Flying Saucer being towed away? Texas resident captures it all live

In south of Ponca City, a flying saucer was seen being trucked away with an escort of 20 police cars, It's a spaceship and UFOs exist, says Ashley Choney who has shared the image on Facebook.

By : Nirmal Narayanan

Flying saucer being transported on a truck (Youtube video grab)Ashley Choney / Youtube

A bizarre image captured by Ashley Choney, a Facebook user is now the hottest debating point among conspiracy theorists. The image shows a saucer-like object getting transported in a truck, and soon alien buffs came to the conclusion that extraterrestrial life is a reality.

"Driving south of Ponca City today and saw this being escorted with about 20 police cars. It's a spaceship. They exist. You're welcome," wrote Ashley Choney in the image description.

The image soon went viral, and it has already racked up more than 11,000 shares.

As the image went viral, an excited Choney wrote on his Facebook that he did not expect such a social media following for the photograph.

"I did NOT expect this to get blown up like it has. Many of you have suggested that it is probably just some sort of drone or a movie prop. I'm not sure what it is. I posted it for laughs and only expected a few likes, not several hundred," wrote Choney.

As per latest updates, the image has been passed on to MUFON (Mutual UFO Network) for further investigation.

The image was later shared by conspiracy theory YouTube channel 'UFOmania' where it racked up more than 5,000 views.

After seeing the image, viewers of the YouTube channel put forward various explanations to describe the eerie capture.

"Probably the real thing, it wouldn't surprise me they did this thinking no one would take any notice since we normally put tarps over the discs and the sheeple will say "Nah it's a fake and not real" because they haven't bothered to cover it," commented Michael Eldridge, a YouTube user.

Corey Scott, another YouTube user assured that the flying saucer spotted on the truck is not manmade.

"Good find! Can't tell if it's man-made or not! But it doesn't look man-made. Some of the traits that man made it are missing," commented Scott.

As the video started storming on the internet, conspiracy theorists argue that the government is intentionally covering up the existence of extraterrestrial life. They even believe that there might be many similar UFOs hidden in Area 51, the most confidential military base in the United States.

{ https://www.ibtimes.co.in/ }

Take a virtual trip to an alien world

{ https://www.sciencenews.org/ }

Meteor / Asteroid 'hits' Earth (June 2018 / South Africa

The existence of the extraterrestrial creatures

 THOMAS SMITH

There are a number of questions we ask ourselves every time, while gazing at the sky. Do aliens exist? This is a common question unanswered question that most of us ask ourselves and is unanswered. Can there be life across billions of light years in the sky?

None of us know that and it is a debate that has been there for centuries. There is no certainty about it also if there is something like the alien in the sky then that would totally change the understanding of the universe. Extraterrestrial life is real or not is something we cannot answer until they get in touch with us.

What do the scientists say?

Scientist have worked on a lot of theories and have worked out the look of the aliens, though we haven’t seen the aliens for real except for in fictional movies so we cannot really comment. According to the scientists and their recent research, aliens are imagined to be powerful monsters that either look like humanoids or insect like machine. One thing that the scientists are clear about is that they do look familiar to humans. According to a lot of recent studies, the researchers feel that they cannot comment on the exact look of the alien; or on whether they have grey eyes or grey skin but they can just say and conclude by what they have researched is that they have quite a lot of similarities to use and are to a large extent like us.

The fictional cinema

Whether they exist or not? Whether you believe in them or not? It cannot be denied that aliens form an important and an integral part of our cinemas. Whether they are the sci-fi movies or the fantasy horror movies; these extraterrestrial creatures are shown and depicted in them to be quite friendly, some have also shown to be scary. The sci-fi directors take the subject of aliens and UFO quiet seriously and bang on it because it is something that the audience is unaware of, which is best for fictional cinema. So whether you love them or hate them, or love to hate them, these creatures are an important fictional part of our cinema and have always been.

Some great movies in the past decade and in the present time have just been focused on aliens. Some of them being:

• Aliens — A sci-fi action film that was made in 1986 as a sequel to the 1979 aliens movie. It is about a girl who returns to moon to see her crew with a hostile creature. It is quite an interesting film and a great sequel.

• Men in black — This is one of the best sci-fi movies till date which is about two agents in black who supervise the extraterrestrial creatures that are found on earth and help them in hiding their existence.

• Independence Day — A must watch scientific fiction movie that deals with an attack by the extraterrestrial race.

Resurgence, Valerian and The City of a Thousand Planets and edge of tomorrow are some other great sci-fi movies on aliens and extraterrestrial creatures.

{ http://monimovi.com/index.php/ }

East Antarctica is the coldest place on Earth. It is permanently covered in ice; there are no trees or shrubs, just bits of lichens, moss, and clinging algae. The idea that humans may not want to kick it there — or even think about it — is pardonable. But by avoiding the Earth’s icebox, a team of researchers argue a new Nature Geoscience paper, we’ve also ignored the massive continent’s terrifying geology: The frozen wasteland, they write, has earthquakes — and lots of them.

The flow of Antarctic ice, derived from feature tracking of Landsat imagery.

Until recently, they explain in their paper, the geologic structure and tectonic activity of East Antartica were relatively unknown. The first earthquake there was recorded in 1982, and only eight earthquakes have been reported since. Scientists had accepted the theory that East Antarctica just didn’t really experience earthquakes because its seismic activity was suppressed by the weight of the region’s thick ice. But that assumption, lead author and Drexel University professor Amanda Lough, Ph.D., explains to Inverse, isn’t true.

“East Antarctica shows comparable levels of seismicity as other stable cratons,” she says, referring to the geological term for the chunk of the Earth’s crust that makes up a continent’s backbone. “So at least for the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, the presence of a several-kilometer-thick ice sheet is not suppressing seismicity.”

In their study, Lough and her team did something no team had done before: They paid attention to the continent. In 2009 alone, Lough and her teammates detected 27 intraplate tectonic earthquakes in the interior of East Antarctica using a system of linked seismometers arranged in regular geometric patterns known as a seismic array. These quakes, she says, mark the first locally recorded seismicity in the region. It isn’t that East Antarctica is experiencing more quakes than it did in the past, when only eight had been observed: It’s that these 2.1- to 3.9-magnitude rockers are actually being recorded. “The seismicity would have always been there,” explains Lough, “but without seismic instruments in the area we are unable to detect it.”

For Lough and her team, setting up this seismic array system, the first winter-through-summer system to be set up in the region, meant living in the harsh Arctic environment and digging out runways to fly from point to point. Most of the seismic activity was recorded in basins near the Gumburtsev Subglacial Mountains, which the team believes are a part of an ancient continental rift system. Little activity was recorded outside the rifts, which is in line with previous research on seismic events: 52 percent of earthquakes are thought to occur in rifted crust. In a statement released Monday, Lough explained that the rifts “provide zones of weakness that enable faulting to occur more easily,” so it’s likely that seismic activity emerges when rifts are already weak.

The new Antarctic data contributes to our continually growing understanding of the planet’s tectonic plates. The Global Seismic Network tracks seismic activity in real time via 150 stations around Earth, but there are still some holes in its coverage. Antarctica is far from the final frontier of seismicity research as there’s still the world’s oceans, which casually cover 71 percent of the planet but aren’t exactly the easiest place to set up instrumentation.

“We have the broad picture understanding of the plates, boundaries, and how they interact down quite well — now we’re working towards understanding the smaller details,” says Lough. “We’re trying to understand the details of what makes one continent different from the others.”

{ https://www.inverse.com/ }

Massive Mountain Ranges and Canyons Discovered Deep Under Ice in Antarctica

By: Nidhi Goyal 

{ http://www.industrytap.com/ }

Bizarre 'metalic' UFO in Texas skies sparks USAF stealth drone testing FRENZY

THE US military is carrying out top secret tests of new advanced military equipment out of public view, according to wild claims online. 

By Callum Hoare 

Video footage captured the moment the bizarre event took place in Houston, Texas, which left one man convinced he had spotted a UFO. 

The clip shows a small black object moving at pace from left to right. 

It appears to be travelling up to a great height, before stopping and continuing again.

According to the eyewitness, there is no chance it could have been a balloon as the wind was recorded to be moving at 8mph from the south, yet the video was shot from the north.

MAURICIO RUIZ

DRONE? Could this be a secret USAF project?

“You cannot rule that out of being a drone”

YouTube viewer

They also added that sunlight was reflecting off of the subjects body, suggesting it was metallic in structure. 

It was originally captured by Ken Behrendt and shared on a YouTube channel run by UFO hunter Mauricio Ruiz. 

Since he uploaded it to his channel it has received hundreds of views. 

But not everyone was convinced it is signs of alien life.

One comment read: “You cannot rule that out of being a drone. 

“They have such advance technology, they can easily fly at high altitude and speeds.”

And another added: “It looks like a drone, but then it disappears – that is no known technology.”

It is not the first claim of its type, though. 

Last month we saw similar scenes when nine unidentified objects were spotted in the same area.

And before that, a floating tower was captured on camera in Texas, sparking conspiracy frenzy.

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{ https://www.dailystar.co.uk/ }

A Tiny Asteroid Just Hit Earth, Sparking a Fireball Over South Africa (Video)

Scientists discovered the asteroid, called 2018 LA, early Saturday. After a closer look at the space rock's trajectory, it "was determined to be on a collision course with Earth, with impact just hours away," NASA officials said in a statement. The asteroid hit Earth's atmosphere over the southern African nation of Botswana at 12:44 p.m. EDT (1644 GMT) while hurtling down at a whopping 38,000 mph (61,155 km/h). That's 10 miles (or 17 kilometers) every second!

Astronomers with the Catalina Sky Survey near Tucson, Arizona, were the first to discover the asteroid. The space rock was very faint, with observations suggesting it was just 6 feet (2 meters) across — small enough to burn up completely during its fiery plunge through the atmosphere, NASA officials said. [Asteroid Threat: Potentially Dangerous Space Rocks in Pictures]

"The discovery of asteroid 2018 LA is only the third time that an asteroid has been discovered to be on an impact trajectory," Paul Chodas, manager of the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, said in the statement. "It is also only the second time that the high probability of an impact was predicted well ahead of the event itself."

The asteroid's fiery demise was caught on camera by spectators, who later posted their footage to YouTube. In one video, from a farm between Ottosdal and Hartebeesfontein in South Africa, the asteroid appears as a brilliant streak that flares up into a spectacular fireball on the horizon.

Asteroid 2018 LA was nearly as far away as the moon (which is typically about 239,000 miles, or 384,600 km, from Earth) when it was discovered on Saturday, NASA officials said. It looked like little more than a streak in long-exposure images by the Catalina telescope.

WE MAY HAVE UNCOVERED THE FIRST EVER EVIDENCE OF THE MULTIVERSE

A recent study on a space anomaly that has perplexed scientists for years has some suggesting that it could be explained by a parallel “bubble universe” — although there are other, more standard potential explanations, as well.

Too Cold

For years, scientists have been baffled by a weird anomaly far away in space: a mysterious “Cold Spot” about 1.8 billion light-years across. It is cooler than its surroundings by around 0.00015 degrees Celsius (0.00027 degrees Fahrenheit), a fact astronomers discovered by measuring background radiation throughout the universe.

Previously, astronomers believed that this space could be cooler simply because it had less matter in it than most sections of space. They dubbed it a massive supervoid and estimated that it had 10,000 galaxies fewer than other comparable sections of space.

But now, in a recently published survey of galaxies, astronomers from the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) say they have discovered that this supervoide could not exist. They now believe that the galaxies in the cold spot are just clustered around smaller voids that populate the cold spot like bubbles. These small voids, however, cannot explain the temperature difference observed.

Multiverse?

To link the temperature differences to the smaller voids, the researchers say a non-standard cosmological model would be required. “But our data place powerful constraints on any attempt to do that,” explained researcher Ruari Mackenzie in an RAS press release. While the study had a large margin of error, the simulations suggest there is only a two percent probability that the Cold Spot formed randomly.

Credit: The Royal Astronomical Society

“This means we can’t entirely rule out that the Spot is caused by an unlikely fluctuation explained by the standard model. But if that isn’t the answer, then there are more exotic explanations,”  said researcher Tom Shanks in the press release. “Perhaps the most exciting of these is that the Cold Spot was caused by a collision between our universe and another bubble universe.”

If more detailed studies support the findings of this research, the Cold Spot might turn out to be the first evidence for the multiverse, though far more evidence would be needed to confirm our universe is indeed one of many.

{ http://alien-ufo-sightings.com/ }

Fantastic Documentary Reveals How Ancient Aliens Built The Pyramids of Ancient Egypt

If there are two things that are perplexing to the human being then those are most likely Ancient Egypt and its amazing structures and the extraterrestrial beings. What if we tell you they both are somehow interconnected?

From the mysterious history of ancient Egypt emerge so many unanswered questions. Mainstream scholars are completely clueless and that’s probably because of their traditional beliefs. But what if the truth hides beyond our imagination?

When it comes to Ancient Egypt, probably, the most remarkable attribute is the Pyramids. Theconstruction of these megalithic structures thousands of years ago develops lots of mysteries.

The Ancient Alien Theory implies that otherworldly beings – guests on Earth, lend a hand on the building of the Pyramids at the Giza Plateau.

This theory asserts that our ancestors, with the technology they had thousands of years ago, couldn’t create not only the pyramids but other amazing structures within our world.

Going further from this point, the theory claims it was the intelligent alien beings who actually did it.

When it comes to pyramids, the most baffling one is clearly the Great Pyramid of Giza. This pyramid is precisely lined up and faces straight north with an only 3/60th range of error.

North Pole’s position changes with the time. This pyramid was exactly aligned at one time.

The centers of the four sides are calculated with an amazing precision bringing into existence this extraordinary eight-sided pyramid.

Namely, this result is not noticeable when you stand on the ground or from a larger distance. However, above in the air, under suitable brightness, this phenomenon glows into our perception.

In addition, these proper lights require being dawn or sunset in the spring and autumn equinoxes when the sun spreads shadow on the pyramid.

The Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest and the largest pyramid of Ancient Egypt. It measures fascinating 481 feet in height. Moreover, the shape carved into the faces of the pyramid accurately suits the radius of the Earth.

Given these facts, a few questions are inevitable: How exactly did ancient Egyptians succeed to create this world wonder of the ancient world? Did they do everything by themselves? Or did they have a helping hand from someone from the other world?

The subsequent documentary gives another, different insight into the construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Its intriguing yet provocative content proposes another possible choice that explains the history of Ancient Egypt.

Watch it and leave us your comment and thoughts on the pyramids’ construction. Do you think aliens helped to build such vast structures that no doubt deserved their place in the world wonders’ list?

{ http://notfromearth.co/ }

SpaceX stelt maanvlucht voor toeristen uit - HLN.be

Bron: Belga, Gizmodo

SpaceX, het bedrijf van Elon Musk, had in februari 2017 bekendgemaakt dat twee anonieme burgers zich hadden opgegeven voor een vlucht van een week om de maan. Ze hadden daartoe een aanzienlijk voorschot betaald en SpaceX stelde het najaar van 2018 in het vooruitzicht als streefdatum voor de vlucht. 

Lees ook

‘Lost in space’ maar niet ongevaarlijk

Nu blijkt dat het toch niet haalbaar zal zijn om de toeristenvlucht nog dit jaar te lanceren. SpaceX-woordvoerder James Gleeson bevestigde in een e-mail aan de krant dat het project werd uitgesteld, maar beklemtoonde dat “SpaceX nog steeds van plan is om private individuen rond de maan te vliegen en dat er een groeiende belangstelling is van veel klanten.”

Testen nodig

SpaceX geeft geen reden voor de vertraging, maar volgens de New Yorkse krant liggen technische en productieproblemen aan de basis. De Falcon Heavy-raket, die nodig is om het ruimtetoestel te lanceren, werd tot op heden immers nog maar één keer gelanceerd. Het Dragon 2-ruimtetoestel dat de twee passagiers zal vervoeren, werd bovendien nog steeds niet getest met een bemanning aan boord. De eerste bemande tests met de Dragon 2 vinden ten vroegste pas in december 2018 plaats.

Bovendien brengt de toeristenreis ook een risico met zich mee. Indien er iets fout gaat, zou dat de relatie tussen SpaceX en NASA, dat rekent op de  Dragon 2-sonde om mensen naar het Internationaal Ruimtestation ISS te brengen, ernstig verstoren.

Volgens de Wall Street Journal kan het nog tot minstens midden 2019 duren vooraleer de eerste ruimtetoeristen richting de maan gestuurd worden.

Inkomsten

SpaceX is van plan om zwaar in te zetten op ruimtetoerisme, een inkomstenstroom die kan bijdragen tot de oprichting van basissen op de maan en Mars door het ruimtevaartbedrijf.

De maan is de verst verwijderde plek van onze aarde die ooit bereikt werd door de mens. Indien SpaceX volgend jaar effectief burgers in een vlucht om de maan stuurt, zou het de eerste keer zijn sinds het einde van de Apollo-missies aan het begin van de jaren 1970 dat er nog eens mensen richting de maan reizen. 

{ https://www.hln.be/ }

UFO MADNESS: Truth about the 'Earth-sized UFO' caught on camera that suddenly vanished

CLAIMS that a UFO "the size of the Earth" was captured on camera before it mysteriously vanished have emerged online.

By JON AUSTIN

UFO? The video suggested this was a UFO the size of Earth.

Reports said "horrified onlookers" watched as the monster UFO was seen "hovering above them" in the skies over Australia.

The clip was uploaded to YouTube yesterday with the title "Earth Sized UFO Sighted in Australia... Moves into the Sun!."

The video description states: "Planet sized UFO starts moving about and finally moves into the Sun. Another smaller UFO is sighted also."

It does not say where in Australia it was filmed.

In the footage, which was filmed directly at the Sun, a second large bright circular object can also be seen in the sky, Dailystar.co.uk reports.

It appears to move about, with some onlookers suggesting it has been spotted or is being pursued.

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That 'UFO' is just the solar disc (of the Sun) reflected through glass.

Scott Brando

The glowing subject then appears to move behind the sun, before a blinding light blocks the camera view, in what some suggested was an explosion or take-off manoeuvre, by an enormous alien craft.

When the camera is re-focussed, the orb appears to suddenly flit away.

Some viewers were convinced it was a UFO and some sort of craft.

One said on YouTube: "I saw something that looked very similar around this time last year.”

Another claimed it was just swamp gas, which is caused by rising methane from a pond.

However, in fact there was nothing actually there, and it was simply a reflection of the Sun.

We sent the footage to Scott Brando, a sceptic, who runs debunking website ufoofinterest.org.

He said: "That 'UFO' is just the solar disc (of the Sun) reflected through glass.

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He said the apparent object suddenly disappeared as the camera zoomed in and the glass was "likely removed."

Mr Brando pointed us to an article by a fellow debunker, who showed how almost identical footage said to show a "second Sun" was caused by glass in front of the camera lens.

Mick West, administrator of the Metabunk.org website, said: "A popular video claims to show an object in the sky that resembles a 'second sun'.

"However analysis of the video proves that what is shown is an offset lens reflection of the Sun itself. 

"There is nothing else in the sky. The effect is also not a sun-dog, an atmospheric reflection, or a mirage. It's just a reflection happening at the camera.

"We can see this quite clearly if we stabilise the video so the background is fixed. 

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"We can then see the reflection moving with the camera motion. Notice how the small movements of the reflection are in sync with the large movements of the lens flare.

"Offset lens reflections occur when a flat piece of glass, such as a filter, is in front of the camera, but is tilted slightly away from the plane of the camera, either accidentally, or deliberately.

"When combined with a second flat optical surface, like the protective cover of a cell-phone camera, or a second filter on a larger camera, you get a fainter reflection of the sun offset from the actual sun in the direction of the tilt."

He then simulated the same effect by attaching a glass slide to his phone with a rubber band.

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{ https://www.express.co.uk/ }

Australia's Nazi rockets: How German V-2 flying bombs made their way Down Under

PHOTO: The V-2s attracted crowds wherever they went, including at the Mallala airshow. (Mallala Museum)

Almost seven decades ago, visitors to the Long Range Weapon Establishment at Salisbury in Adelaide's north would have seen something that was, at the time, quite amazing.

Pointing skywards, in all its dubious glory, was a Nazi V-2 rocket of the kind that, in the final months of World War II, brought a late wave of destruction to London, Norwich, Paris and Antwerp.

Mounted on its carrier known as a Meillerwagen, this particular V-2 towered above its new owners. Black and white photos from the time reveal a strikingly formidable object.

YOUTUBE: Newsreel of a V-2 at Salisbury

Ominously elevated, it looks ready to launch — perhaps for the moon, perhaps for Mars.

The rocket had arrived in Adelaide months earlier, when it was off-loaded at Outer Harbor in October 1947.

It was not the first V-2 to be sent to Australia — in March, a ship carrying another had docked at Fremantle. That rocket had also passed through Adelaide en route to Melbourne, and was then transported to Sydney.

The story of how they ended up Down Under is an intriguing one that involves science, politics and Cold War anxieties.

PHOTO: One of the V-2s on display at Salisbury's weapons research facility in 1948. (Trove: The Age)

• Read the discussion below to see if any of our readers had seen any of the few surviving V-2 rockets.

Australia's V-2s: A story in parts

Australia's two V-2s are currently in storage at an Australian War Memorial (AWM) facility in suburban Canberra.

"When they came out [to Australia] flocks of people crowded to view them and see these Nazi terror weapons," said Shane Casey, senior curator of military heraldry and technology at the AWM.

GIF: The launch of a V-2 rocket

One is mostly complete. Its components were seized after the war and put together as part of Operation Backfire, a mission by the Allies to capture and test German military technology.

"When the Allies conquered Germany, they found largely disassembled rockets or rockets ready to be assembled," Mr Casey said.

The Meillerwagen trailer accompanying the V-2, which was used to raise the rockets onto launch pads, is one of the few surviving examples of the technology.

The other V-2, which left London's docks aboard the vessel Karamea in February 1947, is today in bits, which are themselves in disrepair. It was shipped to Australia primarily as a museum piece, and little is known about its origins.

"There was some confusion as to whether it was destined for the Australian War Memorial or whether it was destined for the RAAF at Woomera. There seems to have been some dissension in official channels about that."

PHOTO: The rusting tail section of a V-2 rocket at the Australian War Memorial's storage facility. (Australian War Memorial: Shane Casey)

The missile was trucked around the country as part of a fundraising mission, and video shows it outside Old Parliament House.

"It seems to have, very early on, had material stolen from it by sightseers."

One of the purposes of having the rockets in Australia was to boost public interest in science, especially the emerging field of space research.

PHOTO: One of the captured V-2s in an Australian workshop. (Supplied: National Archives of Australia)

In 1948, the media was invited to view the more complete V-2 at Salisbury, where scientists had been inspecting it for design clues. That work was part of efforts to develop a local rocket program for defence — a project that also included the Woomera range.

At some point over the next few years, it was painted with a different colour scheme. The trail goes cold until 1954, when the rocket was put on display at a Salisbury school and at the Mallala air show.

Brains and Braun: The man behind the missiles

PHOTO: Dr Wernher von Braun designed missiles for the Nazis, but later worked on rockets for NASA. (NASA)

On October 3, 1942, a prototype V-2 rocket became the first human-made object to reach space. The missiles were the brainchild of Wernher von Braun, a German scientist of aristocratic background.

Von Braun is a controversial character, and he continues to fascinate historians. A member of the Nazi Party, he would later play a leading role at NASA, overseeing the Saturn rocket program that enabled the Apollo missions to the moon.

Even a generous biographer would concede von Braun was a morally dubious human being. Undoubtedly clever and apparently very charming, he was also a committed German nationalist and a member of the SS. He was unconcerned by the fact his V-2s were built by concentration camp inmates, thousands of whom died during construction.

The first V-2 attacks occurred in September 1944. Over the next six months, thousands of civilians were killed by the missiles, with Antwerp and London bearing the brunt.

PHOTO: Ruined flats in London, following the explosion of the last German V-2 rocket to fall on the city in March 1945. (Imperial War Museum)

One V-2 came to Earth in Southborough in Kent, near a house belonging to David Bowie's grandparents, and it is interesting to speculate whether the recurring themes of rocketry and space travel in Bowie's work owe their inception to that episode. (In 1977, he released a track referencing the missiles, called V-2 Schneider).

YOUTUBE: V-2 Schneider by David Bowie

Von Braun was in the grip of a belief that in his day made him exceptional, but is today commonplace among technophiles — that there is an imperative for humans to conquer space. Unable to make rockets for peaceful purposes, he was instead happy to design them to kill people.

"Our V-2 is significant from a technological point of view, in the progression of humanity through rocketry and its desire to achieve immortality in space," Mr Casey said.

"The V-2 is really a baby Saturn V [the rocket used in the Apollo 11 mission]. The Saturn V was a liquid-fuelled rocket as well and used very much the same elements in its combustion chamber.

"But we're also very aware of the fact that [the V-2] was a weapons system developed by one of the most heinous regimes on Earth.

"On a regular basis, people suspected of sabotage were executed, and they would leave the bodies on overhead cranes."

At the end of the war, von Braun began working for the Americans, migrating in 1945.

In addition to his work, he became a populariser of scientific ideas. (In 1947, he wrote a novel about colonising space and, in a spooky coincidence, named his fictitious leader of Mars 'Elon'.)

His self-reinvention from Nazi villain to NASA hero is a testament to the man's slipperiness. But he was never able to shake his shady past. When he visited Australia in 1962 to deliver lectures to students, not everyone was in a welcoming mood.

The newspaper Tribune reported on "rising concern" among parents at the thought of a Nazi teaching their children.

From missiles to the moon

PHOTO: The photograph known as Earthrise was taken by astronaut William Anders during the Apollo 8 mission in 1968.(NASA: Bill Anders)

In 1948, English cosmologist Fred Hoyle wrote:

"Once a photograph of the Earth, taken from outside, is available... a new idea as powerful as any in history will be let loose."

Hoyle may have been unaware that, two years earlier, American engineers in New Mexico had used a captured V-2 to take a photo of the Earth's surface. But that image showed only a portion of the planet.

It took another two decades for Hoyle's wish to be properly granted. In 1968, NASA astronaut Bill Anders took the photo now known as Earthrise. It is a stunning image, depicting the planet rising above the horizon of the moon.

The Saturn V rockets that helped Major Anders and others into space were designed at the Marshall Space Flight Centre in Alabama, under the direction of Wernher von Braun.

Australia's V-2s have not lost their "wow" factor, Mr Casey said, and continue to shock visitors because of their size and scale.

"I can remember one instance where a woman had been the victim of a V-2 rocket attack, and when she was confronted with the rocket up-close it was almost an overwhelming experience for her," Mr Casey said.

Conservation work will begin on the more complete rocket next year in the hope of putting it back on permanent display.

Mr Casey said tests would also be carried out on the Meillerwagen for urea, a compound found in urine. Slaves working in secret underground facilities built the V-2s and it's believed that, in an act of resistance, they relieved themselves on the machines in an attempt to weaken them, disrupting the V-2 program.

The story of the V-2 starkly demonstrates the double-edged nature of technological progress: rockets that were used as missiles inspired rockets that have helped us get to the moon.

As von Braun allegedly said, "science does not have a moral dimension. It is like a knife. If you give it to a surgeon or a murderer, each will use it differently."

PHOTO: The Meillerwagen trailer in one of the few surviving examples. (Australian War Memorial: Shane Casey)

My previous article was titled “..the ‘others’ are far more advanced than we are.” It was focused on the work of a National Security Agency employee named Lambros Callimahos. He was a man who had a deep interest in the matter of extraterrestrial life and its implications for us – good, bad or somewhere in between. The article began as follows: “Of the many and various UFO / extraterrestrial-themed documents and papers that have surfaced under the terms of the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, one of the more interesting ones is Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence. It was written back in the 1960s (specifically in 1965) by a man named Lambros D. Callimahos. He was a cryptologist with the National Security Agency. On September 23, 1965, Callimahos took part in a panel-style debate on the subject of his paper at a conference on military electronics in Washington, D.C.”

It’s worth noting that three years later, Callimahos wrote another paper on extraterrestrial life and UFOs. His 1968 paper was titled UFO Hypothesis and Survival Questions. He stated: “It is the purpose of this monograph to consider briefly some of the human survival implications suggested by the various principal hypotheses concerning the nature of the phenomena loosely categorized as ‘UFO.’ UFO Hypothesis and Survival Questions focuses its attention for the most part on five central issues: (a) All UFOs are hoaxes; (b) All UFOs are hallucinations; (c) All UFOs are natural phenomena; (d) Some UFOs are secret earth projects; and (e) Some UFOs are related to extra-terrestrial intelligence.”

In relation to point “a,” Callimahos said: “…the fact that UFO phenomenon have been witnessed all over the world from ancient times, and by considerable numbers of reputable scientists in recent times, indicates rather strongly that UFOs are not all hoaxes…” When it came to hallucinations, Callimahos had a few key thoughts: “People, of course, do hallucinate. Although groups of people hallucinating is rare, it has been known to happen. Machines have their own form of hallucination; the radar, in particular, ‘sees’ temperature inversions. But a considerable number of instances exist in which there are groups of people and a radar or radars seeing the same thing at the same time; sometimes a person and a gun camera confirm each other’s testimony. On occasion, physical evidence of a circumstantial nature was reported to have been found to support witnessed sightings. A continuing high percentage of reports of unusual aerial phenomena are being reported by people in responsible positions in science, government and industry. The sum of such evidence seems to argue strongly against all UFOs being hallucinations.” He added: “Many UFOs have been reported by trained observers to behave like high speed, high performance, high altitude rockets or aircraft.”

As for the matter of at least some UFOs really being secret weapons, rather than extraterrestrial craft, Callimahos told his readers: “…[the] U.S. Air Force re-entry vehicle and an often publicized Canadian ‘saucer’ project leave little doubt as to the validity of this hypothesis. Undoubtedly, all UFOs should be carefully scrutinized to ferret out such enemy (or ‘friendly’) projects. Otherwise a nation faces the very strong possibility of being intimidated by a new secret ‘doomsday’ weapon.”

Callimahos also had fairly dire warnings for those who might think that an encounter with aliens would be overwhelmingly positive in nature. It’s important to note that he wasn’t talking about aliens attacking us and taking over the planet and trying to wipe us out – in The War of the Worlds or Independence Daystyle. Rather, Callimahos was talking about something else; something that was no less potentially hazardous, though. He spelled it out in eye-opening  and concise fashion:

“If ‘they’ discover you, it is an old but hardly invalid rule of thumb, ‘they’ are your technological superiors. Human history has shown us time and again the tragic results of a confrontation between a technologically superior civilization and a technologically inferior people. The ‘inferior’ is usually subject to physical conquest. Often in the past, a technologically superior people are also processors of a more virile or aggressive culture. In a confrontation between two peoples of significantly different cultural levels, those having the inferior or less virile culture, most often suffer a tragic loss of identity and are usually absorbed by the other people.”

Could a worldwide encounter with aliens lead to our downfall, possibly in the way that Lambros Callimahos warned of fifty years ago? Maybe it really could…

{ http://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

‘Death Star’ UFO Filmed Over the UK Described as Glowing Orb of White Light

A British man has filmed what he says is evidence of a UFO flying over the city of Leeds. James Goldman, 30, who lives in Leeds, describes the object as a glowing ball of white light that moved silently and “with absolute purpose.” The video, which was taken with a smartphone camera as the strange object passed over the city, shows an object similar to the “orbs” that appear in purported pictures of ghosts and spirits. Apparently basing their comparison  exclusively on the basic shape of the object, the Daily Mirror compares this UFO to the Death Star from the Star Wars series.

Speaking to Daily Mirror,  where you can see his footage of the UFO, Goldman says the object “a round bright white lit ball slightly metallic in nature” he estimates the object to have been flying at an altitude of 300 meters and at speed of 200 kph, or 124 mph. Whether he is any good at estimating speed and height is uncertain, so those numbers should taken with a grain of salt.  Goldman does say he “couldn’t believe such an object would fly so low.”

“It definitely wasn’t a plane and it was too low to be a satellite. I know what drones look like and it just wasn’t a drone either. I doubt it was a military craft because they wouldn’t be flying something like that over a populated area.”

The UFO was filmed over Leeds, UK.

From the footage, the UFO has the same sort of look as the orbs claimed to be evidence of ghosts.  Orbs generally show up only in the pictures themselves. There aren’t many cases of people seeing paranormal orbs with the naked eye. That this UFO appears like one may be due to the camera’s zoom, which tends to make everything a bit less identifiable, but there is a eerie non-physical quality to the way it looks. Goldman says it was better in person:

“It was much clearer with the eye than what the camera has captured. After I stopped recording it continued to move at a 45-degree angle upwards and disappeared into the distance. It didn’t blink out suddenly or anything like that, it just petered out into the distance.”

Unfortunately, with the shaky camera and no real frame of reference, it’s hard to see the object moving with the same sort of “absolute purpose” that Goldman attributes to it.

This isn’t the first time someone has claimed to see a white orb shaped UFO. The phenomenon has been reported in a handful of places including Moscow and Antarctica.  Last year, there was discussion of whether some orb shaped UFO sightings could be explained by Google Loon balloons.

Artist’s rendition of orb UFOs

While the object in the video is nowhere near the world destroying monstrosity of the Death Star,  it wouldn’t be the first time that Star Wars was responsible for a false UFO report.  Early this year a a misidentified Stormtrooper-shaped helium balloon was responsible for a viral video of an alleged humanoid UFO sighting. I’d much prefer a Death Star shaped balloon to the real thing, personally.

{ http://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

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THE U.S. TRIED TO DETONATE AN ATOM BOMB ON THE MOON – BUT THERE WAS AN EXTRATERRESTRIAL RESPONSE…