The first batch of secret files on UFOs has been submitted for release as the public disclosure of alien life may only be days away.

FBI Director Kash Patel revealed on Tuesday that the first wave of documents the US government has been keeping on alleged UFO encounters was already sent to the interagency committee assembled by the White House.

According to Patel, those files will be released to the public 'in the very near future.'

The FBI director said on the Hang Out with Sean Hannity podcast: 'We already delivered our first tranche of information to that committee and they’re going to be publicly releasing this information very soon.'

'We are all for it. There’s nothing in this subject that we’re talking about that we don’t want released.'

Patel, 46, noted that the process was being led by the US Department of War and Secretary Pete Hegseth after the February 19 order by President Trump to disclose what the intelligence community has discovered about extraterrestrials.

Although Patel said his bureau had delivered a portion of these files to the team at the Pentagon handling alien disclosure, the FBI director said he personally did not have any information on whether the US had ever recovered alien bodies from crashed UFOs.

Speaking about the message President Trump sent to his agency, Patel said: 'The American public wants the documents. We've already delivered the documents. They're coming out. That's it.'

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FBI Director Kash Patel (Pictured) has confirmed that the first batch of UFO files has been delivered to the committee handling their release to the public

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The Pentagon has been placed in charge of releasing decades of files regarding UFO encounters to the public

As America creeps closer to the apparent disclosure of alien life, famed UFO whistleblower and Air Force veteran David Grusch claimed that forces within the US government were still working to cover up the files before their release.

While speaking with Chris Farrell on Judicial Watch, Grusch said: 'I see a lot of power plays, a lot of games, a lot of positioning. Certain agencies are moving people into positions to kind of control the information release.'

The Pentagon has already been slammed by Congress for missing a strict deadline to release nearly four dozen videos allegedly containing recordings of UFOs.

Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna penned a letter to Secretary Hegseth on April 1, ordering the Pentagon to deliver 46 specific clips no later than April 14, 2026.

Lawmakers had said the videos could reveal patterns of activity near sensitive military sites and help determine whether the objects pose a potential national security threat. It is not known if those videos have been delivered.

Despite the actions he referred to as 'shenanigans,' Grusch said on Tuesday that he believed UFO disclosure would reach a tipping point within the next 60 to 90 days. 

'I certainly know what Congress is doing, and I won't reveal that here, but I do see a lot of pressure to get the substantiative empirical holdings that I've talked about, not videos or anything like that, out in the ether,' the whistleblower detailed.

Grusch, who is now an advisor to Congressman Eric Burlison, spent 14 years in the Air Force before working as an intelligence officer for the National Reconnaissance Office, which builds and launches surveillance satellites for the Pentagon.

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The Pentagon has missed its deadline set my Luna to release 46 videos believed to show UFOs flying over war zones 

He eventually became a whistleblower, testifying before Congress in 2023, after allegedly learning that elements of the US government had been hiding UFO retrieval and reverse-engineering programs for decades.

The widespread speculation about what information may be coming in the first batch of files has already caused concern among influential faith leaders, including a group of Christian pastors who claimed they were contacted by elements of the US government.

Bishop Alan DiDio of the Revival Nation Church revealed during a March 7 podcast with other faith leaders that he was one of six Christian pastors invited to a secret meeting with US intelligence officials to prepare for UFO disclosure.

According to DiDio, fellow attendee and American evangelist Tony Merkel, and Tennessee pastor Perry Stone, who did not go to the reported meeting, officials believed the coming release would cause many Christians to lose faith in religion.

Stone said in an April 27 video on YouTube: 'They're going to freak out and they're going to come to pastors, ministers, and teachers and say, "What is this? Is this really real?"'

Stone's claims about the meeting, which went viral online, were later confirmed by DiDio, who said the meeting recently took place in 'an Airbnb in the mountains of Tennessee.'

On Tuesday, Congresswoman Luna publicly requested that the Christian bishop reveal which intelligence officials held this meeting.

Lawmakers want to know which intelligence officials took part in an alleged meeting with Christian pastors which discussed UFO disclosure

Luna has been put in charge of the House Oversight committee tasked with declassifying government secrets, including what US agencies know about extraterrestrial intelligence.

Although President Trump has publicly remained skeptical about the existence of alien life, he recently revealed that the UFO files would contain some 'very interesting' things for the public, echoing Patel's claim that the files would emerge 'very, very soon.'

During a meeting with the crew of NASA's Artemis II moon mission, the president also noted that he had spoken with military pilots who revealed incidents involving what they believed were non-human craft.

'I interviewed some pilots. Very solid people, and they said they saw things that you wouldn't believe,' Trump said.

To this point, the US government and the Pentagon have maintained for decades that there has never been physical evidence that UFOs and alien life exists.

{ https://www.dailymail.com/sciencetech/index.html }

Archaeologists reveal wooden secret beneath ancient stone island

An ancient artificial island in a loch on the Isle of Lewis was built entirely on a wooden platform, archaeologists have discovered.

From above, the Neolithic island - or crannog - in Loch Bhorgastail appears to be made of stone, though it was known that there was some timber underneath it.

Ground control points used for UAS and underwater surveys at Loch Bhorgastail, showing the distribution of terrestrial, underwater, and rope-mounted control points across the land–water interface.

Credit: Blankshein et al., Advances in Archaeological Practice (2026)

The crannog at Loch Bhorgastail.

Credit: University of Southampton

However, researchers from the University of Southampton carried out an excavation and have revealed that wood was used to support the whole structure.

The group dated their findings between 3500 and 3300 BC - around the early Bronze Age - and said the technique would have been used at other nearby sites throughout the Outer Hebrides.

Plan view of stone and timber elements above and below the waterline, digitized from multiple integrated photogrammetry survey datasets.

Credit: Blankshein et al., Advances in Archaeological Practice (2026)

University of Southampton archaeologist, Dr Stephanie Blankshein, said: "When we actually started excavating is when we realised that it was actually this coherent, quite large timber structure that was under what you would see as the stone island today.

"While we still don't know exactly why these islands were built, the resources and labour required to construct them suggests not only complex communities capable of such feats, but also the great significance of these sites."

As well as the layered wood and brushwood construction under the stone, archaeologists found hundreds of pieces of Neolithic pottery in the surrounding water.

Crannogs are small artificial islands that are typically thousands of years old, and hundreds of them exist in Scotland's lochs.

The site in Loch Bhorgastail was first discovered in 2009.

Through fieldwork carried out since 2021, the archaeologists have revealed the different stages of development of the crannog.

They discovered that it was first established more than 5,000 years ago and started out as a circular wooden platform, around 23m (75ft) across, topped with brushwood.

Around 2,000 years later in the Middle Bronze Age, another layer of brushwood and stone were added, with more activity around 1,000 years after that during the Iron Age.

A stone causeway, now underwater, leads from the loch shore to the island.

PA Media

Archaeologists found that the whole island was built on a wooden platform

As part of the fieldwork, the researchers created images of how the island looks above and below the water line using the science of photogrammetry.

{ https://www.bbc.com/news }

Burchett: Here's What the Government Knows About UFOs

What Is Disclosure

UFOs-Disclosure

Bellingham, Northumberland, United Kingdom

UFO ET DISCLOSURE "Disclosure" is the name given to the announcement by various world governmental leaders that we are not alone in the universe and that, in fact, many races of galactic human beings are here around this planet and have been for some time. They are here on peaceful missions, a fact which governments have generally kept hidden from their people until very recently.

Disclosure ends the period of secrecy that extends back to at least 1947 and probably much earlier. The practice of denying that ET UFOs or spacecraft exist has been a policy followed by most governments for varying reasons, some laudable, most unfortunately not. The era in which the existence of other civilizations technologically and spiritually more evolved than ours has been denied is now ending and a new era of galactic contact and cooperation is beginning.

Sean Spicer:

Will we ever get the truth about UFOs/UAPs?

Featuring:
Rep. Tim Burchett
U.S. Congressman | Tennessee, District 2


YouTube link:

• https://youtu.be/H0MeWWbtgbg?si=t4GhI6eMXN7EHw4v

{ https://ufos-disclosure.blogspot.com }

The global industrial robot market has reached a record high of $16.7 billion. This isn’t just a rise in sales—the industry is undergoing structural changes that will shape the future of manufacturing in the coming years.

Infographic showing the five key industry trends according to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR). Source: ifr.org

1. Intelligence instead of rules

In its annual report, the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) identified five key trends for 2026. First and foremost is the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence. Analytical AI enables machines to predict breakdowns before they occur and to autonomously plan routes within warehouses. 

Generative AI has taken a step further: instead of rigidly defined algorithms, it now learns new tasks through simulations and understands commands in natural language. The combination of both approaches—known as agent-based AI—is designed to enable machines to act independently in truly unpredictable conditions.

2. Digital and physical worlds are converging

Another trend is the convergence of information technology and operational technology. Put simply: data processing systems and systems for managing physical processes used to exist in parallel and had almost no interaction. Now these barriers are breaking down. 

The actual exchange of data between the digital and physical layers gives robots greater context and flexibility—and forms the foundation of what is known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

3. Humanoids are coming out of the labs

The third area is humanoid robotics. Companies and research teams are moving from prototypes to actual deployments in manufacturing facilities and warehouses. The automotive industry has taken the lead in this field. 

However, in order for humanoids to compete with conventional automation, they have to meet strict industrial requirements: keep up with the pace of the production cycle, not consume too much energy, and not require excessive maintenance. The IFR notes that the key criterion for success is achieving human-level agility and productivity.

4. Safety and New Risks

The increasing autonomy of machines makes it more difficult to monitor and verify their behavior. Connecting robots to cloud platforms creates new vulnerabilities: experts are noting an increase in attempts to hack controllers and gain unauthorized access to systems. 

Privacy is also a concern—devices collect video, audio, and sensor data streams. Deep learning models are often unable to explain their own decisions even to their developers, and the legal framework for determining liability for AI actions is still taking shape.

5. A partner, not a replacement

The fifth trend concerns the labor market. Robots are increasingly viewed not as a threat to employment, but as a solution to the shortage of skilled workers. IFR emphasizes that the successful implementation of automation depends on whether employees themselves are involved in the process. 

Governments and companies are investing in reskilling programs so that people can compete in an economy where automation is becoming the norm.

• According to ifr.org 

• Posted in News, Tech

Top 5 New Humanoid Robots Ranked at CES 2026 (AI NEWS)

{ https://universemagazine.com/en/news-en/science-en/ }

Benjamin Zuckerman, a researcher at the University of California, has proposed a new approach to the search for extraterrestrial civilizations. He believes that aliens will not transmit signals in all directions, but rather in a narrow, directed beam.

Where should we look for extraterrestrial life? Source: www.nbcnews.com

A new approach to the search for extraterrestrial civilizations

When searching for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence, it’s helpful to know exactly what you’re looking for and to do so in the most effective way possible. However, as Benjamin Zuckerman, an astrophysicist and professor emeritus in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), writes, this has generally not been done until now.

Zuckerman suggests examining an approach to the search using the electromagnetic spectrum, drawing on astronomical surveys conducted independently of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), and proposes an improved search methodology developed based on his research.

Since, by all accounts, there are no alien probes in our Solar System, his methodology leads to the conclusion that “no alien civilization has passed within 100 light-years of Earth over the past few billion years.” His work was published in The Astrophysical Journal.

Limited capabilities for detecting isotropic signals

Most published works (at least those written by humans) have been based on the assumption that extraterrestrial intelligence (ET) would have limited energy resources—the electricity available to extraterrestrials would become increasingly difficult to generate, and its supply would ultimately be limited. It was believed that, to optimize the signal-to-noise ratio on the receiving end, ET would use very narrow bandwidths for both transmission and reception.

That is why people searching for radio signals use algorithms that analyze very narrow frequency bands, spanning just a few hertz. “Even with the use of modern equipment and software, the total bandwidth that has been achieved today amounts to only ‘a tiny fraction of the entire radio and microwave frequency spectrum,’” writes Zuckerman.

In 1964, Soviet astrophysicist Nikolai Kardashev, known for his Kardashev scale—which classifies civilizations based on their energy consumption—proposed the hypothesis that any signal transmitted by extraterrestrials would be isotropic, meaning it would have the same intensity in all directions rather than being directional. In any given direction, an isotropic signal would be weak, which limits its power, and this view has since influenced scientific research within the SETI program.

Why directed signals change everything

Zuckerman puts forward the exact opposite hypothesis—that any extraterrestrial civilizations would choose to send highly directional signals, so limited power would not be a serious problem. In this case, he writes, the most uncertain factor for us will be the signal’s wavelength (or, alternatively, its frequency), so we should investigate a much broader range of the electromagnetic spectrum—not only radio waves, but at least infrared and visible light as well. But this is “very difficult” to do using existing SETI radio search programs.

As Zuckerman writes, for neighboring technological civilizations that engage in targeted communication and make “every technological effort to establish contact,” power limitations—and consequently, filtering through very narrow bandwidths on Earth—are “irrelevant.” 

This scenario allows civilizations conducting searches and receiving signals to “accidentally discover an alien transmitter during electromagnetic surveys of the sky conducted for reasons unrelated to SETI.” Any such signals would be calling out to us—if we were looking in the right direction—simply by conducting routine astronomical observations with modest telescopes.

Narrowing the search to stars similar to the Sun

Zuckerman took into account five relevant observational parameters: distance, direction, sensitivity (power received per square meter per hertz), wavelength (or frequency), and time.

He suggested that any extraterrestrial life discovered would, like ours, be based on water; therefore, their planet must be located in the habitable zone around its star, where liquid water exists on at least part of its surface. The planet’s star must be similar to the Sun; only stars with a mass less than 1.25 times that of the Sun live long enough (4.5 billion years) for such a technological civilization to evolve on the planet.

According to Zuckerman’s estimates, a targeted SETI search program would likely need to observe 300,000 stars within a radius of 200 parsecs (650 light-years) to cover all the old stars—those that have existed in the Earth’s atmosphere over the past two billion years, during which oxygen has existed in Earth’s atmosphere as a result of the Great Oxidation Event—about two million such stars have passed within 100 light-years of our solar system.

Based on many such astronomical, astrophysical, and SETI considerations, and given that many other all-sky surveys of stars in the radio and optical spectrum could detect continuous, strong signals deliberately transmitted (via highly directional transmissions) with the aim of attracting attention, Zuckerman arrives at the aforementioned limit: “No alien civilization has passed within 100 light-years of Earth over the past few billion years.”

Need for further research

Although some parts of the radio and infrared bands have not yet been explored, according to Zuckerman, a broad-band study of old, Sun-like stars—from radio frequencies to the visible spectrum—is needed. This will allow us to expand the scope of the search and, for the first time, obtain a numerical estimate of the number of extraterrestrial civilizations capable of communication. 100,000, or perhaps even 10,000.

Zuckerman said he had spoken with some of SETI’s leading astronomers, and none of them had criticized him. The same applies to other astronomers who are not SETI experts but are sufficiently qualified to evaluate its work and claims. But, he adds, “although the jury has not yet reached a decision, various pieces of evidence suggest that the verdict will be this: we are alone in our little corner of the Milky Way galaxy.”

• According to phys.org 

• Posted in News, Science

{ https://universemagazine.com/en/articles-en/ }

Meta has acquired a startup that develops artificial intelligence for humanoid robots. The company aims to create an open software platform for the industry—similar to how Google once built Android for smartphones. The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

Illustrative image. Humanoid robots are the main focus for tech giants in 2026.

What is ARI?

Assured Robot Intelligence (ARI) is a startup that developed so-called foundational models—basic artificial intelligence algorithms that enable machines to understand human behavior and adapt to unpredictable situations in real-world environments. 

Precisely this inability to generalize—to understand new situations without prior programming—is the key problem that no company in the field of humanoid robotics has yet solved. The entire team, including co-founders Xiaolong Wang and Lerrel Pinto, will join the Meta Superintelligence Labs division.

Why now?

Wang wrote on X that they understood from the start that achieving the company’s goals meant training a “truly versatile physical agent.” He is now convinced that such an agent must be a humanoid, and that its training will be based directly on human experience. According to him, Meta has access to “the key components needed to realize this vision.”

The deal comes amid a fierce race among tech giants. Amazon acquired the startup Fauna Robotics—where Pinto previously worked—for its own humanoid robot project. Tesla is promoting the Optimus line and is already converting part of its Fremont factory to produce them. 

According to forecasts by the research firm Kaiso Research, the global market for humanoid robotics is expected to grow from $2.64 billion in 2024 to $38.4 billion by 2035. Software—the very segment that ARI is strengthening—is already the fastest-growing sector.

Software as a priority

Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth explained the company’s strategy back in 2025: “Software is the bottleneck.” The idea is to develop licensed software for the entire industry—just as Android has become the operating system for thousands of different devices. 

The acquisition of ARI fits into this logic: instead of investing in expensive hardware, we are acquiring scalable software expertise.

• According to engadget.com 

• Posted in News, Science, Tech

{ https://universemagazine.com/en/articles-en/ }

TikTok, The Conversation

Hollow‑Earth myths and Nazi UFOs on TikTok are bringing white supremacism into the mainstream

Eighty-one years after Adolf Hitler died by his own hand in a Berlin bunker, a viral video on TikTok shows an AI-generated vision of the Nazi dictator standing in Antarctica, shoulders broad and face smiling, sipping a White Monster Energy drink while Men at Work’s iconic song Down Under plays.

It’s an absurd image, but one that makes sense in the context of the “Agartha” trend on TikTok, which is quietly bringing white supremacist narratives into the mainstream to be seen by millions of users.

The modern myth of Agartha, a supposed utopia hidden inside the hollow Earth, was constructed from older pieces by esoteric authors after the second world war. It blends “Aryan” white supremacist themes with ideas of an occult SS and Third Reich spaceships.

Literal belief in hollow-Earth myths or Nazi UFOs is not the point. Instead, it’s an aesthetic – one that can host both coded far-right messages and explicit ones, fused with pop-cultural references such as the White Monster Energy meme.

Mainstreaming through borderline content

Agartha videos on social media are “awful but lawful”: the content is objectionable but legal. It allows extremists to embed their narratives into mainstream social media spaces, without triggering moderation or outright rejection by the audience. As a result, they can reach large, young audiences.

To understand how the underlying esoteric myths are used, we analysed a network of more than 43,000 Agartha-related TikTok videos and closely studied selected examples. This analysis is part of an ongoing project led by researchers at Neu-Ulm University of Applied Sciences in Germany. The goal is to understand how extremists abuse platform features to carry radical narratives into the mainstream.

We identified four key mechanisms which far-right actors use to push radical narratives to unsuspecting audiences: aesthetic camouflage, dog-whistles and split-second glimpses, network building, and weaponised irony. Let’s unpack each of these terms.

Aesthetic camouflage

Moderation systems on social media platforms aim to remove overt extremist propaganda. These systems work imperfectly, but overt propaganda is unlikely to reach mass audiences before being removed.

Instead, far-right actors often use generative AI to mask racial ideology behind seemingly benign tropes from science fiction and fantasy. This allows a “de-demonising” of their ideas. Elf-like depictions of the “Aryan” inhabitants of Agartha, or footage of an underground utopia, make the idea of a white ethnostate seem palatable.

The engaging aesthetic keeps people watching longer. In turn, this triggers the algorithm to push the video to wider audiences.

Dog whistles and split-second provocations

Far-right actors infuse their content with dog whistles that communicate to a certain audience without triggering moderation.

Our research identified recurring visual symbols in Agartha videos. “Raw milk” signals white supremacy. The number 271, which appears in hundreds of the videos, is a code for Holocaust denial.

Agartha videos also sometimes include overt extremist markers such as the Hakenkreuz (the Nazi symbol of the “hooked cross” or swastika). They are often flashed for only fractions of a second.

This is a calculated provocation. It tests and pushes platform boundaries, normalising the presence of far-right markers and slowly desensitising viewers. At the same time, successful inclusion of forbidden symbols in videos with viral reach serves as a badge of honour within the in-group.

Building network bridges

The Agartha community is not an isolated echo chamber. Our analysis shows the Agartha network connects to others on TikTok. Around 87% of these connections come via the inclusion of mundane, mainstream hashtags on Agartha videos.

Extremists may deliberately “hijack” benign, high-traffic hashtags, such as #roblox or #loganpaul, to push their content into everyday feeds. Agartha is also strongly connected to gym and fitness content. Hashtags such as #gymtok serve as a bridge, potentially funnelling users towards radical narratives.

Here, we also observed targeted appeals. Agartha videos would commonly include hashtags associated with “looksmaxxing” – a trend for extreme physical self-optimisation – to push their videos towards audiences seen as potentially susceptible, such as insecure young men. Well-known looksmaxxers were also sometimes depicted in Agartha videos.

Weaponised irony

As the example of Adolf Hitler drinking a Monster Energy illustrates, Agartha videos rely heavily on absurd situations, frequently co-opting mainstream social media trends.

Because White Monster Energy is a popular meme within non-extremist spaces, users familiar with the trend are particularly likely to get algorithmic recommendations fused with extremist narratives.

Similarly, actors superimpose mainstream figures into Agartha to force association, such as YouTuber Logan Paul or actor Mads Mikkelsen.

Such co-opting is also done through music, with many hollow-Earth edits set to Men at Work’s 1980s hit Down Under. The track serves as a darkly ironic nod to the subterranean utopia.

This increases the chances for algorithmic amplification while providing creators with plausible deniability. Criticisms can be dismissed as a misunderstanding of dark humour or current trends.

Recognising the threat

Agartha is more than just a digital resurfacing of fringe occultism. It is a blueprint for how to design extremist content for algorithmically curated short-video platforms.

It’s also a reminder that extremist content on social media does not exist in isolation. Instead, it lives in what researchers call “hybridised spaces”, where users move in and out of extremist discourse. In such spaces, borderline content, outright extremism, mundane trends and humour blend seamlessly – and participants may find their mainstream interests lead them to radical narratives.

{ https://theconversation.com/europe }

UFO-linked scientist claimed a top secret energy weapon blasted her before her death... now the Pentagon admits they are real

By CHRIS MELORE, DEPUTY SCIENCE EDITOR FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

A futuristic weapon often dismissed as a conspiracy theory has been publicly acknowledged as being part of the US military's vast arsenal. 

The US Department of War chose 'Star Wars Day' on May 4 to state that 'directed energy weapons are a fine addition to our arsenal.'

Directed energy weapons are devices capable of firing rays of energy, such as microwaves, at a target. Simply put, they fire lasers at the enemy, often to scramble and physically damage electronic equipment.

In the Pentagon's post on social media, they confirmed that DEWs produced 'beams of concentrated electromagnetic energy or atomic or subatomic particles.'

Monday's post cemented decades of rumors that the military has been working on futuristic weaponry that was once thought of as science fiction or unrealistic experiments by Pentagon researchers.

However, the revelation comes as stunning claims from a dead scientist were recently unearthed, alleging that she was the target and victim of a DEW attack in her own home in 2022.

Amy Eskridge, who reportedly took her own life on June 11, 2022 at age 34, shared shocking images that allegedly showed the damage these weapons could cause to the human body.

Pictures and text messages shared with the Daily Mail by a former British intelligence officer revealed burned skin, lesions and painful blisters Eskridge allegedly suffered after a beam from a DEW was fired into her home by an unknown assailant.

The Pentagon's Chief Technology Officer revealed on May 4 that laser weapons are 'a fine addition' to the US military

Amy Eskridge (Pictured) was a scientist researching anti-gravity technology before her death in 2022 at age 34

Franc Milburn, a retired paratrooper, investigated the Eskridge case and concluded she was 'murdered by a "private aerospace company"' to stop her research on futuristic propulsion technology and national security threats.

The images shared by Milburn also revealed how a microwave from an alleged DEW scorched the window of Eskridge's Huntsville, Alabama home as the beam passed through the glass.

Eskridge's death was reportedly ruled a suicide from a gunshot wound to the head, but the scientist allegedly consulted a former CIA weapons expert about the DEW attack in early 2022.

On May 19, 2022, Milburn said Eskridge messaged him to say: 'My ex-CIA weapons guy on my team saw my hands when they were burned really badly a couple months ago, and he saw that window pane in person,' she wrote.

'He said he had built things like that, and that it was most likely an RF k-band emitter run by five car batteries strung together from inside an SUV.'

While there has been no physical evidence to confirm Eskridge and Milburn's claims regarding a DEW attack, the theory that such a weapon uses a k-band emitter does match what the military is currently using in its laser weapon tests.

The k-band is a specific range of invisible radio waves, or microwaves, that military directed energy weapons can use to send out powerful beams at enemy targets.

These beams can travel well, focus tightly on a target and are especially good at damaging electronics inside drones, missiles or vehicles from a distance.

Eskridge's death was reportedly ruled a suicide from a gunshot wound to the head, but the scientist allegedly consulted a former CIA weapons expert about the DEW attack in early 2022

Directed energy weapons fire concentrated beams of microwaves or other particles at a target to disable electronics

Franc Milburn shared a picture, which he claims shows Eskridge's hands burned and discolored after allegedly being struck by a 'directed energy weapon'

Monday's statement came from the X account of the Department of War's Chief Technology Officer, Emil Michael, who oversees the Pentagon's entire research, development and prototyping operations.

Michael's profile on the Department of War website states that his mission is to 'accelerate the transition of breakthrough technologies from prototype to operational reality, ensuring that the US military maintains its technological edge.'

Although DEW technology was first mentioned in the 1960s and first deployed in 2014 by the Navy, there has not been any public mention by the US government or the Pentagon about using these weapons against people.

Over the last decade, the Pentagon's 'idea factory,' known as DARPA, has worked on multiple projects aimed at creating a new wave of directed energy devices for use against enemy drones, missiles, rockets, vehicles and computers.

A Pentagon official told the Daily Mail that the military's current focus is on six 'new critical technology areas,' including Scaled Directed Energy, or SCADE.

'The Department is continuing to scale and integrate these high-energy solutions to make our arsenal more lethal, precise, and cost-effective,' the officials said in a statement on Tuesday.

Large DEW have been used by the military to shoot down enemy missiles and drones

The technology is thought to be more cost effective than using bullets because each beam costs only a few dollars to emit

The official website of Congress even has a detailed section acknowledging the existence, uses and funding for the government's research and development of these futuristic weapons.

According to that report, the Pentagon requested $789.7 million for directed energy weapons programs during the 2025 fiscal year.

However, some of the research has also been handled by outside companies, including those in the aerospace field, with deep ties to national defense.

That includes defense technologies company AeroVironment, which developed the laser weapon shown in the Pentagon's social media post - the Locust X3.

The Locust is a truck or ship-mountable system that shoots a powerful, invisible beam at the speed of light to quickly destroy or disable enemy drones, especially small and medium-sized threats.

According to the military, these weapons have also become a more cost-effective solution to shooting down enemy drones, as each beam only costs a few dollars to fire and does not require bullets or bombs, which have limited supplies.

The Pentagon official added: 'By scaling and delivering on the priorities driven under the SCADE CTA, the Joint Force will be able to neutralize adversarial threats with unparalleled precision at a low cost-per-shot.' 

{ https://www.dailymail.com/sciencetech/index.html }

“Without a body or analogous internal physiology, AI systems may approximate, simulate, or even convincingly reproduce the expression of understanding,” said Akila Kadambi, the study’s first author and a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine. “But Simulation is not the same as experience.”

“On that view, an AI could be highly intelligent, or even sentient in some abstract sense, yet still lack the embodied grounding that characterizes human understanding,” Kadambi said in an email to The Debrief.

At its core, human cognition is shaped by connection, not isolation. The researchers point to even simple actions—like passing the salt across a table—as examples of how behavior is informed by more than the task itself. Such actions draw on a lifetime of sensorimotor experience: how objects feel, how distances are judged, and the social context or intent behind the interaction. In other words, human behavior is deeply contextual. The brain continuously integrates this external input with internal bodily signals, creating a feedback loop that influences attention, memory, and decision-making. According to the UCLA researchers, AI systems lack this internal layer.

“While there is a current focus in world modeling on external embodiment, such as our outward interactions with the world, far less attention is given to internal dynamics, or what we term ‘internal embodiment,’” Kadambi said. “In humans, the body acts as our experiential regulator of the world, as a kind of built-in safety system.”

“If you’re uncertain, if you’re depleted, if something conflicts with your survival, your body registers that,” she added. “AI systems right now have no equivalent. They can sound experiential, whether they should be or not, and that’s a real problem for many reasons, especially when these systems are being deployed in consequential settings.”

Kadambi explains that current AI models can produce human-like language without having any lived experience to match what those words really mean. 

The study also highlights experiments involving point-light displays, in which several advanced AI systems failed to recognize patterns that humans readily identify as human movement. Instead, the systems interpreted them as unrelated shapes or even astronomical phenomena. When the displays were altered, the systems’ performance deteriorated further, suggesting a fragile and unrealistic mode of perception—one that contrasts sharply with the stability provided by embodied human experience.

The researchers argue that this limitation could have implications for human safety as AI systems are deployed more broadly in everyday settings.

“By contrast, current AI systems have no equivalent mechanism. They process inputs and generate outputs without any persistent internal state that regulates how they behave over time,” said Dr. Marco Iacoboni, professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine and a senior author on the recent paper.

“This is not just a performance limitation, but also a safety limitation. Without internal costs or constraints, an AI system has no intrinsic reason to avoid overconfident errors, resist manipulation, or behave consistently.”

To address this issue, the paper proposes a “dual-embodiment framework.” The idea would be to enable AI systems to connect more directly with the external world while also incorporating internal “check-in” processes—loosely analogous to an inner voice—that could help regulate behavior.

The authors also call for the development of new evaluation benchmarks. Rather than focusing solely on whether AI can identify objects or complete tasks, future assessments should examine whether systems can maintain stability under uncertainty and demonstrate self-regulation.

• Chrissy Newton is a PR professional and the founder of VOCAB Communications. She currently appears on The Discovery Channel and Max and hosts the Rebelliously Curious podcast, which can be found on YouTube and on all audio podcast streaming platforms. Follow her on X: @ChrissyNewton, Instagram: @BeingChrissyNewton, and chrissynewton.com. To contact Chrissy with a story, please email chrissy @ thedebrief.org.

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

Hantavirus outbreak could just be the beginning: Scientists issue urgent warning about spillover of other rodent–borne viruses amid rising global temperatures

• READ MORE: More than 20 Brits battling to get off rat virus vessel

By WILIAM HUNTER, SENIOR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY REPORTER

The recent outbreak of hantavirus on a cruise ship could just be the beginning, scientists have warned.

In an ominous new study, researchers reveal that climate change will lead to enhanced 'spillover' of rodent–borne viruses.

As global temperatures rise and rodent populations shift, deadly arenaviruses will be driven into areas that have never faced these diseases before.

Researchers predict this will trigger outbreaks that threaten to reach 'millions' of people across South America.

The warning comes as more than 20 Brits remain trapped aboard a cruise ship infected with rat–borne hantavirus off the coast of Cape Verde.

Three passengers have now died after contracting the viral infection, including a Dutch couple and a German national.

The Dutch–flagged MV Hondius had previously docked in Argentina, where both hantavirus and arenaviruses kill dozens every year.

However, the researchers warn that similar outbreaks will only become more common the faster the climate warms.

Scientists predict that climate change will lead to a massive spread of rodent–borne viruses in South America 

Like hantavirus, arenaviruses are hosted by rodents and usually spread to humans from animals rather than person–to–person infection.

These extremely common but poorly studied infections include Guanarito virus in Venezuela and Colombia, Machupo virus in Bolivia and Paraguay, and Junin virus in Argentina.

Infection causes severe hemorrhagic fevers with high hospitalisation rates, with fatality rates between five and 30 per cent.

Since these diseases are spread by rodents, their impact is closely connected to changes in rodent habitats.

However, studies have shown that the warming climate is producing dramatic changes in the ranges of disease–spreading animals.

Previous research has shown that factors such as temperature and precipitation have a massive impact on the risk of rodent–borne diseases such as Lassa fever and hantavirus.

Meanwhile, the distribution of the drylands vesper mouse, which transmits Argentine Hemorrhagic Fever, will undergo 'substantial changes' due to climate change.

In their paper, the researchers use machine learning to combine climate projections, population density predictions, infection risks, and habitat suitability for six rat and mouse species linked to the viruses.

As the climate becomes hotter, the habitats of rodents which carry arenaviruses will shift. This will bring more rodents into contact with humans 

This comes as more than 20 Brits remain trapped aboard a cruise ship infected with rat–borne hantavirus off the coast of Cape Verde. The infection has already killed three passengers, including a Dutch couple and a German national  

What are arenaviruses?

Arenaviruses are a group of 'segmented genome RNA viruses' that are hosted by rodents.

They include the Guanarito virus in Venezuela and Colombia, Machupo virus in Bolivia and Paraguay, and Junin virus in Argentina.

They are very similar to hantaviruses, which are also spread by rodents in South America.

Like hantaviruses, arenaviruses have no known antiviral treatment. 

Infection leads to hemorrhagic fevers that kill five to 30 per cent of patients depending on the virus. 

This revealed that the infection risk posed by these dangerous diseases would change dramatically in the next 20 to 40 years under different climate change scenarios.

Lead author Dr Pranav Kulkarni, of the UC Davis Weill School of Veterinary Medicine, says: 'As climate change accelerates, our study shows how the outbreak risk of dangerous New World arenaviruses could ride on shifting rodent populations to reach millions more people across South America.'

The new model shows that the guanarito virus, which is currently contained to central Venezuela, will spread to parts of Colombia, the border regions of Suriname, and northern parts of Brazil.

The machupo virus, which causes often fatal Bolivian Hemorrhagic Fever, will expand from the flatlands of Bolivia to the Andes foothills and mountain regions.

Meanwhile, the Junin virus that causes Argentine Hemorrhagic Fever will move out of the grassland areas and expand to the rest of Argentina.

This will reduce the risk in some areas that have already learned to deal with the disease, but increase the dangers of infection in others.

In all cases, Dr Kulkarni and his co–authors warn that populations with little or no prior exposure will be encountering these viruses for the first time, potentially increasing their vulnerability to infection and severe disease.

Senior author Dr Pranav Pandit says: 'Our study connects the dots between changing climatic conditions and land use, shifting rodent populations and human infection risk, making it possible to see where the next generation of zoonotic arenaviral outbreaks could emerge.'

Modelling shows that climate change will cause significant changes in the habitat of the drylands vesper mouse, which transmits Argentine Hemorrhagic Fever

These changes were primarily driven by expanding agricultural and urban areas, bringing more humans into the habitats of rodents capable of carrying arenaviruses.

Combined with climate–driven changes in the rodents' habitats, triggered by temperature and precipitation shifts, major outbreaks in previously safe areas are likely.

This research comes after an outbreak of rodent–borne hantavirus left a luxury cruise ship stranded at sea.

The MV Hondius vessel has been anchored in the Atlantic since Sunday, following the death of three passengers after an outbreak of the deadly disease.

Read More

• Scientists discover two brand new viruses in bats in China - that could spill over to humans 

Around 150 people remain aboard the vessel following the deaths and illnesses, while the World Health Organisation has confirmed six cases of hantavirus.

It is suspected that the virus may have been transmitted during a stop in South America, either directly to humans or to rodents aboard the ship.

A spokesperson for the Netherlands' National Institute for Public Health and the Environment told Reuters: 'You could imagine, for example, that rats on board the ship transmitted the virus," he said.

'But another possibility is that during a stop somewhere in South America, people were infected, for instance via mice, and became ill that way.'

ZOONOTIC DISEASES: THESE ARE VIRUSES USUALLY STARTED IN WILD ANIMALS THAT CAN PASS TO OTHER SPECIES AND SURVIVE

Zoonotic diseases are able to pass from one species to another.

The infecting agent - called a pathogen - in these diseases is able to cross the species border and still survive. 

They range in potency, and are often less dangerous in one species than they are in another. 

In order to be successful they rely on long and direct contact with different animals.  

Common examples are the strains of influenza that have adapted to survive in humans from various different host animals. 

H5N1, H7N9 and H5N6 are all strains of avian influenza which originated in birds and infected humans.

These cases are rare but outbreaks do occur when a person has prolonged, direct exposure with infected animals. 

The flu strain is also incapable of passing from human to human once a person is infected.  

A 2009 outbreak of swine flu - H1N1 - was considered a pandemic and governments spent millions developing 'tamiflu' to stop the spread of the disease. 

Influenza is zoonotic because, as a virus, it can rapidly evolve and change its shape and structure.  

There are examples of other zoonotic diseases, such as chlamydia. 

Chlamydia is a bacteria that has many different strains in the general family. 

This has been known to happen with some specific strains, Chlamydia abortus for example.

This specific bacteria can cause abortion in small ruminants, and if transmitted to a human can result in abortions, premature births and life-threatening illnesses in pregnant women.

©CC Composite Editor

The location of a chest believed to contain the Ten Commandments has long been a mystery, but archaeologists may be closer to finding the lost Ark of the Covenant. According to the Bible, the sacred relic was built by the Israelites shortly after fleeing Egypt around the 13th century BC, with Moses placing the Ten Commandments inside. Historians believe the Ark was kept inside the Holy of Holies, the innermost chamber of Jerusalem's ancient temple, before vanishing during the Babylonian sack of the city in 586 BC. Now archaeologist Dr Chris McKinny has proposed the Ark could be hidden within underground spaces in the City of David, just south of Jerusalem's Temple Mount. Researchers plan to scan underground spaces in the area using powerful technology designed to detect hidden cavities and buried metals deep beneath the surface.

©Shutterstock / A.Pushkin

Use of Muon Detection Technology in Archaeology

The method relies on muon detectors, instruments that track tiny subatomic particles created when cosmic rays from space strike Earth's atmosphere, allowing scientists to see deep underground and detect hidden chambers without digging. Early scans of the area have revealed previously unknown voids and structures beneath the ancient landscape, aligning with the hidden tunnel theory. If the technology is eventually extended beneath the Temple Mount, McKinny and his team believe the Ark could be detected , if it still exists, because it is said to be plated with gold inside and out. McKinny does not claim to have discovered the Ark of the Covenant or to know its exact location with certainty.

However, in his documentary Legends of the Lost Ark , released April 7, he explores three major ancient traditions describing what may have happened to the relic after the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem's First Temple in 586 BC. According to McKinny, each account suggests the Ark was deliberately hidden to protect it from invading forces rather than destroyed or captured.

©Getty Images

Advanced Imaging Methods for Underground Exploration
McKinny also expressed optimism about emerging technology that could one day allow him and his team to digitally examine underground spaces without disturbing sacred ground. He pointed to advances in imaging tools such as ground-penetrating radar, seismic scanning, electrical resistivity tomography and other remote-sensing technologies capable of mapping hidden structures beneath the surface, All Israel News reported. According to McKinny, such tools could eventually help identify tunnels, chambers and concealed spaces beneath the Temple Mount, an area he described as one of archaeology's biggest blind spots because traditional excavation using 'the spade or the trowel' is largely forbidden.

He stressed that this remains a long-term possibility rather than an active excavation project. In a recent interview, McKinny said he is 'excited and hopeful for what will come from that,' while acknowledging that significant religious, political and logistical barriers still stand in the way of such work. Despite growing interest in advanced scanning methods, McKinny maintains a cautious approach, focusing primarily on ancient texts and historical traditions rather than dramatic excavation efforts.

©Daily Mail

Ark of the Covenant's final resting place pinpointed in new search
The stories draw from early Jewish sources, including the Book of 2 Maccabees and other historical traditions. The first and most widely discussed theory, often called the Mount Legend, suggests the Ark was hidden beneath the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism and central to biblical history, widely believed to be the place where Abraham prepared to sacrifice Isaac. Located in Jerusalem's Old City, the 36-acre raised compound once housed Solomon's Temple, known as the First Temple, and later the rebuilt Second Temple, serving as the spiritual center of Israelite worship and the symbolic dwelling place of God's presence. In this tradition, priests are said to have concealed sacred items in underground chambers or tunnels beneath the temple complex shortly before the Babylonian siege. This theory has fueled centuries of speculation about hidden chambers beneath the Temple Mount and remains one of the most widely debated possibilities among modern researchers. A second account, known as the Rock Legend, describes the prophet Jeremiah hiding the Ark at a mysterious rocky site located between two mountains.

©Shutterstock / P Maxwell Photography

Ark of the Covenant's final resting place pinpointed in new search
Jeremiah was a major biblical prophet who lived in Jerusalem during the final years before the city's destruction, making him a central figure in many accounts of the Ark's disappearance. The precise location described in the texts remains unclear, with some scholars suggesting it could refer to a wilderness region near Jerusalem or a more remote mountainous area. The third and oldest tradition, often referred to as the Mount Nebo Legend, appears in the ancient text 2 Maccabees. It claims Jeremiah carried the Ark, along with other sacred objects, to a cave or tomb on Mount Nebo, the mountain traditionally associated with the death of Moses.

Some interpretations suggest the Ark may have been hidden near the place believed to be Moses' burial site, though later traditions have complicated efforts to pinpoint the exact location. Despite their differences, McKinny noted that all three legends share key similarities. Each places Jeremiah at the center of efforts to safeguard the Ark, situates the events shortly before Jerusalem's fall, and suggests the relic was intentionally hidden rather than lost in battle.

{ ©Daily Mail }

Trump promises to release UFO files

©The Daily Digest

The truth is out there?
As long as humanity can remember, people have been looking into the stars with awe and curiosity, trying to figure out the mysteries of the universe. Now one unlikely source might help solve one piece of this cosmic puzzle.

©The Daily Digest

Trump's promise
Newsweek reports that US President Donald Trump has promised that his administration will release documents pertaining to UFO-related activity.

©The Daily Digest

Seeing things you wouldn't believe
The US president didn’t give a specific date for the release, only saying that it would be soon and teasing that it includes files containing accounts “you wouldn’t believe.”

©The Daily Digest

Executive order
“As you remember, I recently directed the Secretary of War to begin releasing government files relating to UFOs and unexplained aerial phenomena,” Trump said, as cited by NBC.

©The Daily Digest

The process is underway
The US president added that “this process is well underway, and we found many very interesting documents, I must say, and the first releases will begin very, very soon.”

©Provided by The Daily Digest

Pressure from the US Congress
Lawmakers in the US Congress have been pressuring the White House to disclose files related to unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAPs.

©The Daily Digest

Moving away from UFOs
The scientific community has adopted the term UAP as a way to move away from the term unidentified flying object, or UFO, due to the older term's association with flying saucers.

©The Daily Digest

Image: US House of Representatives

Federal secrets?
One of them is Florida Republican Representative Anna Paulina Luna, who chairs the House Oversight Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets.

©The Daily Digest

'Nonhuman origin'
According to Newsweek, Luna claims to have seen things she cannot explain. “I have observed things that are of nonhuman origin and creation. That’s my opinion,” the Florida congresswoman revealed in a podcast.

©The Daily Digest

The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office
Since 2022, the US Congress has been looking more closely at the existence of UAPs, holding hearings on military sightings, intelligence reports, and the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO).

©The Daily Digest

Image: iammrcup / Unsplash

Never-before-seen information
A spokesperson for the Defense Department said in a statement to NBC News that AARO was “working in close coordination with the White House and across federal agencies to consolidate existing UAP records collections and facilitate the expeditious release of never-before-seen UAP information.”

©The Daily Digest

What Obama had to say
Trump isn’t the only US president to hint at the possibility that we aren’t alone in the universe. NBC points out that back in February, former US president Barack Obama shared his belief that we aren't alone in space.

©The Daily Digest

Personal belief vs. presidential information
However, Obama explained that he didn’t actually see any evidence of alien life during his time at the White House, but rather he was speaking about probability.

©The Daily Digest

'Very interesting'
“Anything having to do with UFOs or related material we are going to be releasing. And I think a lot of it is going to be very interesting,” Trump remarked, as quoted by Newsweek.

©The Daily Digest

On air
The US president claims to have been speaking with Air Force personnel: “I’ve interviewed people my first term primarily, but I interviewed some pilots, very solid people, and they said they saw things that you wouldn’t believe. So you’re going to be reading about it.”

©The Daily Digest

There's always a catch
However, NBC points out that despite Trump’s tantalizing words, the US president has not said he actually believes these sightings have been extraterrestrial in origin.

©The Daily Digest

Other famous conspiracy theories
In the past, the US president has made bombastic announcements about releasing classified documents pertaining to high-profile mysteries such as the Kennedy assassination or the killing of Martin Luther King.

©The Daily Digest

Just a distraction?
Critics have regarded the expectation around these file releases as a way to distract the press and the public from more relevant information withheld by the US government, such as the Epstein files.

{ ©The Daily Digest }

UFO from Steven Spielberg’s ‘Disclosure Day’ Fully Revealed in New Images

We recently got our tease of an extraterrestrial in Steven Spielberg‘s upcoming sci-fi film Disclosure Day, and now we’re getting a full look at their UFO, courtesy of EW.

A set of new images has been released, offering the first glimpse at one of the alien spacecrafts in Spielberg’s latest sci-fi thriller, which I keep thinking might be a super secret sequel to Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Based on everything we’re seeing, Disclosure Day looks like it has every chance of capturing the magic of Spielberg’s previous sci-fi wonders. Fingers crossed that that’s the case.

The film stars Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer, A Quiet Place), Josh O’Connor (Challengers, The Crown), Colin Firth (The King’s Speech, Kingsman franchise), Eve Hewson (Bad Sisters, The Perfect Couple), and Colman Domingo (Sing Sing, Rustin).

Spielberg teased at CinemaCon: “All you need to get from the beginning to the end (of this movie) is a seatbelt.”

Uncover the secrets of Disclosure Day when the film lands in theaters on June 12th via Universal Pictures.

{ https://www.dreadcentral.com/category/news/ }

Trump Hints 'Very Interesting' UFO Files For Upcoming Disclosure; Will It Reveal These Top 10 Alien Mysteries?

President Donald Trump has directed the Pentagon to release classified UFO-related files, calling the contents "very interesting" and suggesting revelations are imminent. Whether this delivers genuine transparency or another round of already-known information remains to be seen.

In February, Trump signed a directive ordering federal agencies to release records related to extraterrestrial life and unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP). The Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) — created by Congress in 2022 specifically to investigate UAP incidents and declassify material — is now coordinating with the White House on what it calls "never-before-seen UAP information."

AARO's 2024 report documented hundreds of new UAP incidents. Its conclusion: no confirmed evidence that the U.S. government has ever verified alien technology. A second report covering more recent sightings is pending.

"I've interviewed some pilots, very solid people," Trump told supporters at a Turning Point USA event in April. "They said they saw things that you wouldn't believe."

10 Bizarre Cases That Refuse to Go Away

These are not tabloid stories. They involve military personnel, commercial pilots, air traffic controllers, and thousands of ordinary witnesses. None has been fully explained to everyone's satisfaction.

1. The Phoenix Lights (1997) — Phoenix, Arizona

Thousands of residents watched a massive V-shaped formation of lights move silently across the sky. The U.S. Air Force attributed it to military flares. Many witnesses, including the state's governor at the time, remained unconvinced.

2. The Nimitz Incident (2004) — Pacific Ocean

U.S. Navy fighter pilots encountered an object off the California coast that outperformed everything known in aviation — no visible propulsion, no exhaust, instant acceleration. The encounter was filmed and later officially released by the Pentagon.

3. The Tic Tac Incident (2004) — Pacific Ocean

A related but distinct Navy encounter during the same exercise period. Pilots described a white, oblong object matching no known aircraft profile. The footage became one of the most studied UAP videos in history.

4. The Rendlesham Forest Incident (1980) — Suffolk, England

U.S. Air Force personnel stationed at RAF Bentwaters reported a craft landing in Rendlesham Forest over multiple nights. One deputy base commander later described inscribed symbols on its hull.

5. The Belgian UFO Wave (1989–1990) — Belgium

Over several months, thousands of civilians and police officers reported large, silent, triangular craft with lights. The Belgian Air Force scrambled F-16s twice. Radar confirmed the objects.

6. The Cash-Landrum Incident (1980) — Texas

Betty Cash, Vickie Landrum, and Vickie's grandson encountered a diamond-shaped, fire-emitting object on a rural road. All three developed symptoms consistent with radiation exposure. They sued the U.S. government. The case was dismissed—not because their injuries were disputed, but because the government denied owning any such craft!

7. The Westall UFO (1966) — Melbourne, Australia

Over 200 students and teachers at two schools watched a disc-shaped object descend, hover, and fly away at speed. Multiple witnesses reported that men in dark suits arrived quickly afterward and told them to say nothing.

8. The Shag Harbour Incident (1967) — Nova Scotia, Canada

A glowing object crashed into the water off Shag Harbour. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Coast Guard, and civilian witnesses all filed reports. Divers found nothing. It remains an officially unsolved case in Canadian government files.

9. The Hudson Valley Wave (1980s) — New York

Over several years, thousands of Hudson Valley residents — including police officers and IBM engineers — reported a massive, slow-moving, boomerang-shaped craft with multicolored lights. Witness accounts were detailed and consistent.

10. The Chicago O'Hare Sighting (2006) — Chicago, Illinois

United Airlines employees and pilots at O'Hare International Airport observed a metallic disc hovering over Gate C-17. It shot straight up through cloud cover, leaving a perfectly circular hole. The FAA declined to investigate, citing no radar confirmation.

What Disclosure Could Realistically Reveal

The honest answer is probably less than the buildup suggests, possibly more than officials are comfortable with. Most serious UAP researchers aren't expecting alien proof. What they want is raw data, e.g., radar logs, cockpit footage, and incident reports that have been withheld under national security classifications. Even partial release could reframe some of the cases above.

{ https://in.mashable.com/science }

Trump drops hints of what's coming in new batch of UFO files set for release

By  Collin Binkley, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says the Pentagon is preparing to release some "very interesting" UFO files uncovered by his administration, generating a mix of buzz and skepticism as he hints at new revelations around questions of alien life.

An audience member wears a UFO pin during a House Oversight and Accountability subcommittee hearing on UFOs, July 26, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington.

(AP Photo/Nathan Howard, File)

Trump started stoking interest in the extraterrestrial in February, directing federal agencies to release their records related to extraterrestrial life and UFOs. Since then, he has built suspense with tantalizing updates, teasing an imminent release of documents never before shared by the U.S. government.

• WATCH: 3 ways scientists use math to help debunk UFO videos

"We're going to be releasing a lot of things that we haven't," Trump said Wednesday at a White House event celebrating NASA astronauts. "I think some of it's going to be very interesting to people."

Trump has relished in portraying himself as the president who spills the secrets. In the first week returning to office, he ordered the release of records related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. The disclosures revealed little beyond what was already known.

In the buildup to that release, Trump said "the American people deserve transparency and truth." Now, as he turns to the sky, the president has struck a similar tone, suggesting answers to decades-old questions may be on the way. His February directive on social media called for transparency around "alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs)."

"The first releases will begin very, very soon," he told supporters in April at a Turning Point USA event in Phoenix. "So you can go out and see if that phenomena is correct. You'll figure it out."

An expert cautions against raising expectations

Even before Trump's directive, the Pentagon was years into a process to declassify and release government documents related to UFOs, now often referred to as unexplained anomalous phenomena, or UAP.

Citing concerns over national security, Congress created an office in 2022 to investigate UAP and declassify as much material as possible. The office's 2024 debut report revealed hundreds of new UAP incidents but found no evidence that the U.S. government had ever confirmed a sighting of alien technology. A second report covering more recent sightings is expected to come soon.

That agency, the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, is now working with the White House to release "never-before-seen UAP information," according to a Pentagon statement.

The office's previous director, however, said Trump's promises were bluster, a "shiny object" to distract Americans from the war with Iran. Sean Kirkpatrick, a physicist and former career intelligence officer who led the office until 2023, said he has seen the government's records and believes there are no bombshell revelations to be found.

"Readers should not get their hopes up that there's going to be some document with photos, interviewing the aliens when they came down," he said. "Because that just doesn't exist."

Videos purporting to show alien technology tend to have mundane explanations, he said. Modern infrared cameras used by the U.S. military often capture jet engines and other hot objects in a long thermal bloom, which, Kirkpatrick said, explains viral videos of speedy, pill-shaped objects.

Pentagon not forthcoming on UAP reports, GOP-led panel says

On Capitol Hill, those types of videos have caught the attention of a small group of Trump-aligned Republicans who insist the Pentagon is holding back secrets.

The Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets has been conducting its own investigation into reports of mysterious aircraft near U.S. military installations, which the panel says pose a threat to national security and the armed forces.

Last fall, the task force heard testimony from current and former service members who described UAP encounters. In one case, a senior Navy officer said he was off the coast of California in 2023 when he saw a glowing "Tic Tac" shaped object emerge from the ocean and link up with three similar objects. They sped away in an instant, he said.

Trump's interest in the subject has energized congressional Republicans, including Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, an Air Force veteran who co-chairs the task force. Luna has criticized what she calls "less than adequate" transparency from the Pentagon.

In a March letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Luna demanded dozens of UAP videos identified by whistleblowers and labeled with names such as "Spherical UAP in clouds." Her deadline for Hegseth came and went, and no videos were produced.

Trump's entry to the UFO fray drew applause from Luna, who last year told podcaster Joe Rogan that she has seen evidence of "interdimensional beings." The Pentagon "can't hide from our docs request anymore!" Luna said on social media after Trump's directive.

Vance professes to be 'obsessed' with UFO files

Trump appears skeptical about the existence of extraterrestrial life. Addressing the Turning Point USA crowd in Phoenix, he said, "I figured this was a good crowd because I know you people, you're really into that. I don't know if I am."

Why he made the revelation at that event, held at a megachurch, is unclear. A day earlier, Trump had spoken in Las Vegas, not far from Area 51, a top-secret Cold War test site that has fueled UFO conspiracy theories.

Vice President JD Vance has described himself as "obsessed" with UFO files. In March, he said he has been trying to find time to investigate Area 51 since he took office.

"I've still got three more years as vice president," Vance told conservative podcaster Benny Johnson. "I will get to the bottom of the UFO files." Invoking his Christian faith, Vance said he believes sightings reported to be aliens are actually the work of spiritual demons.

Even before Trump tackled the topic, alien buzz was already in the air.

It's back in Hollywood with an upcoming Steven Spielberg movie, "Disclosure Day." Former President Barack Obama made a splash in February when he declared on a podcast that aliens are real. He later clarified that he had seen no evidence but that "the odds are good there's life out there."

Trump is hardly the first president drawn to UFO mysteries. President Bill Clinton has said he once ordered a review of the Roswell Incident — something had crashed in 1947 at a New Mexico ranch and officials later said the debris was the remnants of a high-altitude weather balloon — around its 50th anniversary in 1997. Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan claimed to have seen UFOs before their time in the White House.

The U.S. government has been investigating UFO reports since the 1940s, in part to determine if they represent advanced technology from competing nations or "evidence of off-world technology," according to the Defense Department's 2024 report.

In online communities devoted to UFOs, some see Trump's promise as a step in the right direction; others believe it will come to nothing. For people who follow the topic closely, promises of big revelations have never lived up to the hype, said Greg Eghigian, a Pennsylvania State University professor who wrote a book on the history of UFO sightings.

"There is almost no satisfaction that is possible for many of the really die-hard folks," he said. "So in a sense, I think disappointment can almost be guaranteed to be expected no matter what comes out of this."

{ https://www.pbs.org/newshour/ }

De Euphrates Rivier Droogt Uit: Een Oud Bijbels Voorspellingswonder in Hedendaagse Wetenschap

Inleiding

De Euphrates, een van de meest iconische rivieren uit de oudheid, speelt sinds duizenden jaren een centrale rol in de ontwikkeling van de Mesopotamische beschaving, vaak aangeduid als de bakermat van de menselijke beschaving. Deze rivier, samen met de Tigris, vormde de vruchtbare strook tussen de twee, het zogenaamde "Twaalfde Land" of "Land tussen de Rivieren". In de hedendaagse tijd worden de veranderingen in de waterstanden van de Euphrates vaak besproken in het kader van klimaatverandering, geopolitieke conflicten en ecologische achteruitgang. Wat echter opmerkelijk is, is dat de Bijbel, geschreven meer dan 2000 jaar geleden, voorspellingen bevat die lijken te verwijzen naar de drooglegging van deze rivier.

Eufraat Rivier Kaart: het Tigris-Eufraat Rivierbekken in het Midden-Oosten.

Afbeelding: Alejo Miranda/Shutterstock.com

Dit artikel onderzoekt de recente ontwikkelingen rondom de Euphrates, de historische en religieuze contexten van de voorspellingen, en de wetenschappelijke verklaringen voor de afname van de waterstanden. We analyseren ook de mogelijke implicaties voor de toekomst, zowel op lokaal als mondiaal niveau.

Oorsprong in Turkije en stromend door Syrië en Irak, mondt de rivier haar 1.740 mijl lange tocht uit door in de Perzische Golf te stromen. Dit uitgestrekte waterlichaam voedde de Sumerische, Babylonische en Assyrische rijken, verrijkte hun land, bevorderde de handel en maakte transport mogelijk. Oude centra van beschaving, waaronder Ur, Babylon en Nineve, bloeiden op haar oever

De geografische en historische context van de Euphrates

• Geografische ligging en belang

De Euphrates ontspringt in de bergen van Turkije, stroomt door Syrië en Irak, en mondt uit in de Perzische Golf. Met een lengte van ongeveer 2.800 kilometer is het een van de langste rivieren van West-Azië. De rivier voorziet in irrigatie voor grote landbouwgebieden en is van vitaal belang voor de watervoorziening van miljoenen mensen.

• Historisch belang

De regio rondom de Euphrates was de geboorteplaats van enkele van de oudste beschavingen, waaronder de Sumeriërs, Akkadiërs, Babyloniërs en Assyriërs. De rivier was essentieel voor de ontwikkeling van steden zoals Babylon en Ur, en vormde de levensader voor handel, irrigatie en religieuze activiteiten.

Bijbelse voorspellingen over de Euphrates

• Beschrijving uit de Bijbel

De Bijbel bevat meerdere verwijzingen naar de Euphrates. In het boek Openbaring wordt gesproken over de rivier als onderdeel van apocalyptische gebeurtenissen:

"En de zesde engel blies zijn bazuin; en ik hoorde een stem uit de vier horens van de gouden altaren, die vóór God waren, die zeiden tot de zesde engel: 'Gooit de vier engelen die vastgebonden zijn aan de grote rivier de Eufraat los.'" (Openbaring 9:13-14)

Daarnaast wordt in Jesaja en Jeremia verwezen naar de Euphrates in verband met de vernietiging en de verovering van steden.

• Interpretatie en profetische betekenis

Velen geloven dat deze passages symbolisch zijn, maar sommige interpreteren ze letterlijk en zien ze als voorspellingen over toekomstige gebeurtenissen, waaronder de uitdroging van de rivier. Het idee dat een profetie uit duizenden jaren geleden kan verwijzen naar de huidige drooglegging van de Euphrates fascineert wetenschappers, theologen en milieudeskundigen.

De recente ontwikkelingen: Euphrates in het heden

• Hydrologische veranderingen en waterpeilen

De afgelopen decennia is de waterstand van de Euphrates drastisch gedaald. Volgens rapporten van de Verenigde Naties en lokale waterautoriteiten bevindt de rivier zich momenteel in een kritieke toestand. In sommige delen is de waterstand zodanig afgenomen dat irrigatie en drinkwatervoorziening ernstig worden bedreigd.

De Eufraat en het Keban-damreservoir zijn te zien in het oosten van Turkije vanuit het Internationale Ruimtestation.

Afbeelding: NASA

• Oorzaken van de droogte

De afname van de waterstanden kan worden toegeschreven aan meerdere factoren:

1. Klimaatverandering: Verhoogde temperaturen en veranderende neerslagpatronen leiden tot minder regenval en smeltwater, waardoor de waterinlaat uit de bergen afneemt.

2. Dammenbouw en watergebruik: Turkije, Syrië en Irak hebben grote dammen gebouwd, zoals de Atatürk-dam en de Tabqa-dam, die de waterstroom reguleren en verminderen. Deze dammen worden vooral gebruikt voor irrigatie en energieproductie, maar beperken de natuurlijke afvloeiing.

3. Overmatige wateronttrekking voor landbouw: De regio kent intensieve irrigatieactiviteiten die de waterreserves verder uitputten.

4. Politieke en economische conflicten: Instabiliteit in de regio leidt tot ontoereikend waterbeheer en gebrek aan gezamenlijke waterverdeling.

• Consequenties voor de regio

De droogte heeft verstrekkende gevolgen voor de landbouw, volksgezondheid en de ecologie. Boeren kunnen hun gewassen niet verbouwen, wat leidt tot voedseltekorten. Waterbronnen worden schaars, wat conflicten kan aanwakkeren tussen de betrokken landen.

Boten op opgedroogde, gebarsten grond tijdens een droogte in de Zuidelijke Moerassen van Irak.

Beeldcredits: John Wreford/Shutterstock.com.

Wetenschappelijke verklaringen voor de droogte

• Klimaatwetenschap en hydrologie

Studies tonen aan dat de regio onder invloed staat van een semi-aride klimaat, waarin kleine veranderingen in neerslagpatronen grote invloed hebben op de waterstanden. Recent onderzoek wijst uit dat de temperatuurstijging sinds de 20e eeuw gemiddeld 1,2°C is geweest, met een significant effect op de verdamping en de waterbalans.

• Impact van dammen en waterbeheer

De bouw van grote dammen in Turkije en andere landen heeft geleid tot een vermindering van de waterstroom in de Euphrates. Een rapport van het International Crisis Group benadrukt dat deze dammen niet alleen de stroom beperken, maar ook de natuurlijke sedimentatie en de waterkwaliteit beïnvloeden.

• Ecologische en klimatologische modellen

Modellen van klimaatverandering voorspellen dat de regio in de komende decennia verder zal uitdrogen, tenzij er effectieve waterbeheerstrategieën worden geïmplementeerd. Sommige wetenschappers waarschuwen dat de Euphrates mogelijk volledig kan opdrogen, wat een catastrofale impact zou hebben op de regio.

De Bijbelse voorspelling en de actualiteit: een wetenschappelijke analyse

• Vergelijking tussen profetie en waarnemingen

Het is opmerkelijk dat de Bijbelse teksten spreken over de droogte van de Euphrates, terwijl moderne gegevens de afname van de waterstand bevestigen. Hoewel interpretaties verschillen, lijkt de historische tekst een voorspellende waarde te hebben in de context van de huidige ecologische crisis.

• Symboliek versus letterlijke interpretatie

Sommigen beschouwen de Bijbelse voorspelling als symbolisch, bedoeld om spirituele lessen over veroordeling en herstel over te brengen. Anderen zien het als een letterlijke voorspelling die nu wordt gerealiseerd. De wetenschap kan niet bevestigen of ontkennen de spirituele of prophetische betekenis, maar kan wel de fysieke veranderingen documenteren.

Implicaties voor de toekomst

• Ecologische en humanitaire gevolgen

De verdere drooglegging van de Euphrates zou leiden tot verwoestende gevolgen voor de regio: massale migraties, toenemende conflicten, verlies van biodiversiteit en een ernstige crisis in de watervoorziening.

• Geopolitieke spanningen

Water wordt steeds meer een strategisch en politiek instrument. De regio's die afhankelijk zijn van de Euphrates staan onder druk om gezamenlijk waterbeheer te organiseren. Het ontbreken van samenwerking kan leiden tot escalaties en conflicten.

• Klimaatadaptatie en oplossingen

Om de calamiteit te voorkomen, zijn ingrijpende maatregelen nodig, waaronder:

* Verbetering van waterbeheer en efficiënter gebruik

* Internationale samenwerking tussen Turkije, Syrië en Irak

* Investeringen in duurzame watertechnologieën

* Klimaatmitigatie om de opwarming te beperken

Spirituele en ethische overwegingen

De voorspelling uit de Bijbel herinnert ons aan de verbondenheid tussen religieuze teksten, ecologische realiteit en menselijke verantwoordelijkheid. Het onderstreept de urgentie om de natuur te beschermen en duurzame oplossingen te zoeken.

Conclusie

De drooglegging van de Euphrates is een complexe crisis die wordt beïnvloed door natuurlijke en menselijke factoren. De historische Bijbelse voorspelling lijkt op een intrigerende wijze te resoneren met de actuele gebeurtenissen, wat vragen oproept over de relatie tussen religieuze profetieën en wetenschappelijke waarnemingen. Het is essentieel dat de internationale gemeenschap zich inzet voor duurzaam waterbeheer en klimaatmaatregelen om de regio te redden van verdere achteruitgang.

De situatie onderstreept ook de noodzaak van een holistische benadering, waarin wetenschap, politiek, religie en ethiek samenwerken om een duurzame toekomst te waarborgen. De Euphrates, de rivier die ooit de bakermat was van beschaving, moet worden beschermd zodat haar water niet volledig verdwijnt, en haar betekenis voor de mensheid niet verloren gaat.

Bronnen en verdere lectuur

• United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) rapporten over de Euphrates
• Wetenschappelijke artikelen over klimaatverandering in West-Azië
• Bijbelvertalingen en interpretaties van Openbaring, Jesaja en Jeremia
• Studies over waterbeheer en dammenbouw in Turkije, Syrië en Irak
• Rapporten van de International Crisis Group over regionale conflicten en water

Einde van het artikel

Deze analyse benadrukt de urgentie van het begrijpen en aanpakken van de watercrisis rondom de Euphrates, en nodigt uit tot reflectie over de rol van oude voorspellingen in de moderne wereld.

{ PETER2011 }

Footage dated June 1996 shows a bright, oval-shaped object descending rapidly toward the desert near White Sands Missile Range. The object appears to strike the ground, bounce or skip, and then slam down again before breaking apart into fragments. Due to its grainy, VHS-era quality, the footage makes it difficult to clearly identify what is being seen. 

{ http://ufosightingshotspot.blogspot.com/ }

EXCLUSIVE - Listen to chilling phone calls from UFO-linked scientist that expose shock kidnapping attempt… casting new doubts on her 'suicide'

By CHRIS MELORE, DEPUTY SCIENCE EDITOR FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

Phone calls allegedly made by a young scientist researching technology that could revolutionize space travel have raised new questions regarding her reported suicide. 

Amy Eskridge, 34, was found dead on June 11, 2022, with a gunshot wound to the head. While her death was ruled a suicide, new information has been unearthed that points to the scientist being spied on and threatened for years.

Franc Milburn, a retired British paratrooper and intelligence officer who claimed to have been in contact with Eskridge before her death, shared phone calls with the Daily Mail, which exposed an alleged attempt to abduct or attack the researcher at a local airport.

A voice said by Milburn to be Eskridge's detailed how US military and airport officials were monitoring her movements and allegedly thwarted an attempt to kidnap her while she was flying from Virginia to her Alabama home in 2021. 

New videos and text exchanges shared with the Daily Mail also detailed how Eskridge had allegedly discovered someone trespassing on her property in Huntsville, Alabama, tampering with her car and threatening her with sexual violence.

Milburn said: 'Going through messages and imagery and voice media from late 2021 Amy sent to me, it is clear that she was concerned for her safety and that there was malign activity occurring at her home and at locations she was visiting.'

Eskridge had publicly stated that she feared for her safety due to the nature of her work for the US government and on the development of technology, which has been linked to space-age propulsion allegedly used by extraterrestrial spacecraft.

The scientist had also repeatedly claimed she was not suicidal, and that she was physically attacked with a directed energy weapon -a device that fires dangerous rays, including microwaves, at a target.

Amy Eskridge (Pictured) was a scientist researching anti-gravity technology before her death in 2022 at age 34

Text messages allegedly sent by Eskridge to former British intelligence officer Franc Milburn detailed a campaign of harassment against her for years

Eskridge, a graduate of the University of Alabama in Huntsville, had co-founded The Institute for Exotic Science with her father, Richard Eskridge, in 2018, a company focused on 'speculative research,' including the creation of gravity-defying engines.

This technology has been linked to extraterrestrials by UFO researchers who claim anti-gravity propulsion has been responsible for the unexplainable sightings of aircraft moving at incredible speeds and in ways that defy the laws of physics.

The scientist claimed that her research on this technology and on new national security scanners for the US Department of Homeland Security set off a harassment and intimidation campaign aimed at stopping her company's work.

This allegedly included break-ins at her home, attempts to drug her and her colleagues, threatening phone calls and even acts of sabotage on Eskridge's car.

A newly unearthed incident shared by Milburn focused on a chilling incident while Eskridge was flying home after Thanksgiving, and the US military allegedly had to step in to prevent her from being abducted in two different states.

A voice believed to be Eskridge said: 'My side obviously noticed immediately. When we got to the airport in Virginia to fly home, they just waved me through security, didn't check my ID, didn't check my ticket.'

'They were like "leave your shoes on, don't take your bag off, just walk through the scanner." They just wanted me to get behind the f****** security barrier as quickly as humanly possible.'

'We discovered what was up when we got back [to Alabama] and the car battery was drained, the pepper spray was emptied... but they just had a f****** colonel walk out of the airport behind me,' she continued.

Eskridge, a graduate of the University of Alabama in Huntsville, had co-founded The Institute for Exotic Science with her father, Richard Eskridge, in 2018, a company focused on 'speculative research,' including the creation of gravity-defying engines 

Milburn previously shared a picture, which he claims shows Eskridge's hands burned and discolored after she was allegedly struck by a 'directed energy weapon'

Read More

EXCLUSIVE

• Inside Trump's bombshell UFO files drop: Investigator reveals incidents that may now be explained 

Eskridge added that this military colonel had no luggage, nor did she believe he was even a passenger at the airport in Huntsville.

Moreover, Eskridge said the colonel was parked right next to her at the airport and immediately offered to use his jumper cables once the scientist discovered her vandalized car.

'So the colonel jumped my car, and then I went along my merry way, totally traumatized but also totally ok.'

Another call believed to be from Eskridge referred to the incident as a 'snatch attempt' and discussed how the researcher was warning colleagues to avoid attending scientific conferences over fears of an attempt against their lives.

Milburn, who conducted his own investigation and has claimed Eskridge was murdered, said: 'I hope the FBI will conduct a thorough investigation of all the incidents leading up to her death, wherever the investigation may lead - to foreign actors or to domestic ones.'

A video allegedly shared by Eskridge on October 29, 2021 also revealed what the scientist considered a home invasion at her Huntsville residence, with an unknown suspect leaving a large boot print in the ground outside the home for Eskridge to find.

Eskridge can be heard tracing the individual's path from her driveway to the outdoor garbage bins to an area near her home.

The 34-year-old had previously claimed that her home had been broken into on multiple occasions, with someone leaving clear signs that an intruder had entered to intimidate her.

An image of a boot print allegedly outside Amy Eskridge's home in Alabama, taken in 2021

Eskridge had publicly claimed that her home had been broken in to on multiple occasions by suspects trying to intimidate her into stopping her research

Milburn also shared a series of text messages said to be from Eskridge, which detailed additional incidents where her or a loved one's car was broken into and had the battery drained.

The late scientist reportedly told Milburn that she was uncertain if groups attempting to derail her work had been sabotaging her car or if it was an act of the US government to make her more aware of the alleged threats against her.

However, hours before appearing on a livestream interview to discuss her work, texts detailed how Eskridge allegedly received chilling voicemails claiming her research was being monitored and threatening her with sexual violence.

The 'garbled' also allegedly warned Eskridge that Twitter campaigns were being designed to discredit her work and link the research back to Russian websites.

'That's nothing new, I guess,' Eskridge allegedly wrote during the text exchange with Milburn.

Eskridge's father, a former NASA scientist, has publicly rejected claims that his daughter was murdered. The Daily Mail has attempted to contact Richard Eskridge for comment.

Key members of the House Oversight Committee, including Congressman Eric Burlison of Missouri, have sided with Milburn's assessment that the death warranted further investigation.

However, President Trump said in the Oval Office on Thursday that a string of recent deaths and disappearances among scientists and nuclear officials like Eskridge did not appear to have a connection to an organized plot against US researchers.

'Some of them we looked at were very sad cases. Some were sick. Some left this Earth self-inflicted. Some had other things. So far, we're finding that there's not much of a connection,' Trump revealed. 

'I did NOT Kill myself': NASA Scientist CHILLING Last Text Before Death | Trump’s Link EXPOSED!

{ https://www.dailymail.com/news/index.html }

Major newspaper claims Air Force created alien tech stories at Area 51 to mislead public

Release of new documentary stirs up renewed interest in Area 51 lore

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Did the Air Force create the stories about alien technology being stashed and tested at Area 51?

A major newspaper said the whole thing was made up by the Air Force in order to mislead the American public and our adversaries.

It remains unclear why officials presented subordinates with the fake briefings, with rumors speculating it could have been used as a loyalty test or to spread misinformation.

The release of a new documentary film has stirred up renewed interest in Area 51 lore. But was it all propaganda?

This new version of what happened 37 years ago was published in The Wall Street Journal, a highly respected newspaper, but is it true?

Those who were present when the story exploded back in 1989 think the Air Force is engaged in a form of reverse engineering, that is, rewriting history.

For nearly 40 years, the family, which owns the tiny desert outpost, formerly known as the Rachel bar and grill, has openly embraced the now familiar lore about exotic, possibly alien technology being tested at Area 51, the world’s best-known supposedly secret military base.

The town of Rachel and its now-famous watering hole are the closest stop-overs to the groom lake base, and base workers are a core clientele. In late 1989, the owners, Joe and Pat Travis, came up with a new theme and name for their struggling business.

The late Joe Travis saw the change as a slam-dunk marketing opportunity, a way to capitalize on the new flow of visitors drawn to Rachel by stories of alien tech being tested inside the forbidden zone of Area 51.

Public interest exploded starting in May 1989 when KLAS aired an interview with an anonymous former government employee who told an outrageous story.

“Well, there are several actual nine flying saucers, flying discs of extraterrestrial origin,” a man named “Dennis” told KLAS at the time.

Within days of that interview, curious people began flocking to the outskirts of Area 51 to watch the skies. Within months, tour buses filled with scores of the UFO-curious poured into the desert.

And when the identity of the whistleblower, Bob Lazar, was revealed in November 1989, public interest went into the stratosphere.

Media from all over the world beat a path to the door of Area 51. Every day since then, aviation watchers and UFO believers have staked out vantage points to watch the skies over Groom Lake for whatever might be flying… of earthly origin or not.

For Area 51 security, it’s been a nightmare. A huge array of cameras and sensors was installed around the perimeter. The so-called cammo dudes had to be positioned 24-7 at every possible entry point to handle the hordes who foolishly tried to slip in.

The Area 51 conspiracy theory was planted to hide the development of the F-117, the world's first stealth fighter jet.

REUTERS

Things grew even more complicated when the state of Nevada dedicated the world’s first extraterrestrial highway, the local baseball team was renamed the 51’s, countless products such as posters, tee shirts, trinkets, rock bands, and video games were launched, and the once secret base became known all over the world via books, TV shows, and blockbuster movies.

Eventually, the notoriety caused even bigger headaches for the base when thousands gathered in 2019 with the stated intention of storming Area 51 all at once.

Did all of this chaos and irritation happen on purpose?

That’s an allegation reported recently by The Wall Street Journal. The story alleges that an unnamed Air Force officer, on an unknown date, created the UFO myth by handing over fake UFO photos to the owners of an unspecified bar near the base.

The plan was to confuse the public and eventually discourage people from paying attention to what was really being flown out of Groom Lake at the time, most notably the F-117 stealth fighter. The owners of the bar in question think the tall tale is laughable.

George Knapp: “It’s possible somebody came out with fake photos and gave them to you. That isn’t why you made the change?”

Pat: “No, no.”

The F-117 was no secret to folks in rural Nevada. They’d seen it flying many times, along with other more exotic objects in the sky. The existence of the plane had been reported by KLAS TV and other media as far back as the early 80’s.

UFO sightings over Nevada date back to the 1940’s. If the Air Force plan was to use fake UFO photos to confuse or discourage further interest in Area 51 projects, it was a miserable failure and had the exact opposite effect.

George Knapp: “So we’re going to tell people we’re testing alien technology instead. How did that work out?”

Pat: “That doesn’t make sense, doesn’t make sense.”

“Remember, years ago they wrote you and I off because we would talk about this?” Area 51 Research Center owner George Harris said.

One the rumors stemmed from years of officers hazing subordinates about the existence of a supposed UFO program, a well-known practice the Pentagon put a stop to in 2023.

AP

Nevada business owner and military veteran George Harris has had a lifelong interest in the UFO topic and is one of the few civilians without a security clearance allowed to cross into Area 51.

Harris founded the Alien Research Center, a UFO-themed store in Hiko, where the E.T. Highway begins. He also launched a successful brand, Alien Tequila. His property was one of the hubs during the storm Area 51 event. He says he worked in psychological warfare programs while in the army and recognizes the necessity of cover stories and disinformation at times, but thinks the fake photo ruse, if it’s true, was pretty lame.

“The sadness of the whole process is that they actually thought it was going to scare everybody away, and everybody would stay away? Hey, actually, the cover-up is how the government fueled the whole UFO story. That’s how they fueled it,” Harris added.

The CIA tried its own hand at rewriting history, claiming in a report that half of all UFO incidents in the 50s and 60s were caused by CIA spy planes, the U-2 and SR-71. The story was ridiculous. U-2’s don’t hover over homes, and SR-71’s don’t land in people’s backyards. Neither of the gangly planes look like flying saucers. When those two planes were launched, there was no spike in UFO reports whatsoever.

The report raises questions about new reports of UFOs released by the Pentagon, including this 2020 footage from Navy pilots.

DoD/AFP via Getty Images

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