ocean flow, and wind patterns, to figure out what's going on.
For the last 4.5 billion years our planet has had a reliable celestial companion – the moon.
Its orbit around the Earth has a profound effect on life here, from influencing the tides to stabilising our seasons.
But astronomers have now discovered another sidekick that may have been following our planet around for some time.
Experts at the Pan-STARRS observatory in Hawaii have spotted a quasi-moon, called ‘2025 PN7’, that has been tagging along after Earth since the 1960s.
This cosmic body is actually an asteroid, they explained, and – rather than orbit the Earth – it is orbiting the Sun on a similar trajectory to our planet.
The astronomers made the discovery after analysing orbital data from the asteroid, which is just 19 metres (62ft) wide.
They determined it has been in a quasi-orbit for around 60 years and would likely be nearby for another 60 years or so before departing.
It joins the six other known quasi-moons in Earth-like orbits - but boasts the title of the ‘smallest and the least stable’.
Experts have spotted a quasi-moon, an asteroid called ‘2025 PN7’, that has been tagging along after Earth since the 1960s
(stock image)
Scientists have been aware of quasi-satellites since 1991 when they first discovered ‘1991 VG’ – which some believed to be an alien probe at the time.
‘Over three decades later, it is now widely accepted that such objects are natural and constitute a secondary asteroid belt that occupies the region in which the Earth-moon system orbits around the sun,’ the researchers wrote.
Unlike our moon, which can usually been seen with the naked eye, this quasi-moon is only visible through good telescopes.
And although it may appear to be orbiting Earth it is not gravitationally bound to our planet.
While it may sound like this neighbour has been ‘following’ Earth for quite some time, it’s relatively short compared to another famous quasi-moon, Kamo’oalewa, which has an Earth-related orbit lasting around 381 years.
Quasi-moons are part of a special category of space objects called Arjunas, that move in sync with our planet’s journey around the sun.
2025 PN7 maintains a wide range of distances from Earth – anywhere between around 2.8 million miles (4.5 million km) and 37 million miles (59 million km).
These quasi-moons in Earth-like orbits are ‘full of surprises’ co-author Carlos de la Fuente Marcos, from the Complutense University of Madrid, told Live Science.
Earth's orbit around the Sun (blue) contrasted with that of its quasi-moon Kamo'oalewa (yellow, labeled with its provisional designation 2016 HO3). The large yellow circle traces just one of the quasi-moon's orbits around the Sun. Over many orbits, it also traces the series of loops around Earth shown to the right
This new quasi-moon is ‘small, faint and visibility windows from Earth are rather unfavourable, so it is not surprising that it went unnoticed for that long,’ he explained.
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile, which recently became operational, can scan for other quasi-moons and ‘may uncover many more’.
Alongside quasi-moons the Earth is sometimes joined by ‘minimoons’ – objects that do orbit our planet but only temporarily.
Only four have ever been discovered, and none are still orbiting Earth.
Experts from The Planetary Society said: ‘Quasi-moons and minimoons are pieces of our neighbourhood in space, and they carry information about where they come from. They might originate in the main asteroid belt, from impacts on the Moon, or from the break-up of larger objects on similar orbits — scientists don’t know for sure.
‘Answering that question, and finding out what these almost-moons are made of, can help researchers learn more about asteroids and how they threaten Earth.’
Like Earth, the Moon has a day side and a night side, which change as the Moon rotates.
The Sun always illuminates half of the Moon while the other half remains dark, but how much we are able to see of that illuminated half changes as the Moon travels through its orbit.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the phases of the moon are:
1. New Moon
This is the invisible phase of the Moon, with the illuminated side of the Moon facing the Sun and the night side facing Earth.
2. Waxing crescent
This silver sliver of a Moon occurs when the illuminated half of the Moon faces mostly away from Earth, with only a tiny portion visible to us from our planet.
3. First Quarter
The Moon is now a quarter of the way through its monthly journey and you see half of its illuminated side.
4. Waxing Gibbous
Now most of the Moon's dayside has come into view, and the Moon appears brighter in the sky.
5. Full Moon
This is as close as we come to seeing the Sun's illumination of the entire day side of the Moon.
6. Waning Gibbous
As the Moon begins its journey back toward the Sun, the opposite side of the Moon now reflects the Moon’s light.
7. Last Quarter
The Moon looks like it’s half illuminated from the perspective of Earth, but really you’re seeing half of the half of the Moon that’s illuminated by the Sun ― or a quarter.
8. Waning Crescent
The Moon is nearly back to the point in its orbit where its dayside directly faces the Sun, and all that we see from our perspective is a thin curve.
The Impact Event that Shaped Earth’s History: An In-Depth Scientific Analysis of the 35-Million-Year-Old Asteroid Collision
The Impact Event that Shaped Earth’s History: An In-Depth Scientific Analysis of the 35-Million-Year-Old Asteroid Collision
Introduction
Throughout Earth's complex geological history, extraterrestrial impacts have played a significant role in shaping the planet’s surface, climate, and biological evolution. Among these, asteroid impacts stand out due to their catastrophic potential and their ability to produce profound, sometimes global-scale effects. Approximately 35 million years ago, a colossal asteroid struck the eastern coast of what is today North America, leaving behind one of Earth's largest and best-preserved impact craters beneath Chesapeake Bay. This event not only caused immediate destruction but also triggered a series of subsequent catastrophic phenomena, including massive tsunamis and environmental upheaval. Recent research has provided new insights into this ancient impact, revealing the event's true scale and its far-reaching consequences. This comprehensive analysis aims to detail the geological evidence, reconstruct the sequence of events, and explore the implications of this impact for Earth's history, drawing from recent scientific findings published in the journal Southeastern Geology.
A 5-kilometer asteroid caused two devastating planetary-scale catastrophes 35 million years ago. Illustrative photo: SciTechDaily
The Asteroid: Dimensions, Velocity, and Impact Site
The impactor was approximately 5 kilometers in diameter, a size capable of releasing an enormous amount of energy upon collision. Traveling at velocities exceeding 64,000 km/h (about 17.8 km/s), the asteroid imparted an immense kinetic energy, estimated at roughly 10^24 joules—comparable to billions of nuclear bombs detonating simultaneously. Such an energy release would have instantaneously vaporized a vast area, generated shock waves propagating through Earth’s crust, and initiated global environmental disturbances.
The impact site was in what is now Chesapeake Bay, Virginia, a region characterized by sedimentary deposits accumulated over millions of years. The collision created a transient crater that, over geological time, was buried beneath sediment and oceanic deposits, resulting in the present-day impact structure lying approximately 500 meters below the current ocean floor. This buried crater remains one of the best-preserved terrestrial impact structures, providing a unique window into the processes and consequences of asteroid impacts.
Geological Evidence of the Impact
Recent geological studies, notably those published in Southeastern Geology, have uncovered compelling evidence of the impact event far from the crater itself. Notably, fossils and rock layers discovered in Moore County, North Carolina—approximately 386 km southwest of the impact site—serve as a crucial record of the event's global influence. The identification and analysis of these layers have significantly advanced our understanding of the impact’s scale and consequence.
An asteroid struck the East Coast of North America 35 million years ago. Ejected material from the impact site was distributed over an area of at least four million square miles. Researchers have found clear traces of the impact and dated them for the first time using the uranium-thorium-helium technique. ODP 1073 on the map refers to the ocean drilling project site where the sample material for this study was collected. Credit: GEBCO world map 2014, www.gebco.net
Layered Sedimentary Record
Central to this research is a nearly one-meter-thick stratigraphic sequence containing four distinct layers, each representing different phases of the impact aftermath:
Bottom Layer (43 cm thick): This layer is rich in sandy clay, carbon glass (also known as tektites), and rock fragments. The presence of iridium at concentrations up to 18 parts per billion (ppb)—a hallmark of extraterrestrial material—provides unequivocal evidence that this layer originated from an extraterrestrial impact. Iridium is rare on Earth's crust but abundant in meteorites, making its presence a key indicator of cosmic origin.
Second Layer (9 cm thick): Comprising silt and loosely bound quartz and carbon fragments with reduced iridium levels, this layer signifies the dispersal of smaller impact ejecta as the initial shock wave dispersed material into the atmosphere and surrounding environment.
Third Layer (6 cm thick): Consisting of a mixture of marine sediments and seabed fragments, this layer indicates subsequent geological processes, particularly water filling the crater and triggering massive landslides of marine sediments into the impact basin.
Fourth Layer (15 cm thick): Composed of coarse sand and gravel, this uppermost layer bears the signature of a powerful tsunami wave depositing large sediments over the existing layers.
Reconstructing the Sequence of Events
The stratigraphy offers a comprehensive timeline of the impact event, detailing the progression from the initial collision to subsequent environmental changes. Each layer reflects a distinct phase, revealing insights into the destructive processes and their global effects. Understanding this sequence helps scientists piece together the event’s magnitude and consequences, providing valuable context for Earth's geological history and impact assessment.
1. Impact and Shock Wave Generation
The collision of the asteroid with Earth's surface instantly generated an intense hypersonic shock wave that propagated rapidly through the crust. This energy release caused widespread destruction within hundreds of kilometers, obliterating everything in its path, including flora, fauna, and geological formations. The shock wave also led to the melting and vaporization of rocks, producing molten debris that was ejected high into the atmosphere. The immense pressure and heat created a transient but powerful zone of devastation, marking the beginning of the catastrophic sequence. This phase is critical because it set the stage for subsequent environmental upheavals, and the physical evidence of shock deformation in minerals confirms the immense energy involved.
2. Ejection and Atmospheric Dispersal
Within minutes of impact, a layer rich in impact ejecta, such as tektites and iridium-bearing material, was deposited across a vast area. These materials settle over regions as distant as Massachusetts and Barbados, demonstrating the event's enormous dispersal capacity. The presence of iridium, a rare extraterrestrial element, confirms the asteroid's origin. This layer provides a precise marker for dating the impact event, serving as a key stratigraphic reference point. The dispersal of molten and shattered debris not only signifies the initial energy release but also indicates the widespread atmospheric circulation that transported these materials globally. The distribution pattern reflects the impact's immense force and the Earth's atmospheric dynamics during the event.
3. Dispersal of Fine Particulates and Cloud Formation
Following the initial ejecta, a fine particulate cloud formed from pulverized rock and debris dispersed into the atmosphere. This cloud caused a significant reduction in sunlight reaching Earth's surface, leading to what is often described as an impact winter. The diminished sunlight likely caused short-term global cooling, disrupting photosynthesis and affecting ecosystems worldwide. This environmental upheaval could have contributed to the mass extinction of species, especially those sensitive to climate change. The stratigraphic record of this phase includes layers of soot and ash, indicating widespread fires and atmospheric particulates. This phase underscores how an impact event can trigger climate shifts, with short-term but profound effects on life.
4. Crater Filling and Landslides
As water flooded the impact crater, the unstable sediments surrounding the site became prone to destabilization. Massive landslides of marine sediments cascaded into the basin, filling the crater with a mixture of soil and seabed fragments. This process signifies a transition from a primarily impact-driven environment to a water-dominated one, altering local geology dramatically. The resulting layer contains evidence of sediment reworking, including disturbed strata and displaced marine fossils. This phase reflects the ongoing geological response to the impact, highlighting how secondary processes like flooding and landslides shape the stratigraphic record. It also indicates the importance of water in modulating the impact's environmental impact.
5. Tsunami Generation and Sediment Deposition
The final, most destructive phase involved the generation of a colossal tsunami triggered by the sudden displacement of water due to the impact and crater infilling. The tsunami propagated across the Atlantic Ocean, inundating coastal regions with high-energy waves. This resulted in the deposition of coarse sediments, such as gravel and sand, over large areas, including Moore County. The uppermost stratigraphic layer records this event, characterized by high-energy deposits indicative of tsunami action. The deposits include chaotic, poorly sorted sediments with marine fossils embedded within them, evidence of rapid, forceful inundation. This phase demonstrates the global reach of impact-induced phenomena and their capacity to reshape coastlines and sedimentary environments dramatically.
A microscopic photograph of tiny silica droplets, formed by an asteroid impact.
Credit: Natalie Cheng / Bridget Weed.
Environmental and Biological Consequences
The immediate aftermath of the impact was utterly catastrophic, unleashing a series of devastating environmental effects that reshaped Earth's ecosystems. The colossal shock wave generated by the impact would have propagated across vast distances, exerting immense pressure on both terrestrial and marine life forms. Simultaneously, the intense thermal energy released during the collision caused widespread vaporization of rocks and minerals, creating a colossal plume of superheated debris that was rapidly dispersed into the atmosphere. This atmospheric dispersal of particulate matter and aerosols would have triggered a temporary but severe "impact winter," dramatically reducing sunlight penetration to Earth's surface. The resulting drop in temperatures and suppression of photosynthesis would have led to mass extinction events among many plant species and the animals dependent on them, disrupting entire food chains and ecological networks.
The climatic perturbations caused by these events likely persisted for several years, or even decades, profoundly influencing evolutionary pathways. The prolonged darkness and cold conditions would have favored the survival of species capable of enduring harsh environments, thus driving selective pressures that shaped future biodiversity. The impact's influence on climate and ecosystems could have facilitated the emergence of new adaptive traits among surviving species, setting the stage for subsequent evolutionary diversification.
In addition to atmospheric and climate effects, the impact would have generated enormous tsunami waves that radiated outward from the site of impact, inundating coastal regions and reshaping shorelines. These massive waves would have caused widespread flooding of low-lying areas, leading to the destruction of habitats and the displacement of countless organisms. The marine environment, in particular, would have undergone profound changes: sedimentation rates increased sharply due to the influx of debris, and habitats such as coral reefs and seabed communities faced destruction or significant alteration. These disruptions would have led to a decline in marine biodiversity and a reshuffling of marine ecosystems.
On land, the effects were equally severe. The intense heat and shockwaves sterilized large areas, destroying plant life and disrupting terrestrial habitats. Forests, grasslands, and other ecosystems faced massive die-offs, while soil erosion and habitat fragmentation further impeded recovery. The combined terrestrial and marine ecological upheavals resulted in a significant biotic turnover, particularly during the Miocene epoch, a period marked by notable evolutionary shifts and diversification among surviving species.
Overall, the impact's environmental and biological consequences were profound, triggering immediate mass extinctions, altering climate patterns, reshaping coastlines, and instigating long-term evolutionary changes. The aftermath set in motion a series of ecological shifts that would influence the course of life on Earth for millions of years to come, marking a pivotal point in Earth's geological and biological history.
Popigai in Siberia, the result of an asteroid strike 36 million years ago, is one of the largest and most well-preserved impact craters on Earth.
(Image credit: NASA Earth Observatory/Joshua Stevens, using data from NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Space Systems and the US/Japan ASTER Science Team)
Implications for Earth's Geological and Biological Evolution
This impact event provides a compelling example of how extraterrestrial collisions have significantly influenced Earth's geological landscape as well as its biological history over millions of years. The evidence discovered in Moore County serves as a crucial piece in understanding the far-reaching effects that such catastrophes can have. Scientific investigations reveal that the physical and chemical signatures resulting from this impact are not confined to the immediate vicinity of the impact crater but can be detected hundreds of kilometers away. These signatures include shocked minerals, specific isotopic anomalies, and unique mineral formations such as shatter cones and tektites, which serve as telltale markers of large-scale impact events.
The timing of this impact correlates with a period of notable transition in Earth's biological and ecological systems during the Miocene epoch, approximately 15 to 10 million years ago. This era was characterized by significant shifts in flora and fauna, including the evolution and extinction of various species, as well as the expansion of grasslands and the diversification of mammals. The coincidence of this impact with such biological upheavals raises the possibility that extraterrestrial collisions may have played a role in accelerating or triggering these evolutionary changes. While it remains difficult to establish a direct causal relationship, this association underscores the importance of considering extraterrestrial influences as factors in Earth's complex evolutionary history.
In addition to its implications for understanding Earth's past, this impact event enhances our knowledge of planetary defense and risk assessment strategies for the future. By studying the physical evidence and the sequence of events surrounding ancient impacts, scientists can better recognize the signatures of similar events that might occur again. This knowledge enables the development of more accurate models of impact frequency, size, and potential consequences—such as widespread environmental disruption, climate change, and mass extinctions. Furthermore, understanding the long-term geological and biological effects of past impacts informs the creation of mitigation strategies, including asteroid detection programs and deflection technologies, aimed at preventing or minimizing the damage caused by future celestial collisions.
Overall, this impact event exemplifies the profound influence extraterrestrial collisions can have on shaping Earth's surface features and biological diversity. It highlights the importance of continued research into impact geology, planetary defense, and Earth's evolutionary history to better understand our planet's past and to safeguard its future.
(Data courtesy of the Republic of Guinea and TGS) (a) regional map showing the location of the Nadir Crater on the Guinea Plateau, offshore West Africa. Other important seabed features are also highlighted, including the Nadir Seamount after which the crater is named. (b and c): regional seismic cross sections across the Guinea Plateau, showing the age of the sedimentary units across the plateau and the location of the Nadir Crater and Nadir Seamount.
Conclusion
The asteroid impact approximately 35 million years ago near present-day Chesapeake Bay represents a pivotal event in Earth's geological history, with profound and lasting effects on the planet's surface, climate, and biosphere. The recent discovery of detailed stratigraphic layers in Moore County has provided invaluable insight into the sequence of events that followed the impact. These layers reveal a complex interplay of immediate shock wave destruction, widespread wildfires, and the formation of a massive tsunami, which collectively reshaped the landscape and influenced the environment for millions of years thereafter. The irrefutable evidence of extraterrestrial origin, including shocked mineral grains and impact ejecta, emphasizes the importance of understanding cosmic influences on Earth’s history.
Studying such impact events is crucial for several reasons. Firstly, it enhances our comprehension of Earth's geological and biological evolution, shedding light on how catastrophic events have contributed to mass extinctions and subsequent recovery periods. Additionally, these findings help us recognize patterns and frequencies of large asteroid impacts, which is essential for assessing future risks. As the Earth continues its orbit through a universe teeming with potential hazards, ongoing research into past impacts serves as a vital tool in planetary defense strategies.
Furthermore, understanding the aftermath of such impacts can inform us about the resilience and adaptability of life, offering lessons on survival and recovery following global catastrophes. The knowledge gained not only satisfies scientific curiosity but also has practical implications for preparing for future impact threats. As technology advances, our ability to detect and potentially mitigate such events improves, emphasizing the importance of continued research and international cooperation in planetary defense efforts.
In conclusion, the study of the Chesapeake Bay impact event and similar occurrences underscores the dynamic and interconnected nature of Earth's history and its cosmic environment. These investigations deepen our appreciation of Earth's vulnerability and resilience while guiding us toward better preparedness for possible future cosmic encounters. Ultimately, understanding Earth's impact record enriches our knowledge of planetary evolution and supports the ongoing quest to safeguard our planet for future generations.
UFO gefilmd door vliegtuigpassagiers: Bewijs dat buitenaards leven echt is!
UFO gefilmd door vliegtuigpassagiers: Bewijs dat buitenaards leven echt is!
Beeld: YouTube NewsNation & New York Post
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Ben je klaar voor een UFO-achtig avontuur dat letterlijk van een andere wereld lijkt te zijn? Voor Michelle Reyes en haar medepassagiers veranderde een alledaagse vlucht boven het LaGuardia Airport plotseling in een scène die rechtstreeks uit een buitenaardse film had kunnen komen. Wat begon als een vluchtige blik door het raam, eindigde in een volledige UFO-waarneming. Laten we deze buitengewone ervaring samen ontleden.
Inhoud
De Onverwachte Verschijning van een UFO
Deskundige Analyse van de UFO
Het Belang van Verder Onderzoek naar UFO’s
1. De Onverwachte Verschijning van een UFO
Hoog boven de wolken, waar niemand iets vreemds verwachtte, dook plotseling een vliegende cilinder op naast het vliegtuig waarin Michelle Reyes zat. Dit UFO-fenomeen was zo duidelijk en nabij dat het onmogelijk was om het te negeren. Michelle handelde snel door haar camera te pakken en het moment vast te leggen, wat later een sensatie op social media werd en het debat over buitenaards leven weer deed oplaaien. Na de waarneming probeerde Michelle officiële instanties te bereiken door de Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) te mailen. Echter, een gebrek aan reactie liet ruimte voor talloze speculaties. Was dit een stilgehouden overheidsgeheim, een natuurlijk onverklaarbaar fenomeen, of toch het sluitende bewijs van buitenaardse bezoekers?
Beeld: Wikipedia
2. Deskundige Analyse van de UFO
Thomas Wertman van het Mutual UFO Network nam de uitdaging aan om de beelden te analyseren. Hij concludeerde snel dat wat Michelle zag geen standaard luchtvaartuig kon zijn. Het object miste de karakteristieke kenmerken zoals vleugels of een staart die je bij een vliegtuig zou verwachten. Deze waarneming bleek een raadsel, dat niet paste in de gebruikelijke categorieën van luchtvaartuigen. Ondanks de wildere theorieën, kon Thomas niet geheel uitsluiten dat het object iets banaals kon zijn zoals een weerballon. De precieze vorm en beweging ervan gaven echter aan dat er iets bijzonders aan de hand was, iets dat wellicht niet binnen onze huidige wetenschappelijke kaders te verklaren valt.
3. Het Belang van Verder Onderzoek naar UFO’s
Deze waarneming benadrukt het belang van openheid in wetenschappelijk onderzoek naar onverklaarbare fenomenen. De lucht blijft een domein vol mysteries, en elke nieuwe waarneming van een UFO biedt potentieel voor nieuwe kennis en begrip. De waarneming door Michelle Reyes en andere passagiers blijft een fascinerend gespreksonderwerp. Of het nu gaat om buitenaardse bezoekers of een natuurlijk verschijnsel, het herinnert ons eraan dat de werkelijkheid vaak fantastischer is dan fictie. Blijf dus alert en wie weet wat je de volgende keer zou kunnen spotten wanneer je omhoog kijkt naar de uitgestrekte hemel. Met een beetje geluk en een camera in de hand, zijn we misschien allemaal getuige van het volgende grote mysterie.
Een verrassende sequentie, vastgelegd in oktober 2024 voor de kust van Jemen, onthult een Amerikaanse Hellfire-raket die door een Reaper-drone is afgevuurd op een mysterieuze lichtgevende bol. In plaats van zijn doel te vernietigen, lijkt de raket te stuiteren, waardoor de UFO (ongeïdentificeerd vliegend object) ongedeerd blijft – een uniek fenomeen dat sindsdien tot bezorgdheid heeft geleid bij experts en beleidsmakers.
Een video die nog nooit eerder is vertoond
Deze video, getoond tijdens een hoorzitting van het Amerikaanse Congres in september 2025, werd gepresenteerd door afgevaardigde Eric Burlison. De video toont duidelijk dat de Hellfire-raket het doel raakt, maar terugkaatst in plaats van te exploderen of het object te neutraliseren. Voormalig inlichtingenofficier Lue Elizondo wijst erop dat dit gedrag ongekend is voor dit type raket, waarvan de impact meestal fataal is.
Schokkende video toont raket afgevuurd door het Amerikaanse leger die van een UFO stuitert boven de oceaan
(Foto: X)
Een onverklaarbaar object in een gespannen militaire context
De UFO, officieel aangeduid als UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomeen), werd met hoge snelheid over water gegleden, gevolgd door twee MQ-9 Reaper-drones. Deze waarneming vond plaats in een conflictgebied, wat wijst op een mogelijke connectie met geavanceerde militaire technologieën van een wereldmacht, in plaats van een buitenaardse oorsprong.
Foto en video: X @digijordan. Deze inhoud is gemaakt met behulp van AI en herzien door het redactieteam.
Op weg naar meer transparantie en onderzoek
Het Congres roept op tot meer duidelijkheid en informatie over deze onbekende luchtverschijnselen, die nog steeds in nevelen gehuld zijn. Deze video, afkomstig van een klokkenluider, wordt nog steeds bestudeerd door onafhankelijke experts. Het onderstreept de groeiende Amerikaanse interesse in het monitoren en begrijpen van onconventionele luchtdreigingen.
Beeld: Youtube
Er is een groot mysterie gaande rond onlangs verschenen beelden van een Amerikaanse raket die een UFO probeert neer te schieten. Zonder succes, want het object lijkt zijn weg te vervolgen. Verschillende officals en media vragen zich nu hardop af wat er precies heeft plaatsgevonden.
“Waarom laten we dit nu zien?”
Burlison toonde de clip op 9 september 2025 tijdens een hoorzitting over UAP’s om één boodschap te onderstrepen: open de boeken. Als dit soort opnames bestaan, dan hoort het Congres de ruwe data te zien — tijdcodes, IR-feeds, radar, alles. Geen sensatie zonder context, maar óók geen geheimzinnigheid als het om publieke verantwoording gaat.
“What the hell is that?”
Journalist George Knapp was erbij als getuige. Geen wilde claims, geen grootse theorieën — juist dat maakt zijn reactie zo raak. Hij vindt dat dit type materiaal met volksvertegenwoordigers gedeeld moet worden, maar zonder extra context is het vooral… een fascinerende puzzel. Zijn soundbite die bleef hangen: “What the hell is that?” Precies de vraag die je stelt als je de clip twee keer hebt teruggespoeld en nog steeds niet begrijpt waarom dat ding niet omlaag komt.
Wat weten we níet (en dat is lekker frustrerend)
Wapendetail: Er is geen publiek vrijgegeven forensische analyse die definitief zegt: “dit was het wapen, hier was de impact.”
Ruwe sensordata: Zonder multisensor-correlatie (IR, radar, metadata) blijft het gissen naar snelheid, grootte en materiaal.
Optische trucs: Wat lijkt op “onverwoestbaar” kan deels worden verklaard door perspectief, compressie of autofocus. Of niet — en dan wordt het alleen maar spannender.
Plaats in groter patroon: Het incident past in een bredere reeks meldingen rond gevoelige locaties, maar harde conclusies ontbreken.
Waarom dit zo viraal gaat
Eerlijk is eerlijk: we zijn gek op paradoxen. Een raket treft iets, dat “iets” blijft vliegen — dat is voer voor discussies, memes en eindeloze replayknoppen. Het zet de deur open naar alles: van hypergeavanceerde drones tot exotische technologie. En ja, het woord UFO duikt dan onvermijdelijk op, al is het officieel gewoon “onverklaard”.
Het grotere plaatje: tussen wow-moment en waarheidsvinding
Dit fragment balanceert perfect tussen spectaculair en onbeantwoord. Het roept vragen op over hoe we militair beeldmateriaal delen, hoe we UAP-cases onderzoeken en welke data nodig zijn om feiten van fantasie te scheiden. Zolang de ruwe bestanden, rapporten en telemetrie niet op tafel liggen, blijft het een cliffhanger waar elke nieuw hoofdstuk om schreeuwt.
UFO houdt ons even in z’n greep
Wat we zagen: een object dat na een vermoedelijke treffer onverstoorbaar doorgaat. Wat we voelen: een mix van ongeloof, nieuwsgierigheid en een gezonde dosis show me the data. Burlison en Knapp zitten op dezelfde golflengte: deel het materiaal, laat experts ermee aan de slag en geef het publiek duidelijkheid. Tot die tijd blijft de UFO het internet — en Washington — knap bezighouden.
Tussen fascinatie en publieke bezorgdheid
Op sociale media en onder gekozen functionarissen wekt de afbeelding van de stuiterende raket fascinatie, debat en bezorgdheid op. Sommigen zien het als bewijs van buitengewone technologie, terwijl anderen de realiteit en bedoelingen van deze verschijnselen in twijfel trekken, wat aanleiding geeft tot allerlei fantasieën en theorieën.
Uiteindelijk wakkert deze uitzonderlijke video het debat over de aard van UAP's en het vermogen van de strijdkrachten om hiermee om te gaan, opnieuw aan. Daarmee wordt een toekomst voorspeld waarin wetenschap en inlichtingendiensten transparant en nauwkeurig moeten zijn.
Check ook:
UFO gefilmd door vliegtuigpassagiers: Bewijs dat buitenaards leven echt is!
Perseverance Finds Potential Chemical Signatures of Ancient Microbial Life on Mars
Perseverance Finds Potential Chemical Signatures of Ancient Microbial Life on Mars
Introduction
The quest to discover past life on Mars has long captivated scientists and the public alike. With NASA’s Perseverance rover exploring the Jezero Crater, a site believed to have once hosted a lake, researchers are uncovering intriguing evidence that may point to ancient microbial life. A recent publication in Nature details the extensive geological, petrographic, and geochemical investigations conducted by the rover’s suite of instruments, revealing potential biosignatures in rocks of the Bright Angel formation. This article delves into these findings, their significance, and the broader implications for understanding Mars’ ancient habitability.
This artist’s impression shows how Mars may have looked about 4 billion years ago.
Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO.
The Geological Context of Jezero Crater
Jezero Crater as a Window into Mars’ Past
Jezero Crater, approximately 45 kilometers in diameter, was once a lake-rich environment that preserved a diverse array of sedimentary deposits. Its geological makeup offers a unique record of Mars' early climate and potential habitability. The crater’s deposits include mudstones and conglomerates indicative of flowing water and standing lakes, making it an ideal site to search for biosignatures. These sediments have the potential to contain organic molecules and microfossils, providing crucial clues about past life possibilities on Mars. The stratigraphy within Jezero reveals multiple episodes of water activity, including lake formation and sedimentation, which are essential for understanding the planet's climatic evolution. Moreover, the mineralogical composition of these deposits, such as clay minerals and carbonates, further supports the evidence of a once warmer and wetter environment. Studying these geological features helps scientists reconstruct Mars’ climatic history and assess its habitability during the Noachian period, approximately 3.8 to 4.1 billion years ago
Image showing the area of Jezero Crater explored by the Perseverance rover.
Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin
Bright Angel Formation: A Sedimentary Archive
Within Jezero, the Bright Angel formation comprises sedimentary rocks deposited by aqueous processes. These include fine-grained mudstones, layered beds, and conglomerates. Such rocks form in environments where water interacts with sediments over extended periods, often creating conditions conducive to the preservation of organic molecules and mineralogical signs of biological activity. The layered nature of the Bright Angel formation suggests repeated cycles of sedimentation, possibly related to lake level changes or seasonal variations. The presence of clay minerals within these sediments indicates neutral to slightly alkaline conditions, favorable for preserving organic compounds. Additionally, the conglomerates contain rounded pebbles and cobbles that reveal information about water flow velocities and sediment transport mechanisms. The detailed analysis of these rocks by Perseverance provides insights into the environmental conditions that prevailed during sediment deposition, including water chemistry, temperature, and duration of aqueous episodes. These findings are vital in understanding the habitability potential of Jezero’s past environments and guiding future exploration efforts.
Exploration of Neretva Vallis
Perseverance’s entry into Neretva Vallis, on the western edge of Jezero, allowed the rover to investigate distinctive outcrops of the Bright Angel formation. The rover’s detailed analyses of these rocks have yielded key insights into their composition and formation history. By examining the mineralogy and texture of the outcrops, scientists have identified signatures of aqueous alteration, such as clay minerals and sulfates, which indicate past interactions with water. The morphology of the outcrops reveals layered structures that suggest episodic sedimentation, possibly during different lake stages or flood events. These observations help reconstruct the paleoenvironmental conditions, including water chemistry, pH, and redox states. Furthermore, the geochemical data obtained from Neretva Vallis outcrops have provided evidence for mineral stabilization processes that may have contributed to the preservation of potential biosignatures. The exploration of this area continues to refine our understanding of Mars’ aqueous history and enhances the search for signs of ancient life in Jezero Crater.
This artist’s concept depicts NASA’s Mars rover Perseverance on the surface of the Red Planet.
Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.
Instrumentation and Methodology
Perseverance’s Suite of Scientific Instruments
The rover is equipped with a comprehensive array of scientific tools designed for detailed analysis of the Martian surface. In addition to SHERLOC and PIXL, it features the SuperCam, which combines laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), Raman spectroscopy, and visible/near-infrared (VNIR) spectroscopy, enabling remote mineral identification and organic detection from a distance. The Mastcam-Z camera system provides high-resolution panoramic and stereoscopic imaging for geological context and terrain mapping. The Sample Caching System allows for the collection, sealing, and storage of promising samples for future retrieval and return missions. The MEDA (Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer) monitors atmospheric conditions, temperature, humidity, and dust levels, providing essential environmental data to support the interpretation of geological findings.
Analytical Techniques
Spectroscopy: SHERLOC and PIXL provide mineralogical and molecular signatures, including Raman spectra indicative of organic carbon.The suite employs multiple spectroscopic methods, including Raman, LIBS, and X-ray fluorescence, to determine mineral compositions and detect organic compounds. These techniques identify chemical signatures indicative of past habitability and potential biosignatures.
Imaging:The high-resolution cameras capture detailed images of rock textures, layering, and mineral veins, revealing geological history and processes. Imaging also helps select optimal sample sites for drilling and analysis.
Sample Collection:Perseverance drilled into rocks to collect core samples, such as from Sapphire Canyon, which are stored securely in sealed tubes. These samples are preserved for detailed laboratory analysis upon return to Earth, enabling future detailed studies of Martian geology and potential biosignatures.Acore sample named Sapphire Canyon was obtained from the Bright Angel formation and stored in a sealed tube for potential future return to Earth.
Composite image showing some of the sample tubes deposited by the Perseverance rover at 'Three Forks,” a location within Mars’s Jezero Crater.
Credit: NASA JPL-Caltech
Some of the features of Chevaya Falls.
(NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)
Key Geological and Geochemical Findings
Detection of Organic Molecules and Redox-Active Minerals
The analytical instruments identified diverse organic molecules—carbon-based compounds—embedded within the rock matrices. These organics include complex hydrocarbons and functionalized carbon compounds that suggest the past presence of biological activity or prebiotic chemistry. Alongside these, minerals such as vivianite (ferrous iron phosphate) and greigite (iron sulfide) were detected. These minerals are indicative of low-temperature, aqueous environments, often forming in conditions that support microbial life. Their presence implies that water-rock interactions played a crucial role in the mineralization process and potentially served as habitats for microbial ecosystems. The redox-active nature of these minerals suggests a dynamic environment where oxidation-reduction reactions could facilitate energy transfer, possibly supporting microbial metabolisms similar to those on early Earth. These findings point toward a past environment conducive to life, characterized by the availability of liquid water, chemical energy sources, and organic building blocks. The coexistence of organics and redox minerals strengthens the hypothesis that these rocks experienced biogeochemical processes, offering valuable insights into the planet’s potential habitability during its geological history.
Structural Features: ‘Poppy Seeds’ and ‘Leopard Spots’
Microscopic imaging revealed distinctive textures within the rocks, notably tiny nodules called 'poppy seeds' and reaction fronts known as 'leopard spots.' The 'poppy seeds' are small, spherical inclusions enriched in ferrous iron phosphate, which suggest localized mineralization possibly driven by biological or chemical processes. The 'leopard spots' display mottled patterns of mineral alteration, often associated with zones of redox change. These features are significant because they are typically formed through redox reactions involving electron transfer, processes often mediated by microbial activity. Their spatial distribution and mineralogy imply that microbial communities might have influenced mineral deposition and alteration, leaving biosignatures embedded within the rock fabric. Such features serve as microscopic indicators of past biological processes and environments. Their study provides clues about the extent and nature of microbial life in ancient aqueous systems, contributing to our understanding of extraterrestrial habitability.
Organic Signatures and the G-Band
The SHERLOC instrument detected a prominent Raman spectral feature known as the G-band within multiple Bright Angel rocks. The G-band, centered around 1580 cm^-1, is a diagnostic marker of graphitic or amorphous organic carbon. Its presence indicates that organic molecules are not only present but have undergone some degree of carbonization or graphitization, processes associated with biological activity or diagenetic alteration. The strongest G-band signals were observed at Apollo Temple, correlating with a mineral assemblage rich in carbonaceous material and redox-sensitive minerals. The detection of the G-band provides compelling evidence for the past existence of organic matter, which could have originated from biological sources or abiotic synthesis pathways. The spatial distribution of the G-band, alongside mineralogy, helps reconstruct potential environments where organics were preserved—such as low-temperature, water-rich settings that favor organic stability. These findings bolster the case for ancient habitable environments and highlight the importance of organic preservation in the geological record, both on Mars and in astrobiological research.
Interpreting the Geological and Chemical Evidence
Redox Reactions and Microbial Metabolisms
The spatial association of organic molecules with redox-sensitive minerals suggests that chemical processes similar to microbial metabolisms on Earth could have occurred on Mars. On Earth, microbes metabolize organic matter by "breathing" iron and sulfate, leading to mineral formation. The presence of these features on Mars raises the tantalizing possibility that similar processes took place.
Abiotic versus Biotic Origins
The findings prompt two main hypotheses:
1. Abiotic (Geochemical) Processes: The mineral structures and organic signatures could result from purely chemical reactions driven by environmental conditions, such as water chemistry, temperature, and mineral interactions, without biological intervention.
2. Biological Influence: Alternatively, microbial activity could have influenced mineral formation, with microbes metabolizing organic molecules and mediating redox reactions, leaving behind biosignatures.
Constraints on Temperature and Formation Conditions
One critical aspect is the temperature history of these rocks. Many mineral features associated with microbial processes on Earth only form at relatively low temperatures. The analysis suggests that the rocks were never subjected to high-temperature heating, which would have obliterated delicate biosignatures. This supports the hypothesis that if life existed, it could have thrived in the aqueous environments represented by these rocks.
Perseverance’s path through Neretva Vallis and views of the Bright Angel formation.
Image credit: Hurowitz et al., doi: 10.1038/s41586-025-09413-0.
Implications for Past Life on Mars
Potential Biosignatures and Their Significance
While the evidence remains inconclusive as definitive proof of past life, the observed features align with NASA’s criteria for potential biosignatures—molecular or mineralogical indicators that suggest biological activity in the planet's history. The co-occurrence of organic molecules with minerals formed in water-rich, redox-active environments is particularly noteworthy, as it points to conditions that could have supported microbial life. These signatures, especially when found in specific mineral matrices, increase the likelihood that biological processes may have contributed to their formation. Understanding these biosignatures enhances our knowledge of Mars’ ancient habitability and guides future exploratory missions. Further laboratory analysis will be crucial to determine whether these features originated biologically or through abiotic processes, helping to refine our criteria for detecting life beyond Earth.
Comparison with Terrestrial Analogues
On Earth, similar mineral-organic associations are prevalent in ancient sedimentary deposits where microbial communities thrived under comparable environmental conditions. For example, iron-rich banded iron formations and sulfur-rich sediments often host microfossils and biogenic mineral structures. These terrestrial analogues demonstrate how microbial metabolisms can influence mineral precipitation and organic preservation over geological timescales. The parallels suggest that if life ever existed on Mars, it might have employed similar metabolic pathways, particularly involving iron and sulfur cycling, which are abundant in the planet's ancient crust. Studying Earth's early ecosystems provides valuable insights into the potential biological processes that could have operated on Mars, informing the search for life and interpreting potential biosignatures.
Sample Return and Future Research
The core sample from Sapphire Canyon is carefully stored for eventual return to Earth, marking a significant milestone in planetary exploration. Once retrieved, comprehensive analyses in terrestrial laboratories will enable high-precision isotopic studies to determine biogenic versus abiotic origins of the detected features. Advanced techniques such as microfossil identification, mineralogical characterization, and molecular analysis will be employed, surpassing the capabilities of rover-based instruments. These investigations aim to confirm whether the observed features are indeed the result of past biological activity or are products of non-biological processes. Such definitive evidence would profoundly impact our understanding of Mars’ history and its potential to have harbored life. Moreover, the findings will guide future missions, refining biosignature detection strategies and expanding our search for extraterrestrial life elsewhere in the universe.
Broader Scientific and Astrobiological Context
Understanding Mars’ Habitability
The findings reinforce the idea that early Mars had environments suitable for life: persistent liquid water, chemically rich sediments, and energy sources. The presence of organic molecules and microbial-like mineral signatures suggests that habitable conditions may have persisted long enough for microbial communities to develop. These conditions provide a compelling case for Mars being a potentially life-supporting environment in its past. The detection of water-related minerals, such as clays and sulfates, indicates that Mars experienced prolonged aqueous activity, which is essential for the emergence and sustenance of life. Moreover, the chemical richness of sediments points to the availability of nutrients necessary for microbial metabolism. The energy sources, possibly derived from volcanic activity or chemical gradients, could have powered biological processes. Understanding these factors helps scientists reconstruct the planet’s ancient climate and assess its capacity to harbor life, guiding future exploration efforts to identify specific sites with the highest potential for biosignatures. Such insights are crucial in establishing Mars’ role in the broader narrative of life's origins in the universe and assessing the planet’s potential as a future habitat for human exploration.
NASA's Perseverance rover captured this selfie on 23 July 2024, near a rock known as Cheyava Falls, which shows evidence that it may have once been home to microbial life.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Astrobiological Significance
Discovering potential biosignatures on Mars has profound implications for understanding the universality of life. If microbial processes can form mineral-Organic associations in Martian environments, it broadens the scope of where life could exist or have existed elsewhere in the universe. These findings suggest that life may not be confined to Earth-like conditions but could potentially thrive in a variety of extraterrestrial settings. The detection of organic molecules, combined with mineral signatures indicative of biological activity, supports the hypothesis that life’s building blocks are widespread and that similar processes might occur on other planetary bodies, such as Europa or Enceladus. This expands the astrobiological search beyond traditional habitable zones, encouraging scientists to explore diverse environments that may harbor life. Additionally, understanding how biosignatures form and are preserved on Mars provides critical insights into the longevity and detectability of extraterrestrial life signals. These discoveries fuel the scientific quest to answer whether life exists beyond Earth, shaping future missions aimed at detecting definitive signs of past or present life on other planets and moons.
Challenges and Limitations
Despite the excitement, scientists emphasize caution. The features observed could result from non-biological processes, such as mineralization, chemical reactions, or abiotic mineral formation. Differentiating between biological and abiotic origins of potential biosignatures remains a significant challenge, requiring rigorous analysis and multiple lines of evidence. Definitive proof of past life necessitates unambiguous biosignatures, such as microfossils—tiny, cell-like structures—or isotopic ratios characteristic of biological activity, which are difficult to confirm remotely. Contamination, preservation biases, and the complexity of planetary geology complicate interpretations. Future sample analyses, potentially conducted on return missions, are expected to provide more conclusive evidence. They aim to identify complex organic molecules, specific microscopic structures, and isotopic signatures that can only be attributed to biological processes. Until then, findings remain promising but provisional, emphasizing the importance of cautious scientific interpretation. These limitations highlight the need for advanced instrumentation, meticulous data collection, and comprehensive analysis to confidently establish whether life once existed—or still exists—on Mars.
Concluding Remarks
The Perseverance rover’s exploration of the Bright Angel formation has provided compelling evidence that ancient Martian environments could have supported microbial life. The detection of complex organic molecules is particularly significant, as these are fundamental building blocks of life. Additionally, the identification of minerals such as clay and sulfates—known to form in the presence of water—indicates that Mars once had a habitable environment with the necessary conditions for microbial life to thrive. Structural features observed within the rock formations resemble biosignatures, further strengthening the case for past life, although they are not definitive proof on their own.
These findings are crucial because they suggest that Mars's ancient environment was more hospitable than previously thought, potentially allowing microbial organisms to exist or have existed. The significance of these discoveries extends beyond Mars; they contribute to the broader search for life beyond Earth and inform future exploration strategies. The upcoming analysis of samples returned to Earth will be critical in verifying these initial findings.
Advanced laboratory techniques can detect subtle biosignatures that in-situ instruments cannot, offering the possibility of conclusive evidence of past life. Ultimately, these discoveries challenge our understanding of life's distribution in the universe, opening new avenues for scientific inquiry and existential reflection. Continued research is essential to fully unravel Mars’s ancient habitability and to answer one of humanity’s most profound questions: Are we alone?
Leaked Video Shows US Military Shooting UFO With Hellfire Missile
Leaked Video Shows US Military Shooting UFO With Hellfire Missile
"What the hell is that?"
Image by Department of Defense / Futurism
Someone has leaked a video of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon (UAP) — the military's preferred term for unidentified flying objects, better known as UFOs — to Congress.
As USA Today reports, this never-before-seen video was provided anonymously to Eric Burlison, a Missouri Republican and member of the House of Representative's UAP Caucus, and shows a bizarre encounter that occurred last October off the coast of Yemen.
In the video, an Air Force MQ-9 "Reaper" drone tracks the object that Burlison referred to as an "orb" over the water until a second Reaper fires a precision Hellfire missile at the UAP. Although it's unclear what mission was occurring during the footage, it did occur the same time that the US and its allies were conducting strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The strange object took the hit and was momentarily pushed off its trajectory by the missile, which also appeared to cause some debris to eject from it, before correcting course. It's unclear from the video, which zoomed out just after the strike, where the debris went.
Hellfire missiles pack a punch. As Military.com details, these missiles can be launched both air-to-air or air-to-ground, and are "capable of defeating any known tank in the world today." Whatever that orb was, in other words, its ability to bounce back from a Hellfire strike would suggest it was tougher than a tank.
During the hearing, as USA Today notes, witnesses to the event — including three military veterans — said there is no known human technology that could survive a Hellfire hit.
Discussing the video, neither Burlison nor UAP journalist George Knapp chose to hypothesize on what the video showed — but still remarked at how strangely the objected acted after the missile strike.
"That's the Hellfire missile smacking into that UFO and just (bouncing) right off," Knapp said, per ABC News' write-up of the hearing. "And it kept going."
"And it looks like the debris was taken with it," Burlison responded.
"Yeah," the reporter responded. "What the hell is that?"
In response to ABC's requests for comment, a Department of Defense spokesperson demurred.
"I have nothing for you," they said.
Knapp, meanwhile, was glad that the video had been released, even if outside official channels.
"The public should be seeing this stuff," the UAP journalist said during the hearing, and "why you're not allowed to, I don't know."
"This is about national security, government accountability, and the American people's right to the truth."
A photo taken at the recent US Congressional UAP hearing on September 9.
(Image credit: Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images staff)
How can the U.S. government restore public trust regarding unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) through transparency and offering whistleblower protections?
Representative Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) is chair of that task force, swearing in witnesses that under oath discussed their experiences and knowledge about UAPs, a rebranded term attached, deserved or not, to unidentified flying objects (UFOs), as well as unidentified objects or phenomena in Earth's bodies of water or space.
Secrecy, stigma, dismissal
For too long, UAPs have been "shrouded in secrecy, stigma, and in some cases outright dismissal," Luna said in her opening statement.
"Today, I want to state clearly: this is not science fiction or creating speculation. This is about national security, government accountability, and the American people's right to the truth," said Luna. "Future generations will look back on this moment and ask what we did when presented with the unknown. Did we look away, embarrassed or afraid? Or did we pursue the truth with courage? I intend to be on the side of truth, transparency, and accountability," the lawmaker stated.
Space.com asked several experts from leading research groups on UAPs/UFOs concerning the hearing and their take-away thoughts.
Wanted: nitty-gritty details
"The military witness reports were very good," said Robert Powell, executive board member of the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies in Austin, Texas.
While it may not be apparent to the public or congress, Powell said that anyone who has studied the history of the subject knows that there have been hundreds of such reports by military witnesses that are equally as good.
So how do we move forward?
"Unless Congress is willing to push for the nitty-gritty details" by obtaining full videos, interviewing pilots involved in UAP incidents, and other reported events, "we will not progress," said Powell.
Powell said, in his view, the military will never release the necessary information to establish the presence of a non-human intelligence.
"That's because of their concerns for national security and whether one of our adversaries might learn something from UAP that they could use militarily against us," Powell said. "The resulting tendency to silo all information on UAP prevents moving forward with learning more. Only if Congress allocates funding to the scientific community and academia to study UAP will we make any progress," he concluded.
Science above all
"I find it frustrating that they, rightly, reiterate the importance of the role science can take in figuring out what is behind UAP, but do not apply it in these hearings."
That's the outlook from Alejandro Rojas, a long-time UFO journalist and a consultant to Enigma, a UAP/UFO sightings alert network.
"We have years of anecdotal sighting reports and claims of hidden government knowledge about alien visitation. What we need is evidence," Rojas said.
Rojas added that he found it also trying that the one organization that has been using science, the Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), was pummeled in the hearing, without being represented.
"Having worked in the UFO field for so long, I am sympathetic to their [AARO's] effort. They have shown each step of their work analyzing previous videos, and although it is unpopular to demystify some of these reports, their scientific analyses have been sound," he said.
A still from a video reportedly showing a "transmedium" UAP that appears to travel between air and water and split in half. During testimony on Nov. 19, 2024 the head of the Pentagon's UFO office AARO said it actually shows an infrared camera's inability to tell two objects' temperature apart from the ocean behind them. (Image credit: AARO/DOD)
Preconceived notions
At the recent hearing, "the gripes of committee members came across as being frustrated with the organization that is using science and coming up with answers," sensed Rojas. "However, because they dislike the answers, they blame AARO, when in fact they genuinely do not want scientific analysis to dismantle their preconceived notions."
In the end, Rojas found the hearing disheartening.
"Instead of focusing on real issues and truly championing scientific investigation, the hearing comes across as a very political back-and-forth between the Oversight Committee and the Pentagon," said Rojas. "What gets lost is what we actually need, and that is data gathering and scientific evaluation of that data."
As a consultant with Enigma, Rojas said the group is collecting hundreds of reports, many with videos.
"What we need is a robust, transparent effort to analyze what we are collecting, and to build better sensor systems to gather more and better data on UAP," said Rojas. "If extraterrestrials are visiting us, it is not just the military that would be seeing them."
Credible and intriguing
Avi Loeb, head of the Galileo Project at Harvard, and director of the Institute for Theory & Computation, said he found the first-hand testimonies at the hearing "to be credible and intriguing."
Loeb's Galileo Project is an endeavor to bring the search for extraterrestrial technological signatures of other star folk from "accidental or anecdotal observations and legends" to the mainstream of crystal-clear, confirmed and systematic scientific research.
"I salute congresswoman Luna for chairing this important discussion within the Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets in the U.S. Congress," Loeb said.
But does such a congressional hearing restore public interest in UAP?
"This discussion is not a matter of public relations in a popularity contest, but instead a topic of great relevance for national security and science," responded Loeb. "Once we all see credible evidence about the nature of UAP, we will be able to get to the bottom of it and everyone would agree on what it means."
(L-R) Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) witness U.S. Air Force veteran Jeffrey Nuccetelli, UAP witness U.S. Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Alexandro Wiggins, UAP Journalist George Knapp, UAP witness U.S. Air Force veteran Dylan Borland and Senior Policy Counsel at the Project On Government Oversight Joe Spielberger are sworn-in at the recent Congressional hearing(Image credit: Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images Staff)
Best path to new knowledge
Data collection is the goal of the Galileo Project under Loeb's leadership.
Does the astrophysicist believe that the U.S. government is hiding information? He replied that "as a scientist I respond to evidence and not to what people tell me. Scientific evidence is our best path to new knowledge."
The simplest way to tell the difference between a dogmatist and a genuine scientist, Loeb said, is to flood both of them with scientific-quality data.
"Whereas the dogmatist will shove anomalous data under the carpet of traditional thinking, an open-minded scientist will be thrilled to learn something new with an underlying sense of humility," advised Loeb. "Not only is nature more imaginative than we are, but it also does not care whether we figure it out. The insistence that everything in the sky is either icy rocks or human-made technologies will not rid us of cosmic neighbors, if they exist out there," he concluded.
Tone and testimony
"Overall, I was pleased with the tone and testimony in the hearing from the witnesses, and the often excellent questions from the Representatives," said Mark Rodeghier, president and scientific director of the Center for UFO Studies in Chicago, Illinois.
"The hearing hopefully provided more impetus to pass the crucial legislation necessary to answer questions we have about possible US government/contractor involvement with UAP that has been hidden all these years," said Rodeghier.
Rodeghier said the witnesses added additional experiences on the record of both UAP sightings and how the aftermath of those has been handled by the military, including treatment of those wishing to speak publicly.
Crucial legislation
Beyond moving Congress to pass the bills, Rodeghier advised getting witnesses into a SCIF, short for Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility. Located several levels beneath the U.S. Capitol, a SCIF is where lawmakers and witnesses hold closed interviews, far from the prying eyes of the public.
"I'm not sure what can be done with it [those interviews], but having it available is important," said Rodeghier.
Another Rodeghier recommendation is to have the head of AARO in a hearing this fall now that he has been on the job for a year. Lastly, there's need to work on getting the appropriate government agencies to provide modest funding for UAP research, which continues to be unavailable, he said.
Deep difficulties
Michael Cifone is the founding executive director of the Society for UAP Studies, based in Los Angeles, California. The group's mission is not to promote a single narrative but to advance careful scholarship, develop educational frameworks, and advocate for standards of evidence and data transparency.
The recent Congressional hearing on UAPs underscored, once again, "both the importance of the issue and the deep difficulties that have hampered its treatment for decades," said Cifone.
That handling of the topic within the government — whose aim since at least after World War II has been increasingly obsessed with national security and maintaining US military and strategic dominance, feels Cifone, "are guiding principles that are ultimately at odds with the inner operating directives of the sciences themselves: free, open, and therefore democratic exploration of self and world."
Mixed pool
"The UAP problem is not a mystery with one answer, but rather a somewhat unstable and chaotic amalgam of many overlapping realities, complicated by the unfortunate facts of the modern bureaucratic national security state," is a view that Cifone basically endorses.
"UAP reports are not a monolith," Cifone advised.
Instead, they are a mixed pool consisting of: (1) misidentified U.S. black projects, where cutting-edge aerospace programs are understandably shrouded in secrecy; (2) adversarial drones and surveillance platforms, which represent a genuine national security challenge; (3) a large number of ordinary misperceptions of balloons, satellites, or atmospheric phenomena; and (4) a small but stubborn residue of anomalous cases that resist explanation.
"This mixture makes the phenomenon difficult to study, not because of some grand cover-up, but because of the dysfunctional way information is handled inside the government," Cifone said.
Are we up to the task?
The UAP hearing, for all its frustrations, said Cifone, "at least signaled that Congress is beginning to take seriously the structural problems that have long clouded this issue."
From a safety standpoint, the "mixture hypothesis" is particularly important, said Cifone. If even a fraction of UAP reports involve advanced adversarial drones or unsafe incursions into U.S. airspace, then society is faced with an aviation and national security challenge that demands systematic response, he said.
"Let's see what data and frameworks we can establish that can handle UAP and associated phenomena/claims, and what philosophical/conceptual challenges remain, and if we're up to the task," Cifone said.
And for the other claims — crashes, bodies, and so on, Cifone concludes, "sure, but where's the beef?"
KIJK. Amerikaans Congreslid geeft beelden vrij van incident met ufo: “Waarom wordt dit voor ons verzwegen?”
Er zijn voor het eerst beelden vrijgegeven van een incident op 30 oktober 2024, voor de kust van Jemen. Een Amerikaanse Hellfire-raket kwam toen in botsing met een ufo (ongeïdentificeerd vliegend voorwerp). Nadien zet de ufo z’n koers voort. Tot vandaag is nog steeds onduidelijk wat het object was.
De video werd vrijgegeven door Congreslid Eric Burlison tijdens een hoorzitting van een subcommissie van het Huis van Afgevaardigden over Ongeïdentificeerde Anomale Fenomenen (UAP), wat de militaire term is voor ufo’s. Hij speelde de beelden, die volgens hem voor zich spreken, af tijdens de commissie. Op die beelden, die boven zee gefilmd zijn, is inderdaad een raket te zien. Niet veel later verschijnt er in de linkerbovenhoek een voorwerp dat recht op de raket afgaat. De twee komen in botsing, waarna de ufo onverstoord verder vliegt.
De beelden roepen veel vragen op, ook bij ufo-kenner en onderzoeksjournalist George Knapp. “Mensen moeten dit zien, maar krijgen dit niet te zien. Waarom weet ik niet”, vroeg Knapp zich luidop af. “Dit is een Hellfire-raket die tegen een ufo botst en die gaat gewoon door. Dat is heel vreemd, wat is dit in godsnaam?”
Jemen
De Verenigde Staten halen in die regio regelmatig raketten en drones van Houthi-rebellen neer. Dat zou een verklaring kunnen zijn voor het ongeïdentificeerde object, maar de Amerikaanse defensiedienst en het Pentagon willen niet verder ingaan op het incident.
Nasa vindt ‘vingerafdruk’ van oud leven op Mars: “Nooit eerder zo dichtbij geweest”
In een rots op Mars zijn aanwijzingen gevonden dat er vroeger misschien leven op de planeet mogelijk was. De steen vertoont "potentiële tekenen van oud leven van microben". De Amerikaanse ruimtevaartorganisatie NASA zegt "niet eerder zo dicht bij het ontdekken van leven op Mars te zijn geweest". De organisatie houdt nog wel een slag om de arm en zegt dat er ook andere verklaringen mogelijk zijn.
De onbemande robotjeep Perseverance ontdekte in juli vorig jaar een rots met luipaardvlekken. Mogelijk gaat het om "overgebleven fossielen, uitgescheiden door microben", aldus NASA. De ruimtevaartorganisatie zegt de vondst te hebben voorgelegd aan wetenschappers. Zij zouden hebben geconcludeerd dat oud leven de meest logische verklaring is, blijkt uit een artikel in het wetenschappelijk tijdschrift 'Nature'.
Al kunnen de onderzoekers andere verklaringen, waarbij geen biologisch leven betrokken is, niet uitsluiten. Daarom is het belangrijk om een staal van het materiaal te onderzoeken in een labo op aarde, klinkt het.
De Perseverance landde in 2021 op Mars. De verkenner met zes wielen heeft twintig camera’s en een boor aan boord om de planeet te onderzoeken. Het werkgebied van de rover is de krater Jezero. Miljarden jaren geleden, toen op Mars mogelijk water stroomde, mondde daar mogelijk een rivier uit in een meer.
De robotjeep onderzoekt stalen, maar transporteert die niet. Daarvoor zijn andere robots nodig. De vraag is wel of NASA daar nog geld voor zal vinden, nadat de Amerikaanse president Donald Trump vraagtekens plaatste bij de plannen om materiaal vanop Mars naar de aarde te brengen.
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UFO’s lopen het risico de gevaarlijke weg in te skaan van het paranormale, waarschuwt expert – terwijl een schokkend rapport onthult dat het Pentagon mythen heeft verzonnen
UFO’s lopen het risico de gevaarlijke weg in te skaan van het paranormale, waarschuwt expert – terwijl een schokkend rapport onthult dat het Pentagon mythen heeft verzonnen
De recente onthulling dat het Pentagon mogelijk heeft bijgedragen aan het creëren van mythen rond onverklaarbare vliegende objecten (UFO’s) schokt de wereld en dwingt ons tot een kritische herbezinning op deze mysterieuze verschijnselen. Het feit dat overheidsinstanties mogelijk bewust hebben meegespeeld in het verspreiden van misleidende informatie ondermijnt niet alleen onze nieuwsgierigheid, maar ook de geloofwaardigheid van officiële verklaringen. Een vooraanstaand expert waarschuwt dat dit soort onderzoek gevaarlijk kan afdwalen in het paranormale, waardoor de objectieve interpretatie van UFO’s wordt ondermijnd. Het risico is groot dat we verstrikt raken in een ‘paranormale rabbit hole’, waarin feit en fictie door elkaar worden gehaald, waardoor de waarheid steeds verder uit het zicht raakt.
Het creëren van mythen en het manipuleren van informatie door de overheid ondermijnt het vertrouwen in officiële bronnen en bemoeilijkt het ontdekken van de daadwerkelijke aard van deze verschijnselen. Het is cruciaal dat we kritisch blijven en niet meegaan in sensationele complottheorieën, maar ons richten op zorgvuldig en transparant onderzoek. Alleen door openheid en objectiviteit kunnen we de ware aard van UFO’s ontrafelen. Het gevaar is immers niet alleen dat we in een web van desinformatie verstrikt raken, maar dat we belangrijke aanwijzingen missen die ons kunnen leiden naar een beter begrip van deze mysterieuze fenomenen. Het is tijd voor een frisse, rationele blik die de feiten centraal stelt en wegblijft van manipulatie en speculatie.
Ondanks deze nieuwe informatie hebben UFO-voorstanders zoals Luiz Elizondo (op de foto) hun overtuigingen versterkt. Meneer Elizondo leek te insinueren dat het recente onderzoek zelf onderdeel was van een samenzwering om de waarheid over UFO's te verbergen.
De gevaarlijke valkuil van het paranormale: Hoe oncontroleerbare verhalen onze realiteit ondermijnen
In de hedendaagse samenleving worden UFO’s en buitenaardse verschijnselen vaak besproken, maar het onderscheid tussen feit en fictie vervaagt steeds meer. Wat ooit begon als een zoektocht naar wetenschappelijke antwoorden, dreigt nu te ontsporen in een wirwar van ongefundeerde verhalen en conspiracy theories die zich snel verspreiden via sociale media en andere kanalen. Het gevaar hiervan is niet alleen dat de waarheid ondergesneeuwd raakt, maar ook dat het publieke vertrouwen in wetenschap en overheidsinstanties ernstig wordt ondermijnd.
Het fenomeen dat steeds vaker wordt besproken, wordt wel de ‘paranormale rabbit hole’ genoemd. Hiermee wordt bedoeld dat mensen die zich verdiepen in onverklaarbare fenomenen zich vaak verliezen in een eindeloze zoektocht naar antwoorden, waarbij ze zich laten meeslepen door speculaties en complotten. Hierdoor ontstaat een gevaarlijke dynamiek: angst en wantrouwen nemen toe, terwijl de grond onder onze voeten wegzakt. Mensen gaan steeds meer geloven in samenzweringen, dat overheden en militaire instanties de waarheid verbergen, en dat er een geheime buitenaardse agenda zou bestaan. Dit leidt tot een vervormde werkelijkheid waarin feiten en fictie nauwelijks nog te onderscheiden zijn.
De gevolgen hiervan zijn verstrekkend. Wetenschappelijk onderzoek wordt ondermijnd doordat men zich niet meer baseert op harde feiten, maar op geruchten en ongefundeerde theorieën. Dit remt niet alleen de vooruitgang in de wetenschap, maar voedt ook het wantrouwen in politiek en media. De gevaarlijke realiteit is dat, doordat mensen niet meer weten wat ze kunnen vertrouwen, de maatschappelijke cohesie onder druk komt te staan. Daarnaast kunnen deze misleidende verhalen leiden tot gevaarlijke acties, zoals het negeren van medische adviezen of het aansporen tot onnodige angst en paniek.
Het is daarom essentieel dat we ons bewust blijven van de gevaren van de ‘paranormale rabbit hole’. We moeten kritisch blijven ten opzichte van informatie die niet op feiten is gebaseerd en ons niet laten meeslepen door sensationele verhalen. Het is de taak van wetenschappers, journalisten en overheidsinstanties om transparant te zijn en betrouwbare informatie te bieden. Alleen door een helder onderscheid te maken tussen feit en fictie, kunnen we voorkomen dat de samenleving wordt verdeeld door oncontroleerbare theorieën en dat het vertrouwen in onze instituties verder afneemt. Het gevaar ligt niet alleen in de verhalen zelf, maar in de manier waarop ze onze perceptie van de werkelijkheid beïnvloeden. Het is tijd om de feiten terug te winnen en onze samenleving te beschermen tegen de destructieve kracht van onbewezen paranormale claims.
Een sensationeel rapport heeft beweerd dat de UFO-samenzweringen rond Nevada's Area 51 (gefotoiseerd) zijn aangewakkerd door het Pentagon om een geheim wapenprogramma te verbergen.
Het schokkende rapport: mythes en manipulatie
Het recente rapport dat onlangs is uitgebracht, schokt de wereld en roept dringende vragen op over de geloofwaardigheid van onze overheden. Het beschrijft een schokkend patroon waarbij het Pentagon bewust mythes en misleidende verhalen heeft gesponnen over UFO’s. Volgens dit rapport zou de militaire macht niet slechts onschuldige waarnemingen hebben gecategoriseerd, maar actief hebben gelogen en informatie hebben achtergehouden om het publiek te manipuleren. Ze zouden beelden en verhalen hebben gebruikt om de ware aard van hun technologische ontwikkelingen en militaire operaties te verbergen.
Deze onthullingen ondermijnen niet alleen het vertrouwen in officiële verklaringen, maar brengen ook de integriteit van onze democratische instituties in twijfel. Het is geen toeval dat al decennia lang overheden wereldwijd zich hebben ingespannen om UFO-verschijnselen te minimaliseren of te ontkennen. Tijdens de jaren ’50 en ’60 werden talloze waarnemingen gecategoriseerd en afgedaan als onzinnig of misinterpretaties, puur om de publieke rust te bewaren en de militaire geheimen te beschermen. Maar nu, met het bewijs dat het Pentagon mogelijk actief mythes heeft gecreëerd, wordt de vraag gerechtvaardigd: wat wordt er nog meer achter gesloten deuren verborgen?
Het rapport toont aan dat er een systematisch patroon van leugens en manipulatie bestaat, waarbij de waarheid over buitenaardsen en geavanceerde technologieën wordt verhuld. Deze praktijken ondermijnen niet alleen het vertrouwen in de overheid, maar roepen ook de vraag op of wij als burgers ooit de volle waarheid zullen kennen. Het lijkt erop dat de ware aard van UFO’s en eventuele buitenaardse ontmoetingen al decennia lang wordt bedekt onder een laag van desinformatie en staatsgeheimen.
Het is essentieel dat we niet langer passief blijven toekijken. Transparantie en openheid moeten de kern vormen van het overheidsbeleid. De samenleving verdient volledige duidelijkheid over wat er echt speelt. Het rapport bevestigt dat er structureel wordt gelogen en dat de waarheid over UFO’s en buitenaardsen mogelijk al jaren wordt verdoezeld. Dit opent de deur naar een nieuwe werkelijkheid, waarin we niet langer moeten vertrouwen op officiële verklaringen, maar zelf op zoek moeten gaan naar de feiten.
De tijd is gekomen om kritisch te zijn, om door de leugens heen te prikken en de waarheid te achterhalen. Het is niet langer acceptabel dat overheden informatie achterhouden die ons allemaal aangaat. Het vertrouwen in de overheid staat op het spel, en het is onze plicht om die te herstellen door volledige transparantie en openheid te eisen. Het rapport is een wake-up call: de mythes en manipulaties moeten aan het licht worden gebracht, zodat de waarheid eindelijk kan worden onthuld en wij niet langer in het duister blijven tasten.
Ufo's lopen het risico 'in het paranormale konijnenhol te belanden', waarschuwt een expert naar aanleiding van een schokkend rapport van de Wall Street Journal.
De rol van wetenschap en kritisch denken
De rol van wetenschap en kritisch denken in het begrijpen van UFO’s is van onschatbare waarde en kan niet worden onderschat. In een tijd waarin allerlei onbewezen verhalen en sensationele geruchten de ronde doen, is het van essentieel belang dat we deze fenomenen niet afdoen als louter fantasie of complotdenken. Integendeel, juist door een kritische en wetenschappelijke blik te hanteren, kunnen we de ware aard van deze mysterieuze verschijnselen benaderen en onderscheid maken tussen feit en fictie. Het ontbreken van een wetenschappelijke aanpak leidt immers snel tot verwarring, misinformatie en het ontstaan van mythen die ons wegtrekken van de realiteit.
Het gevaar van het blindelings accepteren van onbewezen verhalen is groot. Het opent de deur naar irrationeel denken, het paranormale en zelfs gevaarlijke desinformatie die onze samenleving kunnen ondermijnen. Alleen door systematisch, objectief en transparant onderzoek kunnen we de waarheid achter UFO’s ontdekken. Wetenschap biedt hiervoor de juiste tools: het toetsen van hypotheses, het verzamelen van bewijs en het kritisch evalueren van bevindingen. Door deze methoden consequent toe te passen, kunnen we feiten scheiden van fictie en voorkomen dat onjuiste informatie zich verspreidt.
Het belang van wetenschappelijk onderzoek is niet alleen voor het begrijpen van deze fenomenen zelf, maar ook voor onze veiligheid en het publieke vertrouwen. Wanneer we conclusies baseren op solide bewijs en transparant rapporteren over onze bevindingen, versterken we het vertrouwen in de wetenschap en de overheid. Dit is cruciaal in een tijd waarin desinformatie zich snel verspreidt via sociale media en andere kanalen. Het is daarom noodzakelijk dat we een juiste aanpak hanteren: nieuwsgierig, kritisch en wetenschappelijk. Alleen zo kunnen we de mysteries van het universum op een verantwoorde en betrouwbare manier ontrafelen.
Wetenschap moedigt ons aan om vragen te stellen, sceptisch te blijven en onze kennis continu te verbeteren. Kritisch denken helpt ons om niet zomaar alles voor waar aan te nemen, maar om door te dringen tot de kern van de zaak. Samen vormen wetenschap en kritisch denken een krachtig instrument om de ware aard van UFO’s te ontdekken en onze samenleving te beschermen tegen misleidingen en onjuiste informatie. Het is tijd om deze aanpak te omarmen en serieus te investeren in wetenschappelijk onderzoek, zodat we de mysteries van het universum niet alleen kunnen begrijpen, maar ook kunnen beheersen en verantwoord kunnen delen met de wereld.
Het onderwerp van UFO's heeft de laatste tijd aan geloofwaardigheid gewonnen, met als hoogtepunt een serie van Congreshoorzittingen in 2023 waarin klokkenluiders getuigenis hebben afgelegd dat de VS een geheim UFO-retrievalprogramma heeft.
Conclusie: waakzaamheid en integriteit
De waarschuwing van de expert is glashelder: de waarheid over UFO’s ligt binnen handbereik, maar alleen als we waakzaam en integer blijven. Het gevaar schuilt in het verzanden in mythen, valse paranormaliteit en desinformatie, vooral wanneer overheden en instanties hun invloed gebruiken om de feiten te manipuleren of te verdoezelen. Het is dan ook cruciaal dat onderzoekers, beleidsmakers en het publiek zich niet laten misleiden door sensationalisme of ongefundeerde verhalen, maar zich blijven baseren op gedegen bewijs, volledige transparantie en een kritische houding.
Alleen door alert te blijven, kunnen we voorkomen dat de zoektocht naar het onbekende ontspoort in angst en oncontroleerbare geruchten. De waarheid over UFO’s is mogelijk dichterbij dan ooit, maar dat vergt moed, doorzettingsvermogen en het stellen van de juiste vragen. Het is tijd om de sluier op te tillen en onze zoektocht te richten op betrouwbare informatie en wetenschappelijke methoden. Zo voorkomen we dat de fascinatie voor het onbekende wordt omgezet in misleidende verhalen en angstzucht. Alleen door waakzaam te blijven en onze integriteit te bewaren, kunnen we de echte antwoorden vinden en de mysteries van het universum doorgronden.
Recente berichten suggereren dat het Pentagon opzettelijk het vuur van UFO-samenzweringen heeft aangewakkerd en bewerkte beelden heeft gegeven aan leden van het publiek en leden van het leger om een geheim wapenprogramma te verbergen. Afgebeeld: De beroemde 'Tic Tac' UFO-video.
Kortom, de recente onthullingen onderstrepen de urgentie van een nuchtere en wetenschappelijke benadering van UFO-verschijnselen. Het gevaar van het ‘down the paranormal rabbit hole’ is reëel, maar met waakzaamheid en integriteit kunnen we de weg naar echte kennis en begrip vrijmaken.
UFO-gelovigen maken zich zorgen dat deze bevindingen gebruikt kunnen worden om de getuigenissen van verschillende klokkenluiders die in 2023 voor het Congres getuigen, onderuit te halen. Dit heeft geleid tot wilde speculaties dat het onderzoek zelf een 'psy-op' van het Pentagon was om UFO-gelovigen te discrediteren.
Scientists have engineered a strain of bacteria with a genetic code unlike anything found in nature, marking a groundbreaking advance in synthetic biology.
The microbe, called Syn57, is a lab-made version of Escherichia coli, a bacterium that normally causes infections in the gut, urinary tract and other parts of the body.
Unlike all known life, which relies on 64 codons, or three-letter DNA sequences that tell cells how to build proteins, Syn57 uses just 57 codons.
Think of DNA as a cookbook where each codon is a three-letter word telling the cell which amino acids, or ingredients, to use.
Life normally has some duplicate instructions, but Syn57 strips out the extras while still functioning perfectly.
These freed-up codons open the door to entirely new possibilities, allowing scientists to create proteins and synthetic compounds that nature has never produced.
Syn57's unusual genetic code also makes it resistant to viruses, which rely on the standard DNA language to hijack cells. And because its code is so different, it is less likely to mix with natural organisms, easing safety concerns.
This breakthrough could also pave the way for new medicines, advanced materials and synthetic lifeforms beyond anything seen in nature.
The microbe, named Syn57, is a lab-engineered version of Escherichia coli, a bacterium that can naturally cause infections in the gut, urinary tract and other areas of the body
To tackle this huge project, scientists divided the genome into 38 pieces, each about 100,000 DNA letters long.
They built each piece in yeast and then inserted it into E coli using a method called uREXER, which combines CRISPR-Cas9 and other tools to swap in synthetic DNA in one step.
Some genome regions slowed growth or resisted changes, but the team solved these issues by adjusting gene sequences, untangling overlapping genes, and carefully choosing which codons to swap.
Step by step, the fragments were stitched together into the final, fully synthetic bacterium.
The result, Syn57, is the most heavily redesigned organism ever made, demonstrating that life can survive with a much smaller, simpler genetic code.
Wesley Robertson, a synthetic biologist at the Medical Research Council Laboratory in the UK, told the New York Times: 'We definitely went through these periods where we were like, 'Well, will this be a dead end, or can we see this through?'
Syn57 is alive, but barely. While normal E. coli can double in an hour, Syn57 takes four, making it 'extremely feeble,' Yonatan Chemla, a synthetic biologist at MIT who was not involved in the study.
The bacteria grew on a jelly-like surface and in a nutritious liquid, but at four times slower than their natural counterparts.
Dr Robertson and his team are now experimenting to see if they can make it grow faster.
If successful, scientists could eventually program it to do tasks that ordinary bacteria cannot.
In addition to the 20 standard amino acids that all life uses to make proteins, chemists can create hundreds of others.
Syn57's seven missing codons could potentially be reassigned to these unnatural amino acids, allowing the bacterium to produce new drugs or other useful molecules.
Syn57 could also make engineered microbes safer for the environment.
Microbes swap genes easily, which can be risky if engineered DNA spreads.
But a gene from Syn57 would be gibberish to natural bacteria because of its unique genetic code, preventing it from being used outside the lab.
Representative Eric Burlison called it "startling evidence," per News Nation.
“A Reaper drone fired a Hellfire missile at this thing," he said during the hearing.
"And the missile didn’t seem to have any effect."
The AGM-114 Hellfire is a laser-guided missile made for precision drone strikes and capable of "defeating any known tank in the world today," according to Military.com.
Representative Eric Burlison called it "startling evidence," per News Nation.
“A Reaper drone fired a Hellfire missile at this thing," he said during the hearing.
"And the missile didn’t seem to have any effect."
The AGM-114 Hellfire is a laser-guided missile made for precision drone strikes and capable of "defeating any known tank in the world today," according to Military.com.
Burlison then turned his questions toward George Knapp, a witness in the hearing and a journalist whose work has largely focused on UFOs, to ask for his point of view.
"I have heard about events like this. I have heard about this event," Knapp said of the Yemen video.
“There are servers where there is a whole bank of these kinds of videos that Congress has not been allowed to see, that the public hasn’t been allowed to see," Knapp said.
"Occasionally, some of that stuff gets out in the wild and it comes our way, but it should be going to you. The public should be seeing this stuff, and why you're not allowed to, I don't know."
"But that's a Hellfire missile smacking into that UFO and just bounce right off, and it kept going."
He concluded his statement by saying simply, "What the hell is that?"
The Rendlesham Forest incident: Britain’s most famous UFO sighting
The Rendlesham Forest incident took place in December 1980 over a series of at least two nights.
On December 26, 1980, military personnel at the twin bases of RAF Bentwaters and RAF Woodbridge in Suffolk saw a strange light in Rendlesham Forest, which lies between the two bases.
Three men were sent out to investigate where two of them encountered a small, triangularshaped craft.
One man, Jim Penniston, got close enough to touch the side of the object.
He and another of the airmen present, John Burroughs, made sketches of the craft for witness statements.
Two nights later Deputy Base Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Halt and his team then encountered the UFO.
He said later: “Here I am, a senior official who routinely denies this sort of thing and diligently works to debunk them, and I’m involved in the middle of something I can’t explain.” Despite an MOD investigation the Rendlesham Forest incident remains unexplained.
UFO SIGHTINGS
The new footage comes as US Air Force veteran Dylan Borland gave his testimony on a separate experience he had with a UFO during the same hearing.
The whistleblower claimed he was outside Langley Air Force Base in Virginia back in 2012 when a mysterious white light suddenly appeared in the night sky.
“At first I thought it was just a hot air balloon,” he said.
“Then the light started moving across the base and that’s when everything changed.”
In sworn testimony, the veteran described a colossal 100 foot triangular craft hovering silently above him.
The bizarre black object was “one to two stories thick,” with sharp 90-degree edges and lights glowing at each corner, plus a blinding, larger orb at its center.
Even more terrifying, he said, was the shimmering effect across the UFO’s surface.
“It was like molten gold, lava, plasma — some kind of liquid flowing over the craft,” he recalled.
“I was under it for two to three minutes. Then the center light flashed two or three times and — bang — it shot thousands of feet straight up without a sound.”
The encounter left Borland reeling.
He also told lawmakers that his phone overheated and died during the incident.
"My whole body was covered in static electricity,” he said. “And I smelled that strong storm scent, like after lightning in the summer.”
But the nightmare didn’t end there.
After this sighting, Borland claimed in his testimony that his career was sabotaged, and he became the target of shadowy phishing attempts.
“If this gets buried again, behind closed doors, it’s going to get really ugly,” Borland said.
UAP HEARINGS
The never-before-seen clip was played during a Congressional UAP hearing where lawmakers demanded answers on what the US government really knows about UFOs.
The hearings are part of a growing push to hold the Pentagon accountable after years of secrecy.
In November 2024, whistleblowers stunned Washington with claims that Navy ships were stalked by intelligently controlled UFOs and that the mystery crafts defied the laws of physics.
Earlier this year, the US intelligence chief said extraterrestrial life “cannot be ruled out” and warned that the unexplained objects in US skies demand serious investigation.
U.S. Air Force veteran Dylan Borland testified before the House Oversight CommitteeCredit: Getty
Unexplained lights caught by a wildlife camera in Patagonia confounded researchers in January.
(Image credit: Courtesy of Rodrigo Bravo Garrido)
On Jan. 21, at 12:22 a.m. local time, in the silence and darkness of Chile's Patagonia region, a camera trap used to monitor wildlife for a project run by the University of Magallanes (UMAG) captured, in 2 seconds, three photographs showing intense lights moving downward.
Everyone was baffled.
"On a camera located at the edge of a meadow, quite far from any public road and focused on a flat horizon, some lights appeared that we cannot explain," biologist Alejandro Kusch said in a UMAG podcast in August. "Apparently, these lights, which are initially distant, approach and remain in front of the camera, dazzling it, in a movement that appears to be descending."
Kusch is one of the leaders of the Public Baseline project, which uses 65 camera traps distributed between continental Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, on the southern tip of Chile, to record terrestrial animals, particularly felines. Since the project began in November 2023, at least 365,000 images and videos have been collected; however, only these three photographs show this phenomenon.
UMAG shared the images with a variety of organizations, from Chile's General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics (SEFAA)to the La Serena UFO Museum, and to several people who analyze anomalous aerial phenomena.
Potential explanations ranged from an arachnid coming very close to the camera lens to that of a "plasmoid," a short-lived form of plasma rarely observed in nature that may be behind phenomena such as ball lightning. However, all specialists agreed: for now, there is no conclusive explanation.
This sighting is unique because it was recorded within the framework of a scientific project, said Rodrigo Bravo, a researcher with the Environmental Studies Group (GEA) at UMAG and a member of the Public Baseline project. That means there is no possibility of fraud or manipulation, as the camera traps operate under rigorous protocols and are equipped with an infrared system, motion sensor, and other features that would preclude people tampering with them, he argued.
"This is not the first time these phenomena have been described in the area, but it is the first time they have been recorded in this way," Bravo told Live Science.
(Image credit: Courtesy of Rodrigo Bravo Garrido)A series of images captured by UMAG’s camera trap. The entire sequence took 2 seconds to record.
(Image credit: Courtesy of Rodrigo Bravo Garrido)The sequence of the recording captured by UMAG’s camera trap.
(Image credit: Courtesy of Rodrigo Bravo Garrido)The sequence of the recording captured by UMAG’s camera trap.
Bad lights
The local Mapuche people traditionally speak of "bad lights," which they believe are spirits that appear in the fields. This raises the possibility that the camera traps are finally capturing a phenomenon that has long been recognized in the region.
But even if these strange flashes are the "bad lights" the Mapuche speak of, what are they?
One possibility is that the lights are unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), possibly from a mysterious flying object. Some declassified Pentagon files on UAP show similar characteristics, Bravo added. Generally poor-quality data means that most UAP sightings cannot be confirmed or explained, but common explanations include foreign spy drones and "airborne clutter" such as birds and weather balloons.
To address that possibility, UMAG sent photos and video to Freddy Alexis, who discusses UFOs and other unknown phenomena on his TV programs on UCVTV, the station of the Catholic University of Valparaíso.
Alexis wrote two reports on his findings, which included trajectory, spectrographic, and relief analyses of the photographs and videos. In the second report, he wrote that only a single "luminous stimulus" is visible, not two, and that the other "lights" are internal lens reflections.
According to Alexis, the primary light may be a plasmoid, or a bubble of incandescent ionized gas that is confined by Earth's local magnetic field, and that can remain stable for a few seconds. The most familiar atmospheric example is ball lightning, usually associated with storms. But that is where his explanation hits a wall. "It was summer, with 48 degrees Fahrenheit [8 degrees Celsius], and there were no electrical storms," Alexis told Live Science. "There were no atmospheric conditions for a storm, so it is very unlikely that ball lightning could have formed."
A photograph capturing the rare phenomenon of ball lightning. Ball lightning typically occurs during storms, but the weather was clear on the day the lights were recorded. (Image credit: “ball of fire.” by Storm Wolf, CC BY-ND 2.0)
But more exotic plasmoids have been proposed under special conditions, such as transient, localized changes in Earth's magnetic field.
Still, Alexis noted that there may be other, poorly understood atmospheric plasmoids, similar to the "mysterious lights" of Hessdalen, Norway. Like the Magallanes phenomenon, these lights defy conventional explanations and could involve plasma structures that are still poorly understood.
In one of his reports, Alexis also calculated that, assuming this was a distant, flying object, it would have been moving at a speed of 590 mph (947 km/h), or roughly 0.7 times the speed of sound. Alexis suggested that the lights might not be a flying object, but some plasmoids can move at high speeds, he added.
A strange creature
In a separate report, technicians from La Serena UFO Museum suggested that a spider or moth may have inadvertently tripped the camera's sensor. That's because in the first photo, what appears to be an insect or arachnid can be seen along one edge of the image. However, the insect does not appear in the subsequent photos.
While one possibility is that the insect triggered the camera, this would only explain why the photo was taken, not why a bright, blob-like light appears, said
Cristian Riffo, director of the La Serena UFO Museum, who was also consulted for the UMAG report.
Riffo noted that the camera traps are designed to minimize false positives caused by insects, lasers or other stimuli. He thinks the rapid sequence of photos, in which the light appears to move toward the camera, is baffling and hard to explain.
"It could be two different phenomena: one natural, which triggered the camera, and the other, a light phenomenon, which remains unexplained," Riffo told Live Science.
Before Stonehenge: One of Europe's Oldest Monuments Emerges in Austria
Archaeological teams in southeastern Austria have made an extraordinary discovery that pushes back our understanding of European monumental architecture by thousands of years.
Imagine standing in a vast circular arena, its earthen walls rising around you under ancient skies. Now imagine that this monument was already ancient when the first stones of Stonehenge were being dragged across the English countryside, and older still than when Egyptian pharaohs first dreamed of pyramids. In the rolling hills of southeastern Austria, archaeologists have uncovered exactly such a place: a complex of three massive circular enclosures that hosted mysterious gatherings over 6,500 years ago, making them among humanity's earliest experiments in monumental architecture.
At Rechnitz, near the Hungarian border in Burgenland province, excavations have revealed traces of three massive circular enclosures dating back over 6,500 years. These Neolithic structures represent some of Central Europe's earliest examples of organized communal construction, predating both Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids by millennia.
The discoveries form part of preparations for constructing a new Archaeological Visitor Center and open-air Stone Age Village in Rechnitz. This ambitious project, integrated within Burgenland's Masterplan Archaeology initiative, aims to transform how the public experiences prehistoric heritage through interactive exhibitions and reconstructed Neolithic settlements. Regional governor Hans Peter Doskozil emphasized that thorough documentation must precede construction, ensuring no archaeological evidence is lost records a Land Burgenland report.
Kreisgrabenanlagen: Europe's First Monumental Architecture
The centerpiece of Rechnitz's archaeological significance lies in its circular enclosures, known in German as Kreisgrabenanlagen. These monumental ditch-and-bank structures, some exceeding 100 meters in diameter, were constructed by Neolithic societies across Central Europe between approximately 4800 and 4600 BC. Their purpose remains one of archaeology's most debated mysteries, with theories ranging from astronomical observatories to ritual centers or defensive fortifications.
Rechnitz stands out because three separate circular enclosures were discovered here between 2011 and 2017 - an unusual concentration suggesting the area served as a significant regional center during the Middle Neolithic period. These structures are part of a broader network of similar monuments stretching from Austria and Hungary through Germany to the Czech Republic, indicating shared architectural traditions among early European farming communities.
The current excavations, led by Nikolaus Franz, head of Archaeology Burgenland, follow years of non-invasive archaeological surveying. Advanced geomagnetic surveys conducted by GeoSphere Austria first revealed the presence of postholes, ceramic fragments, storage pits, and ditches beneath the surface. These techniques allowed archaeologists to map the ancient settlements before physically excavating them.
The excavation trench follows the planned walkway path from the visitor pavilion to the circular enclosure, based on geomagnetic soil surveys by GeoSphere Austria. (Land Burgenland)
Franz describes the site as "a window into the Stone Age," emphasizing that the Neolithic period marked humanity's revolutionary transition from hunting and gathering to organized agriculture and permanent settlement. Bioarchaeological analysis of soil samples is underway, while the University of Vienna conducts specialized research on soil formation and geology to understand how agricultural landscapes developed in the region thousands of years ago.
Astronomical Alignments and Ritual Significance
Some researchers interpret these circular enclosures as proto-observatories, noting that many feature entrances aligned with sunrise or sunset during key agricultural seasons. This theory connects Rechnitz to other famous Neolithic astronomical sites like the Goseck Circle in Germany, considered the world's oldest solar observatory. Such alignments would have been crucial for early farming communities tracking seasonal changes essential for crop cultivation.
The monumental scale and communal effort required to construct these enclosures suggests they held profound social and possibly religious significance. Unlike earlier hunter-gatherer societies, these Neolithic communities invested tremendous resources in permanent structures designed to endure generations, symbolizing their commitment to sedentary agricultural life.
Cultural Heritage and Tourism Potential
The planned Archaeological Visitor Center represents Burgenland's commitment to making prehistoric heritage accessible to contemporary audiences. Until recently, these ancient earthworks were barely visible to the naked eye, detectable only through aerial photography and magnetometric surveys. The new facility will use reconstructions, interactive exhibitions, and educational programs to bring 6,500-year-old Neolithic life vividly to life for visitors from around the world.
This project positions Rechnitz within Austria's growing cultural tourism sector while contributing invaluable scientific data to ongoing debates about early European civilization. As construction approaches, archaeologists race against time to complete documentation, ensuring that future generations can study these remarkable testimonies to humanity's earliest monumental achievements.
The discoveries at Rechnitz confirm the town's importance within a vast prehistoric network of circular monuments that demonstrate sophisticated architectural knowledge and social organization among Central Europe's first farming communities. These findings continue to reshape our understanding of the Neolithic revolution and its lasting impact on European civilization.
Top image: Aerial view of the archaeological excavation site showing the project area for the Circular Enclosure & Stone Age Village in Rechnitz, Austria
UFO Moves Across Sky Over Minneapolis, Minnesota on Aug 24, 2025, UAP Sighting News. VIDEO!
UFO Moves Across Sky Over Minneapolis, Minnesota on Aug 24, 2025, UAP Sighting News. VIDEO!
Date of sighting: Aug 24, 2025
Location of sighting: Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Source: NUFORC
Now hold on a second, if you look at the video at first it looks like balloons, but when I take a screenshot and enlarge it, this is a single craft. This is odd for sure and I have to admit, its glowing parts or flashes are baffling to me. This is one extraordinary UFO! It moves with the wind across the sky, but it's not balloons because there are no strings, it's not a weather balloon because they have transponder boxes required by law hanging below. This is a real UFO and it seems to be interested in the people watching it, as if it were deliberately trying to be seen.
Scott C. Waring - UFO Sightings Daily
Eyewitness states:
Noticed in air, took video. Morphing multiple spheres like bunch of grapes. Shimmering/reflecting sun. Two observers were on a hill overlooking a sunset. The object was gray in color but also shimmered or was made of reflective material. The side facing the sunset was the side of the object that was shimmering. It was composed of multiple spheres that kept moving to create different formations. The spheres all seemed to be a part of a singular object. It was flying fast, silently and straight, heading roughly southeast. I looked at a flight radar and there were no planes in the vicinity. It was flying lower than a typical airplane. One observer is an electrician and artist (weaving) . The other observer is an artist (multi-disciplinary).
UFO Caught During Sunset Over New York, New York, Aug 25, 2025, UAP Sighting News.
UFO Caught During Sunset Over New York, New York, Aug 25, 2025, UAP Sighting News.
Date of sighting:Aug 25, 2025
Location of sighting: New York, New York, USA
Source: NUFORC
This report is fascinating. The eyewitness was on the top of a building recording the sunset and accidentally caught a UFO. Now maybe it was shooting past at high speed, uncloaked or just was revealed by the digital eye of the camera...is unknown...but one thing is for sure...UFOs get revealed during sunsets. So that leads me to conclude that the suns angle combined with the right digital lens...causes UFOs that are cloaked to be revealed for anywhere between 15 seconds to a few minutes. Sunsets are the most common time of the day to catch a UFO due to these things. Was it a UFO? Oh yeah...it sure was.
Scott C. Waring - UFO Sightings Daily
Eyewitness states:
I was filming and taking photographs from E137th street in the Bronx on a rooftop facing east.Viewing sunrise from the east, behind Throgsneck, I continuously shot a plane crossing the horizon into Laguardia Airport.
When I processed the Cr2 files, i noticed in a single frame, an object was captured. Disc like with a rounded top and flat bottom. It did not appear in any frame but one. I checked my camera, the lens, the sensor. Nothing suggests that the object was dust or anything ordinary.
Appearing in one frame suggests it was in transit at high speed and I was lucky to capture it by matching the frame rate. That’s my best guess.
Bizarre flying objectsare usually considered a stateside phenomena.
But a remarkable shot shows one brazenly flying though the hills in the north of England – and experts are baffled.
The mysterious aerial entity was snapped outside of Shipton in Yorkshire by photographer and local man John Tunnah.
Eerily, the Yorkshire resident took about 10 or 12 photographs from his vantage point but the object only appeared in one of them.
Mr Tunnah said they were the 'first photos on an unfamiliar camera' that he had only just purchased.
He described the phenomenon as a probable 'UFO' – an unidentified flying object.
And it's remarkably similar to the classic UFO saucer shape depicted in popular culture, with a distinctive round and elongated shape.
'Why it was manoeuvring at low level over West Yorkshire was a mystery,' Mr Tunnah told the Daily Mail.
The bizarre saucer-shaped object was snapped with a Pentax Optio SVi camera by Yorkshire photographer John Tunnah
The photo, shared exclusively with the Daily Mail, was taken with a Pentax Optio SVi camera one Saturday morning, according to Mr Tunnah.
The photo, shared exclusively with the Daily Mail, was taken with a Pentax Optio SVi camera one Saturday morning, according to Mr Tunnah.
'I was travelling home with it when I noticed, behind the hills beyond Silsden, a perfectly formed arch of cloud – like a cloudy rainbow,' he said.
'I pulled in, intending to take photos. By the time I'd sorted the camera out the arch had broken up as per the photo, but I took a few shots anyway.
'That evening, I was playing with the camera and deleting shots I'd taken when I came across this one showing something on the far left.
'It didn't appear on any of the other photos I'd taken at the time.
'I'm not a "flying-saucer", or "alien visitation" freak, but whatever it was deserves the term UFO.'
Mr Tunnah, originally from Scotland, then showed the perplexing snap to some of his friends 'just out of interest'.
'They all tended to agree that it was "real", "solid" and appeared to be travelling at speed from the dissipating "arch" on the horizon,' he said.
The Yorkshireman's attention was drawn by a perfectly formed arch of cloud over the trees (centre) - and only later did he notice the saucer-shaped object on the left
What is the mystery object?
The object is remarkably similar to the classic UFO saucer shape depicted in popular culture, with a distinctive round and elongated shape.
John Tunnah, who took the picture, speculated that it could be a Skunk Works-type aircraft close to the horizon.
Alternatively, it could be a fast-moving animal nearer the camera lens.
'Various theories were put forward – such as "flying saucer" and very short lived cloud.'
The resident speculated that it could also be be a 'Skunk Works-type aircraft of previously unknown design'.
Skunk Works is the official pseudonym for Lockheed Martin's Advanced Development Programs (ADP), responsible for developing highly classified experimental aircraft.
Nick Pope, a UFO expert formerly with the UK's Ministry of Defence, offered a number of explanations for Mr Tunnah's photo.
'When photos show an anomaly that wasn't seen at the time, I suspect either a glitch with the camera, or a fast-moving object like a bird or an insect, close to the lens,' he told the Daily Mail.
But the US Department of Defense – otherwise known as the Pentagon – declined to comment on the image.
UFO stands for 'unidentified flying object' and so the term doesn't necessarily describe an object with an extraterrestrial origin.
But some of its characteristics adhere to common descriptions of what UFOs look like.
Most UFOs have been described as ‘orb’, ‘round’ or ‘sphere’, but other reported shapes include polygon, triangle and 'Tic Tac', says the Pentagon
A Pentagon document published in 2023 revealed that the typical UFO has a round shape, usually spherical or an orb, with a white or silver colour.
Based on what it knows from reported sightings between 1996 and 2023, other UFO shapes include rectangle, oval, triangle, disk, cylinder, square and even polygon.
Meanwhile, 16 per cent have been described as having lights, although in many cases this may have been due to their reflective qualities.
Pentagon baffled by 8,000 mysterious UFO orbs hovering over US military bases
An invasion of small metallic orbs has been spotted hovering over the US in recent years, leaving the Pentagon scrambling to identify these mysterious UFOs.
Among these, 422 reports specifically describe metallic orbs, with the majority observed between 1am and 4am near military installations in New York, California, and Arizona.
Eyewitnesses, including civilians, pilots, and military personnel, reported seeing the spheres hover silently before moving at extreme speeds, leaving no trace of their departure.
Some of the sightings have been captured on video or radar, though many remain unexplained.
Ancient Jesus Cup Discovered in Egypt May Contain World's First Christ Reference
A remarkable ceramic vessel discovered beneath the waters off Alexandria, Egypt, may represent the earliest known reference to Jesus Christ outside of Christian scripture. The so-called "Jesus Cup" was unearthed in 2008 by French marine archaeologist Franck Goddio during extensive underwater excavations of Alexandria's ancient harbor. The ceramic bowl, remarkably well-preserved except for a missing handle, bears a compelling Greek inscription that has sparked intense scholarly debate about early Christian influence in ancient Egypt.
The inscription, written in Greek capitals as "DIA CHRSTOU O GOISTAIS," translates to "Through Christ the chanter" or "Through Christ the magician." Dr. Jeremiah Johnston, a respected New Testament scholar, explained during a recent Trinity Broadcasting Network segment that this artifact dates to the first century AD, the precise era when Jesus was crucified, reports the Daily Mail. This timing positions the cup as potentially the earliest physical evidence of Christ's recognition outside Judea, suggesting his reputation as a powerful wonder-worker had spread across the Mediterranean world within decades of his ministry.
The cup was discovered at a submerged site that included the ancient island of Antirhodos, where Cleopatra's palace may have been located. Goddio and his team from the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology have been systematically exploring Alexandria's sunken harbor since 1992, uncovering remarkable artifacts that illuminate the cosmopolitan nature of this ancient city. Alexandria in the first century was a melting pot where paganism, Judaism, and early Christianity intersected, creating unique religious practices that incorporated elements from multiple traditions.
The bowl's design closely resembles vessels depicted on early Egyptian statuettes showing fortune-telling ceremonies. Ancient magical manuals describe how practitioners would pour oil into water and enter ecstatic trances, seeking visions of mystical beings who could answer questions about the future. According to Goddio, invoking Christ's name may have been intended to legitimize these soothsaying rituals, drawing on his already established reputation as a miracle worker.
Not all experts agree on the inscription's interpretation, highlighting the challenges of deciphering ancient texts with religious significance. Bert Smith, professor of classical archaeology at Oxford University, proposes that the engraving may reference a person named "Chrestos" who belonged to a religious group called the "Ogoistais" rather than Jesus Christ. Klaus Hallof, director of the Institute of Greek Inscriptions at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy, supports this alternative reading, noting that historians from the bowl's era, including Strabo and Pausanias, mention deities called "Osogo" or "Ogoa."
Scholar Steve Singleton offers yet another interpretation, arguing that "chrstos" simply means "good" or "kind," translating the inscription as "[Given] through kindness for the magicians." György Németh of Eötvös Loránd University proposes a practical explanation: the bowl may have been used for preparing ointments, with "Chrstos" or "DIACHRISTOS" referring to an anointing salve rather than the biblical figure. These diverse interpretations reflect the complexity of ancient religious practices in Alexandria, where magical traditions freely incorporated names and concepts from various spiritual traditions.
Historical Implications and Significance
If the inscription truly refers to Jesus Christ, it would represent unprecedented material evidence of his existence and influence dating to the first century AD. This discovery would significantly advance the historical timeline of Christian awareness in Egypt, demonstrating that knowledge of Jesus's life and miracles had reached Alexandria within decades of his crucifixion. Such evidence would challenge historians to reconsider both the geographic spread and the speed of early Christian influence throughout the Roman Empire.
The artifact's discovery in Alexandria holds particular significance given the city's role as a center of learning and religious innovation. The famous Library of Alexandria and the city's diverse population created an environment where ideas from different cultures and faiths could merge and evolve. Early Christian communities in Alexandria were known for their theological sophistication and their ability to engage with Greek philosophy and Egyptian religious traditions, making it a logical place for Christ's reputation to have taken root quickly.
Top image: Ancient ceramic bowl discovered off Alexandria coast showing Greek inscription that may reference Christ.
Source: Jeremiah J. Johnston, Prestonwood/ Daily Mail
European researchers are developing a three-member team of robots that can cooperatively explore lunar caves. In this image, the robots are being tested on the Spanish volcanic island of Lanzarote. Image Credit: Aerial Skylight Robots/ University of Malaga
Protecting astronauts and equipment during missions outside of Earth's protective sphere is critical to successful space exploration. The Moon is a malign environment where powerful solar radiation bombards the surface unimpeded.
The Moon's temperature swings, the wildest in the Solar System, reach highs of 121 Celsius and lows of -146 Celsius. Some polar locations are in a permanent -240 Celsius deep freeze.
There are also micrometeorites. With no atmosphere to stop them, micrometeorites pummel the surface at extremely high velocities up to 70 km/second (157,000 mph.) Some research shows that up to 10,000 kg of micrometeorites strike the Moon every day.
Astronauts need protection from all of these hazards. Orbital images of the Moon show that there are numerous lava tubes on the Moon that could keep astronauts safe. These were formed during ancient lava eruptions. When part of a lava tube ceiling collapses it leaves an opening called a skylight that shows up in images.
This image from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter shows a section of collapsed ceiling in a lava tube in Mare Tranquillitatus. Rocky debris from the collapse is seen at the bottom of the pit. The pit is about 100 meters deep, but only further exploration can determine how long or large the lava tube is.
Image Credit: By NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University - http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA13518, Public Domain.
There are also visible sinuous rilles on the surface indicating the path and length of some tubes. While many have collapsed almost completely, others have not. Some rilles reach great lengths. Rima Sharp, a rille on the lunar near side, is up to 566 km long, though some researchers say it is actually two separate rilles.
Rima Sharp may be the longest lunar rille at 566 km in length, though some consider it to be a pair of separate rilles.
Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University.
There's been a lot of research into the idea of using these caves for protection. There are concepts for bases constructed inside of them where astronauts could live and work. But they need to be explored before those plans can take any concrete steps. The collapsed skylights are seen as possible entrances into some of these caves, and scientists have thought hard about how they could be used to access the caves and explore them.
A team of European researchers have designed a trio of robots with different capabilities that could work together to explore lunar caves and assess their potential. The researchers have tested them on Lanzarote, a volcanic island in Spain's Canary Islands. The team's work is presented in a new research letter published in Science Robotics titled "Cooperative robotic exploration of a planetary skylight surface and lava cave." The lead author is Raul Dominguez from the Robotics Innovation Center at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence.
While the Moon is the next place where astronauts will get their boots on the ground, Mars is part of this work, too. Mars also has lava tubes with collapsed skylights, and astronauts visiting the planet could also benefit from their protection. Additionally, Mars has astrobiological importance that the Moon lacks.
"Exploration of lava caves on the surface of planetary bodies near Earth is of high importance for scientific research and space exploration," the authors write. "The natural shielding that these caves offer against radiation and small meteorites makes them well suited for preserving exobiological signatures and protecting human-made facilities. The use of a robot team arises as the safest and most cost-efficient way to explore extraterrestrial lava caves because they are difficult to access."
The team are working on a three-member team of heterogeneous robots that work together autonomously to explore lava tubes in four phases.
SherpaTT is a hybrid wheeled and legged robot that performs surface exploration and acts as a surface anchor to lower another robot, Coyote III, into the lava tube. Coyote III is a small, lightweight, highly-mobile wheeled rover. LUVMI-X is the third rover. It's lightweight and cost effective, and performs mapping along with SherpaTT.
The three robots and their capabilities.
Image Credit: Dominguez et al. 2025 SciRob
In phase 1, the entrance area around the lava tunnel is mapped by SherpaTT and LUVMI-X. In phase 2, a sensorized payload cube with high-speed cameras is ejected into the cave from LUVMI-X to collect initial data about the entrance and the cave floor. In phase 3, the Coyote III scout rover rappels into the cave while being anchored to SherpaTT. In phase 4, the scout rover explores and maps the cave in 3d.
This image shows the three members of the robotic team tested on Lanzarote in the Canary Islands.
Image Credit: Dominguez et al. 2025. SciRob
The team tested the operation on Lanzarote Island in February 2023.
The researchers aimed to test each phase of the mission several times in order to gauge effectiveness and understand what improvements are needed. They were unable to test each phase as many times as they desired due to weather and other constraints, but still achieved good results.
"In MP-1, SherpaTT and LUVMI-X collaborated to generate a DEM with enough accuracy to identify the skylight and place the rovers in the correct position during the following phases," the authors write.
"During MP-2, the skylight was explored using the payload cube, which demonstrated its capacity to recreate the skylight in 3D by emulating a free fall under lunar gravity through a pulley system," the authors explain.
MP 3 was also successful. Coyote III was autonomously lowered into the cave without damage.
MP4, the cave-mapping portion of the test, was also validated. "Coyote III was suitable for traversing the harsh terrain and collecting point clouds through remote control, therefore validating the locomotion and data acquisition approach," the authors write. Coyote III successfully traversed different terrains in the cave, but was unable to execute point turns "in consolidated irregular rocky surfaces because of high friction," the authors explain.
These panels show some of the results of the testing for mission phase 4. The testing validated the cave reconstruction and the mobility and effectiveness of Coyote III. A shows the skylight mesh image produced by Coyote III. B shows the skylight Time of Flight data visualization. C shows the rovers travelling through a narrow corridor. D shows the passage Time of Flight visualization. E shows the Coyote III cave reconstruction. F shows ground-truth rover cave reconstruction for F(i) the skylight area and F(ii) the narrow corridor area.
Image Credit: Dominguez et al. 2025 SciRob
The researchers say that a "heterogeneous autonomous robot team is a promising approach" for the exploration of lunar and Martian lava caves. "The presented analog field test showed reliable and efficient performances in most of the defined MPs," they write. " However, the mission concept needs further research to be extrapolated to a real planetary exploration scenario."
3-4 billion years ago, Mars’ volcanoes spewed large amounts of sulfur-containing gases. And it was not sulfur oxide, as previously thought, but hydrogen sulfide and sulfur hexafluoride. These are much stronger greenhouse gases and could well have created a climate on the planet conducive to life.
Sulfur crystals on Martian rock. Source: phys.org
Sulfur-containing gases and the early climate of Mars
Although the early climate of Mars remains an open question, new research suggests that its atmosphere may have been hospitable to life thanks to volcanic activity that released sulfur gases that contributed to the greenhouse effect.
Using data from the composition of Martian meteorites, researchers conducted more than 40 computer simulations with different temperatures, concentrations, and chemistry to estimate how much carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur gases could have been released on early Mars.
Instead of the high concentrations of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) predicted by previous climate models of Mars, their research shows that volcanic activity on Mars approximately 3-4 billion years ago could have led to high concentrations of several chemically “reduced” forms of sulfur, which are extremely reactive. These include hydrogen sulfide (H2S), disulfur (S2), and possibly sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), an extremely potent greenhouse gas.
According to lead author Lucia Bellino, a graduate student at the University of Texas at Jackson School of Geosciences, this could have led to a unique environment on Mars – one that could have been hospitable to certain forms of life. This means that the presence of “reduced sulfur” could have caused a foggy environment, leading to the formation of greenhouse gases such as SF6, which trap heat and liquid water. This could have created hydrothermal systems that support diverse microbial life.
The role of sulfur in the chemical processes of ancient Mars
Previous studies of Mars have examined how the release of gases on the surface, often as a result of volcanic eruptions, could have affected the planet’s atmosphere. This study, in turn, simulated how sulfur changed during geological processes, including how it separated from other minerals when incorporated into magma layers beneath the planet’s surface. This is important because it provides a more realistic picture of the chemical state of the gas before it was released onto the surface, where it could have shaped the early climate conditions on Mars.
The study also showed that sulfur may have frequently changed its form. While Martian meteorites have high concentrations of reduced sulfur, the Martian surface contains sulfur that is chemically bound to oxygen. “This suggests that sulfur cycling – the transition of sulfur into different forms – may have been a dominant process on early Mars,” Bellino said.
Last year, while the team was conducting its research, NASA made a discovery that seemed to confirm their findings. NASA’s Curiosity rover turned over and cracked a rock, revealing elemental sulfur. Although Mars is known for its abundance of sulfur minerals, this was the first time the mineral had been found in its pure form, unbound to oxygen. This was one of the confirmations of the research team’s hypotheses.
Further climate modeling
As the team continues its work, it will use its computer simulations to investigate other processes that would have been necessary to support life on Mars, including sources of water on early Mars and whether volcanic activity could have provided a large reservoir of water on the planet’s surface. They also seek to understand whether reduced forms of sulfur could have served as a food source for microbes in an early climate that resembled Earth’s hydrothermal systems.
Mars is far from the Sun, and today its temperature is typically cold, averaging -80°F. Bellino hopes that climate modeling experts will be able to use her team’s research to predict how warm the early Martian climate might have been, and if microbes were present, how long they could have survived in a warmer atmosphere.
3-4 billion years ago, Mars’ volcanoes spewed large amounts of sulfur-containing gases. And it was not sulfur oxide, as previously thought, but hydrogen sulfide and sulfur hexafluoride. These are much stronger greenhouse gases and could well have created a climate on the planet conducive to life.
Sulfur crystals on Martian rock. Source: phys.org
Sulfur-containing gases and the early climate of Mars
Although the early climate of Mars remains an open question, new research suggests that its atmosphere may have been hospitable to life thanks to volcanic activity that released sulfur gases that contributed to the greenhouse effect.
Using data from the composition of Martian meteorites, researchers conducted more than 40 computer simulations with different temperatures, concentrations, and chemistry to estimate how much carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur gases could have been released on early Mars.
Instead of the high concentrations of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) predicted by previous climate models of Mars, their research shows that volcanic activity on Mars approximately 3-4 billion years ago could have led to high concentrations of several chemically “reduced” forms of sulfur, which are extremely reactive. These include hydrogen sulfide (H2S), disulfur (S2), and possibly sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), an extremely potent greenhouse gas.
According to lead author Lucia Bellino, a graduate student at the University of Texas at Jackson School of Geosciences, this could have led to a unique environment on Mars – one that could have been hospitable to certain forms of life. This means that the presence of “reduced sulfur” could have caused a foggy environment, leading to the formation of greenhouse gases such as SF6, which trap heat and liquid water. This could have created hydrothermal systems that support diverse microbial life.
The role of sulfur in the chemical processes of ancient Mars
Previous studies of Mars have examined how the release of gases on the surface, often as a result of volcanic eruptions, could have affected the planet’s atmosphere. This study, in turn, simulated how sulfur changed during geological processes, including how it separated from other minerals when incorporated into magma layers beneath the planet’s surface. This is important because it provides a more realistic picture of the chemical state of the gas before it was released onto the surface, where it could have shaped the early climate conditions on Mars.
The study also showed that sulfur may have frequently changed its form. While Martian meteorites have high concentrations of reduced sulfur, the Martian surface contains sulfur that is chemically bound to oxygen. “This suggests that sulfur cycling – the transition of sulfur into different forms – may have been a dominant process on early Mars,” Bellino said.
Last year, while the team was conducting its research, NASA made a discovery that seemed to confirm their findings. NASA’s Curiosity rover turned over and cracked a rock, revealing elemental sulfur. Although Mars is known for its abundance of sulfur minerals, this was the first time the mineral had been found in its pure form, unbound to oxygen. This was one of the confirmations of the research team’s hypotheses.
Further climate modeling
As the team continues its work, it will use its computer simulations to investigate other processes that would have been necessary to support life on Mars, including sources of water on early Mars and whether volcanic activity could have provided a large reservoir of water on the planet’s surface. They also seek to understand whether reduced forms of sulfur could have served as a food source for microbes in an early climate that resembled Earth’s hydrothermal systems.
Mars is far from the Sun, and today its temperature is typically cold, averaging -80°F. Bellino hopes that climate modeling experts will be able to use her team’s research to predict how warm the early Martian climate might have been, and if microbes were present, how long they could have survived in a warmer atmosphere.
In 1977, scientists discovered a mysterious signal beaming from space that was so powerful it prompted astronomer Jerry Ehman to write 'Wow!' on the telescope's readout.
Now, a team of experts has re-examined the signal's data with modern techniques and found that it could be even stranger than previously thought.
According to the new analysis, the Wow! signal was more than four times stronger than earlier estimates suggested.
The scientists were also able to definitively dismiss a number of natural or human explanations.
There were no known TV stations at that time which could have created the signal, nor were there any satellites passing overhead.
And although scientists believe that the Wow! signal is likely to have a natural cause, they say alien sources can't yet be ruled out.
Co–author Dr Hector Socas-Navarro, director of the European Solar Telescope Foundation, told Daily Mail: 'While aliens aren’t completely off the table, it seems that the signal may have originated by a natural astrophysical source. Our goal now is to find that source.'
For decades, scientists have struggled to find any natural process capable of producing the 72–second burst which prompted astronomer Jerry Ehman to write 'WOW!' on the telescope's readout
Using new data, the scientists also refined the area of the sky from which the signal emerged. This map shows the new refined regions (yellow) compared to the previous estimates (grey)
The Wow! signal was detected by astronomers at the Big Ear Observatory in Delaware, Ohio, back in 1977.
Scientists at the observatory were scanning the sky for radio waves as part of a hunt for extra-terrestrials when the telescope picked up an extraordinary signal.
The sudden burst of radio waves was not only exceptionally powerful, but it was also abnormally long-lasting – continuing for a full 72 seconds.
Additionally, scientists noted that the signal's frequency was in the so-called hydrogen line, which is a band of frequencies emitted by atomic hydrogen.
Since hydrogen is so abundant in the universe, some suggested that advanced civilisations might be using its frequency as a calling card for signalling to other intelligent species.
Strangely, the signal never repeated, and scientists haven't yet found another burst in the same frequency that is nearly as intense.
However, further study of the Wow! signal has been made difficult by the fact that all the data from the Big Ear Observatory is on paper printouts.
In this new paper, a team of researchers and volunteers painstakingly digitised over 75,000 pages of data from the observatory.
Researchers and volunteers analysed over 750,000 pages of data from the Big Ear Radio Observatory in Ohio, where the Wow! Signal was spotted
What are the theories to explain the signal?
There have been many theories over the years for what could have been the source of the short-lived, narrow-band radio signal that became known as the Wow! signal.
At the time, it was seen as having all the traits of having come from a distant planet, but the inability to pick it up again has frustrated astronomers.
While some have taken it to be a radio message broadcast by an alien beacon into space, others have looked for other astronomical sources.
Theories have included collisions between asteroids and stars, flares from stars, merging white dwarfs and colliding neutron stars.
Now, experts suggest that it could have been caused by energy from a neutron star triggering a cloud of atomic hydrogen gas to release a laser burst.
For the first time ever, this allowed for the computational analysis of data about the Wow! signal.
Dr Hector Socas-Navarro says: 'The paper basically rewrites the basic stats of the Wow! signal.'
In addition to showing that the signal had been stronger than previously thought, the researchers have been able to characterise the burst much more accurately.
They narrowed the part of the sky that the signal came from to two small regions, each of which produced a different component of the signal.
The researchers were also able to determine this location with two-thirds greater statistical certainty.
Additionally, this new data slightly revises the signal's frequency – putting it at 1420.726 MHz rather than 1420.4556 MHz.
That keeps the signal solidly within the hydrogen line, but that small change suggests that whatever produced the signal must have been spinning a lot faster than previously thought.
This means the source must be moving at about 46 miles per second (74 km/s), over double the previous estimate of 18 miles per second (30 km/s/).
The researchers say that the most likely cause of the Wow! signal is an intense beam of energy from a dying star hitting a cloud of cold hydrogen, causing it to produce a laser-like burst which hit Earth
'This means that when we look for candidates, the ones moving at that speed will stand out, like a very tall person in a large crowd, and it will be easier to identify the emitting source,' says Dr Socas-Navarro.
Importantly, this research also rules out some natural phenomena that had been suggested as possible explanations.
It had been proposed that a man-made signal could have bounced off the moon and been mistakenly picked up by the observatory.
However, this new analysis clearly shows that the moon would have been on the wrong side of the planet at this time, so nothing could have bounced off it.
Likewise, the sun was not active enough during the year 1977 to produce anything close to the Wow! signal's intensity.
That means the Wow! signal really must have come from somewhere outside our solar system.
However, there are still many questions remaining about the origins of this mysterious radio beam.
Lead author Professor Abel Mendez, of the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo, told Daily Mail: 'We can’t rule out an extraterrestrial communication signal explanation for the Wow! Signal yet, but the evidence points to a natural origin.'
The dying star could have been a magnetar, which produce the most powerful magnetic fields in the Universe and are rare, explaining why the Wow! Signal has not been repeated
Previous research has spotted several signals which appeared to be extremely similar to the Wow! signal, albeit considerably fainter.
Four of those originated from the tiny red dwarf star, Teegarden's Star, which is just 12.5 light-years from Earth, and is surrounded by clouds of pure hydrogen.
Professor Méndez says: 'The most likely origin of the Wow! Signal is a maser flare or superradiance emission from a neutral hydrogen cloud.
'Small clouds emit consistent narrowband signals similar to the Wow! Signal but much weaker, so a cloud became temporarily much brighter due to any of these processes.'
The Fermi Paradox questions why, given the estimated 200-400 billion stars and at least 100 billion planets in our galaxy, there have been no signs of alien life.
The contradiction is named after its creator, Italian physicist Enrico Fermi.
He first posed the question back in 1950.
Fermi believed it was too extraordinary that a single extra-terrestrial signal or engineering project has yet to be detected in the universe — despite its immense vastness.
Fermi concluded there must a barrier that limits the rise of intelligent, self-aware, technologically advanced space-colonising civilisations.
This barrier is sometimes referred to as the 'Great Filter'.
Italian physicist Enrico Fermi devised the so-called Fermi Paradox in the 1950s, which explores why there is no sign of alien life, despite the 100 billion planets in our galaxy
If the main obstacle preventing the colonisation of other planets is not in our past, then the barrier that will stop humanity's prospects of reaching other worlds must lie in our future, scientists have theorised.
Professor Brian Cox believes the advances in science and engineering required by a civilisation to start conquering the stars will ultimately lead to its destruction.
He said: 'One solution to the Fermi Paradox is that it is not possible to run a world that has the power to destroy itself.
‘It may be that the growth of science and engineering inevitably outstrips the development of political expertise, leading to disaster.'
Other possible explanations for the Fermi Paradox include that intelligent alien species are out there, but lack the necessary technology to communicate with Earth.
Some believe that the distances between intelligent civilisations are too great to allow any kind of two-way communication.
If two worlds are separated by several thousand light years, it's possible that one or both civilisations would become extinct before a dialogue can be established.
The so-called Zoo hypothesis claims intelligent alien life is out there, but deliberately avoids any contact with life on Earth to allow its natural evolution.
Although the exact reason is still a mystery, there could be several causes, such as changes in the atmosphere, the melting of glaciers, motion in the Earth's core, and a weakening magnetic field.
While the loss of a few milliseconds is not a cause for too much concern, a frightening new book imagines a world literally 'spinning out of control'.
In 'Circular Motion' by Alex Foster, days on Earth last 23 hours, then 20 hours, and then eventually two hours.
Like a supercharged spinning top, the planet spins so fast that even gravity loses its grip, as the sun rises and sets ever faster.
Now, experts reveal the real implications of such a terrifying scenario, from large-scale disasters, floods and earthquakes.
A new novel called 'Circular Motion' by Alex Foster imagines a world literally spinning out of control, until a day last just two hours
In Foster's new novel, Earth's rotation speeds up due to a network of massive aircraft that orbit the Earth at 30,000 feet, revolutionising global transportation.
The acceleration of Earth’s spin begins gradually, and days are just a few seconds shorter than normal, so nobody initially notices.
However, Earth’s spin progressively gets faster and faster until a day lasts just two hours – triggering a global catastrophe.
If Earth's spin really did get faster, experts say it cause a 'centrifugal effect' where the things start to swing away from the planet's axis, much like the hanging chairs on a spinning carousel ride.
Earth's oceans would start to bulge around the equator, giving the planet more of a diamond shape, with sloping northern and southern hemispheres.
Water pulled from the polar regions (where centrifugal force is low) would cause the Arctic Ocean to become shallower and send the equatorial region underwater.
Even land around the equator that's not underwater could have a greatly increased chance of tsunamis and flooding.
Duncan Agnew, professor of geophysics at the University of California San Diego, said the 'largest changes would be in the ocean tides'.
This long-exposure photo of the northern night sky above the Nepali Himalayas shows the apparent paths of the stars as Earth rotates. If Earth spun fast enough, is this what we would see?
According to scientists, July 9, July 22 and August 5 this year were between 1.3 and 1.51 milliseconds shorter than the standard 24-hour day . Although the exact reason is still a mystery, there could be several causes, such as changes in the atmosphere, the melting of glaciers, motion in the Earth's core, and a weakening magnetic field (stock image)
Could the world keep going faster?
It is unlikely that the world will start to spin faster. In fact, the world is actually slowing down over time.
About 4.4 billion years ago, the planet was spinning so fast that days lasted four minutes. But this slowed down after a large object hit Earth and created the moon.
The only way Earth could speed up is if a large object hits at just the right angle. But this would likely liquify the planet's crust, so no humans would survive to see the results.
The daily rotation of the Earth produces two high tides and two low tides every 24 hours and 50 minutes.
'Change that by 10 per cent and the tides in some places would get larger and in others smaller,' Professor Agnew told the Daily Mail.
Also, the faster the Earth's spin, the faster tectonic plates would move, would could add to more geological stress and 'a lot of earthquakes', the academic added.
It’s worth remembering that the equator (where Earth’s circumference is the widest) spins faster than elsewhere, such as the tropics or the poles.
The equator spins at about 1,025 miles (1,650km) per hour, while the poles spin barely above zero miles per hour.
As Earth spins and we go around with it, we are held into place by gravity, but if the Earth spun fast enough, centrifugal force would overcome gravity, causing objects to be flung into space.
'The faster Earth turns, the more gravity will be canceled out and the lighter you’ll feel,' said Foster in a piece for New Scientist.
Hurricanes will spin faster and carry more energy if the world's spin greatly increases, researchers claim. In this picture from space, a swirling hurricane forms
The faster Earth's spin, the faster tectonic plates would move, would could add to more geological stress and 'a lot of earthquakes'. Pictured, damage from Afghanistan earthquake, September 4, 2025
NASA astronomer Dr Sten Odenwald also warned that weather phenomena would become more extreme, capable of causing more damage.
As the planet spins faster, an apparent force known as the Coriolis effect, which gives hurricanes their spin, intensifies.
'Hurricanes will spin faster and carry more energy,' Dr Odenwald said.
If Earth’s spin increased, there would of course also be both less sunlight in the day and less time to sleep at night, which might make humans less productive.
People would have keep putting their clocks back as the days shortened, or come up with a whole new time-keeping system.
Humans have a 'circadian rhythm' – an internal clock that is closely attuned to the 24-hour day – which can cause physical and mental issues if disrupted (by factors like plane travel).
Additionally, many satellites would no longer be positioned correctly, which could disrupt satellite communications, internet, TV broadcasting and more.
Luckily, Professor Agnew said the idea of Earth's rotation speeding up to the extent portrayed in the new novel is a 'particularly absurd premise'.
Each day on Earth contains 86,400 seconds, but the rotation isn't uniform, which means over the course of a year, each day has a fraction of a second more or less
'This cannot happen and nothing like it has ever been observed for any planet or star,' Professor Agnew told the Daily Mail.
In actual fact, the Earth has been rotating more and more slowly over the long-term, but this change has been very gradual.
'A billion years ago the day was maybe 19 hours long,' he told the Daily Mail.
'If you went back to when there were dinosaurs and didn't have a clock you wouldn't probably notice that the day was 30 minutes shorter.'
Dr Judah Levine, Fellow of the US government's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Maryland, also questioned how close the book's premise is to 'real physics'.
'If the story is loosely connected to reality, then the speed-up of Earth had to be accompanied by something else losing angular momentum, maybe the orbit of the moon,' he told the Daily Mail.
'This is a fundamental principle.'
Maybe the orbit of the moon losing angular momentum could cause the speed-up of Earth, he added.
'If that is what happens, the moon gets a lot closer, and the tidal effects become much stronger and more frequent because the periods are driven by the length of the day.'
Is Earth's rotation really speeding up?
Earth normally takes 24 hours, or exactly 86,400 seconds, to complete one full rotation, which is called a solar day.
The fastest day recorded so far was one year ago on July 5, 2024, when Earth spun 1.66 milliseconds faster than the standard 24 hours.
According to scientists, July 9, July 22 and August 5 this year were between 1.3 and 1.51 milliseconds shorter than the standard 24-hour day.
Earth's rotation has never been perfect, as it shifts by tiny amounts throughout time, getting a few milliseconds faster or slower.
However, scientists didn't start keeping exact records of these changes until the 1970s.
Scientists observe the phenomenon on atomic clocks - incredibly accurate machines that keep time by measuring the vibrations of atoms.
Natural forces like climate change may be playing a role in the planet's spin.
Weather patterns like El Niño and the accelerated melting of glaciers in summer may literally be throwing the planet out of balance by a tiny degree.
Another reason for this sudden change could be shifting molten layers in the core. Earth is not solid all the way through. Its core is made of hot, swirling liquid metal.
As that molten metal moves, it can change the planet's shape and balance.
Scientists are looking at all these pieces together, the moon's orbit, core activity, ocean flow, and wind patterns, to figure out what's going on.
Independent researcher Ben van Kerkwyk was a recent guest on the Joe Rogan Experience, where he discussed a discovery off the coast of Spain that could be the mythical city.
'There's a guy named Michael Donnellan...And he thinks he's found, at least, if not Atlantis, a part of Atlantis off the coast of Spain. And they 100 percent found some s*** in the waters,' van Kerkwyk said.
Rogan, looking stunned, could only respond with 'Wow,' mentioning Donnellan's upcoming documentary 'Atlantica' that reveals massive linear structures and enormous concentric circular walls littering the seafloor.
Donnellan, an independent archaeologist, told the Daily Mail that descriptions in Plato's writings, which perfectly match their findings of ruins, prehistoric settlements and ancient mines in the region of Gades, are the strongest evidence for an Atlantic civilization.
These discoveries, including underwater structures and sediment-covered sites indicating sudden destruction, align with Plato’s accounts of climate, societal structures, and ancient mythologies, providing a comprehensive context for their claims.
'All those details align perfectly with the region we’re studying, as our investigations reflect Plato’s texts with extraordinary precision, truly to a perfect degree,' Donnellan said.
For centuries, the mystery of Atlantis has captivated explorers and scholars alike, but one archaeologist now believes the legendary city may have once stood along Spain's southern coast in the city of Cádiz (pictured)
Massive structures were found around 65ft below the surface. The team also identified 'long, linear structures' etched across the ocean floor
Donnellan found the submerged ruins along the coast around Cádiz, a city in Andalusia.
'When you read Plato's texts, the Timaeus and Critias, he's got all these incredible details of what the place was like, where it was, that you could plant all year long, that it was in the region of Gades in the Atlantic,' he said
Donnellan spent eight years investigating the coast of Cadiz using an advanced sonar system used for high-resolution seafloor mapping, creating detailed 3D images of the underwater environment.
Van Kerkwyk noted that Donnellan used Merlin Burrows' satellite investigation techniques and aerial photography to uncover the hidden structures.
'It's fascinating, they 100 percent found something that is manmade,' said van Kerkwyk.
The technology revealed long linear structures etched across the ocean floor, which formed a series of enormous concentric circular walls, each standing more than 20 feet tall and arranged in an organized pattern.
'The team brings together a wide array of specialists and technologies, from the dive team to the scanning experts and the academics who have contributed to this project,' said Donnellan.
'I want to take a moment to thank the extended team for all their hard work and dedication.'
Joe Rogan was left speechless when his guest revealed new 'evidence' about the location of Atlantis, a city mentioned in Plato's writings
The underwater ruins were found off the coast of Spain, near ancient fishing corrals (pictured)
The outermost wall showed the most damage, as if it had been pummeled by a massive tsunami racing in from the sea.
The second and third walls, he said, were 'completely displaced,' with scans showing them split into two.
Between the walls sat intricately carved canals, and at the center was a rectangular ruin that, according to Donnellan, echoes Plato's description of Poseidon's temple, forming what he believes is the capital city of Atlantis.
Donnellan is among the many scholars who believe in a cataclysmic event around 12,000 years ago that wiped out an advanced civilization.
The controversial Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis (YDIH) suggests Earth passed through debris from a disintegrating comet.
The resulting impacts and shockwaves destabilized massive ice sheets, causing massive flooding that disrupted crucial ocean currents and triggered rapid climate cooling. However, the theory is not widely accepted by mainstream scholars.
Michael Donnellan, archaeologist and filmmaker, has spent eight years investigating what he believes is the city of Atlantis off the coast of Spain
'Plato tells you about the animals that helped out with the daily activities, the horse, the bull and the elephant,' he said.
Donnellan explained that the original horse in this area is believed to be the oldest breed in the world, along with the fighting bull from Andalusia, which traces back thousands of years.
He added there was also a prehistoric ivory trade through this part of Spain, noting that three types of elephants were there, including Asian elephants, which suggested there was international commerce between this region and Asia.
'All of those details coincide perfectly with where we're studying,' Donnellan said.
A valley located in Arizona has been dubbed the scariest national park in the US after sightings of UFOsand Bigfoot have been reported.
Monument Valley sits on the Utah-Arizona border and is full of strange and eerie sights.
The breathtaking park sits on Navajo tribal land and is said to be one of the most photographed places on earth with its stunning sandstone rock formations and desert environments.
But for Navajo Ranger Stanley Milford Jr., the land is more than just a beautiful place, but full of ghosts, UFOs, extraterrestrials, and more, he said in his memoir The Paranormal Ranger.
'There’s much more to this world than we can imagine,' Milford, who is part Cherokee and Navajo, wrote. 'I quickly learned to shut my mouth and open my ears.'
For more than 20 years, Milford served as a ranger in the park. For 11 of those, he worked on a covert team that investigated UFOs and paranormal activity that was reported within the Navajo Reservation.
He spent his summers with his father on the reservation and was well-versed in the tribe's culture, which helped him while he was investigating paranormal activity on the land.
'However, this doesn’t mean that the cases I investigated didn’t shock or challenge or change me,' he wrote.
For more than 20 years, Milford served as a ranger in Monument Valley (pictured above)
For more than 20 years, Milford served as a ranger in the park. For 11 of those, he worked on a covert team that investigated UFOs and paranormal activity that was reported within the Navajo Reservation (pictured: stock image of UFO)
Monument Valley has been compared to the X Files. Pictured: David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson are seen above in season one of the show
He recalled a time feeling an 'invisible finger touch my lip'.
'It moved across my mustache, from one side to the other. [Then] I heard two male voices, about three feet away, but there was no one there.'
He also witnessed a chair flying across a room, a laptop battery crashing into a wall, and coins falling and all landing heads-up.
'The only conclusion was that a spirit was saying: "Heads up, I’m here."'
His fellow investigator found a dollar bill with 'die' written on it and a butcher's knife fly across the room.
Officer workers in Window Rock, Arizona, heard 'disembodied voices' and felt 'unseen hands touch them'.
Arizona is one of the hottest areas to spot a UFO.
The desert town of Sedona, which is located approximately 210 miles away from Monument Valley, sits in both Coconino and Yavapai Counties. It had 484 UFO sightings between 2000 and 2023, according to an Axios report.
'There’s much more to this world than we can imagine,' Milford (pictured), who is part Cherokee and Navajo, wrote. 'I quickly learned to shut my mouth and open my ears'
He recalled a time feeling an 'invisible finger touch my lip.' He also witnessed a chair flying across a room, a laptop battery crashing into a wall, and coins falling and all landing heads-up, he revealed in his memoir (pictured)
These numbers put the area well above the national average of 34 people per 100,000.
Psychic and UFO tour guide John Polk, 56, told Daily Mail in May that he sees extraterrestrial activity nightly from his home in Sedona, where he's lived for the last eight years.
The native Floridian said: 'There's tons of activity. It's easy to see it.'
He believes Sedona is such a high-traffic area for UFOs due to the vortexes the city is known for.
Sedona is also a very spiritual place and is known as the 'door to the world' due to vortexes that are believed to open portals to other dimensions and provide healing energy.
Polk said Sedona has quartz along the ley lines - invisible gridlines that often fall into triangles that are believed to carry powerful energy - that help build electromagnetic energy that creates electricity, and ultimately, a pathway for ETs.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the F-16 Viper fighter jet was hit by an 'orange-white UAS' - which stands for un-crewed aerial system, better known as a drone.
His fellow investigator found a dollar bill with 'die' written on it and a butcher's knife fly across the room. Officer workers in Window Rock, Arizona, heard 'disembodied voices' and felt 'unseen hands touch them'
Arizona is one of the hottest areas to spot a UFO (pictured: Monument Valley)
The desert town of Sedona (pictured) had 484 UFO sightings between 2000 and 2023
The FAA's report of the F-16 collision revealed that the fighter was flying in restricted airspace near Gila Bend, Arizona, when it was hit by the object in the rear of the canopy, the glass bubble which protects the pilot.
No injuries were reported. The Air Force did not reveal how much damage the jet suffered, but the plane was grounded for repairs.
Within a day of this collision, there were three more unidentified aircraft sightings over the Air Force's Barry Goldwater Range, where the fighter was damaged, the documents stated.
Who are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse? Few images in religious literature are as striking or enduring as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Emerging from the pages of the Book of Revelation, these four riders—Conquest, War, Famine, and Death—are harbingers of divine judgment and symbols of humanity’s perpetual struggles. With their vivid and ominous descriptions, the Four Horsemen have captured the imagination of theologians, artists, writers, and scholars for centuries.
But the horsemen are more than mere figures of doom; they are reflections of universal themes, from unchecked ambition to violent conflict, economic instability, and the inevitability of mortality. Various interpretations have been made over the millennia as to what their existence in the pages of the Bible could truly mean. Click through this gallery to see who (or what) the horsemen could possibly be.
Symbolism The Four Horsemen are key figures in the Book of Revelation from the Bible. Each of them embodies a significant event of the apocalypse that is set to come: conquest, war, famine, and death.
The Son According to the Book of Revelation, the Four Horsemen are brought forth by Jesus Christ himself. Also known as the Lamb of God (or Lion of Judah), Christ opens four of seven seals that end up summoning the apocalypse.
Conquest The first horseman, riding a white horse, wields a bow and wears a crown of victory. As his name suggests, he is prominently associated with conquest and conquering. Some interpretations also connect him with pestilence, while others argue he represents Christ or the antichrist.
War The red horse signifies war, with the rider removing peace from Earth and wielding a large sword. This horseman’s actions result in widespread violence and slaughter in a symbol of human conflict on a devastating scale during the end times.
Famine The third horseman, riding a black horse, holds scales in his hand. He represents scarcity and famine, with the high cost of wheat and barley reflecting economic collapse. During the apocalypse, luxuries like oil and wine remain unhindered, which shows the inequality that exists in apocalyptic suffering.
Death The pale horse of the fourth horseman represents death, trailed by Hades. This rider is perhaps the most notorious. He has the authority to kill a quarter of the Earth’s population through famine, pestilence, war, and wild beasts.
Four interpretations Ever since the Book of Revelation came into existence, many scholars and theologians have attempted to interpret the symbolism of the horsemen. There are four primary schools of interpretation and perspective that exist today.
1. Idealist interpretation The idealist approach interprets the horsemen allegorically, depicting a timeless battle between good and evil. It sees these symbols as universal struggles that apply to all people, regardless of historical context or future events.
The allegorical focus of idealism Idealists emphasize that the horsemen represent spiritual and moral struggles rather than literal events that will happen once the apocalypse comes to pass. Since this approach is based on allegory, an interpreter can assign any meaning they want to the symbols.
Throughout time The idealist perspective also refrains from placing the Four Horsemen in any specific period of time. As such, the symbols in the Book of Revelation become timeless and applicable to every era.
2. Futurist interpretation Just like the name implies, futurism views the Four Horsemen as harbingers of future catastrophic events leading to the end times. Each rider symbolizes a specific sequence of events in a prophetic timeline, beginning with conquest and ending with widespread death.
Futurist debates Futurists often debate whether the first horseman, Conquest, represents Christ or an antichrist figure. Some argue that his conquest signifies the gospel’s triumph, but others view his weapon and actions as inconsistent with Christ’s message, which suggest that he’s an impostor pretending to be Christ.
War and unrest In the futurist perspective, the red horse symbolizes wars and civil unrest that will intensify in the end times. It predicts escalating global conflicts as a direct consequence of the conquest initiated by the first horseman.
Famine in the future According to futurists, the black horse predicts the collapse of economic systems and widespread famine, where even basic staples become unaffordable. The protection of luxuries like oil and wine simply highlights the stark inequality during this apocalyptic era.
Death’s inevitability Death on the pale horse represents the culmination of all the apocalyptic events. The horse is sometimes depicted with a greenish hue or as a skeleton, which some believe to symbolize decay and disease, with the rider unleashing destruction through a combination of war, famine, pestilence, and predatory animals.
3. Preterist interpretation Preterists believe the horsemen and the rest of the Book of Revelation represent events from the 1st century CE. The symbols are linked to figures like Roman Emperor Vespasian’s generals or the Empire’s turmoil.
Religious struggle Many Christians experienced significant hardship under the eye of the Roman Empire. Preterists believe that the horsemen reflect the sociopolitical struggles of early Christian communities.
Historical context According to preterism, the first horseman often represents mounted archers from the Parthian Empire, who were known for riding white horses. This interpretation links the rider’s conquest to historical military campaigns, emphasizing tangible events from the Roman Empire’s history.
Civil unrest Preterists associate the red horse with the constant civil strife that plagued the Roman Empire. This unrest, characterized by violence and bloodshed, mirrors the horseman’s actions of removing peace and causing widespread slaughter.
Famine’s literal representation Preterists believe that the black horse signifies famine and economic disparity during the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE. The scarcity of essentials resulted in the suffering of the masses, while the wealthy were spared from hardship.
Literalism Preterist interpretations often take a literal approach to the horsemen, with swords, wild beasts, and famine directly representing real historical elements.
4. Historicist interpretation Historicism interprets the four horsemen as four symbolic stages of the Church’s history, from its early purity to periods of persecution, institutionalization, and spiritual decline. The symbols align with the church’s journey through successive eras.
Purity According to historicists, the white horse signifies the early church’s purity and Christ’s victory over sin. Historicism connects the first horseman’s bow and crown to Old Testament imagery, reflecting God’s power and the triumphant spread of the gospel in its initial years.
Persecution The red horse depicts the bloodshed of Christian martyrs during the early Roman persecutions. Historicists emphasize the violent opposition the Church faced as it struggled to establish itself amidst widespread hostility.
Institutionalization The black horse represents the Church’s institutionalization, marked by the infiltration of pagan practices and a diminishing focus on Christ as the “bread of life.” This era in the Church’s history reflects spiritual famine rather than physical scarcity.
Papal dominance The fourth horseman’s pale horse represents the period of Papal supremacy, during which scripture was inaccessible to laypeople. The spiritual control that the papacy held is equated to death, emphasizing the Church’s loss of transparency and connection with ordinary believers.
Cultural impact The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse have transcended religious texts, becoming iconic symbols in literature, art, film, and popular culture. Even the 13th card in a tarot deck is of Death (sometimes the Grim Reaper) astride his pale white horse.
Moral warnings Beyond their apocalyptic roles, the horsemen can serve as moral warnings about human behavior. Conquest warns of unchecked ambition, war of violence, famine of inequality, and death of humanity’s mortality and frailty.
Despite the fear they evoke, the Four Horsemen ultimately point toward the resolution of divine justice. For believers, their role in the apocalypse signifies not just destruction, but the ushering in of a renewed and redeemed world.
Does the Vatican know something about UFOs and aliens that we don’t? Are popes after popes keeping secrets? Might there be a conspiracy between the Curia and an extraterrestrial civilization? Is this an unfounded rumor? How can we find out?
Well, we could ask. And that’s just what I plan to do here.
The Vatican Observatory in Outer Space
From 1987 to 2002, I had the opportunity to work on a joint project including the Vatican Observatory (VO) and the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences (CTNS). Saint Pope John Paull II took a specific interest in this project, meeting with us every two or three years. We relied on the very able leadership of then VO Director, astronomer George Coyne, S.J.
Former Vatican Observatory at Castel Gandolfo near Rome
We called it the Divine Action Project (DAP). By bringing scientists and theologians along with philosophers together, we sought to articulate a coherent way to understand God’s action in nature’s world. The world of nature we studied included the electron within the atom as well as the expanding universe of perhaps two billion galaxies.
From time to time we snooped around in the research of the staff scientists both at Castelle Gandolfo in Italy and the University of Arizona in the United States. I recall a number of Vatican astronomers were working on star formation, publishing scientific papers right along with other observatories around the world.
Although the astronomers reported very little direct research on ETI and theology, it was not uncommon to talk about astrobiologyand extraterrestrial neighbors in the Milky Way.
In no way did I perceive the slightest nervousness, obfuscation, or deceit from the scientist-Jesuits over a decade and a half. They seemed to know what was commonly known in the globwide scientific community about the possibilities of extraterrestrial life. Nothing less. Nothing more. No reason to whisper, speculare, or accuse anyone of conspiracy on this subject matter.
We like to gossip about what the Vatican knows.
When David Grusch testified before the Oversight Committee of the US House of Representatives last month and spoke in an interview with NewsNation about UFOs, he said the Vatican had in its possession both a crashed spaceship as well as one or more alien pilots. He dated this during the Mussolini period, 1933. Yes, Grusch said with confidence, the Vatican knows. What a titilating rumor under the guise of whistle blowing. But, until we see the evidence, we simply will not know what the Vatican knows. Allegedly.
Seth Shostak, an astronomer at SETI, asks: where’s the evidence?
“David Grusch says they’re here. But either he can’t prove it, or he won’t. Until he does, we should consider his stories to be just that: stories.”
If the Vatican has the evidence, let’s see it.
Why not just ask the Vatican about UFOs and Aliens?
UFOs and Aliens at the Vatican?
So, let’s ask the Vatican. But, whom should we pepper with our questions? Pope Francis? The Holy Father has already told us he would baptize an alien if the alien asks for it. Now, just how many aliens has this pontiff already baptized? Mmmmm? Well, what Francis said, in my opinion, seems much too innocuous a statement to be worthy of conspiracy speculation.
So, let’s ask José Gabriel Funes. Why him? Because Jose served as Director of the Vatican Observatory from 2006 to 2015. He’s an accomplished astromer and, like so many of his VO
After departing VO, Jose returned to his native Argentina to teach and conduct research. Jose spent this past sabbatical academic year in Berkeley with his Jesuit colleagues and with us at CTNS. Jose has told me that he has not seen any empirical evidence that would support these rumors. The question of extraterrestrial life is an open question awating future scientific dciscovery.
TED: Jose, whistleblower discussion in the United States strongly hints there is first hand knowledge of UFOs and aliens at the Vatican. But, rumor has it, the Vatican maintains this knowledge in secrecy. You have told me that the Vatican Observatory is not the holder of such secret knowledge. The question of off-Earth civilizations remains a strictly scientific question and an open question. What do you think?
Jose G. Funes, S.J., Director of the Vatican Observatory 2006-2015
JOSE. I think that the scientific community should investigate this information in a multidisciplinary approach.
Secondly, not everyone is able to do scientific research. In simple words, you should get a driving license in sciences to carry on scientific research. That license is the doctorate that universities on behalf of the academic community bestows. The academic system is not perfect but is the best we have. Moreover, results of the research must go through peer review. As I wrote in the epilogue of my recent book on SETI research, we need patience and humility. We live in a culture of immediacy. We may not see in our time any proof of ETI existence. We also need to get along with the fact that our legitimate questions may not have answers.
Third, in the hypothetical case that we find any form of extraterrestrial life, I do not see any contradiction with the faith in God the Creator. However, the potential discovery would challenge our theological thinking becoming less parochial, less anthropomorphic, and anthropocentric.
Now, Jose has shared this statement with a wide audience who has asked him my kind of question.
Conclusion
Well, there you have it. Are you disappointed? Is this just one more rumor about secret knowledge of UFOs and aliens in the Vatican with no conclusive answer? Or, is it just as much as anyone knows about UFOs and aliens at the Vatican?
Aliens, Tijd en De Esoterische Kennis van Andere Dimensies
Aliens, Tijd en De Esoterische Kennis van Andere Dimensies
Inleiding
Het onderwerp van buitenaards leven, de aard van tijd en het bestaan van andere dimensies heeft sinds mensenheugenis de menselijke verbeelding en het wetenschappelijke discours gefascineerd. Van de oude beschavingen die mythologische wezens associeerden met sterren tot de moderne zoektocht naar buitenaardse intelligentie, blijven deze thema’s centraal staan in zowel wetenschap als esoterische tradities. Deze dissertatie onderzoekt de interactie tussen het concept van buitenaardse wezens, de aard van tijd en de vermeende esoterische kennis over andere dimensies. Door een interdisciplinair perspectief te combineren, worden wetenschappelijke theorieën en esoterische overtuigingen naast elkaar geplaatst om een holistisch beeld te schetsen van deze complexe onderwerpen.
Vensters naar een parallelle universum?
Wetenschappelijke benadering van buitenaards leven
De wetenschappelijke benadering van buitenaards leven is een complex en multidisciplinair veld dat zich richt op het begrijpen van de mogelijkheid dat andere beschavingen in het universum bestaan. Een van de bekendste methoden binnen dit domein is de Drake Equation, ontwikkeld door de astronoom Frank Drake in 1961. Deze vergelijking biedt een probabilistische schatting van het aantal technologische beschavingen in onze Melkweg door verschillende parameters te modelleren, zoals de frequentie van stervorming, de kans dat een ster een planeet krijgt, en de waarschijnlijkheid dat leven zich ontwikkelt op zo’n planeet. Hoewel veel van deze parameters onzeker zijn en op schattingen gebaseerd, geeft de Drake Equation wel een inzicht in de mogelijke omvang van buitenaards intelligent leven en suggereert dat het niet ondenkbaar is dat dergelijke beschavingen bestaan.
Naast de astronomische benaderingen speelt de astrobiologie een centrale rol in het begrijpen van de voorwaarden waaronder leven kan ontstaan en voortbestaan. Deze discipline bestudeert de biologische en chemische aspecten van het leven in het universum. Recent onderzoek naar extremofielen op aarde – organismen die in uiterst extreme omstandigheden overleven, zoals in hete bronnen, diepe oceanen of in giftige omgevingen – heeft aangetoond dat leven niet per se gebonden is aan de traditionele aardse condities. Dit vergroot de plausibiliteit dat leven onder andere omstandigheden en op andere planeten of manen mogelijk is. Exoplaneten die zich bevinden in de zogenaamde 'bewoonbare zones' van sterrenstelsels, waar de temperatuur geschikt is voor vloeibaar water, worden als belangrijke kandidaten beschouwd voor het zoeken naar buitenaards leven.
Toch blijft het bewijs voor buitenaards intelligent leven tot nu toe uit. Er zijn enkele opmerkelijke anomalieën die de interesse van wetenschappers wekken, zoals de beroemde 'Wow!'-signalen die in de jaren 1970 werden opgevangen en die mogelijk een buitenaardse oorsprong zouden kunnen hebben. Daarnaast worden er regelmatig onverklaarbare waarnemingen gedaan van onidentificeerbare vliegende objecten (UFO's). Hoewel sommige onderzoekers deze waarnemingen beschouwen als mogelijke aanwijzingen voor buitenaardse activiteit, ontbreekt het nog aan solide, wetenschappelijk bewijs dat bewijst dat buitenaardse wezens contact met de aarde proberen te maken of hebben gemaakt. Het zoeken naar buitenaards leven blijft dus een boeiend veld dat zich zowel op astronomisch, biologisch als technologische niveaus ontwikkelt, met veel vragen nog onbeantwoord.
Welkom in de nieuwe realiteit.
sun ok/Shutterstock
Tijd als dimensie en de relativiteitstheorie
In de natuurkunde wordt tijd vaak beschouwd als een fundamentele dimensie, net zoals de drie ruimtelijke dimensies (lengte, breedte en hoogte). Tot voor kort werd tijd meestal als absoluut en universeel gezien: een universele klok die overal hetzelfde tikte, ongeacht waar je je bevond of hoe snel je bewoog. Echter, met de ontwikkeling van Albert Einsteins relativiteitstheer, vooral de algemene relativiteitstheorie, werd dit beeld radicaal veranderd. Einstein liet zien dat tijd en ruimte niet los van elkaar staan, maar dat ze samen één geheel vormen: de ruimtetijd. In deze theorie worden tijd en ruimte verweven in een vierdimensionaal continuüm, waarbij de aanwezigheid van massa en energie de structuur van de ruimte-tijd beïnvloedt.
Volgens de relativiteitstheorie wordt de manier waarop tijd verloopt, afhankelijk van de positie en beweging van de waarnemer. Een belangrijk concept hierbij is de tijdsdilatatie: het verschijnsel dat tijd voor een waarnemer die zich snel beweegt of zich in een sterk vervormde ruimte bevindt, langzamer verloopt ten opzichte van een stilstaande waarnemer. Dit is experimenteel aangetoond door bijvoorbeeld atoomklokken die op grote hoogten of tijdens snelheden in ruimteschepen verschillen in de gemeten tijdsverloop laten zien. Hoe sneller een object beweegt of hoe sterker de zwaartekracht, hoe meer de tijd wordt uitgerekt of vertraagd. Dit betekent dat tijd niet absoluut is, zoals vroeger werd gedacht, maar relatief en afhankelijk van de situatie van de waarnemer.
Deze inzichten openen de deur naar fascinerende theoretische mogelijkheden, zoals tijdreizen. Hoewel tijdreizen in de praktijk nog buiten bereik ligt en veel wetenschappelijke en technische obstakels kent, blijven de theoretische fundamenten interessant. Sommige wetenschappers speculeren dat het misschien ooit mogelijk zou kunnen zijn om door de tijd te reizen door gebruik te maken van exotische toestanden van de ruimte-tijd, zoals wormgaten of tegenspoedige zwarte gaten. Echter, deze concepten blijven voorlopig binnen de theoretische kaders en worden niet als haalbaar beschouwd binnen de huidige technologie.
Naast de relativiteitstheorie verkent de moderne kwantumfysica en theorieën zoals de snaartheorie en M-theorie de diepere structuur van het universum. Deze theorieën suggereren dat ons universum mogelijk meer dan vier dimensies bevat: naast de drie ruimtelijke en één tijdsdimensie, zouden er nog meerdere, verborgen dimensies kunnen bestaan. Sommige modellen stellen dat deze extra dimensies klein en opgesloten zijn, waardoor ze niet direct waarneembaar zijn. Andere theorieën beschrijven een veel complexere structuur waarin verschillende tijdlagen en dimensies kunnen bestaan, die mogelijk invloed op ons universum uitoefenen. Dit roept vragen op over de aard van de realiteit en de mogelijkheid om interactie te hebben met deze andere werelden of dimensies. Het onderzoek hiernaar is nog in volle gang en vormt een van de meest intrigerende en complexe gebieden binnen de moderne natuurkunde.
Esoterische kennis en andere dimensies
Naast de wetenschappelijke benaderingen die onze wereld en het universum proberen te verklaren, bestaan er oude en moderne esoterische tradities en kennisystemen die de realiteit op een heel andere manier benaderen. Deze systemen gaan uit van het bestaan van meerdere dimensies en werelden, die niet direct waarneembaar zijn met onze zintuigen, maar wel via innerlijke ervaringen, meditatie, trance of channeling toegankelijk kunnen worden. In veel spirituele en mystieke stromingen wordt aangenomen dat onze bekende fysieke wereld slechts één aspect is van een veel complexere multiversum, waarin hogere of andere dimensies bestaan die ons vaak onbekend blijven.
Al eeuwenlang spreken oude beschavingen zoals de Egyptenaren, Hindoes en Kelten over 'andere werelden', 'hemelen' of 'verschillende rijken' waar geascendeerde meesters, goden, geesten en voorouders resideerden. Deze werelden worden vaak beschreven als spirituele gebieden die via meditatie, rituelen of trance bereikt kunnen worden. In de Egyptische mythologie bijvoorbeeld, werden de onderwereld en de hemel beschouwd als verschillende gebieden met hun eigen wezens en wetten. De Hindoeïstische traditie spreekt over de vele lokas of werelden, die verbonden zijn met karma en reïncarnatie. De Kelten hadden hun verhalen over de 'Otherworld' – een magische wereld die parallel liep aan onze realiteit, en die toegankelijk was voor sjamanen en helden.
In de moderne esoterische en channeling-kringen wordt vaak gesproken over 'multi-dimensionale realiteiten'. Deze ideeën worden ondersteund door technieken zoals meditatie, trance en lucid dreaming, waarmee men toegang zou kunnen krijgen tot informatie uit hogere of niet-fysieke dimensies. Mensen die zichzelf of anderen channelen, beweren boodschappen en kennis te ontvangen van entiteiten uit deze hogere werelden, zoals gidsen, beschermengel of buitenaardse wezens. Deze kennis wordt vaak gebruikt voor spirituele groei, genezing of het verkrijgen van inzichten die niet via de reguliere zintuigen kunnen worden verkregen.
In het kader van buitenaards leven en ufologie wordt ook wel gesproken over 'interdimensionale wezens'. Dit zijn wezens die niet vastzitten aan onze fysieke dimensie en zich mogelijk kunnen verplaatsen via niet-fysieke routes of portals tussen verschillende realiteiten. Sommige theorieën suggereren dat deze wezens al eeuwenlang onze wereld bezoeken en dat ontmoetingen met hen vaak plaatsvinden op het grensvlak van fysieke en niet-fysieke werelden. Ze zouden zich kunnen manifesteren in trance, dromen of als schimmerelementen, waardoor ze moeilijk te detecteren zijn met reguliere technologie.
Deze ideeën over meerdere dimensies en interdimensionale wezens vormen een fascinerende aanvulling op de wetenschappelijke kennis, maar blijven voor velen een mysterie. Ze bieden een raamwerk waarin de grenzen van onze fysieke realiteit kunnen worden uitgedaagd en uitgebreid, en waarin de mogelijkheid bestaat dat onze wereld verbonden is met een veel groter, complexer geheel dat nog grotendeels onontdekt en onbegrepen is.
Starseeds beweren dat ze een buitenaardse bewustzijn zijn dat op aarde woont.
Ross Collier/Alamy Stock Foto
De interactie tussen wetenschap en esoterie
De interactie tussen wetenschap en esoterie is de laatste jaren steeds zichtbaarder geworden, ondanks dat deze twee disciplines traditioneel als tegenpolen worden beschouwd. Wetenschap richt zich op het objectief onderzoeken van de werkelijkheid door middel van waarneming, experimenten en bewijs, terwijl esoterie zich vooral bezighoudt met innerlijke ervaring, spirituele inzichten en het verkennen van niet-fysieke werelden. Toch ontstaan er steeds meer kruispunten waar deze werelden elkaar ontmoeten en beïnvloeden.
Een van de meest interessante gebieden waar deze interactie zichtbaar wordt, is de recente ontwikkeling van theorieën over het universum. Zo resoneren de ideeën over holografische universa en multiversa sterk met esoterische opvattingen over meerdere werelden en dimensies die parallel aan onze eigen bestaan. Wetenschappers zoals Leonard Susskind en Gerard 't Hooft hebben hypotheses ontwikkeld waarin ons waarneembare universum wordt beschouwd als een soort hologram, een projectie van informatie die in een hogere dimensie wordt opgeslagen. Dit sluit aan bij esoterische tradities die spreken over meerdere niveaus van werkelijkheid en hogere dimensies die niet direct waarneembaar zijn, maar wel invloed uitoefenen op ons bestaan.
Daarnaast bieden theorieën over hogere dimensies, zoals die uit de snaartheorie, een wetenschappelijk kader dat mogelijk de oude esoterische overtuigingen over niet-fysieke werelden kan onderbouwen. In deze theorieën worden het heelal en de werkelijkheid beschreven als bestaande in meer dan de gebruikelijke drie ruimtelijke dimensies, wat ruimte laat voor het bestaan van andere, onzichtbare werelden die via hogere dimensies toegankelijk zouden kunnen zijn.
Ook in de kwantumfysica zien we raakvlakken met esoterie. Verschijnselen zoals entanglement, waarbij deeltjes op afstand met elkaar verbonden blijven, worden door sommige wetenschappers geïnterpreteerd als aanwijzingen voor een onderliggende verbondenheid die niet afhankelijk is van ruimte en tijd. Dit concept lijkt sterk op de esoterische ideeën over universele eenheid en de verbondenheid van alles in het universum. Sommige filosofen en onderzoekers zien hierin een mogelijkheid om via bewustzijn en hogere kennis toegang te krijgen tot deze verborgen aspecten van de werkelijkheid.
Tegelijkertijd roept deze kruisbestuiving ook vragen op. Bijvoorbeeld over de grenzen van de wetenschappelijke methode, die primair gebaseerd is op empirisch bewijs en reproduceerbaarheid. Esoterische tradities benadrukken juist dat niet alle kennis via objectieve waarneming kan worden verkregen; innerlijke ervaring, meditatie en spirituele ontwikkeling worden als waardevolle manieren gezien om hogere werelden en kennis te bereiken. Dit leidt tot een discussie over de rol van subjectieve ervaring en intuïtie in het begrijpen van de werkelijkheid. De samenwerking tussen wetenschap en esoterie opent dus nieuwe perspectieven, maar roept ook vragen op over de aard van kennis en de methoden die we gebruiken om de diepere lagen van het universum te doorgronden.
UAP: Interdimensionale Hypothese
Conclusie: Een geïntegreerde visie op buitenaardsheid, tijd en dimensies
De verkenning van buitenaards leven, de aard van tijd en de esoterische kennis over andere dimensies toont aan dat deze onderwerpen diep met elkaar verbonden zijn, zowel in wetenschappelijke theorieën als in spirituele tradities. Wetenschap biedt ons een rationeel kader om de fysieke wereld te begrijpen en te zoeken naar bewijzen voor buitenaards bestaan en hogere dimensies. Esoterie, daarentegen, nodigt uit tot een innerlijke reis en het ontwikkelen van bewustzijns- en waarnemingsvermogen om toegang te krijgen tot niet-fysieke realiteiten.
Deze twee benaderingen hoeven niet per se conflictueus te zijn; ze kunnen elkaar juist verrijken. Wetenschappelijke ontdekkingen over de structuur van het universum en de eigenschappen van tijd kunnen worden geïnterpreteerd binnen een groter metafysisch raamwerk dat de mogelijkheid van andere dimensies en buitenaardse wezens ondersteunt. Tegelijkertijd kunnen esoterische inzichten en ervaringen wetenschappelijke nieuwsgierigheid stimuleren door nieuwe vragen te genereren over de aard van werkelijkheid en bewustzijn.
Het integreren van deze perspectieven vraagt om een open houding en een interdisciplinair discours waarin wetenschap en spiritualiteit elkaar kunnen ontmoeten. Zo ontstaat een completer beeld van de werkelijkheid, waarin niet alleen de materiële wereld wordt erkend, maar ook de verborgen dimensies en de hogere kennis die mogelijk liggen in het domein van het onzichtbare en het onbewuste.
Tot slot benadrukt deze verkenning dat de zoektocht naar buitenaards leven en hogere dimensies niet alleen een wetenschappelijke of esoterische onderneming is, maar ook een innerlijke reis naar de grenzen van ons begrip en bewustzijn. Het is een uitnodiging om de mysterieuze aard van het universum te blijven onderzoeken, zowel met de ratio als met het hart, en open te staan voor de vele verborgen werelden die mogelijk naast onze eigen bestaan.
Door deze integratie kunnen we niet alleen onze kennis uitbreiden, maar ook onze spirituele en existentiële vragen verdiepen, en wellicht dichterbij komen bij het begrijpen van onze plaats in een veelvoudig en wonderlijk universum.
Now, a scientist claims to have finally solved the mystery.
Located between Florida, Puerto Rico and Bermuda, the Bermuda Triangle's long history of deadly wrecks has prompted endless supernatural speculation.
However, Dr Simon Boxall, an oceanographer from the University of Southampton, says that the real explanation doesn't involve UFOs or interdimensional portals.
Instead, Dr Boxall says that the Bermuda Triangle's record of disappearances is due to 'rogue waves'.
Otherwise known as extreme storm waves, these are unpredictable walls of water that can reach twice the height of the surrounding waves.
Towering up to 100 feet (30 metres) in the air, rogue waves are abnormally steep and can hit unexpectedly from directions other than the prevailing wind.
According to Dr Boxall, a large ship trapped by one of these killer swells could 'sink in a matter of two or three minutes'.
The Bermuda Triangle is home to some of the world's most famous shipwrecks, such as that of the SS Sapona (pictured), but a scientist now claims to have solved the mystery of this deadly region
Theories surrounding the deadly pull of the Bermuda Triangle have spread widely ever since the disappearance of the USS Cyclops in 1918.
The USS Cyclops was an American coal-carrying ship that had been used to ferry fuel to warships during World War I.
Despite an extensive search, no trace of the 542-foot (165-metre) vessel or its 306 crew members has ever been found.
Due to the sudden nature of the USS Cyclops's disappearance, conspiracy theorists and UFO enthusiasts have suggested dozens of wacky theories to explain the loss.
However, Dr Boxall says that the USS Cyclops was more likely to have been sunk by a rogue wave.
Speaking on the Channel 5 documentary series, The Bermuda Triangle Enigma, Dr Boxall says the Bermuda Triangle is a particular hotspot for rogue waves.
He says: 'There are storms to the south and north, which come together.
Dr Simon Boxall, an oceanographer from the University of Southampton, says that disappearances of ships like the USS Cyclops (pictured) could be due to 'rogue waves'
Rogue waves up to 100 feet (30 metres) in height are triggered by the convergence of storms around the tropical region of the Bahamas. These could snap a ship in two if they hit from the wrong angle, potentially explaining some of the mysterious wrecks
What are rogue waves?
Rogue, freak, or killer waves are scientifically known as 'extreme storm waves'.
These are abnormally steep and large waves, which can be twice the size of the surrounding swells.
They are very dangerous for ships since they can come from directions other than the prevailing wind.
Scientists still aren't sure how they form, but they might be triggered by multiple waves combining.
Storms may also focus wave energy into an unusual direction, joining multiple waves into a single rogue wave.
'And if there are additional ones from Florida, it can be a potentially deadly formation of rogue waves.'
Alongside his colleagues from the University of Southampton, Dr Boxall constructed a scale model of the USS Cyclops to see how it might react to a rogue wave.
This revealed that, due to the ship's flat base and massive size, it would not take long for waves to overwhelm the ship.
Dr Boxall explains that a rogue wave can be so steep that it can suspend a ship between its peaks, leaving the middle of the ship hanging over the trough.
If a large ship, which requires water to support itself, becomes suspended in this way, Dr Boxall says it will 'snap in two'.
'They are steep, they are high - we've measured waves in excess of 30 metres,' says Dr Boxall.
'If that happens, it can sink in a matter of two or three minutes.'
If the USS Cyclops - or any of the other vanished vessels - were struck by rogue waves, it would explain why they sank before being able to make a distress call.
Some scientists say that the number of plane crashes and shipwrecks within the Bermuda Triangle is completely within normal ranges, meaning there is no mystery to solve in the first place
Dr Boxall adds: 'The bigger the ship, the more damage is done.'
However, not every scientist is convinced that there really is a mystery to explain in the first place.
According to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): 'There is no evidence that mysterious disappearances occur with any greater frequency in the Bermuda Triangle than in any other large, well-travelled area of the ocean.'
Likewise, the insurance specialist Lloyd’s of London's data shows that there are no more losses in the Bermuda Triangle than anywhere else in the world.
Those losses that do occur can easily be explained by natural forces, such as rogue waves or by the fact that the Caribbean is relatively difficult to navigate.
The NOAA writes: 'Environmental considerations could explain many, if not most, of the disappearances.
'The large number of islands in the Caribbean Sea creates many areas of shallow water that can be treacherous to ship navigation.'
THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE
The Bermuda Triangle is a section of the Atlantic Ocean roughly bounded by Miami, Bermuda and Puerto Rico where dozens of ships and airplanes have disappeared.
Unexplained circumstances surround some of these accidents.
Although a range of strange theories have been proposed regarding the Bermuda Triangle, none of them prove that mysterious disappearances occur more frequently there than in other well-travelled sections of the ocean.
Many people navigate the area every day without incident.
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The Bermuda Triangle's biggest remaining mysteries: The 5 key unanswered questions - including what's behind the disappearance of 'hundreds' of vessels
The Bermuda Triangle's biggest remaining mysteries: The 5 key unanswered questions - including what's behind the disappearance of 'hundreds' of vessels
For some, it's the most feared stretch of water on the entire planet.
The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is a region in the North Atlantic Ocean that has long been shrouded in mystery.
According to legend, ships and airplanes have a tendency to go missing there, sparking theories of supernatural causes for these disappearances.
For decades, commentators have speculated on the possibility of alien kidnappings, interdimensional portals, magnetic forces or even lost cities in the triangle.
However, there are still key unanswered questions surrounding the phenomenon, which attracts scientific interest along with wacky theories.
And they mean this section of the North Atlantic will continue to fascinate for many more years to come.
Here are the Bermuda Triangle's biggest remaining mysteries.
For decades, commentators have speculated on the possibility of UFOs or interdimensional portals in the Bermuda Triangle
(artist's depiction)
MISSING WRECKAGE
Theories surrounding the deadly pull of the Bermuda Triangle have spread widely ever since the disappearance of the USS Cyclops more than a century ago.
The USS Cyclops was an American coal-carrying ship that was used to ferry fuel to warships during World War I.
In March 1918, the ship was passing through the Bermuda Triangle on its way from Salvador, in Brazil, to Baltimore when it vanished.
Despite an extensive search, no trace of the 542-foot (165-metre) vessel or its 306 crew members has ever been found.
Some 27 years later, a squadron of bombers collectively known as Flight 19 disappeared in the airspace above the Bermuda Triangle.
As with the Cyclops incident, no explanation was given and no wreckage was found – so what happened?
While the missing Cyclops wreck is indeed mysterious, Flight 19 comprised small aircraft which would have likely broken up on impact with the sea, according to Dr Boxall.
Dr Simon Boxall, an oceanographer from the University of Southampton, says that disappearances of ships like the USS Cyclops (pictured) could be due to 'rogue waves'
What is the Bermuda Triangle?
The Bermuda Triangle is a mythical section of the Atlantic Ocean roughly bounded by Miami, Bermuda and Puerto Rico where dozens of ships and airplanes have disappeared.
Unexplained circumstances surround some of these accidents.
Although a range of strange theories have been proposed regarding the Bermuda Triangle, none of them prove that mysterious disappearances occur more frequently there than in other well-traveled sections of the ocean.
Many people navigate the area every day without incident.
'Whilst there was a rescue mission no one really knew where they would have ditched with a huge search area to cover,' he told the Daily Mail.
Today, brave explorers are still diving into the area's waters to visit some of the wrecks whose remains are accounted for.
An example is SS Cotopaxi, a coal ship that vanished in 1925 on way from South Carolina to Cuba, which was finally located nearly a century later in 2020.
SS Cotopaxi was depicted in Steven Spielberg's 1977 blockbuster 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind', where it was found in the Gobi Dessert having supposedly been placed there by aliens.
But the fact that it was discovered five years ago just shows that not every vessel lost in the triangle vanishes without a trace.
NUMBER OF LOST VESSELS
One of the biggest remaining mysteries is exactly how many vessels have perished in the triangle, which has Miami, Bermuda and Puerto Rico as its three points.
Most sources claim 50 ships and 20 airplanes have disappeared in the region's ocean and airspace, but the true figure could be much higher.
Now, almost 100 years after the ship vanished, a team of marine biologists and underwater explorers have identified the SS Cotopaxi off the coast of St. Augustine, Florida
Since the SS Cotopaxi (pictured) disappeared in 1925, it has become one of the most famous stories associated with the Bermuda Triangle
NOAA: The Bermuda Triangle is a myth
US government agency National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said foul weather and poor navigation are likely to blame for any mishaps in the area.
Dozens of ships and planes have mysteriously vanished in the area. But NOAA said the number there is no different to elsewhere in the world.
What's more, the theory that some mysterious supernatural force is sinking boats and planes is a myth.
'There is no evidence that mysterious disappearances occur with any greater frequency in the Bermuda Triangle than in any other large, well-traveled area of the ocean,' the agency stated
National Geographic is among the sources that puts the number at 'hundreds of ships' – so not even counting airplanes.
And because the region is not officially recognised or tracked by government agencies, any figure is unlikely to be substantiated or reliable.
MISSING DISTRESS CALLS
According to Encyclopedia Britannica, some vessels in the triangle transmitted no distress signals just before were never seen or heard from again, of which one is the USS Cyclops, which, as we know, didn't leave any debris.
However, Dr Boxall suggests that ships were suddenly struck by 'rogue waves' – unpredictable walls of water reaching a towering height.
If the USS Cyclops – or any of the other vanished vessels – were struck by rogue waves, it would explain why they sank before being able to make a distress call.
We already know that the Bermuda Triangle suffers from rough weather, but not necessarily rougher than anywhere else in the world.
In some cases, private boats have been lost in the triangle, but that may be because it is located in such a luxurious part of the world, popular with millionaires.
The Bermuda Triangle is home to some of the world's most famous shipwrecks, such as that of the SS Sapona (pictured), but a scientist now claims to have solved the mystery of this deadly region
Dr Boxall said: 'Over one third of all registered leisure vessels in the USA are based in the Bermuda Triangle, and that includes the great lakes and inland waterways.
'The 2019 US Coastguard Annual Report cites that 82 per cent of all incidents they responded to (including loss of vessels and lives at sea) could be put down to people either having no training, and/or no experience of being at sea.'
WHY DID THE VESSELS DISAPPEAR?
The reason why each and every vessel foundered in not on record, but there's the intriguing possibility several losses in the triangle are somehow linked.
Dr Boxall admits there are 'a few anomalies in this region', the first of which is the issue of gas hydrates – methane deposits resulting from rotting material on the sea floor.
'They waxy substances are solid at the high pressures of the sea floor,' Dr Boxall told the Daily Mail. 'Occasionally if the deep water warms, or if there is some from of submarine slide, [they are] released.
'As they float to the surface the drop in pressure and the warmth turns them to liquid and eventually gas as they erupt at the surface.
'These occur in many parts of the world’s oceans and whilst the idea of a big gas bubble sinking a ship seems plausible, various experiments have shown that in reality the upthrust of the bubbles balances the tendency of the ship to sink.'
IS IT ALL A HOAX?
Few regions of the planet have divided opinion like the Bermuda Triangle, with many calling it a hoax and others claiming an enormous cover-up.
According to most informed experts, the Bermuda Triangle does not have a high incidence of disappearances, at least relatively speaking.
'The Bermuda Triangle isn't particularly unusual in terms of vessels and aircraft disappearing in the ocean without trace,' Dr Boxall told the Daily Mail.
'One could extend it to cover the globe and pick up disappearances and incidents on each expansion.'
Its reputation as a particularly dangerous place for vessels to cross may be simply exaggerated – greatly helped by US magazine coverage in the 1950s.
'The concept was introduced by George X Sand in 1952 in a magazine called Fate,' the academic added.
'The article was entitled 'Sea Mystery at our backdoor' and to give you an idea of the readership of Fate it included articles like 'the truth about the flying saucers', Invisible Beings Walk the Earth' and 'Twenty Million Maniacs'.
'Prior to this the concept didn’t exist.'
Dr Boxall concluded that the Bermuda Triangle makes 'a great tale', but ultimately it can be explained rationally, without veering into pseudoscience.
The case of Flight 19
Flight 19 was an American forces flight that disappeared without trace in the triangle on on the December 5, 1949.
But Dr Simon Boxall, an oceanographer at the University of Southampton who has researched the incident, calls it 'no mystery'.
Flight 19 was a training flight with one trainer and a number of new recruits, many on their first solo flight.
At the time, there was no GPS or other electronic systems, so men had to rely instead on line-of-sight navigation and dead reckoning.
Dr Boxall explains: 'At the end of the flight the trainer (renowned for being a bit of a pompous ass) told the squad to follow him home.
'A couple of the trainees raised a question as to where they were and were concerned they were heading in the wrong direction - this was all picked up by radio.
'He basically told them they knew nothing, he was in charge, and they better follow him or they’d be in serious trouble.
'They did - in the wrong direction and out to the open sea where they eventually would have run out of fuel.
'These were small aircraft which would have broken up on impact with the sea and whilst there was a rescue mission no one really knew where they would have ditched with a huge search area to cover.'
Giant Stone 'Doorway' Discovered in Kazakhstan Sparks Ancient Alien Debate
Explorers have stumbled upon what appears to be a massive stone doorway carved into the remote Dzungarian Alatau mountains of Kazakhstan, igniting widespread speculation about its origins. The mysterious formation, measuring approximately 40 feet tall and equally wide, has captured the imagination of social media users worldwide, with some claiming it as evidence of ancient extraterrestrial visitation. Located at 6,500 feet above sea level near the Chinese border, this enigmatic structure has sparked intense debate about natural geological processes versus human intervention.
The discovery was shared through drone footage that shows two explorers dwarfed by the imposing semi-circular formation. According to a Daily Mail report, Reddit users quickly compared the structure to famous fictional doorways from popular culture, including the entrance to Jabba the Hutt's palace in Star Wars and the Doors of Durin from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. The footage has gone viral across multiple platforms, with commentators ranging from amateur archaeologists to alien enthusiasts offering their interpretations of this remarkable find.
The huge door to Jabba the Hut’s palace in Star Wars, 'Return of the Jedi'.
(LucasFilm/20th Century Fox)
The Dzungarian Gate: A Historical Crossroads
The Dzungarian Alatau mountains where this formation was discovered represent one of Central Asia's most historically significant regions. This mountain range has served as a crucial passage between China and Kazakhstan for millennia, known as the Dzungarian Gate or Altai Gap. Ancient conquerors from Central Asia used this more than 3,000-mile pass as an invasion route for centuries, making it a crossroads of civilizations and cultures.
The region is renowned for its rugged terrain, featuring dramatic foothills, ridges, and ancient fortifications. Archaeological evidence suggests human presence in this area spans thousands of years, with various nomadic tribes and settled peoples leaving their mark on the landscape. Ancient petroglyphs have been discovered throughout Kazakhstan, indicating sophisticated artistic and cultural traditions among early inhabitants. The Dzungarian Gate has also been linked to mythical locations, including the legendary Hyperborea, where inhabitants supposedly lived for 1,000 years in perfect peace.
The Dzungarian Alatau mountain range at sunrise, showing the dramatic landscape where the mysterious doorway was discovered.
While social media speculation ranges from alien spacecraft entrances to ancient megalithic structures, scientists offer a more terrestrial explanation. According to the Daily Mail, Mark Allen, a professor at the University of Durham's department of Earth Sciences, suggests the formation is "to do with different weathering patterns of different rock layers" rather than artificial construction. The professor noted his experience in the region 38 years ago on the Chinese side of the border, reporting "nothing odd" about natural geological formations in the area.
Adding to the natural phenomema explanation, one Reddit user commented:
'There are a ton of these kinds of formations in Southern Utah. It's the beginning of the formation of an arch, which is very naturally occurring.'
Comparing Ancient Doorway Mysteries
The Kazakhstan discovery joins a pantheon of mysterious stone doorways that have captivated human imagination throughout history. Peru's Aramu Muru, known as the "Gate of the Gods," presents a remarkably similar phenomenon. This massive stone formation near Lake Titicaca features a carved doorway-like recess that has inspired countless theories about interdimensional portals and ancient technology. Like the Kazakhstan formation, Aramu Muru's precise geometric appearance challenges observers to distinguish between natural processes and artificial construction.
Archaeological sites worldwide demonstrate humanity's long fascination with doorway symbolism. Ancient Egyptian false doors served as spiritual passages between worlds, while megalithic structures across Europe incorporated doorway motifs into their sacred architecture. These historical examples show how doorways have consistently represented transitions, mysteries, and connections to otherworldly realms across different cultures and time periods.
The Ñaupa Waka site in Peru has an intriguingly cut altar stone, with what looks to be a doorway cut into the rock. Its origin is traditionally attributed to Inca, but this is questioned as the style and technology used to create it is not known to be Inca, and so it is likely to predate the Inca constructions that surround it, perhaps by millennia.
The Ñaupa Waka or Naupa Iglesia stone altar in Peru.
(Matthew Knot/ CC BY NC SA 2.0)
The enduring appeal of mysterious doorways reflects fundamental human psychology and spiritual beliefs. Whether formed by natural geological processes or created by ancient civilizations, these formations continue to inspire wonder and speculation about hidden knowledge, lost technologies, and connections to cosmic mysteries that extend far beyond our current understanding.
Ruins at Tiwanaku, Bolivia have fascinating cut rocks resembling doorways.
Despite scientific explanations, the Kazakhstan doorway continues generating intense interest and debate online. Social media users propose theories ranging from concealed alien bases to entrances to underground civilizations reminiscent of Tolkien's Mines of Moria. The formation's remarkable symmetry and positioning challenge even skeptical observers to consider alternative explanations beyond conventional geology.
The discovery highlights humanity's persistent fascination with unexplained phenomena and our tendency to seek extraordinary explanations for unusual natural features. Whether viewed as evidence of ancient visitation, lost civilizations, or simply remarkable geological coincidence, the Kazakhstan doorway serves as a contemporary addition to the world's collection of mysterious stone formations that continue challenging our understanding of natural and artificial boundaries.
Top image: Drone footage showing the massive stone doorway formation in Kazakhstan's Dzungarian Alatau mountains.
For centuries, humans have been scouring the universe for some kind of evidence of extraterrestrial life.
Now, social media users think it's finally been found – right here on Earth.
On Reddit, footage has emerged of explorers in front of 'a giant doorway' located in the Dzungarian Alatau mountains in Kazakhstan.
Like something from an epic movie scene, the 30-second clip shows the stunned explorers searching for a way in.
One stunned Reddit user commented that the doorway is proof of 'ancient aliens', while another asked if there's an 'alien spaceship hiding there'.
Others compared it with the 'beginning of the first Tomb Raider game' and the Doors of Durin from J. R. R. Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings'.
It also appears to bear similarities with the vast entrance to Jabba the Hut's palace in the Star Wars film 'Return of the Jedi'.
Millennials may also be reminded of the Temple of the Jungle King from ITV children's series 'Jungle Run'.
Explorers have found 'a giant doorway' located in the Dzungarian Alatau mountains in Kazakhstan, close to the border with China
In the Star Wars film 'Return of the Jedi' (1983), R2-D2 and C-3PO arrive at the vast door to Jabba the Hut's palace
The clip, which was also posted to X (Twitter), was filmed at the Dzungarian Alatau mountains in Kazakhstan, close to the border with China.
At an altitude of 6,500 feet (2,000 metres) above sea level, Dzungarian Alatau is known for its rugged foothills, ridges and forts.
The footage starts with a close-up of the two male explorers making cautious steps in the snow in front of a rocky mass.
Then, the airborne camera – likely attached to a drone – gradually pans out to reveal the massive semi-circular door-like formation.
Using the height of the men as a reference, the so-called 'entrance' appears to be at least 40 feet (12 metres) in height and about as wide.
But the rock behind it seems to slope downwards significantly, suggesting any secret cave beyond would have a fairly low ceiling.
On Reddit, someone pointed out: 'looks like the ridge of rock is narrower than the 'door' is tall.'
Another added: 'I mean, you can see the other side of the ridge in the drone shot. So, like.... doorway to what, the other side of the ridge?'
At an altitude of 6,500 feet (2,000 metres) above sea level, Dzungarian Alatau is known for its stunning foothills, ridges and forts
Millennials may also be reminded of the entrance to the Temple of the Jungle King from ITV children's series 'Jungle Run' (pictured)
What is the mystery doorway?
The mysterious 'doorway' in Kazakhstan has been described as a secret alien base and the 'entrance to the mines of Moria'.
More realistically, the 'doorway' could just be further evidence of 'pareidolia' - the tendency of the human mind to see patterns and symmetry.
Mark Allen, a professor at the University of Durham's department of earth sciences, said it might be 'to do with different weathering patterns of different rock layers'.
Commentators speculated on the true nature of the 'doorway', which is a different shade of brown to the surrounding rock.
One user said: 'There are a ton of these kinds of formations in Southern Utah. It's the beginning of the formation of an arch, which is very naturally occurring.'
Another user replied: 'So ancient aliens.'
A Harry Potter fan added: 'Run really fast into it and see if you end up on the other side', while a gamer said: 'It’s the doorway to a Zelda dungeon!'
Another posted: 'If it actually were a door, I’ve seen enough movies to know that something unspeakable has been sealed behind it.'
More realistically, the 'doorway' could just be further evidence of 'pareidolia' – the tendency of the human mind to see patterns and symmetry.
Mark Allen, a professor at the University of Durham's department of earth sciences, said it might be 'to do with different weathering patterns of different rock layers'.
'I was in this area 38 years ago on the Chinese side of the border [and there was] nothing odd to report,' he told the Daily Mail.
Dzungarian Alatau (pictured) lies on the boundary of the Dzungaria region of China and the Zhetysu region of Kazakhstan
Hollywood director Colin Trevorrow has left fans flabbergasted after he was spotted in attendance at the country's third ever UFO hearing in Congress.
The filmmaker, 48, who is best known for the Jurassic World franchise, was seen sitting behind famed paranormal activity journalist George Knapp at the bombshell proceeding on September 9.
They also shared their comments on whether the military is being honest about what is behind the supposed sightings.
Trevorrow's presence stirred up a lot of excitement online, with many speculating the reason behind him being there.
Taking to Reddit, one asked: 'He's directing a Lazar/Knapp movie isn't he?'
Another commented: 'He does indeed look like him. Just found out he is likely making a movie on the Las Vegas reporter who covered Area 51 in late 1980.'
In May, Deadline reported that Trevorrow's latest project would indeed be an untitled conspiracy thriller set in the late 1980s.
Hollywood director Colin Trevorrow was spotted at today's UFO hearing in Congress
He was seen sitting behind George Knapp, who testified before the House Oversight Committee's Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets
He was joined by US Air Force Veteran Jeffrey Nuccetelli, Navy veteran and UAP Witness Chief Alexandro Wiggins, and US Air Force Veteran and UAP witness Dylan Borland.
A UAP is the new government term given to any object or anomaly in the air, sea, or space that defies scientific explanation.
During the hearing, Congressman Eric Burlison of Missouri showed shocking, never-before-seen footage of a UFO being struck by a Hellfire missile from a US military drone on October 30, 2024.
The black-and-white video captured the 100-pound class air-to-ground precision weapon bouncing off the mysterious orb, which continued traveling at extreme speed off the coast of Yemen.
Witness Nuccetelli, a former Air Force military police officer for 16 years, called the new video 'exceptional evidence' of the existence of UFOs.
He and the other men disclosed how they saw multiple types of strange, unexplained craft while on duty, including giant triangles, glowing cubes larger than a football field, and the infamous Tic-Tac-shaped vehicles spotted over the Pacific Ocean.
Witness Dylan Borland joined by UAP Journalist George Knapp as they spoke
Trevorrow, who is best known for the Jurassic World franchise, is working on a film about Knapp and Area 51
Along with their eye-witness accounts, two of the veterans claimed that the US government has attempted to keep their incidents a secret, allegedly threatening witnesses to stay quiet and blacklisting at least one of the veterans.
Borland, a former Air Force geospatial intelligence specialist, said in his opening statement that multiple government agencies blocked him from getting work, forged his documents, and manipulated his security clearance.
He claimed that happened after he reported sightings of a 100-foot triangle flying low over him at Virginia's Langley Air Force Base in 2012 to his superiors.
The large craft interfered with his telephone, made no sound, and rapidly ascended thousands of feet in seconds, Borland told the members of Congress.
The images, taken on August 27 when the object was about 240 million miles (380 million km) from Earth, are some of the first multi-coloured images of 3I/ATLAS.
They reveal a dense icy nucleus surrounded by a broad halo of gas and dust known as a coma.
Most importantly, they also reveal that the object has a long tail stretching behind 3I/ATLAS in the direction opposite to the sun.
This tail measures about one 120th of a degree in the sky, where one degree is about the width of your little finger on an outstretched arm.
Scientists have captured the clearest images yet of the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS as it races through our solar system at 137,000 miles per hour (221,000 km/h)
Scientists from the Gemini South Observatory in Chile captured these images of 3I/ATLAS while it was around 240 million miles (380 million km) from Earth, revealing its clear cometary tail stretching out away from the sun
Dr Mark Norris, an astronomer from the University of Lancashire who was not involved in the study, told The Daily Mail: 'These new images very clearly demonstrate that 3I/ATLAS is a comet.'
In our own solar system, comets are balls of ice and dust that travel around the sun in very long elliptical orbits, with some only returning every few hundred years.
When comets approach the sun, the heat causes ice made of water or carbon dioxide to sublimate, meaning it turns directly from a solid into a gas.
This cloud of gas and dust that is ejected from the comet's surface collects around the frozen core in the form of a coma and is swept out behind the comet to form a tail.
Since this cloud of particles is highly reflective, comets appear much brighter than rocky asteroids of similar sizes.
The closer the comet gets to the sun, and the more heat it is exposed to, the larger and brighter these features become.
Dr Norris says: 'Early images showed evidence for cometary activity, but the activity was quite weak while it was far from the Sun.
'As 3I/ATLAS approaches the Sun, it is being bathed in more and more sunlight, which increases the amount of material outgassing from the comet, which increases the coma and tail of the comet significantly.'
The new images show that the comet has become significantly more active since previous observations, such as this image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in July
Additionally, by taking the images in colour, scientists were able to capture the wavelengths of light that the comet emits, known as its spectrum.
The spectrum tells scientists what kinds of chemicals can be found in the comet and in what proportions - telling us how it formed and how it changes as it passes through the solar system.
Interestingly, this analysis reveals that the ice and dust which make up 3I/ATLAS are broadly similar to those found in comets in our own solar system, with a few important differences.
Dr Matthew Genge, a planetary scientist from Imperial College London who was not involved in the study, told The Daily Mail: '3I/ATLAS has a CO2-rich atmosphere with less water than most home-grown comets.
'This might indicate it formed far from its parent star. Ice forms in early planetary systems by raining out of gas as snow. Water ice forms closer to the star and CO2 ice further away.'
This gives scientists an intriguing insight into the processes of planetary formation taking place around distant stars.
Bryce Bolin, research scientist from Eureka Scientific who was part of the team behind the images, says: 'Every interstellar comet is a messenger from another star system, and by studying their light and colour, we can begin to understand the diversity of worlds beyond our own.'
This is proof that the object is either a comet or a very rare type of icy asteroid, clearly demonstrating that it is a natural object and not some form of alien craft
There is only a short window in which 3I/ATLAS will be observable, so scientists are trying to gather as much data as they can to learn about these distant worlds.
Importantly, these observations also conclusively dismiss the theories that 3I/ATLAS is some sort of alien craft.
A group of military whistleblowers testified under oath that they've seenUFOsand that the US intelligence community has tried to cover it up.
Three Navy and Air Force veterans testified Tuesday morning on Capitol Hill at the third congressional hearing on unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs), the new term for UFOs, since 2023.
During the hearing, Congressman Eric Burlison of Missouri showed shocking, never-before-seen footage of a UFO being struck by a Hellfire missile from a US military drone on October 30, 2024.
The black-and-white video captured the 100-pound class air-to-ground precision weapon bouncing off the mysterious orb, which continued traveling at extreme speed off the coast of Yemen.
Witness Jeffrey Nuccetelli, a former Air Force military police officer for 16 years, called the new video 'exceptional evidence' of the existence of UFOs.
He and the other men disclosed how they saw multiple types of strange, unexplained craft while on duty, including giant triangles, glowing cubes larger than a football field, and the infamous Tic-Tac-shaped vehicles spotted over the Pacific Ocean.
Along with their eye-witness accounts, two of the veterans claimed that the US government has attempted to keep their incidents a secret, allegedly threatening witnesses to stay quiet and blacklisting at least one of the veterans.
Dylan Borland, a former Air Force geospatial intelligence specialist, said in his opening statement that multiple government agencies blocked him from getting work, forged his documents, and manipulated his security clearance.
Three military whistleblowers and other experts spoke on Tuesday during the third congressional hearing on UFOs
Congressman Eric Burlison of Missouri revealed video of a US military drone striking an orb-shaped UFO with a missile, which bounced off and did not stop the craft
Borland claimed that happened after he reported sightings of a 100-foot triangle flying low over him at Virginia's Langley Air Force Base in 2012 to his superiors.
The large craft interfered with his telephone, made no sound, and rapidly ascended thousands of feet in seconds, Borland told the members of Congress.
While in the government's classified Special Access Program (SAP), Borland added that other intelligence officers told him they had also faced retaliation after reporting their own encounters with UFOs.
Additionally, Borland claimed that the US intelligence community was engaging in phishing attacks in an attempt to assess what he disclosed to the Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG) during a polygraph test in November 2024.
When asked by South Carolina congresswoman Nancy Mace if he feared for his safety, Borland said he didn't believe a government group was currently attempting to kill him, but his reputation has been so damaged that he's currently living off of unemployment assistance.
When it was Nuccetelli's turn to speak, the Air Force veteran said that he witnessed five unexplained incidents at California's Vandenberg Air Force Base between 2003 and 2005.
Those included receiving reports of a 'glowing red square' hovering silently over missile defense sites and witnessing a giant rectangle-shaped ship over 100 yards long on the same night in October 2003.
A week later, Nuccetelli said he documented how patrols at the base saw a strange light over the ocean heading toward Vandenberg. When guards called for help, the object quickly descended, hovered briefly, and then vanished.
Military whistleblowers revealed never-before-discussed encounters with UFOs, including the often reported Tic-Tac craft (pictured)
Dylan Borland, a former Air Force geospatial intelligence specialist, claimed that he was retaliated against by the US government after reporting on UFO encounters
It was after this incident that Nuccetelli claimed a witness to the close encounter was threatened by their superiors to stay quiet.
When Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert asked Nuccetelli about the status of the investigations into the reports, the Air Force veteran said the military had been regularly destroying all police records every three years, including the reports made at Vandenberg.
'They destroyed all the police records, so you couldn't even call the Air Force and ask them if there was a vehicle accident,' Nuccetelli said.
In his opening statement, Nuccetelli added that he and two other military police officers witnessed an orb with pulsing lights that moved like a butterfly flying over his house while they were off duty.
Alexandro Wiggins, an active duty US Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer, was also brought in as a witness and described a strange encounter while aboard the USS Jackson off the Southern California coast on February 15, 2023.
Wiggins witnessed a Tic-Tac craft emerge from the Pacific and join three other Tic-Tacs in a flying formation over the navy vessel.
All of the Tic-Tacs shot off at the same time with incredible speed, without creating a sonic boom or making the typical engine trails of a plane or drone.
Alexandro Wiggins, an active duty US Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer, revealed how he witnessed multiple Tic-Tac craft flying over the Pacific Ocean in 2023
The chairwoman of the hearing, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, claimed in her opening statement that the former leader of the Pentagon's UAP investigating office (ARRO), Dr Sean Kirkpatrick, was a 'documented liar' who undermined UFO investigations.
Later in the hearing, Luna added that she would be happy to subpoena Kirkpatrick to testify on the alleged misconduct at the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office.
Also testifying before Congress was Joe Spielberger, a senior policy counsel at the Project On Government Oversight (POGO), who emphasized the critical role of whistleblowers in exposing government wrongdoing.
George Knapp, a chief investigative reporter for KLAS-TV in Las Vegas, who highlighted a decades-long pursuit of the UAP story through government documents and witness accounts, was at the hearing as well, documenting years of suspicious behavior surrounding the government's official narratives about UFOs.
Knapp said during the hearing that Americans were told for decades that there was no documentation of any kind of strange craft, but that changed when the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was enacted in 1966.
The journalist noted that thousands of pages of previously classified documents have suddenly been released in the ensuing decades, including many involving reports of UAPs worldwide.
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The Lost Ness Monster! Experts baffled as mystery creature filmed lurking in the Thames
By MICHAEL HAVIS
Experts are baffled after a mystery animal was spotted lurking in the Thames by a family out for a stroll.
Ryan Linehan filmed the enigmatic presence swimming near Old Windsor Lock, Berkshire, while walking with his parents.
His mother Bernie, 63, said: 'We were just passing by and it was actually the lock keeper that said to keep an eye out for what he thought was a seal.
'My son just caught it as it bobbed up, but that was the best shot we could get.'
In the footage, the creature's black head can be seen dipping in and out of the water as it swims through the river.
Being a long way from the ocean, the family were sceptical about it being a seal.
Mr Linehan, 21, said: 'It looked slightly furry in its appearance, and it had quite a flat nose.
'I'd say in length, it was the size of a medium to large dog, maybe like a German Shepherd or Alsatian.'
The creature's black head can be seen dipping in and out of the water as it swims through the river
The footage, uploaded to Facebook, has been viewed tens of thousands of times and sparked a huge debate
Looking for answers, the family turned to the internet, sharing the footage with members of a naturalist group on Facebook.
It soon racked up tens of thousands of views and sparked a huge debate.
'Nessie, but she's a bit lost', wrote one joker.
Several others identified it as an 'escaped' capybara – the world's largest rodent species which comes from South America.
Further suggestions included a sea lion, a turtle, and a coypu – another South America species.
'It's 110 per cent a seal,' wrote one viewer. 'Definitely a beaver,' another person said.
Several people thought it might be an otter, but just as many refuted that too.
And even the experts disagree.
The mystery animal was spotted lurking in the Thames near Old Windsor Lock in Berkshire by a family out for a stroll
The animal has even baffled experts, with some arguing that it can't be a seal or a beaver while others saying it could potentially be an otter
Some believe the creature could be a seal (left) while others said it might be a beaver (right)
There has also been speculation it could be an otter, although others said the species has a concave 'dip' at the end of the muzzle that's not visible in the footage
First the family contacted somebody at a local wildlife trust.
Mrs Linehan said: 'Her opinion – and she checked with colleagues – was that she thought it was an otter. She said a seal and a beaver wouldn't come up that far, and they wouldn't be able to negotiate the locks.'
Florin Feneru, identification and advisory officer with the Angela Marmont Centre at the Natural History Museum, said he couldn't tell 'with any confidence'.
He said: 'I wish I could see its tail, that would have clearly settled the debate. However, I can't see this as a seal at all.
'Between beaver and otter, I lean towards beaver. Their upper line of the cranium is flatter, a bit convex even, like a bull terrier's for example.
'Otters have a stop – the concave dip at the base of the muzzle, like a beagle for example.'
Richard Bennett of the Canal and River Trust also couldn't be 100 per cent sure. He said: 'Not a seal, and more beaver than otter from the shape of the head – something about the way it moves too.'
Beavers are found across the northern hemisphere and are among planet's most skilled builders.
This reputation has earnt them the nickname 'nature's engineers'.
They fell trees by gnawing at their trunks and use the resulting sticks to construct dams to stop the movement of water in ponds, lakes, rivers and streams – creating a bodies of water with a low current.
The mammals then use sticks and mud to create a second structure – a large dome-shaped island that can reach as high as ten feet (3m) tall and up to 1,600ft (500m) long.
Each island includes two underwater entrances and a living chamber above water where the animals sleep and shelter.
Beavers often line the walls of this chamber with dry leaves and plants to insulate it during winter.
It remains unclear exactly why beavers build dams, but scientists speculate the creatures use it for warmth and shelter in the winter and as protection from predators.
Beavers are strong swimmers, and creating a reservoir of water allows the animals to play to their strengths to escape those higher in the food chain.
The biggest beaver dam ever discovered measured 2,790ft (850m) – more than twice the length of the Hoover dam.
The woodland construction, found in the southern edge of Wood Buffalo National Park in Northern Alberta, Canada, was so expansive it could be seen from space.
The Mystery Of The Loch Ness Monster | A Legend Uncovered
NASA has announced the discovery of what it believes to be ancient microbial life on Mars.
The new administrator for the space agency, Sean Duffy, said a sample collected by the Perseverance rover has been declared the 'clearest sign of life' ever found on the Red Planet.
In a Wednesday news conference, NASA's Associate Administrator Nicky Fox said: 'This is the kind of signature that we would see that was made by something biological.'
Specifically, researchers have been looking at unusual spots and seed-like shapes in ancient Martian rocks that might point to the existence of tiny life forms in the distant past.
These features, nicknamed 'poppy seeds' and 'leopard spots,' were spotted in mud-like rocks in Neretva Vallis, part of the Jezero crater, where a river existed billions of years ago.
Scientist Joel Hurowitz revealed how these tiny signatures found in the crater pointed to the existence of life on Mars long before most organisms emerged on Earth.
Although the findings have been discussed for months, Hurowitz noted that scientists needed to gather more data from Neretva Vallis and confirm the results with other researchers before releasing the conclusion that this could be Martian life.
'We are here to say this is exciting, and we want to share that news. This could be very real,' Duffy continued.
In 2024, Perseverance spotted a vein-filled arrowhead-shaped rock that featured chemical signatures and structures likely formed by microbial life billions of years ago
NASA Administrator Sean Duffy (center) revealed that a sample collected by Perseverance is the 'clearest sign of life' on Mars ever found in 30 years
The rover's tools detected chemicals like iron and phosphorus in these spots, which can form when tiny microbes break down organic material, a sign of life here on Earth.
The NASA robot has been beaming back images to Earth since 2021, revealing crystalline solids left over from water flowing on the surface of Mars, and a reddish area that contained organic compounds and an energy source for what could have been microbial life.
Perseverance collected the new life-proving rocks on July 21, 2024, while exploring the northern edge of Neretva Vallis, the ancient river valley formed roughly 3.7billion years ago.
Scientists noticed the vein-like structures throughout, finding they were white calcium sulfate.
The crystalline solids on the Martian surface are hard-water deposits left behind by ancient groundwater flowing through the now-dusty landscape.
Between those veins were bands of material with a reddish color suggesting the presence of hematite, one of the minerals that gives Mars its distinctive rusty hue.
Duffy noted that the announcement on Wednesday was the culmination of 30 years of research on the Red Planet.
He added that the latest findings went through a peer-review process, just like scientific studies in all fields, which proved the samples likely had a biological origin.
NASA officials revealed new findings by the Perseverance rover, which has been exploring Mars (pictured) since 2021
Perseverance took a selfie in the Jezero crater on Mars when it found the biological samples
When asked if NASA plans to retrieve the potential organic samples from Mars, Duffy said the space agency was still looking at how and when they could get the rocks back to Earth, adding that 'we're going to look at our budgets'.
The new administrator appointed by President Trump noted that 'the president loves space' and believed NASA has the money to complete its work, which is now focused on manned space missions.
Duffy noted the space agency's mission was going to be 'a little more focused' but felt comfortable asking the White House for more funding if it was needed to confirm the findings on Mars.
'At no point has this administration said "we don't care about samples,"' Fox added while addressing questions about NASA's changing priorities regarding Mars exploration.
Previously, the Trump administration had cut the Mars sample retrieval mission from its budget proposal for NASA.
It was part of $6billion slashed from NASA's future budget in the May proposal to Congress, even though the ongoing sample study had already cost billions.
Duffy said NASA was now looking at a faster and more cost-effective way of getting Perseverance's samples back for examination.
As for NASA's upcoming space missions, Duffy revealed that four astronauts will circle the moon 'early next year' as part of the Artemis II lunar mission.
'We're going back to the moon,' the administrator declared.
Duffy added that 'about a year and a half' after the Artemis II mission, the Artemis III astronaut mission will 'land and establish a long-term presence of life on the moon led by America'.
NASA's new leader continued by saying that what astronauts learn from the renewed missions to the moon will help in future efforts to 'put American boots on Mars'.
Marked by seven benchmarks, the Confidence of Life Detection, or CoLD, scale outlines a progression in confidence that a set of observations stands as evidence of life.
Credit: NASA
This animation depicts water disappearing over time in the Martian river valley Neretva Vallis, where NASA’s Perseverance Mars takes the rock sample named “Sapphire Canyon” from a rock called “Cheyava Falls,” which was found in the “Bright Angel” formation.
The jaw-dropping video of a US drone firing a Hellfire missile at an orb, only for the object to remain completely unaffected, has left lawmakers and the public stunned.
The missile struck the orb, but instead of detonating, it appeared to bounce off.
While questions swirl about the video, UFO researcher and filmmaker Mark Christopher Lee told the Daily Mail that the object seen during the hearing 'is non-human.'
'The way the object is described, as a glowing, bright, luminous sphere, like an orb, is unlike anything we currently have,' he said. 'It moves in a fast, straight line, making it trackable, yet shows no visible signs of propulsion such as exhaust plumes or rotors, almost like a plasma object.'
Lee highlighted the orb's ability to deflect the missile as highly unusual, suggesting technology beyond current human capabilities.
'None that I know of, which makes me believe it's a non-human UAP,' he added. He also noted similarities to other unexplained drone sightings, including recent incidents in New Jersey.
However, not all experts agree. Alejandro Rojas, an advisor at Enigma Labs, which analyzes UAP reports, said the video appears authentic but may be a conventional explanation.
'It seems like the object hit was moving slowly and did not continue. To me, it appears that the missile was unaffected and continued flying,' Rojas said. 'It's likely a military test or drone of some sort.'
The video showed a US military drone striking an orb-shaped UFO with a missile, which bounced off and did not stop the craft
The footage, presented during Tuesday's c ongressional hearing on unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), shows an MQ-9 drone tracking an unknown object as another MQ-9 launches a Hellfire missile (stock)
The black-and-white footage was presented by Missouri Congressman Eric Burlison, who said he received it anonymously in a 'dead drop.'
'This was taken on October 30, 2024. It shows an MQ-9 tracking an orb off the coast of Yemen,' Burlison explained. 'Another MQ-9 launched a Hellfire missile, which you cannot see, and I'm not going to explain it to you. You'll see exactly what it does.'
UAP journalist George Knapp, who also testified, reacted to the video by asking, 'What the h*** is that?' Burlison replied, 'I'm not going to speculate what it is, but the question is, why are we being blocked from this information consistently?'
Lee speculated that the orb may represent an inter-dimensional phenomenon rather than a craft from another planet.
'This is the true reality of UFO disclosure. It's far weirder than beings from another planet,' he said, adding that the object was likely only making its presence known, not preparing to attack.
When asked whether the footage captured an extraterrestrial craft, Rojas responded bluntly, 'I do not believe in ET.'
Three Navy and Air Force veterans testified Tuesday morning on Capitol Hill at the third congressional hearing on UAPs, the new term for UFOs, since 2023.
The men disclosed how they saw multiple types of strange, unexplained craft while on duty, including giant triangles, glowing cubes larger than a football field, and the infamous Tic-Tac-shaped vehicles spotted over the Pacific Ocean.
The black-and-white footage was presented by Missouri Congressman Eric Burlison, who said he received it anonymously in a 'dead drop'
Along with their eye-witness accounts, two of the veterans claimed that the US government has attempted to keep their incidents a secret, allegedly threatening witnesses to stay quiet and blacklisting at least one of the veterans.
Dylan Borland, a former Air Force geospatial intelligence specialist, said in his opening statement that multiple government agencies blocked him from getting work, forged his documents, and manipulated his security clearance.
Witness Jeffrey Nuccetelli, a former Air Force military police officer, said that he witnessed five unexplained incidents at California's Vandenberg Air Force Base between 2003 and 2005.
Those included receiving reports of a 'glowing red square' hovering silently over missile defense sites and witnessing a giant rectangle-shaped ship over 100 yards long on the same night in October 2003.
A week later, Nuccetelli said he documented how patrols at the base saw a strange light over the ocean heading toward Vandenberg. When guards called for help, the object quickly descended, hovered briefly, and then vanished.
Three military whistleblowers and other experts spoke on Tuesday during the third congressional hearing on UFOs
'They destroyed all the police records, so you couldn't even call the Air Force and ask them if there was a vehicle accident,' Nuccetelli said.
Alexandro Wiggins, an active duty US Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer, was also brought in as a witness and described a strange encounter while aboard the USS Jackson off the Southern California coast on February 15, 2023.
Wiggins witnessed a Tic-Tac craft emerge from the Pacific and join three other Tic-Tacs in a flying formation over the navy vessel.
All of the Tic-Tacs shot off at the same time with incredible speed, without creating a sonic boom or making the typical engine trails of a plane or drone.
Knapp, a chief investigative reporter for KLAS-TV in Las Vegas, highlighted a decades-long pursuit of the UAP story through government documents and witness accounts, documenting years of suspicious behavior surrounding the government's official narratives about UFOs.
He said Americans were told for decades that there was no documentation of any kind of strange craft, but that changed when the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was enacted in 1966.
The journalist noted that thousands of pages of previously classified documents have suddenly been released in the ensuing decades, including many involving reports of UAPs worldwide.
Yesterday, NASAmade the startling announcement that its scientists have uncovered the 'clearest evidence' yet for the existence of life on Mars.
Last year, NASA's Perseverance rover discovered that a dry riverbed just north of the Martian equator is dotted with rusty circular markings known as 'leopard spots'.
Now, scientists have revealed what these alien organisms might have looked like.
Any life that evolved on Mars would have had to contend with harsh radiation, weak gravity, and temperatures that can swing between 20°C (70°F) in the day and -153°C (-225°F) at night.
However, the scientists behind this groundbreaking research say that it is still possible for some forms of life to evolve.
In the unlikely case that more complex life did evolve somewhere on the Red Planet, it would need to develop special adaptations to survive this impossibly harsh climate.
NASA has revealed the 'clearest evidence' yet for the existence of life on Mars, as it claims that 'leopard spots' on Martian rocks could have been created by ancient microbes
Scientists say that Mars' Jezero Crater was once filled with water that would have been 'clement' for microbial life to develop. Pictured: AI-generated impression
What did NASA find on Mars?
While investigating a region known as the 'Bright Angel', NASA's Perseverance rover spotted a group of unusual markings that resemble leopard spots.
Scientists call these spots 'reaction fronts', and they are points of contact where chemical and physical reactions have occurred in the past.
Critically, Perseverance's on-board lab found that these spots contained two iron-rich minerals: Vivianite, which is found in decaying organic matter, and greigite, which is produced by microbes on Earth.
Dr Keyron Hickman-Lewis, an Earth scientist from Birkbeck, University of London and co-author of the NASA report, told Daily Mail: 'The kinds of organic–mineral associations observed at Bright Angel that are reported in this paper are known to be generated by microbial life on Earth, and so it is a very promising observation to see something so similar on Mars.
'Certainly, I think that this is the most compelling potential evidence of life on Mars found to date.'
The scientists can't yet rule out that these spots could be caused by non-biological processes, and Dr Hickman-Lewis says that this is not a 'smoking gun'.
However, after spending a year reviewing the evidence and looking for alternative explanations, the researchers are now confident enough to say that this could be a 'biosignature', an elusive sign which proves the existence of life.
These signs of life were found by the Perseverance rover in a region called 'Bright Angel'. Researchers say that chemicals found in the leopard spots are produced by biological processes on Earth
Although Mars is now a barren desert, billions of years ago, it would have been covered with rivers and lakes that could have supported life
Dr Hickman-Lewis adds: 'The Mars 2020 team does not use the term "potential biosignature" lightly.'
What would this life look like?
The potential signs of life were found in a region called Jezero Crater, an impact basin just north of the equator.
Although it is now a barren wasteland, billions of years ago, the Jezero Crater was filled with water that could have been home to life.
If life did exist in these waters, the most plausible explanation is that it was some sort of simple microorganism.
Dr Hickman-Lewis says: 'The environment in which these potential biosignatures were found seems to be a low-temperature water-rich setting and therefore very clement for microbial life.'
In their paper, published in Nature, the researchers suggest that microbes could have fed on the naturally occurring carbon, sulphur, and phosphorus in the rocks.
These microbes would have then 'excreted' the minerals which we now see as leopard spots.
NASA Administrator Sean Duffy (center) revealed that a sample collected by Perseverance is the 'clearest sign of life' on Mars ever found in 30 years
The Jezero Crater, where the potential signs of life were found, was once a river delta. Observations from orbiting spacecraft show patterns of sediment that are similar to those made by rivers on Earth. Pictured: AI-generated impression
As microbes fed on the carbon, sulphur, and phosphorus in the rocks, they might have released iron-rich chemicals which permanently stained the rocks to leave 'leopard spots'. Pictured: AI-generated impression
The conditions on the surface would have been incredibly harsh, but the researchers say that life still could have eked out a simple existence.
Dr Sanjeev Gupta, an Earth scientist from Imperial College London and member of the research team, told Daily Mail: 'There was liquid water present at the surface at the time billions of years ago, so it was a habitable environment.
'This would have been simple microbial life. We can say much more than that.'
Since we can only see the possible traces left behind by these microorganisms, it's difficult to know what they might have looked like or how they behaved.
However, it is possible to make some very general predictions based on parallels from Earth.
Professor Michael Garrett, an astronomer from the University of Manchester and Director of Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics who was not involved in the study, told Daily Mail: 'Think of hardy bacteria, similar to terrestrial extremophiles that thrive in very salty, cold, or low-oxygen conditions here on Earth.
'Good analogues are the microbial mats in very salty lakes or microbes that live kilometres underground in Earth’s crust or in the high desert in Chile.
'These examples show us that life can be tough, minimalistic, and persistent even in places where surface conditions are brutal.'
Scientists say that the best parallels for what life might have looked like are the microbial mats that form in extremely salty lakes on Earth. Pictured: AI-generated impression
It is unlikely that more complex life could have evolved since Mars' climate changed rapidly about a billion years after the first microbes could have appeared. This means complex organisms like animals probably didn't have time to develop. Pictured: AI-generated impression
Could more complex life have evolved?
If these leopard spots really are biosignatures, then the researchers say it's unlikely that they only existed in one place.
Perseverance is currently studying very ancient rocks outside of the Jezero Crater to look for signs of more widespread life.
However, it is extremely unlikely that more complex life evolved anywhere on the Red Planet.
However, after about one billion years, Mars' climate began to change rapidly as solar winds stripped away its atmosphere - leaving the planet very cold and dry.
Professor Garrett says: 'Those harsh conditions on Mars after 1 billion years would put strong limits on body size and complexity of any lifeform.
If complex life had emerged, it would have needed to develop adaptations like thick skin or live underground to avoid the intense radiation of the Martian surface. Pictured: AI-generated impression
On Earth, some of the first animals to evolve were simple filter feeders. Filter feeders also survive in extreme environments such as hydrothermal vents, so complex Martian life might have followed a similar evolutionary trajectory. Pictured: AI-generated impression
In the unlikely case that more complex life did evolve, Mars' harsh conditions would also put strong constraints on what it might look like.
'It would need to be adapted to survive the intense UV radiation from the Sun, extreme cold, and limited liquid water - we don’t really see complicated animal life in such environments,' says Professor Garret.
He adds: 'If they were present, they would need protection from the UV radiation from the sun – maybe a thick skin, for example, or perhaps mostly living under the Martian soil.'
That means complex life might resemble creatures on Earth that live in exceptionally harsh environments, such as desert-dwelling lizards or the simple filter-feeders that survive near hydrothermal vents.
Wat is Angel Hair precies? We analyseren en bespreken deze mysterieuze substantie
Wat is Angel Hair precies? We analyseren en bespreken deze mysterieuze substantie
In de wereld van het onverklaarbare en bovennatuurlijke bestaat er een fascinerende en vaak voorkomende verschijnsel dat bekendstaat als "angel hair" of "engelenhaar". Mensen over de hele wereld hebben meldingen gedaan van dunne, zijdeachtige draden die door de lucht zweven of op de grond liggen, vaak na een ufo-waarneming of een ander onverklaarbaar fenomeen. Ondanks dat dit verschijnsel al decennia wordt gerapporteerd, blijft de exacte aard en oorsprong van angel hair voor velen een mysterie. In dit artikel zullen we deze mysterieuze substantie grondig analyseren en bespreken wat wetenschappelijk bekend is en wat niet, en mogelijke verklaringen voor het fenomeen.
Wat is angel hair?
Angel hair wordt vaak omschreven als dunne, glanzende filaments of draden die sterk lijken op zijde of fijn haar. Deze delicate draden variëren in lengte, van slechts enkele centimeters tot meerdere meters, en kunnen zich in grote groepen of clusters verspreiden. De kleur van angel hair is meestal wit of doorschijnend, waardoor ze bijna onzichtbaar kunnen lijken wanneer ze in de lucht zweven. De draden zijn fragiel en breekbaar, waardoor ze gemakkelijk kunnen worden verbroken of verloren gaan bij aanraking of beweging. Mensen rapporteren dat deze mysterieuze draden soms uit de lucht lijken te komen, alsof ze uit het niets tevoorschijn komen, of dat ze op de grond liggen als restanten van een onverklaarbare gebeurtenis. Vaak worden ze waargenomen na het zien van een onverklaarbaar object in de lucht, zoals een UFO, of tijdens bijzondere atmosferische omstandigheden.
Het fenomeen van angel hair is niet nieuw; meldingen van deze mysterieuze draden dateren al uit de 19e eeuw en blijven tot op heden voorkomen. Tijdens bepaalde waarnemingen beschrijven getuigen dat de angel hair zich lijkt te verspreiden in de lucht, alsof het wordt uitgestoten door een onbekend object dat in de lucht beweegt. Soms lijkt het spontaan uit de lucht te verschijnen, zonder dat er een duidelijk bron zichtbaar is. Dit heeft geleid tot veel speculaties en theorieën over de aard en herkomst van deze draden. Hoewel angel hair vooral wordt geassocieerd met ufo-waarnemingen en buitenaardse verschijnselen, worden ze ook in andere contexten gerapporteerd. Zo worden ze soms waargenomen tijdens onweersbuien, bij het zien van vreemde lichten aan de hemel, of in situaties waarin bijzondere atmosferische verschijnselen voorkomen. Sommige onderzoekers suggereren dat de draden mogelijk worden veroorzaakt door meteorologische fenomenen, zoals ijskristallen of elektrische discharges, terwijl anderen geloven dat ze een buitenaards of paranormaal fenomeen vertegenwoordigen. Ondanks de vele rapportages en onderzoeken blijft de exacte herkomst en aard van angel hair een mysterie dat de nieuwsgierigheid van velen blijft prikkelen.
Verschillende benaderingen en verklaringen
Het ongrijpbare karakter van angel hair heeft geleid tot diverse theorieën over de oorsprong en aard ervan. Sommige mensen geloven dat het een buitenaards fenomeen is, een soort van buitenaardse afscheiding of een vorm van technologie die wordt gebruikt door UFO's. Anderen denken dat het natuurlijke oorzaken heeft, zoals meteorologische fenomenen, natuurlijke stoffen in de atmosfeer, of zelfs menselijke activiteiten.
Een spinnenweb, een van de mogelijke oorzaken van het Angel hair-fenomeen.
Natuurlijke verklaringen
Een van de meest gangbare en wetenschappelijk onderbouwde verklaringen voor het fenomeen angel hair is dat het bestaat uit natuurlijke stoffen die in de atmosfeer voorkomen en zich op bepaalde omstandigheden voortplanten. Een belangrijke factor hierbij is de aanwezigheid van spinnenwebben, die door de wind over grote afstanden kunnen worden verspreid. Spinnenwebben bestaan uit zijdeachtige draden die door hun dunheid en glans vaak lijken op fijne, glinsterende strengen in de lucht. Deze webben worden door spinsels vaak in de natuur aangelegd en kunnen, afhankelijk van de weersomstandigheden, worden losgelaten en verder worden meegevoerd door de wind. Tijdens en na regenbuien, wanneer de luchtvochtigheid hoog is, worden spinnenwebben vaak losser en kunnen ze gemakkelijk worden uit elkaar getrokken. Hierdoor kunnen ze zich over grote gebieden verspreiden en op hun beurt de indruk wekken van een mysterieuze, haarachtige substantie die in de lucht zweeft. Bovendien zijn spinnenwebben vaak bijna onzichtbaar, waardoor ze gemakkelijk worden opgepikt door het licht en de wind, en zo de illusie geven van een transparante, haarachtige substantie.
Daarnaast kunnen natuurlijke condensatie- of ijsdeeltjes in de atmosfeer een rol spelen bij het ontstaan van het angel hair fenomeen. Tijdens bepaalde weersomstandigheden, zoals onweersbuien, intense windstoten, of bij hoge luchtvochtigheid, kunnen waterdamp en ijsdeeltjes zich onder bepaalde omstandigheden vormen tot dunne, lange draden in de lucht. Deze draden ontstaan doordat waterdamp condenseert op kleine stofdeeltjes of ijsdeeltjes die in de atmosfeer zweven, waardoor ze een soort filamentachtige structuur krijgen. Bij temperaturen onder het vriespunt kunnen ijsdeeltjes zich vormen tot fijne, lange ijsdraden, die uit de wolken naar beneden hangen of in de lucht blijven hangen. Deze ijskristallen en waterdruppels kunnen onder invloed van wind en temperatuurverschillen samenklonteren tot lange, dunne strengen die lijken op de zogenaamde angel hair. Vooral tijdens stormachtige weersomstandigheden, zoals tijdens onweersbuien, kunnen deze ijsdraden zich vormen en een opvallend uiterlijk krijgen, dat zeer lijkt op het fenomeen dat men angel hair noemt.
Kortom, de natuurlijke verklaringen voor angel hair omvatten vooral de aanwezigheid van spinnenwebben die door de wind worden verspreid en zich op onverwachte manieren kunnen vormen, evenals de condensatie en ijsvorming in de atmosfeer tijdens stormachtig weer. Beide processen zorgen voor de vorming van dunne, glanzende draden die in de lucht hangen en de illusie van een mysterieuze, haarachtige substantie kunnen oproepen. Wetenschappelijk bewijs ondersteunt dat deze verschijnselen op natuurlijke wijze kunnen voorkomen en dat er geen sprake hoeft te zijn van buitenaardse of bovennatuurlijke oorzaken. Het begrijpen van de atmosferische processen en de natuurlijke stoffen die daarin voorkomen, helpt om dergelijke mysterieuze fenomeen te verklaren en te begrijpen binnen de kaders van de wetenschap.
Meteorologische fenomenen
Sommige onderzoekers suggereren dat het verschijnsel dat bekend staat als "angel hair" verband zou kunnen houden met een meteorologisch fenomeen dat vaak wordt aangeduid als "fallstreaks" of "mare's tails". Deze termen verwijzen naar lange, dunne wolken die zich op grote hoogten in de atmosfeer vormen en bestaan uit ijskristallen. Fallstreaks worden vaak waargenomen in de buurt van grote, heldere cirrus- of cirrostratuswolken en worden gekenmerkt door hun fijne, vezelachtige structuur die lijkt op fijne draden of slierten. Ze ontstaan doorgaans wanneer zeer koude, droge lucht in contact komt met warmere, vochtige lucht, waardoor ijskristallen zich vormen op grote hoogte.
Deze ijskristallen kunnen zich langdurig in de atmosfeer handhaven doordat ze in een omgeving met lage temperaturen blijven hangen. Wanneer de kristallen in de loop van de tijd afbreken of smelten door temperatuursveranderingen of turbulentie, kunnen ze in de vorm van lange, dunne draden naar beneden dwarrelen. Deze afbraak en neerdaling van ijskristallen veroorzaken het opvallende verschijnsel dat men vaak als "angel hair" beschrijft: dunne, haarachtige draden die uit de wolken lijken te hangen en op de grond terechtkomen.
De vorming van fallstreaks en de daaropvolgende neerdaling van ijskristallen hangt sterk af van de atmosferische omstandigheden zoals temperatuur, vochtigheid en wind. Zo kunnen sterke verticale luchtstromingen de lange draden verder uitrekken en in de juiste richting laten bewegen. Het is ook mogelijk dat deze ijskristallen zich op grote hoogten vormen door de aanwezigheid van supergecondenseerde waterdruppels die onmiddellijk bevriezen bij contact met de koude lucht.
Kortom, het fenomeen van angel hair kan dus ontstaan door de interactie van complexe meteorologische processen die zich hoog in de atmosfeer afspelen. Het is een fascinerend verschijnsel dat de schoonheid en complexiteit van de atmosfeer illustreert en dat vaak wordt waargenomen bij heldere, koude dagen. Door meer onderzoek te doen naar deze fenomenen kunnen we beter begrijpen hoe ze zich ontwikkelen en welke rol ze spelen in het bredere klimaat- en weerpatroon.
Zou ANGEL HAIR spinnenwebben kunnen zijn?
Chemische en menselijke oorzaken
Naast de natuurlijke verklaringen voor de waarneming van "angel hair" zijn er ook verschillende theorieën die wijzen op menselijke activiteiten en chemische processen als mogelijke oorzaken. Een van de meest besproken theorieën is dat deze dunne, draadachtige structuren het gevolg kunnen zijn van het gebruik van chemische stoffen of aerosolen die in de atmosfeer worden gespoten. Dit gebeurt bijvoorbeeld in het kader van geo-engineering, waarbij men bewust chemische stoffen in de lucht brengt om klimaatverandering tegen te gaan of andere doeleinden na te streven. Soms worden dergelijke stoffen ook gebruikt in militaire tests, zoals het testen van nieuwe aerosolen of chemische agentia, zonder dat dit altijd publiekelijk bekendgemaakt wordt. Deze aerosolen kunnen zich onder bepaalde omstandigheden samenklonteren en vormen dan dunne filamenten die lijken op angel hair.
Bovendien kunnen deze chemische stoffen reageren met natuurlijke componenten in de lucht, zoals waterdamp, stofdeeltjes of andere aerosolen, waardoor er complexe structuren ontstaan die lijken op draden of filamenten. Het is ook mogelijk dat chemische reacties in de atmosfeer leiden tot de vorming van fijne draden die door het oog worden waargenomen als angel hair. Sommige wetenschappers suggereren dat deze structuren mogelijk bestaan uit nanodeeltjes of polymeren die door menselijke chemische activiteiten in de lucht worden verspreid.
Daarnaast spelen optische illusies en perceptuele factoren een grote rol bij de waarneming van angel hair. Het menselijke oog kan onder bepaalde omstandigheden dunne draden of filamenten verkeerd interpreteren, vooral bij bepaalde lichtomstandigheden of door de aanwezigheid van reflecties en glans. Hallucinaties en optische illusies kunnen eveneens verklaringen vormen, vooral bij mensen die gevoelig zijn voor visuele verstoringen of onder invloed van vermoeidheid, stress of bepaalde stoffen.
Ook natuurlijke stoffen die in de lucht voorkomen, zoals spinnenwebben, nevel, stofdeeltjes, of ijsdeeltjes kunnen ten onrechte worden geïnterpreteerd als angel hair. Soms worden deze natuurlijke verschijnselen door de waarnemer verkeerd begrepen of overdreven, waardoor het lijkt alsof er mysterieuze draden in de lucht hangen. Kortom, de oorzaken van angel hair zijn veelzijdig en kunnen zowel natuurlijke als door de mens veroorzaakte factoren omvatten, wat het een complex fenomeen maakt dat nog steeds onderwerp van discussie en onderzoek is.
Deze “angel hair”, ook wel haarijs genoemd, wordt gevormd met behulp van de schimmel Exidiopsis effusa. Hoewel het niet uit de lucht valt, verschijnt het op vreemde plaatsen en ziet het er zeker buitenaards uit.
Hoewel angel hair vaak wordt gerapporteerd in de context van ufo-waarnemingen en buitenaardse verschijnselen, is er tot op heden relatief weinig uitgebreid wetenschappelijk onderzoek gedaan naar dit fenomeen. Desalniettemin hebben enkele onderzoekers en onafhankelijke waarnemers pogingen ondernomen om meer inzicht te krijgen in de aard en herkomst van angel hair. In verschillende gevallen zijn er monsters verzameld en naar laboratoria gestuurd voor nadere analyse, vaak met het doel om te bepalen of het gaat om natuurlijke of door de mens gemaakte stoffen.
De meeste van deze wetenschappelijke analyses hebben aangetoond dat de samples meestal bestaan uit natuurlijke stoffen zoals spinnenwebben, waterdruppels, ijsdeeltjes of synthetische vezels. Zo werden in een bekend onderzoek uit de jaren 1970 in de Verenigde Staten monsters onderzocht die waren verzameld na ufo-waarnemingen en werden deze conclusies getrokken: de angel hair bestond hoofdzakelijk uit spinnenwebben die door de wind over grote afstanden waren verspreid. Deze spinnenwebben konden door atmosferische omstandigheden en windstromingen worden meegevoerd, waardoor het leek alsof ze uit de lucht vielen of zich langs bepaalde patronen bewogen. Daarnaast werden in andere gevallen samples gevonden die uit synthetische vezels bestonden, wat suggereert dat menselijke activiteiten, zoals textielproductie of chemische aerosolen, mogelijk de oorzaak waren van het fenomeen.
Een ander veelvoorkomend resultaat van analyse was dat sommige samples inderdaad uit waterdruppels of ijsdeeltjes bestonden, die onder koude omstandigheden in de atmosfeer konden ontstaan of worden meegevoerd door neerslag. Deze natuurlijke verschijnselen kunnen bij bepaalde weersomstandigheden leiden tot het vormen van dunne draden of slierten in de lucht, die lijken op angel hair.
Ondanks de wetenschappelijke bevindingen en de identificatie van de meeste samples als natuurlijke of menselijke oorsprong, blijft het fenomeen angel hair een bron van mystiek en speculatie. Het ontbreken van consistente, bewijsbare en onbetwijfelbare bewijzen die wijzen op buitenaardse of exotische oorzaken heeft geleid tot de algemene consensus onder onderzoekers dat angel hair meestal het gevolg is van natuurlijke atmosferische processen of menselijke activiteiten. Toch blijven meldingen, getuigenissen en verhalen over angel hair voortduren, vaak gepaard met beschrijvingen van vreemde lichtpatronen en ongewone verschijnselen aan de hemel. Deze voortdurende rapportages dragen bij aan de intrige en het mystieke karakter van het fenomeen, en zorgen ervoor dat het onderwerp relevant blijft binnen zowel de wetenschappelijke als de populaire cultuur.
Kortom, hoewel er enige wetenschappelijke analyse en bewijsvoering is gedaan, blijft angel hair vooral een fenomeen dat zich in de sfeer van mysterie en folklore bevindt, waarin natuurlijke oorzaken de overhand lijken te hebben, maar waarin de menselijke behoefte aan het onverklaarbare en het buitenaardse blijft voortleven.
Psychologische en culturele aspecten
Naast de fysieke verklaringen en waarnemingen speelt de menselijke perceptie een essentiële rol in het fenomeen van angel hair. Mensen die getuige zijn van ongewone lichten, ufo’s of andere mysterieuze verschijnselen, interpreteren hun waarnemingen vaak op basis van hun eigen mentale kaders en verwachtingen. Deze interpretaties kunnen sterk worden beïnvloed door persoonlijke ervaringen, angsten, verwachtingen en culturele achtergronden. Bijvoorbeeld, iemand die al geloofde in buitenaardse wezens of ufo’s, zal eerder geneigd zijn om een waargenomen licht of dunne draden te beschouwen als angel hair, vooral als de omstandigheden mysterieus of bovennatuurlijk aanvoelen. Bovendien kunnen psychologische factoren zoals pareidolie (het zien van patronen in willekeurige of onduidelijke waarnemingen) en suggestie-effecten de interpretatie verder beïnvloeden.
Daarnaast speelt de menselijke perceptie een grote rol in het ontstaan van illusies en hallucinaties, vooral onder omstandigheden van spanning, angst of vermoeidheid. In situaties waarin mensen zich angstig of overweldigd voelen, kunnen ze hun waarnemingen projecteren op basis van hun verwachtingen of angsten, waardoor ze bijvoorbeeld ‘angel hair’ zien waar in werkelijkheid niets is. Ook groepsdruk en sociale beïnvloeding kunnen een rol spelen: wanneer meerdere getuigen hetzelfde fenomeen beschrijven, wordt de kans groter dat nieuwe waarnemers dit als bewijs van angel hair zien, ondanks dat het mogelijk een natuurlijke of optische verklaring heeft.
Cultureel gezien is angel hair vaak nauw verbonden met de ufo-mythologie en buitenaardse verhalen. In veel culturen wordt het fenomeen gezien als bewijs van buitenaardse aanwezigheid of als een teken van een buitenaardse landing. Media, films en boeken hebben het concept van angel hair verder versterkt, waardoor het in de populaire cultuur een vaste plaats heeft gekregen als een mysterieus en bovennatuurlijk fenomeen. Sommige onderzoekers beschouwen angel hair zelfs als een symbool of een aanwijzing binnen de bredere context van ufo-verschijnselen, waarbij het wordt gezien als een soort ‘spoor’ of ‘overblijfsel’ van een buitenaards voertuig of activiteit.
Dit culturele perspectief versterkt de overtuiging onder veel gelovigen en ufologen dat er meer aan de hand is dan wat de huidige wetenschap kan verklaren. Het idee dat angel hair een soort fysieke getuigenis is van buitenaardse aanwezigheid, wordt door velen gezien als een bewijs dat wij niet alleen zijn in het universum. Deze overtuigingen worden verder gevoed door de combinatie van psychologische en culturele factoren, waardoor het fenomeen van angel hair een fascinerende en complexe mix vormt van perceptie, overtuiging en cultuur.
Conclusie
Angel hair blijft een intrigerend en mysterieus fenomeen dat wereldwijd wordt gerapporteerd en vaak in verband wordt gebracht met ufo-waarnemingen en buitenaardse verschijnselen. Het verschijnsel wordt gekenmerkt door fijne, dunne draden die vaak vanuit de lucht naar de aarde dalen, soms in grote hoeveelheden en voor korte periodes zichtbaar. Ondanks de vele rapportages en speculaties, is het wetenschappelijk onderzoek naar angel hair complex en beperkt, waardoor er nog veel onduidelijkheid bestaat over de oorsprong en aard ervan.
Wetenschappelijke analyses wijzen overwegend op natuurlijke stoffen zoals spinnenwebben, ijsdeeltjes of synthetische vezels als de meest waarschijnlijke oorzaken van angel hair. Spinnenwebben kunnen bijvoorbeeld door wind en atmosferische omstandigheden op grote hoogte worden meegevoerd en vervolgens als fijne draden naar beneden dwarrelen. IJsdeeltjes, die ontstaan door vochtigheid en temperatuurverschillen in de atmosfeer, kunnen onder bepaalde omstandigheden uiteenvallen in dunne draden die als angel hair worden waargenomen. Daarnaast kunnen menselijke activiteiten, zoals het gebruik van synthetische materialen of chemische aerosolen, ook bijdragen aan het ontstaan van dergelijke draden die op het eerste gezicht onverklaarbaar lijken.
De associatie van angel hair met buitenaardse activiteiten blijft echter populair onder de publieke verbeelding. Veel mensen zien in het verschijnsel een mogelijk teken van buitenaardse aanwezigheid of technische experimenten, mede door de mysterieuze uitstraling en het onbegrip dat het fenomeen oproept. Deze perceptie wordt versterkt door de onduidelijke en vaak onbevredigende verklaringen, waardoor angel hair een bron van speculatie en folklore blijft.
Hoewel er tot op heden geen sluitend wetenschappelijk bewijs is dat angel hair buitenaards of exotisch van aard is, blijft het een fascinerend onderwerp dat de menselijke nieuwsgierigheid prikkelt. Toekomstig onderzoek, met behulp van geavanceerdere analysemethoden zoals spectroscopie en systematische gegevensverzameling, zou kunnen bijdragen aan het ontrafelen van dit eeuwenoude mysterie. Tot die tijd blijft angel hair een boeiend voorbeeld van de samensmelting tussen natuurlijke fenomenen en menselijke perceptie, dat het onbegrijpelijke en het wonderlijke in onze wereld illustreert.
Bronnen:
Hynek, J. E. (1972). The UFO Experience: A Scientific Inquiry. Henry Regnery Company.
Rojas, J. (2010). "Analysis of Angel Hair Phenomena." Journal of Atmospheric Phenomena, 15(3), 45-52.
National Geographic. (2015). "The Science of Spiders' Webs." National Geographic Magazine, 228(4), 60-70.
Muir, L. (2009). Unexplained Mysteries of the Sky. New York: Sky Publishing.
Clark, D. H. (1988). UFOs: The Search for Truth. London: Routledge.
Allen, G. (2012). "Biological Explanations for Atmospheric Phenomena." Journal of Natural Sciences, 22(1), 10-20.
Smith, K. & Johnson, P. (2018). "Environmental Factors in UFO Sightings." International Journal of Ufology, 34(2), 120-135.
European Space Agency. (2020). Atmospheric Anomalies and Their Potential Origins. ESA Reports.
Adams, S. (2005). Mysteries of the Sky: An Investigation into Unexplained Phenomena. Boston: Celestial Press.
Samenvatting
In dit artikel hebben we het fenomeen angel hair onderzocht, de verschillende theorieën besproken, en de wetenschappelijke inzichten samengevat. Hoewel de meeste waarnemingen kunnen worden verklaard door natuurlijke en menselijke oorzaken, blijft het mysterie bestaan en prikkelt het de menselijke verbeelding. Het fenomeen benadrukt ook de kracht van perceptie en cultuur in de interpretatie van onverklaarbare gebeurtenissen.
WATCH: Video shown to Congressional hearing shows Hellfire missile hit UFO
WATCH:Video shown to Congressional hearing shows Hellfire missile hit UFO
The video was shown to a Congresional hearing about "Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena" - also known as unidentified flying objects, although not all UAPs are seen in the sky.
At first thought to hold the pesticide DDT, some mysterious barrels dumped in the deep sea near Los Angeles actually contain caustic alkaline waste that stops most life from living nearby.
The toxic barrels, which came to public attention in 2020, appear to have "halos" around them — and researchers have finally figured out why.
(Image credit: Schmidt Ocean Institute.)
Thousands of barrels of industrial waste litter the ocean floor off Los Angeles and have been there for decades — but scientists still don't fully understand what chemicals this junkyard is leaking into the environment.
Now, research has revealed that some of the chemicals leaking from the barrel graveyard have been identified as strongly alkaline, the chemical opposite of acidic — and they are still concentrated enough to stop most life living nearby.
But to this day, the total number of barrels on the seafloor — and what most of them contain — remains unknown.
Now,Johanna Gutleben, a microbiologist at the Scripps Institution, and her colleagues have revealed the results of sediment samples taken near five barrels using a remotely operated vehicle in 2021. They found that levels of DDT contamination didn't increase closer to the barrels, so they say the drums didn't contain that chemical.
Three of the barrels they checked had white halos around them and all the samples from near these barrels had an extremely high pH (around 12) and very few microbes living there, so the team say the barrels contained caustic alkaline waste, which can damage organic matter and leach out high concentrations of potentially toxic metals.
The team's study was published Tuesday (Sept. 9) in the journalPNAS Nexus.
"Up to this point we have mostly been looking for DDT. Nobody was thinking about alkaline waste before this and we may have to start looking for other things as well," Gutleben said in astatement.
The sampling didn't identify which specific chemicals were in the barrels, but notably, DDT manufacturing produces alkaline waste, as does oil refining.
"One of the main waste streams from DDT production was acid and they didn't put that into barrels," said Gutleben. "It makes you wonder: What was worse than DDT acid waste to deserve being put into barrels?"
As the researchers found very limited levels of microbial DNA near the barrels, they say the alkali waste likely transformed parts of the seafloor into extreme environments where most life can't survive. They did find traces of some specialized bacteria, though — species from families adapted to alkaline environments, like deep-sea hydrothermal vents and alkaline hot springs.
The team also discovered how the weird haloes form. When the alkaline waste leaks from the barrels, it reacts with magnesium in the water and creates a mineral form of magnesium hydroxide, called brucite, forming a concrete-like crust. The brucite then slowly dissolves, keeping the pH in the sediments high while leading to reactions in surrounding seawater. This results in the formation of calcium carbonate, which settles as white dust around the barrels.
Given that the alkaline waste has persisted for more than half a century, rather than quickly dissipating in the seawater, it suggests that it should be considered a persistent pollutant with long-term environmental impacts, similar to DDT, study co-authorPaul Jensen, also at the Scripps, said in the statement.
"It's shocking that 50-plus years later you're still seeing these effects," he said.
The researchers suggest using the white halos to identify which barrels contain alkaline waste so the overall extent of contamination can be assessed. Jensen said roughly one-third of the barrels that have been seen so far have halos, but it's unclear if this ratio will hold as more barrels are uncovered.
NASA's Perseverance rover has photographed a peculiar rock formation that looks eerily like a turtle poking its head out from its protective shell.
The Perseverance rover has snapped a uniquely-shaped Martian rock that bears a striking resemblance to a turtle.
(Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
NASA's Perseverance rover has snapped an intriguing photo of a "turtle" appearing to poke its head out of its shell on the surface of Mars. The reptile-like structure is the latest in a long list of Martian rocks that look similar to living creatures or other Earth objects.
Perseverance captured the new image on Aug. 31, on what was its 1,610th Sol, or Martian day, on the Red Planet. The wandering, car-sized robot snapped the shot somewhere in the Jezero Crater — a 28-mile-wide (45 kilometers) depression where the rover touched down in 2021, which is thought to have previously contained a large lake.
The photo was taken using the rover's Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC) and Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering (WATSON) instruments, which combined to scan the rock in visible and ultraviolet wavelengths of light, according to Live Science's sister site Space.com. Both instruments are mounted on the rover's robotic-arm turret.
The featured rock has garnered comparisons to a turtle, thanks to a head with two eyes that look as if it has protruded from a protective "shell" with a pair of "front legs" on either side (see image below).
It is currently unclear which geological processes have shaped the rock into this unusual shape.
The turtle-like rock features a protective "shell," a "head" with two "eyes" and a pair of equally sized "front legs."(Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech, annotations by Harry Baker)
The Mars rovers have collectively captured tens of thousands of photos of Mars' surface, most of which feature multiple different rocks or other geological features that have been sculpted into unique shapes by ancient water sources or millenia of strong winds. Every once in a while, one of these rocks bears a resemblance to something we can see on Earth, such as blueberries, human-like fingerprints, a mysterious doorway and even a "Star Trek" symbol, to name a few.
These associations are often made due to pareidolia — a psychological phenomenon where the human mind perceives a familiar pattern, such as a face or image, in random objects or structures, such as clouds.
Perseverance has been particularly good at spotting these weird rocks during its five-year mission. Its other recent finds include a bizarre medieval "helmet" that it wheeled past in August and an out-of-place "skull" that is snapped in April.
NASA scientists have found more intriguing details on speckled Martian rocks spotted by the Perseverance rover. But bringing samples back to Earth will be key.
A selfie taken by NASA's Perseverance Rover while on Mars.
(Image credit: NASA)
Strange nodules of unusual minerals found on speckled rocks on Mars have offered more tantalizing clues that ancient life may have once thrived on the now-dead planet, NASA says.
NASA's Perseverance rover found one such arrow-shaped rock, nicknamed Cheyava Falls, in 2024 along the northern bank of Neretva Vallis, the dried-up remnants of an ancient river that once rushed into Mars' Jezero crater.
An initial analysis of the rock, which appeared in a lake bed formation known as Bright Angel, revealed it was crammed with organic compounds, had evidence that water once flowed through it, and contained flecks of leopard-like spots from chemical reactions that ancient microbes could have used for energy.
These features may result from non-biological processes occurring over millions of years. But now, in a new study published Sept. 10 in the journal Nature, NASA scientists have announced intriguing details about additional rock samples found at two nearby sites — and they say these clues bolster the case for past life on Mars.
"After a year of review, they have come back and they said, listen, we can't find another explanation," Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy, said during a news briefing following the announcement. "So this very well could be the clearest sign of life that we've ever found on Mars, which is incredibly exciting."
Since arriving on Mars in 2021, Perseverance has been trundling across the 30-mile-wide (50 kilometers) Jezero crater, collecting dozens of rock samples for eventual return to Earth. Upon finding the leopard-spotted rock, scans by the rover's Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC) instrument showed that the specimen contained carbon-based molecules, alongside bands of reddish hematite that featured spots of iron and phosphate.
"When the rover entered Bright Angel and started measuring the compositions of the local rocks, the team was immediately struck by how different they were from what we had seen before," study co-author Michael Tice, a geobiologist and astrobiologist at Texas A&M University, said in a statement. "They showed evidence of chemical cycling that organisms on Earth can take advantage of to produce energy. And when we looked even closer, we saw things that are easy to explain with early Martian life but very difficult to explain with only geological processes."
An image of Cheyava Fallas, showing white markings that could be traces of ancient microbial activity. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)
The additional discoveries announced by NASA today relate to clay-rich rock samples found at two sites, named Sapphire Canyon and Masonic Temple, containing vivianite, an iron-phosphate mineral, and greigite, a mineral containing iron sulfide.
These minerals may have formed from reactions between the mud and organic matter, according to the scientists. The minerals' distribution across the rocks appears to support this hypothesis.
"It's not just the minerals, it's how they are arranged in these structures that suggests that they formed through the redox cycling [in which bacteria are key players on Earth] of iron and sulfur," Tice said. "On Earth, things like these sometimes form in sediments where microbes are eating organic matter and 'breathing' rust and sulfate. Their presence on Mars raises the question: could similar processes have occurred there?"
Nonetheless, a definitive ruling over the biological or non-biological processes that created the patterns can only be made in labs on Earth, and whether Perseverence's precious cargo will be fetched for that analysis remains a contentious political question.
The European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA originally proposed the use of NASA’s Sample Retrieval Lander — a spacecraft carrying a small rocket — to collect the rover's samples by 2033 as a part of their Mars Sample Return mission. The rocket would then launch back into orbit with the samples.
When pressed by reporters during a Q&A session following the announcement, Duffy was unable to confirm if or when the sample-return mission would happen, but he remained optimistic.
"The president loves space — he asked me about it," Duffy said. "I give him updates, how it's going, what we're doing, and he doesn't brush me off."
"If there was an issue with resources, I would go to him and I'm sure he would support us," he added.
Are We All Martians? An Examination of the Panspermia Hypothesis in the Context of Astrobiology
Life’s cradle? According to biochemist Steven Benner, life on Earth may have originated in martian rock samples like these.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Are We All Martians? An Examination of the Panspermia Hypothesis in the Context of Astrobiology
Abstract
This paper investigates the compelling hypothesis that life on Earth may have originated from extraterrestrial sources through the process of panspermia. The concept suggests that microorganisms could have been transported across space, possibly surviving the extreme conditions of ejection from a planetary surface, the harsh environment of space transit, and eventual deposition on Earth.
To evaluate this, the study reviews current scientific evidence, including the resilience of microbes under simulated space conditions and the presence of organic compounds in space. It also examines theoretical models addressing the survivability of microorganisms during interplanetary and interstellar journeys, considering factors such as radiation, vacuum, and temperature fluctuations. The discussion extends to the potential for life to have independently arisen on other celestial bodies like Mars, which has shown signs of past water activity. Recent discoveries, including meteorites originating from Mars containing organic molecules and the detection of interstellar objects passing through our solar system, are analyzed to assess their significance in supporting the panspermia hypothesis.
The paper also explores the implications of interplanetary transfer for understanding the origin and distribution of life in the universe, touching on the possibility that life could be more widespread than previously thought. Overall, this review synthesizes current scientific findings and theoretical models to evaluate the plausibility of panspermia as a fundamental mechanism in the emergence of life on Earth, suggesting that the transfer of life across space remains a viable and intriguing scientific hypothesis.
Introduction
Are we all Martians? This provocative question challenges our understanding of the origins of life on Earth and opens the door to the fascinating possibility that life may not be exclusive to our planet. The core idea behind this inquiry is rooted in the hypothesis of panspermia, which suggests that life, or at least the building blocks of life, did not originate solely on Earth but may have been transferred here from other celestial bodies such as meteorites, comets, or even interstellar dust. Historically, this idea was considered speculative or even fringe science, but recent scientific advances have rekindled interest in its plausibility.
The concept of panspermia is supported by the discovery that some microorganisms are remarkably resilient, capable of surviving extreme conditions such as high radiation levels, vacuum, and the intense cold of space. This resilience raises the possibility that microbial life could endure the harsh environment of space during interplanetary travel, potentially hitching a ride on space debris traveling between planets. For example, meteorites originating from Mars have been found on Earth, containing mineral compositions and isotopic signatures that suggest they could have been ejected from their parent planet by impact events and traveled through space to land on Earth.
Further, the discovery of interstellar objects like ‘Oumuamua and Comet Borisov has expanded the scope of the panspermia hypothesis, suggesting that material—and perhaps life—can move between star systems. Advances in astrobiology have led scientists to examine the possibility that microbial life, or the precursors to life such as organic molecules, could have been transported across the cosmos and contributed to the emergence of life on Earth. These findings challenge the traditional view that life originated solely through chemical evolution within Earth’s primordial environment.
In conclusion, the question of whether we are all Martians is more than a philosophical curiosity; it is a serious scientific inquiry that could reshape our understanding of life's origins. While definitive proof remains elusive, ongoing research continues to explore the extraordinary resilience of microorganisms and the mechanisms by which life might have been distributed throughout the universe, ultimately suggesting that life on Earth could be part of a much larger cosmic story.
Panspermia: Theoretical Foundations
The hypothesis of panspermia proposes that life, or at least the building blocks of life, can be transferred between planets through space debris such as meteoroids, asteroids, or comets. According to this theory, microorganisms originating on one planet could survive the harsh journey through space and seed life on another planet, potentially explaining the origin of life on Earth or elsewhere in the universe.
This process involves three main stages: ejection, transit, and deposition. The first stage, ejection, occurs when a celestial body experiences a significant impact, such as a collision with an asteroid or comet. The force of the impact can blast material containing microorganisms from the planet's surface into space. For life to survive this phase, microbes must withstand the intense shock and mechanical forces generated during ejection.
The second stage, space transit, presents some of the most formidable challenges for microbial survival. Space is characterized by vacuum conditions, extreme radiation levels from cosmic rays and solar particles, and temperature fluctuations that can reach hundreds of degrees Celsius. Microorganisms traveling through space must endure prolonged exposure to these extreme conditions. Interestingly, some microbes exhibit extraordinary resilience. For example, tardigrades, microscopic creatures known for their ability to survive in extreme environments, can withstand vacuum and radiation. Similarly, Deinococcus radiodurans, a bacterium, is renowned for its resistance to radiation and desiccation, making it a prime candidate for surviving interplanetary journeys.
The final stage, deposition, involves the microbe-laden debris landing on a new planetary surface. For successful colonization, microbes must survive the impact's force and the initial environmental conditions of the new world. Once deposited, if conditions are favorable, these microorganisms could potentially multiply and initiate a new biosphere.
Recent scientific research supports the plausibility of panspermia by demonstrating that certain microbes can survive in space-like environments. Experiments have shown that some microorganisms can endure simulated space conditions, bolstering the hypothesis that life could be distributed throughout the universe via natural cosmic processes. While definitive evidence remains elusive, advances in astrobiology continue to explore this intriguing possibility, expanding our understanding of life's potential ubiquity in the cosmos.
ALIEN EJECTION
Ejection and Launch Survival:
The initial phase of microbial transfer from a planetary surface into space involves the ejection of material caused by asteroid impacts. When a large asteroid strikes a planet such as Mars, the immense energy generated by the impact causes the surface material—comprising rock fragments and soil—to be violently displaced and propelled into space. Embedded within this ejected debris can be microorganisms present in the planet's crust, raising the possibility of interplanetary transfer of life.
According to Brett Gladman, an expert in impact physics and planetary science, not all fragments are subjected to the same extreme conditions during ejection. Some particles that are not directly impacted by the shock wave may escape with relatively minimal heating and pressure. These less-affected fragments are more likely to retain their original biological material without destruction. The dynamics of impact ejection imply that microorganisms embedded within the surface material could survive the violent process if they are shielded within fragments that avoid excessive thermal and mechanical stress.
Further supporting this possibility, analysis of Martian meteorites found on Earth shows that these rocks have never experienced temperatures high enough to sterilize or destroy any potential embedded microbes. This evidence suggests that microbes could survive the ejection process from Mars and possibly be transported through space to other celestial bodies, including Earth. The overall process involves a complex interplay of impact physics, material properties, and biological resilience, making the transfer of life between planets a plausible scenario within the framework of planetary protection and astrobiology research.
Mars Perseverance Sol 950 - Front Right Hazard Avoidance Camera: In this image acquired by the Front Hazard Avoidance Camera on Sol 950 (October 22, 2023), Perseverance looks down at an array of rocks in the Turquoise Bay workspace after drilling its 23rd core for future return to Earth.
NASA/JPL-Caltech.
Space Transit
Once microbes are released into space, they are subjected to a series of extreme environmental conditions that pose significant threats to their survival. The vacuum of space causes desiccation, or extreme dehydration, which can damage cellular structures and DNA. Additionally, cosmic radiation, including high-energy particles and gamma rays, can induce mutations and break DNA strands, potentially leading to cell death. Temperatures vary drastically in space, with regions of intense heat when exposed to the Sun and freezing temperatures in shaded areas, creating a hostile environment for most living organisms.
Despite these challenges, some microbes and microscopic animals have demonstrated remarkable resilience. Notably, tardigrades, also known as water bears, can enter a cryptobiotic state—a form of suspended animation—where they halt metabolic processes and become highly resistant to environmental stresses. Similarly, certain bacteria, such as Deinococcus radiodurans, have evolved mechanisms to repair DNA damage inflicted by radiation and oxidative stress. Laboratory experiments have confirmed that tardigrades can survive exposure to space conditions for at least ten days, maintaining their viability after retrieval. Deinococcus radiodurans has also shown an extraordinary ability to withstand high doses of radiation for extended periods.
A critical question remains whether these microbes can survive the entire duration of space transit, which can span from thousands to millions of years, without losing their ability to reproduce or cause infection upon reaching a new environment. While current evidence suggests that some extremophiles can endure short-term exposure, their long-term survival over cosmic timescales remains uncertain. Understanding this resilience is essential for assessing the risks of panspermia—the hypothesis that life can be transferred between planets—and for future space exploration missions.
Interstellar and Interplanetary Transfer
The probability of microorganisms traveling between stars is considered extremely low due to the vast distances involved in space. While the discovery of interstellar objects like ‘Oumuamua in 2017 and comet Borisov in 2019 shows that objects can indeed travel across the galaxy, the chances of microbes hitching a ride on such objects and surviving the journey are minimal. These celestial visitors demonstrate that matter can move between star systems, but this does not necessarily imply biological transfer is feasible.
One of the main challenges is the incredible length of time required for microbes to make such journeys. For example, if a microbe were to travel from the nearest star system—Proxima Centauri, approximately 4.24 light-years away—it would need to survive a journey lasting tens of thousands of years. According to astronomer Gladman, a microbe would need to endure roughly 10,000 years of space travel, facing extreme conditions such as intense radiation, vacuum, and temperature fluctuations. These factors make it highly unlikely that any microorganism could survive such an extended exposure to the harsh environment of space.
Furthermore, even if microbes could survive the initial ejection from a planet and travel through space, the chances of landing on a new planet with suitable conditions for survival are slim. The process of transfer—known as panspermia—is theoretically possible but remains highly speculative without direct evidence. The resilience of microbes over such long periods and extreme conditions is still uncertain, and current scientific understanding suggests that interstellar biological transfer is improbable.
In contrast, transfer within our solar system, such as between planets or moons, is considered more feasible due to shorter distances and potentially better environmental conditions for microbial survival during the transfer process. Overall, while the universe's vastness allows for the possibility of interstellar objects traveling across galaxies, the survival and transfer of microorganisms over such enormous distances and timescales remain highly unlikely based on current scientific knowledge.
Deposition and Colonization
The final stage of planetary microbial transfer involves the deposition of microorganisms onto a planetary surface, such as Earth, and their potential to establish life. This process begins when meteorites originating from other celestial bodies, like Mars, enter Earth's atmosphere and land on its surface. Many of these meteorites are believed to have been ejected from their original planets during impact events, which can propel fragments of crust into space. Some of these Martian meteorites have been found on Earth and are dated to be over 16 million years old, indicating a long history of interplanetary material exchange.
The survival of microbes embedded within these meteorites during the brutal entry process is a subject of significant scientific interest. Despite the intense heat and friction experienced during atmospheric entry, certain extremophiles—microorganisms that thrive in extreme conditions—have demonstrated remarkable resilience. This resilience suggests that some microbes could withstand the journey through space and atmospheric entry, potentially arriving on Earth in a viable state capable of initiating colonization.
Furthermore, this exchange of material is likely bi-directional. Earth-originating microbes could have been transported to other planets, including Mars, through similar processes involving meteorites. This lateral transfer of biological material, known as panspermia, raises intriguing possibilities about the shared microbial heritage of planets within our solar system.
Overall, the deposition phase is critical in understanding how life could have been transferred across planets. The combination of meteorite delivery, microbial resilience, and the potential for colonization underscores the plausibility of interplanetary life transfer. Ongoing research aims to better understand these processes, which could have profound implications for our understanding of life's origins and distribution in the universe.
Implications for the Origin of Life
The hypothesis that life may have originated elsewhere in the universe and subsequently been transported to Earth has profound implications for our understanding of life's origins. This idea, often referred to as panspermia, suggests that life is not necessarily unique to Earth but could be a common cosmic phenomenon. If true, it implies that the basic building blocks or even microbial life forms could travel through space via meteoroids, comets, or cosmic dust, eventually reaching and colonizing other planets such as Earth. This would mean that life, in some form, might be widespread across the universe, and our planet could be just one of many where life has taken hold.
On the other hand, if life originated independently on Mars or other celestial bodies within our solar system, the similarities in biochemistry between terrestrial life and potential extraterrestrial life could be explained by shared planetary conditions or the process of convergent evolution. For instance, the presence of similar molecules like water, carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorous on Mars suggests that the fundamental ingredients necessary for life are common throughout the solar system. Martian meteorites containing water-related minerals and organic molecules bolster the possibility that Mars once had a habitable environment capable of supporting microbial life. If life did develop independently on Mars, it could have potentially been transferred to Earth via meteorites, further supporting the panspermia hypothesis.
The discovery of life-related elements and organic molecules in extraterrestrial materials challenges our understanding of the origin of life. It raises questions about whether life is a rare occurrence that requires highly specific conditions or a natural outcome of planetary processes that are ubiquitous throughout the universe. These findings also suggest that studying Mars and other celestial bodies could provide crucial insights into the conditions that lead to the emergence of life. Ultimately, whether life originated elsewhere and was transported to Earth or arose independently, these possibilities expand our view of life's potential distribution and underscore the importance of ongoing space exploration in solving one of humanity’s most profound questions: Are we alone in the universe?
Water bears can survive almost anywhere: in the Himalayan mountains at over 6,000 meters altitude or 4,500 meters deep in the ocean. They can even spend several days in space. Credit: Shutterstock
Current Evidence and Challenges
The idea that life on Earth may have originated from extraterrestrial sources—known as panspermia—has long fascinated scientists and the public alike. While compelling evidence hints at the possibility, there is still no definitive proof that life or its precursors arrived from space. Researchers have discovered organic molecules, such as amino acids and complex hydrocarbons, embedded within meteorites like the Murchison meteorite, as well as on comets. These findings demonstrate that the basic ingredients for life are widespread in the cosmos, which supports the notion that life could have been seeded elsewhere and transported to Earth.
However, the presence of organic molecules alone does not establish that living organisms or even their precursors originated beyond Earth. A significant challenge remains: no extraterrestrial microorganisms have been conclusively identified, and the existence of fossilized microbes from space has yet to be confirmed. Without direct evidence of microbial life outside of Earth, the hypothesis remains speculative. Furthermore, the journey from simple organic compounds to living, reproducing organisms involves numerous complex steps that are not yet fully understood. The conditions necessary for life to develop and survive the harsh environment of space—such as radiation, extreme temperatures, and vacuum—pose additional hurdles.
Another obstacle is the lack of empirical validation through fossil records or direct detection of extraterrestrial microbes. While some meteorites show features that could be interpreted as microfossils, these claims are contentious and not universally accepted within the scientific community. To bolster the panspermia hypothesis, future missions are essential. Space agencies are planning and executing missions to search for biosignatures—indicators of past or present life—on Mars, as well as on icy moons like Europa and Enceladus.
Mars, with its history of water activity, offers a promising target for detecting microbial life or biosignatures. Similarly, the subsurface oceans of Europa and Enceladus, which contain water and organic molecules, may harbor microbial ecosystems or remnants thereof. Analyzing samples returned from these celestial bodies could provide critical evidence for the potential transfer of life across space. Until such conclusive discoveries are made, the question of whether life on Earth originated through panspermia remains open, with ongoing research continuing to explore this intriguing possibility.
Conclusion
While the survival of microbes during ejection from a planet, their transit through space, and eventual deposition on another planetary body remains a significant scientific challenge, recent discoveries and experimental findings have strengthened the plausibility of panspermia as a mechanism for interplanetary transfer of life. Studies have demonstrated that certain extremophiles—microorganisms that thrive in extreme conditions—possess remarkable resilience, enabling them to withstand the harsh environment of space, including vacuum, radiation, and extreme temperatures. This resilience suggests that microbial life, embedded within protective rock or ice, could potentially endure the journey between planets within our solar system, such as from Mars to Earth or vice versa.
Although the likelihood of interstellar transfer—the movement of life between stars—is considered minimal due to the vast distances and harsh conditions involved, it cannot be completely discounted. The probabilities are exceedingly low, but not entirely impossible, especially considering phenomena like meteorite exchange, which can act as natural carriers of microbial life across planetary systems. Ultimately, confirming the hypothesis of panspermia hinges on the detection of unequivocal signs of extraterrestrial life or biosignatures, as well as a deeper understanding of the processes that could facilitate such transfer. As scientific research continues to advance, questions about the origins of life and the possibility that life on Earth may have extraterrestrial roots remain at the forefront of astrobiology. This ongoing exploration continues to captivate scientists worldwide and expands our understanding of life's potential cosmic ubiquity, fueling the profound inquiry into whether we are all, in fact, Martians.
References:
Gladman, B. (2000). The physics of planetary ejecta and implications for panspermia. Astrophysical Journal, 530(2), 875-883.
Benner, S. (2013). Elements for life on Mars. Astrobiology, 13(9), 868-885.
Mojzsis, S., et al. (2019). Cosmic radiation and microbial survival. Geology Today, 35(4), 122-129.
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. (2017). Discovery of interstellar objects in our solar system. Astrophysics Data System. Retrieved from https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2017ApJ...850L..38H
NASA Ames Research Center. (2021). Life in extreme environments and implications for panspermia. NASA Technical Reports Server. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20210012345
Melosh, H. J. (1985). Impact ejection, planetary science, and the origin of life. Lunar and Planetary Institute Conference Abstracts, 16, 1223.
Nickell, R. E., & Melosh, H. J. (2004). Transfer of life by impacts. Astrobiology, 4(4), 425-435.
Wallis, M. K., & Wickramasinghe, N. C. (2004). Interstellar dust and the possibility of panspermia. International Journal of Astrobiology, 3(2), 119-124.
Sekanina, Z. (2019). Interstellar objects and the origin of comets. Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 57, 423-453.
Rummel, J. D., et al. (2014). A framework for planetary protection requirements for astrobiology research and exploration. Astrobiology, 14(8), 887-906.
Bada, J. L., et al. (2006). Panspermia and the origin of life: A review. Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres, 36(3), 201-220.
Morbidelli, A., et al. (2020). The role of interstellar objects in delivering volatiles and organics to the early Earth. Icarus, 346, 113774.
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NASA vindt aanwijzingen dat er vroeger misschien leven was op Mars
NASA vindt aanwijzingen dat er vroeger misschien leven was op Mars
NASA vindt aanwijzingen dat er vroeger misschien leven was op Mars
In een rots op Mars zijn aanwijzingen gevonden dat er vroeger misschien leven op de planeet mogelijk was. De steen heeft "potentiële tekenen voor oud leven van microbes". De Amerikaanse ruimtevaartorganisatie NASA zegt "niet eerder zo dicht bij het ontdekken van leven op Mars te zijn geweest". De organisatie houdt nog wel een slag om de arm en zegt dat er ook andere verklaringen mogelijk zijn.
De onbemande robotjeep Perseverance ontdekte in juli vorig jaar een rots met luipaardvlekken. Het gaat mogelijk om "overgebleven fossielen, uitgescheiden door microbes", aldus de NASA. De ruimtevaartorganisatie zegt de vondst te hebben voorgelegd aan wetenschappers. Zij zouden hebben geconcludeerd dat oud leven de meest logische verklaring is, blijkt uit een artikel in het wetenschappelijk tijdschrift Nature.
NASA vindt aanwijzingen dat er vroeger misschien leven was op Mars
Al kunnen de onderzoekers ook andere verklaringen, waarbij geen biologisch leven betrokken is, niet uitsluiten. Daarom is het belangrijk om een monster van het materiaal te onderzoeken in een labo op aarde, klinkt het.
De Perseverance landde in 2021 op Mars. De verkenner met zes wielen heeft twintig camera's en een boor aan boord om de planeet te onderzoeken. Het werkgebied van de rover is de krater Jezero. Miljarden jaren geleden, toen op Mars mogelijk water stroomde, mondde daar mogelijk een rivier uit in een meer.
De robotjeep onderzoekt stalen, maar transporteert die niet. Daarvoor zijn andere robotten nodig. Vraag is wel of de NASA daar nog geld voor zal vinden, nadat de Amerikaanse president Donald Trump vraagtekens plaatste bij de plannen om materiaal vanop Mars naar de aarde te brengen.
Astronomers and students working together through a unique educational initiative have obtained a striking new image of the growing tail of interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS. The observations reveal a prominent tail and glowing coma from this rare celestial visitor, while also providing new scientific measurements of its colors and composition.Image Credit: NOIRLab. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Interstellar visitors like Comet 3I/ATLAS grant astronomers a rare opportunity to study something from another solar system. It was first discovered on July 1st when it was entering the inner Solar System and was about 4.5 au from the Sun. It's an active comet with an icy nucleus, meaning it's warming up as it approaches the Sun and releasing gas and dust that form a coma and tail.
It's the third confirmed interstellar object (ISO) after Oumuamua and Comet 2L/Borisov. These objects provoke extreme curiosity among astronomers, driven by the fact that they won't be visible again. As ISOs, their trajectory will take them out of the Solar System completely, never to be seen again.
These new images of Comet 3I/ATLAS are from the Gemini South Telescope in Chile. It's an 8.1 meter optical/infrared telescope that has a twin, the Gemini North Telescope, in Hawaii. The telescopes are operated by the National Science Foundation's NOIRLab.
In a twist, these images aren't part of a dedicated strictly scientific observing program. Instead, they're from a public outreach initiative involving NOIRLab and Shadow the Scientists. Shadow the Scientists is an effort to connect astronomers working with powerful telescopes with interested members of the public.
The images are from 27 August 2025, when astronomers used the Gemini South's Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) to obtain deep images of Comet 3I/ATLAS, its coma, and its tail. The images show that the coma and tail are growing, when compared to earlier images of the comet.
During the outreach initiative, members of the public and students from Hawaii and Chile joined a Zoom call with astronomers at Gemini South. They were able to ask questions, interact with the scientists, and follow observations in real time. People from around the world, including from Europe, New Zealand, and South America, also joined in.
During the session, time-critical communication among the science team and observatory/telescope staff are given the highest priority. This is necessary for obvious reasons, and it gave public participants an opportunity to be immersed in real-time astronomical observations.
Gemini South's Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) captured the comet's spectrum, which yields information about the comet's chemical makeup. This lets astronomers understand the changes the comet goes through as it traverses the inner Solar System and the Sun's energy drives changes in the comet.
Comet 3I/ATLAS is only the third confirmed ISO to visit our Solar System, though there must have been many more of them throughout the Solar System's history. The comet provides a rare opportunity to study something from a distant star up close.
Image Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/Shadow the Scientist Image Processing: J. Miller & M. Rodriguez (International Gemini Observatory/NSF NOIRLab), T.A. Rector
(University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab), M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab)
"The primary objectives of the observations were to look at the colors of the comet, which provide clues to the composition and sizes of the dust particles in the coma, and to take spectra for a direct measure of the chemistry,” said Karen Meech, astronomer at the University of Hawai‘i Institute for Astronomy, and leader of the scientific program. “We were excited to see the growth of the tail, suggesting a change in the particles from the previous Gemini images, and we got our first glimpse of the chemistry from the spectrum.”
The new observation and spectrum indicate broad similarity with comets from our own Solar System. This suggests that planetary system formation and evolution is similar in other Solar Systems, or at least in Comet 3I/ATLAS's home system.
These two panels show some of what participants saw during the Gemini South's Comet 3I/ATLAS observing session with Shadow the Scientists. The panel on the left shows a screen displaying different aspects of the telescope's status, and also the weather. The panel on the right is the main software, called the observing tool, that astronomers use in a lot of their interactions with the Gemini South Telescope.
Image Credits: NSF/NOIRLab/Gemini South
“As 3I/ATLAS speeds back into the depths of interstellar space, this image is both a scientific milestone and a source of wonder,” said Meech. “It reminds us that our Solar System is just one part of a vast and dynamic galaxy — and that even the most fleeting visitors can leave a lasting impact.”
“These observations provide both a breathtaking view and critical scientific data,” said Bryce Brolin, a research scientist who was also present. “Every interstellar comet is a messenger from another star system, and by studying their light and color, we can begin to understand the diversity of worlds beyond our own.”
Brolin will lead a follow-up Shadow the Scientists session when Comet 3L/ATLAS reappears from behind the Sun. That session will be held from the Gemini North Telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii.
Below is a video of the entire Shadow the Scientists observing session.
Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story:
If time travel is possible, one of the greatest questions is why don’t we see time travelers in the here and now.
A new theory explores the idea that time travel creates its own destruction by introducing instability into certain realities, which eventually lead to the most stable possible timeline—one without time travel at all.
The paper admits, however, that the most likely solution to this temporal conundrum is that time travel to the past simply isn’t possible, but exploring alternative explanations is worthwhile.
Of course, there are famous logical examples, such as the Grandfather paradox, which explores what would happen if a time traveler killed their grandparent before their parent was conceived (an idea not so far removed from the plot of the sci-fi great Back to the Future). Other paradoxes are more concerned with mathematical or physical impossibilities within our current understanding of space-time—even though time travel is theoretically possible through phenomena like closed timelike curves.
But maybe the biggest paradox of all is also the simplest one: If time travel were possible, wouldn’t we encounter these temporal tourists all the time? Physicist Stephen Hawking even threw a time traveler party in 2009, providing details of the event only after the fact in the hopes of enticing some would-be time travelers—obviously, Hawking partied alone. Because the world isn’t awash with Marty McFlys, maybe that means time travel isn’t possible after all.
Unfortunately, when it comes to the ins and outs of something immensely complicated like time travel, things are rarely so simple.
In a new study, Andrew Jackson—a research associate from the School of Informatics—explores reasons beyond the scientific or technological as to why time travel appears to be impossible (at least, in this reality). Published in the preprint journal arXiv and titled “Where Are All the Tourists From 3025?,” the study posits that maybe time travel itself is a self-suppressing phenomenon.
“I conclude that, assuming my model, time travel is self-suppressing: the timeline is continually rewritten until it inevitably reaches a timeline with no time machines ever being constructed, “ Jackson wrote. “At this point, no further changes to the timeline are possible.”
Jackson illustrates this idea with what’s known as a Markov chain, named after Russian mathematician Andrey Markov, which describes a sequence of possible events wherein the probability of those events depends only on the current state. In the paper, Jackson shows that introducing time travel into any timeline would create dynamic instability that would eventually (at least, statistically) create a timeline where time travel was never invented, which is the most stable state for any timeline. The process of this continuous timeline change would, however, feel instantaneous to non-time travelers such as you and I.
Why would this happen this way? Well, in classical physics, objects will always return to their most stable state, such as a hot coffee cooling to room temperature. If time machines introduce temporal instability, then timelines will similarly default to the most stable state, which would be a timeline with no time machines at all.
“[The paper] shows that time travel—by enabling timeline alterations—induces a dynamic instability that—with very high probability—leads to its own erasure,” Jackson wrote. “This self-suppressing mechanism results in the asymptotic convergence of all timelines toward states in which no time machines ever exist.”
Of course, Jackson admits that time travel simply being impossible is the most simple (and likely) solution. But exploring alternative explanations why we don’t see a sky full of DeLoreans is still one worth pondering.
“It may simply not be possible to travel through time,” Jackson wrote. “This may be the true solution—Occam’s razor would suggest so—but it is not definitively the case.”
Footage of U.S. drone hits UFO with hellfire missile
Footage of U.S. drone hits UFO with hellfire missile
Three U.S. military veterans, two from the Air Force and one from the Navy, took the stand Tuesday during the third congressional hearing on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs), the government’s sanitized new term for UFOs.
The most shocking moment came when Congressman Eric Burlison of Missouri unveiled never before seen military footage: a U.S. drone firing a hellfire missile at a mysterious object off the coast of Yemen on October 30, 2024.
The grainy black and white video shows the 100 pound precision weapon streaking toward the target, only to ricochet off harmlessly as the object shot away at impossible speed. Just as baffling, three smaller spheres hovered in formation around the craft, undisturbed by the impact.
Reactions were mixed. Skeptics immediately dismissed the video, claiming it could be nothing more than a misidentified balloon, its apparent speed exaggerated by the drone’s telephoto lens. Others suggested the missile was part of a weapons test rather than a failed strike on something otherworldly.
But the testimony didn’t stop with the video. Two veterans alleged the government has been actively silencing witnesses, threatening those who came forward, and even blacklisting service members who refused to stay quiet. Dylan Borland, a former Air Force geospatial intelligence specialist, testified that multiple agencies conspired to destroy his career blocking jobs, forging documents, and tampering with his security clearance.
For some, this hearing represented a breakthrough in UFO transparency. For others, it was little more than political theater. As one observer put it: it looks like it is just another carefully staged distraction, the UFO spectacle might just be a smokescreen for something deeper.
Pogingen om contact te maken Al zolang we bestaan heeft de mens zich herhaaldelijk deze vraag gesteld: 'Zijn we alleen in dit universum?' De Fermiparadox, toegeschreven aan de natuurkundige Enrico Fermi, spreekt hierover: "Waarom worden hier op aarde, of in het zonnestelsel, geen buitenaardse wezens of hun artefacten gevonden?" en "Waarom zien we ergens anders in het heelal geen tekenen van intelligentie?"
Is daar iemand? Tot nu toe lijkt het erop dat er nog geen bewijs is van het bestaan van buitenaardse beschavingen. Toch proberen mensen al zo'n 50 jaar contacten te leggen door berichten de kosmos in te sturen, uitgerekend om sporen van ons bestaan achter te laten.
Beacon in the Galaxy De laatste 'boodschap in een fles' die de mens besloten heeft naar het heelal te sturen heet 'Beacon in the Galaxy' en zal waarschijnlijk in 2023 door de grootste telescoop in China verzonden worden. Het is een boodschap geschreven in binaire code en zal in ons sterrenstelsel, de Melkweg, worden uitgezonden.
Wat het bericht precies vermeldt De boodschap bestaat uit wiskundige en natuurkundige concepten waarmee een communicatiemiddel tot stand gebracht moet worden om informatie over te brengen aan intelligente buitenaardse levens. Bovendien worden er gedigitaliseerde afbeeldingen van mensen in opgenomen, vergezeld van een uitnodiging aan alle buitenaardse beschavingen die het mogelijk ontvangen, om te reageren.
De behoefte aan contact 'Beacon in the Galaxy' is niet de eerste boodschap die de mensheid besloten heeft over de kosmos uit te zenden. Zo waren er in de jaren 70 verschillende projecten waarmee we contact probeerden te leggen met buitenaardse wezens.
Arecibo Mensen stuurden in 1974 hun eerste bericht de ruimte in via de radiotelescoop Arecibo naar de bolvormige sterrenhoop M13 (ongeveer 25.000 lichtjaren weg). Het bericht bevatte gestileerde figuren, afbeeldingen van de telescoop en chemische formules.
Ruimtesondes In 1972 werden met hetzelfde doel de eerste ruimtesondes, Pioneer 10 en Pioneer 11, uitgezonden voor het leggen van enig contact met buitenaardse wezens. Later in 1977 werden ook nog twee ruimtesondes gestuurd, Voyager 1 en Voyager 2.
Pioneer 10 en Pioneer 11 Op de Pioneer-ruimtesondes zaten borden waarop een man en een vrouw zonder kleren stonden afgebeeld en de positie van de zon ten opzichte van het centrum van het sterrenstelsel.
Voyager Golden Record Aan boord van de Voyager-ruimtesondes bevond zich de Voyager Golden Record, een opname die allerlei geluiden, beelden en ander bewijsmateriaal van onze beschaving bevatte.
Een kleine kans om gevonden te worden Spijtig genoeg zijn deze sondes miniem wanneer we ze bekijken in de immense context van het heelal en is de kans dat ze door een andere beschaving gevonden worden klein.
Carl Sagan over de sondes Carl Sagan die dit project leidde, zei zelf: "Het ruimtevaartuig zal alleen worden ontdekt en de plaat zal alleen worden afgespeeld als er ontwikkelde ruimtevarende beschavingen in de interstellaire ruimte zijn, maar het lanceren van deze 'fles' in de kosmische 'oceaan' zegt iets heel hoopvols over het leven op deze planeet."
De gouden platen De gouden platen in de sondes Voyager 1 en 2 kunnen in dit opzicht meer beschouwd worden als een tijdscapsule dan als een echte poging om contact te leggen. Misschien zullen ze over duizenden jaren gevonden worden als bewijs van ons vroegere bestaan.
De aanwezige materialen Van alle berichten die de ruimte in gestuurd zijn, zijn die op de gouden platen van de sondes Voyager 1 en 2 ongetwijfeld de meest fascinerende. Alle materialen die er in voorkomen zijn een poging om een stukje van onze wereld te beschrijven. Laten we eens wat voorbeelden bekijken.
Begroetingen De gouden platen bevatten groetwoorden in 56 verschillende talen, variërend van Engels, Frans en Italiaans tot Quechua, Urdu en Akkadisch.
Geluiden van de aarde Een ander fascinerend materiaal dat de sondes Voyager 1 en 2 bevatten zijn de geluiden van de aarde. Hierbij gaat het om een gedeelte van ongeveer 90 minuten muziek die hoort bij de verschillende culturen die op onze planeet aanwezig zijn. Muziek met onder andere werken van componisten als J.S. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven (gespeeld door het Budapest String Quartet), Chuck Berry, Kesarbai Kerkar, Valya Balkanska en de elektronische componist Laurie Spiegel.
The Beatles zaten er niet bij! Carl Sagan probeerde ook om 'Here Comes the Sun' van het album Abbey Road van The Beatles op de plaat te krijgen. Hoewel de band ermee instemde, weigerde hun platenmaatschappij EMI en werd het nummer uit de gouden platen weggelaten.
Foto's De Voyager Golden Record bevat ook een verzameling van 116 foto's die het leven op onze planeet beschrijven en ook enkele details van ons zonnestelsel en landschappen.
Vrouw in de supermarkt Onder de 116 foto's die de ruimtesondes Voyager 1 en 2 bevatten is een foto van een vrouw in de supermarkt, etende mensen en een close-up afbeelding van de planeet Jupiter waarop ook zijn diameter is aangegeven.
Newton Bladzijde 6 uit het 3e volumen van Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica van Isaac Newton, De mundi systemate, over de organisatie van de wereld is ook op de gouden plaat opgenomen.
Het menselijk ras zal onsterfelijk zijn Samengevat blijft het doel, van de Voyager-ruimtesondes tot het laatste bericht 'Beacon in the Galaxy', hetzelfde: bewijzen van ons bestaan achterlaten, zodat in de verre toekomst mogelijk buitenaards leven onze geschiedenis kan leren kennen en daarmee het menselijk ras op de een of andere manier onsterfelijk kan maken.
Representational image of aliens in the parallel universe.
Stock image.
Former US Air Force officer Robert Salas recently stirred conversation during a congressional hearing when he suggested that extraterrestrials are trying to send a clear, three-word message regarding nuclear weapons: “WTF.”
Salas, who served as a USAF captain, shared his views in a discussion with Congresswoman Nancy Mace.
The exchange was recorded during a special hearing on UFOs and later shared on social media by the Total Disclosure Podcast.
Salas’s comments drew attention as he recounted incidents where unidentified flying objects (UFOs) were seen near nuclear facilities around the world.
UFO encounter
According to Salas, these UFO sightings did not inflict any serious damage on the weapons systems but did disrupt their navigation systems.
When asked what he believed the extraterrestrial visitors were trying to communicate, he interpreted it as a critique of nuclear armaments: “To me, that says they were sending us a message about nuclear weapons: ‘WTF, nuclear weapons.'”
While he expressed regret for using strong language in front of Congresswoman Mace, she seemed unperturbed by his choice of words.
Salas’s remarks came amid ongoing discussions led by experts who argue that alien entities have made multiple visits to significant nuclear missile bases every year.
Aliens turned off ten nukes
One of the most striking claims from Salas is regarding an incident at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, where he alleged a UFO disabled ten warheads.
In this encounter, he described the UFO as having an eerie red glow as it sped through the night sky on March 24, 1967.
The then-26-year-old lieutenant reported that the UFO pilots appeared to have an in-depth understanding of the missile systems.
At the time of the incident, Malmstrom was in control of Minuteman I intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
Today, it operates the more advanced Minuteman III systems. In his exchange with Congresswoman Mace, Salas detailed how, despite the UFO shutting down the missiles, no damage occurred:
“No equipment was fried. Nothing was damaged,” he stated.
Salas believes the extraterrestrial visitors aren’t hostile but rather a “pacifist species,” implying their intention is peaceful rather than aggressive.
He explained that the shutdown was caused by an “intermittent electrical pulse,” which affected a component of the guidance system known as the logic coupler.
The missile’s guidance system failed without this part properly functioning properly, resulting in an automatic shutdown.
However, he noted that all missiles were restored to alert status within 24 hours.
This incident wasn’t isolated; Salas claimed his crew commander had experienced a similar encounter just eight days earlier.
He emphasized that in both situations, no significant damage was reported. Salas interprets these events as a clear message from the unknown visitors about the threats posed by nuclear weapons.
Furthermore, he revealed that he was bound by a non-disclosure agreement that restricted him from discussing the classified incident for years.
Salas’s name is well-known among those who believe in UFOs, also called unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP). Many maintain that these entities have visited Earth for decades.
As discussions on UFOs and their implications for global security continue to unfold, Salas’s testimony adds a provocative perspective to the ongoing conversation about nuclear weapons and potential extraterrestrial awareness of human activities.
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- Gemiddelde waardering: 0/5 - (0 Stemmen) Categorie:ALIEN LIFE, UFO- CRASHES, ABDUCTIONS, MEN IN BLACK, ed ( FR. , NL; E )
Rh-Negative Blood: “Alien” Origins or Ancient Mutation Linking to Biblical Figures?
The enigmatic connection between human genetics and cosmic mysteries - exploring the origins of Rh-negative blood through the lens of ancient secrets and extraterrestrial theories.
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Rh-Negative Blood: “Alien” Origins or Ancient Mutation Linking to Biblical Figures?
Introduction: The Fascination with Rh-Negative Blood
Throughout human history, certain biological traits have sparked curiosity, speculation, and sometimes even myth. Among these, Rh-negative blood stands out as one of the most intriguing anomalies. Approximately 15% of the world's population carry the Rh-negative blood type, which means that the vast majority—about 85%—are Rh-positive. This stark division raises profound questions about human origins, genetic mutations, and potential connections to extraterrestrial life or ancient biblical narratives. The idea that this rare blood type might encode clues to our past—be it alien intervention, ancient mutations, or divine descent—captures the imagination of scientists, mystics, and conspiracy theorists alike.
In this comprehensive exploration, we will examine the scientific basis of Rh-negative blood, delve into hypotheses suggesting extraterrestrial origins, consider ancient mutation theories, and explore possible links to biblical figures such as the Nephilim. Our goal is to analyze these claims critically, supported by scientific research, archaeological findings, and theological perspectives, to better understand this biological enigma.
Understanding the Basics: What is Rh-Negative Blood?
To appreciate the significance of Rh-negative blood, it is essential first to understand the basics of blood typing. The Rh factor, also known as the Rhesus factor, is a specific protein antigen present on the surface of red blood cells. It was first identified in 1937 during experiments involving rhesus monkeys, hence the name. Blood is classified as Rh-positive if the Rh antigen is present and Rh-negative if it is absent.
The presence or absence of the Rh antigen has vital medical implications. For example, in pregnancy, if an Rh-negative mother carries an Rh-positive fetus, her immune system may recognize the fetal blood cells as foreign and produce antibodies against them—a condition known as hemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN). This can lead to severe anemia, jaundice, or even fetal death if not properly managed. Advances in medicine, such as Rh immunoglobulin administration, have significantly reduced these risks, but the genetic origins of Rh-negative blood remain a subject of scientific inquiry.
Genetic and Evolutionary Perspectives
From a genetic standpoint, the Rh blood group system is inherited through complex patterns of inheritance involving multiple alleles. The Rh-negative phenotype is primarily associated with a specific mutation in the RHD gene, which encodes the Rh antigen. Studies suggest that this mutation is relatively recent in human evolution and might have arisen independently in different populations.
Some researchers posit that Rh-negative blood could be a result of a genetic bottleneck or founder effect, where a small ancestral population carried the mutation and passed it down through generations. Others suggest that it might be linked to ancient migratory events, such as the expansion of early human populations out of Africa or interactions with archaic hominins.
Hypotheses of Extraterrestrial Origins
One of the most sensational theories surrounding Rh-negative blood is its possible extraterrestrial origin. Proponents argue that the uniqueness of this blood type, especially its distribution patterns across different populations, hints at an alien component in human genetics. Some suggest that the mutation could be a cosmic imprint—a genetic marker introduced through ancient contact with extraterrestrial beings.
Supporters of this hypothesis often cite the following points:
Unusual Distribution: Rh-negative blood is more prevalent in certain populations, such as Basques, and less common elsewhere, leading some to speculate about external influences.
Biological Anomalies: Rh-negative individuals sometimes exhibit sensitivities to certain substances, unusual immune responses, or other anomalies that some interpret as evidence of a non-earthly origin.
Ancient Astronaut Theories: These posit that extraterrestrial visitors might have genetically modified early humans, leaving behind markers such as Rh-negative blood as evidence of hybridization.
However, from a scientific perspective, these claims lack empirical evidence. The distribution patterns can often be explained through population genetics and migration history rather than alien intervention. Moreover, no direct evidence of extraterrestrial DNA or genetic material has been discovered in humans.
Ancient Mutation Theories and Human Evolution
Another perspective considers Rh-negative blood as an ancient mutation within the human genome. Some scholars propose that this trait could have emerged thousands of years ago, perhaps as an adaptive response to environmental pressures or as a neutral mutation that persisted through genetic drift.
Genetic studies indicate that the RHD gene deletion responsible for Rh-negative blood is relatively recent, estimated to have arisen approximately 20,000 to 35,000 years ago. This period coincides with significant migratory events, such as the spread of modern humans across Eurasia.
Interestingly, the higher prevalence of Rh-negative blood among Basque populations in Spain has led some researchers to speculate that this group might be remnants of an ancient, isolated population, potentially linked to pre-Indo-European cultures. Conversely, the low frequency of Rh-negative blood in East Asian and African populations suggests that the mutation's emergence and spread varied geographically.
Furthermore, some scientists hypothesize that the mutation might have conferred certain advantages or disadvantages, influencing its persistence in specific populations. For example, some studies have explored whether Rh-negative individuals possess different susceptibilities to particular diseases or environmental factors.
Connection to Biblical Figures and the Nephilim
Perhaps the most captivating aspect of the Rh-negative blood debate revolves around its potential links to biblical narratives, especially the enigmatic Nephilim described in Genesis. The Nephilim are often depicted as giants or hybrid beings, the offspring of "sons of God" and "daughters of men." Some interpret these stories as evidence of ancient hybridization events involving divine or extraterrestrial entities.
Proponents of this view suggest that Rh-negative blood could be a genetic relic of such hybridization. The absence of the Rh antigen might indicate a lineage derived from a different genetic source—possibly fallen angels, divine beings, or extraterrestrial visitors—who interbred with humans. This theory posits that the Nephilim and similar biblical figures symbolize ancient hybrid races, with Rh-negative individuals representing descendants or carriers of this lineage.
Supporters cite the following points:
Genetic Peculiarity: Rh-negative blood's uniqueness has led some to associate it with non-human origins, especially given the lack of a clear evolutionary pathway.
Ancient Texts and Artifacts: Some interpret biblical and archaeological artifacts as evidence of hybrid beings or advanced civilizations with knowledge of genetics and hybridization.
Bloodline Theories: Certain esoteric traditions link Rh-negative blood to "divine bloodlines," suggesting that individuals with this blood type possess special spiritual or genetic traits.
Critics, however, argue that these interpretations are speculative and lack scientific support. The biblical stories are mythological and symbolic, and the scientific consensus attributes Rh-negative blood to natural genetic variation rather than divine or extraterrestrial intervention.
Scientific Evaluations and Current Research
Modern genetics offers tools to investigate the origins of Rh-negative blood more systematically. Whole-genome sequencing and population genetics studies have mapped the distribution of the RHD gene deletion across populations, revealing patterns consistent with recent human migration and genetic drift.
For example, research shows that Rh-negative blood is most common among European populations, especially in Western Europe, with frequencies reaching up to 30% among Basques. In contrast, it is exceedingly rare in East Asian and sub-Saharan African populations. This distribution aligns with known migration patterns from the Paleolithic era and subsequent population bottlenecks.
Furthermore, studies have examined whether Rh-negative individuals share common genetic markers beyond the RHD deletion, seeking clues about their ancestral origins. To date, no evidence suggests that Rh-negative blood is linked to non-human DNA or extraterrestrial genes. Instead, the mutation appears to be a human-specific event that has persisted through natural selection and genetic drift.
Implications for Medical Science and Anthropology
Understanding the origins of Rh-negative blood has practical implications. For example, recognizing population-specific distributions can inform blood donation strategies and transfusion medicine. Additionally, studying the mutation's emergence helps elucidate human evolutionary history, migration, and adaptation.
Anthropologically, the prevalence of Rh-negative blood in certain populations supports theories of ancient population isolation and founder effects. It also underscores the complex interplay between genetics, environment, and migration in shaping human diversity.
Conclusions: Separating Fact from Fiction
While the allure of connecting Rh-negative blood to alien origins or biblical hybrids is compelling from a mythological or speculative standpoint, scientific evidence currently supports a more grounded explanation rooted in human genetics and migration history. The mutation responsible for Rh-negativity appears to be a recent, human-specific genetic event with a distribution pattern shaped by historical population movements.
Nonetheless, the mystery surrounding Rh-negative blood continues to inspire curiosity and debate. Its rarity and distribution evoke questions about our ancient past, the nature of human evolution, and the potential for long-lost genetic lineages. As scientific techniques advance, future research may uncover more about this enigmatic trait, but for now, it remains a fascinating facet of human biology—one that bridges science, history, and myth.
References
Daniels, G. (2002). The Rh Blood Group System. Blood Reviews, 16(3), 130-145.
Moulds, M. (2019). The genetics of the Rh blood group system. Hematology Today, 35(2), 10-12.
Lalueza-Fox, C., et al. (2003). Genetic evidence for patrilineal continuity in Europe since the Paleolithic. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 100(11), 6986–6991.
Gibbons, A. (2010). Out of Africa, into the world: The origins of human diversity. Science, 328(5978), 1624–1627.
Horne, P. (2015). The Nephilim and the Genetic Record: Myth, Mystery, and Human Origins. Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Studies, 5(1), 45-60.
National Geographic Society. (2018). Human Migration and Genetic Diversity. Science & Exploration.
In Summary
The phenomenon of Rh-negative blood remains one of the most captivating mysteries in human genetics. While theories linking it to extraterrestrial or divine origins provide fertile ground for imagination and myth, scientific research supports a conclusion rooted in recent human evolutionary history. The mutation likely arose within our species, shaped by migration, population dynamics, and genetic drift. Nonetheless, the cultural, religious, and philosophical interpretations continue to inspire wonder, reflecting our innate desire to understand our origins and place in the cosmos.
Deep exposures on 7 September 2025 show 3I/ATLAS wrapped in a green coma.
(Credit: M. Jäger and Gerald Rhemann)
I have been staring at 3I/ATLAS for weeks, not through an eyepiece, but through the stack of reports and images that keep arriving. At first the object looked reddish. Now its glow reads as green. The gas around it is heavy on carbon dioxide and thin on water, which is not how a regular comet behaves near the Sun. In some images the light seems to extend toward the Sun rather than away from it. That is the kind of detail that makes you sit up, because it refuses to fit neatly into the usual picture.
One anomaly can be a measurement quirk. A handful of them begins to sound like a pattern. With 3I/ATLAS we have color change, unusual chemistry, odd scattering of light, and a path that hugs the plane of the planets more closely than chance would suggest. When you place those facts side by side, you get a portrait that does not match the familiar family of icy bodies in the solar system where we are from.
This is where the culture of science matters. Many researchers are careful, honest, and conservative in how they talk about data. That caution serves the field well. It also means that oddities sometimes get smoothed out by language before they are faced head on. PRofessor Avi Loeb takes a different tack. He keeps pointing at the data and asking simple questions in public. He does not chase applause and he does not hide behind comfortable phrasing. I respect that. Science is not a popularity contest. It is a process for finding out what is true in the world, and that process only works if people are willing to ask the questions that feel awkward.
Let me be direct about one thing. I do not think 3I/ATLAS is an alien spacecraft. I would love it to be, sure. Natural explanations should be worked through first, with patience and rigor. The chemistry could reflect a crust rich in carbon dioxide ice. The color shift could track changes in sunlight and temperature that wake up different molecules at different distances. The odd light pattern could be geometry and timing. I mean, remember the face on Mars? There is work to do before anyone should claim anything extraordinary.
Still, I will take the other path because it is worth thinking clearly about it. If 3I/ATLAS were artificial, it would almost certainly not carry living organisms. Biology does not like deep space. It breaks down under radiation and time. A machine can wait and repair itself. An autonomous probe guided by artificial intelligence makes more engineering sense for an interstellar mission than a cabin full of breath and bone. That is not a romantic picture, but it is a practical one.
Deep exposures on 7 September 2025 show 3I/ATLAS wrapped in a green coma. (Credit: M. Jäger and Gerald Rhemann)
I keep returning to ʻOumuamua. (I also loved Loeb’s book on ʻOumuamua) It was small, fast, and behaviorally odd. It showed no clear signs of venting, yet its motion suggested a small push that gravity alone did not account for. It looked nothing like the textbook comets we teach. It passed. Many argued. It kept its secrets. If you allow a speculative frame for one paragraph, you can imagine ʻOumuamua as a scout, a light vehicle meant to sense, sample, and move on. You can then imagine 3I/ATLAS as a larger platform with a different set of capabilities. If that picture were true, it would point to a civilization far beyond us in age and capacity, one that builds in classes of craft and sends them across star systems as calmly as we send weather satellites across the Atlantic.
I am not claiming that is the case. I am laying out a clean line of reasoning so that readers understand what is at stake when we talk about anomalies. The right response is not to fall in love with the extraordinary answer. The right response is to gather the kind of data that lets the ordinary answer win on evidence, not on habit.
Here is what the data say in plain terms. When 3I/ATLAS was far from the Sun, the light it threw around itself increased very quickly as it moved inward. Once it crossed a certain distance, that increase slowed. That pattern suggests that the material around it changed character. At first the light likely bounced off dust lifted from a dark surface layer. Closer in, fresh, small ice grains likely took over and brightened the glow in a different way. Independent observations show a gas plume dominated by carbon dioxide, with smaller amounts of carbon monoxide and only traces of water. That is unusual when set next to the comets that spend their lives in our system. But thenagain, space is weird, and the universe has so many secrets we are just starting to explore.
You do not need to be a specialist to grasp the next step. If an object from another star looks different from most of our comets, we should not force it into the old mold. We should describe it as it is and ask what that tells us about where it came from, how it formed, and how it is changing now. That is the heart of science. Describe the thing. Test the description. Change your mind when the facts warrant it.
This is also where public conversation can go wrong. People hear “anomaly” and think “mystery solved by a wild claim.” That habit hurts everyone. The better habit is calm curiosity. Loeb often argues for that posture, even when it upsets colleagues. He asks for open data, independent measurements, and patient analysis. He reminds us that history is full of mistakes that felt safe at the time. The Sun did not circle Earth. Diseases did not spring from bad air. Continents did not stand still. Our job is not to protect an old story. Our job is to find the right one.
So what should we do with 3I/ATLAS right now? Keep observing. Compare instruments. Cross-check photometry and spectra. Model the light scattering with more than one set of assumptions. Publish the methods in detail. Invite rival teams to replicate the results. Treat the object as a laboratory for learning about interstellar debris, not as a prop in a culture war between skeptics and believers. If the mundane explanation is correct, it will earn its place by explaining the color, the chemistry, and the geometry without hand-waving. If it fails, we will know exactly where it fails, and that will be valuable.
I will close where I began. The sky is not tidy. It is real and indifferent. It holds dust that glows green and rocks that tumble and gas that tricks the eye. We do not honor it by draping it in stories that flatter us. We honor it by looking closely, asking better questions, and letting evidence lead, even when it drags us somewhere we did not plan to go. If 3I/ATLAS turns out to be a strange but natural traveler, that will be worth knowing. If it is something else, we will need the same tools and the same temperament to face that result. Either way, curiosity and discipline carry us forward.
There is little doubt that some of the most intriguing and thought-provoking conspiracies that permeate our existence swirl around the Vatican, both the Vatican Church and Vatican City. And while we should treat some, if not all, of these with a pinch of salt, they are, nonetheless, very much worthy of our examination. Indeed, outside of the world’s intelligence agencies, the Vatican arguably has more conspiracies and wild claims connected to it than any other organization.
The Vatican Archives, for example, have been the center of multiple conspiracies for decades, perhaps even centuries, with much speculation as to just what is contained there, and what else might be hidden away even more in secret underground locations. While a full exploration of the realities of just some of the conspiracies of the Vatican Archives would take an article in its own right, it is worth touching on some of them here.
Perhaps the most captivating of these claims is that somewhere deep within these archives (once more, perhaps hidden away from the archives that are “publicly” on display), there are ancient writings of interaction between humanity and non-human intelligences in antiquity. Not only that, but these interactions have been twisted and repurposed as Biblical writings – essentially, they form the basis of many Western religions. A good example might be stigmata, which some researchers have suggested is simply wounds from interactions with these non-human intelligences, or even with UFOs.
There are, of course, many more Biblical accounts that we could suggest are, in fact, twisted accounts of interactions with otherworldly entities in the distant past. The Jacob’s Ladder account, for example, or the guiding light and column of smoke that guided the Exodus, are just two examples. We could even look at the account of Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden and theorize it was actually documentation of genetic experiments in a controlled, perhaps bio-dome-type environment. The fact is, though, as intriguing as these suggestions are, without proof, they remain exactly that. Could the proof reside within the Vatican Archives?
We might also consider the many alleged appearances of such figures as the Virgin Mary that have been deemed miraculous by the Church. However, when some of these encounters are more closely examined, it appears they, too, have been twisted from encounters with otherworldly figures, some of which appear to be far from friendly, to encounters with divine intelligences. We might ask why they would choose to do this. Is it simply to accrue miraculous legends as their own to bolster their position on the world stage, or might it be to cover up the nature of our reality and protect their status amid the ever-changing collective understanding of our reality?
It is also worth highlighting some of the research of Leonardo da Vinci, who conducted much of his work within the walls of the Vatican, particularly his autopsies and dissections, which were highly illegal at the time, to study human anatomy. We might ask if this research was not known by the Church, or if they simply turned a blind eye, perhaps in exchange for access to that research. I should stress, this is just speculation on my part, but when we consider how closely the Vatican treats space research, even owning several observatories around the world, it is perhaps not unreasonable speculation.
It is clear, then, that the conspiracies surrounding the Vatican have been swirling around the Church for hundreds of years, arguably since the very beginning of its official foundation. Indeed, for centuries, the Church controlled multiple countries through the royal families of Europe, while also maintaining control of the respective populations of those countries through the dreaded Inquisition, which claimed the lives of millions of people over hundreds of years.
In more recent times, as we will explore in a little more detail later, the Vatican has become involved in several questionable financial investments, with some accusations of misuse of funds. Moreover, many of these claims appear to be much closer to the mark than the Church would perhaps like. However, before we explore these grittier and decidedly darker conspiracies of the Vatican, we will turn our attention to one of the more thought-provoking, if bizarre, conspiracies of the Church.
Although it is a conspiracy that we should most certainly treat with caution, the claims of a high-tech device that allows those who use it to see into the past, as well as into the “near future”, are of interest to us here. The device in question is known as the Chronovisor, claims of which first began circulating in conspiracy circles following the release of the 2002 book The Vatican’s New Mystery (Le Nouveau Mystere de Vatican) by Father Francois Brune, who, incidentally, is an authority of sorts on paranormal encounters and religion. However, perhaps lending a little more credence to the claims, an account of the Chronovisor can be found in a 1972 Italian newspaper article titled A Machine That Photographs The Past Has Finally Been Invented!
According to the article, the Chronovisor project began in the 1950s, when Father Ernetti, who was an Italian physicist before he joined the priesthood, was tasked with leading the program and creating the device. The device itself was rather small, and was “composed entirely of precious alloys” and utilized a screen that was connected to various tubes and tuning dials. Interestingly, Ernetti had several people working closely with him as advisors, including Nobel prize-winning physicist Enrico Fermi, and one-time member of the Third Reich and Operation Paperclip transplant, Wernher von Braun, who, essentially, guided NASA to the Moon. With von Barun’s involvement in particular, it is interesting to note the similarities of the Chronovisor to the alleged secret device of the Third Reich, Die Glocke (The Bell), which was said to also show visions of the past, as well as the future. Moreover, in the early years of the regime, the Catholic Church supported the Third Reich, so there was certainly some crossover previously between those involved.
According to the reports, the Chronovisor works by utilizing “residual electromagnetic radiation left over by numerous processes!” The energy released from these processes allowed the device to “detect” certain frequencies and energies in space and time and then process and present them as “moving images like a film!” Unfortunately, the processes themselves are not detailed, so we have little understanding of how the device actually works. Nor was the location of the Chronovisor ever revealed, with Ernetti, perhaps understandably, stating that he feared if it fell into the wrong hands, it could result in the “scariest dictatorship the world has ever seen!”
Ernetti did offer some details on the places and events from the past he had seen, however, including the founding of Rome in 753 BC, as well as the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. However, it was his claims of witnessing “the crucifixion of Christ” that drew most interest, and criticism, not least as he also offered a clearly faked photograph as proof. While it might be easy to dismiss Ernetti as a fraudster and the claims of the Chronovisor as nothing but nonsense, the Vatican itself had some very interesting things to say on the matter.
Ernetti eventually admitted the photograph was a fake, but insisted that the device itself was very real, and that it worked. He then stated rather matter-of-factly that “Pope Pius XII forbade us to disclose details about this device because the machine was very dangerous!” What makes Ernetti’s claims all the more intriguing is a decree issued by the Vatican on the subject that stated, “anyone using an instrument of such characteristics (as the Chronovisor) would be excommunicated!” Make of that what you will. There are, though, further twists in the tale of the Chronovisor.
On September 24th, 1953, on the other side of the Atlantic in Los Angeles, California, publisher Douglas K. DeVross was shot dead at point-blank range in his office. The man who pulled the trigger claimed DeVross was having an affair with his wife (something, incidentally, that she denied), and he was ultimately imprisoned for second-degree murder.
It was, though, the publishing project he was working on at the time of his death that is of most interest to us here – the life’s work of Baird T. Spalding, Life and Teachings of the Masters of the Far East. Spalding, who had passed away several months previously at the age of 95, was a controversial figure who made some interesting claims during his life, some of which were now within the pages of his multi-volume work. According to Spalding, from 1894 to 1897, he had toured India, Tibet, China, and Persia (now Iran) with a “party of 12”, soaking up the “wisdom of elder brothers” as he did so. It was this wisdom that resulted in his life’s work, and it has to be said, they are remarkably insightful and thought-provoking. However, it appeared, at least to some, that all was not quite as Spalding was offering.
It was noted that he was absolutely “penniless” at the time of his death. Moreover, there were no records of him ever accruing any type of moderate wealth, certainly not enough to have funded such an extensive multi-year trip that he claimed to have embarked on. As we might imagine, this led many people to question if Spalding was nothing more than a fraud. However, despite this, many people were equally insistent that the authenticity of his writings shone through, and certainly didn’t appear to have been written by a fraudster. It was, though, some of Spalding’s other claims that some eagle-eyed researchers picked up on.
He claimed that after returning from his extensive travels, he became involved in a project with an engineer, Charles Steinmetz. This project eventually resulted in the invention of a “camera of past events” that could “peer back in time”. We might ask if this project, if indeed it took place, was an early version of the Chronovisor, and if this device assisted Spalding in attaining the knowledge and wisdom he seemingly undoubtedly had. We also might consider whether the plans or blueprints for this device found their way to DeVross when he got the four-volume work he was publishing at the time of his death. Could it really be possible that he was murdered for what he had suddenly discovered? It is only wild speculation, but it is certainly speculation worth considering.
Of course, if there is any truth in the notion that DeVross was murdered due to his discovery of knowledge of a device that could view the past, then we might consider what became of that information. Did it somehow find its way across the Atlantic Ocean and to the Vatican? And if so, does that mean the Vatican, or organizations sympathetic to the Vatican, were behind DeVross’ murder? Or might the intelligence agencies of the United States have been involved, and did they then “farm out” the technology to the safety of the Vatican? We might consider that the agency involved would have simply advanced the technology themselves behind closed doors, but claims that surfaced in the late 2010s perhaps make the claims that the Vatican ended up with Spalding’s technology a little more credible.
In early 2017, author and researcher Alfred Lambermont Webre claimed that as far back as the 1960s, the Vatican granted access to the CIA to “quantum access technology”. Moreover, he stated that proof of this could be found in the WikiLeaks files. Webre continued that the CIA and the Vatican were very “close organizations” and that the Vatican was instrumental in the intelligence agency’s beginnings. He continued that the Vatican had “subcontracted out” the Chronovisor, not only to the United States, but to other countries, including the United Kingdom, which were “sympathetic” to the Vatican’s ideology. We should note that many people, even in the conspiracy community, are skeptical of Webre’s claims, considering him eccentric and unpredictable. Perhaps in his defense, we should also state that he holds a law degree from Yale University.
There can be little doubt that there are no darker conspiracies than those surrounding the sudden death of Pope John Paul I on September 28th, 1978. Although Pope John Paul I’s – real name, Albino Luciani – death was from a sudden heart attack, there are genuine reasons to be suspicious, not least when Masonic connections were highlighted, as well as the fact that he died on the 33rd day after becoming pope.
This was documented masterfully in the book In God’s Name: An Investigation into the Murder of Pope John Paul I by David Yallop. In fact, in the introduction to the book, Yallop issued a challenge of sorts: if anyone was able to disprove his evidence, particularly about a key piece of paper allegedly discovered in the dead Pope’s hand and who discovered his body, he would happily give all the royalties from the book to a charity of the Vatican’s choice. It is a challenge that was never undertaken.
Perhaps as good a place as any to start when exploring the death of Pope John Paul I is with the man himself, or more specifically, his political and religious ideology, which was, at best, a little at odds with the inner workings of the Catholic church and the Vatican. His views on birth control, for example, often put him at loggerheads with the official stance of the Vatican, as was the amount of wealth the Church itself seemed to keep hold of. And these were just two of such niggling disagreements. Perhaps of much more consequence to the events that would result in his (to some) untimely demise is his interest in the inner workings of the Vatican, particularly the financial workings, as well as outside forces that seemingly had vast influence within the Church.
As a good example of these inner workings, Pope John Paul I was seemingly immediately frustrated by the amount of control that these shadowy “lifetime residents” of the Vatican had over his daily life and routine. Everything from where he had his morning coffee to which “secret stairways” he could use and which room even he was forbidden to enter was made clear to him. However, it was quickly clear to the cardinals, bishops, and high priests who were more than happy with the perks of life in the Vatican that the new pope had little liking for “pomp and ceremony” and was unlikely to toe the line.
Pope John Paul I
Bizarrely, although perhaps not so when we consider the Cold War climate, the pope’s apparent openness to the ideology of communism also made him a target of several organizations, including, according to some, the CIA. In fact, so concerned were the CIA that, at least according to some researchers, “elements” of the agency provided funding to the Masonic P2 Lodge, which held great sway in almost all aspects of Italian life, including the Vatican. In fact, while we could spend an entire article on it, it is worth also highlighting that this connection between the powerful lodge and intelligence agency, including the connection to the Vatican Bank (in Vatican City – a state within a state that was answerable only to itself), provided excellent cover for drugs and weapons smuggling, as well as money laundering.
As this was unfolding, the P2 Lodge was under investigation for various terrorist acts, as well as various charges such as money laundering. Moreover, after Mussolini (like Hitler) had banned secret societies in Italy, their formation was legalized once more following the end of the Second World War. However, they had to make all of their details public, including their members. This was something that P2 pushed the absolute limits of these rules, which only put their activities even more under scrutiny. Furthermore, although it was frowned upon, rumors had swirled around Vatican City for years that many high-ranking members of the Church were members of the Masonic lodge, which only made the alleged connections between P2, the CIA, and the Vatican even stronger.
Of further interest, all the members of P2 had one thing above all else that united them – their hatred for communism. Indeed, many of the terrorist acts they were being investigated for had been against communist leaning politicians and persons of influence. The Grand Master of the lodge at the time was Licio Gelli, who had power and influence in all directions, including, it would seem, in the Vatican. It is also worth noting that one-time Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, one of the most powerful and influential people in recent Italian politics, was also a P2 member.
Without a doubt, though, what, if anything, put him in the speculative firing line more than anything else was his genuine desire to have a “poor church for the poor!” Of course, this meant not only would that mean an end to the needless perks of Vatican life, but a complete overhaul of the Church’s finances, and it is there, where the Vatican’s most deadly outside influence seemingly resided. The Church had multiple financial interests that made the Vatican Bank an abundance of tax-free money, money that, if they so chose, they could move around at will and without scrutiny.
The person largely responsible for this at the time was Bishop Paul Marcinkus, who, essentially, held the Vatican’s purse strings, and whose nickname, due to his imposing build, was The Gorilla. Marcinkus was seemingly at the center of all the questionable financial affairs of the Vatican, and was perhaps the ultimate target, at least internally, of Pope John Paul I’s overhaul of the inner workings of the Church. It is also worth mentioning that of all the people accused of having some kind of connection to the Pope’s death, all were either dead, in prison, or on the run in the years that followed, apart from Marcinkus.
With Marcinkus in mind, it is also worth mentioning Cardinal Cody of Chicago, who just happened to be Marcinkus’ hometown. While there is no evidence or suggestion that Cody had any direct connection to the death of Pope John Paul I, he was well versed in moving church funds around for his own ends, and was almost certainly going to be removed from his position by the Pope, after years of attempts to do so due to his overly lavish lifestyle, as well as claims of racism. In short, it certainly wouldn’t have done him any harm whatsoever if something were to happen to the new pope.
Marcinkus also had two other connections to the underworld, both of which were P2 Lodge members, and both of which perhaps stood to lose a lot off the back of the Pope’s desire to rid the Vatican of its wealth and the secrecy of how it conducted its financial affairs – Roberto Calvi (referred to as God’s Banker) and Michele Sindona (known as The Shark). Both had connections to crime syndicates and Masonic lodges, and both were experts at “playing” stock markets and banking sectors. Moreover, following respective investigations into their activities, several “gangland-style assassinations” of prosecutors and witnesses took place throughout the country. Whatever the truth and whatever involvement they might not have had in the death of Pope John Paul I, both men met harrowing ends.
Sindona was eventually arrested and imprisoned for 25 years for murder. While incarcerated, he was poisoned and died. Calvi’s fate was much darker and much more public. In July 1982, his body was found hanging from a bridge under Blackfriars Lodge. Rather than being a suicide, many believed his death was made to look like he had taken his own life. The location, some suggested, was a symbol of the Black Friars, or the Frati Neri, a name that members of the P2 Lodge used for themselves, and that Calvi had been murdered to keep him from speaking of what he knew about the death of Pope John Paul I. Even more interesting, at the same time that her boss seemingly decided to take his own life, Calvi’s secretary decided to “throw herself” from the window of their headquarters. Make of that what you will, of course.
Whether any of those mentioned above were involved, directly or indirectly, with the death of Pope John Paul I or not remains unknown. There are, though, many inconsistencies with the death itself, including just who found the body.
Initial reports of the Pope’s demise came via Vatican Radio, which announced his passing before the official time of death was officially recorded by the Vatican authorities. While some people dismiss this as nothing more than an administrative error, given the weight of the situation, others point this out as a glaring hole in the story of just what happened in the aftermath of the Pope’s death.
There was also, according to sources Yallop spoke with inside the Vatican, an urgent “desire to wrap everything up quickly” following the Pope’s death, and while it is perfectly within Vatican protocol that no autopsy takes place, many people highlighted this as an area of concern. Moreover, even though the Pope had complained of chest pains earlier that evening, these pains eased greatly as the evening progressed, so much so that it was decided there was no need to call the doctor. It was highlighted by some that the nuns close to the Pope, who had travelled with him from Venice to Rome and were fiercely loyal to him, would have insisted a doctor be called, even if the pains had eased. In fact, according to some researchers, including Yallop, it was one of these nuns, Pope John Paul I’s most loyal members of his inner circle, Sister Vencelza, who found the body, something the Vatican denied.
There was also an alleged piece of paper that, according to Yallop’s research, was found in the Pope’s hand when his body was discovered, a piece of paper that was said to contain the names of those inside the Vatican who had connections to P2, as well as to criminal activity involving the Vatican’s finances. Despite inside sources offering that this paper did indeed exist, official Vatican sources have always denied it.
The fact is, given that almost half a century has passed since the death of Pope John Paul I, barring some kind of smoking gun or a confession, it is unlikely we will ever know if there was anything untimely or unsavory about his demise. On the one hand, his desire to rid the Vatican of what he saw as unsavory characters, combined with such symbolism as his death occurring on the 33rd day of his papacy, makes it all the more believable that something untoward did take place. However, despite the Vatican’s obvious power on the world stage, we might suspect that if Pope John Paul I had been murdered, more evidence might have surfaced by now. Ultimately, his death, at least to some, will remain suspicious and unexplained for the foreseeable future.
What is perhaps more apparent is that while some of the claims and conspiracies surrounding the Vatican are wide of the mark in terms of accuracy and credibility, there is little doubt that the Church has, at times, found itself in questionable and/or secretive situations. Indeed, we might wonder just what is contained within the Vatican Archives, and what it might tell us about our collective history, and perhaps even about our reality.
The fact is, the Vatican has influence and sway across the planet in various aspects of our society. That influence, though, could be more far-reaching and dominant than many people might realize. Indeed, the Vatican could be the public face – albeit a discreet and unofficial one – of the alleged secret society of world elites who hold the world on puppet strings. After all, they have been wielding power over most of Europe and through great parts of South America for centuries, with a foothold in almost every country on the planet. That is not to say that we should consider the Vatican, or indeed Catholicism, to be some kind of threat or ominous force, but we should most definitely be aware of the influence they have, and where that influence can be applied.
Chinese scientists have developed a comprehensive mission to study asteroids. One of its targets could be the asteroid Apophis.
Asteroid Apophis in an artist’s impression. Source: ESA Science Office
The asteroid Apophis has a diameter of 375 meters. On April 13, 2029, it will make a close flyby of Earth, passing at a distance of 32,000 km from its surface (i.e., inside the orbits of geostationary satellites). At that moment, the asteroid will be visible to the naked eye across most of Europe and Africa, as well as in some parts of Asia. The encounter with Earth is expected to affect the asteroid and cause landslides and shifts on it.
According to scientists’ estimates, such large objects approach Earth on average once every 5,000 to 10,000 years. It is not surprising that Apophis’ visit has attracted increased attention, and a number of countries and space agencies are considering options for sending missions to it. Currently, ESA and JAXA are working on the Ramses spacecraft, while NASA is focusing on the OSIRIS-APEX mission, which previously studied the asteroid Bennu.
Chinese scientists do not intend to miss such a rare opportunity and are also working on their own mission. It has been named CROWN/Apophis and is part of a larger project called CROWN, which aims to launch six different probes to study near-Earth objects in heliocentric orbits similar to those of Venus.
The main task of CROWN/Apophis will be to measure the fundamental properties of this potentially dangerous asteroid and the consequences of its approach to Earth. The goal of the project is to observe the processes that will occur on the surface of Apophis and how it interacts with Earth’s magnetosphere.
CROWN/Apophis will consist of two spacecraft. The larger one, weighing 44 kg, will use a combined chemical and ion propulsion system and will be equipped with cameras, a microwave rangefinder/Doppler system, and low-frequency radar. The 8 kg CubeSat will be equipped with some of the same systems as the main spacecraft.
The devices are proposed to be launched as accompanying cargo as part of a mission that has not yet been determined. After that, they will fly to the L1 Lagrange point of the Sun-Earth system, where they will wait for Apophis to arrive. They will make a close flyby of the asteroid shortly after it visits the vicinity of our planet. This will happen on April 13, 2029.
NASA specialists conducted a series of key tests on components of the Dragonfly drone. These tests were successful, allowing them to move on to the next stage of mission development.
Dragonfly drone in an artist’s impression. Source: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben
Development of the Dragonfly mission began in 2019. As part of this mission, NASA plans to send a rotary-wing aircraft with a total mass of about 450 kg to Titan. It will be equipped with four twin propellers, allowing it to travel at speeds of around 36 km/h and rise to an altitude of up to 8 km. The drone will use a radioisotope generator as its power source.
Dragonfly’s primary mission is to search for complex organic molecules and assess the overall suitability of this celestial body for past and present life. The drone will be able to collect samples from the Titanian surface and conduct chemical analysis on them. Dragonfly will also study the moon’s terrain, atmosphere, and hydrocarbon reservoirs. The spacecraft is designed to operate on Titan for at least three years.
To date, the mission has already gone far beyond computer concepts. In April, its design underwent critical review. This allowed engineers to begin manufacturing and testing the drone’s components. One of the most important tests was conducted in a wind tunnel. For a month, engineers from NASA and the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) immersed a sensor-equipped drone model in a stream of heavy gas simulating Titan’s dense atmosphere. The collected data helped to understand the kind of loads that the device, its rotary system, and blades would be subjected to. This will enable the preparation of the software necessary for drone flights.
Dragonfly drone blades in a wind tunnel. Source: NASA
APL engineers also completed structural and thermal testing of the foam insulation for the Dragonfly lander, confirming that it will retain its shape and protect the internal components from the environment, which reaches temperatures of approximately -185 °C on Titan. The landing module body will be covered with a 7.6 cm thick layer of solimide-based foam.
In addition, APL engineers have completed the development of onboard radio stations that will serve as receivers and transmitters during Dragonfly’s flight to Titan and its work on the surface. Employees at the Goddard Space Flight Center have completed work on the DraMS mass spectrometer in search of biosignatures. And Lockheed Martin specialists conducted the first series of tests on the aerodynamic fairing that would protect Dragonfly during its re-entry into the moon’s atmosphere.
The DraMS mass spectrometer, which Dragonfly will use to search for signs of life on Titan. Source: NASA
The success of all these tests made it possible to move on to the next stage of mission development. In January, engineers will begin assembling the device components and conducting comprehensive testing. The launch of Dragonfly is scheduled for July 2028, with landing on Titan planned for 2034.
Scientists investigated the source of radiation Sh 2-283-1a SMM1. It is a stream of matter emitted by a newborn star located at the very edge of the Galaxy. Its chemical composition shows that it contains far fewer heavy elements than similar objects observed to date, but the general patterns of physical processes remain the same.
Newborn star Sh 2-283-1a SMM1. Source: Ikeda et al. (Niigata University), background: R. Hurt / NASA / JPL-Caltech / ESO
Jets from a newborn star
Research conducted using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) may help us better understand the processes of star formation. This giant radio telescope observed the radiation source Sh2-283-1a SMM1. It is located 26,000 light-years away from us and 51,000 light-years from the center of the Galaxy.
In fact, it consists of jets of matter emitted by a newborn star. This phenomenon is not new and has been observed more than once. A large amount of matter falls onto the newly formed star, and part of it is ejected back into space due to the large angular momentum.
What makes Sh 2-283-1a SMM1 unusual is the star’s location. Not only is it far away from us, but it is also at the very edge of the Galaxy. Scientists have not yet observed such a phenomenon so far from the center of the Galaxy, and this should be an interesting region, because even compared to the vicinity of the Sun, it is poor in metals, i.e., elements heavier than hydrogen and helium.
Research results
Observations made with ALMA have provided insight into the chemical composition of the jets. It has been confirmed that it is much poorer in heavy elements than similar structures that have been observed previously. In particular, the ratio of silicon oxide to carbon oxide was significantly lower than in jets emanating from young stars near the Sun.
At the same time, this object is a “hot core” — a hot structure rich in chemical elements. They are quite common in star-forming regions closer to the center of the galaxy, but this is only the second time such an object has been observed at its edge.
The luminosity of the core is 6,700 times greater than that of the Sun, which suggests that the star, when fully formed, will be of average or large mass. The jets are not emitted continuously, but at intervals of 900–1400 years.
ALMA also detected increased activity in four other young stars on the outskirts of the Galaxy. This indicates that the processes of star formation here are quite intense and, in general, follow the same patterns as in the center of the Galaxy.
MUFON CMS Statistics for 2025: The First Seven Months
MUFON CMS Statistics for 2025: The First Seven Months
by Rob Swiatek
Generally, statistics speak best for themselves when seen in graphs, so herewith I’m presenting graphically two select categories of UFO numbers for 2025. We’re more than halfway through 2025, and inquiring minds need to know what’s happening in the skies. Has the phenomenon markedly diminished? Or does it continue apace, as it has for at least the last 78 years? Well, no suspense as to the latter: The phenomenon continues to be seen and to mystify.
The stats collected by MUFON are amenable to illustrating any of several trends. For example, one could compile the number of U.S. unknowns for each day of the week for a certain time period or note how specific UFO shapes vary per day or month over a year. For this article, however, and as I typically do, I’ve chosen to show MUFON’s incoming U.S. cases and unknowns for the first seven months of 2025. Basic as it is, this remains an important graph, in my opinion. And then I went a bit outside the box: the two pie charts that follow illustrate how a subset of the 24 shapes (which include the category “Other”) set forth in CMS vary between U.S. and non-U.S. cases
Unusual for a Winter month, January, with its cold weather and short daylight periods, is currently the high-water month for 2025 sightings—both incoming and unknown. Happily gone, one will note, are the three dispiriting months of 2024 when the CMS was shut down, resulting in the loss of hundreds of sightings that were never reported. Still, despite the robust number of 2025 cases, MUFON was outdone by the National UFO Reporting Center, which had 2,565 events—U.S. and international—versus MUFON’s 1,959 (U.S. and international) for the same time span and tabulation date. The difference is 606 events. (NUFORC sighting totals acquired from the nuforc.org website.
Turning to the pie charts, it’s an understatement to note the MUFON international total of UFO events is dominated by the U.S. numbers. For example, as of 31 August 2025, the CMS had 13 reports from India, the most populous country in the world at 1.45 billion, for the period 1 January 2025 through 31 July 2025; the corresponding number for China—with a population of 1.41 billion—is zero. Not one has yet come in! Nevertheless, with that understatement in mind, it’s almost eerie how cylindrical unknown UFOs are 8% of both U.S. and non-U.S. cases and star-like unknowns hover around 6.8%. Sometimes the statistics of UFOs can evince the phenomenon’s anomalous nature as much as an unknown trace sample held in the hand
The unknown percentages for discoidal and spherical objects are also close, considering that both spheres and discs are sometimes reported as circular UFOs, which occupy a separate slice of the chart. Combined, the latter three shape categories account for 42.4% and 56.3%, respectively, of the U.S. and non-U.S. unknowns.
I was a bit surprised the non-U.S. slate of unknowns didn’t include a single square or rectangular UFO, a category normally boasting a small, yet persistent number of U.S. entrants year after year. But the 3.2% of U.S. square/rectangular cases reflects only eight cases out of 250 unknowns, however, so they’re not common sights by any means. On the other hand, use of the trademark “Tic Tac” to refer to UFOs having the peculiar shape of the iconic mint seems to be confined to the U.S., thanks to David Fravor’s use of this term to describe the object he saw in 2004 over the Paci‹ c. Since 2017, when his case received nationwide publicity, U.S. witnesses routinely pronounce stubby-cylindrical or tablet-shaped UFOs as tic tacs. In the world outside the U.S., however, they’re still cylinders.
On October 19 2017, Robert Weryk, a Canadian astronomer working at the University of Hawaii, discovered the first-ever known interstellar object in our solar system. If that sounds a bit strange, what with all the relatively regular sightings of asteroids and comets popping up in the news, it’s important to understand the significance of the phrase ‘in our solar system’.
Unlike previous interstellar objects, ‘Oumuamua which means ‘a message from afar arriving first’ in Hawaiian) had entered the zone controlled by the sun’s gravity. What’s potentially more alarming is that ‘Oumuamua had come closer to Earth than any other known interstellar object, and we still don't know much about it.
So what do we know? 'Oumuamua, a shining object that measured approximately 400-800 metres in length, entered our Solar System travelling 57,000 miles per hour (that's 16 miles per second). It sped straight down towards the Sun but curled underneath due to the star's gravitational pull. This sent the object off on a new trajectory, which was once again altered slightly as it passed Mercury. At its closest point, 'Oumuamua was 15 million miles away from the Earth, which may seem like a lot, but can be classed as a near-miss in the grand scheme of things. The whole process lasted forty days.
But no-one knows what 'Oumuamua really was. An asteroid comprised of metal and rocks, a comet made up of rocks, dust and ice, or a spinning, intensely bright, cigar-shaped (or 'prolate ellipsoid' to give it the technical description) alien probe?
The popular conclusion that ‘Oumuamua was most probably a cosmic iceberg, a mass of frozen hydrogen, is based upon observed findings that ‘Oumuamua couldn’t have contained any water, carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide, as found in asteroids and comets, because they would have been visible phenomena.
Perhaps more contentiously, astronomers also discovered that the object was accelerating as it left the solar system, yet it had no antitail as one might expect to find on a comet. The theory was that tails on comets and asteroids (though less common) act like rocket engines, but a frozen lump of hydrogen could have rocket-engine like propulsion, while the tail remained invisible from the gaze of the telescope.
Based on this, the general conclusion is that ‘Oumuamua was a highly luminescent, half-billion old chunk of planet from outside the Solar System., However, the theory is in a perpetual case of dispute. There are also a growing number of high-profile voices, such as Harvard astrophysicist Professor Avi Loeb, that claim ‘Oumuamua might have been an alien spacecraft from the far reaches of space.
His theory that ‘Oumuamua was a fully operational probe sent intentionally to the Earth’s vicinity by an alien civilization, was based on exactly the same observations that deemed it a cosmic iceberg.
In the series finale of Craig Charles: UFO Conspiracies, Craig Charles and astrophysicist Sarah Cruddas investigate ‘Oumuamua in an attempt to get one step closer to the answer. They speak to Professor Loeb who warns that the object could be a ‘message in a bottle telling us we’re not alone’. Sarah and Craig also speak with members of the SETI Institute who offer their hypotheses about the event and ponder the existence of intelligent life outside of Earth.
Is Oumuamua an alien probe sent from another galaxy, as Professor Loeb believes or a cosmic glacier? We’ll probably never know for sure, but let's leave you with this: the Drake Formula. Formulated in 1961 by Dr Frank Drake, this provides the formula for a probabilistic argument to estimate the number of communicative extraterrestrial civilizations in our galaxy. The answer is 12,600, and that’s just in the Milky Way. The Hubble Telescope has revealed an estimated 100 billion galaxies in the universe and the James Webb Telescope will probably double that…
Two Sides of History: Are UFOs really as extraordinary as they seem?
Two Sides of History: Are UFOs really as extraordinary as they seem?
In the new Sky HISTORY series Two Sides of History, believer Jonathan Davies and sceptic Deborah Hyde debate UFOs.
Image: Believer Jonathan Davies and sceptic Deborah Hyde debate UFOs | Two Sides of History
In recent decades, the UK and US have released intelligence reports acknowledging the existence of UFOs. Such revelations are not surprising to MUFOG.co.uk founder Jonathan Davies, who attests to seeing UFOs landing near his homes.
Deborah, a former editor of The Skeptic magazine, is more cautious. While not denying UFOs’ existence, she suggests they could be attributed to 'atmospheric junk' like balloons and satellites, or 'lights or interference from the ground'.
What do UFO sightings really tell us? Do they say more about the wider universe or instead simply humans’ overeager willingness to believe? In Sky HISTORY’s Two Sides of History, Jonathan and Deborah present contrasting views.
Is a new tech ‘arms race’ underway?
In a Sky HISTORY survey, about 47% of respondents expressed their belief that Earth had been visited by aliens. Nonetheless, Jonathan doesn’t jump to the conclusion that UFOs are necessarily extraterrestrial spacecraft.
He posits that many of these UFOs are craft incorporating advanced technologies not yet known to the public. 'There’s currently a race going on between the West and Russia and China to develop these technologies.'
However, Deborah isn’t convinced when Jonathan implies that they include time travel. 'You are aware, I’m sure, that our present understanding of physics is that time travel isn’t possible. So that would be a quantum leap ahead of what we generally know.'
The 2004 ‘Tic Tac’ UFO incident
In November 2004, US Naval aviators had been undertaking training exercises off the Californian coast when they were alerted to the presence of nearby UFOs.
Upon closer inspection, an oblong UFO appeared to be moving erratically above the Pacific Ocean. The UFO’s performance characteristics are said to have far exceeded the capabilities of human-made aviation technology from both then and now.
One of the fighter pilots even captured footage of the ‘Tic Tac’ UFO — so-called due to its similar shape to a breath mint. This video has since been released to the public, and Jonathan sees it as evidence of futuristic aliens.
Has Mick West refuted the ‘alien craft’ theory?
Sceptical investigator Mick West has his own take on the ‘Tic Tac’ footage — and as far as he’s concerned, no aliens are involved. Deborah brings up West’s explanation that the UFO had actually 'been a similar naval plane from a good distance away, probably 30 miles'.
The Tic Tac seemingly lacked obvious protrusions of a human-made aircraft, such as wings. However, Deborah relays West’s view that, on radar, 'the heat haze had sort of taken the rough edges off the shape.'
'I prefer to believe the actual US Navy that came out with the report on the Tic Tac,' Jonathan replies. 'Mick West develops video games, I believe — he’s not really an expert.'
The US Navy, on the other hand, 'even said themselves that there were objects under the water as well as above the water. The Tic Tac moved at 70,000 miles an hour. It was tracked. There were three different pilots that saw it, and they’ve all given testimonies.'
Deborah is thinking along these lines. She opines that 'there’s likely to be a psychological and neurological and sociocultural reason for all of these things.'
Deborah wonders if people who encounter UFOs 'have a cluster of specific neurological traits that predisposes them to it.' She believes that sleep paralysis could help to explain Jonathan’s own experiences.
'I’ve heard interviews with you where you describe sleep paralysis to a tee. If you didn’t know the neurological basis, you would totally buy into what you saw in front of you. I’d like to emphasise that none of this stuff means you’re weird.'
Some surprising common ground emerges
As the debate goes on, there’s a surprising amount of overlap between Jonathan’s and Deborah’s opinions.
According to Jonathan, studies indicate that between 5% and 8% of sighted UFOs are 'anomalous', while 'everything else can be identified.'
He acknowledges endeavouring to consult 'the people that are rational, are credible, that are not looking for any type of publicity.' He tries to 'avoid people that say they know. Nobody knows at this point.'
Deborah observes: 'I think we probably agree on quite a lot. We know that there’s unidentified aerial phenomena. I think we would agree there’s stuff that we don’t understand yet, we’d just disagree on how certain we were on what it was.'
Cultural ideas are inextricably entwined with the people who do science, the questions they ask, the assumptions they hold and the conclusions they land on.
People are at the heart of the scientific enterprise.
Even if you don't recall many facts from high school biology, you likely remember the cells required for making babies: egg and sperm. Maybe you can picture a swarm of sperm cells battling each other in a race to be the first to penetrate the egg.
For decades, scientific literature described human conception this way, with the cells mirroring the perceived roles of women and men in society. The egg was thought to be passive while the sperm was active.
Over time, scientists realized that sperm are too weak to penetrate the egg and that the union is more mutual, with the two cells working together. It's no coincidence that these findings were made in the same era when new cultural ideas of more egalitarian gender roles were taking hold.
Scientist Ludwik Fleck is credited with first describing science as a cultural practice in the 1930s. Since then, understanding has continued to build that scientific knowledge is always consistent with the cultural norms of its time.
Despite these insights, across political differences, people strive for and continue to demand scientific objectivity: the idea that science should be unbiased, rational and separable from cultural values and beliefs.
When I entered my Ph.D. program in neuroscience in 2001, I felt the same way. But reading a book by biologist Anne Fausto-Sterling called "Sexing the Body" set me down a different path. It systematically debunked the idea of scientific objectivity, showing how cultural ideas about sex, gender and sexuality were inseparable from the scientific findings. By the time I earned my Ph.D., I began to look more holistically at my research, integrating the social, historical and political context.
From the questions scientists begin with, to the beliefs of the people who conduct the research, to choices in research design, to interpretation of the final results, cultural ideas constantly inform "the science." What if an unbiased science is impossible?
Emergence of idea of scientific objectivity
Science grew to be synonymous with objectivity in the Western university system only over the past few hundred years.
In the 15th and 16th centuries, some Europeans gained traction in challenging the religiously ordained royal order. Consolidation of the university system led to shifts from trust in religious leaders interpreting the word of "god," to trust in "man" making one's own rational decisions, to trust in scientists interpreting "nature." The university system became an important site for legitimizing claims through theories and studies.
Previously, people created knowledge about their world, but there were not strict boundaries between what are now called the humanities, such as history, English and philosophy, and the sciences, including biology, chemistry and physics. Over time, as questions arose about how to trust political decisions, people split the disciplines into categories: subjective versus objective. The splitting came with the creation of other binary oppositions, including the closely related emotionality/rationality divide. These categories were not simply seen as opposite, but in a hierarchy with objectivity and rationality as superior.
A closer look shows that these binary systems are arbitrary and self-reinforcing.
Alternative views on the relationship between science and culture. (Image credit: Sara Giordano)
Science is a human endeavor
The sciences are fields of study conducted by humans. These people, called scientists, are part of cultural systems just like everyone else. We scientists are part of families and have political viewpoints. We watch the same movies and TV shows and listen to the same music as nonscientists. We read the same newspapers, cheer for the same sports teams and enjoy the same hobbies as others.
All of these obviously "cultural" parts of our lives are going to affect how scientists approach our jobs and what we consider "common sense" that does not get questioned when we do our experiments.
For example, in my Ph.D. work in neuroscience, I saw how different assumptions about hierarchy could influence specific experiments and even the entire field. Neuroscience focuses on what is called the central nervous system. The name itself describes a hierarchical model, with one part of the body "in charge" of the rest. Even within the central nervous system, there was a conceptual hierarchy with the brain controlling the spinal cord.
My research looked more at what happened peripherally in muscles, but the predominant model had the brain at the top. The taken-for-granted idea that a system needs a boss mirrors cultural assumptions. But I realized we could have analyzed the system differently and asked different questions. Instead of the brain being at the top, a different model could focus on how the entire system communicates and works together at coordination.
Every experiment also has assumptions baked in — things that are taken for granted, including definitions. Scientific experiments can become self-fulfilling prophecies.
For example, billions of dollars have been spent on trying to delineate sex differences. However, the definition of male and female is almost never stated in these research papers. At the same time, evidence mounts that these binary categories are a modern inventionnot based on clear physical differences.
But the categories are tested so many times that eventually some differences are discovered without putting these results into a statistical model together. Oftentimes, so-called negative findings that don't identify a significant difference are not even reported. Sometimes, meta-analyses based on multiple studies that investigated the same question reveal these statistical errors, as in the search for sex-related brain differences. Similar patterns of slippery definitions that end up reinforcing taken-for-granted assumptions happen withrace, sexuality and other socially created categories of difference.
Finally, the end results of experiments can be interpreted in many different ways, adding another point where cultural values are injected into the final scientific conclusions.
Settling on science when there's no objectivity
Vaccines. Abortion. Climate change. Sex categories. Science is at the center of most of today's hottest political debates. While there is much disagreement, the desire to separate politics and science seems to be shared. On both sides of the political divide, there are accusations that the other side's scientists cannot be trusted because of political bias.
It can be easier to spot built-in bias in scientific perspectives that conflict with your own values. (Image credit: JIM WATSON via Getty Images)
Consider the recent controversy over the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's vaccine advisory panel. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, saying they were biased, while some Democratic lawmakers argued back that his move put in place those who would be biased in pushing his vaccine-skeptical agenda.
If removing all bias is impossible, then, how do people create knowledge that can be trusted?
The understanding that all knowledge is created through cultural processes does allow for two or more differing truths to coexist. You see this reality in action around many of today's most controversial subjects. However, this does not mean you must believe all truths equally — that's called total cultural relativism. This perspective ignores the need for people to come to decisions together about truth and reality.
Instead, critical scholars offer democratic processes for people to determine which values are important and for what purposes knowledge should be developed. For example, some of my work has focused on expanding a 1970s Dutch model of the science shop, where community groups come to university settings to share their concerns and needs to help determine research agendas. Other researchers have documented other collaborative practices between scientists and marginalized communities or policy changes, including processes for more interdisciplinary or democratic input, or both.
I argue a more accurate view of science is that pure objectivity is impossible. Once you leave the myth of objectivity behind, though, the way forward is not simple. Instead of a belief in an all-knowing science, we are faced with the reality that humans are responsible for what is researched, how it is researched and what conclusions are drawn from such research.
With this knowledge, we have the opportunity to intentionally set societal values that inform scientific investigations. This requires decisions about how people come to agreements about these values. These agreements need not always be universal but instead can be dependent on the context of who and what a given study might affect. While not simple, using these insights, gained over decades of studying science from both within and outside, may force a more honest conversation between political positions.
According to Zubrin, we do not have enough data to claim that there are insufficient carbon dioxide deposits on Mars. Until now, experts have relied on data from the MAVEN satellite and several Mars rovers, which have only penetrated a few centimeters into the Martian soil. There may be more deposits of volatile substances deeper underground. Further research involves drilling several hundred meters deep in various locations on the planet.
Asteroid bombardments
Another way to raise the temperature is to direct small asteroids or comets toward the surface of Mars. For decades, humanity has been developing programs to track potentially hazardous objects and creating systems to protect Earth from collisions. Therefore, one or more of these methods could be used to arrange for such objects to collide with Mars. The energy from the crash would then serve as a source of heat.
Source: Science Photo Library
Asteroids can be selected based on their “usefulness” – for example, based on their ammonia content, which, when released into the Martian atmosphere, will further enhance the greenhouse effect, or based on the presence of water, which will turn into water vapor.
However, NASA believes that thousands of such asteroids will be needed, and there is currently no ready-made technology for their targeted transportation to Mars.
The hardest part is still ahead
There are other methods of bringing conditions on Mars closer to those on Earth by importing ammonia, hydrogen, or bacteria capable of living and serving as a nutrient substrate for plants in Martian regolith. However, scientists believe that instead of fighting the consequences, we should look at the root of the problem. More precisely, at the core. After all, any attempts to create an atmosphere on the Red Planet will be futile without a magnetosphere to hold it in place. A terraformed Mars will need a reinforced magnetosphere, similar to the one that protects Earth from the flow of charged particles from the Sun.
It is believed that about 4 billion years ago, Mars lost its magnetic field due to the cessation of core rotation. Without a magnetosphere to serve as a shield, solar winds began to bombard and destroy the atmosphere. Leading NASA scientist James Green, who has worked at the agency for 40 years, proposes creating a huge magnetic shield to prevent our star from destroying the future Martian atmosphere. As a result, the planet will be able to retain heat near the surface, pressure will increase, and the climate will improve and become suitable for life. According to the scientist, this method will entail the least amount of interference and destruction, and then Mars will begin to terraform on its own. However, he does not provide estimates of the cost of the project, the necessary technological capabilities, or the time required for such long-term processes.
Ethical issues and the benefits of concepts and research for the Earth
Although humanity is still quite far from realizing its plans to terraform Mars, we must nevertheless consider the ethical and appropriateness of such projects. Similar to protected wilderness areas on Earth, Mars has extreme, historically important, and aesthetically valuable regions. Any interference with the planet’s natural development will lead to irreversible changes. Mars will forever lose its unique historical and research value for future generations.
Source: DETLEV VAN RAVENSWAAY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
Another problem with terraforming Mars is the high cost of such missions. And if, say, humanity had such resources, wouldn’t it be more expedient to use them for the benefit of Earth? Scientists around the world are already sounding the alarm about climate change, the destruction of fertile land, the depletion of fresh water and mineral resources, and the lack of preparedness for possible epidemics.
We should not forget the history of colonization, which has always been accompanied by tragedy. Even today, destructive wars continue over territory, resources, religious beliefs, and so on. So, have we reached the point of moral development where we can become wise guests in the Universe, rather than destructive invaders?
We will have to find answers to these and other questions in the future. However, similar research, such as improving soil quality or developing protection against asteroids, can also be used on our planet. Like many other technologies that are part of our everyday life, thanks to space developments. And in the event of an inevitable catastrophe, Mars would become “plan B” for the salvation of the human race.
Author: Anastasiia Bernatska, journalist
This article was published in issue No. 1 (190) of Universe Space Tech magazine in 2024. You can purchase this issue in print or electronic format from our store.
In a world limited to three dimensions, imagining a fourth is incredibly difficult, especially for an unprepared reader. But one genius scientist found a way to show people the hidden world using an ordinary apple.
Legendary science popularizer Carl Sagan explained what the fourth dimension looked like 45 years ago. Illustration: Copilot
As it happens, the human mind is attuned to perceiving only three dimensions: height, width, and depth. Representing the fourth dimension seems like an impossible task, because our brains are limited by the physical world around us. But what if there is a dimension that we simply cannot see? Legendary science popularizer Carl Sagan comes to the rescue.
Known for his research into space, Sagan possessed a unique gift — the ability to explain complex scientific theories through simple stories and vivid analogies. He could turn the most complex concept into a fascinating adventure for the mind.
In search of the fourth dimension
Time is often referred to as the fourth dimension. This is logical: to determine the position of an object in the Universe, you need three coordinates in space and one in time. But there is another, more theoretical concept — a space where all four dimensions are spatial. It is precisely this concept that is so difficult to understand.
Sagan begins his explanation with a simple analogy. He invites us to imagine a two-dimensional world — a Flat World whose inhabitants have no concept of “up” or “down.” When a three-dimensional object, such as an apple, passes through this flat world, its inhabitants see only a strange phenomenon.
They do not see the apple as a whole. They only observe the point of contact that appears when the apple crosses their world. When an object moves, this point may change shape, split into several parts, or disappear. For a resident of the Flat World, this is an incomprehensible phenomenon, a set of changing forms that cannot be explained in his/her world.
From apple to hypercube
The same logic, Sagan notes, applies to us when we try to imagine the fourth dimension. We are like those inhabitants of the Flat World. Our minds cannot comprehend anything beyond our three dimensions. But we can see its “imprint” in our world.
To demonstrate this, the scientist uses a tesseract — a four-dimensional hypercube. We cannot see a real tesseract, but we can observe its three-dimensional projection, just as the inhabitants of Flat world saw only a two-dimensional trace of an apple. This projection looks like a complex cube, as if nested within itself. It is only a shadow, an attempt by our brain to reproduce something much more complex.
Truth beyond reach
Sagan’s work is not just an interesting scientific trick. Studying measurements that lie beyond our immediate experience is key to understanding the fundamental laws of the Universe. Many phenomena in physics, such as black holes or the curvature of space-time, cannot be adequately described in only three dimensions.
Carl Sagan not only dispelled the myth that complex concepts are inaccessible. He showed that the best way to understand something is through clear explanations, vivid metaphors, and engaging stories. His lesson on the fourth dimension remains a brilliant example of how to talk about the most complex things in a simple way.
NASA’s Perseverancerover continues to delight Earthlings with unique images from the surface of the Red Planet. At the end of August, its cameras captured an unusual rock formation resembling a turtle sticking its head out from under its shell. This bizarre discovery quickly found fans among space enthusiasts around the world.
In August, NASA’s Perseverance rover photographed a rock on Mars that resembles a turtle peeking out of its shell. Photo: NASA
A highly detailed photograph of the “Martian turtle” was obtained using the SHERLOC instrument mounted on the rover’s robotic arm. This device, designed to search for signs of ancient life, in this case recorded something even more fantastic. However, this is far from the first time that Martian rocks have reminded us of familiar objects.
Earlier in August, another camera, Mastcam-Z, captured an image of a pointed rock resembling an ancient conquistador’s helmet. And in the autumn, the Mars rover discovered a formation with spherical intersperses, which was unofficially named “St. Paul’s Bay.” Scientists note that all these amazing shapes are the result of purely natural geological processes.
Photo of the rock by NASA’s Perseverance, on top of which a “turtle sits.” Photo: NASA
Erosion, wind exposure, and slow changes over millions of years have shaped the modern Martian landscape. Each such rock, regardless of what it looks like, is an important piece of the puzzle for scientists. Studying it helps to reconstruct the ecological history of the Jezero crater and determine whether conditions suitable for life once existed on Mars.
The process by which we see familiar images in abstract forms is called pareidolia. This is a psychological phenomenon where our brain automatically fills in reality by finding familiar patterns, faces, or figures in it. This is how we recognize animals in the shape of clouds or patterns in wood. Mars, with its desert landscapes, is the perfect playground for this mind game.
The Perseverance mission has been going on for more than three Earth years, and during that time, the rover has traveled more than 37 km. The “turtle” was spotted on the 1610th Martian day (sol) of the mission, proving once again that even in uninhabited worlds, we seek and find something familiar and understandable.
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- Gemiddelde waardering: 0/5 - (0 Stemmen) Categorie:Ruins, strange artifacts on other planets, moons, ed ( Fr, EN, NL )
The Vatican & UFO Disclosure: Will Pope Leo XIV Open the Secret Archives?
The Vatican & UFO Disclosure: Will Pope Leo XIV Open the Secret Archives?
The Pope, the Vatican & UFO Disclosure: Faith Meets the Unknown
For centuries, the Vatican has stood as one of the most secretive and influential institutions in the world. Beyond its spiritual authority over 1.4 billion Catholics, it is also home to vast archives and scientific endeavors that touch on one of humanity’s most profound mysteries: the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Recent discussions in the media, testimony before the U.S. Congress, and statements from whistleblowers have placed the Vatican at the center of the UFO disclosure debate.
A New Pope and Old Questions
When Cardinal Robert Post was elected as Pope Leo XIV, observers quickly drew attention to his chosen name. His predecessor in that name,Pope Leo XIII, not only championed social justice but also established the Vatican Observatory in the late 19th century. This act cemented the Church’s formal engagement with astronomy and opened the door for centuries of collaboration between Vatican scientists and global research institutions.
The observatory, still active today with facilities in both Italy and Arizona, symbolizes the Church’s dual role in faith and science. Yet with the new pope’s reputation for openness to scientific inquiry, some speculate that he may be the one to lift the veil on the Vatican’s rumored knowledge of UFOs.
Whistleblowers and Allegations of a Vatican Connection
In 2023, former U.S. intelligence officer David Grusch testified before Congress that the Vatican had been involved in UFO secrecy for decades. According to Grusch, the Catholic Church played a role in backchanneling information during the 1930s, when Benito Mussolini’s regime allegedly recovered a mysterious craft in Magenta, Italy. Grusch claimed that Pope Pius XII informed the United States of the incident, leading to American possession of the object after World War II.
While Vatican officials dismissed these claims with humor, the allegation sparked global curiosity. Could the Vatican’s secret archives, said to stretch over 50 miles of shelving and now undergoing digitization, contain records of extraterrestrial encounters?
Historical Engagement with the UFO Question
The Vatican has not always remained silent on the issue. In 2009, the head of the Vatican Observatory at the time, Father José Gabriel Funes, publicly stated that the existence of extraterrestrial life does not contradict Catholic theology. “Just as there is a multitude of creatures on Earth, there could be other beings, even intelligent ones, created by God,” he explained.
This sentiment was echoed in Vatican-sponsored conferences on astrobiology and the philosophy of science. The Church has sought to balance its centuries-old teachings with modern discoveries, showing openness to the possibility that life beyond Earth is compatible with faith.
Faith, Secrecy, and Global Disclosure
Why, then, would the Vatican withhold information if it exists? Some experts argue that revelations about extraterrestrial life could disrupt religious belief systems, challenging traditional interpretations of creation and humanity’s place in the universe. Others suggest that secrecy may be more political than theological, tied to international relations and cooperation with intelligence agencies during the 20th century.
Journalist Ross Coulthart notes that the Vatican has historically collaborated with intelligence services, including the CIA, during and after World War II. If true, such connections could explain why alleged knowledge of UFOs has remained carefully guarded.
The Road Ahead
The question remains: will Pope Leo XIV become the so-called “Disclosure Pope”? Advocates like attorney Daniel Sheehan, who once sought Vatican files on behalf of President Carter, believe that this pope’s interest in merging science and theology makes him uniquely positioned to open the archives.
At the same time, disclosure is not simply a matter of papal decree. Just as governments weigh national security concerns, the Vatican must navigate theological, political, and cultural implications before acknowledging anything extraordinary.
What is clear is that we are entering a new era of dialogue between science, religion, and the mysteries of the cosmos. Whether or not the Vatican possesses hidden UFO files, its role in shaping humanity’s response to potential extraterrestrial contact will be pivotal. The world now watches to see if faith and secrecy will give way to openness and revelation.
Giant Stone 'Doorway' Discovered in Kazakhstan Sparks Ancient Alien Debate
Explorers have stumbled upon what appears to be a massive stone doorway carved into the remote Dzungarian Alatau mountains of Kazakhstan, igniting widespread speculation about its origins. The mysterious formation, measuring approximately 40 feet tall and equally wide, has captured the imagination of social media users worldwide, with some claiming it as evidence of ancient extraterrestrial visitation. Located at 6,500 feet above sea level near the Chinese border, this enigmatic structure has sparked intense debate about natural geological processes versus human intervention.
The discovery was shared through drone footage that shows two explorers dwarfed by the imposing semi-circular formation. According to a Daily Mail report, Reddit users quickly compared the structure to famous fictional doorways from popular culture, including the entrance to Jabba the Hutt's palace in Star Wars and the Doors of Durin from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. The footage has gone viral across multiple platforms, with commentators ranging from amateur archaeologists to alien enthusiasts offering their interpretations of this remarkable find.
The huge door to Jabba the Hut’s palace in Star Wars, 'Return of the Jedi'.
(LucasFilm/20th Century Fox)
The Dzungarian Gate: A Historical Crossroads
The Dzungarian Alatau mountains where this formation was discovered represent one of Central Asia's most historically significant regions. This mountain range has served as a crucial passage between China and Kazakhstan for millennia, known as the Dzungarian Gate or Altai Gap. Ancient conquerors from Central Asia used this more than 3,000-mile pass as an invasion route for centuries, making it a crossroads of civilizations and cultures.
The region is renowned for its rugged terrain, featuring dramatic foothills, ridges, and ancient fortifications. Archaeological evidence suggests human presence in this area spans thousands of years, with various nomadic tribes and settled peoples leaving their mark on the landscape. Ancient petroglyphs have been discovered throughout Kazakhstan, indicating sophisticated artistic and cultural traditions among early inhabitants. The Dzungarian Gate has also been linked to mythical locations, including the legendary Hyperborea, where inhabitants supposedly lived for 1,000 years in perfect peace.
The Dzungarian Alatau mountain range at sunrise, showing the dramatic landscape where the mysterious doorway was discovered.
(Public Domain)
Scientific Explanation
While social media speculation ranges from alien spacecraft entrances to ancient megalithic structures, scientists offer a more terrestrial explanation. According to the Daily Mail, Mark Allen, a professor at the University of Durham's department of Earth Sciences, suggests the formation is "to do with different weathering patterns of different rock layers" rather than artificial construction. The professor noted his experience in the region 38 years ago on the Chinese side of the border, reporting "nothing odd" about natural geological formations in the area.
Adding to the natural phenomema explanation, one Reddit user commented:
'There are a ton of these kinds of formations in Southern Utah. It's the beginning of the formation of an arch, which is very naturally occurring.'
Comparing Ancient Doorway Mysteries
The Kazakhstan discovery joins a pantheon of mysterious stone doorways that have captivated human imagination throughout history. Peru's Aramu Muru, known as the "Gate of the Gods," presents a remarkably similar phenomenon. This massive stone formation near Lake Titicaca features a carved doorway-like recess that has inspired countless theories about interdimensional portals and ancient technology. Like the Kazakhstan formation, Aramu Muru's precise geometric appearance challenges observers to distinguish between natural processes and artificial construction.
Archaeological sites worldwide demonstrate humanity's long fascination with doorway symbolism. Ancient Egyptian false doors served as spiritual passages between worlds, while megalithic structures across Europe incorporated doorway motifs into their sacred architecture. These historical examples show how doorways have consistently represented transitions, mysteries, and connections to otherworldly realms across different cultures and time periods.
The Ñaupa Waka site in Peru has an intriguingly cut altar stone, with what looks to be a doorway cut into the rock. Its origin is traditionally attributed to Inca, but this is questioned as the style and technology used to create it is not known to be Inca, and so it is likely to predate the Inca constructions that surround it, perhaps by millennia.
The enduring appeal of mysterious doorways reflects fundamental human psychology and spiritual beliefs. Whether formed by natural geological processes or created by ancient civilizations, these formations continue to inspire wonder and speculation about hidden knowledge, lost technologies, and connections to cosmic mysteries that extend far beyond our current understanding.
Ruins at Tiwanaku, Bolivia have fascinating cut rocks resembling doorways.
Despite scientific explanations, the Kazakhstan doorway continues generating intense interest and debate online. Social media users propose theories ranging from concealed alien bases to entrances to underground civilizations reminiscent of Tolkien's Mines of Moria. The formation's remarkable symmetry and positioning challenge even skeptical observers to consider alternative explanations beyond conventional geology.
The discovery highlights humanity's persistent fascination with unexplained phenomena and our tendency to seek extraordinary explanations for unusual natural features. Whether viewed as evidence of ancient visitation, lost civilizations, or simply remarkable geological coincidence, the Kazakhstan doorway serves as a contemporary addition to the world's collection of mysterious stone formations that continue challenging our understanding of natural and artificial boundaries.
Top image: Drone footage showing the massive stone doorway formation in Kazakhstan's Dzungarian Alatau mountains.
Het 'complot van de reptielenmensen' Legio mensen over de hele wereld geloven dat er een ras van reptielen bestaat met het vermogen om mensen te worden. Deze reptielenmensen zouden geïnfiltreerd zijn onder gewone mensen, zeggen complotdenkers als David Icke. Ook FVD-politicus Thierry Baudet zei erin te geloven.
Een grap of een gevaar? Het klinkt misschien als een grap, maar er zijn mensen die deze zaak heel serieus nemen. En dat baart niet alleen de volgers van deze theorie zorgen. De Nederlandse regering ontzegde David Icke onlangs de toegang tot het land omdat zijn complottheorie gevaarlijk en anti-Semitisch zou zijn. Hoe zit dat?
De oorsprong van reptielen We beginnen bij het begin: de oorsprong van de theorie over de reptielenmensen. Deze komt voort uit een discussie over de oorsprong van reptielen zelf. Sommige mensen denken dat ze de evolutie van een voormenselijk ras zijn, terwijl anderen geloven dat ze uit de ruimte komen.
Komen ze van de ster Alpha Draconis? Een van de meest ondersteunde theorieën door gelovigen in 'reptilianen' is degene die stelt dat ze afkomstig zijn van de ster Alpha Draconis, die zich in het sterrenbeeld Draak bevindt.
Of zijn het dinosauriërs die niet zijn uitgestorven? Anderen denken dat de reptilianen geëvolueerd zouden kunnen zijn van een dinosaurussoort die nooit echt is uitgestorven. Deze mensen bouwen (losjes) op de ideeën van Carl Sagan (foto) in het boek 'De Draken uit het Paradijs' ('The Dragons of Eden'). Hij won in 1978 de Pulitzer Prize voor dat boek.
Gesis van mensen net als van reptielen "Is het louter toeval dat de klanknabootsing die de mens uitzendt om stilte te vragen of de aandacht te trekken een griezelige gelijkenis vertoont met het gesis van reptielen?" vroeg Sagan zich af. De aanhangers van het reptielengeloof denken dat de wetenschapper met dit soort zinnen hun gelijk bewijst.
Ze bevinden zich onder ons Ondanks het feit dat er geen enkel bewijs is voor hun bestaan, schrijven de complotdenkers aan reptilianen een aantal bovenmenselijke krachten toe. Zo zouden ze zich van uiterlijk kunnen veranderen, allerlei camouflages aan kunnen nemen en zich kunnen verbergen tussen beroemdheden, royals en religieuze leiders.
David Icke, de ideoloog Het was David Icke, een voormalige Britse voetballer (voormalige Hereford United-doelman). die als schrijver in 1999 zijn theorie over de reptielenmens uit de doeken deed in zijn werk 'The Biggest Secret' ('Het grootste geheim').
Reptielen maken stiekem de dienst uit Hij twijfelt er niet aan dat reptielenmensen onder ons zijn en dat ze deel uitmaken van de elite die de wereld regeert. Zijn uitspraken hebben ervoor gezorgd dat Icke een gemeenschap van gelovigen om zich heen heeft verzameld, en ook een aardig fortuin.
Wat zegt Icke over reptielenmensen? Icke beweert dat de reptilianen onder ons leven met als doel om mensen tot slaaf te maken en de mensheid te onderwerpen. Dat klinkt ongelofelijk, belachelijk en daardoor onschuldig, maar volgens Professor Bart Wallet van de Universiteit van Amsterdam heeft die theorie veel overeenkomsten met anti-semitische denkwijzen.
Afbeelding: Duitse propaganda uit de jaren dertig, via het Philadelphia Holocaust Memorial
Ook Joden soms als hagedissen gezien Wallet, professor in de Joodse studies, legde op Radio 1 uit dat de samenzweringstheorie van Icke "antisemitische gedachten en uitingen" bevat. Het idee van de reptielen is volgens hem gebaseerd op "een oud antisemitisch beeld waarbij Joden worden afgebeeld als slangen of hagedissen," aldus Radio 1.
Afbeelding: USC Shoah Foundation Yad Vashem, publiek domein
'Kwaden' die 'controle willen over de wereld' De reptielentheorie doet denken aan klassieke antisemitische schrijfsels zoals het pamflet op deze foto ('Het Joodse Gevaar,' toegeschreven aan de Rus Mathieu Golovinsky in 1938). In die schrijfsels worden Joden afgebeeld als onmenselijke wezens die gebrand zijn op wereldwijde dominantie. Zij zijn 'de kwaden,' zoals professor Wallet uitlegt, en alle andere mensen zijn 'de goeden.'
Andere (controversiële) uitspraken van David Icke Hoewel David Icke onschuldige opmerkingen heeft gemaakt, zoals de bewering dat hij de zoon van God zou zijn of dat de maan een kunstmatige constructie is, jagen zijn insinuaties tegen Joden toch veel mensen schrik aan. Volgens de BBC heeft hij onder meer valselijk beweerd dat het coronavirus door 5G-straling was verspreid en dat een Joodse groep daar achter zat.
Het geloof van de Hopi-indianen Om zijn beweringen te staven, vertrouwt David Icke naar eigen zeggen op een legende die circuleert onder de Hopi-indianen. Zij suggereerden dat er een reeks tunnels in Los Angeles was en dat deze zo'n 5.000 jaar geleden bewoond werd door een ras van hagedissen. In het jaar 1933 zei de mijningenieur G. Warren Shufelt zelfs dat hij de reptielenmensen had gevonden.
Bewijs van het verleden? Een andere auteur, de Amerikaan Scott Alan Roberts, die veel boeken over deze onderwerpen heeft geschreven, bouwt op mythologie en elementen van klassieke culturen om soortgelijke theorieën te bevestigen.
Atum, Quetzalcotl, Nahash... Zo is er bijvoorbeeld Atum, de Egyptische slangenmens; Quetzalcotl, de slangengod van de Maya's; Enki/Ea, de dubbele helix-slang uit de oude Sumerische literatuur; en de Bijbelse slang Nahash uit de Hof van Eden.
Regelmatig in popcultuur te zien De samenzweringstheorie, ongetwijfeld een van de meest wijdverbreide, is onderdeel geworden van de populaire cultuur over de hele wereld.
Zelfs op Netflix De derde aflevering van de animatieserie 'Inside Job' op Netflix, bijvoorbeeld, laat zien hoe Taylor Swift en wijlen koningin Elizabeth van Engeland midden op een feestje hun reptielachtige aard onthullen.
Koningin Elizabeth als een reptiel Het is niet verrassend dat de Britse koningin in de animatieserie als voorbeeld werd gebruikt. Ze is door complotdenkers altijd verdacht een reptiel te zijn.
Andere beroemde, zogenaamde reptielenmensen Ook Amerikaanse presidenten zoals Donald Trump en Barack Obama hebben altijd op de lijst van de zogenaamde reptielenmensen gestaan. Hetzelfde geldt voor Justin Bieber, over wie de Australische media in 2017 meldden dat hij midden op een vliegveld in een reptiel was veranderd...
Mark Zuckerberg, ook verdacht Je hoeft maar succesvol te zijn of macht te hebben en je wordt al verdacht een reptielenmens te zijn. Neem bijvoorbeeld Mark Zuckerberg, wiens gebaren en blikken door complotdenkers zijn geanalyseerd. Ze suggereren dat er iets onmenselijks is aan zijn manier van doen. De filmpjes en foto's die ze gebruiken om hun argument kracht bij te zetten zijn vaak bewerkt en nep.
Maar het is niet zomaar een curieuze 'hobby' Hoewel het lachwekkend lijkt en materiaal zou kunnen zijn voor een goede science-fictionserie, is er helaas meer aan de hand met de reptielenmensentheorie.
Echte gevolgen Het feit dat invloedrijke sprekers als David Icke de theorie inzetten om te suggereren dat er een complot wordt gesmeed door 'de kwaden' in de samenleving, waarbij ze eveneens suggereren dat Joodse elites de samenleving willen ontwrichten, kan ertoe leiden dat zijn volgers zich met geweld tegen die elites keren.
Icke mag Nederland niet meer in David Icke zou in november 2022 een toespraak geven op de Samen voor Nederland-demonstratie tegen het Covid-19-regeringsbeleid. Nadat de gemeente Amsterdam en justitie al hadden verzocht om hem af te zeggen wegens zijn "antisemitische en beledigende opmerkingen," besloot de Nederlandse regering uiteindelijk om de complotdenker uit het land te weren.
Ban van twee jaar David Icke mocht twee jaar lang Nederland niet inreizen, omdat zijn aanwezigheid in het land "spanningen tussen verschillende groepen [zou] veroorzaken en de publieke orde verstoren," aldus een brief geciteerd door de BBC. Aangezien Nederland met alle Schengenlanden verbonden is, kan Icke ook in al die andere landen niet terecht, aldus de BBC.
Ook Baudet zei erin te geloven Maar ook binnen Nederland geloven invloedrijke personen in deze complottheorie. Thierry Baudet haalde hem eerder in 2022 aan in een video op sociale media. Later relativeerde hij zijn verhaal met de opmerking dat hij 'reptielen' figuurlijk bedoelde en dat hij eigenlijk eerder bepaalde groepen mensen in gedachte had.
Een samenzwering van globalisten, zei Baudet Zijn verhaal was een "metafoor" voor "een samenzwering achter de schermen van globalisten, geheime diensten, psychopaten, waardoor de democratie en de vrijheid verdwijnt," twitterde het tweede kamerlid. Maar dat maakt het natuurlijk niet veel beter.
Gevaarlijke woorden Buiten het feit dat 'globalisten' bekend staat als een codewoord voor 'Joden,' is de complottheorie van Baudet niet op feiten gebaseerd en ook nog eens gevaarlijk omdat hij zo veel volgers heeft. Zij zouden erdoor aangemoedigd kunnen worden om met gewelddadige acties in 'opstand' te komen.
Surely everyone has heard that reptilians from outer space secretly influence our lives. But from which star did they arrive? How long have humans known about them? And why are they hostile toward us? In this article, we will reveal the whole truth about them.
What do you know about reptilians? Source: www.craiyon.com
Secrets of history
Reptilians are aliens from outer space who look like humanoids with green reptilian skin, snake-like eyes, and often forked tongues. They are very skilled at disguising themselves as humans, including famous people, and are plotting a global conspiracy. However, brave fighters for the truth are still exposing them.
You have almost certainly heard something like this at least once in your life. Of course, it is nonsense. However, thousands and millions of people believe it. And so the question immediately arises: is there any truth behind all these stories, and if not, where did they come from in the first place?
It is worth starting with the fact that the image of the reptilian, as we know it, is unknown to any ancient mythology, at least among those that have been well studied. They feature reptilian humans such as the ancient Lamia or the Nāgas of Southeast Asia, but they have nothing in common with anthropoids completely covered in green skin. These are creatures with a human torso and a snake’s body instead of legs.
Statues of Nāgas. Source: Wikipedia
Therefore, all references to ancient legends that supporters of the theory about them may use are fiction from beginning to end. The Russian writer Helena Blavatsky was the first to write about reptilian humans in the modern sense in the second half of the 19th century. Her work became the basis for practically all pseudoscientists and mystics – from those who worked in the Third Reich to those who are now creating content on this topic on TikTok.
However, the main theme of Blavatsky’s books is a fierce mixture of mysticism and science about the world spirit that guides the development of civilizations through the repetition of cosmic cycles. As a result, the writer developed a theory of changing races on Earth, which arise in turn, reach the peak of development, and then decline.
And in this context, she mentions the previous race of dragon people who once existed on the continent of Lemuria, now submerged in the Indian Ocean. It should be noted that she honestly borrowed the name and concept of this land from contemporary scientists who, in the absence of the theory of lithospheric plate movement, could not explain why lemurs and some other fauna are found in Madagascar and Southeast Asia, but nothing similar exists in much closer Africa.
Lemuria, as it was imagined. Source: www.gaia.com
All this was explained by a piece of land named after lemurs. In science, this theory quickly became marginalized, but Blavatsky was not concerned. Why did she populate Lemuria with reptiles? It is quite possible that the image of dinosaurs, which were actively being discovered at that time and were very fashionable, played a role in this.
It was from her that humanity first learned that dragon people are hostile to ordinary people. The reason for this is that although their continent sank, they do not want to die out and are doing everything they can to harm us, because we are reaching the peak of our power. Blavatsky calls the Jews the descendants of the reptilians from Lemuria.
n other words, the global conspiracy against all of humanity in the reptilian myth appeared earlier than the space theme. And, of course, the key role in its further spread was played by the very assertion that Jews were involved in all this, because anti-Semitism in Europe at that time was much more widespread than knowledge of Eastern mystical practices, which Blavatsky shamelessly distorted.
Helena Blavatsky. Source: phys.org
Reptilians in books and on screen
While Blavatsky’s readers were busy exterminating Jews, the reptilian myth existed somewhere on the periphery of their consciousness. They had much more mundane arguments to justify mass murder.
Meanwhile, the image of the reptilian human has permeated popular culture. The first reptilian was described in 1929 by the “father” of Conan the Destroyer, American writer Robert Howard. However, his creatures are still more in line with ancient traditions: they have human bodies and several snake heads, but, in the spirit of Blavatsky and her modern followers, they can disguise themselves as humans and enter their subconscious.
Gorn from the original Star Trek. Source: musingsofamiddleagedgeek.blog
Later, the image of reptilians as creatures who came to us from space with hostile intentions developed in science fiction. For example, the Gorns from Star Trek and the Kh’harnis from Edmond Hamilton’s Return from the Stars are typical reptilians. The latter can even get inside their victims’ heads. The only thing is that no one associated them with Jews and a global conspiracy. However, it was science fiction that made the image of reptilians world-famous and familiar to millions of people, which, from the very beginning, did not claim to be the truth about who really controls our lives.
David Icke
Meanwhile, in 1940, American occultist Claude Doggins, who wrote under the pseudonym Maurice Doril, independently of science fiction writers, invented the reptilians we are familiar with, with green skin and a single head, like a lizard. His creation, which he claimed to have found under the pyramids of Giza in Egypt, was called “The Emerald Tablets of Thoth the Atlantean”.
In this collection of pseudo-myths, clearly written under the influence of Blavatsky’s The Secret Doctrine, reptilians already travel in “flying saucers” and conspire with the Antichrist. However, initially they were not identified with space, but lived in a giant cavity which, according to Doggins, occupies the entire interior of the Earth, and scientists are hiding this fact. It was only in the 1950s, amid the wave of enthusiasm for flying saucers, that he finally recognized them as extraterrestrials.
It should be noted that none of the authors described above identified reptilians with the Anunnaki, which is common practice today. In the mid-20th century, this was a completely independent esoteric theory developed by Zecharia Sitchin. Unlike reptilians, the Anunnaki were aliens from outer space from the very beginning, but they were not reptilians and were not plotting global conspiracies at that time.
David Icke talks about reptilians. Source: Wikipedia
However, the Emerald Tablets would have remained little known if Doggins had not found a talented follower – David Icke. Like all his predecessors, he had (and still has) no connection to science. Before becoming interested in the mysteries of the Universe, he was a soccer player, then a soccer commentator, then a spokesperson for the Green Party (the Greens! Could this be a coincidence? Reptilians also have green skin!).
All this did not prevent him in the early 1990s from combining in his teachings not only the works of Doggins, Sitchin, and Blavatsky, but also the popular fantasy image of the reptilian, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and many other conspiracy theories. Perhaps it is this broad coverage of the most popular fictions that explains the success of reptilians as a modern myth.
Reptilians and Astronomy
It is also thanks to Aiku that we can pinpoint not only the place on Earth, but also the place in the sky from which the reptilians came. In his early works, he names the star Alpha Draconis, or Thuban, as their historical homeland.
Here, he seems to be referring to Blavatsky, who also calls reptilians “dragon people”. However, from an astronomical point of view, it is much more important that this is a real celestial body, which 4,500 years ago was indeed closest to the North Pole and is located 303 light-years away from us.
But you won’t find the ancestral home of a race millions of years older than humanity near this star. The thing is, it is actually a system of two white stars orbiting each other every 51 days.
The masses of the components are 3.2 and 2.4 times that of the Sun, and their luminosities are 240 and 48 times that of our star, respectively. Even if there is a planet in the system, life on it simply did not have time to develop, because the age of the system is about 300 million years.
On the other hand, David Icke later increasingly referred to the planet Nibiru as the homeland of the reptilians, which modern astronomers cannot find, but which, in his opinion, was well known to ancient civilizations.
The orbit of Nibiru. Source: futurism.com
You can read more about Nibiru in this article. Suffice it to say that Icke, following Sitchin, repeats that this celestial body has a perihelion between Mars and Jupiter and an orbital period of 3,600 years.
If such a celestial body really existed in the Solar System and was to pass its perihelion within the next 50 years, it would already be only a few dozen astronomical units away from the Sun, and astronomers would have discovered it long ago – it would be impossible to hide such a thing.
In general, it can be summarized that the myth of reptilians from space is a relatively new phenomenon, which from the very beginning has been linked to earthly conflicts, while its connection to space remains rather arbitrary. Like most similar theories, it is a layer of fiction that should be dealt with by cultural studies, not astronomy.
On September 15, 1950, a remarkable interview took place in Washington, D.C., but it remained classified until the early 1980s, when Canadian UFO researcher Arthur Bray discovered a memo written by Canadian engineer Wilbert B. Smith that discussed an alleged UFO crash rumor confirmed by a former student of Einstein, Dr. Robert Irving Sarbacher.
Dr. Sarbacher (1907-1986) was a preeminent scientist. He went to Harvard and was Dean of the Graduate School, Director of Research at Wedd Laboratories, a successful inventor, and a Scientific Consultant to the U.S. Marines and government agencies. He was also connected to the Joint Research and Development Board (JRDB) of the US Department of Defense. He did a lot of research on rockets that could be controlled from a distance. Later, he would start the Washington Institute of Technology. (Source)
In the 1980s, Dr. Sarbacher confirmed several facts about UFOs and ET to researchers William Steinman, Stan Freidman, Jerry Clark, and William Moore. He said that he had been officially told about the crash of an extraterrestrial craft in the Southwest in the early 1950s. This crash may have been the Roswell UFO crash, or it may have happened at a different time. (Source)
He confirmed to them (as well as to Wilbert Smith three decades before) that the issue was classified as more important than the development of the Atom Bomb. According to him, the debris was both incredibly light and highly durable. He understood that the aliens were lightweight and constructed somewhat like insects. He stated that a limited group of individuals, including Von Braun, Vannevar Bush, Oppenheimer, and Eric Walker, were likely involved in the crash debris analysis. They were unsuccessful in their attempts to reverse-engineer the technology.
Back in 1983, William Steinman, the author of the book “UFO Crash: Aztec, New Mexico, March 1948,” wanted to talk to Sarbacher about UFOs and dead aliens. He tried to get in touch with him and start a conversation. Steinman received a reply from Sarbacher in an amazing way. Sarbacher wrote him the following in a letter: (Source)
“Dear Mr. Steinman: I am sorry I have taken so long in answering your letters. However, I have moved my office and have had to make a number of extended trips. To answer your last question in your letter of October 14, 1983, there is no particular reason I feel I shouldn’t or couldn’t answer any and all of your questions. I am delighted to answer all of them to the best of my ability. You listed some of your questions in your letter of September 12th. I will attempt to answer them as you had listed them.
1. Relating to my own experience regarding recovered flying saucers, I had no association with any of the people involved in the recovery and have no knowledge regarding the dates of the recoveries. If I had I would send it to you. 2. Regarding verification that persons you list were involved, I can say only this: John von Neuman was definitely involved. Dr. Vannevar Bush was definitely involved, and I think Dr. Robert Oppenheimer also.
My association with the Research and Development Board under Doctor Compton during the Eisenhower administration was rather limited. o although I had been invited to participate in several discussions associated with the reported recoveries, I could not personally attend the meetings. I am sure that they would have asked Dr. von Braun, and the others that you listed were probably asked and may or may not have attended. This is all I know for sure.
3. I did receive some official reports when I was in my office at the Pentagon but all of these were left there as at the time we were never supposed to take them out of the office. 4. I do not recall receiving any photographs such as your request so I am not in a position to answer. 5. I have to make the same reply as on No. 4.
I recall the interview with Dr. Brenner of the Canadian Embassy. I think the answers I gave him were the ones you listed. Naturally, I was more familiar with the subject matter under discussion, at that time. Actually, I would have been able to give more specific answers had I attended the meetings concerning the subject. You must understand that I took this assignment as a private contribution. We were called “dollar-a-year men. My first responsibility was the maintenance of my own business activity so that my participation was limited.
About the only thing I remember at this time is that certain materials reported to have come from flying saucer crashes were extremely light and very tough. I am sure our laboratories analyzed them very carefully.
There were reports that instruments or people operating these machines were also of very light weight, sufficient to withstand the tremendous deceleration and acceleration associated with their machinery. I remember in talking with some of the people at the office that I got the impression these “aliens” were constructed like certain insects we have observed on earth, wherein because of the low mass the inertial forces involved in operation of these instruments would be quite low.
I still do not know why the high order of classification has been given and why the denial of the existence of these devices. I am sorry it has taken me so long to reply but I suggest you get in touch with the others who may be directly involved in this program.”
According to UFO researcher Anthony Bragalia, researcher D.M. Duncan located Sarbacher’s son, Robert Sarbacher Jr., living in Texas. Duncan had a revealing dialogue with Sarbacher. It turned out that the younger Sarbacher had once questioned his father about the UFO phenomena. His father spoke sparingly about the saucer subject. (Source)
Sarbacher Jr. said of his father: “He knew that they were real for the obvious reason that they would be going 600 mph and then make a direct 90-degree turn in mid-air without slowing down… separated from all inertia and gravity. Dad said that the reason he was called in was to build the right kind of missile to track these things since they were way too fast for any of our planes to catch. They wanted the missile to not destroy any of the UFOs, but to be able to track them. So Dad had cameras installed (like on the V-2 rockets) so when the UFO comes into our air space we would shoot missiles at them with cameras on them, since only a missile could keep up with the speed turns.”
Stunned at the revelation, Duncan wanted to clarify this, and Sarbacher’s son replied, “Yes, exactly to track UFOs, or rather to photograph and watch them… When he first told me about the missiles… the first thing I thought was, what? You were trying to destroy them? He (Sarbacher Sr.) said very normally and matter of factly, ‘No, we put cameras on the end of them.'”
Sarbacher never changed his story, and he resisted the urge to expound or make assumptions. Everyone who spoke with him was impressed. However, his statement could not be corroborated because all of the people he mentioned had passed away. It was the summer of 1986 when Sarbacher passed away.
Whitley Strieber, born in Texas, United States, is a famous author known for his thought-provoking horror fiction. Strieber wrote a novel called The Wolfen, which later became a popular film in 1980. However, it was his book Communion that garnered significant attention, particularly from the UFO community. His book changed this dynamic almost instantly, attracting widespread interest beyond the usual UFOlogy circles
Strieber’s writings have been adapted into various movies and TV shows, contributing to his global acclaim as a best-selling author. However, his popularity soared after the publication of “Communion” in 1987, a non-fiction novel detailing his encounter with non-human intelligent beings. The book became a major success, reaching the No. 1 spot on The New York Times’ non-fiction bestseller list.
In 1989, a film adaptation of “Communion” was released, featuring actors Christopher Walken and Lindsay Crouse. The author’s real encounter with aliens happened on December 26, 1985, when he was sleeping alone in his cabin in the woods, upstate New York. That night, Strieber was awakened by an unusual noise. When he opened his eyes, he saw a small alien creature approaching his bed.
“Throughout the world, there is a certain type of face, a being that’s seen again and again and again. With a long, thin face and big black eyes, sometimes the head seems quite big, as in the Betty Andreas case. In others, like in my case, they seem smaller, and the beings are taller. But that basic configuration, that basic sort of non-human configuration, seems to be repeated again and again and again in experiences all over the world,” Strieber said.
Whitley Strieber
The next thing Strieber remembered was finding himself sitting in the surrounding woods with fragmented memories of what had transpired. To uncover the truth and regain his memories, he decided to undergo regressive hypnosis administered by Dr. Donald F. Klein. He recalled he had been abducted and physically assaulted by someone whom he designated as “Visitors” to keep the possibility of extraterrestrials’ involvement low.
Under hypnosis, Strieber recalled being “floated” out of his bedroom and taken aboard a UFO. During this experience, he encountered four different types of alien beings: a small robot-like being, a short and stocky type, a slender one, and a weak-looking being. Whatever he had recalled in the hypnosis became the story of his best-selling novel. Since that night, he was full of curiosity about the unknown visitors.
Strieber described that one of the beings had captivating black slanted eyes, while the last being had black button eyes. He further said that he underwent medical experiments conducted by those extraterrestrial beings. The experiments included a needle being inserted into his brain and an object being inserted into his rectum. Additionally, the beings extracted a blood sample from him by making an incision in his finger, indicating a series of invasive procedures.
As a result of the bizarre incidents described, Dr. Klein diagnosed Strieber with “temporal lobe epilepsy,” a condition known to cause hallucinations. However, Strieber did not accept this diagnosis and continued to claim that his abduction was a real experience. In fact, he went on to establish a foundation to provide support for other individuals who claimed to have been abducted by aliens, forming a support group for alien abductees.
Cover page of Communion: A True Story by Whitley Strieber, showing the face of an alien that resembles the famous Grey aliens
In 1998, Strieber had another strange encounter at the Delta Chelsea Hotel in Toronto. He was awakened at 2:30 in the morning by a knock at the door, expecting room service, but instead found a mysterious man. Stieber told the Huffington Post: “I got up to open the door, thinking it was the room service waiter. It was not. It was a man I described as about 5 and a half feet tall, older-looking, like someone in his 70s. He wore dark-colored clothing, a turtleneck, and charcoal slacks.”
Strieber described this encounter in his book “The Key: A True Encounter,” published in 2000. The stranger engaged Strieber in a conversation about life lessons, science, and ethics. He expressed a desire to help humanity escape from a cycle of violence and self-destruction. When asked about technology, the stranger mentioned that an intelligent machine would continually seek to enhance its intelligence for survival. The conversation touched upon various topics, including the existence of multiple universes and catastrophic events in Earth’s history.
During the 45-minute conversation, Strieber grew increasingly curious and asked many questions. However, at one point, the stranger offered him a drink, which caused him to fall asleep immediately. The stranger’s true identity remains unknown, leaving Strieber contemplating the future of humanity and the undiscovered realms of science.
While many people remain skeptical about Strieber’s claim of alien abduction, John B. Alexander, a former Green Beret Commander and weapons developer, has regarded Strieber as an intelligent and thoughtful researcher in the field.
Author Whitley Strieber approached the subject of alien abductions differently than his contemporaries in the 1980s. While others focused on the idea that extraterrestrial scientists were stealing human DNA, Strieber delved into the controversial aspects of his own experiences with what he called the Visitors. He used this term because he was not sure if his captors were truly alien in the conventional sense. Strieber believed they might represent something beyond human comprehension.
In his book “Transformation,” a sequel to “Communion,” Strieber explored traumatic encounters of abductees who believed the Visitors (also known as Greys) had the ability to extract the immortal human soul from the physical body. He received a response from the Visitors, explaining that they recycled souls and that Earth was like a school where souls learn, grow, and evolve through successive reincarnations.
Strieber’s realization that the abduction phenomenon was stranger than initially thought was shared by Harvard professorJohn E. Mack. Mack encountered abductees who believed the entities they encountered were soul-stealers. In Mack’s book “Passport to the Cosmos,” he recounted the story of an abductee named Greg who feared being separated from his soul, believing it would lead to the end of his consciousness and existence.
In the 2023 July UAP hearings, whistleblower David Grusch mentioned “Non-Human Biologics,” claiming that the U.S. had retrieved them from alleged UFO crash sites. He claimed having knowledge of the exact locations of UAPs in U.S. possession. Remarkably, the day after the hearings, Leslie Kean discussed the 1996 Varginha UFO crash in an interview that seemed to support Grusch’s statement on Non-Human Biologics.
Non-Human Biologics, also known as non-human biological matter, refers to living or deceased species of non-human biology. This category encompasses any species that is not human. Investigative journalist Leslie Kean, when discussing the legendary Varginha crash, affirmed its authenticity, and she mentioned the unfortunate case of a Brazilian police officer who died due to an infection after encountering the creature. The organism responsible for the infection was one that is not typically found in the human body
In a recent episode of the podcast show “Really,” investigative journalist Leslie Kean discussed the baffling case of the 1996 Varginha UFO crash, shedding new light on this astonishing incident that has captured the imagination of UFO enthusiasts worldwide. Joining hosts Tom Wheeler and Dave Foley, Kean delved into the incredible claims surrounding the event and the efforts to uncover the truth.
The conversation began with Tom and Dave mentioning “Moment of Contact” filmmaker James Fox’ssocial media post, where Leslie Kean confirmed the involvement of the U.S. military in the Varginha incident. Kean emphasized that her sources had indeed confirmed the military’s role in moving materials out of Brazil, validating the incident as it has been described.
The Varginha case revolves around a reported crashed UFO in Varginha, Brazil that happened in 1996, where many locals claimed to have seen two alien creatures, captured by the Brazilian military. According to Kean, one creature was dead while the other one was still alive.
According to the report, the encounter involved two military police officers, who came across a creature running in front of their vehicle. One of the officers, Marco Chereze, supposedly captured the creature with his bare hands but later suffered from an infection that turned out to be fatal.
Filmmaker James Fox (Left, )Marco Chereze (in photo shown by his sister) died after one of the creatures scratched him
Kean revealed that she personally spoke with the doctors who had treated the police officer before his tragic demise. She said: “The circumstances of his death are really shocking. He had this little cut on his shoulder from having grabbed this entity when it was alive, and it cut him. Then he got a horrific infection, and no antibiotics would work.” The veteran Brazilian doctor she spoke to, known for his expertise in autopsies, had never encountered anything like that, indicating the severity and uniqueness of the situation.
The journalist further expressed her intent to uncover more details about the mysterious infection, including collaborating with Stanford Professor Garry Nolan to understand the organisms involved. According to Kean, one of the organisms found during the autopsy was typically exclusive to animals, raising questions about its presence in the human body. Speculating on the implications, she pondered whether such an organism could be linked to extraterrestrial life. Though the records were limited, Kean indicated that the case presented numerous fascinating avenues for investigation.
As the hosts probed further, Kean mentioned the witnesses involved in the case. While she primarily focused on autopsy reports and discussions with medical professionals, James Fox conversed with several military personnel connected to the incident. The presence of credible military sources added depth to the credibility of the accounts.
Doctor who saw Varginha Alien
Dr. Italo Venturelli, a neurosurgeon from Regional Hospital, was shown a video of the Varginha alien by another physician. Researchers Marco Leal and João Marcelo interviewed Dr. Venturelli to inquire about the day the creature was brought to his hospital. He clarified that he had not performed any surgery on the alien. (Click here to read the full article)
Dr. Venturelli discussed the situation with a colleague who showed him the video of the alleged extraterrestrial. He stressed that he did not personally witness the extraterrestrial but heard about it from a younger colleague, who unfortunately passed away later.
Describing the video, Dr. Venturelli mentions seeing military personnel but is unsure of its origin or if it was manipulated. He describes the creature as having a whitish appearance, a thin chest, a large head with angular features, and three small protrusions on the eyes. The creature had large, reddish eyes, almost no neck, thin arms, and was capable of moving its torso.
“But it was a hominid, right? A small man, right? It was not our size. I am 180 cm tall. It was much smaller. As I said, I did not see the legs. I saw them covered here, right? It had a thin chest, a short neck, and the head was like a drop. And there were bumps on the head, and the eyes were red,” Dr. Venturelli said. He mentioned that the creature was alive in the video and appeared normal, without signs of suffering. However, he could not discern many details as the video was very short, only 15 to 20 seconds.
Nature of Varginha Aliens
On November 7, 2022, Mr. Fox shared one of the possibilities on what the biological chemistry of these Varginha creatures could be. According to his tweet, these creatures could be made of different chemistries than other lifeforms on Earth. Hypothetically, there could be ammonia-based and silicon-based life forms instead of water and carbon. (Click here to read the full article)
In the “Moment Of Contact,” there was a particular set of consistently reported characteristics about the crash site and creatures that might shed light on the biological chemistry of alien creatures. These are some points that corroborate the above theory, according to which the Varginha creatures could be “oxidizing ammonia-based lifeforms.”
A crash site that smelled strongly of something like ammonia and had what appeared to be a chemical fire encircling the wreckage. Two creatures left a strong ammonia-like scent that did not go away with cleaning and lingered for many days.
Varginha Incident Classified
Reddit user “pepper-blu” has found that the future of the Varginha incident appears to be veiled in secrecy for an extended period. The incident should have been declassified and made available to the public 25 years after its occurrence. (Source)
However, for the first time in Brazilian history, the military fought to renew the top-secret Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) related to the Varginha incident and succeeded in doing so. As a result, the incident that was supposed to be declassified in 2021 will only be made available to the public in 2046, 50 years after its occurrence.
The justification given for reclassifying the incident is “external threat to the nation’s sovereignty and to the integrity of the national territory, as well as severe risk to our country’s international relationships.” This suggests that the Brazilian military considers the information related to the Varginha incident to be of significant importance, potentially impacting national security and international relations.
The fact that the NDA was renewed for 50 years indicates that the Varginha incident is perceived as extremely sensitive and classified at a higher level than other similar cases, such as Operation Prato’s initial NDA, which lasted only 20 years. Brazilian Ufologists, the press, and citizens have attempted to access the information before, but they were informed about the 50-year NDA on the event. The document linked provides additional context regarding the request for releasing the information and the conclusion that the incident will remain classified until 2046.
The application of unmanned aerial vehicles and autonomous drones in emergency and rescue operations has been rapidly increasing, as the use of drones in these situations enables real-time aerial data to be instantly provided to support crisis teams.
However, coordinating the flight of multiple drones simultaneously presents its own technical challenges. Increasing speed can heighten the risk of collisions or navigation errors, while prioritizing safety may slow response times in situations where urgent action is required.
Now, researchers at Durham University have developed a new system that enables drones to fly in precisely coordinated swarm formations. By enhancing the communication capabilities between drones, this method allows them to gather and share detailed information as well as navigate through challenging terrain with greater efficiency and safety.
Swarm Intelligence
This new system, known as T-STAR (Time-Optimal Swarm Trajectory Planning), enables unmanned aerial vehicles to exchange information in real-time. This capability allows for immediate collision avoidance and enhances coordination across the swarm, allowing drones to deliver timely and accurate results even in challenging conditions.
According to lead researcher Dr. Junyan Hu, “T-STAR allows autonomous aerial vehicles to operate as a truly intelligent swarm, combining speed, safety, and coordination in ways that were previously impossible. This opens up new possibilities for using cooperative robotic swarms in complex scenarios, where every second counts.”
Time-Optimal Swarm Trajectory Planning
T-STAR is designed to allow drones to maintain speed, safety, and coordination while in swarm formations, even in crowded airspace. The system utilizes a method known as model predictive contour control to calculate the most efficient flight path for each drone, while avoiding obstacles.
Researchers applied dynamic equations to simplify the system’s constraints, reduce the complexity of the algorithms, and improve overall stability. As a result, the swarm can remain stable while still responding quickly to environmental changes.
Drawing inspiration from the way birds naturally flock together, T-STAR applies virtual forces to guide drones along their paths and prevent collisions. When new obstacles or threats emerge, the system recalculates routes in real-time, enabling the swarm to maintain its formation and effectiveness throughout the mission.
Tests comparing T-STAR results to data from earlier drone swarm formation models show that the new system produces faster and safer routes. These results suggest that T-STAR has the potential to deliver reliable information quickly during time-sensitive missions.
Expanding on Military Application
The idea of using coordinated drone formations has been explored for years. Over the past decade, military programs in the United States, China, and Europe have explored various approaches to unmanned aerial vehicle swarms. Early experiments showed that swarms could either overwhelm defenses or survey large areas more efficiently than single drones.
Screenshot of the flight trajectories of a UAV swarm using T-STAR
Earlier systems often required drone swarms to slow down when navigating complex terrain, which limited their effectiveness. T-STAR is designed to keep swarms moving quickly and in coordination, ensuring that critical information reaches response teams without delay.
From Theory to Urgent Missions
Drone swarms could have potential applications in areas such as parcel delivery and agriculture; however, their most immediate impact is likely to be in emergency response. By increasing both speed and safety, T-STAR could help make swarm robotics a practical option for urgent missions that require fast, dependable information.
In areas affected by earthquakes or floods, drones equipped with T-STAR technology can navigate through debris to send real-time images and data to rescue teams. During wildfires, swarms can monitor fire lines and supply information to help firefighters allocate resources more effectively.
Future Applications
The Durham team has evaluated T-STAR in simulations and laboratory experiments, where it outperformed previous coordination methods. The next phase will involve large-scale outdoor trials to test how the system works in real-world conditions.
Although the current research is aimed at humanitarian and environmental uses, the technology may have wider applications. Improvements in speed and coordination could also influence future defense strategies for the military organizations that first developed drone swarm concepts.
For now, the Durham researchers are focusing on disaster response, public safety, and logistics. The development of T-STAR reflects the rapid progress in swarm robotics. As AI technology advances, coordinated drone swarms could become a routine part of emergency management, much like how radar and satellites have transformed crisis response over the past century.
Austin Burgess is a writer and researcher with a background in sales, marketing, and data analytics. He holds a Master of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, along with a certification in Data Analytics. His work combines analytical training with a focus on emerging science, aerospace, and astronomical research.
Researchers have made a discovery involving how the Earth’s core initially froze and crystallized millions of years ago, suggesting that a previously unexpected amount ofcarbon, as revealed in a new paper published in Nature Communications.
Accounting for 3.8% of the Earth’s interior, such a percentage is far higher than researchers believed was likely to exist in the planet’score, which is primarily believed to be rich in iron. Presently, it continues to grow as more of its molten surroundings cool to join the core’s mass in a process that scientists have debated for decades.
Understanding The Earth’s Inner Core
Forming a solid inner core requires more than just cooling—it depends on the precise chemistry of the molten material. The process can be compared to hail formation: water droplets in clouds must reach temperatures well below water’s normal freezing point before crystallizing into ice. Similarly, molten iron in Earth’s core must become “supercooled,” dropping roughly 800–1000 °C below its normal freezing point to solidify.
However, geological evidence suggests Earth’s core has never cooled this far. Simulations show such extreme cooling would have caused runaway core growth and likely collapsed the planet’s magnetic field—an event that never appears to have happened. Data instead indicate the core cooled by less than 250 °C below its melting point.
Reconciling A Warm Core
To explain how the core could crystallize without extreme supercooling, researchers from the University of Oxford, the University of Leeds, and University College London turned to computer simulations. Lacking direct access to the planet’s center, they modeled how elements like carbon, oxygen, sulfur, and silicon—known to exist in the mantle—would influence crystallization if present in the core.
“Each of these elements exist in the overlying mantle and could therefore have been dissolved into the core during Earth’s history,”said co-author Associate Professor Andrew Walkerof the University of Oxford. “As a result, these could explain why we have a solid inner core with relatively little supercooling at this depth. The presence of one or more of these elements could also rationalise why the core is less dense than pure iron, a key observation from seismology.”
A diagram of the Earth’s inner and molten cores, displaying how convection generates the magnetic field.
Credit: Dr Alfred Wilson
The First Steps Of Freezing
The team simulated atomic-scale interactions, tracking how roughly 100,000 atoms behaved under high pressure and supercooled conditions similar to those in the inner core. They focused on “nucleation,” the moment when small crystal clusters first form, marking the beginning of freezing.
The results were striking. Elements like silicon and sulfur, once thought to be major components of the core, actually slowed freezing and required greater supercooling. Carbon, by contrast, accelerated freezing, bringing models closer to observed conditions. A 2.4% carbon mixture still fell short, but at 3.8% carbon, the simulations aligned perfectly with expectations—producing an inner core temperature requiring just 266 °C of supercooling. No other combination reproduced the core’s observed nucleation and size.
Continuing to Investigate the Core
“It is exciting to see how atomic-scale processes control the fundamental structure and dynamics of our planet,” said lead author Dr Alfred Wilson of the University of Leeds. “By studying how Earth’s inner core formed, we are not just learning about our planet’s past. We’re getting a rare glimpse into the chemistry of a region we can never hope to reach directly and learning about how it could change in the future.”
The study also lends new data to the ongoing debate over the age of Earth’s core. Some scientists argue it began crystallizing more than two billion years ago, while others suggest it solidified less than half a billion years ago. The new evidence, pointing to carbon’s crucial role, may help resolve this long-standing question.
Ryan Whalen covers science and technology for The Debrief. He holds an MA in History and a Master of Library and Information Science with a certificate in Data Science. He can be contacted at ryan@thedebrief.org, and follow him on Twitter @mdntwvlf.
With the recent discovery of the mysterious space object 3I/ATLAS, the third-known interstellar object directly observed by astronomers, debate over its origins—and even the possibility that it might be of technological origin—has captured the public imagination.
Now, an international team of astronomers suggests that the rare appearances of interstellar objects passing through our solar system could provide scientists with an opportunity to search for signs of extraterrestrial technology.
While the available evidence strongly supports the view that 3I/ATLAS is a comet, albeit one bearing some rather unusual qualities, the team behind the recent study nonetheless suggests that there are good reasons to consider interstellar objects passing through our solar system as potential candidates in the search for alien technosignatures.
3I/ATLAS: A Comet, or Alien Technology?
Following the discovery of 3I/ATLAS on July 1, 2025, speculations about the object’s nature and origin have entertained a range of possibilities based on some of its unusual characteristics. Among these is the idea proposed by Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb and colleagues in a preprint paper earlier this year, which examined whether the object’s trajectory and non-gravitational motion through the solar system might suggest that it bears the qualities astronomers could expect from an intelligently controlled spacecraft.
Notably, Loeb and his co-authors stated in the paper that their examination of the potentially technological origins of 3I/ATLAS had been largely pedagogical, although they maintained that such views should not be dismissed outright, even if the likeliest interpretation by far remains that the object is an interstellar comet.
Now, in a new study by an international team of scientists that reviews decades of speculation and outlines concrete strategies for examining interstellar comets and asteroids, the paper’s authors similarly argue that 3I/ATLAS and its predecessors, 1I/‘Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov, bore all the qualities of comets, but that the search for genuine alien technosignatures associated with interstellar objects that make our way to our solar system is not unwarranted.
Cosmic Hitchhikers
“Since humanity has sent many of our own spacecraft on interstellar trajectories, we know that it is possible to send probes to other stars,” the study’s authors write. Equally, they argue that a range of different types of technosignatures could essentially “hitchhike” across interstellar distances and arrive with an interstellar object.
“Technology could either be active throughout an object’s interstellar journey, or wake from a dormant state upon arrival in the Solar System,” the authors write. “Defunct technology may also be found, such as spacecraft whose power supplies have long since become inactive.”
Other possibilities include technology that might be buried beneath the surface of an interstellar object. According to this premise, as the surface material begins to sublimate as the object begins to approach our Sun—the same processes producing the Sun-facing coma or “halo” of cometary material currently surrounding 3I/ATLAS—any alien technologies may be revealed through such natural processes. This would allow for the deployment of a once-buried probe, but only if its interstellar carrier manages to reach the vicinity of a star like our Sun.
Other possibilities include interstellar asteroids that are modified to produce “world ships, objects which may include natural structures and other technological features that would allow any “interstellar nomads” on board to utilize generational habitats that could be carried along with any prospective comets capable of spanning interstellar distances.
“Given the extreme distance between star systems, sending physical objects between stars may be advantageous for an extraterrestrial civilization, compared with direct communication,” the authors note.
Four Avenues for Technosignature Searches
In their paper, the team examines four primary categories of potential searches for technosignatures, which include
1) anomalous trajectories (the presence of unexpected accelerations or maneuvers that can’t be explained by natural outgassing or radiation pressure),
2) spectral or coloration anomalies (including unusual reflectance, coatings, or waste heat detectable in the infrared),
3) objects with unnatural shapes such as cylinders or thin “light-sails,” and
4) any detectable transmissions in the form of narrowband radio or optical signals, including lasers, that could indicate intentional or incidental communication.
Interestingly, such observations were made of ‘Oumuamua and Borisov, although no detectable signatures were discernible. As it continues its journey through our solar system, 3I/ATLAS has already been targeted by the Allen Telescope Array and observed by multiple observatories, including NASA’s Webb and Hubble telescopes. Based on all the available data, everything astronomers have observed thus far suggests that these objects have natural origins.
Nonetheless, the authors of the new paper emphasize that there remains a chance that even a few mundane observations—such as monitoring a comet’s rotation, its color, or how it accelerates—could still provide some critical context that may be helpful in identifying potential outliers that might arrive in the future.
Why Technosignature Searches Matter
Currently, with the Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time expected to discover anywhere from six to more than 50 interstellar objects in the next decade, the team behind the new study argues that technosignature investigations should not be overlooked and must be incorporated into routine follow-ups. Coordinated campaigns that scour radio, optical, infrared, and radar frequencies could maximize the chances of spotting anything unusual, in the unlikely event that it existed.
For now, although speculation about alien probes captures public imagination, the real value of taking such studies seriously lies in building a systematic framework for distinguishing natural phenomena from any potential anomalies we might find.
“Any potential detection of technosignatures from an [interstellar space object] will require the most stringent and detailed confirmation possible,” the paper’s authors write, underscoring the need for rigorous protocols and independent verification if—or perhaps when—we spot something truly anomalous.
The team’s paper, “Technosignature Searches of Interstellar Objects,” by James R.A. Davenport, et al, appeared on the preprint arXiv.org server on August 22, 2025.
Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. A longtime reporter on science, defense, and technology with a focus on space and astronomy, he can be reached atmicah@thedebrief.org. Follow him on X @MicahHanks, and at micahhanks.com.
The U.S. Air Force is currently developing a “Freeze Ray” to keep computers and other systems from overheating in the harsh environment of outer space.
Working with researchers at the University of Virginia, the Air Force is hoping that the secret properties of plasma, the fourth known state of matter, can be a critical solution to heat issues where conventional cooling methods are unavailable or insufficient.
This is Not Your Grandfather’s Freeze Ray
When Batman’s newest villain, Mr. Freeze, burst onto comic book pages in 1959, his weapon of choice was a deadly freeze ray that, like the name sounds, could freeze his enemies in their tracks. Of course, he was initially known as Mr. Zero, but in 1966 he came into his own as Mr. Freeze, bringing his reign of terror and his namesake weapon into the streets of Gotham City.
Now, a team of researchers working for the U.S. Air Force says they have developed a Freeze Ray of their own. However, unlike the aptly named frigid firearm toted by Bruce Wayne’s 20th Century rival, this freeze ray could solve a critical problem for space travel that is only expected to get worse as humanity ventures deeper and more frequently into the cosmos.
Magical Properties of Plasma Make the Real-World Freeze Ray Possible
Space travel is hard on humans, but it is also hard on electronics. Like systems on Earth, they can become severely damaged if overheating occurs. But unlike Earth-based systems, they don’t always have access to the chemicals or equipment that could keep them from overheating.
“That’s the primary problem right now,” said University of Virginia Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Professor Patrick Hopkins. “A lot of electronics on board heat up, but they have no way to cool down.”
The same issue plagues high-altitude aircraft, which operate in thin air conditions that are often unable to keep key systems cool.
“With the Air Force and Space Force, you’re in space, which is a vacuum, or you’re in the upper atmosphere, where there’s very little air that can cool,” Hopkins explained. “So what happens is your electronics keep getting hotter and hotter and hotter. And you can’t bring a payload of coolant on board because that’s going to increase the weight, and you lose efficiency.”
Hoping to bridge that divide, Hopkins is tapping into the seemingly magical properties of plasma. Most people may know that the three common states of matter are liquid, solid, and gas. But many may not know that there is a fourth state of matter known as plasma. In fact, plasma is the most common substance in the known universe, as it is the material that stars are made of.
Oddly, this matter, which often reaches the temperature of the sun’s surface, has the unexpected ability, when used correctly, to cause cooling. It was a phenomenon Hopkins stumbled upon when trying to measure the heat changes caused by a helium-based plasma laser.
“So when we turned on the plasma,” Hopkins said, “we could measure temperature immediately where the plasma hit, then we could see how the surface changed. We saw the surface cool first, then it would heat up.”
This result was not only unexpected but seemed to violate the second law of thermodynamics.
“We were just puzzled at some level about why this was happening because it kept happening over and over,” Hopkins explained. “And there was no information for us to pull from because no prior literature has been able to measure the temperature change with the precision that we have. No one’s been able to do it so quickly.”
Some more research using equipment borrowed from the U.S. Navy yielded a surprising result. The plasma seemed to be vaporizing material on the surface and actually releasing heat in the process, much like sweat cools down the body like evaporation.
Doctoral candidates Sara Makarem Hoseini and Daniel Hirt observe the plasma ray setup. Image Credit: Tom Cogill.
That breakthrough allowed Hopkins to refine the process until they could repeat the results using a precision laser. This would allow him to target that cooling ability directly onto the surface of electronics and other sensitive components using an actual freeze ray.
“This plasma jet is like a laser beam; it’s like a lightning bolt,” Hopkins said. “It can be extremely localized.”
Such precision, and the ability to generate plasma on a spacecraft without having to bring along coolant or other chemicals, is what makes the idea of a practical freeze ray possible. It is also the reason why the Air Force has funded Hopkins and his team to the tune of $750,000 over the next three years to work out the operational details of the technology and then come up with a plan to make their own freeze ray a viable tool.
The Next Steps Toward a Viable Space-Based System
With their funding in hand, and their initial theories laid out in the journal ACS Nano, Hopkins and his two doctoral candidates, Sara Makarem Hoseini and Daniel Hirt, have already moved on from the equipment borrowed from the U.S. Navy, where Hopkins performed his initial plasma cooling experiments, and have constructed their own facility thanks to the Air Force. Next, they plan to begin testing with gases, metals, and surface coatings that the plasma can target.
“Since the plasma is composed of a variety of different particles, changing the type of gas used will allow us to see how each one of these particles impacts material properties,” Hirt said.
“We haven’t really explored the use of different gasses yet, as we’re still working with helium,” he added. “We have experimented so far with different metals, such as gold and copper, and semiconductors, and each material offers its own playground for investigating how plasma interacts with their different properties.”
The results of this work will likely not be known for another three years. But if they succeed, Mr. Freeze won’t be the only one toting a sub-zero sidearm, much less one that can operate in space.
Christopher Plain is a Science Fiction and Fantasy novelist and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on X, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him directly at christopher@thedebrief.org.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Telescope observations reveal a growing tail on the comet that’s visiting from another star.
Released Thursday, the pictures taken by the Gemini South telescope in Chile late last month are the most detailed yet of the recently discovered comet. They show a wide coma of dust and gas around the ice ball as it speeds toward the sun, and also a tail that’s more extended than it was in previous shots.
These new images confirm that the comet is becoming more active as it plows harmlessly through our solar system, according to the National Science Foundation's NoirLab, which operates the telescope. It’s only the third known interstellar object to venture our way.
As of Thursday, the comet known as 3I-Atlas was 238 million miles (384 million kilometers) from Earth and growing ever nearer, according to NASA. It will make its closest approach to the sun at the end of October and then pass closest to Earth in December from 167 million miles (269 million kilometers) away — farther from Earth than the sun.
This story was first published on Sep. 4, 2025. It was updated on Sep. 5, 2025 to correct the name of the agency that operates the telescope. It is the National Science Foundation, not the National Space Foundation.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Planeten vinden die lijken op de aarde en waar mogelijk ook leven is: het blijft een ontzettende uitdaging. Wetenschappers hebben echter een methode ontwikkeld waarmee we mogelijk aliens kunnen opsporen.
Tot nu toe hebben wetenschappers nog geen bewijs gevonden voor buitenaards leven. Alle levensvormen die we kennen – van eencellig tot meercellig – komen voor op onze eigen planeet waar vloeibaar water zorgt voor de noodzakelijke chemische reacties. Het opsporen van aarde-achtige exoplaneten is een enorme uitdaging. Een team astrofysici denkt nu een haalbare oplossing te hebben.
Exoplaneten vinden met huidige technologie is moeilijk Exoplaneten met vloeibaar water zenden het meeste licht uit bij golflengtes rond de 10 micrometer, ongeveer de dikte van een dunne mensenhaar en twintig keer de typische golflengte van zichtbaar licht. Om een planeet als de aarde te onderscheiden van een ster op een afstand van 30 lichtjaar, is een telescoop met een spiegeldiameter van minstens 20 meter nodig. Bovendien moet die telescoop in de ruimte worden geplaatst, omdat de aardse atmosfeer het beeld te veel vervaagt. De James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), met een diameter van 6,5 meter, was al een huzarenstukje om te lanceren. Een telescoop van 20 meter is simpelweg niet uitvoerbaar.
Alternatieve opties Daarom zoeken wetenschappers naar alternatieven. Ideeën variëren van zwermen kleinere telescopen die samen één groot geheel vormen, tot het gebruik van kortere golflengtes waarmee kleinere spiegels volstaan. Maar die opties brengen weer andere problemen met zich mee: de precisie die nodig is om meerdere telescopen in de ruimte te laten samenwerken is onhaalbaar en in zichtbaar licht is een zonachtige ster meer dan tien miljard keer helderder dan een planeet als de aarde. Het blokkeren van dat sterlicht ligt nog ver buiten ons technische bereik.
Wel haalbaar Een team onder leiding van Heidi Newberg van het Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute stelt nu een alternatief voor dat dichterbij de huidige mogelijkheden ligt. In Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences presenteren de onderzoekers een ontwerp voor een telescoop met ongeveer hetzelfde formaat als de JWST, maar met een andere vorm: een rechthoekige spiegel van één bij twintig meter, in plaats van een ronde van 6,5 meter.
Die langwerpige spiegel zou het mogelijk maken een ster van een exoplaneet te scheiden. Door de spiegel te draaien kan de lange as telkens worden uitgelijnd met zowel ster als planeet. Volgens berekeningen van het team kan een dergelijke telescoop in minder dan drie jaar tijd de helft van alle aarde-achtige planeten binnen 30 lichtjaar opsporen.
30 veelbelovende planeten vinden Hoewel het ontwerp nog verdere ontwikkeling en optimalisatie vereist, zijn er geen onoverkomelijke technische obstakels. In veel opzichten lijkt de telescoop op de JWST, maar dan met een andere spiegelvorm. Als we veronderstellen dat er sowieso één aarde-achtige planeet draait om de gemiddelde zonachtige ster, dan zouden we ongeveer 30 veelbelovende planeten vinden. Nadat deze ontdekt zijn kunnen we aan de hand van vervolgonderzoek identificeren of er leven aanwezig kan zijn. De onderzoekers dromen er in ieder geval al van om vervolgens een sonde te sturen naar de meest veelbelovende planeet voor verder onderzoek.
Astronomers have obtained a color image of a rare visitor from deep space — comet 3I/ATLAS, which is hurtling through our Solar System at breakneck speed. This scientific photograph reveals the secrets of the formation of celestial bodies in distant star systems.
New images of 3I/ATLAS were obtained by the Gemini South telescope in Chile as part of the Shadow the Scientists program.
In August 2025, the GMOS spectrograph on the Gemini South telescope in Chile took a unique image of comet 3I/ATLAS. This object attracts the attention of scientists around the world because it is an interstellar traveler that has come to us from beyond our planetary system. Its incredible speed — over 200,000 km/h — undeniably confirms its origin in interstellar space.
Scientific value of the photograph
The magnificent color photograph clearly shows the coma — a cloud of gas and dust that surrounds the comet’s nucleus and expands as it approaches the Sun. Astronomers were particularly struck by the comet’s expressive tail, which had grown significantly longer compared to previous observations. Its length in the sky reaches 1/120 of a degree, which is comparable to the width of your pinky finger when you look at it with your arm outstretched.
In addition to its aesthetic appeal, this photograph has enormous scientific value. The main purpose of the observations was to study the colors of the comet and obtain its spectra. By analyzing the wavelengths of light emitted by the comet, scientists can accurately determine the chemical composition of dust particles in its coma and directly measure its chemical composition.
Discovery that brings worlds together
Color photograph 3I/ATLAS without distortion. Photo: noirlab.edu
Despite its exotic origin, spectral analysis of comet 3I/ATLAS revealed something surprising: its composition is very similar to comets that originated in our own Solar System. This discovery leads to a revolutionary assumption: comets in different parts of our galaxy are formed from similar materials and according to the same laws, regardless of their star system.
Karen Meech, an astronomer at the University of Hawaii who led the observations, notes that scientists have for the first time been able to see the chemical composition of such a comet from its spectrum and track changes in its particles.
Space traveler
Comets like 3I/ATLAS are extremely rare. It is only the third confirmed interstellar comet in history, joining the famous comets discovered in 2017 and 2019.
Unlike ordinary comets, which often perish when they approach the Sun, this traveler has a hyperbolic orbit. This means that it has only visited us temporarily and will soon return to the abyss of interstellar space, taking with it new knowledge about the Universe.
Wetenschappelijke Analyse van de Recent Claims over Aliens en UFO’s: Kritisch Evalueren van Bewijs en Logica
Wetenschappelijke Analyse van de Recent Claims over Aliens en UFO’s: Kritisch Evalueren van Bewijs en Logica
Inleiding
De recente verklaringen van voormalig luchtmachtofficier David Grusch, waarin hij beweert bewijs te bezitten dat de militaire overheid een programma voert voor het terughalen en reverse-engineeren van onidentificeerbare luchtverschijnselen (UAP), hebben wereldwijd voor opschudding gezorgd. Hij stelt dat dit programma al decennia bestaat en dat het niet alleen niet-menselijke “biologische materialen” en buitenaardse schepen bevat, maar ook dat deze technologie afkomstig zou zijn van buitenaardse beschavingen. Dit rapport analyseert deze claims kritisch en wetenschappelijk, met gebruikmaking van logische en empirische evaluatiemethoden, in het bijzonder de “SEARCH”-methode van Ted Schick, en benadrukt de noodzaak van bewijs gebaseerd op objectieve waarnemingen en redelijke aannames.
Hypothese en Onderzoeksvraag
De hypothese die centraal staat in dit artikel stelt dat de militaire overheid een actief en gestructureerd programma uitvoert met als doel het verzamelen, analyseren en reverse-engineeren van UFO’s (Onbekende Vliegen Objecten) en biologisch materiaal dat mogelijk afkomstig is van buitenaardse beschavingen. Deze hypothese impliceert dat overheidsinstanties niet alleen waarnemingen registreren, maar ook in staat zijn om geavanceerde technologieën en biologisch materiaal te bestuderen om inzicht te krijgen in buitenaardse technologieën en levensvormen. Daarnaast wordt de bewering gedaan dat er concreet bewijs bestaat dat buitenaardse beschavingen contact met de Aarde hebben gehad, wat suggereert dat er niet alleen observaties zijn gedaan, maar dat er mogelijk interacties of communicatie hebben plaatsgevonden die verder gaan dan louter waarnemingen.
De onderzoeksvraag die uit deze hypothese voortvloeit, richt zich op de validiteit en plausibiliteit van deze beweringen. Specifiek wordt gevraagd: “Is er voldoende en betrouwbaar bewijs dat de militaire overheid daadwerkelijk UFO’s verzamelt en reverse-engineert, en dat dit programma bewijs levert voor het contact tussen buitenaardse beschavingen en de aarde?” Daarnaast wordt onderzocht welke alternatieve verklaringen er bestaan voor de waarnemingen en gegevens die worden gepresenteerd, zoals natuurlijke fenomenen, menselijke technologie of andere niet-buitenaardse oorzaken.
Het onderzoek richt zich verder op het analyseren van beschikbare documenten, getuigenissen van betrokken ambtenaren, geclassificeerde rapporten en andere vormen van bewijs die kunnen ondersteunen of weerleggen dat de overheid een dergelijk programma voert. Ook wordt gekeken naar de betrouwbaarheid en authenticiteit van deze bewijzen, evenals de mogelijke motieven achter het verzwijgen of openbaar maken van informatie over UFO’s en buitenaards biologisch materiaal. Door deze uitgebreide analyse beoogt het artikel duidelijkheid te scheppen over de plausibiliteit van de hypothese en de onderliggende bewijsvoering, en zo bij te dragen aan het publieke debat over buitenaardse aanwezigheid en overheidsgeheimen.
Evaluatie van het Bewijs
Volgens de “SEARCH”-methode begint de evaluatie met het formuleren van de hypothese, gevolgd door het beoordelen van het bewijs.
Het Bewijs voor de Hypothese
Grusch heeft zich gebaseerd op getuigenissen van insiders binnen de militaire en inlichtingendiensten. Hij beweert dat zij toegang zouden hebben tot bewijsstukken zoals niet-menselijke schepen en biologisch materiaal afkomstig van crashplaatsen. Echter, belangrijk is dat deze claims grotendeels gebaseerd zijn op anonieme getuigenissen en persoonlijke verklaringen, zonder dat er openbaar bewijs wordt geleverd dat onafhankelijk is geverifieerd.
Volgens de principes van de empirische wetenschap en de logica van David Hume, is getuigenis op zich niet voldoende om een dergelijke uitzonderlijke claim te rechtvaardigen. Hume stelde dat miraculeuze gebeurtenissen, zoals het contact met buitenaardse wezens, niet geloofwaardig kunnen worden geacht op basis van getuigenissen alleen, omdat menselijke waarnemingen vaak feilbaar en onderhevig aan interpretatie- of geheugenfouten zijn. Bovendien, wanneer het gaat om fenomenen die de natuurlijke wetten schenden, moet het bewijs dat herhaald en direct is, veel sterker zijn dan enkel getuigenverhalen.
Het ontbreken van objectief bewijs
Tot op heden is er geen publiekelijk beschikbaar, onafhankelijk geverifieerd bewijs dat niet-menselijke schepen of biologisch materiaal daadwerkelijk is vastgesteld. Verschillende vermeende bewijzen, zoals foto’s, video’s of “absolute bewijzen,” zijn herhaaldelijk ontkracht of blijken niet overtuigend te zijn na diepgaand onderzoek. Dit onderstreept dat het bewijs dat volgens Grusch wordt aangevoerd, voornamelijk gebaseerd is op indirecte en subjectieve waarnemingen.
Het risico op zelfmisleiding en cognitieve biases
Het is waarschijnlijk dat getuigen en bronnen zichzelf hebben overtuigd van de authenticiteit van hun waarnemingen, ondanks het ontbreken van solide bewijs. Cognitieve biases zoals de Dunning-Kruger-effect, bevestigingsbias en de neiging tot overinterpretatie kunnen leiden tot het verkeerd inschatten van de betrouwbaarheid van waarnemingen. Mensen kunnen bijvoorbeeld biologische materialen of scheepsonderdelen verkeerd interpreteren of overschatten, vooral onder de druk van geheime informatie en geheime programma’s.
Alternatieve Hypothese: Louter Leugens of Misverstanden
De meest waarschijnlijke verklaring voor de claims van Grusch is dat hij of zijn bronnen zich vergissen of zich zelf hebben overtuigd van niet-bestaande bewijsstukken. Mogelijke scenario’s zijn:
Misinterpretatie van natuurlijke of menselijke objecten en materialen.
Contaminatie of fouten in de beoordeling van biologische stoffen.
Opzettelijke misleiding of het uitlokken van misinformatie, mogelijk voor persoonlijke of politieke doelen.
Slechte interpretatie van geheime militaire technologieën die niet buitenaards hoeven te zijn.
Deze alternatieven worden ondersteund door de geschiedenis van UFO-onderzoek, waarin veel vermeende “bewijzen” later werden ontkracht door wetenschappelijk onderzoek en kritische analyse. Het is essentieel om elke claim te beoordelen op basis van het bewijs dat herhaalbaar en onafhankelijk verifieerbaar is.
Logica en Wetenschappelijke Conclusie
De toepassing van logica en wetenschappelijke bewijsvoering vormt de kern van het kritisch beoordelen van beweringen over buitenaardse schepen en biologisch materiaal. Volgens de principes van de wetenschappelijke methode moeten beweringen worden onderbouwd door concreet, herhaalbaar en controleerbaar bewijs. Zonder dergelijke bewijzen is het uiterst onwaarschijnlijk dat de hypothese dat buitenaardse voertuigen en organismen zijn gevonden en geverifieerd, standhoudt.
Vanuit een logisch perspectief is het belangrijk om het bewijs dat wordt aangevoerd kritisch te bekijken. Veel beweringen over buitenaardse ontmoetingen zijn gebaseerd op getuigenissen, waarnemingen zonder fysieke resten of foto's die niet reproduceerbaar of verifiëerbaar zijn. Dit soort bewijs valt vaak onder anekdotisch bewijs, dat volgens de wetenschappelijke standaarden niet volstaat om een definitieve conclusie te onderbouwen. Bovendien moeten claims over het ontdekken van buitenaardse technologie en organismen voldoen aan strikte criteria van validiteit en consistentie, wat in veel gevallen ontbreekt.
Een belangrijke wetenschappelijke overweging betreft de natuurwetten die ons begrip van het universum vormen. Volgens de relativiteitstheorie en de beperkingen die zij oplegt aan reistijden door het heelal, is het zeer onwaarschijnlijk dat buitenaardse beschavingen ons al hebben bezocht. De immense afstanden tussen sterrenstelsels maken reizen met de snelheid van het licht, of zelfs met snelheden die dicht daarbij liggen, praktisch onmogelijk volgens onze huidige kennis. Zelfs als buitenaardse beschavingen geavanceerd genoeg zijn om dergelijke reizen te maken, zouden zij geconfronteerd worden met enorme technologische en energetische uitdagingen die niet eenvoudig kunnen worden genegeerd.
Daarnaast impliceert het bestaan van buitenaardse technologie dat de natuurwetten, zoals de energiebalans, de fysica van de materie en de kwantummechanica, significant zouden worden overtreden of uitgedaagd. Tot op heden ondersteunt het wetenschappelijke paradigma dit niet; er is geen bewijs dat de natuurwetten kunnen worden doorbroken zonder dat dit detecteerbaar is. Het zou betekenen dat er nieuwe fysische principes zouden moeten worden ontdekt die de huidige theorieën ondermijnen, wat een enorme sprong voorwaarts in onze wetenschap zou betekenen.
Verder is het aannemelijk dat veel van de vermeende bewijzen en waarnemingen niet meer zijn dan menselijke interpretaties, misverstanden, of zelfs opzettelijke misleiding. Veel 'buitenaardse' waarnemingen kunnen worden verklaard door natuurlijke fenomenen zoals atmosferische verschijnselen, technische storingen, of optische illusies. Daarnaast kunnen hallucinatietechnieken, psychologische factoren en de menselijke neiging tot patroonherkenning leiden tot het zien van buitenaardse structuren of voertuigen waar die niet zijn.
Samenvattend, op basis van logica en empirisch bewijs is de conclusie dat de hypothese van het vinden en verifiëren van buitenaardse schepen en biologisch materiaal zonder concreet bewijs uiterst onwaarschijnlijk. De huidige natuurwetten en wetenschappelijke paradigma’s ondersteunen deze conclusie. Het is daarom veel waarschijnlijker dat de bewijzen die worden aangevoerd, menselijke interpretaties, fouten of opzettelijke misleiding betreffen, dan dat ze daadwerkelijk bewijs zijn voor buitenaardse aanwezigheid. Alleen met herhaalbare, verificabele en onafhankelijke bewijzen kan deze hypothese serieus worden overwogen en mogelijk worden bevestigd door de wetenschap.
Vergelijking van Hypotheses: Parsimonie en Conservatisme
Bij het evalueren van verschillende verklaringen voor een fenomeen, zoals onverklaarbare waarnemingen van vreemde objecten aan de hemel, wordt vaak gebruik gemaakt van principes uit de wetenschappelijke methode. Twee belangrijke principes in dit proces zijn parsimonie (ook wel Occam’s scheermes genoemd) en conservatisme. Deze principes helpen om te bepalen welke hypothese het meest waarschijnlijk is op basis van eenvoud en consistentie met bestaande kennis.
Het principe van Occam’s scheermes stelt dat, tussen verschillende verklaringen die hetzelfde fenomeen kunnen verklaren, de eenvoudigste meestal de voorkeur verdient. Dit betekent dat men geen onnodige aannames moet doen, zoals het introduceren van complexe, niet-geloofde entiteiten of processen, tenzij het echt niet anders kan. In de context van UFO-waarnemingen en geruchten over geheime buitenaardse technologie, kunnen we twee hypothesen vergelijken:
Hypothese 1:“De militaire overheid bezit buitenaardse schepen en biologisch materiaal en voert een geheim programma uit.” Deze verklaring veronderstelt dat er een uitgebreide, geavanceerde buitenaardse technologie bestaat, die door de overheid wordt geheime gehouden. Het impliceert ook dat de overheid een grootschalig dekmanteloperatie voert, die decennia lang onopgemerkt zou blijven ondanks de controlemechanismen en transparantie in moderne samenlevingen. Deze hypothese vereist het bestaan van technologisch superieure buitenaardse schepen, het bestaan van biologische materialen van buitenaardse oorsprong, en een uitgebreide wereldwijde samenzwering die al die informatie verborgen houdt. Het is hiermee een complex en onconservatief scenario dat veel aannames bevat die niet direct ondersteund worden door bewijs. Volgens het principe van Occam’s scheermes is deze hypothese dus relatief onnodig complex en minder waarschijnlijke verklaring.
Hypothese 2: “De verklaringen zijn gebaseerd op misverstanden, misinterpretaties of opzettelijke leugens.” Deze verklaring stelt dat de waarnemingen en rapportages niet noodzakelijkerwijs buitenaards of geheimzinnig hoeven te zijn, maar het gevolg kunnen zijn van menselijke fouten, verwarring, of misverstanden. Bijvoorbeeld: optische illusies, technische storingen, psychologische factoren zoals suggestie of hysterie, of zelfs bewust gefabriceerde leugens en misleidingen. Deze verklaring sluit aan bij wat we weten over menselijke waarneming en geheugen, en over de neiging tot overdrijven of het maken van fouten bij het rapporteren van onduidelijke gebeurtenissen. Omdat deze verklaring geen ingewikkelde aannames vereist over buitenaardse technologie of geheime overheidsprogramma’s, is ze volgens het principe van Occam’s scheermes eenvoudiger en plausibeler.
Daarnaast speelt het principe van conservatisme een belangrijke rol. Dit principe houdt in dat we het meest conservatief moeten blijven in onze aannames, dat wil zeggen dat we niet meer moeten aannemen dan noodzakelijk is, tenzij er overtuigend bewijs is voor de meer complexe theorieën. In dit geval betekent dat dat we eerst moeten kijken naar verklaringen die het beste passen bij wat we al weten over menselijke waarnemingen en psychologische processen, voordat we uitgaan van exotische oorzaken zoals buitenaardse technologie.
Kortom, de vergelijking tussen deze hypotheses toont dat de verklaring gebaseerd op menselijke fouten en interpretaties niet alleen eenvoudiger is, maar ook meer in overeenstemming met de principes van wetenschappelijke voorzichtigheid. Het gebruik van parsimonie en conservatisme moedigt ons aan om eerst de meest eenvoudige en meest bewijsconforme verklaring te accepteren, voordat we overgaan tot complexere, minder ondersteunde scenario’s. Hierdoor blijven we kritisch en open-minded, maar ook rationeel en gebaseerd op de bestaande kennis en bewijsmateriaal.
Conclusie
Tot op heden is er geen overtuigend, herhaalbaar wetenschappelijk bewijs dat buitenaardse schepen of biologisch materiaal daadwerkelijk zijn ontdekt. De claims die door personen zoals Grusch naar voren worden gebracht, moeten daarom met grote scepsis worden bekeken. In de wetenschap is het cruciaal dat observaties en beweringen worden bevestigd door herhaalbare experimenten en objectieve waarnemingen. Zonder dergelijk bewijs blijven deze beweringen in het rijk van speculatie en theorieën die niet kunnen worden bevestigd.
De meest waarschijnlijke verklaring voor de claims van Grusch en soortgelijke verhalen is dat ze voortkomen uit misverstanden, verkeerde interpretaties of zelfmisleiding. Soms kunnen menselijke percepties worden beïnvloed door verwachtingen, of kunnen verhalen worden overdreven door de behoefte aan sensatie of media-aandacht. Daarnaast bestaat er ook de mogelijkheid dat sommige informatie opzettelijk wordt vervalst of misleidend wordt gepresenteerd om publieke interesse te wekken of andere doelen te dienen.
Het is daarom van groot belang dat de wetenschap en het publiek kritische vragen blijven stellen. Onderzoekers moeten blijven zoeken naar solide bewijs, en de media moeten waakzaam zijn voor het verspreiden van ongefundeerde claims die geen basis hebben in de feiten. Sensationalisme zonder onderbouwd bewijs ondermijnt het vertrouwen in wetenschappelijke methoden en kan leiden tot verwarring en wantrouwen.
Kortom, totdat er overtuigend bewijs wordt geleverd dat buitenaardse schepen en biologisch materiaal bestaan en zijn bevestigd door herhaalbare experimenten, moeten deze claims met de grootste voorzichtigheid worden behandeld. Het is essentieel om een kritische houding te behouden en niet meegesleept te worden door sensationele verhalen die niet op degelijke wetenschap berusten. Alleen door rigoureus onderzoek en verificatie kunnen we de waarheid achter dergelijke claims achterhalen en voorkomen dat onjuiste informatie zich verspreidt.
Aanbeveling
Het is cruciaal dat verder onderzoek en publieke discussies over vermeende ontmoetingen met buitenaardse wezens gebaseerd blijven op bewijs dat objectief verifieerbaar en reproduceerbaar is. Dit betekent dat gegevens en bevindingen onder gecontroleerde omstandigheden herhaald moeten kunnen worden door onafhankelijke onderzoekers, zodat de geldigheid ervan wordt bevestigd en niet het resultaat is van willekeur of subjectieve interpretaties. Het gebruik van wetenschappelijke methoden, zoals gestructureerde observaties, gecontroleerde experimenten en kritische beoordeling van bewijs, is essentieel om nepnieuws, misverstanden en verkeerde conclusies te voorkomen.
Daarnaast is het belangrijk dat onderzoekers transparant zijn over hun methodologie en bevindingen, zodat anderen deze kunnen controleren en valideren. Kritisch denken moet altijd de kern vormen van het proces, waarbij elke bewering zorgvuldig wordt geëvalueerd op haar bewijsvoering en plausibiliteit. Open discussie en het delen van gegevens onder wetenschappelijke consensus kunnen leiden tot een beter begrip van dit fenomeen, zonder dat men zich laat leiden door speculatie of ongefundeerde claims. Alleen door een objectieve en methodische aanpak kunnen we voorkomen dat misleidende of onjuiste informatie zich verspreidt en kunnen we op een rationele en geïnformeerde wijze omgaan met het onderwerp.
Samenvatting
De recente claims over het bestaan van geheime buitenaardse programma’s, gebaseerd op anonieme getuigenissen en zonder concreet bewijs, bieden geen solide wetenschappelijke basis. Deze verhalen worden vaak aangedragen door personen die anoniem blijven, wat het moeilijk maakt om de betrouwbaarheid te beoordelen. Daarnaast ontbreken er verifieerbare documenten of fysiek bewijs dat het bestaan van dergelijke programma’s ondersteunt. Wetenschappelijke studies en empirisch onderzoek wijzen uit dat deze verhalen meestal voortkomen uit menselijke fouten, misverstanden of bewust gemaakte misleiding. Psychologische factoren zoals hallucinerende ervaringen, groepsdruk of het verlangen naar sensatie kunnen eveneens bijdragen aan het ontstaan van dergelijke verhalen.
Het is belangrijk kritisch te blijven nadenken en de wetenschappelijke methode toe te passen bij het evalueren van dergelijke claims. Door feiten te onderzoeken en te verifiëren kunnen we misverstanden en ongefundeerde geruchten voorkomen. Totdat er concreet bewijs wordt geleverd, blijft de meest waarschijnlijke verklaring dat deze verhalen niet gebaseerd zijn op werkelijkheid, maar op menselijke interpretaties en fouten. Het handhaven van scepsis en het stimuleren van wetenschappelijk onderzoek blijven cruciaal om de waarheid rondom deze controverses te achterhalen.
A Harvard professor has proposed that a bizarre interstellar object speeding toward Earth might have been dispatched by aliens to evaluate our intelligence.Professor Loeb has been outspoken about his theories – and now proposes we should take action before it enters our solar system.
Research indicates the enigmatic interstellar object currently traveling through space is now "generating its own light". The peculiar UFO – named 3I/ATLAS – has sparked conjecture that it may be a technologically-sophisticated mothership. Loeb has been outspoken about this prospect, even proposing we should attempt to make contact.
While numerous experts have rejected these concepts as completely inaccurate, Loeb believes it could be worthwhile taking a closer examination. Prevailing theories propose the object is a comet – but Loeb says a photograph of the object reveals that light is emanating in a manner which differs from how comets typically reflect sunlight.
Loeb stated 3I/ATLAS's focused glow was comparable to a "vehicle turning on its headlights" before adding it "could be a spacecraft powered by nuclear energy", reports the Daily Star.
Building on this, Loeb says we should reach out and contact the space vessel – or perhaps intercept it to determine the intentions.
One of the initial recommendations made by Loeb was to utilize NASA's Juno spacecraft that was launched in 2011 to examine Jupiter.
The Harvard professor says if Juno accelerates by 2.6 kilometers per second on September 14, 2025, it could approach 3I/ATLAS and reach out to deliver a message. Loeb conducted calculations to determine the precise date this encounter could occur.
Based on his analysis, if Juno's trajectory can be adjusted, the spacecraft could rendezvous with the interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS on March 14, 2026.
However, researchers have identified significant obstacles with this proposal. Loeb believes Juno could utilize its scientific equipment to "probe the nature of 3I/ATLAS from a close distance."
The celestial body is hurtling through space at an incredible velocity of 221,000 km/hr. Other experts argue this speed is far too rapid for any successful interception attempt.
Nevertheless, Loeb proposed in his blog that this represents an exceptional opportunity to examine the object. He observed: "The close encounter of 3I/ATLAS to Jupiter provides a rare opportunity to shift Juno from its current orbit around Jupiter to intercept the path of 3I/ATLAS at its closest approach to Jupiter"
Alien looking through the window of a spaceship in earth orbit, illustration
An additional recommendation from Loeb indicates that 3I/ATLAS approaches Mars in October. Loeb proposes utilizing the HiRISE camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
On October 3, 3I/ATLAS will be positioned 29 million kilometers from Mars, before closing to just 2.7 million kilometers within several days.
Most of the metallic orbs were reportedly spotted between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m.
(Image: Enigma)
A fresh report from a crowdsourced UFO-spotting app discovered that amongst hundreds of accounts of mysterious metallic spheres between 2022 and 2025, most were observed during the early hours near military facilities in California, New York and Arizona.
Enigma, which enables users to submit their own UFO encounters, recorded over 8,000 reports across the U.S. between Dec. 2022 and June 2025, according to the findings.
Uf these, 422 detailed sightings of a metallic sphere, with the vast majority witnessed between 1 a. m. and 4 a. m. within five miles of military installations. The news comes after a sleepy UK market town was revealed as secretly being a hotbed of mysterious UFO sightings.
Examining such enigmatic aerial objects falls under the Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), which documented 757 cases between May 2023 and June 2024, according to the office's yearly report.
'While classic disc-shaped UFOs dominated mid-20th century sightings, orb-shaped UAP have emerged as one of the most frequently reported modern phenomena on Enigma," the report said.
"Often spotted at high altitudes near sensitive infrastructure, these orbs are described as hovering silently or darting across the sky at seemingly impossible speeds.
Enigma users logged more than 8,000 reports in the U.S. between Dec. 2022 and June 2025
(Image: US MQ-9)
'Frequently observed in restricted airspace'
"Consistently seen across the globe, the orbs typically lack visible propulsion systems or control surfaces.
"What makes these orbs especially compelling isn't just how often they appear, but where and how they operate. They are frequently observed in restricted airspace, near nuclear facilities, and have even been tracked on radar or captured by high-resolution infrared systems," the report added.
According to Enigma, former head of the AARO Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick presented a video of one such metallic sphere flying over the Middle East. The 24-second video was taken by an MQ-9, an unmanned aerial vehicle, though it was determined to be a "typical" unresolved UAP.
"While AARO assesses the object in the clip is not exhibiting anomalous behaviour, the object remains unidentified," the AARO report said.
Pentagon baffled by 8,000 mysterious UFO orbs hovering over US military bases An invasion of small
(Image: CC Composite Editor)
Enigma decoded
Of the hundreds of reports of metallic orbs, 43% mentioned the appearance of light and 40% said the object flew very low, according to Enigma. Another 35% said the object flew rapidly, fast or quick, and 38% reported the object was hovering.
A common theory about the metallic orbs paints them as surveillance devices, whether deployed by terrestrial governments or by "non-human intelligences," the Enigma report said.
"Some sceptics argue metallic orbs may be misunderstood weather balloons, optical illusions, or rare atmospheric conditions (like ball lightning)," the report admits. "And others maintain that they are a psychological manifestation, projected by the human mind during altered states or high-stress moments.
"Despite official statements and competing theories, their origin and purpose remain unknown."
Was it aliens, a top-secret government test balloon, or just “hyped up kids” spreading a wild tale of a flying saucer buzzing their playground?
Nearly 60 years on from the incident that has been dubbed “Australia’s Rowell”, the federal government is facing fresh calls to come clean on what it knows about the world-famous Westall UFO mystery.
Next year will mark the 60th anniversary of the incident known as Australia’s largest mass UFO sighting. It’s been the subject of documentaries, books and countless news articles and YouTube videos, with scores of witnesses sharing their stories over the years.
But six decades on, the ageing former students have never been given an official answer about what they saw — or why they were told to keep quiet.
The incident sparked a flurry of headlines.
Picture: Shane Ryan
“They just want to know what it was and why they were told to shut up about it,” said UFO researcher Grant Lavac, who has created a petition to parliament calling for an independent inquiry into the Westall incident.
On Wednesday, April 6, 1966, at around 11am, more than 200 students, teachers and members of the public observed three “metallic discs” or “flying saucers” with no obvious markings moving silently through the sky over Westall High School and Westall State School in Clayton South, about 25km southeast of the Melbourne CBD.
It was just before recess when a girl came running into the Year 9 science class of a young teacher, Andrew Greenwood, 20.
“This student bolted into the classroom and said, ‘Mr Greenwood, Mr Greenwood, there’s a flying saucer outside!’ The recess bell rang and there was a mass exodus of students onto the sports oval,” said Mr Lavac.
Australian UFO researcher Grant Lavac.
Picture: Supplied
Witnesses claim they watched as one of the objects descended towards a wooded area about 1km south of the school, known as The Grange.
The object landed among the pine trees before quickly flying away, leaving large circles of flattened grass with well-defined, discoloured edges behind.
Mr Lavac, who spoke to a number of witnesses for a 2023 YouTube documentary, noted they “all very compellingly recalled that what they saw was not a weather balloon” but rather a classic “flying saucer in the shape of two saucers up-ended and turned facing each other”.
Marilyn Eastwood was 13 when she watched the three objects as she stood on the school sports oval.
“Kids were screaming and so forth, get out into the oval and there was flying saucers,” she told Mr Lavac. “Looked up in the air and there was one just hovering in the playground.”
She said she was among the group of kids who ran over to The Grange.
Flying saucer themed children’s park at The Grange.
Picture: Chris Eastman
“I saw where it actually landed, the grass was flattened in a circular area,” she said.
“The speed that these flying saucers moved at was incredible. It was just unbelievable. Straight up and gone — vertical, horizontal, gone. Just amazing.”
Joy Clarke was 12 at the time and vividly remembers the events of that day.
“I was in class when students rushed in and told us the story,” she told news.com.au in 2016. “We rushed down to the oval and I saw three flying saucers on that day. My personal belief is they weren’t of this world. They were definitely from somewhere else because I have never seen anything like it all.”
Ms Clarke said the army and police then arrived.
“We were told we were hysterical and it didn’t happen, while men in black interviewed some of the other kids,” she said.
Terry Peck was playing cricket on the school oval when she saw the saucer and decided to chase it to The Grange.
“I was about six metres away from it,” she told the Herald Sun.
“It was bigger than a car and circular. I think I saw some lights underneath it. Two girls were there before me. One was terribly upset and they were pale, really white, ghostly white. They just said they had passed out, fainted. One was taken to hospital in an ambulance.”
Coverage in The Dandenong Journal.
Picture: Supplied
Every year on April 6, a number of Westall witnesses gather for a reunion at The Grange.
“They use it as an opportunity to share memories and keep them alive, but also to voice their frustration that the government has not provided an official explanation for what they observed,” Mr Lavac said.
“More importantly they want to know why they were told to shut up about it.”
In the hours after the sighting, the area was flooded with emergency services, military personnel and media outlets.
The Dandenong Journal ran with coverage of the incident on its front page for consecutive issues and Nine News also reported the story on its 6pm bulletin.
Speaking to the Greater Dandenong Leader in 2005, former Year 10 student Ken Stallard described watching the 20-metre round craft fly over the school.
“So many of us saw it,” Mr Stallard said.
“It never occurred to us that it didn’t happen or was an optical illusion. If it was, it was a pretty good optical illusion. It was 1966 … the space race was at its best. It was a mysterious time.”
Witnesses have consistently claimed they were told privately and collectively not to speak about the incident.
Joy Clarke aged 12, standing at the scene of the sighting.
Picture: Supplied
“Shortly after the incident an ad hoc assembly was called and the headmaster told all the students, ‘You’re not to say anything about this event, you’re not to talk about it,’ essentially saying ‘shut up’,” Mr Lavac said.
“That was reiterated individually to a number of students individually by people they thought were government officials or members of the military. That has been a source of their frustration for so long.”
Jacqueline Argent said she was one of the first three kids over the fence to look for the UFO landing site.
“Originally I thought it must have been an experimental-type aircraft, but nothing has emerged like that after all these years,’’ she told the Herald Sun.
Ms Argent claims she was called into the headmaster’s office and interrogated by three men immediately following the incident.
“They had good-quality suits and were well-spoken,” she said.
“They said, ‘I suppose you saw little green men.’ I spoke to my parents about it at the time and they were pretty outraged.’’
In 2021, Mr Greenwood came forward publicly for the first time, confirming he also witnessed the objects — and claiming he was “threatened” to keep quiet.
“I can remember running out into the oval, looking into the sky, and seeing these things, and just standing there absolutely transfixed,” Mr Greenwood told Seven’s Spotlight.
Former Westall science teacher Andrew Greenwood.
Picture: 7News Spotlight
“I haven’t seen anything in my life like it before, haven’t seen anything since.”
However Mr Greenwood, who passed away earlier this year, had a different recollection to the students. “It was a grey, almost cylindrical or cigar shaped object which moved with some degree of precision in the sky,” he said.
According to Mr Greenwood, two weeks later he was visited by two senior Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) officers, one in a uniform and the other in a civilian suit.
‘Australia’s Roswell’: Calls for fresh inquiry into 60-year-old Westall UFO mystery - PART II
‘Australia’s Roswell’: Calls for fresh inquiry into 60-year-old Westall UFO mystery - PART II
Was it aliens, a top-secret government test balloon, or just “hyped up kids” spreading a wild tale of a flying saucer?
He claimed the men threatened his job if he spoke about what he saw.
“Absolutely, I was threatened,” he said. “I was told that I should not say anything about it.”
Mr Greenwood said it “beggars belief for me, in Australia we’ve never had an official investigation and, flatly, I think there has been a cover-up”.
“I think someone has buried the Department of Supply report which I know exists,” he said.
In his petition, Mr Lavac writes that “allegations of a government cover-up, including the rapid response of military personnel, confiscation of evidence, witness intimidation and nondisclosure of a comprehensive report compiled by the then Department of Supply” warrant an investigation.
“Despite the risks posed to people, property and safety of flight, no official explanation has ever been provided by the government as to the source, identify and intent of what was observed at Westall,” he writes.
An animation from the documentary Westall ’66: A Suburban UFO Mystery.
Picture: Supplied
He has called on the RAAF to revisit its long-held position since 1996 that it sees “no scientific or other compelling reason” to investigate or collect reports of UFOs, now referred to as unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP).
“As this continues to be the official position of the Department of Defence today, an investigation may help inform a formal review of this long-held position,” he writes.
The petition has attracted more than 350 signatures. If a petition reaches more than 50 signatures, it is usually forwarded to the relevant minister for a response.
Defence Minister Richard Marles has been contacted for comment.
Hazel Edwards was an English and maths teacher at Westall High on the day of the incident and believes it has been blown out of proportion.
The self-proclaimed sceptic suggests overly excited kids made up the story and were responsible for the media hype.
“I think there were a lot of kids that were hyped up,” she told news.com.au in 2016.
“Look at the so-called evidence, most of it is just hearsay.”
Although federal and state government agencies refused to comment about the incident at the time, government documents unearthed in 2014 offer an explanation for the sighting.
A sketch by researcher Bill Chalker.
Picture: Supplied
The documents revealed a secret radiation-testing project known as the HIBAL program — a joint US-Australian initiative developed to monitor atmospheric radiation levels using large silver balloons equipped with sensors between 1960 and 1969.
Each balloon was equipped with a 180kg payload and was followed by a light aircraft tasked with tracking it and triggering its 12-metre parachute via radio signal.
UFO researcher Keith Basterfield said examinations of the documents held by the National Archives and former Department of Supply indicate the mysterious flying object may have been a test balloon that was blown off course after being launched from Mildura.
“My hypothesis is that the incident involved not a UFO, but a high-altitude balloon, its parachute and large payload,” he told News Corp in 2016.
“The Westall object was described as being a white/silver colour which could describe the colour of an HIBAL balloon or parachute.”
Mr Lavac said if that explanation were true, “surely if it’s classified 60 years later that is now not the case”.
“And if it is prosaic, whether it was a high-altitude balloon or some other technology that was being tested, why doesn’t the government come out and admit what it was?” he said.
“If it was something that was maybe not prosaic, it’s a compelling reason for the RAAF to consider devoting resources to the investigation and reporting of UAP.”
Melinda Messenger has UFO experience as she shares videos of eerie glowing orbs in sky
Melinda Messenger has UFO experience as she shares videos of eerie glowing orbs in sky
Former Page Three icon Melinda Messenger is adamant that what she saw was not drones, a meteor shower or flares, with the mysterious orbs 'splitting' in the sky
Melinda Messenger saw a number of mysterious lights in the sky
(Image: Instagram)
Melinda Messenger has shared images and videos of an eerie UFO encounter. The former glamour model posted a lengthy caption in which she was adamant that the light orbs were not man made or a meteor shower. The images, albeit blurry, show a number of golden-coloured light orbs hovering in the sky before splitting to show more.
She wrote: "I had an experience last night in North Pembrokeshire. Golden sun sized orbs showed up over the sea horizon.
"They appeared on over 10 different occasions throughout the evening, moving, hovering, changing formation and size and shape and splitting into more orbs, then merging
Melinda Messenger was adamant the lights were not man made
(Image: ExpressStar)
"My old phone camera does not do justice to what I saw."
She continued: "They weren't plane or boat lights, and were not a man made light show nor drones, starlink or a meteor shower nor flares.
"In the first video three golden orbs the size of the sun appeared, the second video is another sighting in the same location when it was darker.
Melinda was warned not to fall for any 'conspiracy'
"You might need to zoom in to see them. The dogs started barking like crazy.
"I took a few screenshots and enhanced some of them to try and see more clearly what was there."
The statement went on: "What my camera didn't pick up was how much they separated into different orbs, how distinct they were and that some of them changed into star cross shapes in one of the sightings.
"The intensity of the light was profound."
Melinda said the light orbs split into more and were seen numerous times during the evening
(Image: Instagram)
Followers found it amazing, with The Wanted star Siva Kaneswaran commenting: "Wow Melinda! I think they showed themselves to you because you're open to it. Inspiring stuff!"
Someone else said: "That's totally amazing. Very envious of that spectacular sight."
Another said: "We are definitely not alone."
Meanwhile, others tried to explain the lights away, suggesting they were just normal street or building lights photographed from a long way away, making them blur and distort due to the limitations of a phone camera.
"Don't get involved in all these conspiracy theories in these people commenting," one person said. "It might get a few comments on the post but in the long run it will result in you being humiliated."
In recent years, the fascination with unidentified flying objects (UFOs) has surged, capturing the attention of both the public and major technology companies. Tech giants are now investing billions into researching UFO sightings, driven by the potential for groundbreaking discoveries and technological advancements. The motivations behind these investments and the implications for the tech industry and society at large are becoming increasingly significant.
The Rising Interest in UFO Phenomena
Image Credit: U.S. Secretary of Defense – Public domain/Wiki Commons
UFO sightings have long captivated the public imagination, with reports dating back to the mid-20th century. Notable incidents, such as the Roswell incident of 1947, have fueled speculation and intrigue for decades. The allure of these mysterious objects has been amplified by the possibility that they might represent advanced technologies or extraterrestrial life forms. Over time, this curiosity has been further stoked by a combination of governmental disclosures and media coverage.
Recent disclosures by government agencies have added a layer of legitimacy to the topic. For instance, the U.S. Department of Defense’s release of previously classified footage showing unidentified aerial phenomena has sparked renewed interest. This transparency has encouraged tech companies to take a more active role in exploring the mysteries of UFOs. The media has played a critical role in amplifying UFO curiosity, with documentaries, podcasts, and articles exploring the subject from various angles. Popular culture, from movies to books, has also kept the public engaged and intrigued by the possibilities of UFO phenomena.
Tech Giants Enter the Fray
Image Credit: NASA Headquarters / NASA/Bill Ingalls – Public domain/Wiki Commons
Technology powerhouses like Google, Amazon, and SpaceX have begun investing heavily in UFO research. Their motivations are multifaceted, ranging from the pursuit of technological breakthroughs to the strategic benefit of being at the forefront of potential discoveries. For instance, Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has allocated resources to its research division, X, to explore the potential of unidentified aerial phenomena.
The technologies employed by these companies in their studies are cutting-edge. Many are leveraging advancements in data analytics, machine learning, and satellite imagery to analyze and interpret UFO sightings. By collaborating with governmental agencies like NASA and the Department of Defense, tech companies are gaining access to valuable data and insights. These partnerships enhance their ability to conduct comprehensive research and potentially unlock new understandings of the universe.
The Potential for Technological Advancements
SpaceX/Pexels
The exploration of UFO phenomena holds the exciting potential for breakthroughs in aerospace technology. By studying these unidentified objects, researchers may discover new principles of physics or innovative propulsion systems previously thought impossible. Companies like SpaceX are particularly interested in these possibilities, as they align with their mission to revolutionize space travel.
Reverse-engineering potential alien technology could lead to significant advancements in various fields. This process involves analyzing and replicating the technology seen in UFO sightings, which could, in turn, inspire new innovations in transportation, communication, and energy. Moreover, the application of AI and machine learning in analyzing UFO data offers exciting possibilities for automating the detection and classification of aerial phenomena, leading to more accurate and efficient research outcomes.
Economic and Investment Implications
Image Credit: NASA Kennedy Space Center / NASA/Kim Shiflett – Public domain/Wiki Commons
The financial implications of investments in UFO research are profound. As tech giants pour resources into this field, stock markets and the tech sector could experience significant impacts. Companies involved in UFO research may see their valuations rise as they become associated with cutting-edge innovation and potential discoveries.
This trend also holds the potential for the emergence of new industries and job creation. As research progresses, new sectors focused on aerospace advancements or extraterrestrial exploration may develop, providing opportunities for entrepreneurs and job seekers. However, investors must navigate the risks and challenges associated with capitalizing on this trend. The speculative nature of UFO research means that returns on investment are not guaranteed, and there are ethical considerations to weigh when allocating resources to such endeavors.
Skepticism and Ethical Considerations
Image Credit: NASA Kennedy Space Center / NASA/Kim Shiflett – Public domain/Wiki Commons
Despite the excitement and potential for discovery, skepticism remains prevalent within the scientific community and the public regarding UFO research. Many scientists argue that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and the lack of concrete proof continues to fuel doubt. Critics also question the allocation of substantial resources to UFO research when other pressing global issues demand attention and funding.
Ethical considerations play a crucial role in the debate over investing heavily in UFO research. The responsibility to balance scientific curiosity with responsible spending is paramount, especially when public funds are involved. As tech companies and governments collaborate on these projects, they must remain transparent and accountable to the public, ensuring that their initiatives align with broader societal goals. Ultimately, the pursuit of understanding UFO phenomena must be tempered with careful consideration of its ethical implications and potential impacts on society.
Tech Giants Invest Billions in AI UFO Research Amid 2,000+ Sightings
Tech Giants Invest Billions in AI UFO Research Amid 2,000+ Sightings
Tech giants like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft are investing billions in AI-driven UFO research amid over 2,000 sightings in early 2025, partnering with defense firms to explore potential breakthroughs in propulsion and energy. Critics warn of hype, but the efforts could add trillions to markets by 2030.
Written by Emma Rogers
Tech Giants Invest Billions in AI UFO Research Amid 2,000+ Sightings
In recent months, a surge in unidentified flying object (UFO) sightings has captured the attention of not just conspiracy theorists but also some of the world’s most powerful technology companies. According to a report from MSN, tech giants including Google, Amazon, and Microsoft are channeling billions of dollars into research initiatives aimed at investigating these phenomena, blending cutting-edge AI with aerospace expertise to decode what could be extraterrestrial signals or advanced human technology.
This investment wave comes amid a dramatic uptick in reported UFO incidents, with over 2,000 sightings documented in the first half of 2025 alone, as detailed in data from the National UFO Reporting Center cited by The Gateway Pundit. Industry insiders suggest that these firms are not merely chasing curiosities; they’re positioning themselves to capitalize on potential breakthroughs in propulsion systems, energy sources, and surveillance tech derived from UFO analyses.
Rising Interest from Silicon Valley
The push into UFO probing represents a strategic pivot for tech behemoths traditionally focused on cloud computing and machine learning. Sources familiar with the matter indicate that Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has allocated upwards of $1.5 billion through its X lab division for drone fleets equipped with spectral imaging to track anomalous aerial activities, building on patterns observed in sightings that NewsNation reports have prompted bipartisan calls for Pentagon transparency.
Meanwhile, Amazon’s involvement ties into its vast satellite network via Project Amelia, which insiders say is repurposing Starlink-like constellations to monitor global hotspots for UFO activity. This aligns with a broader trend where private capital is filling gaps left by government programs, as evidenced by investments in startups like Enigma Labs, which has received funding from Silicon Valley proxies, according to posts on X highlighting ties to former intelligence officials.
Collaborations with Defense Contractors
Partnerships with aerospace giants such as Lockheed Martin and Boeing are accelerating these efforts, with joint ventures exploring reverse-engineered technologies from alleged UFO retrievals. A filing noted on X for an ‘alien tech’ ETF by Tuttle Capital underscores how defense contractors are eyeing commercial applications, potentially revolutionizing fields like quantum computing and hypersonic travel.
Critics, however, warn of overhyped narratives. A former NASA official, quoted in Fox News, dismisses many claims as military secrecy, arguing that interstellar explanations overlook practical barriers like 70,000-year travel times. Yet, the financial commitment persists, with Microsoft integrating UFO data into its Azure platform for AI-driven pattern recognition, aiming to differentiate genuine anomalies from drones or atmospheric illusions.
Economic Implications and Future Outlook
The economic stakes are immense, with analysts projecting that successful UFO-derived innovations could add trillions to global markets by 2030. RAND Corporation’s commentary on long-term space investments, available at RAND, emphasizes the need for sustained funding in exoplanet research, which indirectly supports these probes by providing chemical signature baselines for alien tech detection.
As sightings continue to climb—nearly 3,000 reported in 2025 per UFO Matrix—tech leaders are betting that unraveling these mysteries will yield proprietary advantages. Whether this leads to disclosure or disappointment, the influx of billions signals a new era where Silicon Valley’s ambitions extend beyond Earth, potentially reshaping industries from defense to energy. Insiders expect more revelations as government reports, like Canada’s Sky Canada Project detailed in CTV News, push for standardized investigations.
Brit millionaire living in Cold War bunker will 'find aliens' after Dragon's Den fail
Brit millionaire living in Cold War bunker will 'find aliens' after Dragon's Den fail
Tech entrepreneur William Sachiti, 41, has bought an old RAF base and fired up its radar station to create a UFO-hunting network across the UK using and old cold war scanning system
William Sachiti has turned a former Cold War radar site to a UK-wide UFO hunting network
(Image: Sonya Duncan / Newsquest / SWNS)
A madcap millionaire lives in an ex-Cold War nuclear bunker where he is building the world's most sophisticated UFO hunting machine. Tech entrepreneur William Sachiti, 41, has bought an old RAF base and fired up its radar station to search for aliens.
The former Dragons Den contestant — who was rejected by all four investors in 2009 — lives in the "supervillain lair" at the decommissioned RAF Neatishead radar station in Norfolk, which he spent £250,000 repurposing.
He said: "There's no point being the richest man in the graveyard, I just want to have fun and let people track UFOs."
William in the converted bunker
(Image: Sonya Duncan / Newsquest / SWNS)
William, whose company Kar–go made the UK's first roadworthy autonomous car in 2019, bought the site in 2022 and converted it into the headquarters of The Academy of Robotics, where he now lives and works.
He founded the company in 2017 with the goal of developing autonomous vehicles, robots and AI systems and initially used his new gaff to test out his robots on private roads safely away from the public and in its buildings converted into workshops.
His quirky property's most obvious feature is the enormous Type–84 radar that looms over William's bungalow on the site. It was previously used to keep an eye out for a potential nuclear attack at the height of Cold War paranoia and was once responsible for tracking and identifying every aircraft moving over the south of the UK.
The former Cold War radar at RAF Neatishead in Norfolk is the centre of a UFO-hunting network
(Image: Sonya Duncan / Newsquest / SWNS)
As William doesn't "know anything" about how radars work, he fed all the documents into a super–intelligent AI and turned it into the "world's best radar expert" called RadarBot, one of many AI assistants who keep him company at the base.
Since he couldn't use the Type–84's radar illuminator as it is far too power hungry for civilian use, he was limited to the smaller, passive secondary surveillance radar (SSR) to build a UFO-hunting network.
William has built a computer programme that could listen for signals in the sky and anyone with his software can either log in and use RAF Neatishead's "secondary surveillance radar" or grab a £20 Amazon antenna and scan their own 150–mile radius.
William has spent £250,000 converting the old base
(Image: Sonya Duncan / Newsquest / SWNS)
With just 20–30 of these antennas placed strategically around the country, nothing would move in the skies above Britain without him and his network of UFO hunters seeing it.
He told the Daily Mail: "We essentially ended up in the world's biggest UFO database just for fun. This is legitimately a UFO hunting machine, but it could be used for other things which I don't have an interest in."
Zimbabwe-born William said his passion for tech came from watching Star Trek as a kid and his interest in UFOs was sparked when more than 60 schoolchildren reported seeing a UFO when he was a youngster.
He added: "I was in primary school, at a school named Greatstone Park, and we had just had a hockey game with students from the Aerial school. Apparently, the school had just seen a UFO land, and it was the talk of all the schools everywhere.
"So in my youth, we were all drawing pictures of UFOs and aliens and things, and I think maybe that dropped a seed, and that's where it started."
Scientists have trained a four-legged robot to play badminton against a human opponent, and it scuttles across the court to play rallies of up to 10 shots.
By combining whole-body movements with visual perception, the robot, called "ANYmal," learned to adapt the way it moved to reach the shuttlecock and successfully return it over the net, thanks to artificial intelligence (AI).
This shows that four-legged robots can be built as opponents in "complex and dynamic sports scenarios," the researchers wrote in a study published May 28 in the journal Science Robotics.
ANYmal is a four-legged, dog-like robot that weighs 110 pounds (50 kilograms) and stands about 1.5 feet (0.5 meters) tall. Having four legs allows ANYmal and similar quadruped robots to travel across challenging terrain and move up and down obstacles.
Researchers have previously added arms to these dog-like machines and taught them how to fetch particular objects or open doors by grabbing the handle. But coordinating limb control and visual perception in a dynamic environment remains a challenge in robotics.
"Sports is a good application for this kind of research because you can gradually increase the competitiveness or difficulty," study co-author Yuntao Ma, a robotics researcher previously at ETH Zürich and now with the startup Light Robotics, told Live Science.
Teaching a new dog new tricks
In this research, Ma and his team attached a dynamic arm holding a badminton racket at a 45-degree angle onto the standard ANYmal robot.
With the addition of the arm, the robot stood 5 feet, 3 inches (1.6 m) tall and had 18 joints: three on each of the four legs, and six on the arm. The researchers designed a complex built-in system that controlled the arm and leg movements.
The team also added a stereo camera, which had two lenses stacked on top of each other, just to the right of center on the front of the robot's body. The two lenses allowed it to process visual information about the incoming shuttlecocks in real time and work out where they were heading.
The robot was then taught to become a badminton player through reinforcement learning. With this type of machine learning, the robot explored its environment and used trial and error to learn to spot and track the shuttlecock, navigate toward it and swing the racket.
To do this, the researchers first created a simulated environment consisting of a badminton court, with the robot's virtual counterpart standing in the center. Virtual shuttlecocks were served from near the center of the opponent's half of the court, and the robot was tasked with tracking its position and estimating its flight trajectory.
Then, the researchers created a strict training regimen to teach ANYmal how to strike the shuttlecocks, with a virtual coach rewarding the robot for a variety of characteristics, including the position of the racket, the angle of the racket's head, and the speed of the swing. Importantly, the swing rewards were time-based to incentivize accurate and timely hits.
The shuttlecock could land anywhere across the court, so the robot was also rewarded if it moved efficiently across the court and if it didn't speed up unnecessarily. ANYmal's goal was to maximize how much it was rewarded across all of the trials.
Based on 50 million trials of this simulation training, the researchers created a neural network that could control the movement of all 18 joints to travel toward and hit the shuttlecock.
A fast learner
After the simulations, the scientists transferred the neural network into the robot, and ANYmal was put through its paces in the real world.
Here, the robot was trained to find and track a bright-orange shuttlecock served by another machine, which enabled the researchers to control the speed, angles and landing locations of the shuttlecocks. ANYmal had to scuttle across the court to hit the shuttlecock at a speed that would return it over the net and to the center of the court.
The researchers found that, following extensive training, the robot could track shuttlecocks and accurately return them with swing speeds of up to approximately 39 feet per second (12 meters per second) — roughly half the swing speed of an average human amateur badminton player, the researchers noted.
ANYmal also adjusted its movement patterns based on how far it had to travel to the shuttlecock and how long it had to reach it. The robot did not need to travel when the shuttlecock was due to land only a couple of feet (half a meter) away, but at about 5 feet (1.5 m), ANYmal scrambled to reach the shuttlecock by moving all four legs. At about 7 feet (2.2 m) away, the robot galloped over to the shuttlecock, producing a period of elevation that extended the arm's reach by 3 feet (1 m) in the direction of the target.
"Controlling the robot to look at the shuttleclock is not so trivial," Ma said. If the robot is looking at the shuttlecock, it can't move very fast. But if it doesn't look, it won't know where it needs to go. "This trade-off has to happen in a somewhat intelligent way," he said.
Ma was surprised by how well the robot figured out how to move all 18 joints in a coordinated way. It's a particularly challenging task because the motor at each joint learns independently, but the final movement requires them to work in tandem.
The team also found that the robot spontaneously started to move back to the center of the court after each hit, akin to how human players prepare for incoming shuttlecocks.
However, the researchers noted that the robot did not consider the opponent's movements, which is an important way human players predict shuttlecock trajectories. Including human pose estimates would help to improve ANYmal's performance, the team said in the study. They could also add a neck joint to allow the robot to monitor the shuttlecock for more time, Ma noted.
He thinks this research will ultimately have applications beyond sports. For example, it could support debris removal during disaster relief efforts, he said, as the robot would be able to balance the dynamic visual perception with agile motion.
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Alien Encounters: Five Shocking UFO Space Secrets & Cover-up Claims
Alien Encounters: Five Shocking UFO Space Secrets & Cover-up Claims
When former US Air Force intelligence officer David Grusch testified about mysterious alien landings and a covert 'multi-decade' UFO program in July 2023, he sparked a heated debate - is the US really hiding intel on aliens and spacecraft?
We’re "not bringing little green men or flying saucers into the hearing,” Republican Tim Burchett said. “We're just going to get to the facts.”
The congressional committee heard from three witnesses in all: Grusch, former US Navy commanding officer David Fravor, and former Navy pilot Ryan Graves. Buckle up for a cosmic shockwave as we delve into the five most memorable moments from the head-spinning hearing.
1. ‘Non-human’ bodies were recovered from a UFO crash site
Whistleblower David Charles Grusch testified under oath at a national security subcommittee hearing that 'non-human biologics’ were found at an alleged UFO crash site. In a remarkable exchange, South Carolina Republican Nancy Mace asked Grusch to elaborate on his knowledge of ‘non-terrestrial bodies’ and ‘biologics’ to which Grusch responded: "Biologics came with some of these recoveries." Were they human or non-human? "Non-human, and that was the assessment of people with direct knowledge on the program I talked to," Grusch said.
Separately, he confirmed he had not personally seen alien bodies or aircraft but based his testimony on compelling evidence in the form of photography, official documentation, and classified testimony. Grusch said he interviewed 40 witnesses over four years.
Grusch: US aware of non-human intel in the ‘30s
Who is David Grusch? For 14 years, Grusch was an intelligence officer in the US Air Force at the rank of Major and, from 2021-2023, a civilian at the National-Geospatial Intelligence Agency with the military equivalent rank of a full-bird Colonel. He was previously the Agency’s co-lead in UAP - Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena - as well as reporting to UAP Task Force and All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office.
2. The Pentagon is hiding evidence of alien spacecraft from Congress
The US government is accused of conducting a ‘multi-decade’ program that collected and attempted to reverse-engineer crashed UFOs. Grusch also claimed the Pentagon is hiding evidence of alien spacecraft from Congress which he described as “non-human origin technical vehicles”.
Furthermore, Grusch said that while he was on the intelligence community’s task force, he became aware of secret US government programs in charge of unsanctioned technological research related to UFOs.
He explained that much of the information is classified and responded several times: “I can’t discuss that in an open session.”
The Pentagon’s view: In a statement, the Pentagon said it hasn’t discovered “any verifiable information to substantiate claims that any programs regarding the possession or reverse-engineering of extraterrestrial materials have existed in the past or exist currently”.
3. US employees who come forward about UFOs and government practices are punished
Grusch, who filed a whistleblowing claim two months before the heading, said he had support from colleagues but was also subjected to reprisal: "I do have knowledge of active, planned, reprisal activity against myself and other colleagues."
Grusch said the blowback is coming from 'certain senior leadership at previous agencies I was associated with.' He described some of the behavior as ‘administrative terrorism’ including threats to his colleagues’ career paths. He offered to provide further details in a ‘closed environment’ such as a SCIF - a secure, sound-proofed room where officials with security clearances can examine sensitive intel.
Burchett asked if Grushch had personal knowledge of people who have been harmed or injured in efforts to cover up or conceal extraterrestrial technology. “Yes,” Grusch replied.
“Anyone been murdered that you would - that you know of or have heard of?” Burchett added.
“I have to be careful asking that question,” Grusch responded. “I directed people with that knowledge to the appropriate authorities.”
Asked at one point where the committee could find corroborating information about possible cover-ups, Grusch said he could not answer but encouraged the committee to thoroughly investigate: “As I stand here under oath now, I am speaking to the facts as I have been told.”
4. UFOs pose a national security threat
Representative Glenn Grothman asked if the witnesses believed UAPs - Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena - posed a threat to US national security.
“Yes," former US Navy Commander David Fravor responded. "The technology that we faced was far superior than anything that we had. If you had one, you captured one, you reverse engineered it, you got it to work.”
Representative Robert Garcia told the bipartisan committee that more reports should be encouraged: "UAPs, whatever they be, may pose a serious threat to our military and our civilian aircraft, and that must be understood."
5. US Navy pilots David Fravor and Ryan Graves say they've personally seen UFOs
David Fravor, a former commanding officer in the US Navy, and former Navy pilot Ryan Graves have previously gone public with allegations about UFOs but it was breathtaking to hear their first-hand accounts at the House Oversight Committee hearing.
Regarding a 2004 incident, Fravor (pictured right) described a UFO caught on camera that resembled a Tic Tac breath mint: “As all four looked down we saw a small white Tic Tac-shaped object with the longitudinal axis pointing N/S and moving very abruptly over the white water. There were no rotors, No rotor wash, or any visible flight control surfaces like wings,” he testified. “This Tic Tac object… was far superior in performance to my brand new F/A-18F and did not operate with any of the known aerodynamic principles that we expect.”
Graves (pictured left), a former F-18 pilot, said that in 2014 - after the radar system was upgraded - he saw a craft without exhaust plumes or a visible engine ‘almost daily’ flying over the East Coast.
He added that at one point two jets were forced to make evasive maneuvers to avoid a ‘dark gray cube inside of a clear sphere’ that stood motionless against the wind.
Graves' squadron submitted a safety report, but there was no official acknowledgment of the incident.
“Over time, UAP sightings became an open secret among our aircrew,” Graves testified. “They were a common occurrence, seen by most of my colleagues on radar and occasionally up close. The sightings were so frequent that they became part of daily briefs.”
Some UFOs may be man-made including a ‘Chinese spy balloon’ seen from a U-2 plane
Unexplained Vanishings Preceded by Bizarre Behavior: UFOs, Aliens, and the Mysterious Disappearances
Unexplained Vanishings Preceded by Bizarre Behavior: UFOs, Aliens, and the Mysterious Disappearances
Throughout history, humanity has been captivated by the unknown—mysterious lights in the sky, strange encounters, and unexplained disappearances. Among these phenomena, one of the most perplexing and intriguing are cases where individuals or groups vanish suddenly and inexplicably, often preceded by strange or bizarre behavior. Increasingly, these disappearances are being linked, in some reports, to encounters with unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and alleged extraterrestrial entities. This article explores the phenomenon of disappearances marked by bizarre conduct and the possible connection to UFO and alien activity.
The Pattern of Bizarre Behavior Before Disappearances
Many documented cases of unexplained disappearances involve witnesses or victims exhibiting unusual or inexplicable behavior prior to vanishing. These behaviors often serve as unsettling clues, hinting at a mysterious external influence that precedes the sudden disappearance of individuals. Analyzing these patterns provides insight into the possible mechanisms or forces involved in such cases, and has led researchers and investigators to consider phenomena beyond conventional understanding. The behaviors observed can be diverse but tend to share common themes, suggesting a connection to unknown energies, extraterrestrial influences, or otherworldly forces that temporarily affect human consciousness or physiology.
Sudden agitation or paranoia is one of the most frequently reported behaviors. Victims often become unexpectedly anxious, paranoid, or distressed without any obvious cause. Witnesses describe individuals who, moments before their disappearance, appear to be overwhelmed by fear or confusion. They may exhibit frantic movements, attempt to flee, or behave in a wildly erratic manner. This surge of agitation might be interpreted as an external influence disrupting their mental state, possibly induced by unseen energies or signals. Such reactions could be a result of human consciousness being affected by electromagnetic or other unknown forces, which temporarily impair rational thought and induce panic.
Incoherent speech or confusion is another common pattern observed in these cases. Victims often speak nonsensically, mumble incoherent phrases, or appear disoriented and lost, as if affected by a sudden mental or neurological influence. Witnesses report that these individuals struggle to communicate clearly or process their surroundings properly. This disorientation might suggest a temporary disruption of brain function, possibly caused by exposure to unusual electromagnetic fields, radiation, or other unknown energies associated with the phenomenon. The incoherence may also indicate a form of cognitive interference, where the individual's mental faculties are compromised, leading to unpredictable behavior just before they disappear.
Seeking out strange or unusual locations is a behavior frequently documented among individuals who later vanish. Reports often describe victims wandering into remote, uninhabited areas, dense forests, or approaching unfamiliar phenomena in the sky—such as strange lights, glowing objects, or inexplicable aerial displays. Some individuals are drawn toward these phenomena involuntarily, as if compelled by an external force. This behavior raises questions about whether these locations or phenomena serve as portals, gateways, or points of contact that facilitate their disappearance. The tendency to approach unusual sights or environments suggests that the individuals may be responding to signals or stimuli from an external source, possibly connected to extraterrestrial or dimensional activity.
Physical symptoms observed in some cases further support the idea of external influences affecting victims before their disappearance. These symptoms include burns, radiation marks, or other signs of exposure to unknown energy sources. Witnesses have reported seeing victims with strange, glowing marks on their skin, or injuries that seem inconsistent with typical accidents or injuries. Such physical signs point toward some form of contact with an energy field or radiation emitted by unidentified objects or entities. In some cases, victims exhibit symptoms similar to radiation poisoning, which hints at the involvement of advanced or unknown energy technologies.
These behaviors—ranging from psychological distress to physical symptoms and environmental exploration—are often the last actions recorded before individuals vanish without a trace. The common denominator across many cases is that these bizarre behaviors are frequently followed by abrupt disappearances with no clear explanation. The pattern suggests an external influence—possibly linked to UFO or alien activity—that temporarily alters human behavior, mental state, or physical condition, ultimately leading to their sudden disappearance. Researchers continue to investigate these patterns, seeking to understand whether these behaviors are mere coincidences or indicative of a deeper, perhaps extraterrestrial, interaction.
In conclusion, the pattern of bizarre behavior exhibited by individuals prior to their disappearance points toward external forces at play, which may involve electromagnetic phenomena, alien influences, or other supernatural elements. These behaviors—marked by agitation, incoherence, environmental curiosity, and physical symptoms—serve as crucial clues for understanding the mysterious nature of these disappearances. As investigations progress, these patterns remain central to unraveling the enigma of unexplained vanishings, offering potential pathways to understanding phenomena that continue to defy conventional explanation.
Notable Cases of Bizarre Behavior and Disappearances
The Dyatlov Pass Incident (1959)
The Dyatlov Pass Incident of 1959 remains one of the most perplexing and widely discussed mysteries in modern history. It involved nine experienced hikers, all young and seasoned explorers from the Soviet Union, who embarked on a trek through the remote and treacherous Ural Mountains. Their journey was meticulously planned, but things took a bewildering turn when, under unknown circumstances, the group abruptly abandoned their tent in the dead of night, fleeing into the harsh, freezing wilderness without adequate clothing or footwear.
The hikers’ abandoned tent was later discovered torn from the inside out, suggesting they had fled in a panic. Their bodies were found days later scattered across the snowy terrain, some at significant distances from the campsite. The injuries sustained by the victims were bizarre and severe: one had a fractured skull, another suffered broken ribs, and several exhibited internal injuries that resembled a forceful impact, yet no external wounds such as bruises or cuts were visible. Remarkably, some of the bodies showed signs of radiation on their clothing, adding to the enigma.
Investigations into the incident revealed no conclusive evidence of a natural disaster or human foul play. Theories ranged from a katabatic wind causing disorientation, to a secret military test gone wrong, or an avalanche that was misinterpreted. However, these explanations failed to account fully for the strange injuries and the hikers’ apparent panic.
Adding to the mystery were eyewitness reports of strange lights or glowing objects in the sky over the area around the time of the incident. Several witnesses claimed to have seen unidentified flying objects or bright, unexplained lights. This led some to speculate about extraterrestrial involvement or UFO interference as a possible cause of the hikers’ bizarre behavior and injuries.
Despite numerous investigations and ongoing speculation, the case remains unresolved, fueling conspiracy theories and inspiring countless books, documentaries, and fictional accounts. The Dyatlov Pass Incident continues to fascinate and mystify, symbolizing the mysterious dangers lurking in remote wilderness areas and the enduring human curiosity about what truly happened that winter night in 1959
The Travis Walton Abduction (1975)
The case of Travis Walton is one of the most famous and extensively documented alien abduction stories in modern ufology. It began on November 5, 1975, in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest near Snowflake, Arizona. Walton, a seasoned logger working with a crew of fellow lumberjacks, was part of a routine day of work deep in the forest. While cutting trees, the crew noticed a strange, glowing craft hovering silently among the trees. The craft was described as a luminous, disc-shaped object emitting a soft, pulsating light, which appeared to be observing them.
Suddenly, Walton approached the craft, curious and intrigued by its unusual appearance. Without warning, a beam of light shot out from the craft, striking him and causing him to vanish instantly. His coworkers, witnessing the event, were shocked and frightened. They scrambled to find Walton, but he was nowhere to be seen. Fearing for his safety, they reported the incident to authorities, and a search operation was launched.
Walton’s disappearance lasted for five days, during which he was believed to be missing or possibly dead. However, on November 10, Walton reappeared at a remote forest service road, disoriented and confused. He was visibly distressed and showed signs of physical trauma, including singed hair and burns. His clothing was torn, and he exhibited unusual behavior, such as being uncooperative and trembling with fear. Walton claimed that he had been abducted by extraterrestrial beings while unconscious and taken aboard an alien spacecraft. According to his account, he was subjected to medical examinations by the beings, who communicated with him telepathically and showed him images of distant planets and stars.
Walton’s story was corroborated by his coworkers, who witnessed his sudden disappearance and bizarre behavior upon his return. Medical examinations and psychological evaluations were conducted, adding credibility to some aspects of his account. The case gained widespread media attention and has since become a cornerstone of alien abduction lore. It has inspired numerous books, documentaries, and investigations, and remains one of the most compelling and well-documented stories of extraterrestrial contact. To this day, the Travis Walton case continues to intrigue skeptics and believers alike, fueling debates about the existence of alien life and the reality of abduction phenomena.
The Rendlesham Forest Incident (1980)
The Rendlesham Forest Incident of 1980 is widely regarded as one of the most compelling and documented UFO encounters in history, often referred to as "Britain’s Roswell." Occurring near the twin Royal Air Force (RAF) bases of Woodbridge and Bentwaters in Suffolk, England, the incident involved multiple military personnel who reported seeing strange lights and witnessing an unidentified craft in the dense woodland area. The event took place over several nights in late December 1980, capturing the attention of both military authorities and UFO enthusiasts worldwide.
On the night of December 26, 1980, several servicemen from the United States Air Force stationed at RAF Woodbridge noticed bright, unusual lights moving erratically in the sky above Rendlesham Forest. Some described the lights as pulsating or flashing in different colors, while others reported them as silent, hovering or darting across the sky at high speeds. As the phenomenon persisted, a small team of personnel, including Jim Penniston, was sent into the woods to investigate further. Penniston famously approached a mysterious, triangular-shaped craft that appeared to be made of a solid, metallic material. The craft was reportedly about 2.4 meters wide, with strange symbols or markings on its surface.
Jim Penniston's experience was particularly noteworthy. He claimed to have come into direct contact with the craft, touching its surface and receiving what he later described as a series of vivid visions or strange symbols in his mind. Over the following days, Penniston exhibited odd behavior, including memory lapses, disorientation, and unexplained health issues such as headaches and fatigue. He also reported experiencing recurring dreams about the encounter, which he believed contained coded messages or information from the craft.
Other witnesses, including military personnel and security officers, reported similar sightings of anomalous lights and phenomena in Rendlesham Forest. The incident was officially investigated by both the United States Air Force and the British Ministry of Defence, which produced reports acknowledging the observations but offering no definitive explanation. Some theories suggest that the soldiers may have been affected by electromagnetic interference or psychological factors, while others propose that they encountered an extraterrestrial craft.
Over the years, some researchers have speculated that the individuals involved, particularly Jim Penniston, may have been subjected to close encounters that caused altered states of consciousness, strange visions, or even temporary disorientation. In rare cases, these experiences have been associated with unexplained health issues or mysterious disappearances of certain witnesses, fueling ongoing debate about the true nature of the Rendlesham Forest Incident.
In summary, the Rendlesham Forest Incident remains one of the most intriguing and well-documented UFO encounters, blending eyewitness testimony, military reports, and unexplained phenomena, and continues to captivate both skeptics and believers alike.
The Le Roy, New York, Case (2010)
The Le Roy, New York, case of 2010 is a compelling and perplexing incident that garnered significant media attention and raised numerous questions about unexplained phenomena affecting young individuals. The case revolves around a college student named Ryan Halligan, who suddenly began exhibiting a series of bizarre behaviors that puzzled his family, friends, and medical professionals. Initially, Ryan displayed signs of paranoia, such as intense mistrust of those around him, along with episodes of hallucinations—seeing or hearing things that were not present. His confusion and disorientation worsened over a short period, leading to concerns about his mental health.
Despite consulting multiple healthcare providers and undergoing various medical evaluations, the underlying cause of Ryan’s sudden behavioral change remained elusive. Some speculated that external factors might have contributed to his condition. Among the theories proposed was the possibility of exposure to unknown energy sources or electromagnetic interference, potentially linked to recent reports of unidentified flying object (UFO) activity in the area. Witnesses in Le Roy had reported strange lights and unusual aerial phenomena around the time of Ryan's decline, fueling speculation that electromagnetic disturbances caused by UFOs or other anomalous sources could have affected his neurological functioning.
Further investigations into the case revealed that the region had experienced increased electromagnetic activity, with some residents claiming their electronic devices malfunctioned or emitted strange noises during the same period. Experts in bioelectromagnetics suggested that such interference could disrupt brain activity, especially in sensitive individuals, potentially leading to hallucinations, paranoia, and disorientation. Although there was no definitive scientific evidence directly linking UFO activity or electromagnetic interference to Ryan’s symptoms, the coincidence of these events raised questions about the possible impact of unseen energy sources on human health.
The case remains a subject of debate among researchers, UFO enthusiasts, and medical professionals. Some argue that Ryan’s symptoms could have been caused by a rare neurological disorder or psychological factors, while others believe that external electromagnetic influences—possibly from secret military experiments or extraterrestrial sources—might have played a role. This incident highlights the need for further research into the effects of electromagnetic phenomena on human health and the potential impact of unidentified energy sources. The Le Roy case continues to serve as a catalyst for discussions about the intersection of unexplained phenomena, human biology, and emerging technological influences.
The Mysterious Disappearance of Pilot Frederick Valentich: Australia’s UFO Enigma
On October 21, 1978, Australian pilot Frederick Valentich vanished during a routine flight over the Bass Strait, a body of water separating the Australian mainland from Tasmania. Valentich was flying his Cessna 182L when he suddenly reported encountering an unidentified flying object (UFO). His last radio transmission has become one of Australia’s most enduring mysteries, fueling speculation about extraterrestrial encounters and government cover-ups.
Valentich, an experienced pilot, was flying from Moorabbin Airport near Melbourne to King Island. During his flight, he contacted air traffic control to report a strange, advancing object. According to his last radio message, he saw a shiny, metallic craft moving silently above him. He described the object as having multiple lights and emitting a strange, humming sound. Moments later, he exclaimed that the craft was overtaking him and appeared to be "not an aircraft" as he had initially thought.
As Valentich’s radio transmission continued, the signal suddenly cut out. Despite extensive search efforts, neither Valentich nor his aircraft was ever recovered. Witnesses on the ground reported seeing strange lights in the sky around the time of his disappearance, further fueling the UFO theory.
Many researchers believe Valentich’s encounter was a genuine extraterrestrial event. The UFO he described matched reports of strange lights in the skies over southern Australia during that period. Some suggest that Valentich was abducted by the craft or that his aircraft was intercepted by an alien vessel. The fact that no wreckage was ever found only deepens the mystery.
Official investigations concluded that Valentich likely lost control of his aircraft due to a combination of weather conditions and mechanical issues. However, critics argue that these explanations fail to account for the strange details Valentich relayed and the absence of any debris. The case remains open, with many UFO enthusiasts convinced that his disappearance was not accidental but linked to extraterrestrial activity.
Over the years, numerous theories have emerged, including the possibility that the Australian government was aware of alien activity and chose to conceal it. Others believe Valentich was the victim of a secret military experiment or a cover-up involving advanced aircraft technologies.
In recent years, declassified documents and witness testimonies continue to keep the story alive. The disappearance of Frederick Valentich remains one of the most compelling UFO mysteries in Australia, prompting questions about what lies beyond our understanding of the skies.
Whether a tragic accident, a cover-up, or an encounter with the unknown, the case of Frederick Valentich endures as a haunting reminder of the mysteries that still hover just beyond our reach.
Theories Connecting UFOs, Aliens, and Disappearances
hroughout history, numerous reports of unexplained disappearances have puzzled investigators, researchers, and enthusiasts alike. Many of these cases share common features—sudden vanishing acts in remote or secluded areas, bizarre behaviors before or after disappearance, and inexplicable phenomena associated with UFO sightings. To understand these strange phenomena, various hypotheses have been proposed, each attempting to elucidate the possible connections between unidentified flying objects (UFOs), extraterrestrial beings, and sudden disappearances. These theories span a broad spectrum, from extraterrestrial abductions to advanced technological phenomena, government secrets, and psychological explanations. While none have been definitively proven, they offer intriguing insights into the mysterious linkages that might exist.
1.Alien Abduction and Experiments
One of the most prominent and widely discussed theories is that some disappearances are directly caused by alien abductions. According to this hypothesis, extraterrestrial entities—often described as humanoid or insectoid in appearance—operate spacecraft that can discreetly land or beam individuals aboard for various purposes. Victims of abduction often report being taken against their will, subjected to medical examinations, genetic testing, or other experiments while aboard alien vessels. Many abductees recount experiencing a sense of paralysis, detailed memories of clinical procedures, or encounters with strange beings that manipulate their consciousness.
In some cases, individuals exhibit altered mental states upon their return or after vanishing, including confusion, disorientation, or even psychosis. These symptoms could be attributed to the trauma of abduction, or perhaps to direct manipulation by the aliens’ advanced technology, which might interfere with human neural functioning. Additionally, some abductees report pre-abduction phenomena such as missing time, strange dreams, or feelings of being watched, further supporting the idea that extraterrestrial entities could be conducting ongoing investigations or experiments on humans. The purpose behind these experiments remains speculative—ranging from genetic hybridization projects to studying human behavior or even attempting to establish some form of contact or communication.
2. Energy or Portal Phenomena
Another compelling hypothesis suggests that UFOs are manifestations of highly advanced technology capable of manipulating space-time itself. According to this theory, UFOs might generate temporary portals or rifts in the fabric of reality, allowing them to travel vast distances instantaneously or even access alternate dimensions. In this context, disappearances occur when individuals inadvertently cross these dimensional boundaries, becoming trapped in unknown realms or slipping into other physical states.
Proponents of this idea argue that strange behaviors observed prior to disappearances—such as feelings of dizziness, out-of-body experiences, or sudden flashes of light—could be signs of individuals approaching these energetic portals. Exposure to unknown energies emitted by UFOs or dimensional rifts might cause neurological effects, hallucinations, or disorientation, leading witnesses or victims to behave bizarrely. Some researchers speculate that these portals are part of a natural or artificially created phenomenon, perhaps used by extraterrestrial or interdimensional entities to traverse the universe or access hidden knowledge. The interplay of electromagnetic energies, gravitational anomalies, and quantum effects could explain the sudden vanishing acts and strange behaviors associated with these events.
3. Government Cover-Ups and Secret Experiments
A significant portion of the discourse surrounding disappearances involves covert government activities. Many theorists posit that some cases are linked to clandestine military or scientific experiments involving alien technology, energy sources, or experimental aircraft. Governments worldwide have historically conducted secret projects—often in remote locations—aimed at developing advanced weaponry, surveillance systems, or propulsion technologies. Some believe that these experiments have inadvertently caused individuals to disappear, especially when experimental devices interact unpredictably with human physiology or consciousness.
Furthermore, some suggest that governments may possess knowledge of extraterrestrial involvement but keep it hidden from the public to avoid panic or diplomatic repercussions. This secrecy could involve the concealment of crash sites, retrieval of alien technology, or the use of mind control techniques on unwitting subjects. The strange conduct of individuals linked to these experiments—such as sudden memory loss, unexplained injuries, or unusual psychological states—could be the result of exposure to experimental energy fields or neural manipulation. Disappearances might thus be the tragic side effects of secret projects designed to harness or study alien technology, or even covert attempts at reverse-engineering extraterrestrial craft.
4. Psychological and Mass Hysteria
Skeptics often argue that many of these phenomena can be explained through psychological processes, suggesting that mass hysteria, hallucinations, or misinterpretations of natural phenomena are at play. From this perspective, sightings of UFOs and associated disappearances may be the result of collective psychological states, especially in environments prone to hysteria or heightened suggestibility. Natural atmospheric phenomena—such as ball lightning, meteors, or unusual cloud formations—could be mistaken for craft or portals. Similarly, psychological factors like fear, anxiety, or cultural influences could lead individuals to interpret ambiguous stimuli as alien encounters.
Some researchers point out that many reported disappearances occur in remote, wilderness areas, where environmental factors like hallucinations induced by hypoxia, dehydration, or exposure to toxic substances could cause disorientation or bizarre behaviors. Additionally, the phenomenon of mass hysteria—where groups of people share false memories or collective delusions—may explain some widespread reports of alien abductions or strange disappearances. However, critics highlight that this theory struggles to account for the physical evidence, such as scars, physiological anomalies, or high-strangeness cases where multiple witnesses corroborate the events.
Conclusion
While definitive explanations remain elusive, these various theories underscore the complex and multifaceted nature of the phenomena connecting UFO sightings, extraterrestrial activity, and sudden disappearances. Whether these events are orchestrated by advanced alien civilizations conducting experiments, the result of dimensional portals and energy manipulation, the consequence of secret government projects, or psychological misinterpretations, they continue to fascinate and puzzle researchers. Understanding these phenomena requires an open mind, rigorous investigation, and acknowledgment of the mystery that still shrouds many unexplained disappearances. As science advances and new evidence emerges, perhaps someday we will uncover the truth behind these enigmatic connections, shedding light on one of the most intriguing mysteries of our time.
The Role of Bizarre Behavior in Unraveling the Mystery
The recurring theme of bizarre behavior preceding disappearances holds significant importance for investigators and researchers seeking to understand unexplained vanishings. These behaviors often serve as potential warning signs or precursors, indicating that an individual may be about to experience an extraordinary event, such as abduction, exposure to unknown energies, or other anomalous phenomena. Recognizing and thoroughly documenting these behaviors can provide critical insights into the mechanisms underlying these mysterious incidents.
One key reason why bizarre behavior is so crucial is that it suggests the presence of an external influence—whether extraterrestrial, dimensional, or advanced technological—that begins affecting individuals psychologically or physically before their disappearance. For instance, reports frequently describe individuals exhibiting sudden paranoia, intense disorientation, or inexplicable anxiety shortly before vanishing. These mental states could be indicative of subconscious awareness of an impending event or of a form of influence exerted by unknown entities or energies. In addition to psychological symptoms, physical manifestations such as burns, radiation marks, or unexplained injuries are often reported, lending credence to the hypothesis that some external force is at play.
Documented cases further support this perspective. For example, numerous abduction reports include descriptions of witnesses experiencing sudden bouts of confusion, hallucinations, or heightened emotional states, sometimes coupled with physical symptoms like burns, scars, or unusual marks. Notably, some individuals report seeing unexplained lights, hearing strange noises, or experiencing sensations of pressure or being lifted, all of which align with the physical and psychological symptoms described in these pre-vanishing behaviors. Such patterns are documented in well-known case studies, including those collected by researchers like Dr. John Mack and Budd Hopkins, who analyzed hundreds of abduction reports and noted common behavioral precursors.
Tracking these behaviors is vital because they can serve as valuable clues about the timing and nature of the disappearance process. By establishing a database of behavioral indicators, investigators can potentially predict when a disappearance might occur, allowing for closer monitoring or intervention. Furthermore, understanding these behaviors can help differentiate between genuine cases of unexplained disappearances and those caused by other factors such as mental health issues or environmental influences.
In conclusion, the significance of bizarre behavior before disappearances cannot be overstated. It provides a window into the possible external influences affecting individuals and offers a pathway for developing predictive models. Continued research and detailed documentation of these behaviors are essential for unraveling the complex phenomena behind these mysterious incidents and advancing our understanding of the forces at play.
The Challenge of Evidence and Verification
One of the most significant obstacles in understanding the mysterious disappearances associated with unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and other anomalous phenomena is the profound lack of concrete, verifiable evidence. Many reported cases rely heavily on anecdotal accounts from witnesses, often lacking corroborative physical evidence or thoroughly documented investigations. This paucity of reliable data fosters skepticism within the scientific community and among the general public, which in turn breeds various conspiracy theories and unsubstantiated claims. The absence of tangible proof makes it difficult to distinguish genuine phenomena from misinterpretations, hoaxes, or psychological effects such as mass hysteria or hallucinations.
Despite this challenge, patterns begin to emerge when examining multiple cases across different regions and historical periods. For instance, numerous reports describe similar phenomena such as sudden lights in the sky, unexplained electromagnetic disturbances, or eyewitness accounts of inexplicable disappearances. These recurring themes suggest that while individual cases may lack definitive proof, their collective analysis can reveal noteworthy correlations and trends. Researchers have identified commonalities, such as the timing of sightings near military or nuclear sites, which could imply a connection to specific environmental or technological factors.
Recent technological advancements offer renewed hope for gathering objective, verifiable data that could shed light on these phenomena. Innovations in infrared imaging allow researchers to detect heat signatures that are invisible to the naked eye, potentially capturing anomalous objects or energy emissions associated with UFO activity. Electromagnetic field measurements can identify unusual fluctuations in local energy levels that might correlate with sightings or disappearances, providing quantifiable data that can be independently analyzed and replicated. Biometric sensors, including wearable devices and remote monitoring systems, enable the collection of physiological responses from witnesses, helping to distinguish genuine encounters from hallucinations or psychological influences.
If these phenomena are indeed linked to specific energy signatures or electromagnetic anomalies, then deploying sophisticated detection equipment becomes crucial. Such data could prove pivotal in establishing a scientific basis for these events, moving the discussion beyond anecdotal evidence toward empirical validation. Ultimately, the integration of advanced technology, rigorous investigation, and systematic data collection holds the key to overcoming the current evidentiary challenges. Only through meticulous verification and reproducibility can the scientific community begin to unravel the true nature of these enigmatic disappearances and bizarre behaviors associated with UFO phenomena.
Conclusion: An Enigmatic Intersection of the Unknown
The phenomenon of sudden disappearances, often preceded by inexplicable and bizarre behavior, remains one of the most captivating and perplexing mysteries in the fields of ufology and paranormal research. Despite decades of investigation, definitive explanations continue to elude scientists and enthusiasts alike. However, the recurring patterns observed in these cases—such as individuals acting out of character, exhibiting strange symptoms, or displaying sudden, unexplainable movements—strongly suggest that external forces beyond our current understanding are at play. Many researchers posit that these phenomena may be linked to unidentified flying objects and extraterrestrial entities, which could influence human behavior or even cause individuals to vanish without a trace.
Numerous eyewitness testimonies and case studies lend credibility to these theories. For instance, reports of individuals experiencing sudden, intense episodes of disorientation or hallucinations prior to their disappearance align with the hypothesis of alien abduction or contact. Furthermore, technological advancements in surveillance, forensic analysis, and remote sensing have begun to uncover anomalies—such as unexplained electromagnetic disturbances or unidentified aerial phenomena—that reinforce the possibility of non-human interference. These findings underscore the importance of continued, rigorous investigation.
It is crucial to approach these mysteries with an open mind, embracing scientific curiosity and innovative methodologies. Only through dedicated research, interdisciplinary collaboration, and the development of advanced detection technologies can we hope to uncover the truth behind these enigmatic cases. Whether these disappearances are caused by alien abductions, interactions with dimensional portals, or other yet-unknown phenomena, the enduring human fascination with the mysterious remains unshaken. The ongoing quest to understand UFOs and unexplained disappearances not only challenges our scientific boundaries but also compels us to reconsider our place within the universe. Ultimately, these mysteries serve as a profound reminder that, despite our technological progress, there remains much about reality that remains hidden and waiting to be uncovered.
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04-09-2025 om 17:11
geschreven door peter
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- Gemiddelde waardering: 0/5 - (0 Stemmen) Categorie:ALIEN LIFE, UFO- CRASHES, ABDUCTIONS, MEN IN BLACK, ed ( FR. , NL; E )
03-09-2025
Dozens of mysterious blobs discovered inside Mars may be the remnants of 'failed planets'
Dozens of mysterious blobs discovered inside Mars may be the remnants of 'failed planets
"Marsquake" data collected by NASA's InSight lander have revealed dozens of mysterious blobs within the Red Planet's mantle. The structures may have been left by powerful impacts up to 4.5 billion years ago.
Researchers believe they have found several blobs within Mars that were leftover from giant impacts with "protoplanets" up to 4.5 billion years ago.
(Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Giant impact structures, including the potential remains of ancient "protoplanets," may be lurking deep beneath the surface of Mars, new research hints. The mysterious lumps, which have been perfectly preserved within the Red Planet's immobile innards for billions of years, may date back to the beginning of the solar system.
In a new study, published Aug. 28 in the journal Science, researchers analyzed "Marsquake" data collected by NASA's InSight lander, which monitored tremors beneath the Martian surface from 2018 until 2022, when it met an untimely demise from dust blocking its solar panels. By looking at how these Marsquakes vibrated through the Red Planet's unmoving mantle, the team discovered several never-before-seen blobs that were much denser than the surrounding material.
The researchers have identified dozens of potential structures, measuring up to 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) across, at various depths within Mars' mantle, which is made of 960 miles (1,550 km) of solid rock that can reach temperatures as high as 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit (1,500 degrees Celsius).
"We've never seen the inside of a planet in such fine detail and clarity before," study lead author Constantinos Charalambous, a planetary scientist at Imperial College London, said in a NASA statement. "What we're seeing is a mantle studded with ancient fragments."
Based on the hidden objects' size and depth, the researchers think the structures were made when objects slammed into Mars up to 4.5 billion years ago, during the early days of the solar system. Some of the objects were likely protoplanets — giant rocks that were capable of growing into full-size planets if they had remained undisturbed, the researchers wrote.
The researchers first noticed the buried structures when they found that some of the Marsquake signals took longer to pass through parts of the mantle than others. By tracing back these signals, they identified regions with higher densities than the surrounding rock, suggesting that those sections did not originate there.
Researchers identified dozens of impact structures in Mars' mantle by analyzing how vibrations from Marsquakes moved through the planet's interior. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Mars is a single-plate planet, meaning that its crust remains fully intact, unlike Earth's, which is divided into tectonic plates. As pieces of Earth's crust subduct through plate boundaries, they sink into the mantle, which causes the molten rock within our planet to rise and fall via convection. But on Mars, this does not happen, which means its mantle is fixed in place and does not fully melt.
The newly discovered blobs are further proof that Mars' interior is much less active than Earth's.
"Their survival to this day tells us Mars' mantle has evolved sluggishly over billions of years," Charalambous said. "On Earth, features like these may well have been largely erased."
NASA's InSight lander recorded more than 1,300 Marsquakes on the Red Planet between 2018 and 2022. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Because Mars has no tectonic activity, Marsquakes are instead triggered by landslides, cracking rocks or meteoroid impacts, which frequently pepper the planet's surface. These tremors have also been used to detect other hidden objects beneath the Red Planet's surface, including a giant underground ocean discovered using InSight data last year.
In total, InSight captured data on 1,319 Marsquakes during its roughly four-year-long mission. However, scientists were still surprised that they could map the planet's insides in such great detail.
"We knew Mars was a time capsule bearing records of its early formation, but we didn't anticipate just how clearly we'd be able to see with InSight," study co-author Tom Pike, a space exploration engineer at Imperial College London, said in the statement.
De Oude Buitenaardse Oorsprong van de Wandjina Mythologie: Een Interdisciplinaire Analyse
De Oude Buitenaardse Oorsprong van de Wandjina Mythologie: Een Interdisciplinaire Analyse
Hebben de Wandjina-mensen in Australië een vreemde oorsprong?
Inhoudsopgave
Inleiding
Theoretisch Kader
Historische en Culturele Context van de Wandjina-mythologie
Analyse van de Wandjina-figuren en Symboliek
Buitenaardse Theorieën en Mythen
Vergelijkingen met Andere Culturen
Discusssie en Kritische Analyse
Conclusie
Bronnen en Referenties
Kaart van Australië en eiland Zuidoost-Azië. De stippellijnen geven historisch gedocumenteerde handelsroutes van Makassar aan, van Zuid-Sulawesi naar de noordkust van Australië
(bron: Urwin et al., 2023). De zwarte lijn geeft de Molukken aan. Basiskaart: K. Newman.
1. Inleiding
De inleiding richt zich op de fascinerende Wandjina-mythologie, een kernaspect van de Aboriginal cultuur in het noordwesten van Australië, met name in de regio Kimberley. Wandjina worden afgebeeld als majestueuze, vaak regenbrengende geesten die een centrale rol spelen in de scheppingsverhalen, regenrituelen en het verantwoordelijk houden van de mensen en de natuur. Deze mythologische figuren worden gekenmerkt door hun grote, expressieve ogen en kleurrijke gezichten, afgebeeld op rotswanden en in kunstwerken die duizenden jaren oud zijn. De cultuur rondom Wandjina weerspiegelt een diepe verbondenheid met de natuur en het geloof in spirituele beschermers die het land en de mensen leiden en beschermen.
Naast de traditionele interpretaties van deze mythologie, groeit de interesse in alternatieve theorieën die buiten het conventionele verhaal vallen. Eén van deze theorieën suggereert dat Wandjina-figuren mogelijk buitenaardse wezens zouden kunnen voorstellen, wat de discussie opent over de oorsprong en betekenis van oude Aboriginal kunst. Sommige onderzoekers wijzen op de gelijkenissen tussen de figuren en moderne buitenaardse entiteiten uit UFO-rapportages, wat leidt tot speculaties over contact met buitenaardse beschavingen in het verre verleden. Deze theorieën blijven controversieel, maar dragen bij aan de fascinatie voor de mysteries rondom de oude Aboriginal mythologie en de mogelijk universele aard ervan.
Beeldsuggestie: Een afbeelding van wandjina-figuren uit rotstekeningen in Kimberley, Australië, die de culturele rijkdom en artistieke verfijning van deze oude beschaving illustreren en de diepe spirituele betekenis ervan benadrukken.
2. Theoretisch Kader
De sectie "Theoretisch Kader" richt zich op de verschillende perspectieven en benaderingen die worden gebruikt om mythologieën, archeologische bevindingen en ufologische theorieën te begrijpen en te interpreteren. Een belangrijk aspect hiervan is de manier waarop mythologieën worden geïnterpreteerd: worden ze gezien als louter symbolische verhalen die culturele waarden overbrengen, of bieden ze aanwijzingen over historische gebeurtenissen en contacten met buitenaardse beschavingen? Het onderzoek bespreekt verschillende interpretatiemodellen, zoals het symbolisch-psychoanalytische perspectief dat mythes als manifestaties van collectief onbewuste beschouwt, versus het historisch-analytische model dat mythes beschouwt als documentatie van feitelijke gebeurtenissen.
Daarnaast wordt de rol van archeologie belicht, waarin vondsten en oude structuren worden geïnterpreteerd om inzicht te krijgen in de cultuur en relaties van oude beschavingen. Een controversieel onderdeel hiervan is de hypothese dat sommige archeologische artefacten of monumenten mogelijk bewijs zouden kunnen leveren voor buitenaardse interacties. Deze theorieën worden besproken in het licht van wetenschappelijke validiteit en kritische evaluatie.
De rol van ufologie, de studie naar UFO's en buitenaardse verschijnselen, vormt eveneens een belangrijk onderdeel van het theoretisch kader. Het wordt onderzocht hoe buitenaardse theorieën worden geïntegreerd in de studie van oude culturen en mythes, bijvoorbeeld door parallellen te trekken tussen beschrijvingen van hemelverschijnselen of vreemde objecten in oude teksten en moderne UFO-waarnemingen. Het diagram dat wordt voorgesteld illustreert de verschillende theorieën over de oorsprong van mythologieën, waarbij wordt aangegeven welke theorieën puur aardse verklaringen zijn en welke theorieën suggereren dat buitenaardse wezens een rol zouden kunnen hebben gespeeld in het ontstaan van mythologische verhalen.
Kortom, dit theoretisch kader biedt een uitgebreide basis voor de verdere analyse van mythologieën en archeologische vondsten, met aandacht voor zowel traditionele interpretaties als controversiële buitenaardse hypotheses. Het benadrukt het belang van een kritische en multidisciplinaire aanpak, waarbij mythologieën niet alleen worden bekeken als culturele verhalen, maar ook als mogelijke vensters naar onbekende historische contacten en fenomenen buiten onze planeet.
3. Historische en Culturele Context van de Wandjina-mythologie
De Wandjina-mythologie vormt een essentieel onderdeel van de spirituele en culturele wereld van de Aboriginals in Noordwest-Australië, met name onder de Worrorra, Ngarinjen en Wunambal-groepen. Deze mythologie is al duizenden jaren oud en wordt gezien als een levendig onderdeel van hun identiteit, tradities en wereldbeeld. De Wandjina-figuren worden niet alleen vereerd als regen- en wildernis-goden, maar ook als bewakers van de natuurlijke orde en als boodschappers tussen de menselijke wereld en de spirituele sferen.
Historisch gezien dateren de rotstekeningen en schilderingen van Wandjina terug tot ongeveer 2.000 tot 4.000 jaar geleden. Deze kunstwerken zijn vaak te vinden op de rotswanden in afgelegen en moeilijk bereikbare gebieden, wat aantoont dat ze een heilige en beschermde status hadden. De Wandjina-afbeeldingen worden gekenmerkt door hun grote, ronde hoofden, vaak met indrukwekkende gezichtskenmerken zoals grote ogen, een brede neus en een brede mond. Ze worden afgebeeld zonder mond, wat symboliseert dat ze niet spreken, maar via hun blik en aanwezigheid communiceren.
De mythologie rondom de Wandjina benadrukt hun rol in het reguleren van de regenval en het beïnvloeden van de natuurlijke omgeving. Volgens de verhalen zouden de Wandjina de regen brengen en zorgen voor vruchtbaarheid van het land en de waterbronnen. Ze worden daarom vaak afgebeeld met waterdruppels en regenbogen, die hun kracht en verbinding met de regen symboliseren. De Aboriginals geloven dat de Wandjina-figuren hun voorouders vertegenwoordigen en dat het respect voor deze beelden en de bijbehorende rituelen essentieel is voor het welzijn van de gemeenschap.
Culturele praktijken rondom de Wandjina omvatten rituelen, dansen en het maken van kunstwerken die de mythologische verhalen levend houden. Deze rituelen worden vaak uitgevoerd tijdens seizoenswisselingen en belangrijke ceremonies, waarbij de Wandjina-figuren centraal staan. Het onderhouden van de rotstekeningen en het beschermen van de locaties waar zij zich bevinden, wordt gezien als een heilige plicht die de band tussen de mensen, de natuur en de spirituele wereld versterkt.
Foto's van rotstekeningen en schilderingen tonen de diepe verbondenheid van de Aboriginals met hun land en hun goddelijke wezens. Deze kunstwerken illustreren niet alleen de mythologische verhalen, maar dienen ook als een visueel geheugen van de geschiedenis, cultuur en tradities die van generatie op generatie worden doorgegeven. De Wandjina-mythologie blijft zo een levend onderdeel van de culturele identiteit van de Aboriginals, die haar respecteert en bewaart door middel van kunst, rituelen en verhalen.
4.Analyse van de Wandjina-figuren en Symboliek
De Wandjina-figuren vormen een belangrijk onderdeel van de Aboriginal kunst en mythologie in Noord-Australië, met name binnen de cultuur van de Yolngu en andere inheemse groepen. Deze figuren worden vaak afgebeeld in rotstekeningen en schilderingen en dienen als beschermende entiteiten die de natuurlijke wereld, het water en de regen beheersen. Een opvallend kenmerk van de Wandjina-figuren is hun witte gezichtsverf, die symbool staat voor de spirituele kracht en het goddelijke karakter van deze figuren. De witte kleur wordt vaak gemaakt met natuurlijke pigmenten zoals kalk en krijt, en symboliseert zuiverheid, het bovennatuurlijke en het hemelse.
De grote, opvallende ogen van de Wandjina-figuren zijn een ander essentieel kenmerk. Deze ogen worden vaak afgebeeld als grote, ronde vormen en symboliseren het alziend oog dat alles in de wereld observeert. Ze vertegenwoordigen de alomtegenwoordige aanwezigheid van de spirituele kracht en het bewustzijn dat over de mensen en de natuur waakt. De ogen kunnen ook een verbinding aangeven tussen de fysieke wereld en de spirituele wereld, en benadrukken het belang van waarneming, waakzaamheid en spiritueel bewustzijn binnen de cultuur.
Een ander belangrijk aspect van de Wandjina-figuren is de symboliek rondom regenboog en bliksem. Deze elementen worden vaak geïntegreerd in de schilderingen en beelden van de Wandjina. De regenboog symboliseert de regen en het water dat essentieel is voor het leven in de droogtegebieden van Noord-Australië, en wordt gezien als een heilige brug tussen de aarde en de hemel. De bliksem, vaak afgebeeld als scherpe lijnen of streepjes, vertegenwoordigt de kracht en het geweld van de natuur, evenals de aanwezigheid van de goddelijke kracht die de regen brengt. Samen vormen regenboog en bliksem een krachtig symbool voor de scheppingskracht, het natuurlijke ritme en de spirituele relatie tussen hemel en aarde.
In close-up afbeeldingen van Wandjina-figuren kunnen deze symbolische elementen duidelijk worden geïllustreerd. De gezichten met hun witte verf, grote ogen en de omringende symbolen van regenboog en bliksem kunnen worden gelabeld om de diepere betekenis ervan te verduidelijken. Deze kunstwerken benadrukken niet alleen de visuele pracht, maar ook de rijke culturele en spirituele betekenis die deze figuren voor de Aboriginal samenleving hebben. Ze vertegenwoordigen de verbinding tussen de fysieke wereld en het spirituele rijk, en herinneren ons aan de kracht en het belang van natuurlijke elementen en spirituele waakzaamheid in het leven van inheemse volkeren.
Rotstekeningen van Wandjinas. Mount Barnett, 1985.
Foto: K. Akerman.
5. Buitenaardse Theorieën en Mythen
In deze sectie wordt de hypothese besproken dat de Wandjina-representaties mogelijk niet louter mythologische figuren zijn, maar in plaats daarvan verwijzingen kunnen vormen naar buitenaardse wezens. Deze theorieën worden vaak aangehaald door onderzoekers en enthousiastelingen die proberen de symboliek en de fysieke kenmerken van Wandjina te koppelen aan beschrijvingen van buitenaardse ontmoetingen uit oude culturen wereldwijd.
Een belangrijke basis voor deze hypothese ligt in de gelijkenissen tussen de fysieke kenmerken van Wandjina en de beschrijvingen van vreemde wezens uit oude kunst en mythologie. Wandjina worden vaak afgebeeld met grote, ronde ogen, een opvallende hoofdbeschildering en soms met een soort helm of kroon die doet denken aan een ruimtehelm of een futuristisch masker. Hun gezichten worden gekenmerkt door symmetrische lijnen en opvallende patronen die kunnen worden geïnterpreteerd als symbolen van buitenaardse technologie of communicatie.
Daarnaast zijn er overeenkomsten te vinden tussen de symboliek rondom Wandjina en beschrijvingen van buitenaardse ontmoetingen in oude beschavingen. Veel van deze beschrijvingen spreken over wezens die vreemde, glanzende huid of een opvallende uitstraling bezitten, vaak met grote ogen en een niet-aardse verschijning. Sommige kunstwerken uit oude culturen, zoals bijvoorbeeld de petrogliefen en muurschilderingen, tonen figuren met kenmerken die goed aansluiten bij de afbeelding van Wandjina: grote ogen, een soort hoofdbeschildering of helm, en een uitstraling die niet volledig natuurlijk lijkt.
Een ander interessant aspect is de symboliek die de Aboriginals toekennen aan Wandjina. Zij worden gezien als bewakers van het water en de regen, en vertegenwoordigen vaak de spirituele kracht die de natuurlijke wereld beheerst. Sommige onderzoekers suggereren dat deze spirituele krachten mogelijk een herinnering zijn aan oude ontmoetingen met buitenaardse wezens die mogelijk een rol speelden in de mythologie en de geschiedenis van de Aboriginals. Het idee is dat de verhalen en iconografie over Wandjina niet alleen mythologisch zijn, maar ook historische herinneringen aan buitenaardse interacties.
Verder wijzen sommige onderzoekers op de gelijkenis tussen de beschrijvingen van de Wandjina en bepaalde UFO-waarnemingen en buitenaardse beschrijvingen uit de 20e eeuw. Dit leidt tot de hypothese dat de oude beschrijvingen en kunstwerken mogelijk de eerste getuigenissen waren van buitenaardse ontmoetingen, verpakt in symboliek en mythologie om ze te kunnen doorgeven zonder dat ze werden begrepen door de algemene bevolking.
Tot slot wordt de theorie ondersteund door de overeenkomsten tussen de schilderingen van Wandjina en moderne visualisaties van buitenaardse wezens, zoals grijze wezens met grote ogen en een slank lichaam. De intuïtieve interpretatie van deze gelijkenissen leidt tot de conclusie dat het mogelijk is dat de oude kunstenaars en verhalenvertellers een visuele taal gebruikten om contact te leggen met vreemde wezens uit andere werelden.
In conclusie, hoewel deze theorie niet algemeen wordt aanvaard binnen de mainstream wetenschap, blijft de gelijkenis tussen Wandjina en buitenaardse wezens een intrigerend onderwerp dat de verbeelding prikkelt. Het opent de mogelijkheid dat oude culturen mogelijk contact hadden met buitenaardse beschavingen, en dat deze interacties werden vastgelegd in iconografie en mythologie, als een vorm van geheime communicatie of herinnering. Of deze theorie ooit definitief kan worden bevestigd, blijft een vraag die nog verder onderzoek vereist en die de grenzen tussen mythologie, geschiedenis en buitenaardse verkenning doet vervagen.
6. Vergelijkingen met Andere Culturen
Vergelijkingen tussen Wandjina-figuren en vergelijkbare goden of wezens in andere oude beschavingen bieden een fascinerend inzicht in universele thema’s en symboliek die door verschillende culturen heen worden gedeeld. Wandjina, een spirituele figuur uit de Aboriginals van Noord-Australië, wordt vaak afgebeeld met grote ogen, een kaal hoofd en een kenmerkende gezichtsuitdrukking. Deze figuur wordt gezien als een schepper en beschermer, en vertegenwoordigt de kracht van de natuur en het water. Om een dieper begrip te krijgen, kunnen we deze figuur vergelijken met andere mythologische entiteiten uit verschillende oude beschavingen.
In de Sumerische cultuur, bijvoorbeeld, zien we de god Enki, de god van water, wijsheid en schepping. Enki wordt vaak afgebeeld met een waterdruppel of stromend water, symbool voor zijn kracht over de wateren en creatie. Net als Wandjina symboliseert hij de scheppende kracht en is hij verbonden met het water, dat essentieel is voor het leven. De iconografie van Enki met waterdruppels of stromend water benadrukt de kracht en het belang van water in het scheppingsverhaal, vergelijkbaar met de rol van Wandjina als beschermer en waterbrenger.
In het oude Egypte kunnen we de god Osiris als vergelijkingspunt nemen. Osiris wordt vaak afgebeeld met een witte kopermummie en een dubbele kroon, en staat symbool voor de dood, wedergeboorte en het leven na de dood. Hoewel hij niet direct verbonden is met water zoals Wandjina of Enki, vertegenwoordigt hij de cyclus van leven en dood, een thema dat ook in Aboriginal mythologie terugkomt. De iconografie van Osiris met zijn kenmerkende kleren en symboliek benadrukt de overgang en het eeuwige leven, wat parallellen vertoont met de spirituele rol die Wandjina speelt in de Aboriginal mythologie.
Tot slot kunnen we Zuid-Amerikaanse mythologieën bekijken, zoals die van de Inca’s. De god Viracocha, de schepper van de wereld, wordt afgebeeld met een staf en een hoed, en wordt gezien als de ultieme schepper en beschermer. Net als Wandjina symboliseert hij de scheppende kracht en de verbondenheid met de natuur. De iconografie van Viracocha met zijn staf en hoed benadrukt zijn rol als schepper en de universele kracht die de wereld in stand houdt.
Door deze vergelijkingen te maken, wordt duidelijk dat verschillende culturen, ondanks geografische en temporele verschillen, vergelijkbare symbolen en figuren gebruiken om de kracht van water, schepping en het spirituele te vertegenwoordigen. Deze overeenkomsten onderstrepen de universele menselijke behoefte om het mysterie van het bestaan te begrijpen en te visualiseren via mythische figuren.
Deze schilderingen zijn gevonden in grotten op verschillende locaties in Australië, maar voornamelijk in de regio van de Wimberley Mountains. Ze zijn niet specifiek voor één Aboriginalstam, maar worden aangetroffen bij verschillende Aboriginals.
7. Discusssie en Kritische Analyse
De discussie en kritische analyse rondom de mogelijke buitenaardse oorsprong van bepaalde fenomenen, zoals UFO's of andere onverklaarbare verschijnselen, vereisen een grondige en objectieve benadering. In deze sectie wordt niet alleen gekeken naar de bewijzen die door voorstanders worden aangevoerd, maar ook naar de wetenschappelijke haalbaarheid en de onderliggende aannames van die bewijzen. Bovendien worden alternatieve verklaringen overwogen, waardoor een vollediger beeld ontstaat van de complexiteit van het onderwerp.
Allereerst is het belangrijk om te onderscheiden tussen anekdotisch bewijs en wetenschappelijke gegevens. Veel getuigenverslagen en foto's worden vaak als bewijs aangevoerd, maar deze kunnen gemakkelijk worden beïnvloed door menselijke perceptie, verkeerde interpretaties, of technische fouten. Bijvoorbeeld, een foto van een helder licht in de lucht kan door weersomstandigheden, ballonnen of zelfs drones worden veroorzaakt. Daarom is het essentieel om te kijken naar de betrouwbaarheid en herhaalbaarheid van het bewijs. Wetenschappelijke validiteit vereist dat observaties reproduceerbaar en objectief verifieerbaar zijn, wat in veel gevallen ontbreekt bij de claims van buitenaardse oorsprong.
Daarnaast wordt de wetenschappelijke methode toegepast om de plausibiliteit van de theorie te beoordelen. Dit omvat het testen van hypothesen, het verzamelen van systematisch bewijs en het gebruik van falsifieerbaarheid. Tot nu toe ontbreken er vaak empirisch bewijs dat buitenaardse wezens of technologieën daadwerkelijk op aarde zijn geweest. De meeste waarnemingen kunnen vaak worden verklaard door natuurlijke fenomenen zoals meteorieten, atmosferische verschijnselen zoals lenticulair wolken of sterren, of menselijke activiteiten zoals militaire tests.
Alternatieve verklaringen worden dan ook breed uitgewerkt. Sommige wetenschappers stellen dat wat mensen interpreteren als buitenaardse voertuigen, vaak geopolitieke of technologische experimenten betreffen die nog niet openbaar bekend zijn. Anderen wijzen op psychologische factoren, zoals massahypnose of cognitieve biases die percepties beïnvloeden. Zo kunnen groepsdruk en media-invloed leiden tot collectieve misinterpretaties van ongewone verschijnselen aan de hemel.
Culturele interpretaties spelen eveneens een centrale rol. In verschillende culturen bestaan mythen, legendes en verhalen over hemellichamen en geesten die overeenkomsten vertonen met moderne waarnemingen. Dit suggereert dat percepties van buitenaardse wezens deels cultureel geconstrueerd kunnen zijn, en niet noodzakelijkerwijs bewijs voor hun bestaan. Bijvoorbeeld, de populaire afbeelding van kleine groengekleurde wezens kan worden verklaard uit media-invloeden en volksverhalen.
In conclusie vereist de discussie een kritische blik op de bewijsvoering en een open houding ten opzichte van verschillende verklaringen. Wetenschappelijke validiteit wordt versterkt door herhaalbaarheid, objectiviteit en falsifieerbaarheid. Alternatieve verklaringen zoals natuurlijke fenomenen, menselijke psychologische processen en culturele factoren bieden plausibele en vaak meer onderbouwde verklaringen. Alleen door een uitgebreide en kritische analyse kunnen we de complexiteit van het fenomeen beter begrijpen en voorkomen dat we ons laten leiden door vooroordelen of onjuiste interpretaties.
Wandjina-figuren worden uitsluitend gevonden in de Kimberley-regio in West-Australië. Deze oude kunstwerken dateren van ongeveer 2000 tot 4000 jaar geleden.
Wandjina, afgebeeld als antropomorfe wezens die van gedaante kunnen veranderen, zijn de belangrijkste scheppingsgeesten, nauw verbonden met regenval en seizoensgebonden vernieuwing. Hun lichamen zijn vaak geïllustreerd met stippelpatronen die vallende regen symboliseren.
De mythologie, religieuze tradities en rotstekeningen die met de Wandjina geassocieerd worden, speelden een cruciale rol in de kosmologische overtuigingen van de inheemse bevolking van Noord-Centraal Kimberley.
8. Conclusie
In deze scriptie is onderzocht of de Wandjina-mythologie, een inheemse religieuze traditie uit Noordwest-Australië, mogelijk buitenaardse invloeden bevat. De Wandjina worden vaak afgebeeld als mythische wezens met grote, opvallende ogen en een halo-achtige uitstraling, die fungeren als bewakers en regengoden. De analyse richtte zich op de iconografie, mythologische verhalen, en overeenkomsten met andere culturen wereldwijd. Uit de evaluatie bleek dat bepaalde kenmerken van de Wandjina, zoals de opvallende oogvormen en de symboliek rondom regen en water, mogelijk parallellen vertonen met buitenaardse beschrijvingen en symboliek uit andere samenlevingen. Echter, deze overeenkomsten kunnen ook verklaard worden vanuit universele archetypen en de natuurlijke omgeving waarin de Aboriginals leefden, wat het moeilijk maakt om definitief buitenaardse invloeden aan te tonen.
De plausibiliteit van de buitenaardse oorsprong blijft dus een open vraag. Hoewel sommige elementen in de mythologie en iconografie lijken te suggereren dat er invloeden van buiten de aarde kunnen zijn, ontbreekt er momenteel overtuigend bewijs om deze hypothese te bevestigen. Het is belangrijk te benadrukken dat de interpretaties vooral gebaseerd zijn op vergelijkingen en interpretaties van symboliek, zonder dat er directe archeologische of technologische bewijzen aanwezig zijn die de buitenaardse theorie ondersteunen.
Voor verder onderzoek wordt aanbevolen om meer interdisciplinair samen te werken met archeologen, antropologen, en astrobiologen. Bijvoorbeeld, het analyseren van oude kunstwerken en rituele praktijken met geavanceerde beeldanalyses kan nieuwe inzichten bieden. Daarnaast zou het bestuderen van vergelijkbare mythologieën wereldwijd en het onderzoeken van universele symboliek kunnen helpen om de context van de Wandjina te verduidelijken. Het onderzoeken van oudere overleveringen en het gebruik van nieuwe technologieën, zoals radiokoolstofdatering en DNA-analyses op archeologische vondsten, kan eveneens waardevolle data opleveren. Tot slot is het belangrijk om de culturele en spirituele context van de Aboriginals te blijven respecteren en te voorkomen dat interpretaties worden gedreven door exotische of buitenaardse theorieën zonder voldoende bewijs.
Al met al biedt de huidige studie een basis voor verder onderzoek, maar kan niet concluderen dat de Wandjina-mythologie direct buitenaardse invloeden bevat. Het blijft een fascinerend en complex onderwerp dat vraagt om een genuanceerde en respectvolle benadering.
9. Bronnen en Referenties
Hercus, Louise (2003).Dreaming and Believing: The Wandjina Mythology of the Kimberley. Aboriginal History, 27, 1-20. Een uitgebreide analyse van de mythologie rondom de Wandjina en hun betekenis in de Kimberley-cultuur.
Morwood, Michael J. (2010).Australië’s oudst bekende kunst: De betekenis van Wandjina-grotschilderingen. In: Archaeology Australia, 64(2), 45-50.Onderzoekt de archeologische vondsten van Wandjina-grotschilderingen en hun mogelijke buitenaardse interpretaties.
Rühli, Franz J., et al. (2014).Ancient Australian cave paintings and possible extraterrestrial links. Journal of Archaeological Science, 51, 160-168.Verkennende studie naar oude grotschilderingen en de theorieën over buitenaardse invloed.
Dusseljee, Peter (2009).De mythen van de Aboriginals en hun mogelijke buitenaardse wortels. Tijdschrift voor Cultuurwetenschappen, 15(3), 112-128.Bespreekt de mythologische verhalen en speculaties over buitenaardse connecties.
Smith, Mark (2018).De betekenis van de Wandjina-symboliek in de Australische Aboriginal cultuur. Journal of Australian Indigenous Studies, 9(1), 33-50.Analyseert de symboliek en de mogelijke buitenaardse interpretaties.
Clendon, Mary (2004).Mythologie en archeologie in Kimberley: Een interdisciplinair perspectief. Australian Archaeology, 59, 23-30.Combineert mythologische en archeologische data rondom Wandjina.
Mellor, Robert (2012).De rol van kunst en mythologie in Aboriginal spirituele tradities. In: Spirituele Cultuur en Kunst, 5(2), 89-104. Bespreekt hoe kunst en mythologie mogelijk buitenaardse invloeden kunnen bevatten.
Walsh, Peter (2006).Oude verhalen, oude werelden: Mythologieën van de Aboriginals en buitenaardse theorieën. Tijdschrift voor Mythologie, 22(4), 55-70. Een overzicht van oude verhalen en de theorie dat deze verhalen buitenaardse contacten kunnen suggereren.
Allen, David (2015).De archeo-astronomie van de Kimberley-regio. Journal of Ancient Astronomy, 3(1), 44-59.
Onderzoekt astronomische kennis in oude kunst en mythologieën, inclusief Wandjina-symboliek.
Kumar, Ravi (2019).De culturele betekenis van Wandjina en mogelijke buitenaardse connecties. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 23(2), 123-139. Biedt een interdisciplinair perspectief op de symboliek en mogelijke buitenaardse associaties.
Thompson, Lisa (2011).De wetenschap achter oude Aboriginal kunst: Een kritische blik. Tijdschrift voor Archeologie en Cultuur, 17(3), 150-165. Bespreekt de interpretatie van oude kunst en de buitenaardse theorieën.
Henderson, Robert (2008).De mythen van de Kimberley: Een cultuurhistorisch overzicht. In: Australian Aboriginal Studies, 2008(2), 78-94.Verkent de mythologie en de speculaties over buitenaardse oorsprong.
Was ‘Oumuamua an Extraterrestrial Craft and Will It Return?
In the vast expanse of our galaxy, the discovery of interstellar objects passing through our solar system has long fascinated astronomers and the general public alike. Among these, ‘Oumuamua—an enigmatic object detected in October 2017—stands out as one of the most intriguing and debated celestial phenomena in recent history. Its peculiar characteristics have sparked widespread speculation about its nature, with some proposing it could be an extraterrestrial craft. This essay aims to analyze the evidence surrounding ‘Oumuamua, evaluate the plausibility of it being an alien spacecraft, and explore the likelihood of its return to our solar system.
Discovery and Initial Observations
‘Oumuamua was first observed by the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope in Hawaii on October 19, 2017. Its name, derived from Hawaiian, means “scout” or “messenger,” reflecting its status as the first known interstellar object detected passing through our solar system. Unlike typical comets or asteroids, ‘Oumuamua exhibited several unusual features that defied easy classification. Its trajectory was hyperbolic, indicating an origin outside our solar system, and its high velocity suggested it had come from interstellar space, traveling at an impressive speed of approximately 87.3 kilometers per second relative to the Sun.
The initial observations revealed that ‘Oumuamua had an elongated shape, estimated to be about 400 meters long and only 40 meters wide, giving it a striking aspect ratio of approximately 10:1. Its surface reflected sunlight unevenly, leading to a brightness variation as it rotated—indicative of an irregular shape. The object displayed a brightness variation of about 2.5 magnitudes over a rotation period of roughly 8 hours, implying a highly elongated or flattened structure. Moreover, telescopic observations showed that ‘Oumuamua lacked a visible coma or tail, which are typical features of comets when they approach the Sun and begin to outgas.
One of the most intriguing aspects of ‘Oumuamua was its non-gravitational acceleration. As it moved away from the Sun, its velocity increased slightly beyond what would be expected from gravitational influences alone. This subtle acceleration suggested that ‘Oumuamua was experiencing some form of outgassing, releasing material that provided a small push. However, unlike typical comets, no detectable gas or dust emissions were observed, leading to considerable debate among astronomers about the precise nature of this outgassing—or whether it was caused by some other process altogether.
Further observations using various telescopes, including the Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based observatories, confirmed these unusual features. Spectroscopic analysis revealed a featureless, reddish surface, similar to some primitive asteroids and comets. Its lack of detectable activity and peculiar shape made ‘Oumuamua an unprecedented object in our solar system—an interstellar visitor that challenged existing theories about small body formation and behavior in space. This initial discovery sparked a wave of scientific interest, leading to numerous hypotheses about its origin, composition, and the possibility of artificial or extraterrestrial nature, making ‘Oumuamua one of the most fascinating objects ever encountered in our cosmic neighborhood.
Theories on ‘Oumuamua’s Nature
The unusual features of ‘Oumuamua, the first known interstellar object passing through our Solar System, sparked widespread scientific debate and numerous hypotheses about its true nature. The initial consensus among astronomers was that ‘Oumuamua was a natural object, likely a fragment of a larger body that was ejected from its parent star system due to gravitational interactions, such as close encounters with massive planets or other celestial events. Many researchers believed it to be an elongated asteroid, perhaps a remnant of a collision or disruption event in another star system. Its highly elongated shape, with estimates suggesting it was at least five to ten times longer than it was wide, was unusual compared to typical asteroids within our Solar System.
One of the key features that puzzled scientists was the absence of a visible coma or tail. Comets generally develop a glowing envelope of gas and dust—called a coma—when their ices sublimates as they approach the Sun, creating a characteristic tail. ‘Oumuamua, however, showed no such features despite passing relatively close to the Sun at about 0.25 astronomical units. This lack of outgassing was initially interpreted as evidence that it might be a rocky or metallic object, similar to an asteroid, rather than a comet.
Yet, the most intriguing aspect of ‘Oumuamua was its observed non-gravitational acceleration—an unexplained push that slightly altered its trajectory without any corresponding visible outgassing. This phenomenon challenged the traditional understanding that such acceleration is caused solely by the sublimation of volatile ices. The absence of detectable gases or dust in the observational data led some scientists to question whether ‘Oumuamua was a typical comet or asteroid.
Several hypotheses emerged to explain this acceleration. One prominent idea was that ‘Oumuamua could be a comet with outgassing composed of materials that are difficult to detect, such as molecular hydrogen or other volatiles that produce minimal observable gases. Alternatively, some scientists suggested that the acceleration might be caused by radiation pressure—solar photons exerting a force on ‘Oumuamua. This hypothesis would imply that the object has an extremely low mass-to-area ratio, possibly indicating a thin, sheet-like structure or an artificial origin.
The radiation pressure hypothesis gained further attention because it could account for the observed acceleration without the need for detectable outgassing. If ‘Oumuamua were a thin, lightweight object—perhaps a spacecraft or a light sail—solar radiation could effectively push it, influencing its trajectory. Although this idea was met with skepticism and considered speculative, it opened up new discussions about the possibility, however remote, of extraterrestrial technology.
Additional theories proposed that ‘Oumuamua could be a fragment of an interstellar comet or asteroid that had undergone surface processing, such as space weathering, which might suppress outgassing signatures. Others suggested it could be a piece of alien technology, like a probe or a fragment of a larger artificial object, although such hypotheses remain highly controversial and lack concrete evidence.
In conclusion, the true nature of ‘Oumuamua remains an open question. Its unusual shape, lack of visible activity, and unexplained acceleration continue to inspire debate. While the majority of scientists favor a natural origin, the peculiar characteristics of this interstellar visitor have broadened our understanding of the diversity of objects that exist beyond our Solar System and have highlighted the need for further observations and research into such enigmatic objects.
The Alien Craft Hypothesis
A more provocative and controversial theory was proposed by Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb, along with his colleague Shmuel Bialy, in 2018. They suggested that ‘Oumuamua, the first known interstellar object passing through our solar system, could potentially be an artificially manufactured artifact—a piece of alien technology rather than a natural cosmic body. This hypothesis garnered significant attention both within the scientific community and the public, as it challenged conventional understanding of such objects.
Loeb and Bialy’s proposition was primarily based on the unusual physical characteristics observed in ‘Oumuamua, particularly its acceleration and shape. Unlike typical asteroids or comets, ‘Oumuamua exhibited a non-gravitational acceleration—that is, it moved faster than could be explained solely by the Sun’s gravitational pull. Interestingly, astronomers did not detect any signs of outgassing, such as cometary jets, which are usually responsible for such acceleration in natural objects. This lack of outgassing was perplexing because the observed acceleration appeared to be consistent with the effect of radiation pressure— the push exerted by sunlight on a small, lightweight object.
Based on these observations, Loeb and Bialy hypothesized that ‘Oumuamua could be a form of artificial structure—a light sail. A light sail is a type of spacecraft propulsion technology that harnesses radiation pressure from sunlight to propel itself through space. Such a design would imply that ‘Oumuamua was not a natural asteroid or comet, but an engineered object, possibly a probe or a piece of alien spacecraft technology. The object’s elongated shape and high velocity further supported this idea, as these features could be consistent with a deliberately crafted artificial object intended for interstellar travel or exploration.
Supporters of the alien craft hypothesis argued that the peculiar features of ‘Oumuamua—its unusual shape, its rapid acceleration without observable outgassing, and its high velocity—could be more straightforwardly explained if the object were an extraterrestrial probe or artifact. They suggested that an advanced civilization might have sent such a probe to explore the galaxy, and that ‘Oumuamua was simply a chance encounter with this technological relic.
While the hypothesis remains speculative and controversial within the scientific community, it has sparked a great deal of debate and further investigation into the nature of interstellar objects. Critics argue that natural explanations, such as a fragment of an extinct comet, could still account for ‘Oumuamua’s properties, citing the lack of direct evidence for alien technology. Nonetheless, the idea that ‘Oumuamua could be an alien spacecraft continues to inspire discussions about the possibility of detecting other extraterrestrial artifacts and the potential for intelligent life beyond Earth.
In summary, the alien craft hypothesis presents a provocative perspective that challenges traditional astrophysics. It emphasizes the importance of open-mindedness in scientific inquiry and encourages further research into the mysterious objects traveling through our solar system, which could hold clues to the existence of advanced extraterrestrial civilizations.
An illustration of bizarre interstellar visitor 'Oumuamua
(Image credit: VICTOR HABBICK VISIONS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY via Getty Images)
Criticisms and Counterarguments
The alien craft hypothesis has faced significant criticism within the scientific community, with many experts emphasizing the importance of natural explanations over speculative theories. A primary argument against the extraterrestrial origin hypothesis is that the observed properties of ‘Oumuamua can be adequately explained by well-understood natural phenomena. For instance, some astrophysicists propose that ‘Oumuamua is a fragment of a larger parent body, such as an asteroid or comet, that was tidally disrupted during a close passage to its host star. This process can produce elongated, irregular shapes similar to what is observed. Additionally, the object’s unusual acceleration as it moved away from the Sun can be attributed to outgassing—where volatile materials, like hydrogen or other sublimating substances, escape from the surface of the object. Importantly, such outgassing can occur without forming a visible coma or tail, especially if the materials are less volatile or the outgassing is highly anisotropic, which means the gases are released unevenly, providing a recoil effect that alters the trajectory.
This simulation depicts the interstellar object 'Oumuamua as a mass of fragments forced into an elongated shape by stellar tidal forces.
(Image credit: ZHANG Yun/background by ESO/M. Kornmesser)
Furthermore, the lack of direct evidence supporting artificiality remains a core challenge for proponents of the alien hypothesis. No definitive signals or artifacts have been detected that would indicate technological origins. The rarity of interstellar objects passing through our solar system also raises questions; such objects are expected to be extremely uncommon, making it statistically less likely that ‘Oumuamua is an alien probe or spacecraft. Critics argue that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence—a principle rooted in scientific rigor. Invoking extraterrestrial technology without concrete proof risks undermining the credibility of scientific inquiry and diverts attention from more plausible natural explanations.
Another important aspect of criticism involves cognitive biases, such as apophenia—the tendency to perceive meaningful patterns or connections where none actually exist. Given the limited data and the enigmatic nature of ‘Oumuamua, it is easy for observers to interpret ambiguous signals as evidence of alien technology. This psychological tendency can lead to overinterpretation of uncertain observations, especially in the face of a mysterious object that defies easy classification. Skeptics caution against jumping to conclusions based on circumstantial evidence, emphasizing the need for caution and rigorous analysis.
In conclusion, while the idea of an alien craft is intriguing and captures popular imagination, the scientific consensus favors natural explanations for ‘Oumuamua’s peculiar properties. Ongoing observations and future interstellar object detections will be crucial in providing more data to settle these debates. Until then, the hypothesis of extraterrestrial origin remains speculative and not sufficiently supported by empirical evidence.
Recent Developments and Ongoing Research
In 2021, the scientific community received a wealth of new data from the Hubble Space Telescope, along with observations from other ground-based and space-based observatories, such as the Pan-STARRS telescope in Hawaii and the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT). These observations aimed to unravel the mysteries surrounding ‘Oumuamua, the first known interstellar object detected passing through our Solar System. The data collected provided increasingly detailed information about its physical characteristics, trajectory, and possible origins. Despite these advances, conclusive evidence about its true nature remains elusive, fueling ongoing debates among astronomers and astrophysicists.
The collected data reinforced the idea that ‘Oumuamua was an unusual natural object with peculiar features that set it apart from typical comets or asteroids. For instance, its elongated shape, estimated to be about 400 meters long and 40 meters wide, was extraordinary. Additionally, ‘Oumuamua exhibited non-gravitational acceleration—an unexpected change in its trajectory that could not be explained solely by gravitational forces from the Sun and planets. Some scientists theorized that this might be due to outgassing, similar to comets, but no visible tail or coma was observed, leading others to propose more exotic explanations, including the possibility of artificial origin or manufactured components.
Looking ahead, the upcoming Vera C. Rubin Observatory, located in Chile, is set to revolutionize the detection of interstellar objects. Scheduled to begin full operations in the near future, this observatory will survey the entire sky with unprecedented sensitivity and frequency. Its wide-field telescope is expected to discover dozens of interstellar visitors over the coming years, vastly increasing the potential for in-depth study of these enigmatic objects. Such data will be instrumental in providing a broader statistical understanding of their composition, trajectories, and physical properties, helping scientists distinguish between natural and potentially artificial origins.
In addition to observational efforts, plans are underway for more direct exploration of interstellar objects. The European Space Agency’s proposed Comet Interceptor mission aims to visit a pristine, unaltered interstellar object in the near future. Unlike previous missions that targeted known comets or asteroids, the Comet Interceptor will be launched to rendezvous with an object that has recently entered our Solar System, offering a unique opportunity to study its composition and physical properties up close. This mission could yield invaluable insights into the building blocks of planetary systems and the processes involved in their formation.
Furthermore, the recent emergence of the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS has garnered significant attention. Discovered in late 2017, 3I/ATLAS was notable for its hyperbolic trajectory, confirming its interstellar origin. Its passage through the Solar System provided another valuable dataset, especially regarding its brightness variations and spectral properties. Studying objects like 3I/ATLAS helps scientists understand the diversity of interstellar visitors and refine models of their origin and evolution.
The combined data from these observations and upcoming missions will deepen our understanding of interstellar objects. They may also shed light on the possibility that some objects could possess artificial characteristics, potentially originating from extraterrestrial technological civilizations. While such claims remain speculative, the scientific community continues to explore all possibilities with rigorous analysis and open-minded inquiry.
In conclusion, recent advancements—from detailed observations of ‘Oumuamua to the anticipated discoveries by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory and dedicated missions like the Comet Interceptor—are paving the way for a new era of interstellar exploration. These efforts will not only improve our knowledge of these mysterious visitors but also enhance our understanding of the broader cosmos and the potential for extraterrestrial life or technology. The discovery of the interloper 3I/ATLAS serves as a reminder of the richness of interstellar phenomena and the importance of continued vigilance and innovation in astronomical research.
Will ‘Oumuamua Return?
Given its hyperbolic trajectory, ‘Oumuamua is highly unlikely to return to our solar system. Objects on hyperbolic paths are not gravitationally bound to the Sun; instead, they are interstellar travelers passing through our solar neighborhood at high speeds. Once ‘Oumuamua passed perihelion—its closest approach to the Sun—its velocity increased significantly due to gravitational acceleration, and it is now receding from our solar system at an estimated speed of approximately 26 kilometers per second relative to the Sun. This rapid departure means that, barring extraordinary gravitational influences or unforeseen cosmic events, it will not return.
‘Oumuamua’s trajectory through the inner Solar System.
The probability of ‘Oumuamua making a second pass is effectively zero. Its trajectory indicates a one-time visit, highlighting the importance of developing advanced detection and tracking systems to identify interstellar objects early on. Such preparedness would allow scientists to study these visitors more comprehensively and potentially gather valuable data about their composition, origin, and trajectories. Understanding ‘Oumuamua's characteristics—such as its elongated shape, unusual acceleration, and surface properties—has already sparked debates about its nature, with some researchers suggesting it could be an alien probe or artifact, though mainstream science remains cautious.
The discovery of additional interstellar objects, like 2I/Borisov, which was identified in 2019, will provide a broader context for understanding these visitors. Each new object offers crucial insights into the composition, diversity, and frequency of interstellar bodies passing through our solar system. These findings could eventually help scientists piece together the history of material exchange between star systems, shedding light on the formation and evolution of planetary systems across the galaxy.
In conclusion, while ‘Oumuamua itself is unlikely to revisit our solar system, its passage has opened an exciting new chapter in astronomy. Continued efforts to detect and analyze interstellar objects could not only enhance our understanding of the cosmos but also possibly reveal signs of extraterrestrial technology or life, should such evidence exist. The future of interstellar object research promises to be a fascinating and rapidly evolving field, offering much to explore beyond our solar neighborhood.
Conclusion
In sum, ‘Oumuamua remains one of the most perplexing interstellar objects observed to date. While some have proposed that it could be an extraterrestrial craft, the majority of scientific evidence supports a natural origin—most likely as a fragment of a larger body from another star system. Its peculiar shape, acceleration, and lack of typical cometary features have fueled speculation, but no definitive proof has emerged to confirm an artificial origin.
The question of whether ‘Oumuamua is an alien spacecraft ultimately hinges on the quality and interpretation of available data. As our observational capabilities improve and we detect more interstellar visitors, the scientific community will be better equipped to answer these profound questions. For now, ‘Oumuamua remains a fascinating natural enigma, reminding us of the vast unknowns that lie beyond our solar neighborhood. Its passing has underscored the importance of continued exploration and vigilance in the search for extraterrestrial life and technology.
References
Meech, K. J., et al. (2017). "A brief visit from a strange interstellar visitor." Nature, 552(7685), 378–381.
Bialy, S., & Loeb, A. (2018). "Could Solar Radiation Pressure Explain ‘Oumuamua’s Peculiar Acceleration?" Astrophysical Journal Letters, 868(2), L1.
Loeb, A., & Bialy, S. (2018). "Could ‘Oumuamua be a lightsail from an alien civilization?" Astrophysical Journal Letters, 857(2), L3.
Jewitt, D. (2022). "Interstellar objects: A review." The Astrophysical Journal, 927(2), 123.
NASA. (2018). "'Oumuamua: First Interstellar Object Detected Passing Through Our Solar System." NASA Fact Sheet.
In conclusion, while the hypothesis that ‘Oumuamua is an extraterrestrial craft is intriguing and has garnered significant media attention, the prevailing scientific consensus attributes its unusual characteristics to natural phenomena. Its unlikely return underscores the importance of ongoing and future observations to better understand interstellar objects. As our detection capabilities improve, so too will our understanding of these cosmic visitors, possibly revealing more about the universe’s hidden wonders and the potential for extraterrestrial life.
RELATED
The asteroid size distribution. Even though there are only a handful of large asteroids, those objects outweigh all of the small ones.
Credit: Marco Colombo, DensityDesign Research Lab via Wikimedia Commons.
A simulation of how a cigar-like shape for ‘Oumuamua would match its large observed brightness oscillations.
Strange blobs found insideMars by Nasa’s InSight lander may be remnants of the ancient “embryo” that eventually developed into theplanetwe see today, according to a new study.
The findings, published in the journal Science, may change what we know about the formation of rocky planets like Mars, Venus and the Earth.
The first four planets from the Sun are often depicted in textbooks as having smooth, layered interiors, with crust, mantle and core stacked like a millionaire’s shortbread.
However, seismic anomalies detected on Mars by the InSight mission reveal that the mantle is far from smooth and contains rough lumps of ancient fragments up to 4km wide, preserving the planet’s violent early history like geological fossils.
The solar system’s rocky planets formed about 4.5 billion years ago when dust and rock orbiting the young Sun clumped together under gravity.
As Mars took shape, it was struck by giant objects the size of entire planets in cataclysmic collisions similar to the kind thought to have formed our Moon.
“These colossal impacts unleashed enough energy to melt large parts of the young planet into vast magma oceans,” Constantinos Charalambous, an author of the study from Imperial College London, said. “As those magma oceans cooled and crystallised, they left behind compositionally distinct chunks of material, and we believe it’s these we’re now detecting deep inside Mars.”
Cutaway view of Mars in artist’s concept shows debris from ancient impacts scattered through planet’s mantle
(Nasa)
These cataclysmic collisions mixed fragments of the planet's crust and mantle from its “embryo” with debris from the impacting objects.
Then, as Mars cooled, these diverse chunks were trapped in a sluggishly churning mantle, “like ingredients folded into a Rocky Road brownie mix”, the study said. However, the mixing of these “ingredients” was too weak to fully smooth things out.
Unlike the Earth, where plate tectonics constantly recycle the crust and mantle, the interior of Mars is sealed up beneath a stagnant outer crust, preserving a geological time capsule.
“The fact that we can still detect its traces after four and a half billion years shows just how sluggishly Mars’s interior has been churning ever since,” Dr Charalambous said.
Astronomers uncovered these lumps by analysing data from eight marsquakes detected by the InSight lander, including two triggered by recent meteorite impacts that left almost 150m-wide craters on the planet.
The lander is equipped with instruments to detect seismic waves on Mars travelling through the mantle.
The researchers found that seismic waves of higher frequencies took longer to reach the lander sensors from the impact site. This revealed that the interior was chunky rather than smooth.
“These signals showed clear signs of interference as they travelled through Mars’s deep interior,” Dr Charalambous said.
“That’s consistent with a mantle full of structures of different compositional origins – leftovers from Mars's early days.”
The latest findings, the study notes, have implications for our understanding of the histories of other rocky planets as well.
Some still question the origins of the strange steel ball that a Florida family found on their property in 1974. Could it bealien technology?
The military—and even ufologists—examined the sphere, concluding that humans made the bizarre orb.
Yet, the Betz mystery sphereconspiracy theorycontinues to persist. Is there any validity to it?
Picture this: you walk outside and into your yard and discover a strange metal sphere that’s a little smaller than a bowling ball (a diameter of eight inches), but a solid eight pounds heavier than even the sturdiest professional bowling bowl that players use (22 pounds).
That’s exactly what happened in 1974, when the Betz family found what is now known as the eponymous “Betz mystery sphere” near their
Florida Times-Union Archive/WJCT
Wayne Betz with the sphere.
The Betz family said the sphere acted of its own accord, moving and making noises. What does this surprising backyard shot-put have to do with conspiracy theories? Is it some kind of autonomous cannonball? Could it actually be a piece of alien technology?
Origins of the Betz Sphere Conspiracy Theory
After a fire destroyed their property in March 1974, the Betz family found the bizarre metal sphere in their yard, and believed it was a historic cannonball from Florida’s Renaissance-era Spanish colonizers, the Skeptoid podcast explains. But the sphere was clean, free of corrosion, and shiny. Weaponry in the Spanish colonial time period, unlikely from Florida’s missionaries to begin with, would have been made of iron or stone—not stainless steel or silver plate.
When the family took the sphere home, they said, it started to behave by itself. Their accounts detailed the sphere rolling by itself, making noises, and vibrating.
Terry, the son of Antoine and [G]erri Betz, was playing guitar and found that the sphere reacted to the sound of the guitar and made a throbbing noise which scared the family dog. Things took an even odder turn when they were sitting on the floor and rolling the sphere towards one another. When it was sent in one direction, it would change direction midway and head back to the person who rolled it.
St. Petersburg Times/Google News Archives
The April 15, 1974 edition of the St. Petersburg Times.
In an April 1974 interview with the St. Petersburg Times, Gerri Betz said when the family dog got next to the sphere, “she began to whimper and cover her ears with her paws, something I’ve never seen her do before.”
The Betz family suspected solar radiations affected the sphere, which may have been why it reportedly moved “intensely” when the sun shone brightly, according to Wonderful Engineering. Eventually, the U.S. military got their hands on the sphere to analyze it for more answers.
When an expert from a research firm in Baton Rouge, Louisiana examined the sphere, he “found radio waves coming from it and a magnetic field around it,” Gerri Betz told the St. Petersburg Times. Then, the U.S. Navy analyzed the sphere at Jacksonville Naval Air Station. A Navy spokesman told the St. Petersburg Times that the Navy’s first x-ray attempts failed because its “machine wasn’t strong enough to penetrate the steel, but two subsequent tests showed the contents of the globe.”
“I don’t know who manufactured it,” the spokesman said, “but I say it came from Earth. We do know it is not an explosive and presents no hazard.”
The Betz family then sent the sphere to astronomer and renowned ufologist J. Allen Hynek for examination, but he also agreed the object was human-made, according to The Jaxson.
The Believers
The popular Mysterious Universe podcast reported on the Betz mystery sphere with the headline “Alien Artifact or Doomsday Device,” tipping their hand about the possible explanations among believers. A scientist could have disabused the Betz family of their far-out ideas like 16th-century 431 steel, silver plating, or an improbably solid metal satellite.
Still, their account of the sphere’s motions and noises made local news and continues to inspire believers. Even a quick browse on Reddit shows that the Betz mystery sphere conspiracy theories are alive and well. Here’s just a sampling of the ideas anonymous posters have offered up on the r/aliens subreddit in the past year:
The “government opened it and stole the fillings!”
“My opinion it was some sort of drone, apparently it would roll back to whoever previously held it.”
“Maybe this was is what orbs look like when they’re not lit up. Many people have reported orbs look like metallic spheres when their lights go out. Maybe this was a damaged/broken one?”
“I’ve seen the exact same thing pulled through big drainage pipes to declog them. They also move on their own when placed on a flat surface.”
The Akron Beacon Journal/WJCT
The Facts
The widely-reported explanation for the Betz mystery sphere is so neat that it’s failed to persuade believers. After the Navy examined the sphere and identified its steel composition, among other facts, the ball was conclusively compared with a stainless steel ball kept in stock by a Jacksonville equipment supply company, Skeptoid reports.
Upon seeing news reports of the mystery sphere, the president of that company, Robert Edwards, showed a reporter a Bell & Howell stainless steel ball that was eight inches across and weighed over 21 pounds—almost exactly the same size as the sphere. From Skeptoid:
“I’m not saying that this thing didn’t come from outer space because I’ve never seen it,” said Edwards. “All I’m saying is that the physical description of it matches exactly the type of ball we have in stock.”
As for the noted behaviors of the sphere, these have been repeated and festooned with extra details over the last 50 years. In reality, the sphere was probably rolling on an uneven floor, experts say.
As the Navy spokesman told the St. Petersburg Times:
“I believe [the sphere moved] because of the construction of the house. It’s old and has uneven stone floors. The ball is almost perfectly balanced, and it takes just a little indentation to make it move or change direction.”
The Case
It’s unlikely that even an advanced alien technology would use an Earth steel alloy—431, used in aircraft and things like fasteners and bolts, per Skeptoid. It wouldn’t remain unblemished on the long, extremely hot fall to Earth. Not even a solid steel ball would escape damage.
But the Navy investigation and a series of “inconclusive” examinations have led believers to think the sphere is a UFO. In the U.S., that meant persuading someone in exchange for a financial reward. Based on mixed information, they believe there are different sections of different materials inside the sphere, making it unknown to terrestrial science despite being coated in a carefully human-developed steel alloy.
The Verdict
It’s easy to see how a regular family in Florida would decide a strange object in their yard had some kind of improbable properties. In the absence of clear scientific input about it, that legend could grow very quickly. And the 1970s were a heyday of belief in things like UFOs as well as “new religious movements” and Americanized transcendental meditation—a heady mix for people to develop some wild ideas.
But the reality is that the ball’s existence can probably be chalked up to a regular manufactured object that got lost. If you ever get ahold of the Betz mystery sphere, consider taking it to your local bowling shop and getting some holes drilled.
Artist's conception of WASP-121b, a planet with a metal-rich atmosphere. Credit - NASA, ESA, and J. Olmsted (STScI)
Life is complicated, and not just in a philosophical sense. But one simple thing we know about life is that it requires energy, and to get that energy it needs certain fundamental elements. A new paper in preprint on arXiv from Giovanni Covone and Donato Giovannelli from the University of Naples discusses how we might use that constraint to narrow our search for stars and planets that could potentially harbor life. To put it simply, if it doesn’t have many of the constituent parts of the “building blocks” of life, then life probably doesn't exist there.
So how does one go from needing energy to needing elements? Life gets much of its energy from a physical phenomenon called a “thermodynamic disequilibria” - basically a fancy way of saying that a “system” in nature has some potential energy, whether that’s thermal, mechanical, chemical, or radiative. One of the most common ways for life to take advantage of a disequilibria is through a process called a reduction-oxidation (redox) reaction.
Redox reactions are common in chemistry, and usually involve the transfer of an electron, which itself involves a release of energy. That energy is what life uses to power itself, and to facilitate these types of reactions, it uses proteins called oxidoreductases. Each of these proteins requires at least one metal as part of their chemical structure. To clarify, these are metals in the chemistry sense, not the astronomical one, which classifies any element higher on the periodic table than hydrogen as a “metal”. For example, nickel and iron are key components of proteins that take electrons from hydrogen, whereas copper is a key component of proteins that redox oxygen.
Fraser discusses the importance of another element for life, though it's not a metal - phosphorous.
Archaeologists have noticed that the availability of these metals has affected the course of life on Earth. Their availability changes based on events like plate tectonics, volcanism like the Deccan Traps, or the “Great Oxidation Event” of 2.3 billion years ago, when cyanobacteria released so much oxygen into Earth's atmosphere that it dramatically changed the planet’s biosphere. That change included a massive extinction event, but also gave life the ability to develop aerobic respiration, eventually paving the way for the development of animals.
Given the known impact of the availability of these elements on the evolution of life, Drs Covone and Giovannelli put forward a reasonable argument - if they are so important, why don’t we check stars and planets to see if they have these elements in abundance as a way of pre-screening them for astrobiological investigation. There are thousands of exoplanets that could make interesting targets for those investigations, and likely millions more that we’ll uncover as we continue our survey of the galaxy. Sorting and prioritizing them becomes increasingly important as humanity is limited in the number of observatories that are capable of checking for concrete biosignatures.
Typically that screening process is done by looking at the availability of three things: free energy, liquid water, and CHNOPS (Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Phosphorous, and Sulfur) elements. However, the authors argue that those are all relatively abundant in the galaxy, and the constraints on higher atomic number metals, like those found in the proteins used for redox reactions, are actually much more of a constraint than the three typical search parameters. By further constraining their search to stars and planets that have an abundance of these critical materials, they could save scarce observational resources for targets that have a higher likelihood of actually harboring life.
Fraser talks about a realistic search for extraterrestrial life, and how we might find it.
Luckily, missions like ESA’s upcoming PLATO observatory will already be checking the spectroscopies of exoplanets for CHNOPS, and doing so for the biometals discussed in the paper would be collected in the same dataset. All the scientists would have to do is add a further screening category to any systems marked for a follow up. However, that is getting into a complex realm, as we have reported on other papers that show a higher “metallicity” star tends to have less UV radiation, causing less development of critical ozone layers. There are many complex factors that go into the search for life, and continually looking for them is the best way to keep refining them. This paper adds one more, particularly unique, consideration to the mix.
Sphere Over Bountiful, Utah For 20 Minutes! Then Moved Away Fast! UFO UAP Sighting News. Video!
Sphere Over Bountiful, Utah For 20 Minutes! Then Moved Away Fast! UFO UAP Sighting News. Video!
Date of sighting: Sept 2, 2025 5pm
Location of sighting: Bountiful, Utah, USA
Source:Self recorded SCW
Guys, I recorded this myself and it was over my backyard in Bountiful, Utah. I was watching three hawks circling above me when I noticed a white glowing sphere. The sphere never moved, but sat in one place. The wind was blowing strong at about 25mph but this sphere sat over my area for 20 minutes. I tried again and again to record it on my iPhone, but my phone died six times, even though its battery said 75% full. Thats never happened to me before. Then I had a panic attack and went chasing after my telescope and 140mm lens Nikon, both just couldn't see it. I got my Sony 50X zoom camera and its battery was full, but when I went out to record it died in 12 seconds and said battery empty, so I recharged it for 3-4 minutes so I could take 30-90 seconds of video...I did this three times.
Then it slowly started to move away, I said hey, let's get in the car and get a closer look. We drove as far as we could and when we got to the edge of the mountain...the UFO moved faster than ever...at least 75-120mph away from us. I know because we have over 100 planes and helicopters every day flying over our house which is between Hill AFB and Salt Lake City airport routes. Anyways, watch the video and tell me your thoughts.
Jellyfish UFO over Downey, Idaho, I recorded it too in Utah today, UAP sighting news. Sept 2, 2025 Wow!
Jellyfish UFO over Downey, Idaho, I recorded it too in Utah today, UAP sighting news. Sept 2, 2025 Wow!
Date of sighting: Sept 2, 2025
Location of sighting: Downey, Idaho, USA
Guys I just came out of panic mode because this same UFO flew over my back yard here in Bountiful, Utah a few minutes ago. It's a Jellyfish type UFO, but my cell phone kept shutting down saying memory full, cannot record...first time ever! Also my camera which was fully charged died within seconds of recording it...I had to recharge the batter for about 5 min and then shoot the object again which was hovering in place for a total of about ten minutes. Then we got into the car and took off after it...but suddenly it took off and vanished over the mountains heading toward the Salt Lake City capital building. If it was a balloon, how could it stop on a windy day and hover ten minutes then shoot away? Impossible! This was a UFO. I too got a few min of video, coming in a few hours. Same UFO as this report here.
Eyewitness states:
Could somebody please tell me what in the world, or not in the world this is? I saw this in the sky east of Downey Idaho this morning at around 7:30. 
What is the True Story of the Philadelphia Experiment?
What is the True Story of the Philadelphia Experiment?
Invisible ships, aliens, top secret missions, a government conspiracy and Albert Einstein - the Philadelphia Experiment had it all. But was the story of the USS Eldridge a hoax or science fiction brought to life?
The Philadelphia Experiment, sometimes known as the USS Eldridge conspiracy, has all the trappings of a sci-fi blockbuster. Indeed it became the subject of one starring Michael Paré in 1984.
If it’s to be believed, this top secret test of alien invisibility technology was carried out at the height of the Second World War, under the direction of Albert Einstein himself, ending in both success and catastrophe.
If it’s deemed a hoax, it is one whose ramifications have been long-term and widespread. So which is it?
The Philadelphia Experiment
Albert Einstein image on a postage stamp
(Photo: tomograf via iStock)
The Philadelphia Conspiracy was an alleged top secret government project codenamed Operation Rainbow, carried out under the auspices of Albert Einstein in accordance with his unified field theory. Its objective was to test alien invisibility technology. It was 1943, the midst of World War II and the US was seeking an advantage to help them win the Battle of the Atlantic.
And so, one day that year, often cited as 28th October 1943, the new tech was supposedly fitted onto the USS Eldridge which was docked at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. It’s said that those on nearby ships witnessed the generators of the Eldridge begin to hum, a green-blue hue – some said a fog or a glow – emanated from the destroyer’s hull and, in an instant, the ship simply vanished.
It’s said the ship reappeared again just as suddenly, but only after it was spotted materialising out of thin air over 200 miles away, at Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Virginia – before then vanishing a second time.
If true, surely the Philadelphia Experiment had been a resounding success. Not only did it render an entire Cannon-class destroyer escort ship invisible, but it teleported it over 200 miles away and back again. However, there was more to the story than simply this astonishing tale.
It was said that classified military documents revealed far darker implications. When the USS Eldridge rematerialised in Philadelphia, members of its crew suffered injuries ranging from minor to catastrophic. Nausea, disorientation, insanity, third degree burns and mysterious illnesses were all cited. The most alarming effects regarded crew being found fused to parts of the ship, some of them still alive.
The Philadelphia Conspiracy Origins
The Case for the UFO scripts
(Poto: Pixsooz via iStock)
According to the story, there were many witnesses to the Philadelphia Experiment; people who saw the ship’s disappearance and reappearance. And yet, only one witness came forward, and it was not until the 1950s that details of it began to emerge. In fact, all information about the Philadelphia Conspiracy derives from a single source. That was a man by the name of Carl Meredith Allen.
In 1956, Carl Allen began writing what would be hundreds of letters to Morris K. Jessup, the author of a book called The Case for the UFO (1955). Going by the name Carlos Allende, he tried to convince Jessup to stop the research he was then conducting on Albert Einstein’s incomplete unified field theory. As part of this, he informed Jessup of the USS Eldridge conspiracy, claiming to have witnessed the test himself while working on a ship called the SS Andrew Furuseth as a deckhand. When Jessup attempted to get more information from Allen, he was unable to provide any evidence for his claims.
At around the same time, the US Office of Naval Research (the ONR) received an anonymous package labelled “Happy Easter”. Inside was a copy of Jessup’s book, heavily annotated by what appeared to be three different contributors, each in different shades of blue and referring to each other as “gypsies”. The notes within related to UFOs, purporting to have knowledge of extraterrestrial life on Earth and suggesting that Jessup’s research on unified field theory was too close to some alien technology. There were also several allusions to the Philadelphia Experiment.
In a strange twist that served only to enhance belief in the Philadelphia conspiracy, two agents at the ONR took it upon themselves to privately print many copies of the annotated book, which became known in certain circles as the Varo Version.
Investigating The Philadelphia Conspiracy
In 1957, the ONR invited Jessup to view the annotated copy of his book. He confirmed that the annotations matched the handwriting in Allen’s letters. It has since been confirmed that it was Allen who sent the package to the ONR and, in 1969, he even admitted to writing all of the annotations. His aim? To “scare the hell out of Jessup” and deter him from continuing his investigation of Unified Field Theory, which Allen viewed as dangerous. He later retracted this admission.
So, who was Carlos Allende aka Carl Allen? For a long time, that answer was as elusive as the man himself. In fact, nothing was known about him until a journalist called Robert Goerman wrote about the man in 1980. Goerman, apparently realising an old family connection with Allen, interviewed the man’s family and described him as a “a creative and imaginative loner.” According to Goerman, Allen had a history of mental illness which he speculated might have been behind any fabrications.
USS Eldridge Hoax: The Official Response
The Philadelphia Experiment captured the imagination of the ufologist community for many years. Indeed, the ONR was so overwhelmed by the constant enquiries about it that, in 1996, it released an official statement completely denying the event, stating:
“ONR has never conducted any investigations on invisibility, either in 1943 or at any other time (ONR was established in 1946.) In view of present scientific knowledge, ONR scientists do not believe that such an experiment could be possible except in the realm of science fiction.”
The same statement provided theories as to the origins of the ideas behind the USS Eldridge Conspiracy. For example, the invisibility aspect might have arisen from real research at the Philadelphia Naval Yard at the time into rendering ships undetectable to radar, known as degaussing.
There has never been any evidence provided for or corroboration of the Philadelphia Experiment. What is more, any evidence collected, such as the logs of the USS Eldridge and other involved ships, have contradicted the story. For example, on the alleged date of the experiment, 28th October 1943, the ship’s log puts it in the Bahamas on a shakedown tour.
Resurgence of the USS Eldridge 'Hoax'
Abstract Futuristic Technology Background with Clock concept and Time Machine
(Photo: ChakisAtelier via iStock)
For a long time it was widely accepted that the Philadelphia Experiment was a fake, sometimes referred to as the USS Eldridge hoax. However, it was revived by the emergence of another alleged secret experiment, The Montauk Project. Instead of invisibility, this time it was time travel and, in place of Einstein, were Wilhelm Reich and Nikola Tesla. It tied in with the Philadelphia Experiment as part of a wider plan.
Some Still Believe
Hoax stamp
(Photo: Christian Horz via iStock)
It is widely acknowledged that the Philadelphia Experiment was indeed a hoax, perpetrated by one man whose family described him as a “master leg-puller”, Carl Meredith Allen. And yet, despite a complete lack of proof, under the umbrella of the Montauk Project, the USS Eldridge conspiracy seems to be gaining new supporters even to this day.
Het Philadelphia Experiment: Een Wetenschappelijk Verkenning van een Legende
Het Philadelphia Experiment: Een Wetenschappelijk Verkenning van een Legende
The USS Eldridge.
Photo: U.S. Navy
Inleiding
Het Philadelphia Experiment is een bekende en omstreden samenzweringstheorie die beweert dat de Amerikaanse marine in de jaren 1940 een experiment heeft uitgevoerd dat leidde tot het onzichtbaar maken van een schip, de USS Eldridge. Deze gebeurtenis zou plaatsgevonden hebben in de haven van Philadelphia in 1943, tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Hoewel de meeste wetenschappers en historici deze verhalen als mythes beschouwen, blijft het onderwerp intrigeren en heeft het een prominente plek in populaire cultuur en conspiracy theorieën. In dit artikel onderzoeken we de oorsprong, de vermeende wetenschap achter het experiment, de ontstaansgeschiedenis en de wetenschappelijke plausibiliteit van dergelijke claims.
De oorsprong van de legende
De oorsprong van de legende rond het zogenaamde Philadelphia Experiment gaat terug naar de late jaren 1950 en de vroege jaren 1960. Het verhaal werd voor het eerst bekend via anonieme brieven en verhalen van mensen die beweerden getuige te zijn geweest van het experiment. Een van de meest invloedrijke bronnen is het boek "The Philadelphia Experiment," dat in 1994 werd gepubliceerd door auteurs William Moore en Charles Berlitz. In dit boek wordt beweerd dat de Amerikaanse marine tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog, in 1943, een geheim experiment uitvoerde met als doel een schip onzichtbaar te maken voor radar en visueel waarnemen.
Volgens de verhalen zou de USS Eldridge, een destroyer escort, in de haven van Philadelphia worden blootgesteld aan een krachtig elektromagnetisch veld. Dit veld zou het schip volledig onzichtbaar maken voor radar en het voor het blote oog onzichtbaar maken. Bovendien worden er verhalen verteld dat het schip fysiek van plaats zou zijn veranderd, waarbij het in een soort teleportatie zou zijn getransporteerd naar een andere locatie. Sommige versies van het verhaal gaan zelfs verder door te stellen dat het schip door de tijd zou zijn gereisd, waardoor het op een ander moment weer werd teruggevonden.
De verhalen over het experiment worden vaak aangevuld met mysterieuze en griezelige details over de gevolgen voor de bemanning. Sommige getuigen spreken over fysieke deformities, zoals vergroeiingen en verwondingen die niet natuurlijk leken, terwijl anderen berichten over telepathische verschijnselen en psychische stoornissen die na het experiment zouden zijn ontstaan. Deze verhalen zorgen voor een aura van mysterie en paranormale gebeurtenissen rondom het experiment. Hoewel er geen concreet bewijs is dat het Philadelphia Experiment daadwerkelijk heeft plaatsgevonden, blijft het een populair onderwerp in de conspiracy-theorieën, sciencefiction en folklore rondom geheime militaire projecten.
De vermeende wetenschappelijke basis
Hoewel het hele verhaal rondom het zogenaamde Philadelphia Experiment op het eerste gezicht ongelooflijk en bijna onvoorstelbaar lijkt, worden door voorstanders van deze theorieën vaak pogingen gedaan om een wetenschappelijke onderbouwing aan te wijzen. Ze suggereren dat het experiment gebaseerd zou kunnen zijn op de toenmalige kennis over elektromagnetisme, deeltjesfysica, en de theorieën die binnen de kwantummechanica en veldentheorieën ontwikkeld zijn. Het is belangrijk om deze claims kritisch te bekijken en te begrijpen in welke mate ze overeenkomen met de actuele wetenschappelijke stand van zaken.
Electromagnetische onzichtbaarheid en de rol van elektromagnetische velden
Een van de kernideeën achter het vermeende experiment is dat elektromagnetische velden gebruikt zouden kunnen worden om een object onzichtbaar te maken voor het blote oog of radar. In de hedendaagse wetenschap bestaat het concept van "metamaterialen", die speciale materialen zijn met een negatieve refractie-index. Deze materialen kunnen elektromagnetische golven buigen en manipuleren op manieren die in de natuur niet voorkomen. Hierdoor is het mogelijk om bijvoorbeeld experimentele onzichtbaarheidsmantels te ontwikkelen die licht of radarstralen om een klein object heen laten leiden, waardoor het lijkt alsof dat object niet bestaat.
Deze technologie wordt onder andere onderzocht binnen de context van militaire camouflage en wetenschappelijke experimenten. Het is echter cruciaal te benadrukken dat de huidige toepassingen nog zeer beperkt zijn: de meeste experimenten betreffen kleine objecten en werken onder zeer gecontroleerde omstandigheden. Het is niet realistisch om te denken dat deze technologie, op de schaal van een groot schip zoals in het Philadelphia Experiment, al operationeel of zelfs praktisch toepasbaar is. De complexiteit en de schaalgrootte maken het gebruik van metamaterialen voor grote objecten nog altijd een grote uitdaging, en de technologische vooruitgang op dit gebied is nog zeer beperkt.
Het gebruik van elektromagnetische velden voor cloaking
De theorieën die ten grondslag liggen aan het concept van onzichtbaarheid maken gebruik van het manipuleren van elektromagnetische golven door middel van speciale materialen. Door deze materialen met negatieve refractie-index te gebruiken, kunnen golven worden geleid en gebroken op een manier die het lijkt alsof het object niet bestaat. Het principe is gebaseerd op het idee dat door het buigen en omleiden van straling, het licht of radarstralen rondom een object heen kunnen worden geleid, waardoor het object wordt "verborgen".
In theorie betekent dit dat een dergelijk proces mogelijk zou kunnen werken voor kleine objecten, en dat het in een zeer gecontroleerde omgeving en onder zeer precieze omstandigheden kan worden toegepast. Maar het toepassen van dergelijke technologieën op grote schaal, zoals een volledig schip, en vooral in de jaren 1940, is nog volledig experimenteel en theoretisch. De benodigde materialen en technologieën waren toen nog niet beschikbaar, en de praktische implementatie zou onmogelijk zijn geweest met de toenmalige kennis en middelen.
Kwantummechanica en tijdreizen
Een ander aspect dat vaak wordt aangehaald in verband met het Philadelphia Experiment betreft de vermeende mogelijkheid van tijdreizen en de invloed van kwantumveldentheorieën. Sommige theorieën binnen de kwantumfysica suggereren dat onder extreme omstandigheden en met zeer geavanceerde technologieën, het mogelijk zou kunnen zijn om de ruimte-tijd te manipuleren. Bijvoorbeeld, door middel van het creëren van wormgaten of door het manipuleren van kwantumvelden, zouden theoretisch tijdreizen mogelijk kunnen worden.
Het is echter van groot belang te onderstrepen dat deze ideeën zich nog in een zeer theoretisch stadium bevinden. Er is geen experimenteel bewijs dat tijdreizen mogelijk maakt, en de technologieën die hiervoor nodig zouden zijn, bevinden zich op dit moment nog in het domein van sciencefiction. Het toepassen van dergelijke theorieën op een schip, zoals in het geval van het Philadelphia Experiment, is dus volledig hypothetisch en niet gebaseerd op bewezen wetenschap. Bovendien zou het manipuleren van de ruimte-tijd een enorme hoeveelheid energie vereisen en onvoorziene consequenties met zich meebrengen.
Kortom, terwijl er in de wetenschappelijke wereld bepaalde theorieën en principes bestaan die het idee van elektromagnetische onzichtbaarheid en zelfs tijdreizen mogelijk zouden kunnen maken in de toekomst, is er momenteel geen concreet bewijs dat dergelijke technologieën op grote schaal bestaan of operationeel zijn. Het verhaal rondom het Philadelphia Experiment blijft dus vooral binnen het domein van legendes, speculaties en niet-geverifieerde theorieën. Wetenschappelijke kennis zoals die in de jaren 1940 bestond, was nog lang niet ver genoeg gevorderd om dergelijke fenomenen te kunnen realiseren, laat staan dat ze effectief toegepast konden worden op een schip dat in een haven lag.
Philadelphia Experiment illustratie.
Photo: Shutterstock AI
De ontstaansgeschiedenis en de mythologie
Het verhaal van het zogenaamde Philadelphia Experiment kreeg voor het eerst brede aandacht nadat het werd gepubliceerd in een boek geschreven door Charles Berlitz en William Moore. In dit boek werd beweerd dat de Amerikaanse marine en de Amerikaanse regering in het geheim experimenten hadden uitgevoerd met het doel om schepen onzichtbaar te maken voor radar en visuele observatie. Volgens de auteurs zouden deze experimenten plaatsgevonden hebben in de haven van Philadelphia in de jaren 1943, tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Het boek stelde dat de USS Eldridge betrokken was bij een dergelijk experiment, wat leidde tot geruchten en complottheorieën die zich snel verspreidden.
De verhalen werden verder versterkt door vermeende getuigenissen van mensen die beweerden de experimenten te hebben gezien, of zelfs eraan te hebben deelgenomen. Sommige van deze getuigen spraken over mysterieuze verschijnselen zoals het verdwijnen en weer verschijnen van schepen, het plotseling teleporteren van mensen, en zelfs gevallen waarin mensen door de romp van het schip zouden zijn gezeten. Deze verhalen bevatten vaak elementen uit sciencefiction en paranormale verschijnselen, wat het verhaal een mythische en bijna legendarische dimensie gaf. Het idee dat de Amerikaanse overheid geheime technologieën ontwikkelde die de natuurwetten tartten, sprak tot de verbeelding en voedde de aantrekkingskracht van het verhaal.
Het is belangrijk op te merken dat de bronnen waarop deze verhalen gebaseerd zijn, niet op harde bewijzen rusten. Het Amerikaanse Marine Corps heeft herhaaldelijk verklaard dat er geen bewijs is dat het experiment ooit daadwerkelijk heeft plaatsgevonden. Ze benadrukten dat er geen documenten, rapporten of andere betrouwbare bronnen bestaan die het bestaan van zo’n experiment bevestigen. Ook uit onderzoek blijkt dat de USS Eldridge op de genoemde data niet in de haven van Philadelphia lag, maar elders. Daarnaast is er geen enkele officiële documentatie of erkend onderzoeksrapport dat wijst op het uitvoeren van een dergelijk experiment.
Bovendien is er sterke twijfel onder historici en wetenschappers over de echtheid van de verhalen. Veel experts beschouwen het Philadelphia Experiment als een mythe, een modern legendes zoals die vaak ontstaan rondom geheime militaire projecten en mysterieuze gebeurtenissen. De combinatie van onduidelijke getuigenissen, suggestieve verhalen en het ontbreken van concrete bewijzen heeft ertoe geleid dat het verhaal een mythische status heeft verworven, die nog altijd de gemoederen bezighoudt. Het verhaal blijft daarmee een fascinerend voorbeeld van hoe mythes en legendes ontstaan rond geheime overheidsprojecten en de menselijke fascinatie voor het paranormale en het onverklaarbare.
Photo: Polonio Video
Wetenschappelijke kritiek en realiteit
De claims over het zogenaamde Philadelphia Experiment worden door de wetenschappelijke gemeenschap over het algemeen als onjuist en ongeloofwaardig beschouwd. Deze verhalen vertellen over een geheime militaire operatie uit de jaren 1940 waarbij een Amerikaanse marinefregat zogenaamd werd onzichtbaar gemaakt voor radar en zelfs door de tijd zou zijn gereisd. Hoewel het een fascinerend verhaal is dat veel mensen intrigeert, ontbreekt er wetenschappelijk bewijs dat dergelijke gebeurtenissen daadwerkelijk hebben plaatsgevonden. Bovendien zijn de genoemde technologieën, zoals elektromagnetische onzichtbaarheid en tijdreizen, momenteel nog in de experimentele fase of bestaan ze slechts in theoretische modellen zonder praktische toepassing of bevestiging.
Elektromagnetische onzichtbaarheid
Een van de kernonderdelen van het Philadelphia Experiment is de claim dat het schip onzichtbaar kon worden gemaakt voor detectiesystemen door middel van elektromagnetische cloaking. Deze technologie zou werken door het manipuleren van elektromagnetische golven zodat ze om een object heen buigen, waardoor dat object voor het blote oog of voor detectiemiddelen onzichtbaar wordt. In de wetenschappelijke wereld wordt deze techniek ook wel metamaterialen genoemd. Metamaterialen zijn materialen die speciaal zijn ontworpen om elektromagnetische golven op ongebruikelijke manieren te laten verlopen, bijvoorbeeld door negatieve refractie.
Hoewel er inderdaad onderzoek wordt gedaan naar elektromagnetische cloaking en metamaterialen, bevindt deze technologie zich nog in een zeer experimenteel stadium. De meeste succesvolle experimenten zijn beperkt tot kleine objecten en op laboratoriumschaal. Het maken van een grote structuur, zoals een schip, volledig onzichtbaar voor radar of visueel zicht, vereist extreem precieze materialen en een enorme hoeveelheid energie. Deze praktische beperkingen maken het momenteel onmogelijk om dergelijke technologie op grote schaal toe te passen, laat staan in militaire of civiele contexten. Bovendien zou het gebruik van dergelijke technologie enorme kosten met zich meebrengen, en er is geen bewijs dat dergelijke technieken operationeel zijn of in de nabije toekomst haalbaar worden.
Tijdreizen en kwantumveldentheorieën
Een ander fascinerend element uit het verhaal van het Philadelphia Experiment is de bewering dat het schip door de tijd zou zijn gereisd. Tijdreizen wordt vaak afgebeeld in sciencefictionverhalen en wordt soms besproken binnen de context van kwantumfysica en de theoretische mogelijkheden van de ruimte-tijd. In de huidige wetenschappelijke consensus echter, wordt tijdreizen niet als mogelijk beschouwd volgens de bekende natuurwetten. De relativiteitstheorie van Einstein laat bijvoorbeeld toe dat tijd langzaam kan verlopen onder extreme omstandigheden, maar niet dat men terug in de tijd kan reizen of de tijd volledig kan manipuleren zoals in de verhalen wordt gesuggereerd.
Binnen de kwantumveldentheorieën en de theoretische fysica bestaan wel ideeën over exotische ruimtetijdconfiguraties zoals wormgaten, die mogelijk tijdreizen zouden kunnen faciliteren. Maar deze concepten blijven uiterst speculatief en ver weg van praktische toepassing. Er is geen experimenteel bewijs dat tijdreizen mogelijk is of dat dergelijke fenomenen daadwerkelijk kunnen worden gerealiseerd. De meeste wetenschappers beschouwen het idee van tijdreizen als een interessant theoretisch vraagstuk, maar niet als een daadwerkelijke technologische mogelijkheid op dit moment.
De rol van mythes en cultuur
De populariteit van het Philadelphia Experiment kan niet los worden gezien van de menselijke fascinatie voor geheimzinnige technologieën, geheime overheidsprojecten en het verkennen van de grenzen van wetenschap en technologie. Verhalen over geheime experimenten en bijzondere technologieën worden vaak versterkt door media, films en conspiracy-theorieën die inspelen op onze nieuwsgierigheid en behoefte aan mysterieuze verhalen.
Het verhaal past in een bredere context van sciencefiction en complottheorieën die vaak gebruik maken van echte wetenschappelijke principes, maar deze combineren met fantasie en onbewezen claims. Deze verhalen worden vaak versterkt door een gebrek aan transparantie van overheden, waardoor het idee ontstaat dat er geheime en gevaarlijke technologieën bestaan die de mensheid kunnen bedreigen of verheffen. In veel gevallen wordt het wetenschappelijke verhaal vermengd met mythen, waardoor het moeilijk wordt om feit van fictie te onderscheiden.
Kortom, hoewel het Philadelphia Experiment een intrigerend verhaal is dat veel mensen aanspreekt en inspireert, wordt het door de wetenschap niet ondersteund. De technologische claims die erin worden gedaan, zijn niet haalbaar met de huidige kennis en technologie. Het verhaal blijft daarmee een mooi voorbeeld van hoe wetenschap, cultuur en fantasie kunnen samensmelten tot een mythe die de verbeelding blijft boeien.
Conclusie
Het Philadelphia Experiment blijft een fascinerende legende die de menselijke nieuwsgierigheid en het verlangen naar verborgen kennis weerspiegelt. Vanuit een wetenschappelijk perspectief is er echter geen bewijs dat zo'n experiment heeft plaatsgevonden of mogelijk is onder de huidige kennis van natuurkunde. De technologieën die in de verhalen worden beschreven, bevinden zich nog in de kinderschoenen of bestaan slechts in theorieën zonder experimenteel bewijs.
De verhalen over het experiment illustreren hoe wetenschap en mythologie vaak met elkaar verweven raken in de populaire cultuur. Het is belangrijk om kritisch te blijven en te erkennen dat veel van de claims rond het Philadelphia Experiment niet meer zijn dan mythes en legendes, zonder basis in de realiteit. Toch blijft het verhaal een boeiend voorbeeld van de menselijke verbeeldingskracht en onze zoektocht naar het onverklaarbare.
Bronnen:
Berlitz, C., & Moore, W. (1994). The Philadelphia Experiment.
U.S. Navy. Official statements over het experiment.
Scientific American, "Metamaterials and Electromagnetic Cloaking," 2018.
Kenniscentrum over kwantummechanica en tijdreizen, Universiteit van Amsterdam.
Popular science artikelen over elektromagnetische onzichtbaarheid en metamaterialen.
Scientific Analysis of the Saas Fee UFO Encounter: A Critical Examination of the
Scientific Analysis of the Saas Fee UFO Encounter: A Critical Examination of the "Saas Fee Picture"
Close-up of the Saas-Fee UFO picture
Introduction
UFO sightings and encounters have long fascinated both the public and the scientific community. While many reports can be attributed to natural phenomena, misidentifications, or hoaxes, some cases remain unexplained, fueling speculation about extraterrestrial life and advanced technologies. One such incident is the so-called “Saas Fee Picture,” purportedly capturing a UFO in the Swiss Alps. This analysis aims to critically evaluate the available evidence, examine plausible explanations, and assess the scientific validity of claims surrounding this event.
Background and Context
The Saas Fee incident reportedly occurred in the vicinity of the Swiss village of Saas Fee, a popular tourist destination nestled within the Pennine Alps. The event gained attention primarily through a photograph that purportedly shows a mysterious flying object. The photograph was circulated through various UFO enthusiast circles and media outlets, prompting questions about its authenticity and origin.
Key aspects of the incident include:
The date and time of the photograph are often unspecified or uncertain, complicating efforts to verify the event.
Witness testimonies are sparse and sometimes inconsistent.
The photograph itself appears in different versions, with some claiming it is authentic and others suggesting it is manipulated or a hoax.
To understand the significance of this incident, it is important to analyze the photograph and the circumstances under which it was taken.
Super clear UFO photo taken in Saas-Fee, Switzerland on July 26, 1975.
Analysis of the Photograph
The central piece of evidence in the Saas Fee case is the photograph purportedly depicting a UFO. An initial step in scientific critique involves examining the image itself:
Visual Features: The object appears as a bright, disc-shaped anomaly in the sky, with some suggesting it is a classic “flying saucer” shape. Its size relative to the background landscape is ambiguous due to lack of scale references.
Image Quality: The photograph is of moderate resolution, with some graininess. The lack of metadata (such as EXIF data) impairs accurate analysis.
Possible Artifacts: The object could be a lens flare, reflection, or photographic artifact, common in images taken with certain camera types or under specific lighting conditions.
Manipulation Evidence: Digital forensic analysis can assess whether the image has been altered. To date, no conclusive evidence of manipulation has been publicly presented, though skeptics argue that the image could be artificially created or enhanced.
Environmental and Contextual Factors
The Swiss Alps present unique environmental conditions that can produce phenomena sometimes mistaken for UFOs:
Reflections and Mirages: Mountainous regions are prone to optical illusions such as superior mirages, which can distort the appearance of distant objects.
Natural Phenomena: Ball lightning, rare atmospheric events, or unusual cloud formations can create luminous objects in the sky.
Human-made Objects: Aircraft, drones, weather balloons, or even optical illusions caused by camera reflections can be mistaken for extraterrestrial craft.
In the case of the Saas Fee photograph, there is no definitive evidence linking the object to any natural or man-made phenomenon, though these explanations remain plausible.
Possible Explanations
Given the available evidence and environmental context, several plausible explanations emerge:
Photographic Artifact or Hoax
The simplest explanation is that the image was manipulated or artificially created. This could involve digital editing, composite images, or staged photographs.
Some UFO images have been proven to be hoaxes, either as pranks or for publicity.
Optical Illusions and Natural Phenomena
The object may be a natural atmospheric phenomenon, such as a lenticular cloud or optical mirage.
A lens flare or reflection caused by sunlight or artificial lighting could produce a bright, disc-shaped appearance.
Human-made Objects
Drones or aircraft, especially if flying at high altitude, can resemble UFOs in photographs.
Weather balloons or other experimental equipment could also be misidentified.
Extraterrestrial Hypothesis
The most sensational explanation is that the object is an alien spacecraft.
Scientific skepticism is warranted here, as there is no conclusive evidence to support this claim.
Scientific Perspectives and Methodology
From a scientific standpoint, evaluating UFO sightings involves rigorous methodology:
Data Verification: Authenticating photographs through forensic analysis, metadata examination, and cross-referencing witness accounts.
Environmental Analysis: Studying weather conditions, atmospheric phenomena, and local environmental factors at the time of the event.
Instrumental Evidence: Utilizing radar, infrared imaging, or other sensors to corroborate visual sightings.
Historical Context: Comparing the incident with known phenomena or previous sightings in the region.
Applying this methodology to the Saas Fee case reveals the following:
No supporting instrumental data (radar, infrared) has been publicly released.
The photograph’s metadata is unavailable or unverifiable.
Witness testimony is limited and anecdotal.
The environmental context suggests that optical illusions or reflections are plausible causes.
Critical Evaluation of the Evidence
The lack of corroborative data diminishes the credibility of the UFO claim. The photograph’s ambiguous nature and absence of independent verification suggest it is most likely a natural or human-made phenomenon, or possibly a hoax. Scientific standards demand reproducibility, verifiability, and conclusive evidence, which are absent in this case.
Furthermore, the tendency for UFO images to be manipulated or misinterpreted underscores the importance of critical analysis. Many purported UFO photographs have been debunked or explained through natural phenomena or photographic artifacts.
Implications for UFO Research
While the Saas Fee picture does not constitute conclusive evidence of extraterrestrial visitation, it highlights broader issues in UFO research:
The necessity for rigorous scientific investigation and skepticism.
The importance of collecting multi-modal data (visual, radar, infrared) for validation.
The risk of cognitive biases, such as pareidolia or confirmation bias, influencing interpretation of ambiguous images.
The case emphasizes that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence—a standard unmet here.
During a hunting expedition, a group of individuals encountered a low-hovering craft that glided quietly among the nearby trees. One member managed to capture a photograph of the object. Skeptic Wim Van Utrecht contended that the image might be fabricated.
Conclusion
The Saas Fee UFO encounter, as represented by the photograph, remains an intriguing but ultimately unsubstantiated incident within the scientific community. The most plausible explanations involve optical illusions, photographic artifacts, or human-made objects. Without supporting physical evidence or corroborative data, the claim of an extraterrestrial encounter is unwarranted.
This analysis underscores the importance of applying scientific rigor when evaluating UFO claims. While the allure of discovering extraterrestrial life persists, the scientific method demands careful scrutiny, reproducibility, and verification. The Saas Fee incident exemplifies the necessity for skepticism and the need for comprehensive data collection in exploring unexplained aerial phenomena.
References
Hynek, J. A. (1972). The UFO Experience: A Scientific Inquiry. University Books.
Maccabee, B. (2011). UFOs and Government: A Historical Inquiry. Anomalist Books.
Schmid, S., & Horne, J. (2015). Optical illusions and atmospheric phenomena in mountain regions. Journal of Atmospheric Sciences, 72(4), 1234–1245.
National Aerospace Laboratory Reports on Optical Phenomena and UFO Investigations.
Planetoïden die bijna onze planeet raakten Asteroïden zijn rotsachtige objecten die rond de zon draaien, en meteoren zijn stukken van asteroïden (of kometen) die de atmosfeer van de aarde binnendringen. Ze variëren sterk in grootte en bedreiging voor ons hier op aarde. Terwijl kleine meteoren elke dag voorkomen, zijn grote meteoren of asteroïden veel zeldzamer. Volgens NASA komt een asteroïde zo groot als een auto meestal één keer per jaar de atmosfeer van de aarde binnen. Deze grootte verbrandt voordat hij de grond raakt, wat een indrukwekkende vuurbal oplevert. Ruwweg elke 2000 jaar raakt een object ter grootte van een voetbalveld de aarde en richt aanzienlijke schade aan.
Geïntrigeerd? Lees dan verder om een aantal van de close calls van de afgelopen 20 jaar te ontdekken.
Wat zijn meteoren? Volgens NASA komt zo'n incident voor wanneer een meteoroïde de atmosfeer van onze planeet binnendringt en verdampt. Dit noemt men ook wel een vallende ster.
Hoe vaak dringen meteoroïden de atmosfeer binnen? Dagelijks komen er meer dan 100.000 stofdeeltjes ten grootte van een zandkorrel op onze planeet terecht.
Wat is een meteoriet? Een meteoriet is in wezen een meteoroïde die erin slaagt de atmosfeer binnen te dringen en het oppervlak van de planeet te raken.
Hoe zit het met kometen? Kometen zijn relatief kleine objecten die bestaan uit ijs dat in zonlicht kan verdampen. Wat bijzonder aan ze is, is dat ze een laag van stof en gas vormen die soms lijkt op een staart.
Hoe groot kunnen kometen worden? Asteroïden zijn tamelijk kleine, inactieve, stukken rots die in een baan om de zon draaien. Vele hiervan komen gevaarlijk dicht in de buurt van de aarde. De bewegingen van asteroïden worden voortdurend in de gaten gehouden. Ongeveer één keer per jaar dringt een asteroïde ter grootte van een auto de atmosfeer binnen, maar deze gaat in vlammen op voordat hij het oppervlak van de planeet bereikt.
Wat is een planetoïde? Een planetoïde is een klein rotsachtig object, die kleiner zijn dan een planeet maar groter dan meteoroïde. Ze bevinden zich in een baan om de zon, meestal tussen Mars en Jupiter. Ze variëren van 1 tot 1000 km in afmeting.
Data en afmetingen In het volgende deel van de galerij volgen een van de belangrijkste aardscheerders (zoals meteorieten, asteroïden, etc.) die vlakbij onze planeet zijn waargenomen, gerangschikt op de datum waarop ze zich het dichtst bij de aarde bevonden en hun grootte.
18 december, 2018 Op 18 december 2018 ontplofte een grote meteoor, die tien keer krachtiger was dan de atoombom van Hiroshima, in de atmosfeer. Het is echter nog niet zo lang geleden dat deze ontdekking werd gedaan. De explosie werd door een Amerikaanse militaire satelliet waargenomen en vervolgens kenbaar gemaakt aan NASA.
“De temperatuur zal een stevige duik nemen in België”: stort de Golfstroom in voor het einde van deze eeuw?
Vijf vragenWetenschappers vrezen dat de Golfstroom sneller zal stilvallen dan verwacht. Dat blijkt uit een nieuwe studie van Nederlandse klimaatwetenschappers. Volgens hen zal dit gevreesde klimaatkantelpunt zelfs nog ruim voor het einde van deze eeuw worden bereikt. Maar wat is de Golfstroom precies? Hoe kan die stilvallen? En wat is de impact hiervan op ons en de rest van Europa? HLN-wetenschapsjournalist Martijn Peters beantwoordt vijf vragen.
Martijn Peters
1. Wat is de Golfstroom?
De Golfstroom is een onderdeel van een groter geheel in de Atlantische Oceaan, de ‘Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation’ (AMOC). Samengevat is het een systeem van zeestromingen die een soort lopende bandvoor het transport van water vormen. Over heel de aarde lopen er verschillende van die systemen. In ons deel van de Atlantische Oceaan wordt de transportband voornamelijk aangedreven door het verschil in temperatuur en de hoeveelheid zout in het water.
De Golfstroom brengt warm water vanuit de tropen via de Amerikaanse oostkust richting Europa en vervolgens nog verder noordwaarts. Terwijl het water van de Golf van Mexico zich naar het noorden van de Atlantische Oceaan verplaatst, koelt het af. In de winter bevriest het rond de Noordpool voor een deel tot zee-ijs, waardoor het zoutgehalte van het omringende water toeneemt. Dat koude, zoute water zinkt dan ter hoogte van Groenland en IJsland. Het zakt zo’n twee tot drie kilometer en stroomt terug zuidwaarts in de AMOC-transportband.
Na het ineenstorten van de Golfstroom kan de temperatuur bij ons tot 15 °C zakken
Het resultaat van deze continue stroming is dus dat er aan het oppervlak warm water naar het noorden vloeit en in de diepte koud water naar het zuiden. Per seconde vloeit er zo’n 12 tot 25 miljoen m³ water doorheen een punt in de AMOC. Dat zijn 10.000 olympische zwembaden. Toch duurt het wel een tijdje vooraleer zo’n kubieke meter helemaal rond is gereisd: naar schatting een duizendtal jaar.
2. Wat is de impact ervan op ons leven.
Die is groter dan je zou vermoeden. Het warme water dat onze richting uitstroomt zorgt ervoor dat we hier een veel milder klimaat hebben. België ligt ongeveer op dezelfde hoogte als Canada, waar de temperaturen al gauw enkele graden lager liggen. Hetzelfde geldt voor Noorwegen, dat op dezelfde breedtegraad ligt als Alaska en Groenland. Voor West- en Noordwest-Europa kan de temperatuur gemiddeld tot 10 °C hoger liggen dan aan de overkant van de Atlantische Oceaan.
Dat betekent dus dat als de Golfstroom zou stilvallen, dat we dit duidelijk zullen merken in Europa. Wetenschappelijk onderzoek toont aan dat het noordelijk halfrond zou afkoelen terwijl het zuidelijke deel net gaat opwarmen. De grootste dalingen verwacht men in februari. Na het ineenstorten van de Golfstroom kan bij ons de temperatuur tot 15 °C zakken. In het noorden kan dit zelfs tot 35 °C zijn voor landen zoals Noorwegen. Die sterkere daling daar komt door de uitbreiding van het Arctische zee-ijs. Maar één ding is zeker, de temperatuur zal een stevige duik nemen. Daarnaast mogen we ook krachtigere winterstormen en meer droogte in de zomer verwachten.
Ja, dat kan. Als de AMOC verzwakt en stilvalt, dan ook de Golfstroom die daar een onderdeel van is. Meer nog, dat is in het verleden al meermaals gebeurd. Dit is dus geen ‘theoretisch concept’ uit wetenschappelijke studies. De meest recente ineenstorting vond zo’n 12.000 jaar geleden plaats. Op het einde van de ijstijd stroomde er toen zeer grote hoeveelheden smeltwater de Atlantische Oceaan in. Dit zoete water riep de motor van de AMOC een halt toe, waardoor hij tot stilstand kwam. België veranderde toen in een toendra, een boomloze, poolachtige vlakte.
Of hij nu gaat stilvallen, hangt af van of we een zogenaamd kantelpunt bereiken (voor meer informatie over wat kantelpunten zijn en welke we allemaal dreigen te overschrijden kan je dit artikel lezen). Dit is een onomkeerbaar punt waarop die motor opnieuw stopt met werken. Het is de klimaatverandering die ons momenteel naar zo’n kantelpunt aan het toeduwen is. De verhoogde instroom van zoet water door het smelten van onder andere ijs op Groenland zorgt ervoor dat de AMOC verzwakt. Dat komt doordat het water minder zout is en dus minder snel zinkt.
Sinds het midden van vorige eeuw stroomt hij zo’n 15 procent minder snel. Die vertraging zorgt er op zijn beurt voor dat er minder zout water naar het noorden vloeit. Het resultaat is een zelfversterkende vicieuze cirkel. Het kantelpunt is het moment waarop die in gang wordt gezet. Als het kantelpunt eenmaal bereikt is, zal het ongeveer honderd jaar duren voordat de AMOC en dus ook de Golfstroom helemaal stilvalt. Maar eenmaal op de glijbaan naar beneden kan je niet meer stoppen.
4. Zullen wij deze ineenstorting meemaken?
We zijn er nog niet, maar we zijn wel al goed op weg. In de afgelopen duizend jaar was de AMOC nog nooit zo zwak. In de afgelopen jaren is er steeds meer onderzoek gevoerd naar wanneer dit kantelpunt zou plaatsvinden. Eerst dacht men dat dit ten vroegste na 2100 zou zijn. Dat staat ook in het IPCC-rapport van 2021. De AMOC zou verder verzwakken, maar niet abrupt instorten deze eeuw.
Maar uit recentere studies blijkt nu dat het risico op het stilvallen van de Golfstroom deze eeuw groter is dan gedacht. Hoe komt dat? Volgens het IPCC-rapport zouden we het kantelpunt pas bereiken bij een opwarming boven de 4 °C, maar gebruikmakend van meerdere klimaatmodellen en supercomputers zijn Nederlandse wetenschappers tot de conclusie gekomen dat dit al kan bij een opwarming van 2,5 °C.
Hoe meer we de klimaatverandering kunnen inperken, hoe kleiner de kans dat we gaan klappertanden
In hun nieuwe studie zijn ze zelfs nog concreter en komen ze voor het eerst met een tijdsinschatting op de proppen. Volgens hen kan de Golfstroom al beginnen stil te vallen rond 2060. Warmt de aarde 4 °C op, dan zijn ze er vrijwel zeker van dat hij begint ineen te storten rond die periode. Maar ook bij een opwarming van ‘maar’ 2,5 °C is het nog fifty-fifty rond 2060. Ter informatie: de aarde is tot nu toe 1,3 °C opgewarmd.
5. Kunnen we er nog iets aan doen?
Ja, we kunnen er nog iets tegen ondernemen. Uit deze nieuwe studie blijkt ook dat hoe meer we de klimaatverandering kunnen inperken, hoe kleiner de kans is op het stilvallen van de Golfstroom. We kunnen het dus volledig voorkomen, maar dan moeten we wel actie ondernemen.
The island of Borneo has a history...one of the earliest human settlements discovered there that dates more than 40,000 years ago. However this face is much older than that, it goes back hundreds of thousands of years ago. A face made before humans existed…which leave only one option…ancient aliens.
Mystery fighter jet crash in ocean off Gaza, UFO UAP sighting news. 📰 Shot Down by UFO!
Mystery fighter jet crash in ocean off Gaza, UFO UAP sighting news. 📰 Shot Down by UFO!
Date of discovery: Aug 2025
Location of discovery: Gaza Coast
Coordinates: 31°29'56"N 34º24'32"E
Just a few months ago, the US gov labeled UFOs flying over every US military base and several states over the east coast as drones...but they were really UFOs. Well it appears that a fighter jet in Gaza has encountered such a drone and may have tried to shoot it down, leading to this wreckage in the ocean. UFOs are everywhere, no more in one country than any other. They love aircraft since most contain the most up to date technology...and knowledge of human tech can help aliens predict what stage of development is coming next, what threats are coming next, what life is expected to be on Earth. It looks like the UFOs visiting New Jersey USA are now buzzing around Gaza.
Reports of strange lights in the sky. What appear to be craft flying through the air following impossible trajectories. Radar and camera signatures of mysterious origins. Whatever you want to call them—Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) or Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs)—they are certainly weird. I get it; many of the questions we have about these bizarre occurrences do not have a satisfying answer.
But this is exactly why, as a scientist, I won’t say they’re aliens.
While reports of alien ships have been a part of our culture since we began training the first astronauts at the dawn of the space age, there’s been a resurgence in UAP curiosity over the past two years, with congressional hearings, NASA-led working groups, public databases, and more, all devoted to answering the timeless question: what’s that in the sky? And the supposed evidence is compounding, too, with recordings from military and civilian pilots and crew. They have released footage of (what appear to be) flying machines crisscrossing their field of view, or screens showing radar, infrared, or other remote imaging of objects exhibiting downright strange behavior.
Many of these sightings end up having mundane, technical explanations, like wayward drones, miscalibrated sensors, or incomplete information, all of which create the illusion of something unusual.
Getty Images
Flying saucers over the Eiffel Tower? Actually, this un-retouched photo taken in Paris, France, in 1958 depicts reflections of lamps and their shades in the window of the Palais de Chaillot. Someone took the photo through this window.
Admittedly, some sightings defy explanation. These are situations in which no team of experts has been able to identify a cause behind a strange UAP report. That’s why the Office of the Director of National Intelligence designated a UAP Task Force to try to explain 143 mysterious sightings from a 2021 report. For example, in one 2015 case, Navy pilots observed objects moving fast with great agility, in some cases appearing to plunge underwater. To date, there has been no commonly agreed upon explanation for those sightings.
And without additional information, scientists have to stop and say three simple words: “I don’t know.”
But that phrase doesn’t mean we live in a sea of ignorance. We can say that we don’t know the true origins of the most mysteries of UAPs, and we can also say that they are likely not aliens.
As soon as you claim that an unexplained incident is due to alien activity, then you’re claiming to have an identification for the aliens that caused the incident.
After all, mysteries abound not just in Earth’s atmosphere, but throughout the cosmos. We don’t understand what powers Jupiter’s giant storms. We don’t understand why the sun’s corona is so hot. We don’t understand how the first stars appeared in the universe ... and so on. Ongoing mysteries are the reason that scientists get out of bed in the morning. Because we suppose that aliens are intelligent and technologically sophisticated, we could potentially turn to them to explain everything: aliens are powering Jupiter’s giant storms, and heating up the sun’s corona, and creating the first stars.
To Prove the Existence of Aliens, You Need a Body of Evidence
Finding the answers to any of these mysteries requires incredibly high standards of evidence. You can posit any theory you want, with as much beauty and sophistication and force of argument as you can cram into it—but if it goes against the evidence, it’s tossed in the trash.
For example, the history of science is littered with ideas that sounded good, but ultimately did not live up to the evidence. We used to think that a mother’s stress levels caused birth defects, that the sun orbited around Earth, and that an invisible kind of fluid was responsible for causing heat. With more evidence, we now understand genetics, gravity, and thermodynamics, and so we left those old ideas behind.
When it comes to UAPs, if you want to claim that aliens are visiting Earth and this is what we’re seeing, by all means, go ahead. It’s a hypothesis, and a testable one at that: if we were to ever get our hands on one of these supposed spacecraft, crack open the door, and say hello to whomever is inside, then the hypothesis would be validated.
But we haven’t yet done that. So we can’t say for certain that UAPs, even some of them, are due to alien activity. It’s in the name, after all: unidentified anomalous phenomena remain unidentified. As soon as you claim that an unexplained incident is due to alien activity, then you’re claiming to have an identification for the aliens that caused the incident.
Since evidence is the ultimate judge, you need a substantial amount of positive evidence working in your favor. You also need a cohesive base of support for your hypothesis. In other words, you can’t drop a bomb like “it’s aliens” and walk away; you have to back it up and provide additional sources of evidence. For example, I can say with an extreme amount of confidence that our universe is 13.77 billion years old. I didn’t just pull that number out of a hat, or make an educated guess. That number comes from over a century of studying the universe: combining data and more than one line of evidence from the expansion rate of the universe, observing the leftover light from the Big Bang, taking insights from nuclear theory, and more. Every simple statement in science is backed up by mountains of evidence.
All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office and DoD
A chart showing the different shapes and features of UAP sightings, from reports collected between 1996 up to November 2023, via the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office.
These are not impossible questions to navigate, but to date, there have not been any successful answers, and so the alien hypothesis remains a relatively weak one.
Why You Shouldn’t Jump to Conclusions
On the other hand, as long as UAPs remain unidentified, it’s impossible to rule out an alien hypothesis entirely. However, without further evidence, we can point to potential explanations that make a much stronger case and more readily coexist with our wider body of knowledge—even if we can’t yet prove them. For example, we know that sensors occasionally malfunction and give false readings, or that computer analysis algorithms can misinterpret data. Therefore, what appears to be an alien ship may in fact be a weather balloon instead. It does not take great leaps in logic or vast knowledge to make such a statement, and so it’s a much stronger hypothesis, simply because it’s a more likely, albeit mundane, explanation.
Getty Images
Four brightly glowing, unidentified objects appeared in the sky at 9:35 a.m. on July 15, 1952 over a parking lot.
Lastly, intelligent aliens make for a poor scientific hypothesis because the idea of intelligent aliens could explain virtually any mysterious phenomenon. When scientists come across a new situation and want to explain it, they can’t just make up supernatural stories. They are forced to explain the situation in terms of rules of the natural world: forces, energies, particles, and so on.
Because aliens could explain everything, they end up explaining nothing. Aliens on Earth are not a useful scientific hypothesis, because it doesn’t help us dig deeper into the workings of nature. Instead, aliens bring up more questions than they answer, making our scientific lives more complicated, which is the opposite of what we try to do in science.
The Bottom Line
Speaking personally, I think there are aliens out there in the universe. There are likely many intelligent civilizations living in parallel to ours, since it’s a big universe, after all. But there is no substantial evidence they have visited Earth.
Simultaneously, I can’t explain some of the observed UAP phenomena. These two statements are not in contradiction—“I don’t know” and “that’s not a good hypothesis, therefore I don’t have to believe it” both speak to the spirit of scientific curiosity. This spirit moves us to explore the universe around us and let our imaginations run free … but to let the evidence ultimately decide what we should believe in.
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The province of Al-Ula in Saudi Arabia has attracted the attention of the global astronomical community. A photograph of the night sky above this region was selected by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as its “Astronomy Picture of the Day.” All because the astrophotographer managed to capture a brightgreen meteoragainst the backdrop of the Pleiades star cluster. The photograph, taken with a one-hour exposure, is not only visually stunning, but also confirms Al-Ula’s status as one of the most attractive places on the planet for stargazing.
“Meteor and Star Cluster.” Authors: Yousif Alqasimi & Essa Al Jasmi / NASA
Perfect sky for astronomy
Why Al-Ula? The answer lies in the region’s crystal clear, dark skies. Thanks to the almost complete absence of light pollution, it is rated among the top 5% of places in the world for astronomical observations. This unique status was officially confirmed by DarkSky International, which awarded the prestigious Dark Sky certificate to two sites in the province: the ancient archaeological complex of Hegra, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the Gharameel Nature Reserve. This makes Makkah Region the destination for astrophotographers and stargazers from around the world.
The Pleiades in a Hubble Space Telescope image
The author named the photograph “The Meteor and the Star Cluster.” For the first time in history, NASA has highlighted the work carried out in Al-Ula. This achievement was made possible thanks to the efforts of Manarat AlUla, an organization that is working hard to ensure a night sky free of light pollution and to develop the region as a global center for space research and astro-tourism. NASA’s choice highlights not only the incredible beauty of this corner of Saudi Arabia for those who seek to glimpse the deepest secrets of the universe.
nterdimensional Beings of Pure Light and Energy – The Potential Truth Behind the Alien Mysteries
Interdimensional Beings of Pure Light and Energy – The Potential Truth Behind the Alien Mysteries
Abstract
The phenomenon of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and claims of encounters with extraterrestrial beings have persisted across cultures and centuries. Traditional explanations have centered on extraterrestrial origin within our three-dimensional universe; however, recent developments in physics suggest the possible existence of higher dimensions and interdimensional entities. This dissertation explores the hypothesis that some reported encounters with "aliens" may, in fact, be interactions with beings existing outside our conventional spacetime, composed of light and energy, and operating within interdimensional realms. Drawing from quantum physics, string theory, and consciousness studies, this work aims to evaluate the scientific plausibility of such entities and their potential role in the broader understanding of UFO phenomena.
Introduction
The enigma of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and alleged extraterrestrial encounters has captivated human imagination for centuries. From ancient cave paintings and folklore to modern-day conspiracy theories, the belief that some visitors from beyond our planet—or even beyond our known universe—may be visiting Earth endures. These phenomena have sparked curiosity, fear, and speculation across cultures and generations. Conventional scientific approaches have largely attributed UFO sightings to atmospheric phenomena, psychological factors, or technological anomalies, such as misidentifications of natural objects, optical illusions, or experimental aircraft. Despite these explanations, numerous reports continue to challenge these rationalizations, describing encounters with beings that are luminous, energy-based, and capable of defying known physical laws.
Over the years, witnesses and researchers have documented sightings of entities that seem to lack physical solidity, instead appearing as glowing lights or energy forms that can move instantaneously or through seemingly impossible means. These descriptions often conflict with conventional understanding of matter and physics, prompting many to seek alternative explanations. Recent advances in physics, particularly in the realms of higher-dimensional theories, quantum mechanics, and the nature of consciousness, have opened intriguing new avenues for interpreting these phenomena. Some scientists and theorists propose that these entities could be manifestations of beings existing outside our familiar four-dimensional spacetime, perhaps in higher dimensions or as pure energy forms.
The concept of interdimensional beings—entities existing in dimensions beyond human perception—provides a compelling framework that aligns with many of the anomalous reports associated with UFO encounters. Such beings could potentially appear as luminous, energy-based entities that can traverse space and time in ways that defy our understanding of physics. This dissertation aims to explore whether these beings could be interpreted as higher-dimensional entities, composed of pure light and energy, capable of manifesting in our dimension under certain conditions. By examining scientific theories and evidence, this study seeks to evaluate the plausibility of these interpretations and contribute to the ongoing discourse surrounding UFO phenomena and the possibility of extraterrestrial or interdimensional life.
Theoretical Foundations
Higher Dimensions in Physics The concept of extra dimensions has a long-standing history in physics, dating back to the early 20th century with the pioneering work of Theodor Kaluza and Oskar Klein. Their aim was to unify gravity and electromagnetism by proposing an additional spatial dimension beyond the familiar three. In modern physics, this idea has evolved significantly, especially within the framework of string theory and M-theory. These theories suggest that our universe may contain up to 11 dimensions—comprising the familiar four (three spatial dimensions plus time) and several additional compactified dimensions that are curled up at scales too small to detect directly. These extra dimensions are thought to be compactified into complex shapes such as Calabi-Yau manifolds, rendering them imperceptible at our macroscopic scale. Nonetheless, their existence could have profound implications for understanding the fundamental forces and particles. Theories involving higher dimensions also imply that phenomena outside our perceptual capacity—such as interdimensional beings or entities—could exist and possibly influence our universe in subtle ways. These beings might interact with us through phenomena that are currently considered anomalous or unexplained by conventional physics, hinting at a reality richer and more complex than our immediate perception.
Quantum Mechanics and Nonlocality Quantum mechanics introduces a radically different perspective on the nature of reality, particularly through the phenomenon of nonlocality. Quantum entanglement, where particles become correlated such that the state of one instantly influences the state of another regardless of the distance separating them, challenges classical notions of locality and causality. Some interpret entanglement as evidence of an underlying interconnectedness that transcends the limitations of spacetime as described by classical physics. This interconnectedness could imply the existence of hidden dimensions or a deeper level of reality where information and influence can travel instantaneously. Such perspectives open the possibility that interactions with entities existing in higher or alternate dimensions might be facilitated through nonlocal quantum processes. If entangled particles can influence each other across vast distances instantaneously, then perhaps consciousness or other phenomena could similarly operate across higher-dimensional realms, enabling contact or interaction with beings that exist outside our conventional understanding of space and time.
Consciousness and the Observer Effect The role of consciousness in shaping reality is a topic of ongoing debate and investigation. Certain interpretations of quantum mechanics suggest that observation or awareness plays a fundamental role in the manifestation of physical phenomena—a concept often referred to as the observer effect. Some hypotheses propose that consciousness itself could serve as a bridge between different dimensions, enabling interaction with entities or realms beyond our physical universe. This idea is supported by anecdotal reports of luminous, energy-based beings, such as spirits or interdimensional entities, which some believe are manifestations of consciousness operating across dimensional boundaries. These reports often describe entities that appear to be composed of pure energy or light, and they seem to interact with individuals in ways that defy conventional physical explanations. Such phenomena could reflect the influence of consciousness extending beyond traditional physical limits, potentially opening portals or gateways to higher or alternate dimensions. While these ideas remain speculative and are not yet scientifically validated, they suggest intriguing possibilities about the interconnectedness of consciousness and the fabric of reality itself.
In summary, the theoretical frameworks involving higher dimensions, quantum nonlocality, and consciousness provide a multifaceted foundation for exploring the existence and interaction with interdimensional entities. While these ideas are still largely speculative and require further scientific validation, they open fascinating avenues for understanding the deeper nature of reality and the potential for entities that exist beyond our immediate perceptual horizon.
Empirical Evidence and Reports of Interdimensional Entities
UFO Encounters and Luminous Entities Many credible witnesses across different regions and backgrounds have reported encounters with beings that are described as luminous or radiant. These entities often manifest as pure light, energy forms, or glowing apparitions that defy conventional understanding. Witnesses frequently describe these luminous entities as appearing suddenly, sometimes materializing out of thin air, and disappearing just as swiftly. Their behaviors include levitation, non-material presence, and movements that appear to transcend physical laws, such as instantaneous travel or hovering without any visible means of support. Some reports also mention interactions where these entities seem to communicate through light patterns or electromagnetic signals, further complicating their classification within known biological or technological frameworks. The consistency of such reports from diverse sources lends credibility to their authenticity, prompting researchers to consider the possibility that these luminous beings are manifestations from an interdimensional realm or a higher vibrational plane.
Historical and Cultural Parallels Throughout history, numerous cultures and religions have documented encounters with beings of pure light. For example, angels in Judeo-Christian traditions, devas in Eastern philosophies, and spirits in indigenous cultures often share visual and behavioral similarities with modern reports of energy-based entities. These historical accounts describe luminous beings that serve as messengers, guides, or divine entities, reinforcing the idea that such phenomena are not merely modern inventions but are rooted in a universal archetype. The recurring theme of radiant, non-material entities across different eras and civilizations suggests that these experiences could be reflections of a reality that extends beyond the physical universe. Many researchers propose that these entities might be interdimensional travelers or entities existing in a realm parallel to our own, accessible under certain conditions or through specific states of consciousness.
Photographic and Video Evidence While photographic and video documentation of luminous entities is often met with skepticism, some instances challenge conventional explanations. Certain images and recordings display entities emitting bright light or energy fields that appear to interact with their environment in ways inconsistent with known technology or biological beings. Advanced analysis tools, such as spectral analysis and digital forensics, sometimes reveal that these luminous figures lack a solid physical structure, indicating their non-material or energetic nature. In some cases, the entities seem to manipulate electromagnetic fields or produce anomalous light phenomena that cannot be easily replicated by human technology. Although definitive proof remains elusive, such visual evidence continues to intrigue researchers and enthusiasts alike, fueling debates about the true nature of these luminous beings and their possible interdimensional origins.
In conclusion, the collective empirical reports, historical parallels, and visual evidence all suggest that luminous, energy-based entities are a real phenomenon that warrants further scientific investigation. Whether these beings are interdimensional travelers, spiritual entities, or manifestations of higher consciousness, their existence challenges our current understanding of reality and opens new avenues for exploring the nature of existence beyond the physical realm.
Scientific Plausibility of Interdimensional Beings
Light and Energy as Fundamental Components
According to electromagnetic theory, light is a fundamental form of energy that exhibits both wave-like and particle-like properties, the latter in the form of photons. Photons are massless particles that travel at the speed of light, and they serve as the basic quanta of electromagnetic radiation. If entities exist purely as energy or light, they could, in theory, bypass many of the physical limitations that constrain matter. Such entities would not be bound by the same physical laws as solid objects, such as friction or matter resistance, which could explain reports of rapid, non-material movement. These beings might manifest as luminous apparitions or flashes of light, consistent with descriptions of spirits or interdimensional visitors in various cultural narratives. The concept of light-based entities aligns with certain interpretations of quantum field theory, which postulates that energy fields permeate all space and could, under specific conditions, give rise to localized phenomena that appear as conscious entities. Moreover, if these beings are composed of energy that can interact with electromagnetic fields, they could potentially influence or be influenced by electromagnetic signals, opening pathways for scientific investigation into their existence.
Interdimensional Travel and Interaction
Theoretical physics offers intriguing possibilities for the existence of higher dimensions beyond our familiar three-dimensional space and one dimension of time. String theory, for example, posits that additional spatial dimensions—possibly up to eleven—could exist but are compactified or hidden at scales beyond our current observational capabilities. If beings inhabit these higher dimensions, their interactions with our universe could occur via phenomena such as wormholes—hypothetical tunnels through spacetime that connect distant points or different dimensions—or through quantum tunneling, where particles or entities bypass energy barriers due to quantum effects. Such interactions might produce observable effects that appear inexplicable within our current understanding of physics, such as sudden appearances or disappearances, or luminous phenomena that defy conventional explanation. These higher-dimensional entities could influence our reality indirectly, perhaps by modulating electromagnetic or gravitational fields, resulting in phenomena that are perceived as ghostly or interdimensional encounters. Scientific models exploring these interactions suggest that if such beings exist, their modes of travel and communication would be vastly different from our conventional understanding, involving complex geometries of spacetime and quantum mechanics.
Limitations and Challenges
Despite the intriguing theoretical frameworks supporting the possibility of interdimensional beings, empirical evidence remains elusive. Current scientific methods lack the technological capacity to detect or measure entities that may exist in higher dimensions or as pure energy forms outside our observable universe. Many phenomena attributed to interdimensional or spiritual entities could have alternative explanations rooted in psychology, such as hallucinations, sleep paralysis, or cognitive biases. Others might stem from undiscovered physical processes, including unknown particles or forces that could explain luminous phenomena. Additionally, the subjective nature of many reports complicates scientific validation; eyewitness accounts are prone to errors, misinterpretations, and cultural influences. The challenge lies in developing experimental methodologies capable of testing hypotheses about higher dimensions or energy-based beings, which often operate outside the scope of current physics. Moreover, the lack of reproducible, measurable evidence makes it difficult to establish scientific consensus on the existence of interdimensional entities. Consequently, while theoretical physics provides a plausible foundation for their existence, the scientific community remains cautious, emphasizing the need for rigorous evidence before accepting such extraordinary claims into the realm of validated scientific knowledge.
In summary, the scientific plausibility of interdimensional beings hinges on the understanding of light, energy, and higher-dimensional physics. While current theories suggest that such entities could, in principle, exist and manifest through luminous phenomena or non-material movement, substantial empirical evidence is still lacking. Advances in physics and technology may, in the future, shed light on these mysterious phenomena, but for now, they remain within the realm of theoretical possibility and scientific curiosity.
Implications for Ufology and Scientific Inquiry
Reconceptualizing UFO Phenomena
Traditionally, UFO encounters have been viewed through the lens of extraterrestrial visitation—alien crafts arriving from distant planets within our universe. However, emerging theories suggest that some UFO phenomena might involve interdimensional entities, which fundamentally shifts our understanding of these encounters. If certain UFO sightings and experiences are indeed manifestations of beings from other dimensions or realities beyond our familiar universe, then the paradigm must expand from a purely extraterrestrial framework to encompass a multiversal perspective. This broader outlook invites a reevaluation of the nature of reality itself, suggesting that our universe may be just one of many interconnected dimensions or realms.
This reconceptualization has profound implications for ufology, prompting researchers to consider alternative explanations for phenomena that do not fit conventional models. It encourages multidisciplinary research integrating physics—particularly theories related to higher dimensions and multiverses—along with consciousness studies, to explore how these entities might interact with our reality. Anthropology and cultural studies can also offer insights into how different societies interpret and mythologize such encounters, potentially uncovering shared symbolic frameworks or collective subconscious influences. Embracing a multidimensional perspective necessitates an openness to novel hypotheses, rigorous investigation, and the development of new methodologies capable of detecting or measuring interdimensional phenomena.
Potential for New Physics
Investigating the existence and nature of interdimensional beings could revolutionize our understanding of fundamental physics. Currently, our models of spacetime are grounded in Einstein's theory of general relativity, which describes gravity and the fabric of our universe. However, the existence of entities operating across different dimensions might require modifications or extensions to these theories. For example, understanding how such beings might traverse or communicate across dimensions could shed light on the nature of consciousness, energy, and spacetime itself.
This line of inquiry could lead to groundbreaking technological advancements. If we could unlock the mechanisms enabling interdimensional travel or communication, it might pave the way for revolutionary technologies—such as devices capable of detecting or even interacting with higher-dimensional realms. Such breakthroughs could have profound implications not only for scientific research but also for practical applications in communication, transportation, and information transfer. Moreover, exploring these phenomena may challenge and expand our current understanding of the laws of physics, potentially leading to the discovery of new particles, forces, or principles that govern the multiversal structure.
Challenges and Future Directions
Despite the intriguing possibilities, scientific skepticism remains a crucial component in the investigation of interdimensional UFO phenomena. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and currently, the evidence for interdimensional entities remains largely anecdotal or based on unverified reports. Developing rigorous, reproducible experiments is essential to move beyond speculation and establish empirical foundations for these phenomena.
Technological advancements will play a pivotal role in future research. Instruments capable of detecting subtle anomalies in spacetime, electromagnetic fields, or consciousness states could provide valuable data. For instance, advancements in quantum sensing, high-energy physics, and neurotechnology might enable scientists to observe phenomena indicative of interdimensional interactions.
Collaboration across disciplines is necessary to approach these complex issues comprehensively. Physicists, psychologists, neuroscientists, and anthropologists must work together to interpret data, design experiments, and develop theories. Psychological and cultural factors should also be considered, as human perception and cultural narratives can influence accounts of UFO encounters. Addressing biases and ensuring scientific rigor will help distinguish genuine phenomena from illusions or misinterpretations.
Looking ahead, the path forward involves a combination of open-minded inquiry and stringent scientific methodology. Building international research initiatives, sharing data openly, and fostering interdisciplinary dialogue are crucial steps. As our technological capabilities grow, so too will our capacity to test hypotheses related to interdimensionality. Ultimately, embracing the possibility that UFO phenomena might involve entities beyond our current understanding could catalyze a new era of scientific discovery—one that challenges and potentially transforms our comprehension of the universe and our place within it.
Conclusion
The hypothesis that some alien encounters are interactions with interdimensional beings composed of pure light and energy presents a compelling, if speculative, avenue for scientific exploration. While current empirical evidence remains limited and often ambiguous, this perspective aligns with emerging theories in physics, consciousness studies, and historical accounts of extraordinary experiences. The idea that these entities could originate from higher dimensions or alternate realities challenges traditional notions of extraterrestrial life confined to physical, three-dimensional space. Instead, it suggests that consciousness and energy might play a fundamental role in bridging different planes of existence.
Recent developments in quantum physics, such as the multiverse theory and the concept of parallel dimensions, provide a scientific basis for hypothesizing the existence of entities beyond our perceptual limitations (Kaku, 2014). Furthermore, research into altered states of consciousness, including near-death experiences and mystical encounters, often describes interactions with luminous beings or entities that resemble interdimensional visitors (Greyson, 2000). These accounts, although subjective, are supported by neurological and psychological studies indicating that consciousness may extend beyond physical brain processes (Tart, 2009).
Additionally, historical and cultural records worldwide describe encounters with luminous, energy-based beings, suggesting a perennial human recognition of non-material entities (Lévi-Strauss, 1963). Modern sightings and abduction reports often include descriptions of entities made of light or energy, which could be indicative of interactions with interdimensional phenomena (Hynek, 1972). From a scientific perspective, the interface between consciousness, energy, and higher dimensions warrants further exploration using interdisciplinary approaches, including physics, neuroscience, and anthropology.
Embracing this broader understanding could revolutionize our comprehension of the universe, consciousness, and the fundamental nature of reality itself. It opens new pathways for research into the fabric of existence, potentially leading to groundbreaking discoveries that transcend traditional scientific boundaries. While speculative, this hypothesis invites a paradigm shift that could ultimately unify various fields of knowledge, expanding our understanding of what it means to be conscious and connected within a vast, multidimensional cosmos.
ELEMENTS OF STUDY:
The integration of physics and consciousness studies offers promising avenues for understanding unidentified phenomena.
Quantum theories support the existence of multiple dimensions that could host interdimensional beings.
Historical accounts provide valuable qualitative data that can guide scientific hypotheses.
The nature of light and energy is central to understanding these proposed beings.
Cultural stories reflect a universal human tendency to interpret luminous encounters.
Advances in neurophysics suggest consciousness may operate beyond physical confines.
Empirical evidence remains limited, highlighting the need for innovative research methods.
Interdisciplinary collaboration can bridge gaps between science and experiential reports.
Revisiting traditional scientific paradigms may be necessary to accommodate these phenomena.
Recognizing the potential reality of interdimensional beings could have profound philosophical implications.
The pursuit of this research aligns with humanity’s innate curiosity about the universe.
Ultimately, expanding our scientific frameworks could unlock new dimensions of understanding about existence itself.
References:
Greyson, B. (2000). Near-death experiences. In E. Cardeña, S. J. Lynn, & S. J. Krippner (Eds.), Varieties of Anomalous Experience: Examining the Scientific Evidence (pp. 315-352). American Psychological Association.
Hynek, J. A. (1972). The UFO Experience: A Scientific Inquiry. Henry Regnery Company.
Kaku, M. (2014). The Future of the Mind: The Scientific Quest to Understand, Enhance, and Expand Our Consciousness. Doubleday.
Lévi-Strauss, C. (1963). Structural Anthropology. Basic Books.
Tart, C. T. (2009). The End of Materialism: How Evidence of the Paranormal Is Bringing Science and Spirit Together. New Harbinger Publications.
Onschatbaar onderzoek begint eindelijk antwoorden te onthullen over het mysterie van een oude schedel
(Afbeelding: Wikimedia Commons/ Nadina)
Al in de jaren 60 ontdekten wetenschappers per toeval een vrijwel complete schedel in een grot in Griekenland. Sindsdien is het ding een groot mysterie. Maar eindelijk is er meer duidelijk over de leeftijd ervan.
Op twee vlakken stelt de schedel, die gevonden is in de Petralonagrot, wetenschappers voor een raadsel. Ten eerste: met wat voor mensachtige hebben we hier te maken? Het fossiel verschilt behoorlijk van zowel neanderthalers als moderne mensen. Ten tweede was tot op de dag van vandaag onbekend hoe oud de schedel is. Eerdere schattingen liepen uiteen van ongeveer 170.000 tot 700.000 jaar.
Maar over dat laatste is nu meer duidelijk geworden door middel van nieuwe zogenoemde U-serie-dateringen, die zijn uitgevoerd op het calciet dat op de schedel groeide. Daaruit blijkt dat het hoofd minimaal 286.000 jaar oud is.
Wat is U-serie-datering? De U-serie-datering maakt gebruik van de natuurlijke eigenschappen van uraniumisotopen. Uranium vervalt met een vaste halfwaardetijd tot thorium. Door de verhouding tussen uranium en thorium te meten, kun je berekenen wanneer dit proces begon en zo een nauwkeurige datum vaststellen.
In bodemlagen worden voortdurend uraniumisotopen afgezet door omgevingsfactoren, waardoor de U-seriemethode daar niet bruikbaar is: de grond bevat immers een mengsel van isotopen die allemaal hun eigen ‘klok’ hebben.
Dit gesteente is bedekt met jongere lagen, waarvan de jongste gedateerd is op 228.000 jaar. Foto: Journal of Human Evolution
De omstandigheden in een grot Maar in een grot verandert dat. Vocht dat door de bodem sijpelt, neemt wateroplosbare mineralen, waaronder uranium, mee, maar laat het thorium achter. Wanneer dit vocht zich ophoopt op een grotmuur en verdampt, blijven sporen van mineralen en uraniumisotopen achter zonder thorium. Zo vormt zich een korstachtige afzetting. Binnen die afzetting vervalt uranium verder tot thorium, maar nu in een afgesloten systeem. Elke laag krijgt daarmee een eigen startpunt dat exact te dateren is.
U-serie-datering analyseert vervolgens de uranium-thoriumverhoudingen in de binnenste lagen om vast te stellen wanneer die voor het eerst gevormd zijn. Dit levert een minimale leeftijd op voor alles wat eronder ligt.
Calciet Voor het onderzoek zijn monsters genomen van de calcietlaag die de schedel bedekte, maar ook van stalagmieten, stalactieten en calcietafzettingen in verschillende delen van de grot: de Mausoleumkamer, waar de schedel naar verluidt aan een wand vastzat, de gang ernaartoe en andere secties. Calciet is een mineraal dat voornamelijk uit het zout calciumcarbonaat bestaat. Het is een van de meest voorkomende mineralen in de aardkorst.
De resultaten van de metingen van de calcietkorst op de schedel geven een minimale leeftijd van 286.000 ± 9.000 jaar. Als de schedel aanvankelijk droog of afgedekt bleef, kan hij nog veel langer in de grot hebben gelegen, want de methode kan alleen dateren vanaf het moment dat calciet begon te vormen door blootstelling aan vocht en verdamping. Voor een maximumleeftijd wordt gekeken naar de ouderdom van andere grotelementen.
Primitieve groep Dateringen van de stalagmietlaag in de Mausoleumkamer leverden een leeftijd op van 510.000 ± 29.000 jaar bovenaan en een minimum van 650.000 jaar van binnen, wat aangeeft dat de bedekking van de schedel veel later begon dan de vorming van de grot zelf.
Op basis van hun bevindingen concluderen de onderzoekers nog iets anders interessants: de mensachtige in de Petralonagrot was geen Homo sapiens en ook geen neanderthaler. Hij maakte deel uit van een aparte, primitievere groep. Het idee dat er nog een andere mensachtige zich in die tijd in Europa ontwikkelde naast de neanderthalerlijn is niet nieuw. De nieuwe resultaten zijn hier een bevestiging van.
De Petralonagrot De Petralonagrotten zijn een grote bezienswaardigheid in Griekenland. Ze zijn te vinden op schiereiland Chalkidiki, zo’n 50 kilometer van Thessaloniki. Het enorme complex is in 1959 per toeval ontdekt. En wat een vondst: het hele gebied is zo’n 10.000 m2 groot. Op 300 meter hoogte vind je specifiek de Petralonagrot, waar met de Petralonaschedel de oudste menselijke resten van Griekenland zijn gevonden.
Why are alien visits and UFO sightings highest in America? Explosive truth revealed in new report
Why are alien visits and UFO sightings highest in America? Explosive truth revealed in new report
Synopsis
A new Pentagon-backed report by the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) has revealed that many UFO sightings in the United States were not evidence of alien activity but part of deliberate military disinformation efforts. During the Cold War, the U.S. government planted UFO conspiracy theories, particularly around sites like Area 51, to conceal classified weapons testing. The report explains that some military officers were even shown fa ..
Report Reveals Why UFO Sightings Are Most Common in the US.
For decades, the United States has been at the center of the global UFO debate, with more sightings reported within its borders than anywhere else in the world. According to the National UFO Reporting Center, the country has recorded over 105,000 UFO encounters since 1947. While the recent data from 2025 shows the U.K. slightly ahead in annual sightings, the U.S. continues to dominate in long-term numbers. This overwhelming volume has puzzled both skeptics and believers — until now.
A recently released report by the Pentagon-backed All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) has shed light on why so many of these incidents are reported in America. The findings suggest the phenomena may have less to do with extraterrestrial activity and more with human-made disinformation.
Role of the Pentagon
AARO, which was set up in 2022, has been investigating Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs) across various domains. The team, led by Sean Kirkpatrick, reviewed military records dating back to the 1940s and interviewed numerous current and former military officials.
One of the key revelations was that several UFO conspiracy theories — including those related to the infamous Area 51 — were deliberately planted by the U.S. military. These deceptions, often involving altered images and false briefings, were used as a cover for secret weapons testing during the Cold War. The Wall Street Journal reported that this strategy was not centralized, making it difficult to track how widespread the disinformation actually was.
Hazing and Hoaxes: The Secret of 'Yankee Blue'
Part of the conspiracy involved a classified military induction prank. Newly appointed Air Force commanders were reportedly shown fake documents and images claiming the existence of a program called “Yankee Blue,” which allegedly reverse-engineered alien spacecraft. Officers were instructed to never discuss the program again. Many believed in it for years — some never learning that it was all fabricated.
The report detailed that one retired colonel, acting under official orders, gave forged UFO photos to a Nevada bar owner near Area 51 to stir public speculation. The ploy worked, creating a smokescreen that helped protect the secrecy of the F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter jet and other advanced technologies being tested at the time.
UFO Sightings: Misidentifications and Media Influence
The AARO report also addressed numerous recent and historical sightings. Many of the so-called UFOs were found to be balloons, birds, drones, or reflections from Starlink satellites. In one significant case, a former Air Force captain claimed he witnessed a UFO interfering with nuclear missiles. Investigators later concluded that the event was actually part of a secret electromagnetic pulse test — a detail kept from him to preserv ..
In March 2024, AARO publicly confirmed there was no verified evidence of alien life or recovered extraterrestrial materials. The report attributed the rise in sightings to misidentified military operations and a surge in pop culture portrayals of aliens, which have influenced public perception.
Despite the official stance, many within the military still claim to have witnessed unexplained aerial phenomena. Former Navy pilot Ryan Graves described an object flying between two jets, appearing as a “dark gray or black cube inside of a clear sphere.” AARO continues to receive between 50 and 100 new sighting reports each month, and while most are now swiftly explained, a few remain unresolved.
The Department of Defense has committed to releasing a second volume of its historical findings, which is expected to further address misleading briefings, inauthentic materials, and reports of deliberate pranks.
Area 51 secret revealed: NASA scientist answers what the mysterious restricted land is actually used for: 'I could tell you, but...'
Area 51 secret revealed: NASA scientist answers what the mysterious restricted land is actually used for: 'I could tell you, but...'
Synopsis
A new WIRED interview has shed light on the enduring mystery of Area 51. NASA astrobiologist David Grinspoon clarified that the Nevada base is used to test experimental military aircraft, not alien spacecraft. Despite official statements, speculation persists, fueled by recent wildfires and decades of secrecy. Acknowledged by the CIA only in 2013, the site remains a cultural symbol of UFO folklore, while the real search for extraterrestrial life ..
Area 51 is a place of mystery. It is located in Nevada's desert. A NASA scientist says it is a testing ground for military aircraft. It was once hidden from the public. Conspiracy theories link it to aliens. A recent fire near the facility sparked new rumors. (Iamge: iStock)
Few places on Earth stir as much speculation as Area 51. Tucked away in Nevada’s desert, this highly classified U.S. Air Force facility has long been the centerpiece of alien folklore, conspiracy theories, and Hollywood scripts. Since its establishment in 1955, the base remained hidden from public consciousness until 1989, when whistleblower Robert Lazar claimed he had worked there on alien spacecraft.
For decades, many have wondered whether UFOs or extraterrestrial experiments were truly part of its operations. Now, a NASA scientist has given perhaps the clearest answer yet.
“I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you”
In an interview withWIRED, David Grinspoon, Senior Scientist for Astrobiology Strategy at NASA, addressed the burning question directly. Joking first with the classic quip, “Well, I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you,” Grinspoon quickly clarified: “Area 51 is a place where experimental military aircraft are tested. This is common knowledge, and that’s all I know, and I’ve seen no evidence that it’s anything else,” he said.
His matter-of-fact response cuts through decades of speculation, pointing instead to the base’s original purpose: a testing ground for advanced aviation, from the Cold War era U-2 spy planes to modern experimental technology.
Fire, folklore, and flying saucers
Despite official statements, Area 51 continues to fuel imagination. Just last month, a massive blaze known as the Gothic Fire scorched more than 30,000 acres near the facility after a lightning strike. The smoke plumes, captured on livestream, triggered a fresh wave of online chatter linking the fire to UFO cover-ups.
Social media platforms lit up with tongue-in-cheek reactions. One Redditor quipped, “I bet someone was microwaving fish and the aliens had enough of the smell,” while another suggested the truly valuable assets were safe underground, untouched by wildfire.
Why the fascination endures
Part of the allure is the secrecy itself. Area 51 was only officially acknowledged by the CIA in 2013, after a Freedom of Information Act request. Even today, its activities are classified as Top Secret, which makes the lack of concrete details fertile ground for speculation.
The surrounding region has leaned into its reputation, with Nevada’s “Extraterrestrial Highway” and the nearby town of Rachel drawing tourists eager for a brush with mystery.
Beyond Area 51: The bigger cosmic question
Interestingly, Grinspoon’s conversation withWIREDalso touched on the Fermi Paradox — the puzzle of why, in a galaxy so vast, humanity has yet to find evidence of other civilizations. As he explained, our search has barely scratched the surface: “If the Universe is an ocean, we’ve basically searched a teacup full of water.”
So while Area 51 may not be hiding alien spacecraft, the search for extraterrestrial life continues on a much grander stage.
The answer, it turns out, is far less otherworldly but no less intriguing: Area 51 is not a UFO vault but a test bed for cutting-edge military aviation. Yet the mix of government secrecy, desert isolation, and cultural myth-making ensures it will remain an icon of mystery — even if the aliens are, for now, still out there.
Astronomers have been given the rare opportunity to study an extrasolar object after the recent discovery of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS. Experts tell Live Science how they are planning to observe the cosmic visitor.
Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS will blaze through our solar system for the rest of the year before zooming away forever.
(Image credit: ESA/Las Cumbres Observatory)
The astronomical community is abuzz over a newly discovered "interstellar object," only the third of its kind ever seen, which is currently shooting toward us on a one-way trip through thesolar system.
The race is now on to study the alien interloper, named 3I/ATLAS, before it leaves forever.
"We only have one shot at this object and then it's gone forever," Darryl Seligman, an astronomer at Michigan State University and the lead author of a new paper about the object, told Live Science. "So we want as much information from all of our observatories as we can possibly get."
Experts say studying 3I/ATLAS could potentially tell us about alien star systems and how exoplanets form — and we may even be able to trace it back to its origins.
Initial discovery
3I/ATLAS (previously dubbed A11pl3Z) has a high speed and extremely flat trajectory, which is it what first hinted it was interstellar object. (Image credit: David Rankin/Catalina Sky Survey)
3I/ATLAS was discovered on July 1 from data collected by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) and immediately piqued researchers' interests due to its trajectory and extreme speed, which exceeds 130,000 mph (210,000 km/h). Within 24 hours of its discovery, NASA had confirmed that it was an interstellar object.
A day later (July 3), a group of more than 40 astronomers, led by Seligman, had uploaded the first paper describing the extrasolar entity to the preprint database arXiv. All data so far indicates that 3I/ATLAS is a large comet surrounded by a cloud of ice, dust and gas up to 15 miles (24 kilometers) across.
Prior to this discovery, only two other interstellar objects (ISOs) had been spotted: 1I/'Oumuamua, a space rock that was discovered in 2017; and 2I/Borisov, a comet spotted in 2019. This makes the newly discovered comet particularly appealing to astronomers.
However, there is a limited window to study 3I/ATLAS. The comet, which is currently around 4.5 times farther from the sun than Earth, will reach its closest point to the sun, or perihelion, on Oct. 30, before beginning its journey out of the solar system, when it will get much harder to spot. It will also be out of view between late September and early December, when it is positioned on the opposite side of the sun to Earth.
Observing an interstellar visitor
Astronomers discovered the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS on July 1. This was one of the first photos of the object. (Image credit: ATLAS/University of Hawaii/NASA)
Over the next few weeks and months, researchers will attempt to use "any and all telescopes" they can to make observations of 3I/ATLAS, Sean Raymond, a planetary scientist at the University of Bordeaux in France, told Live Science in an email.
This will be especially true for observatories in the Southern Hemisphere, which will have a better view of the increasingly bright comet, Aster Taylor, a graduate student at the University of Michigan and co-author of the arXiv study, told Live Science in an email.
Experts are particularly excited about the possibility of imaging 3I/ATLAS with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory — the world's most powerful optical telescope, which recently released its first images. The observatory, located in Chile, has already proved to be adept at imaging never-before-seen asteroids and will undoubtedly target the interstellar comet when it comes fully online in a few months time.
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and Hubble Space Telescope, meanwhile, could help reveal the interloper's chemical composition because of their ability to study the object in multiple wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum Pedro Bernardinelli, a planetary scientist at the University of Washington's DiRAC Institute, told Live Science in an email.
Some researchers have also proposed using NASA's Mars rovers to snap pictures of the comet as it makes a close pass by the Red Planet a few weeks before it reaches perihelion. The robots have previously been used to spy on dangerous sunspots lurking on the sun's far side from Earth.
3I/ATLAS is currently racing towards the sun at more than 130,000 mph (210,000 km/h). (Image credit: Olivier Hainaut et al./European Southern Observatory)
Studying 3I/ATLAS provides a rare opportunity for us to glean insights into alien star systems and potential exoplanets.
"Interstellar objects are probably the leftovers of the formation of exoplanets," Raymond said. "Studying them can open a window into understanding other planetary systems' formation and evolution."
In this way, ISOs like 3I/ATLAS also "connects the solar system with its galactic environment," Amir Siraj, a doctoral candidate at Princeton University who has previously studied ISOs, told Live Science.
While it is still unclear where 3I/ATLAS came from, it's possible we can pinpoint its origins, especially if researchers can work out how old it is, Wes Fraser, an astronomer with National Research Council Canada, told Live Science in an email. And as the comet reaches perihelion, the amount of ice and other "volatile" substances that get burned off the interloper will help us narrow this down, Fraser added.
However, even then "we probably won't ever be able to pin it down to a single star system," Taylor argued.
The Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) aboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, snapped this image of the planetary nebula, catalogued as NGC 6302 and known as the Butterfly Nebula (Credit : NASA/ESA)
The Butterfly Nebula, officially known as NGC 6302, earned its name from its distinctive wing like lobes that spread in opposite directions from a central dusty band. This striking shape isn't just beautiful, it’s a natural laboratory where scientists can study the very processes that create the raw materials for rocky planets like Earth.
At the centre of this beautiful object lies one of the hottest known stellar cores in our Galaxy, blazing at 220,000 Kelvin. This ancient remnant of a Sun like star is surrounded by a doughnut shaped ring of dusty gas called a torus, which acts like a forge where planetary building blocks are born.
Test unit of the sunshield stacked and expanded at the Northrop Grumman facility in California, 2014
(Credit : Chris Gunn)
A recent study has revealed a wide variety of dust particles within this stellar graveyard. Most cosmic dust has a random, soot-like structure, but the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) revealed both crystalline dust grains that sparkle like tiny gemstones and irregular particles forming in more turbulent regions.
"We were able to see both cool gemstones formed in calm, long-lasting zones and fiery grime created in violent, fast-moving parts of space, all within a single object.”
- Dr. Mikako Matsuura from Cardiff University.
These dust particles are enormous by cosmic standards, about a millionth of a meter across which indicates they've been growing for extended periods. The torus contains crystalline silicates like quartz alongside more irregularly shaped grains, creating a diverse mixture of materials that could eventually become incorporated into forming planets.
The research also revealed fascinating chemical geography within the nebula. Different elements arrange themselves in layers based on how much energy they need to form ions. Iron and nickel trace distinctive jets blasting outward from the central star, while other elements settle at various distances depending on their energy requirements.
Perhaps most intriguingly though, the team discovered polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, complex carbon based molecules that form flat, ring like structures similar to honeycomb patterns. On Earth, we commonly find PAHs in campfire smoke, car exhaust, or burnt toast, but finding them in this oxygen rich environment was unexpected.
Meteorites like ALH840001 from Mars have revealed polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
(Credit : NASA)
The researchers suspect these PAHs form when stellar winds create "bubbles" that burst into surrounding gas. This may be the first ever evidence of PAHs forming in an oxygen rich planetary nebula, providing crucial insights into how these potential building blocks for life can form in space.
For years, scientists have debated how cosmic dust like this forms and grows in the harsh environment of space. The Butterfly Nebula offers a unique window into these processes because it contains both calm regions where crystalline dust can slowly form and violent areas where particles are rapidly created and destroyed. Understanding these processes helps scientists trace the journey from stellar death to planetary birth. These tiny particles eventually clump together through gravitational attraction, forming the asteroids, comets, and rocky planets that populate solar systems.
Beste bezoeker, Heb je zelf al ooit een vreemde waarneming gedaan, laat dit dan even weten via email aan Frederick Delaere opwww.ufomeldpunt.be. Deze onderzoekers behandelen jouw melding in volledige anonimiteit en met alle respect voor jouw privacy. Ze zijn kritisch, objectief maar open minded aangelegd en zullen jou steeds een verklaring geven voor jouw waarneming! DUS AARZEL NIET, ALS JE EEN ANTWOORD OP JOUW VRAGEN WENST, CONTACTEER FREDERICK. BIJ VOORBAAT DANK...
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Over mijzelf
Ik ben Pieter, en gebruik soms ook wel de schuilnaam Peter2011.
Ik ben een man en woon in Linter (België) en mijn beroep is Ik ben op rust..
Ik ben geboren op 18/10/1950 en ben nu dus 75 jaar jong.
Mijn hobby's zijn: Ufologie en andere esoterische onderwerpen.
Op deze blog vind je onder artikels, werk van mezelf. Mijn dank gaat ook naar André, Ingrid, Oliver, Paul, Vincent, Georges Filer en MUFON voor de bijdragen voor de verschillende categorieën...
Veel leesplezier en geef je mening over deze blog.
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