How UFO Reports Change With the Technology of the Times

Fears of Zeppelins, rockets and drones have replaced the “celestial wonders” of ancient times

In 1896, newspapers throughout the United States began reporting accounts of mysterious airships flying overhead. Descriptions varied, but witnesses frequently invoked the century’s great technological achievements. Some sources reported dirigibles powered by steam engines. Others saw motorized, winged crafts with screw propellers. Many recalled a flying machine equipped with a powerful searchlight.

As technologies of flight evolve, so do the descriptions of unidentified flying objects. The pattern has held in the 21st century as sightings of drone-like objects are reported, drawing concern from military and intelligence officials about possible security threats.

While puzzling over the appearance of curious things overhead may be a constant, how we have done so has changed over time, as the people doing the puzzling change. In every instance of reporting UFOs, observers have called on their personal experiences and prevailing knowledge of world events to make sense of these nebulous apparitions. In other words, affairs here on earth have consistently colored our perceptions of what is going on over our heads.

Reports of weird, wondrous, and worrying objects in the skies date to ancient times. Well into the 17th century, marvels such as comets and meteors were viewed through the prism of religion—as portents from the gods and, as such, interpreted as holy communications.

By the 19th century, however, “celestial wonders” had lost most of their miraculous aura. Instead, the age of industrialization transferred its awe onto products of human ingenuity. The steamboat, the locomotive, photography, telegraphy, and the ocean liner were all hailed as “modern wonders” by news outlets and advertisers. All instilled a widespread sense of progress—and opened the door to speculation about whether objects in the sky signaled more changes.

Yet nothing fueled the imagination more than the possibility of human flight. In the giddy atmosphere of the 19th century, the prospect of someone soon achieving it inspired newspapers to report on tinkerers and entrepreneurs boasting of their supposed successes.

The wave of mysterious airship sightings that began in 1896 did not trigger widespread fear. The accepted explanation for these aircraft was terrestrial and quaint: Some ingenious eccentric had built a device and was testing its capabilities.

But during the first two decades of the 20th century, things changed. As European powers expanded their militaries and nationalist movements sparked unrest, the likelihood of war prompted anxiety about invasion. The world saw Germany—home of the newly developed Zeppelin—as the likeliest aggressor. Military strategists, politicians, and newspapers in Great Britain warned of imminent attack by Zeppelins.

The result was a series of phantom Zeppelin sightings by panicked citizens throughout the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand in 1909, then again in 1912 and 1913. When war broke out in August 1914, it sparked a new, more intense wave of sightings. Wartime reports also came in from Canada, South Africa, and the United States. In England, rumors that German spies had established secret Zeppelin hangars on British soil led vigilantes to scour the countryside.

In the age of aviation, war and fear of war have consistently fueled reports of unidentified flying objects. A year after Nazi Germany’s surrender, Sweden was beset by at least a thousand accounts of peculiar, fast-moving objects in the sky. Starting in May 1946, residents described seeing missile- or rocket-like objects in flight, which were dubbed “ghost rockets” because of their fleeting nature. Rockets peppering Swedish skies was well within the realm of possibility—in 1943 and 1944, a number of V-1 and V-2 rockets launched from Germany had inadvertently crashed in the country.

At first, intelligence officials in Scandinavia, Britain, and the United States took the threat of ghost rockets seriously, suspecting that the Soviets might be experimenting with German rockets they had captured. By the autumn of 1946, however, they had concluded it was a case of postwar mass hysteria.

Is Extraterrestrial Life Possible?

Searching the Universe for Extraterrestrial Life: A Timeline

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A UFO appears in the form of a boomerang at high speed over France

Many people forget that the term UFO serves to define an unidentified flying object, which means that no one really knows what it is. While many UFO sightings have been documented over the years and on all continents, the only thing that unites these encounters is that many of these mysterious objects that appear out of nowhere in our skies can not be identified.

A UFO Appears In The Form Of A Boomerang At High Speed Over France

Of course, ufologists and conspiracy theorists suggest all sorts of theories, ranging from advanced military aircraft to visits in the form of extraterrestrial life. However, skeptics dismiss these theories claiming that they are simply strange weather patterns, commercial aircraft or misidentified birds. But this has not prevented more and more people from believing in conspiracy theories. There is even a day of the year dedicated to lovers of the UFO theme, World UFO Day, whose goal is to force governments to declassify any information they have about strange flying objects in our skies. But to date, all we know is that UFOs in the form of twinkling lights, rotating objects, luminous spheres and black dots continue to appear.

And the reality is that there are UFO sightings around the world, and some areas of our planet seem to be more prone to this type of activity. And there are not only UFO sightings in the United States and England. As in France, where a person has recorded what appears to be an unidentified flying object in the form of a boomerang. The video has become a subject of debate between the believers of the UFO subject and the conspiracy theorists.

UFO sighting over France

The video, uploaded to YouTube on the Now You Know channel, was recorded on June 14 and shows a mysterious object in the form of a very bright boomerang moving across the sky in broad daylight over Midi-Pyrénées (in French: Midi-Pyrénées), an administrative region of France.

“A disc-shaped silver object was recorded flying off the southwest coast of France,” reads the video description. “The UFO was recorded on June 14, 2018 in France, possibly near the interior region of Midi Pyrenees. In the video you can see that he performs high-speed aerial maneuvers and moves as smart. “

This has provoked all kinds of reactions among the conspiracy theorists, who believe that the elimination of the channel is due to the fact that it is clearly a real UFO of extraterrestrial origin . Even the controversial ufologist Tyler Glockner, responsible for the YouTube channel ‘secureteam10’, has investigated the video, speculating with the possibility that it was an object similar to the ships of the Star Wars saga.

As the video went viral, some experts in the field suggest that these UFO sightings are clear evidence that the government is executing the infamous Blue Beam Project , also known as the false alien invasion or the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Others said that this new sighting could be related to the new Donald Trump Space Force as they could be doing secret military maneuvers in our skies.

Although popular theory says that these sightings are irrefutable proof of the existence of extraterrestrial activity on our planet. It is well known that certain civilizations from other worlds have been visiting Earth for hundreds of thousands of years, and now they could be preparing for the great revelation.

And although the skeptics consider that this object is an unmanned aircraft, it must be said that a drone is not capable of performing such aerial maneuvers at such a high speed . No doubt this new material has everything to become a great conspiracy plot, a video that is published by a YouTube channel that is eliminated within a few hours.

Is this evidence that it is a real UFO?

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STUNNING REVELATION: Former NASA scientist confirms the existence of extraterrestrials and how governments hide it

World UFO Day: Are We Really Alone? The Question Is Worthy of Serious Study

Wind power could be harvested on Mars — and this might be a game changer

BY MIHAI ANDREI

A  new study has shown that wind energy can be harvested on Mars, despite the Red Planet’s extremely thin atmosphere and hellish sandstorms.

In this artist’s illustration, NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander begins to shut down operations as the sunless winter sets in.

Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona.

Black sails for red sands

If we are to have a manned mission to Mars, energy is of the essence. In most cases, you’d rely on energy from the Sun, but that’s not possible in all areas on Mars — this is where wind energy steps in.

“The optimal locations for this type of power production are areas where the sun doesn’t always shine, but winds will blow, such as latitudes poleward of the polar circles,” the researchers wrote.

The problem is that the atmosphere on Mars isn’t really wind-friendly. For one, it only averages about 0.6% of Earth’s mean sea level pressure, which makes it incomparably thinner. Secondly, the atmosphere also hosts devilish sandstorms, which can be devastating for equipment.

But now, researchers have shown that even in these unfavorable conditions, wind energy can be harvested.

Blowing in the wind

“For now, we can say for the first time and with certainty, that, YES, you can use wind power on Mars!” the researchers, led by Christina Holstein-Rathlou of Boston University’s Center for Space Physics, wrote in the study.

Image Credits: Holstein-Rathlou et. al.

Along with her colleagues, Holstein-Rathlou carried out simulations at the Wind Tunnel Simulator II, located in Aarhus, Denmark. The tests first started out in 2010 but were only recently presented at the Mars Workshop on Amazonian and Present Day Climate in Lakewood, CO last week.

If researchers want to send missions to the polar areas of Mars, standard power sources wouldn’t work well. For once, the missions wouldn’t have access to sunlight about half of the year, and the heat expunged by a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (the device that powers NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover and many other deep-space explorers) would significantly impede some science experiments. So researchers are considering having a wind turbine which they would use in conjunction to solar panels. The energy would be stored in customized batteries and used whenever necessary.

“The optimal locations for this type of power production are areas where the sun doesn’t always shine, but winds will blow, such as latitudes poleward of the polar circles,” the researchers write.

This extra source of energy could also allow Mars landers to be larger in size. Previously, energy has been a critical limitation in the size and capabilities of rovers and landers. A suite of studies are still required before turbine-toting probes are ready to launch toward Mars, the team stressed, but these are definitely encouraging results, which pave the way for new avenues of Martian missions.

Can Wind Turbines Really Work On Mars?

{ https://www.zmescience.com/ }

Comet 67P harbors oxygen molecules as old as the Solar System

BY ALEXANDRU MICU

Molecular oxygen found on the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko isn’t produced on the surface — it comes from the early days of the Solar System.

Mosaic of four images taken by Rosetta’s navigation camera (NAVCAM) on 19 September 2014 at 28.6 km (17.8 mi) from the centre of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.
Image credits ESA / Rosetta / NAVCAM.

Between August 2014 and September 2016, the European Space (ESA) Agency’s Rosetta craft tagged along with the comet  67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko as it was trekking around the Sun. The mission also saw a probe delivered to the comet’s surface.

Among other things, the ESA wanted to use Rosetta to study the comet’s coma — the nebulous envelope around the nucleus of a comet. This structure is created by ice subliming — turning from a solid directly into a gas — on the comet’s surface under the sun’s rays. Rosetta’s analysis of the coma revealed that it contains water, carbon monoxide and dioxide (all compounds we were expecting to find), but also molecular oxygen.

Retro oxygen

Molecular oxygen is composed of two oxygen atoms tied together by a covalent bond. Here on Earth, it’s produced by plants via photosynthesis, but researchers are well aware that oxygen is abundant in many places of the universe — we’ve detected molecular oxygen around some of Jupiter’s moons, for example. By mass, oxygen is the third-most abundant element in the universe, after hydrogen and helium — but finding it around a comet was surprising, to say the least.

With the finding also came questions regarding the origin of this molecular oxygen. Some researchers suggested that it might be produced on the comet’s surface under the action of charged ions in the solar wind.

A new paper published by members of the Rosetta team has analyzed data beamed back by the craft to get to the bottom of the issue. The research, led by researchers from the Imperial College London, found that the proposed ionic mechanism for molecular oxygen generation couldn’t account for levels of this molecule observed in the coma. This would mean that the oxygen molecules Rosetta stumbled upon are primordial — meaning they were already fully formed as the comet itself quickened during the early days of the Solar System 4.6 billion years ago.

“We tested the new theory of surface molecular oxygen production using observations of energetic ions, particles which trigger the surface processes which could lead to the production of molecular oxygen,” said lead author Mr Kevin Heritier. “We found that the amount of energetic ions present could not produce enough molecular oxygen to account for the amount of molecular oxygen observed in the coma.”

The findings don’t rule out oxygen generation at the surface level of 67P — but that the majority of the oxygen in the comet’s coma is simply not produced through such a process.

While there are other theories regarding the origin of 67P’s oxygen, the team didn’t address them in any way, either to confirm or infirm them. So far, however, they say that the primordial oxygen theory is the one which fits available data best. This is further supported by other theoretical work that treats the formation of molecular oxygen in dark clouds and the presence of molecular oxygen in the early Solar System, they add. In the team’s model, preexisting molecular oxygen froze into tiny grains that later clumped together, attracted more material, and eventually got bound up in the comet’s nucleus.

• The paper “On the origin of molecular oxygen in cometary comae” has been published in the journal Nature Communications.

{ https://www.zmescience.com/ }

Space Force operating secretly since 1960s, says UFO researcher

Written by Barnett Parker

Dr. Steven Greer appears in an interview with FOX5 on July 2, 2018. (FOX5)

Advanced UFO Technology; Man or ET made ? Lecture by Michael Schratt (HD)

Proof Secret Space Programs are Vastly More Advanced than the Public Realizes

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Size matters in a lot of areas (you know what we mean) but in archeology, the tiniest of finds are often more important that the biggest. That may be the case in Alexandria, Egypt, where archeologists have uncovered the largest granite sarcophagus ever found in that ancient city and a huge stone head that may be the image of the potentially large resident of the coffin. However, they’re more excited about a find in a huge (there’s that size word again) Greco-Roman era bath — a tiny gold coin with the face of King Ptolemy III, the 3rd century BCE ruler who helped build the Great Library of Alexandria, promoted freedom of religions and was an ancestor of Cleopatra.

Another coin with the face of Ptolemy III

In announcing the discovery, Dr Ayman Ashmawy, head of the Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Sector of the Egyptian government, seemed more excited about the coin that the unusual fact that the mortar sealing the sarcophagus has never been broken, so the lid has never been opened nor the contents disturbed or removed. The black granite sarcophagus is 6 feet (185 cm)tall, 8.6 feet (265 cm) long, 5.4 feet (165 cm) wide and was discovered buried 16 feet deep in the unknown tomb … at least until the identity of the big giant head (no, it’s not William Shatner) (5.4 ft). And no, it’s not a life-size replica of the owner of the coffin – there are most likely a Russian doll’s nest of coffins inside the big granite box and the mummy will probably be smaller in size than in historical stature. (Photos here.)

Osiris

Speaking of small, the coin found at the San El-Hagar archaeological site is one inch (2.6 cm) in diameter and says “Land of Prosperity” and Ptolemy’s name on the tails side. The bath itself (photo here) is 52.5 feet (16 meters) by 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) long – plenty of room for soaking or laps (or wet orgies). If that’s not enough artifacts for one week, a small bronze statue of Osiris, god of the afterlife, was discovered unexpectedly and unceremoniously by workings removing waste at the King Djoser step pyramid. (Photos here).

Step Pyramid of Djoser

There are no coins or wall graffiti or baths or full statues to identify the owner of the sarcophagus or the 15.5 inch (40 cm) head, nor are there any identifying features on the face. Alabaster is a soft rock and much of the face is worn away. The best solution is to open the coffin, but plenty of approvals have to be obtained and papers signed first.

All of these finds are further proof that size doesn’t always matter when it comes to Egyptian artifacts and you can’t throw a stone there without hitting a tomb. Just don’t get caught.

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

Hills abduction: what's behind Zeta Reticuli case

Written by Luca Praderio

Tags: Unsolved mysteries, Alien abductions, Aliens

{  http://www.fanwave.it/ }

10 Amazing Technologies Used By Ancient Civilizations That Were Ahead Of Their Time

Ancient civilizations had access to technology that should never have existed at that time.

Discoveries revealed the ancients Romans, Greeks along with the Egyptians had technology allowing them to accomplish the building of monuments and buildings that should not have been possible for them to accomplish.

1. Persian Engineers Were Able to Store Ice in the Desert during summer in 400 B.C

People think of freezers being something of a modern technology that allows homes to store food for some time. However, crude forms of freezers existed in 400 B.C as Persians brought ice down from the mountain regions then stored it in a “Yakhchal”, an ice pit.

The ice pit was a large dome the Persian people made from mud bricks about 60 feet tall. Under the dome was a space for excess storage about 5, 00 cubic meters. This space has a wind catch, which was made up of many wind catchers, these helped to bring down the temperature to ensure the levels remained frigid in the summer. They were designed with two meter thick walls, with the walls being heat resistant thanks to them having mortar made from clay, sand, goat hair, ash and egg whites, mixed in specific amounts. Any ice that did melt was captured in a trench at the bottom where it would freeze up again during the cold winter nights.

2. The Archimedes Screw

The Archimedes Screw was designed to be used for irrigation, featuring a large screw inside a pipe that is hollow. This simple design was operated by hand during ancient times then powered by wind later on. This is technology that is still in use today; however, today a motor is used to power the machine. When the shaft turns the bottom of the device takes water up inside the pipe, which is pushed to the top of the screw thanks to the helicoid rotating, while the water poured out of the end of the device.

3. Ancient Mexican Masonry Technology for Building Roof Domes with Only a Trowel

Masonries in Tequisquiapan in Mexico are known as “bovederos”, they are able to use just a trowel to build roof domes along with vaults. They are able to do so without using any form of support in an act that defies gravity. The masons do not use ceiling mounts or formworks, with it being a skill and technology that has been passed throughout generations, which is still used today.

4. Ramps Were Invented By Ancient Egyptians for Construction

The building of the ancient pyramids is something that has always intrigued many people. How did they get the huge blocks of stone up to the top of the structures? It is thought that the Egyptian people were among the first to use ramps while constructing the pyramids. They found they could make an inclined plane that allowed them to overcome resistance. The Egyptian people were well ahead of their time in construction.

5. The Greeks Invented the Antikythera Mechanism – A 2,000-Year-Old Computer

Many say IBM invented the first personal computer; others suggest it was Bill Wozniak from Apple. However, the Greeks actually invented the Antikythera mechanism, which was essentially the first computer, 2,000 years old. The computer was used to predict planets and stars along with their position within the universe depending on the month.

The old computer was found by divers searching a shipwreck off the coast of a Greek Island. They found a strange item of gears in brass along with dials on something resembling a mantel clock. A detailed analysis of the device was finally made in 1959 by Derek J. de Solla Price, he said: “The mechanism is like a great astronomical clock … or like a modern analog computer which uses mechanical parts to save tedious calculation.”

6. The Lycurgus Cup

Nanotechnology actually dates back to 1,600 years when artisans in Rome impregnated glass used in the Lycurgus Cup with particles of silver and gold of only 50 nanometres in diameter. The cup was something that scientists puzzled about for many decades with the mystery not solved until 1990 when particles of just one-thousandth the size of a salt grain were found. The cup might have been the first example of a pregnancy test as when the different liquid was poured into it electrons behaved differently, changing in color.

7. A Programmable Robot Was Invented By Heron of Alexandria

Heron of Alexandria devised creations that blew the mind of people. It is said he created the first programmable robot, along with the vending machine, force pump, fountain, and syringe, to name just a few. He constructed a mechanical device that was used to entertain people, with it being able to play for around ten minutes, taking power from a unique system of knots, ropes, along with simple machines. It was operated by a cogwheel that rotated in a cylindrical shape.

8. The Hal Saflieni Hypogeum Built In Malta With Incredible Acoustic Properties

An underground burial chamber was built by the people of Malta and was given the name “Hal Saflieni Hypogeum”. The structure consisted of a huge network of corridors along with cavities, with it having unique acoustic properties that were amazing thanks to a chamber called the Oracle Chamber. This chamber magnified sound a hundred times, possibly being the first loudspeaker.

9. Romans Invented Concrete More Durable and Environmental Friendly Than Todays

2,000 years ago Romans invented concrete with it being more durable and environmentally friendly than the concrete of today. Structures built using the concrete have remained standing for more than 2,000 years.

10. Tough Damascus Steel Made by the Crusaders

Damascus steel made by crusaders has a reputation for being tough, while the blades cut through a hair that was dropped across it. The steel became legendary when the Crusaders made their way to the Middle East during the 11th century. The blades were so sharp they could split a feather that had been thrown in mid-air. They were distinguished by the damask pattern embedded into their blades.

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• Humans and Dinosaurs Lived Side-by-Side Evidence Suggests

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Ex-NASA physics professor claims 'many governments' have covered up alien encounters and says humanity must 'face the possibility' UFO sightings really ARE alien craft

• A physics professor from University at Albany, State University of New York and former NASA researcher believes there is 'plenty of evidence to support UFOs'
• He believes skepticism around UFOs prevents serious scientific research
• Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Ecuador, France, New Zealand, Russia, Sweden and the United Kingdom have been declassifying their UFO files since 2008 

By KEVIN KNUTH FOR THE CONVERSATION

Are we alone? Unfortunately, neither of the answers feel satisfactory. 

To be alone in this vast universe is a lonely prospect. 

On the other hand, if we are not alone and there is someone or something more powerful out there, that too is terrifying. 

Scroll down for video 

A 1990 picture of a 'UFO' taken in Wallonia, Belgium. A physics professor from University at Albany, State University of New York and former NASA researcher believes there is 'plenty of evidence to support UFOs'

As a NASA research scientist and now a professor of physics, I attended the 2002 NASA Contact Conference, which focused on serious speculation about extraterrestrials. 

I have always been interested in UFOs. Of course, there was the excitement that there could be aliens and other living worlds. 

But more exciting to me was the possibility that interstellar travel was technologically achievable. 

In 1988, during my second week of graduate school at Montana State University, several students and I were discussing a recent cattle mutilation that was associated with UFOs. 

A physics professor joined the conversation and told us that he had colleagues working at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls, Montana, where they were having problems with UFOs shutting down nuclear missiles. 

At the time I thought this professor was talking nonsense. But 20 years later, I was stunned to see a recording of a press conference featuring several former US Air Force personnel, with a couple from Malmstrom AFB, describing similar occurrences in the 1960s. Clearly there must be something to this.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders reaches to a question about UFOs in the White House Press Briefing Room in Washington, DC, USA 19 December 2017. The question was in response to the Pentagon's secret UFO program, recently revealed in the New York Times

With July 2 being World UFO Day, it is a good time for society to address the unsettling and refreshing fact we may not be alone. 

I believe we need to face the possibility that some of the strange flying objects that outperform the best aircraft in our inventory and defy explanation may indeed be visitors from afar – and there's plenty of evidence to support UFO sightings.

The nuclear physicist Enrico Fermi was famous for posing thought provoking questions. 

In 1950, at Los Alamos National Laboratory after discussing UFOs over lunch, Fermi asked, 'Where is everybody?' 

He estimated there were about 300 billion stars in the galaxy, many of them billions of years older than the sun, with a large percentage of them likely to host habitable planets. 

While the general public has been fascinated with UFOs for decades, our governments, scientists and media, have essentially declared that of all the UFO sightings are a result of weather phenomenon or human actions, Knuth claims.

Even if intelligent life developed on a very small percentage of these planets, then there should be a number of intelligent civilizations in the galaxy. 

Depending on the assumptions, one should expect anywhere from tens to tens of thousands of civilizations.

With the rocket-based technologies that we have developed for space travel, it would take between 5 and 50 million years for a civilization like ours to colonize our Milky Way galaxy. 

Since this should have happened several times already in the history of our galaxy, one should wonder where is the evidence of these civilizations? 

This discrepancy between the expectation that there should be evidence of alien civilizations or visitations and the presumption that no visitations have been observed has been dubbed the Fermi Paradox.

Carl Sagan correctly summarized the situation by saying that 'extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.' 

The problem is that there has been no single well-documented UFO encounter that would alone qualify as the smoking gun. 

The situation is exacerbated by the fact that many governments around the world have covered up and classified information about such encounters. 

A black and white colored video from a 2004 encounter shows fighter jets closing in on an unidentified object (circled red) before it quickly accelerates out of sight

But there are enough scraps of evidence that suggest that the problem needs to be open to scientific study.

When it comes to science, the scientific method requires hypotheses to be testable so that inferences can be verified. 

UFO encounters are neither controllable nor repeatable, which makes their study extremely challenging. But the real problem, in my view, is that the UFO topic is taboo.

While the general public has been fascinated with UFOs for decades, our governments, scientists and media, have essentially declared that of all the UFO sightings are a result of weather phenomenon or human actions. 

A declassified document describing a sighting of a UFO in December 1977, in Bahia, a state in northern Brazil. Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Ecuador, France, New Zealand, Russia, Sweden and the United Kingdom have been declassifying their UFO files since 2008

WHAT ARE SOME REPORTED UFO SIGHTINGS?

Among the sightings were reports from pilots of two U.S. Navy Super Hornet fighters who spotted a UFO on a training mission.

They were 100 miles from San Diego in the Pacific when a call on their radios asked if they were carrying weapons.

The unusual request, that day in 2004, came from a naval cruiser, the Princeton, that had spent two weeks tracking unidentified aircraft.

Commanders David Fravor and Jim Slaight had only dummy missiles, but were directed to investigate objects that appeared suddenly at an altitude of 80,000ft, then plunged towards the sea. 

Hovering erratically 50ft above that spot was some sort of flying craft, around 40ft long, oval-shaped and whitish.

As the pilot descended towards it, it rose to meet him, but suddenly peeled away at an immense speed that he admits left him feeling 'pretty weirded out'. 

The craft 'had no plumes, wings or rotors' but, seemingly travelling at a mile a second, easily outran America's fastest military jets.None are actually extraterrestrial spacecraft. 

And no aliens have visited Earth.

Essentially, we are told that the topic is nonsense. 

UFOs are off-limits to serious scientific study and rational discussion, which unfortunately leaves the topic in the domain of fringe and pseudoscientists, many of whom litter the field with conspiracy theories and wild speculation.

I think UFO skepticism has become something of a religion with an agenda, discounting the possibility of extraterrestrials without scientific evidence, while often providing silly hypotheses describing only one or two aspects of a UFO encounter reinforcing the popular belief that there is a conspiracy. 

A scientist must consider all of the possible hypotheses that explain all of the data, and since little is known, the extraterrestrial hypothesis cannot yet be ruled out. 

In the end, the skeptics often do science a disservice by providing a poor example of how science is to be conducted. The fact is that many of these encounters – still a very small percentage of the total – defy conventional explanation.

The media amplifies the skepticism by publishing information about UFOs when it is exciting, but always with a mocking or whimsical tone and reassuring the public that it can't possibly be true. 

But there are credible witnesses and encounters.

I am often asked by friends and colleagues, 'Why don't astronomers see UFOs?' The fact is that they do. 

In 1977, Peter Sturrock, a professor of space science and astrophysics at Stanford University, mailed 2,611 questionnaires about UFO sightings to members of the American Astronomical Society. 

He received 1,356 responses from which 62 astronomers – 4.6 percent – reported witnessing or recording inexplicable aerial phenomena. This rate is similar to the approximately 5 percent of UFO sightings that are never explained.

As expected, Sturrock found that astronomers who witnessed UFOs were more likely to be night sky observers. Over 80 percent of Sturrock's respondents were willing to study the UFO phenomenon if there was a way to do so. 

More than half of them felt that the topic deserves to be studied versus 20 percent who felt that it should not. The survey also revealed that younger scientists were more likely to support the study of UFOs.

Pictured: An example of a 'UFO' triangle formation that the UK government investigated as part of its report into alien sightings

UFOs have been observed through telescopes. I know of one telescope sighting by an experienced amateur astronomer in which he observed an object shaped like a guitar pick moving through the telescope's field of view. 

Further sightings are documented in the book 'Wonders in the Sky,' in which the authors compile numerous observations of unexplained aerial phenomena made by astronomers and published in scientific journals throughout the 1700s and 1800s.

Some of the most convincing observations have come from government officials. In 1997, the Chilean government formed the organization Comité de Estudios de Fenómenos Aéreos Anómalos, or CEFAA, to study UFOs. 

Last year, CEFAA released footage of a UFO taken with a helicopter-mounted Wescam infrared camera.

The countries of Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Ecuador, France, New Zealand, Russia, Sweden and the United Kingdom have been declassifying their UFO files since 2008. 

The French Committee for In-Depth Studies, or COMETA, was an unofficial UFO study group comprised of high-ranking scientists and military officials that studied UFOs in the late 1990s. 

They released the COMETA Report, which summarized their findings. They concluded that 5 percent of the encounters were reliable yet inexplicable: The best hypothesis available was that the observed craft were extraterrestrial. They also accused the United States of covering up evidence of UFOs. 

WHAT MAKES SOMEONE BELIEVE IN CONSPIRACY THEORIES?

Over the course of three online-based studies, researchers at the University of Kent showed strong links between the belief in conspiracy theories and certain psychological traits.

Narcissism and self-esteem levels have a large impact on a persons belief in conspiracy theories.  

The results showed that people who rated highly on the narcissism scale and who had low self-esteem were more likely to be conspiracy believers.

However, while low self-esteem, narcissism and belief in conspiracies are strongly linked, it is not clear that one - or a combination - causes the other.

But it hints at an interesting new angle to the world of conspiracy and those who reinforce belief. 

There are widely believed to be three main reasons as to why people believe in conspiracy theories. 

• The desire for understanding and certainty - Seeking explanations for events is a natural human desire.
• The desire for control and security - Conspiracy theories can give their believers a sense of control and security.
• The desire to maintain a positive self-image - People who feel socially marginalised are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories and it gives them a sense of worth in the UFO community.

These three things tie in with the previously stated qualities and combine to create an avid conspiracy theorist. 

Iran has been concerned about spherical UFOs observed near nuclear power facilities that they call 'CIA drones' which reportedly are about 30 feet in diameter, can achieve speeds up to Mach 10, and can leave the atmosphere. 

Such speeds are on par with the fastest experimental aircraft, but unthinkable for a sphere without lift surfaces or an obvious propulsion mechanism.

In December 2017, The New York Times broke a story about the classified Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Program, which was a $22 million program run by the former Pentagon official Luis Elizondo and aimed at studying UFOs. 

Elizondo resigned from running the program protesting extreme secrecy and the lack of funding and support. 

Following his resignation Elizondo, along with several others from the defense and intelligence community, were recruited by the To the Stars Academy of Arts & Science, which was recently founded by Tom DeLonge to study UFOs and interstellar travel. 

In conjunction with the launch of the academy, the Pentagon declassified and released three videos of UFO encounters taken with forward looking infrared cameras mounted on F-18 fighter jets. 

Pictured: A 1948 Top Secret US Air Force UFO extraterrestrial document. In December 2017, The New York Times broke a story about the classified Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Program, which was a $22 million program run by the former Pentagon official Luis Elizondo and aimed at studying UFOs

While there is much excitement about such disclosures, I am reminded of a quote from Retired Army Colonel John Alexander: 'Disclosure has happened. … I've got stacks of generals, including Soviet generals, who've come out and said UFOs are real. My point is, how many times do senior officials need to come forward and say that this is real?'

There is a great deal of evidence that a small percentage of these UFO sightings are unidentified structured craft exhibiting flight capabilities beyond any known human technology. 

While there is no single case for which there exists evidence that would stand up to scientific rigor, there are cases with simultaneous observations by multiple reliable witnesses, along with radar returns and photographic evidence revealing patterns of activity that are compelling.

Declassified information from covert studies is interesting, but not scientifically helpful. 

This is a topic worthy of open scientific inquiry, until there is a scientific consensus based on evidence rather than prior expectation or belief. 

If there are indeed extraterrestrial craft visiting Earth, it would greatly benefit us to know about them, their nature and their intent. 

Moreover, this would present a great opportunity for mankind, promising to expand and advance our knowledge and technology, as well as reshaping our understanding of our place in the universe.

• Kevin Knuth, Associate Professor of Physics, University at Albany, State University of New York

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

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Uranus may have collided with a cosmic body twice the size of Earth, explaining its unusual tilt

BY TIBI PUIU

A cataclysmic collision with an enormous cosmic body twice the size of Earth may have caused Uranus to tilt and could explain its freezing temperatures.

The collision with Uranus of a massive object twice the size of Earth caused the planet’s unusual spin.

Credit: Jacob Kegerreis/Durham University.

Uranus’ spins on its side, its axis pointing almost at right angles relative to all the other planets in our solar system. This behavior suggests that the planet almost certainly got knocked over by some giant impact, so the real questions astronomers have been asking are how all of this panned out and how else such a violent impact affected the planet.

Jacob Kegerreis and colleagues at Durham University’s Institute for Computational Cosmology performed over 50 different high-resolution computer simulations of massive collisions with the gas giant in order to answer these questions.

The conditions that lead to outcomes that most closely resemble what Uranus is doing right now suggest that the planet was most likely impacted by a young proto-planet mode of rock and ice during the solar system’s chaotic formation about 4 billion years ago. Since Uranus is so massive — it has about 14 times the mass of Earth and is around four times larger in radius — whatever hit the planet was huge, and scientists think it used to be between two and three Earth-masses.

According to the same simulations, the impact could have also released debris that formed a thin shell around the edge of the planet’s ice layer, trapping heat emanating from the planet’s core. This can partly explain Uranus’ ungodly cold temperature in the outer atmosphere, which averages around -216 degrees Celsius (-357 degrees Fahrenheit). Some of Uranus’ 27 moons — including 13 so-called ‘inner moons’ — might have formed as a result of the spewed debris.

“Our findings confirm that the most likely outcome was that the young Uranus was involved in a cataclysmic collision with an object twice the mass of Earth, if not larger, knocking it on to its side and setting in process the events that helped create the planet we see today,” Kegerreis said in a statement.

The collision wasn’t head-on. The cosmic body grazed Uranus instead, allowing the planet to retain the majority of its atmosphere. However, it was enough to affect the planet’s tilt.

2004 infrared composite image of the two hemispheres of Uranus obtained with Keck Telescope adaptive optics. The planet is tilted at almost a 90-degree angle with respect to the other planets in the solar system.

Credit: Lawrence Sromovsky, University of Wisconsin-Madison/W.W. Keck Observatory.

The impact could have created molten ice and lopsided lumps of rock inside the planet, explaining not only Uranus’ excentric tilt but also its off-center magnetic field.

Such planetary collisions, dramatic as they may sound, used to be quite common in the early solar system. Earth’s moon, for instance, is thought to have formed following a violent impact with a Mars-sized body.

Besides helping astronomers better their understanding of Uranus, the new study might also offer valuable clues as to how planets outside the solar system — called exoplanets — form and evolve.

The findings appeared in the Astrophysical Journal. 

Uranus collision with huge cosmic body twice size of Earth (simulation)

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Most objects in the asteroid belt come from a handful of wrecked ancient planets

BY TIBI PUIU

Most people think of asteroids as scary, cold, and lifeless blobs of rock hurtling around the solar system. That’s a pretty accurate description, but that doesn’t mean that asteroids don’t get to have families. According to a new study, 85% of all objects in the asteroid belt can trace their origin to five or six planetoids (small planets) that turned to smithereens in the early days of the solar system. Accordingly, there are five to six families of asteroids tracing their lineage back to these larger parent bodies.

Illustration of an asteroid belt. Credit: NASA.

About four to five billion years ago, the solar system was a chaotic, crowded mess. Many of today’s planets had yet to form in their current configuration and collisions between massive planetary bodies were quite routine. Eventually, all this colliding gave rise to many of the solar system’s moons and to the countless asteroids that litter the outskirts of the system. For instance, the main asteroid belt — located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter — is estimated to contain millions of objects, although only hundreds of thousands have actually been observed.

While these parent bodies fragmented into thousands of smaller bits and pieces, it is possible to piece them back together based on their trajectories. In 1918, Japanese astronomer Kiyotsugu Hirayama was the first to notice that asteroids had similar elements, such as eccentricity and inclination, to their orbit. Suddenly, asteroids were no longer randomly zipping through the solar system but rather groups sharing orbital elements.

Based on Hirayama’s ideas, for the past 100 years, astronomers have grouped asteroids into families and non-families, with only half of all the asteroids that we know of being classed in families. However, this division into families and non-families is not productive, according to researchers led by Stanly Dermott, a Professor of Astronomy at the University of Florida.

Dermott and colleagues found that there’s a relationship between the orbital elements of asteroids and their sizes. By analyzing the dimensions of asteroids and their distribution within the inner asteroid belt, the team was able to classify 85% of the asteroid into about six families, each named after the biggest object in the family. They are Vesta, Flora, Nysa, Polana, Eulalia, and Hungaria. In 2011, NASA’s Dawn spacecraft visited Vesta.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if we eventually trace the origins of all asteroids in the main asteroid belt, not just those in the inner belt, to a small number of known parent bodies,” Dermott said.

The other 15 percent may also trace their origins to the same group of primordial bodies. What astronomers had previously thought of as ‘non-family’ asteroids were likely part of one of the six families, as well — just that they had become estranged due to the gravitational pull of Jupiter or Saturn, which changed their orbits ever so slightly.

The team only analyzed 200,000 asteroids, all found in the inner asteroid belt, which is closer to Earth and more studied than the middle or outer asteroid belt. A NASA survey tracked over 780,000 asteroids in the belt as a whole. This means there’s a lot of room to learn about asteroids. Perhaps there are more families, for instance. What’s more, there’s a similar ongoing analysis, only this time of meteorites, which are the bits of asteroids that survive atmospheric entry and reach Earth. This kind of information could prove essential to protecting the Earth and ourselves from killer asteroids of the kind that wiped out the dinosaurs. 

 “These large bodies whiz by the Earth, so of course we’re very concerned about how many of these there are and what types of material are in them,” Dermott said. “If ever one of these comes towards the Earth, and we want to deflect it, we need to know what its nature is.”

Scientific reference: 

• The common origin of family and non-family asteroids, Nature Astronomy (2018). DOI: 10.1038/s41550-018-0482-4.

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Asteroid Day 2018: 5 Ways Scientists Plan to Deal With Near-Earth Objects

The problem isn't going away.

By Mary von Aue

This year’s Asteroid Day will mark the 110th anniversary of the Tunguska event, when the largest recorded asteroid to collide with Earth struck Siberia. The area of damage was nearly equal to the size of Rhode Island, alarming the international community of its own lack of preparedness. This year, to avoid destruction of that magnitude from other near-Earth objects, the US government shared some of its own preventative measures.

How Does NASA Spot a Near-Earth Asteroid?

Asteroid Day was not only established to commemorate the catastrophe of 1908 but to raise awareness for the possibility of future threats. The Tunguska asteroid created massive damage, wiping out roughly 80 million trees in a blast that is thought to have measured 5.0 on the Richter scale. More than a century later, scientists are still scrambling to establish monitoring techniques while the public has demanded that protection from asteroids be a top priority to space agencies.

In June, the US National Science and Technology Council released the National Near-Earth Object Preparedness Strategy and Action Plan that outlines the five key efforts to defend Earth from the risk of asteroids. The strategy will be unrolled over the next 10 years and will be led by experts from NASA, FEMA, and other US agencies. Not only will the strategy affect agencies across the US government, but several steps mention the need for collaboration at an international level.

1. Enhancing NEO Detection and Tracking

The first and most important strategic objective for the government is to improve NASA’s tracking and detection capabilities. The space agency has been conducting an NEO survey program since 1998, but more recently has worked with the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope under construction in Chile, which is expected to become operational by 2023. This advanced telescope is integral to the strategy for tracking NEOs and cataloging data to improve detection.

2. Improve NEO Prediction

The document outlines the way it intends to boost nationwide preparedness through quantitative modeling and analysis. This includes an interagency modeling group comprised of the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate, as well as its National Protection and Programs Directorate, who will work to better predict Earth impact probabilities and possibly identify time and location of imminent NEO impacts.

3. Develop Ways to Deflect NEOs

“There is much that is not known about the orbits, size, and material composition of many NEOs,” the document says. “And it is essential to account for these uncertainties when developing and utilizing technologies for impact prevention.”

In order for the interagency modeling group to succeed, they need to be innovating. NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, is expected to launch after 2020 and will crash into the asteroid Didymos to test its ability to change the orbit or path of an NEO. In addition to DART, NASA intends to invest in the development of several new technologies that can observe NEOs over many years to map their orbits and future trajectories.

4. Collaborate With International Space Agencies

This should be a no-brainer. Anyone who’s watched Independence Day knows there’s nothing quite like an extraplanetary problem to bring the planet together. In addition to the State Department’s own foreign relations building, NASA will cooperate with other nations’ space agencies to synthesize data on all NEOs.

5. Practice NEO Emergency Procedures

Think of it as a fire drill, just way more bureaucratic. The government is working across several departments to develop exercise procedures and “action plans” in the event of the worst-case scenario. The US is also developing a protocol with foreign governments to ensure emergency preparedness and reduce physical and economic harm regardless of the location of impact. Should the first four plans fail, these “exercises” will prepare governments in sending first responders.

In the new plan, NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office, which is normally tasked with announcing potential space hazards, will work with FEMA to streamline how these messages are conveyed to the public in the event of an imminent disaster. The two agencies will work together to establish evacuation routes and other life-saving information during an asteroid-related emergency.

Since 2005, the overall number of cataloged NEOs has increased by five times, meaning that the more the US government invests in these strategies, the more obvious it becomes that these strategies were needed. This action plan aims to enhance the NEO detection capabilities not just in the US but internationally. When it comes to extraplanetary threats, we’re all in this together.

{ https://www.inverse.com/ }

What was that strange sight in South Florida early-morning sky?

By Kimberly Miller - Palm Beach Post Staff Writer