UFO Caught On Video Over Brownsville, Texas Increases Speculations Of Underwater Alien Base Nearby

A UFO was captured on video hovering over Brownsville, Texas, causing supposition that it could be from a nearby underwater base as it was reportedly floating over water, just off the Gulf of Mexico. The witness of the odd sighting reported it to the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON). He described the mysterious aerial thing as bright, oval shape moving slowly from left to right. The sighting took place when the witness was on his way back from a fishing trip.

The witness also noted in his report that a small object was trailing the big oval object, but that particular scene wasn’t captured on the video. The quality of the video may be poor and shaky, but it seems that’s all needed to start the discussion among UFO enthusiasts as to what the object might be and where it possibly originated.

Some conspiracy theorists suggest that the UFO may come from an underwater base nearby since it was first seen over the ocean.

Many claims have surfaced about the underwater UFO base off the coast of Cuba at Guantanamo Bay, near to where the strange object was spotted and filmed. A retired Marine reported early in March about his various UFO encounters just off the Cuban coast when he was stationed at the U.S. base in Cuba from 1968 to 1969. He recalled that those UFOs would surface out of the water or vanish into the waves of the Caribbean.

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

WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO CONVINCE PEOPLE THAT UFOs ARE IMPORTANT? 

Joseph Burkes MD 

UFO historian Richard Dolan has described the initial reaction of many people to his passionate involvement with the subject. They express interest, might even describe something they saw on TV concerning the phenomenon and then after a few minutes of his well informed explanations, their eyes gloss over and they are clearly bored. 

THE ROLE OF AUTHORITY FIGURES 

Yes it’s true; opinion polls indicate the public is interested in UFOs. Advertising executives have long known this, but the fascination is for most part quite superficial. Why is this? I suspect partly because of the massive denial of authority figures that say, “There is nothing to it.” 

After all, the world is so complex; we rely on authorities to put to use vast amounts of data to make what we hope are reasonable decisions. Most people have little understanding of the technological “miracles” that science has achieved, but they are grateful and trust the devices, like planes, autos and computers to work reliably. 

Needing to trust leaders I suspect might be built into our biology. For a million years before civilization was established, hunter-gatherers worked in small groups to survive. Shamans that could use primitive psi abilities combined with careful observations of nature played a decisive role. Leadership was a question of life and death and those clans that had the best leaders, the “shamen” and “sha-women” that knew how best to kill the animals or find the healing herbs and deliver the babies, played a critical role in survival. So most of us have a strong tendency to “follow the leader” and when this becomes extreme “We the People “become ”we the sheeple.” 

LINKING UFOs TO SOLUTIONS FOR MAJOR PROBLEMS 

For the UFO question to have a truly major impact on the mass consciousness it will need to be transformed from an entertaining diversion and become a way of addressing the seemingly insurmountable problems our planet is facing. This is already being attempted by those within the UFO community that discuss the possibility of downloading into our technological culture the secrets of the energy propulsion systems of flying saucers. So-called “free energy” in one fell swoop might eliminate poverty and pollution, thus possibly reversing global warming and ending world hunger. 

Of course in order for the so-called ETs to give us such devices they might understandably insist on a peaceful transformation of our planet to replace what UFOlogist Stanton Friedman has called our perpetual state of “tribal warfare.” This is going to be a hard sell when the mass media and academia in service to their corporate masters repeatedly insist, “There is nothing to it.” 

HE WHO PAYS THE PIPER CALLS THE TUNE 

From the control groups’ point of view, those of the clandestine forces determined to keep a lid on the UFO issue, an important strategy would be to recruit authority figures to block any significant discussion of flying saucers. Opinion makers who step out of line would find that their access to funding has been cut off. This is all done behind the scenes and is quite effective in my opinion. 

In the USA the National Academy of Sciences has made it perfectly clear that UFO studies are not part of the “legitimate” agenda for professional science. Scientists that step out of line will find themselves unable to secure grants thus ending their careers. 

In broadcast journalism, talk show hosts that might attempt to inform the public in a detailed way would likely find themselves without corporate sponsors. The major newspapers are controlled through their editorial boards that in turn are dependent on corporate sponsors to continue publishing. 

This analysis is not a conspiracy theory. I describe the way power works. In the former Soviet Union it was the political dictatorship of the Communist Party that attempted to regulate almost every aspect of people’s lives. That social experiment failed miserably. In the West however social control is far more sophisticated, decentralized and uses the knowledge of social psychology called “public relations” to effectively manipulate the masses. 

RESISTANCE TO CHANGE ALSO COMES FROM WITHIN 

On the individual level our tendency to identify with our thoughts leads to a profound attachments to old ideas. This resistance to changing one’s point of view flows from the ego itself. People strive to defend their religion, political ideology, or moral customs to the point where some would even kill to maintain them. Just look at the present situation in Syria, or at the millions killed centuries ago during the Protestant Reformation in Europe. 

Something similar in my opinion applies to acknowledging the high probability that the ET explanation for the flying saucer phenomenon is true. Such a realization threatens to radically change the conceptual paradigm of our entire civilization. Since humans so strongly identify with their present beliefs it is understandable that many reject such a brave new worldview in which we might have to accept an ET presence. 

UFO INTELLIGENCE HAS A TIGER BY THE TAIL. 

What about the intelligence responsible for flying saucers? Could “they” (whoever they ultimately turn out to be) simply fill the sky with structured craft? Or stage the proverbial “landing on the White House Lawn?” Such actions would certainly convince the masses that flying saucers are of the greatest importance. In my judgment this scenario is the least likely to ever take place. Given the militaristic mindset of our civilization, a sudden realization of the reality of UFOs could be catastrophic. My guess is that careful gradual efforts to alert us of their importance is the game plan of the intelligence responsible for the phenomenon and possibly within some elements of the establishment as well. 

So what will it take to change mass public opinion on the flying saucer question? If the alleged ETs continue the present pattern of interactions, millions of individual sightings yearly, interspersed with occasional massive waves, I imagine that there will be opportunities to slowly build public awareness by a responsible program of education. 

RESPONSIBLE PROGRAM OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 

This will require UFO enthusiasts to discipline the crazies in our midst, think creatively and most importantly of all build stable, well-financed organizations to carry out the educational campaign. All this will need to be done in the face of powerful opposition by corporate groups that have great experience in controlling public opinion, the economy and their political operatives that run governments. 

“TURNING PAGES IN A PLAY BOOK 

Can we trust UFO intelligence to follow what we imagine is their existing “game plan?” I suppose not. UFO researcher Michael Lindemann once said that we should never assume that we can think like the so-called “aliens.” Nevertheless the ever-changing pattern of interactions, as pointed out by UFO researcher Grant Cameron, appear to be as if the aliens are turning the pages of a “play book.” This can be seen as “Men in Black” in the 1960s, so called “abductions” in the 70s, crop circles in the 80s and continuous past and present mental interactions with millions of experiencers. Many of which are instilled with a sense of mission and are striving to convince their fellow Earthlings that we should look up and accept what our “lying eyes” are seeing. 

My guess is that UFO intelligence will present us with infinitely creative new ways of waking us up from our collective stupor concerning their “wonders in the sky.” I am of the opinion that their presence is non-harmful and very likely to be beneficial to mankind. Bringing others to this hopeful perspective I imagine is a challenge that UFO activists will continue to face for some time. 

About the author: Dr Burkes volunteered as a Working Group Coordinator for the CE-5 Initiative from 1992 till 1998. He has continued to study the flying saucer phenomenon working with MUFON and the Peruvian contact network now called Rahma. Dr Burkes retired from the Southern California Pemanente Group after thirty years service in 2008. He is a board certified internal medicine physician and is licensed to practice in California.

{ https://www.facebook.com/joseph.burkes }

What’s hidden in the Vatican Secret Archives?

Some believe it houses evidence of extraterrestrial life. Others, ancient texts that disprove the existence of Jesus. Perhaps dark truths that would discredit and destroy the Church?

 

A mistranslated Latin word may be responsible for the conspiracy theories about the Vatican Secret Archives. In fact, the actual contents can stand on their own without delving into the absurd.

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The archives, or Archivum Secretum Apostolicum Vaticanum, contains historical records chronicling intriguing historical events. Its contents, once plundered by Napoleon and moved to Paris, span 12 centuries.

 

There’s the document that began the Protestant reformations: Pope Leo X’s 1521 decree excommunicating Martin Luther.

 

 

A 1530 petition from 85 English clergymen and lords asks Pope Clement VII to annul King Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon. The seals of many of the signatories were affixed to the petition, each held in place by red ribbon. This is considered the source of the term “red tape.” Clement refused, of course, leading to the establishment of the Anglican Church.

 

Michelangelo penned a letter to the pope warning that Vatican guards hadn’t received paychecks in three months, and that they were threatening to walk off the job.

 

A year after Columbus landed in what became North America, Pope Alexander VI issued Inter Cetera, the 1493 papal bull that split the New World between Spain and Portugal.

 

There are letters from Abraham Lincoln as well as Jefferson Davis, who wrote to try to convince Pope Pius IX that the South was an innocent victim of Northern aggression. Neither man was Catholic.

 

 

The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, the notion that Mary was conceived without original sin, was articulated in 1854 on a piece of parchment that’s in the archives.

 

Famous Vatican trials were recorded with handwritten transcripts that are housed there, including cases against the Knights Templar in the early 14th century and astronomer Galileo Galilei in the 17th, who was tried by the Vatican for heresy and forced to spend the rest of his life under house arrest.

 

When Sweden’s Queen Christina abdicated in 1654, she converted to Catholicism from Lutheranism, moved to Rome, and today she is one of the few women buried in St. Peter’s Basilica. There’s a letter to the pope announcing her conversion.

 

 

Interesting, sure, but hardly the stuff of Dan Brown novels.

 

See photos of items in the Vatican’s archives here.

 

Secretum, the Vatican says, translates more accurately to “personal” than to “secret” and refers to the private letters and historical records of past popes. In fact, the archives haven’t been secret since 1881, when Pope Leo XIII opened them up to scholars.

 

Pope Paul V created the Secret Archives in 1612. Four hundred years later, the Vatican celebrated by making 100 items available for public viewing for the first time. The exhibit, Lux in Arcana, shed some light on the papal past and provided some color to events that shaped history.

 

David Kertzer spent years researching in the Secret Archives for his recent book, The Pope and Mussolini. He writes that Pope Pius XI, and his secretary of state, who became Pope Pius XII, made deals with Mussolini to protect the Church’s interest in exchange for silence on state-sponsored anti-Semitism, a conclusion at odds with the Church’s account.

 

“People talk, scholars talk. Are there things that aren’t being made available because they’re seen as unflattering from a Church point of view?” Kertzer, an anthropology professor at Brown University, said.

 

Still, Kertzer said, the Secret Archives are staffed by professionals, and “there’s an appreciation of serious historical scholarship.”

 

That’s not to say that the holdings are easily accessible.

 

Scholars enter through the Porta Sant’Anna, pass Swiss Guards, walk through the Cortile del Belvedere, and present credentials that must be renewed every 6 months. Journalists, students, and amateur historians aren’t welcome.

 

Once admitted, there’s no browsing. Instead, researchers request specific documents, using bulky catalogues, some handwritten in Italian or Latin. They can request up to three folders each day.

 

If in just a few minutes they realize that what they’re seeking isn’t in the requested folders, they’re forced to pack up for the day - a challenge for scholars on a deadline or those who have traveled long distances.

 

Computers are allowed, but photos aren’t, which means long sessions in the third-floor reading room typing notes.

 

What’s next?

 

The sitting pope decides when to expand the archives.

 

Pope Francis is considering when to open the full archives of Pope Pius XII, the man dubbed “Hitler’s Pope” by some, but whose cause for canonization is championed by Church traditionalists who say he hid Jews from the Nazis.

 

For the Vatican, mystery and palace intrigue come with the territory. But for a department whose official name includes the word secret, there is transparency around many items known to be housed there.

{ http://7tales.net/ }

Grondstation ESA ontvangt signaal van 1,44 miljard km ver uit de ruimte - HLN.be

 Bron: Belga

De grondantenne van het Europees Ruimtevaartbureau ESA in het Australische New Norcia ontving een ruimtesignaal van 1,44 miljard kilometer ver.

 © esa.net.

Een grondantenne van het Europees Ruimtevaartbureau ESA heeft een signaal ontvangen van de Amerikaanse Saturnus-verkenner Cassini. Dat is vandaag bekendgemaakt.

Het volgstation van New Norcia in Australië kreeg het signaal van 1,44 miljard km ver, meteen een afstandsrecord voor een ESA-station. De aan lichtsnelheid bewegende radiosignalen deden er 80 minuten over om die afstand te overbruggen.

De ontvangst kaderde in een serie tests om meerdere grondstations van ESA voor te bereiden op radio-experimenten van de Cassini die later dit jaar starten.

Het station van New Norcia herbergt een antenne met een diameter van 35 meter en die 630 ton weegt.

{ http://www.hln.be/ }

Wetenschappers vinden bewijs dat er leven mogelijk is op Titan - HLN.be

Bron: sciencechannel.com

© ap.

Wetenschappers hebben bewijs gevonden dat Titan - de grootste maan van Saturnus en de op één na grootste maan van ons zonnestelsel - de juiste samenstelling zou kunnen hebben om er leven mogelijk te maken.

Computermodellen tonen dat de waterstocyanide die bestaat op Titan de juiste chemische reacties zou kunnen uitlokken die nodig zijn om de warmte van de zon te absorberen. 

Titan heeft sowieso al een landschap dat sterk op dat van de aarde doet denken, compleet met meren en zeeën die bestaan uit water en ammoniak. Die worden bedekt door een laag ijs van koolwaterstof, een van de basiselementen van petroleum en aardgas. Ze zouden bewoonbaar kunnen zijn voor een heel nieuwe vorm van leven.  

Lees ook

1. Planeet met drie zonnen ontdekt
2. Nieuw onderzoek wijst uit: "Zoek buitenaards leven nabij stervende ster"
3. Ruimtesonde Cassini vangt sterrenstof bij Saturnus

{ http://www.hln.be/ }

Langste vliegtuig ter wereld, ofte 'De Vliegende Kont', overleeft testvlucht - HLN.be

Bron: Mirror, AFP

VIDEO 's Werelds langste vliegtuig, de Airlander 10 meet 92 meter, heeft gisterenavond zijn eerste testvlucht overleefd. Heel wat enthousiaste vliegtuigspotters konden de vlotte landing in het Engelse Bedfordshire aanschouwen.

De Airlander 10 is deels een vliegtuig, deels een helikopter en deels een zeppelin. Maar het toestel valt vooral op door de bijzondere vorm. Dankzij zijn ronde achterkant kreeg het de bijnaam 'De Vliegende Kont'. Het toestel werd origineel ontwikkeld als onderdeel van een project van het Amerikaans leger, maar na besnoeiingen in het budget moest de Airlander 10 beschikken. Het bedrijf Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) bracht het in 2013 naar Groot-Brittannië, waar het werd omgebouwd voor civiel gebruik. 


Voor de eerste testvlucht waren heel wat toeschouwers naar Bedfordshire getrokken. De menigte juichte als het toestel uit de hangar kwam. Topman bij HAV Stephen McGlennan zei dat het team moest wachten op de juiste weersomstandigheden voor het opstijgen. "Maar het toestel kan ook vliegen bij 80 knopen. Denk aan een grote helikopter, dit toestel heeft dezelfde mogelijkheden. De Airlander kan meer mensen en goederen vervoeren zonder dat er een landingsbaan nodig is. Het toestel is groener en goedkoper dan een helikopter. Het is een geweldige innovatie."

Lees ook

• Langste vliegtuig ter wereld, ofte 'De Vliegende Kont'
• FOTOSPECIAL Airlander maakt eerste testvlucht

{ http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/961/Wetenschap/index.dhtml }

NASA geeft meer dan 1.000 nieuwe beelden van Mars vrij. En ze zijn wonderlijk - HLN.be

Bron: NASA, Time, Popular Science

© NASA/JPL/University of Arizona.

MARS IN BEELD De Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter cirkelt al sinds 2005 rond Mars en trekt geregeld kiekjes van de rode planeet. De lading foto's die NASA deze maand lostte, is extra groot en dat levert wonderlijke beelden op van onze buurplaneet. Een kleine selectie toont alvast het gevarieerde en wonderlijke reliëf van Mars.

Het gebeurt geregeld dat de Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) foto's aflevert, maar de huidige lading van 1.035 foto's is uitzonderlijk groot. Alfred McEwen, directeur van het Planetary Image Research Laboratory, vertelde aan Popular Science dat daar twee redenen voor zijn: enerzijds is er elke 26 maanden een optimaal moment voor het verzenden van data tussen de Aarde en Mars, anderzijds beleefde Mars in juli zijn herfstequinox, waardoor de MRO het meest volledige en verlichte beeld van de planeet voor de lens kreeg. 

De beelden werden geregistreerd door HiRISE, een camera met hoge resolutie die wetenschappers toelaat om het oppervlak van Mars in detail te bestuderen. Die beelden kunnen bijvoorbeeld helpen om landingsplaatsen uit te zoeken voor toekomstige missies. 

U kan alle beelden terugvinden via deze database, maar hier hebt u alvast een kleine voorproefje van de enorme variatie aan wonderlijke foto's. 

Lees ook

• Wordt de vondst van een 'derde aarde' binnenkort aangekondigd?

{ http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/961/Wetenschap/index.dhtml }

Disc UFO caught on Missouri camera

A Missouri witness at Lees Summit reported watching and photographing a disc-shaped UFO that made a rapid descent, according to testimony in Case 77979 from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) witness reporting database.

In the image above, one sees the direction of the flight of the craft from frames 18:35 to 19:05. (Credit: MUFON)

The event occurred at 3:28 p.m. on July 21, 2016.

“I took a random video that lasted 39 seconds,” the witness stated. “At 15:28 DST – during the video a flat or possibly disc-shaped craft travelled from frame 18:35 to 19:05, or one-half of a second. The angle of rapid descent was at 14-degrees from the right side of the frame to the left. Nothing else was seen in the remainder of the video.”

The witness then analyzed the video.

“The angle of elevation when it entered the screen was 12-degrees, although it clearly came from much higher. The direction of initial view was 350-degrees or nearly north, and it disappeared from the camera view at 336-degrees or north-northwest– although it continued in a straight line ending at about 320-degrees or northwest where it likely ended its flight.”

From right to left, location of entry, departure from view in camera, and the final descent location.

(Credit: MUFON)

The witness followed the object’s flight path.

“It disappeared on the west side of Blue Springs Lake, interestingly, into another much smaller lake. Analysis: In 16 frames, the craft covered a distance of .3 miles in one-half of a second, which converts to 2,160 mph. Most likely it entered the small body of water, although not actually seen doing so. The direction of the 14-degree descent, by projection, ended northwest at 320-degrees. This small lake is about 1,600 feet west of Blue Springs Lake. The size of the object appears to be close to 15 feet when compared with the spheroid craft from MUFON Case # 61730.”

Craft from frame 18:47.

(Credit: MUFON)

The case was investigated by Missouri Field Investigator Lawrence Tyree and closed as an Unknown.

“The video evidence shows a craft flying at an incredible speed of 2,160 mph heading straight to the Earth within three-tenths of a mile,” Tyree stated in his report.“The physics of such flying make it impossible to do with known technology if it were a human vehicle. This makes it to be of unknown origin, and not natural or human made.The description of the movements of the object, its speed on approach to the land, and the video evidence are descriptive of an Unknown UAV.”

Enhanced view of frame 18:47.

(Credit: MUFON)

Please remember that most UFO sightings can be explained as something natural or man-made. The above quotes were edited for clarity. Please report UFO activity to MUFON.com.

Editor’s note: The video was not uploaded to MUFON with the report, only the still images were included.

{ http://www.niburu.nl/categorie/ufo/ }

UFOs abduct 1,500 sheep from a field in Lincolnshire, Aug 2016, UFO Sighting News.

Date of sighting: Sept 2011, reported Aug 2016
Location of sighting: Lincolnshire, UK
News Source: 

http://www.lincolnshireecho.co.uk/did-ufos-abduct-1-500-sheep-from-a-field-in-lincolnshire/story-29629392-detail/story.html

Animal abduction and mutilations are nothing new around the world, and are still commonly seen, especially in South America region, but here we have 1,500 sheep the disappear together which is very odd indeed. For a UFO to take them, it had to be huge, unless it had some kind of shrinking technology to transport things more easily. This should be of national importance to the UK and needs deeper investigation into it. 
Scott C. Waring
www.ufosightingsdaily.com

News states: 
A documentary film maker has questioned whether the disappearance of 1,500 sheep from a field near Louth was the result of UFOs.

Footage, uploaded to YouTube by an account called dot luter, has investigated possible UFO sightings across the East Lindsey area with one witness claiming to have seen a huge spherical object hovering in the sky at Alford.

The 1,500 sheep mysteriously disappeared from the field at Stenigot overnight in September 2011. No one in the area claimed to see or hear anything.

Arrests were made at the time in connection with the disappearance but the documentary footage claims no one was ever charged or prosecuted.

In the documentary, UFO spotter Eric Goring from Brinkhill, told the video he had seen hundreds of sightings of what he called "the black triangle" not far from the area at the time.

He said: "I saw these white or orange or yellow balls of light which turned out to be the black triangle.

"They were out on the fields going round and round lit up bright and then when they got closer I could see the black triangle.

"I've seen the black triangle hundreds of times and up to 40 in one night."

Mr Goring said the triangular objects were around 30ft long on each side.

"I have seen them come down to the ground at thousands of miles an hour. They come straight to the ground, they loop out and then go up again.

"It floats and it makes no noise," he said.

"It was very dark, no luminosity, but it had legs and there were lights just above the legs."
Taxi driver Morag Taylor, from Alford, told the video maker she had once seen a similar triangular sighting on a drive from Skegness to Louth in the early hours of the morning.

She said: "There was a thing hovering in the sky with lights, it was too big to be a star.

"Then it just shot away at speed. I thought it was much faster than a Harrier jet.

"It was quite low - probably about three storeys high.

"It was quite big, probably the size of an articulated lorry.

"It was very dark, no luminosity, but it had legs and there were lights just above the legs. It was triangular."

Another witness who spoke on film, said he once saw a huge spherical object in the sky while he was driving between Alford and Mablethorpe.

He said: "I came round a corner and my little girl, who was in the back, screamed.

"The car in front stopped. There was a grey, egg shaped thing.

"I would say it was three times longer than the width of the road.

"It was stopped right above the road. It was absolutely huge, bigger than a plane.

"All of a sudden it shot back in the opposite direction it came from."

The documentary maker said he believed the alleged sightings could be linked to the disappearance of the huge number of sheep.

He said: "I don't think any open minded person would doubt there is something perculiar going on in the skies near this sparsely populated area."

{ http://www.ufosightingsdaily.com/ }

Glowing Orange UFO Over Small town In UK In Aug 13, 2016, Video, UFO Sighting News

Date of sighting: August 13, 2016
Location of sighting: Shrewsbury, UK

Here is an interesting video of an orb in the sky. The UFO is not a perfect orb, but seems to have a diamond-like shape to it. We know its not a star because of the immense cloud cover seen. Most the time, the mystery in the sky, remains a mystery. 
Scott C. Waring
www.ufosightingsdaily.com

Eyewitness states: 
Certainly not the drone I filmed later. There is some possibility it was a Chinese lantern , but it's interesting that it suddenly disappears from sight. There may be explanations for this, such as the lantern burning out, or it disappearing in cloud, but it didn't reappear once, so my feeling is that that explanation is unlikely. I usually capture one or two white orbs at the Shrewsbury Flower Show, but saw none this year.

{ http://www.ufosightingsdaily.com/ }

Does an Earth-Like Alien Planet Orbit the Sun's Closest Neighbor?

{ http://www.space.com/ }

Mars-Like Environment Lies Deep Beneath Earth's Surface

Walls of the Boulby Mine boast salty honeycomb-like hexagonal patterns that are similar to those that rovers like Curiosity have observed on Mars.

Credit: Charles Cockell

While NASA discusses how to one day send humans to Mars, a group of scientists has delved more than a half-mile (1.1 kilometers) beneath the Earth's surface to study nearby environments that resemble those of the Red Planet. 

For the last four years, astrobiologists with Mars Analogues for Space Exploration (MASE), a program that is funded by the European Science Foundation, have been studying the underground environment of England's Boulby Mine — a place that appears to bear some similarities to Mars.

The new work, which includes analyzing salty features on the walls of the mine, will help scientists understand where to look for life on the Red Planet and how to explore the Martian environment when humans eventually get there, Charles Cockell, scientific coordinator of the MASE program, told Space.com. [Amazing Mars Photos by NASA's Curiosity Rover (Latest Images)]

Signs of an ancient sea

The Boulby Mine is a very large underground system that stretches for more than 621 miles (1,000 kilometers) out under the North Sea. The walls of the mine are coated in salty honeycomb-like hexagonal patterns that are believed to have formed 250 million years ago, after a giant inland sea (the Zechstein Sea) dried up. Similar evidence of a long-gone ocean has been found in other places on Earth, including Death Valley. 

The prominent hexagonal features found on the walls of the mine resemble those that rovers like Curiosity have observed on Mars. This is the first time that Cockell and his team have collected samples of the salty features. 

The MASE team collected multiple samples from deep inside the mine, which they will analyze for signatures of life over the course of the next two or three months.

Credit: Charles Cockell

"On Mars, areas of salt have also been observed and they have similar sorts of features," said Cockell, who is also a professor of astrobiology at the University of Edinburgh. "So, this is indicative of large salt deposits on Mars that have dried out."

When seawater dries up, it leaves behind an oxygen-deprived environment in which only microorganisms tolerant of high-salt conditions can live, Cockell explained. 

"We're interested in trying to isolate novel microbes from extreme environments and then use them to understand the limits of life in anaerobic, oxygen-free conditions," said Cockell. "Going into deep, subsurface [environments] is a good place to look for these kinds of deep-dwelling microbes."

The MASE researchers have collected multiple samples from deep inside the mine and will be analyzing the samples for signatures of life over the course of the next two or three months. The six-member team consisted of researchers from the Spanish Center for Astrobiology and the University of Edinburgh. While the MASE team was cultivating salty rock samples, a team of researchers from the University of Leicester was also in the mine developing new instruments for detecting minerals on Mars.

"The main thing is they [Mars and the Boulby Mine] are similar environments, and what we are really trying to do is understand as much as we can about Mars by looking at these types of environments on Earth," Cockell said. "[The Boulby Mine] is one of the best environments we have to do these kinds of comparisons."

Follow Samantha Mathewson @Sam_Ashley13. Follow us @Spacedotcom,Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

EDITOR'S RECOMMENDATIONS

• Mars On Earth: NASA's Grand Canyon 'Martian' Trek (Photos)
• Photos: The Search for Water on Mars
• Scientists Use Earth for Clues Into History of Mars

{ http://www.space.com/ }

Saturn Goes Psychedelic in Crazy, Colorful Infrared Photo

This false-color view of Saturn's northern hemisphere shows details of the planet's cloudy atmosphere that are otherwise invisible to the human eye.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute/Kevin M. Gill

A new photo of Saturn taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft depicts the planet's northern hemisphere as a swirling mess of green, blue and purple clouds. What looks like a colossal oil slick on the otherwise yellow-tinted planet is actually a matter of wavelength.

The funky-colored clouds in the Saturn photo are the result of the spectral filters on Cassini's camera. These filters can selectively reflect or transmit specific colors of light.

Kevin Gill, an engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California and amateur space-imaging enthusiast, produced the false-color image by combining several photos captured by Cassini's wide-angle camera on July 20. [More Amazing Saturn Photos by Cassini]

Gill used a combination of spectral filters that are sensitive to infrared light at wavelengths of 750, 727 and 619 nanometers. The human eye can typically see light only in the range of 390 to 700 nanometers, so using the spectral filters allows people to view what is otherwise invisible to the naked eye. This type of infrared filter allows researchers to study how Saturn's atmospherereflects and absorbs specific wavelengths of sunlight.

The Cassini spacecraft has been in orbit around Saturn since 2004 to study the planet and its moons, and is expected to do so until the mission ends, in September 2017.

Email Hanneke Weitering at hweitering@space.com or follow her@hannekescience. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

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Greetings, Earthlings! 8 Ways Aliens Could Contact Us

Credit: NASA/NOAA/GOES Project

INTRO: Beyond Earth

From a few subtle radio signals to alien monsters bombing the White House, science fiction is replete with depictions of aliens making contact with mere mortals.

While some of those depictions are far-fetched, it turns out that scientists have spent countless hours thinking about just how extraterrestrial civilizations could contact humans. Some of their ideas are nearly as fantastical as Hollywood's wildest tales.

From alien megastructures to miniature robots, here are some of the more radical ways "little green men" are likely to contact humans. [13 Ways to Hunt Intelligent Aliens]

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

8. Mega construction

Of course, signs of intelligent life don't have to be tiny objects — they could also be really, really big ones. Some scientists have argued that alien megastructures could be like a giant "come here" sign pointing other civilizations to their presence, Grinspoon said. In fact, scientists recently kept their eye on the star KIC 8462852, which dimmed and brightened mysteriously over the past several years. Some have argued that the star is surrounded by an alien megastructure that is occasionally blocking light from the star — though other explanations include a swarm of exoplanets or a planet-forming disc.

In December 2015, scientists reported a complete lack of communication from the region.

"We found no evidence of an advanced civilization beaming intentional laser signals toward Earth," study co-author Douglas Vakoch, president of METI International in San Francisco, said in a statement.

Credit: LLNL/NIF/NASA/E. Kowaluk (LLE)

7. Laser pulses

Repetitive laser pulses could also be a sign of an alien race trying to get in contact with us, because, in theory, lasers could send signals or messages across vast distances, Grinspoon said. To find those laser pulses, researchers have zeroed in on extremely bright flashes of light, which are less likely to be caused by natural phenomena. 

So far, however, they've found no sign of alien signals.

Credit: NASA/ JPL-Caltech

6. Robot probes

Alien signals may not be traveling in electromagnetic waves at all. Instead,signs of intelligent life may be very small objects that advanced civilizations send out to explore the universe.

"Most of the solar system is still unexplored, so for all we know, there could be alien probes orbiting on the asteroid belt or somewhere on the surface of Mars," Grinspoon said. "They could be quite miniature. Who knows what alien technology is capable of — they could be the size of golf balls."

Finding these objects could rely on the same technology scientists could use to sample those regions, Grinspoon said.

Credit: SETI Institute

5. Radio waves

In a 1959 paper in the journal Nature, physicists Philip Morrison and Giuseppe Cocconi argued that scientists should scour radio waves for signs of extraterrestrial life. That's because radio waves travel relatively undisturbed through the universe, not being absorbed or re-emitted by celestial objects. Thus, the duo reasoned, any extraterrestrials hoping for their message to be relayed across long distances would logically resort to this medium, said David Grinspoon, an astrobiologist at the Planetary Science Institute.

For decades, that's been the predominant way to search for aliens. For instance, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) has scoured telescope data for signal-like radio waves.

Of course, the whole search rests on the assumption that aliens are thinking just like us, which may not be the case.

"Aliens don't necessarily read Nature magazine," Grinspoon told Live Science.

Credit: Bibi Saint-Pol (Wikimedia)

4. Radiating away

Of course, not all aliens will be on a mission to find other creatures in the big, lonely universe. Some may be more like hermits, hoping to hide their existence. If that's the case, they'd make no attempts to broadcast their existence.

However, theoretical physicist Freeman Dyson has argued that even celestial hermit kingdoms might develop technology to siphon energy from a nearby star using an orbiting object known as a Dyson sphere.

"It doesn't have to be a sphere at all," Dyson previously told Live Science, "just any place where aliens happen to be generating a lot of energy."

These Dyson spheres would then throw off waste heat, an inescapable byproduct of harnessing star power, in the form of infrared radiation. Already, researchers at the Allen Telescope Array and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer(WISE) space telescope are scouring the skies for signs of such waste radiation.

Credit: ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2. Acknowledgement: Davide De Martin

3. Star dance

Others have proposed that highly advanced civilizations could be advanced astro-engineers, moving stars into bizarre or highly geometric alignments that are unlikely to occur by chance, Grinspoon said.

"They could construct something that would be visible from a huge distance across the galaxy, or even from another galaxy, that would be obviously artificial," Grinspoon said. "Nobody's seen anything like that."

Others might actually harness star power to create messages. For instance, if aliens could spin small and extremely dense stars called neutron stars in just the right way, they could make these stars emit light as a kind of flashing beacon, Grinspoon said.

In fact, when neutron stars were discovered, scientists thought they might be messages from "little green men." (That discovery earned astronomer Antony Hewish the Nobel Prize in physics; his graduate student Jocelyn Bell Burnell, who first discovered the star, was passed up for the high honor.) [Nobel Would-Bes: 6 Scientists Who Were Passed Up for the Prize]

Credit: Mark Garlick/University of Warwick

2. Needle in a haystack

Even if aliens are trying to make contact, there's no guarantee we'd receive their messages. The universe is 91 billion light-years across, and messages could come from anywhere.

To narrow the search, some argue that aliens are likelier to send messages our way if they know we're here. A study published in February 2016 in thepreprint journal arXivfound that there are 82 stars we know of in Earth's transit zone, or an area of the sky that has a direct line of sight to Earth.

"Along this line, there is a very small band— a strip of less than a degree from where extrasolar observers would see the Earth transiting the sun," said study co-author René Heller, an astrobiologist at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Göttingen, Germany.

Heller and his colleague Ralph Pudritz at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, predicted that there may be up to 100,000 stars within this zone of the sky — some of which could have planets teeming with life orbiting them.

One advantage of this approach is that the tiny slice of the sky is relatively easy to search.

"You could just skim or scan the whole Earth transit zone over the course of maybe a few dozen nights or so, depending on how large the field of view of your radio telescope is," Heller told Live Science.

If these hidden exoplanets harbor life, they'd also be in the same galactic neighborhood — just a few hundred light-years away at most.

Credit: Dreamstime

1. Part of space exploration

The search for intelligent life-forms may not need dedicated megaprojects, Grinspoon said.

"We're going to send spacecraft out to these places to explore," Grinspoon said, referring to spots like the asteroid belt. "So while we explore the solar system, we should at least be aware of the possibility of finding something really anomalous that would be artificial."

Either way, if there are smart creatures in the universe, odds are, they know exactly what to do to make contact.

"Mathematically, it's pretty easy to show, and logically, it makes sense that they would be much more advanced," Grinspoon said. "We're such babies as a civilization; anybody that is outside trying to contact us probably has a much longer relationship with science and technology."

So, if aliens are trying to contact us, it's probably our fault that we're missing their signals, Grinspoon said.

Lab-Grown Black Hole May Have Just Proven That Hawking Radiation Exists

 

NASA

IN BRIEF

Physicist Jeff Steinhauer spent the last seven years perfecting a method to replicate black holes in a quest to find whether Hawking radiation exists. His laboratory simulation of a black hole showed entangled particles breaking apart as one falls back into the black hole and the other dissipates into "space," consistent with Hawking's theory.

LAB-GROWN ACOUSTIC BLACK HOLE

A few months ago, someone started working on building a black hole in a laboratory in a quest to find out whether Hawking radiation could really exist. It took physicist Jeff Steinhauer, of the Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa seven years to single-handedly perfect his method torecreate black holes. And now the results have been published in Nature Physics.

Jeff Steinhauer single-handedly imitates black holes in a lab. Credit: Nitzan Zohar, Office of the Spokesperson, Technion.

His lab-grown black hole implies that Hawking was right.

In 1974, Hawking theorized that, contrary to the belief that a black hole would continuously and infinitely suck in everything around it, energy could in fact, seep out of it in the form of radiation. This eventually became known as “Hawking radiation.” This causes a black hole’s eventual demise, as the energy seeps out and the black hole dissipates into nothing.

Recent findings did confirm that there are some things that could escape a black hole’s supposedly inescapable pull, such as light.

And this time, Steinhauer’s lab-grown black hole simulation showed what is the closest evidence we could find (as of now) of Hawking radiation, emanating from its event horizon.

4,600 TIMES TO BE SURE

Steinhauer cooled rubidium atoms to a few billionths of a degree above absolute zero to cause them to enter a quantum state of matter, behaving like clones of each other and clumping together to form a “super particle” known as Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). This process of recreating black holes was proposed in the 1980s but nobody bothered to try building it until 2009.

Lasers are then used to force the atoms to move at supersonic speeds, causing sound waves to get trapped inside the quantum fluids.

Steinhauer ran his experiment a staggering 4,600 times, and as Hawking predicted, pairs ofphonons, or packets of sound energy, appeared spontaneously at the even horizon. One of them is then expelled away and the other falls back into the black hole. This separation of the pairs is consistent with Hawking radiation’s description of entangled particles annihilating each other unless they exist in either side of a black hole’s event horizon.

Credit: IOPscience.

While this is quite a remarkable achievement in demonstrating the feasibility of Hawking radiation, other physicists say that it’s not enough to win Hawking a Nobel prize. Some doubt that what Steinhauer generated were in fact, credible BECs, and that several replications must be made in order for this to stand strong. Physicists also say that only a direct observation from a real black hole could confirm his theory—something that would most probably not happen within Hawking’s lifetime, or possibly any of our’s.

Source: ScienceAlert - Latest

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